Nathan Munoz - Journal Entries

[NearSharp]

Journal Entry 14

Name of Game
Dragon Ball Z Dokkan Battle

Game author (If known)
Akatsuki Inc.

Game Studio
Bandai Namco

Original Platform & control mechanism
On a phone with touch screen controls.

Control mechanism you used
I played on a phone using the touch screen to control things.

Describe gameplay and mechanics
You collect dragon stones in order to pull for characters. 5 stones for singles and 50 for 10. You can collect dragon stones by doing story missions that contain two difficulty levels. Also when you pull a character you can level them up to 80 and then you must dokkan awaken them using common medals that are easy to gain that'll raise the level cap. Higher tier characters can go further and dokkan awaken to higher rarities. With higher tier characters you must gain character specific medals by tackling these harder event missions. When entering a mission you get placed on this board that you must navigate around. The board is full of obstacles and enemies as well as upgrades and items. After beating a mission you gain stones or medals depending on the mission. To limit the amount of missions you do you have a stamina meter that depletes after each mission attempt and can regenerate daily, you can also gain daily rewards when you log in. In battles your character is placed in front of a bunch of colored orbs in which you must match to your character type. Doing so will increase the amount of damage you can do or even allow you to do an ultimate. Some characters also have transformations which will occur during the course of the battle if certain requirements are met.

Describe strengths & weaknesses of art & design
The strengths are the art and animations. The art is always awesome and the animations have evolved over time. They first started off very simple but have gotten far more complex as time went on. Most of the amazing animations are all reanimated parts from various dragon ball shows, movies and games. The weakest part about this game is the gameplay. It's barely engaging and is nothing but matching colored orbs to your character type. Most of the games' appeal are the flashy colors and the gambling.

What made it fun?
The part that makes the game fun to me is the part where I gamble. It is the only reason I open the game up again. I open it up and collect the free dragon stones until I have enough to gamble on the character that I want. I don't strategize what characters are actually good or anything. I do it purely based on the character. The animations when pulling for characters is also a very cool part as well as seeing all the animations for the characters moves and stuff. The gameplay is kind of fun. Moving through the board to get power ups is also a pretty fun part to me but in such a surface level way of me just wanting to level up their ultimates. The game is only fun when im gambling and when the flashing colors pop up during the battle parts.

Now that you’ve played it, Why would this game be considered influential? How does it fit into the evolution of games?
I would say that it probably led to the creation of other anime gacha games. Other than that I don't think dokkan was all that influential.

How would you rate this game (1-5 Stars (5 stars good))
I like Dokkan battle but I'd give it 3.5 stars. It's very grindy and not super engaging. Like sure if i turn off my brain i can sit there and grind medals for certain characters but that's only when i get a character I wanna level.

[NearSharp]

Journal Entry 15

Name of Game
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Game author (If known)
Hidemaro Fujibayashi and Eiji Aonuma

Game Studio
Nintendo

Original Platform & control mechanism
Originally released on the Nintendo Wii and was controlled with the use of the wiimote and the nunchuck. The game utilized motion controls to control major actions in the game.

Control mechanism you used
I played the game again on the switch which still utilizes motion controls but does offer a way to play without them by just using the right stick of the joycons.

Describe gameplay and mechanics
You use motion controls to swing your sword, use most of the items, to swim, to fly around with the loft wing and to control your falling speed. Motion controls are deeply tied to this game. This game was also the first zelda game to feature stamina which you can’t upgrade whatsoever so it kind of sucks. This game is heavily tied to your sword and you must hold up the wiimote to charge a goddess strike which is used for certain puzzles and collectibles. You go through 3 different surface overworlds in which you revisit about 3 times to look for zelda and then upgrade your sword and then finally to gather the pieces of a lost song. Most of the time you're grounded but there are certain parts in which you must take flight with your loftwing and explore the great sky. It honestly doesn't take too much of your time compared to the overworld sections.

Describe strengths & weaknesses of art & design
One of its strengths is its art style. It’s such a lovely art direction that was influenced by previous entries and influenced the next major zelda game. The game goes for the look of a watercolor painting when it comes to its environment and when it comes to the game's key art. The character models don't really look like a water painting sadly. The music in this game is also amazing. It was also one of the first zelda games to flirt with actual voice acting as zelda sings in the intro of the game. Now its biggest weakness and strength is the motion controls. They either work beautifully and help immerse you into the games world or they are a huge pain as you finagle with the game to get you to swing or move the right way. Another weakness would be the somewhat empty level hub this game features known as the great sky. The great sky is too empty and hardly provides any reason to truly explore it. The three different surface overworlds face the opposite issue with them being incredibly linear.

