James Journal Entry #1

[jencino]

Name of Game: Halo: Reach

Game author (If known) :

Publisher:
Microsoft Game Studios

Producer:
-Matt Priestley

Designers:
Chris Opdahl
Chris Carney

Writer:
Joseph stataen
Peter O'Brien

Game Studio: Bungie

Original Platform & control mechanism:
-Xbox 360
I used the Xbox 360 controller (wireless)

Would the experience have been different using the original? How?
No, I plugged in my old 360 and dusted off my controller to experience the ___ of my fellow Spartans all over again. At least George as I didn't have time to play the whole thing.

Describe game Play and mechanics
The game is a first person shooter that keeps the same gameplay design from the older halo games but with some enhancements such as equipment. You play as a super soldier called "Spartans" and at war with a alien collective called the Covenant. Your tasks to join a squad called "Noble Team" that consist of other Spartans. Without spoiling the game you go on missions to aid humanity or sabotage the Covenant's plan. You will use familiar weapons from the old games and reusable equipment. This is just story mode you can also play multiplayer to go against the online community in competitive matches or custom games. Other modes such as firefight is another mode to fight waves of enemies or the updated player controlled enemy firefight. Lastly there is a "Forge" mode where you can create your own level.

Describe strengths & weaknesses of art & design
Halo has always been a great storyline and it continued it's lore with this game. The addition of new equipment and and game modes keep the game fresh especially the forge mode. The story had good lore drop with both good/sad moments but it was needed for character development. You could finally sprint in this franchise which was a much needed design that changed the series. There were some weaknesses such as the equipment. Not all of them were bad but some where just unnecessary and pointless such as the armor lock, evade and the jetpack. They had its uses but it was a hit or miss when using it.

What Made it fun?
I enjoyed the storymode and the lore it dropped as to how it all started etc. What i really enjoyed was the community and how there were players that were so creative in the forge mode. Custom games was the go to whenever i played this game with all it's shenanigans. The cosmetics were nice to achieve because it was an unlockable and not the norm of spending real world money. You had to earn your cosmetics.


Now that you’ve played it, Why would this game be considered influential? How does it fit into the evolution of games?
Yes, It influenced how players looked at character development. Before it was just Master Chief with his run and gun but this game made the player grow with the noble team. It added the cooperation of AI as you played the game. It influneced the use of equipment abilities such as sprint, armor lock etc. Now sprint is a action due to how well it was received and new equipment was invented in the later games. Forge mode continued to impress the series and had great support from the devs with them adding new features later on and if the level was praised by the community it was given it's own game mode, like "Grifball". As how does it fit into the evolution of games it has had it's impact on future halo titles but it was one of the greats as it was bungie's last halo game. Halo has had great community support as well as from the devs. It's also in great standing for competitive tournaments, i used to be competitive in this game but now i just play for fun.

How would you rate this game (1-5 Stars (5 stars good))
5 stars

[jencino]

Name of Game: Any of the "Soulsborne" games ( Dark souls 1-3, bloodborne, Elden ring, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice)

If i had to choose i would pick Sekiro.

Developer: "FromSoftware"

Composer: Yuka Kitamura


I enjoy the soundtrack of the Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice because it perfectly enhances the game's immersive experience. The blend of traditional Japanese instruments with modern orchestral music creates a rich, atmospheric soundscape that fits the feudal Japan setting. The intense tracks boost the excitement of boss fights, while the quieter pieces provide a calming backdrop during exploration. Overall, the music deeply integrates with the gameplay, making every moment feel more engaging and emotionally resonant.

TLDR:I just enjoy the ninja/shinobi/samurai genre and it really just pushed it further with the dynamic music.

[jencino]

Name of Game: Legends of Runeterra

Game author (If known) :
Director: Andrew Yip & Dave Guskin

Producer: Jeff Jew & Dave Guskin

Game Studio: Riot

Original Platform & control mechanism:
Microsoft Windows, Android, IOS

Would the experience have been different using the original? How?
I played on Mobile but you can play on Desktop the only difference is you will be using the mouse to click instead of your finger presses. Nothing is different gameplay or graphics wise.

Describe game Play and mechanics
This is a card game that you play one on one against players or Ai. You each have a deck of 40 cards and a nexus with 20 points. The goal is to damage the enemy nexus ( Life/Health) down to 0 however, you can win by default in which the enemy has no more cards to draw or stalemate which is the turn count reaches 40. Each player starts off with 1 mana and it grows by 1 each turn , but it can increase by card effect. Each card has a number which is a requirement cost to play and that mana doesn't regenerate till next turn. Each round an "attack token" is put on the side of a player board that indicates they can attack while the other defends on the next turn it flips to the other player and repeats. There are different categories of cards such as unit, spell, landmark, champion and each has a set region. Your deck can have cards with 2 regions max and 6 champion cards. There is also a limit of 3 of the same card.

