Trinity Torres - Journal Entries

[fellowghoul]

Trinity Torres
Any PS4, XBox One, or Wii U game

Name of Game: Watch Dogs 2
Game Author: Danny Bélanger
Game Studio: Ubisoft

Original Platform: PS4, XBox One, PC
Control Mechanism: PS4 Controller, XBox One Controller, or keyboard and mouse (Will only cover PS4)


Game Play and Mechanics:
You play the game from the perspective of Marcus and you have all of San Francisco at your disposal to walk around and hack different objects. You can steal cars, shop for clothes, join racing mini games, hack any electrical object in sight, and live through the story of you and your crew. You have access to a variety weapons that you can use in stealth missions too. And to give players a feeling of individuality you can customize your own weapons with special perks or decals. Like adding a silencer so you can take your favorite weapon through stealth missions, rather than going loud.

Strengths and Weaknesses of Design?
There were times in the game where the mission being displayed was not clear on telling the player where exactly they had to go. Even on normal difficulty I think it could have been slightly better written. I also experienced several glitches that prevented me from going forward but it only required me restarting the mission to fix. I think big strengths of the game include the music, the world design, the character design, the npc variety, and the narrative writing of the story was very engaging and humorous.

What made it fun?
Watch Dogs is one of my favorite game series probably in my top ten ever made so I had a ton of fun playing this. So much so that I replayed it just for my love of the characters and gameplay. I think the level of freedom you had in the game was what made it so insanely intriguing. Getting to interact with so many unique characters and getting so many fresh experiences due to there being a lot of variety in the npcs you can hack was super fun. Plus the game is practically GTA but with hacking any electrical device you can think of and being creative with your choices so it really was just a blast. The characters had really cool backstories that I enjoyed learning about. For instance, my favorite character is Wrench, who has a very unique design and personality with his pixelated mask and spiked jacket. The game does a good job at balancing fun, interactive gameplay that encourages player creativity, and an engaging story that lets you find out loads of things about the main cast of characters.

Why would this game be considered influential?
This game explored popular yet unheard of topics like media manipulation and lack of equality in systemic situations. It also featured a black protagonist, which was not too widely seen in the gaming collection at the time.

What would you rate this game?
5/5 stars

[fellowghoul]

Trinity Torres

Name of Game: Beat Saber
Game Author: Ján Ilavský
Game Studio: Oculus Studios

Original Platform: PlayStation 4 and Windows
Control Mechanism: Two Long Controllers with wrist straps and glowing balls on top


Game Play and Mechanics:
You play this rhythm game by slashing squares with arrows pointing in a certain direction in time with the beat to gain points and progress through the song. If you miss too many squares in a row you fail the level. The squares have colors corrosponding to your light sabers in your hand, so you not only have to slash in the correct direction in time, but you have to make sure you're slashing with the right color, as to not lose points.

Strengths and Weaknesses of Design?
The headset got a little buggy at times and even when I would calibrate it with my height so I could play easier, it never fully felt comfortable enough for me, so I'd often have to bend down or reach extra far to hit notes, which gave me back and neck pain quite often. A big strength though is that the music syncing to the timing of the squares was always spot on, and I rarely had to experience any glitches while playing that would severely disrupt my gameplay. I think one other gripe I may have is the design of the console itself. The wires got in the way of me playing all the time and for a game that required you to move around a ton, it wasn't safe at all and I tripped a few times even though I kept moving the wire out of the way.

What made it fun?
It was super fun playing tracks of my favorite songs and feeling like a badass slashing the squares at really fast paces. I was always pretty good at it in comparison to the rest of my family so I was able to do all the levels on expert and a slim few on expert+. It made me feel cool and it was exciting testing my senses. I ended up buying dlc packs for the game because I loved playing it so much that I got bored of the base game songs. But I think that even without the dlc, the game has a lot to offer and is still a good pickup regardless.


Why would this game be considered influential?
I think this game was incredibly influential and exciting for the gaming world to see because it was one of the first ever rhythm games on vr that was immensely popular upon release. It not only motivated people to challenege each other for the top spot on the leaderboard and test their skills, but it also promoted healthy lifestyle because it helped you lose weight by playing, but it was also super fun to play.

What would you rate this game?
4/5