What made it fun?
It's a Zelda game. Exploring the dungeons and solving puzzles are always a blast. Hell, even using the motion controls is a blast. Using them to swing your sword can be super immersive and using it to aim the bow and arrow and clawshots work smoothly. Using motion controls to aim the bow and arrow worked so well it's been included in every Zelda game since and it works like a charm. Most incorporate the motion controls in such a cool innovative way.

Now that you’ve played it, Why would this game be considered influential? How does it fit into the evolution of games?
The game was positively received but complaints about its linear structure led to vast freedom and openness of the next major Zelda game. Skyward Sword's lack of freedom led to the zelda team allowing tons of player freedom in the breath of the wild and tears of the kingdom.

How would you rate this game (1-5 Stars (5 stars good))
I'd rate this game a solid 4. I love this game a lot about this game but there are certain things that stop it from being a 5 out of 5.

[NearSharp]

Journal Entry 16

Name of Game
Persona 5 Royal

Game author (If known)
Katsura Hashino and Daiki Ito (Royal)

Game Studio
Atlus

Original Platform & control mechanism
Persona 5 Royal is an enhanced version of a ps3 game. Persona 5 Royal was originally released on the ps4 and eventually got ports to other consoles. You play the game with a playstation controller.

Control mechanism you used
I played on my ps5 and it's the exact same as playing on a ps4.

Describe gameplay and mechanics
Persona 5 Royal is an enhanced version of Persona 5 that includes a bunch of changes and includes a new story bit and a whole new dungeon set after the original game. Persona 5 is a rpg that has you control a party of 4 people. You control these things called personas which all have different types and abilities. Each of your party members have access to one persona while you can control a variety of them. You must recruit new personas as you travel through the dungeons. In every persona game there are the battle sections which require you to battle like a traditional rpg and then there are the life sim sections. In these sections you must manage your time as the days go on. You can do about 2 things a day depending on the day and events going on. During this section you can earn more money by getting a job, you can raise your confidant ranks with certain characters which grant you more abilities in the battle sections, and you can raise your social stats which help open up more of the life sim section. You must balance your time through these sections as your time is limited.

Describe strengths & weaknesses of art & design
The games massive strengths are its music and its artstyle. The music in this game is godly. Genuinely one of my favorite video game soundtracks, I still listen to the songs today! It has a mix of lyrical and instrumental music, all which enhance the experience! Royal even added new tracks that I can't imagine the game without them! The artstyle of the game is also soooo freaking good! The menu designs are so fun! They all pop out with the use of bold colors and shapes. The character portraits that they use in the game during cutscenes all look amazing and are upgraded from the original. Not to mention the amazing story the game has! Genuinely changed my life, but speaking of the story. The biggest weakness this game faces is the incredibly slow start. The beginning of the game is flooded with tons of tutorials and cutscenes. It just takes forever for you to be fully in control. The first dungeon is basically tutorial central that does ease up towards the boss of the dungeon. Granted the game is introducing you to a bunch of concepts that carry out through the whole game.

What made it fun?
The game is just so much fun. The characters are all so fun to use and battling feels so flashy and fun. The battle sections are fun to run through as you face a variety of enemies and bosses. The dungeons you go through are all so unique and have their own distinct themes. The life sim sections are just so simple that it's addicting. Just going around and trying to raise your confidant ranks and social stats is a blast. Confidant ranks add to the story itself that make them so appealing to rank up. There are specifically two that play a major part in the added story.

Now that you’ve played it, Why would this game be considered influential? How does it fit into the evolution of games?
The game has spawned so many spin offs and sequels. Its Ui designs have influenced other games' Ui designs heavily and the main character of the game has shown up in Smash ultimate as the first dlc character. This game is almost the best selling persona game. This game is definitely super influential.

How would you rate this game (1-5 Stars (5 stars good))
I give it 5 stars. This game is a masterpiece. It quite literally changed my life and has made me cry on multiple occasions. The characters in the story are so well fleshed out and the added bits felt so natural it was hard to believe they were not in the original. I 100 percent recommend this game. This is one of my favorite games of all time and everyone deserves a chance to play it.