Going into detail will take too much time but you will learn quickly as you play. Each unit does something different with some having "keywords" which are a augment/buff/debuff to the unit that can help or damage it. You can click it to get more info if you forget what it does.

Describe strengths & weaknesses of art & design
The strength of this game is it has a huge re-playability and the matches are quick. It's easy to understand with the flavor text and tutorials it provides. They keep it balanced with the regions as you have to play around the cards to build good decks. The community is great as they express the concerns and the company responds in hand. There was a problem as the game continued on with cards being to "broken" they created a "Standard" and "Eternal" listing of card to keep the community separate with the new players and veterans. They do a great job of keeping it fresh by introducing new cards and rotating the decks of standard mode. They don't focus on the aspect of loot boxing of the cards as you can select the ones you want and purchase them if you have the in game funds. The weakness i would say is that there are some cards that are too "overpowered" and when you see the deck you just want to surrender the game because you know what this BS deck is going to do.

What Made it fun?
This game is a good way to kill time when you are on the john or bored somewhere. I enjoy how it make me think of how to outplay the other player. To either take the attack on purpose to make them think i have nothing then counter with a huge attack on my attack turn. The deck building process is pretty neat too as i try to find what cards sync with others with the limited 40 i can have. It reminded me of Magic the gathering so that is a big reason i jumped on this game early on and it did well to keep me entertained so far. Highly recommend if you like TGC.

Now that you’ve played it, Why would this game be considered influential? How does it fit into the evolution of games?
Yes, It showed how it can expand the original format in this case a MOBA into a digital card game. The game influences the access of cross-platform between pc and mobile games to broaden it's audiences and make it accessible. It also expands the lore of the main game which could influence other games to take action to expand their universes or give deeper stories. For how it fits into the evolution of games , I would say how it shows it can still be a great game without it relying on the current monetization we see in todays games. I hope this trend continues.
How would you rate this game (1-5 Stars (5 stars good))
5 stars

[jencino]

Name of Game: Super Mario Maker
Game author:
Game Studio: Nintendo

Original Platform & control mechanism:
Wii u it was controlled with the gamepad.

Control mechanism you used
Would the experience have been different using the original? How?

I played on the Wii u so I don't know if it will be different played on something else.

Describe game Play and mechanics
It was a the same mechanics as the super Mario games but it includes all the games up to that point. It allowed the player to create their own level designs or if you weren't creative you can play other people's design. I wasn't as creative so I played other people's levels. It keeps going on until you run out of lives or depending on the game mode it hits a limit.

Describe strengths & weaknesses of art & design
This game was very innovative as it allowed the player to create their own super Mario designs. It wasn't just one super Mario game it was a mixture of all the same type of 2d scroller Mario games. This allowed the player to mix and match styles. The use of the game pad to tap and drag items/ levels is a good use of the system this game is always fresh with people designs as each level is random loaded from the community. The weakness of this game is that it had no story as the original game. Other than that it was very good.

what made it fun?
I enjoyed that the game was very innovative with the gamepad. It allowed me to create my own levels. Most of the time I wasn't creative and enjoyed seeing the designs other people made.

Now that you’ve played it, Why would this game be considered influential? How does it fit into the evolution of games?



How would you rate this game (1-5 Stars
4 stars

[jencino]

Game: Beatsaber


Game Author: Jan Ilavsky


OG platform & Controls:

Playstation 4 Oculus


Controls Used:

YouTube videos, unfortunately I do not have a way to play.


Describe gameplay and mechanics

Looking at the videos it's a music game specifically made for VR that uses body motion to play the game. You would pick a song from the list and tried to get the highest score but hitting the boxes that correlate with the color of your blade/saber. You also dodge obstacle that come at you to keep you on your toes. You hold one color in each hand and swipe at the colored boxes with the right color to score.


Strengths and weaknesses of art and design

I noticed you can change colors which give the game a nice customization setting. It's very innovative to combine the use of VR and music gameplay. The immersive feeling you get as if you are in a concert is great. Very clever way to get the player moving, especially cardio workouts. Weakness is that it is not for everyone. People tend to get dizzy with VR headsets. People don't like to waste energy playing a game. It was also only limited to VR as you need the controls, it would seem.


What made it fun?

Beatsaber looked quite enjoyable watching. I can see how people that played just dance on the Kinect or any form of music game can get into it. The Star wars like saber looked appealing to wield. The list of music was huge and it would seem people can add to it by nodding I believe it creating it somehow. It's also a great excuse to workout while playing as it's pretty taxing on stamina.

Now that you’ve played it, why would this game be considered influential? How does it fit into the evolution of games?

Yes I can see how it can be influential with gaming. I believe when this game first came there weren't many popular games out or popularity for that matter. Didn't it get bundle with the VR headset to encourage gameplay? It looks like it succeeded because now there are companies making their own VR systems such as Meta , Apple vision, etc. they noticed people enjoy the VR world. In the future they might cross platform just as the console have to give the devs more freedom.


How would you rate this game (1-5 Stars (5 stars good))

4 out of 5