Allen Salvador - Journal Entries

[AllenSalvador17]

Name of Game
Star Fox

Game Author
Shigeru Miyamoto

Game Studio
Argonaut Software (Nintendo as Publisher)

Original Platform & Control Mechanism
Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), "SNES Controller"


Control mechanism you used
I used a web browser format to experience Star Fox, I definitely would have preferred using the intended controller, or even any handheld one-- especially since the SNES and other controllers were beginning to evolve into a very similar shape that modern controllers have. Using the original would have benefited me because I would've gotten the experience intended by the developers at that time. The shape of the SNES controller, the buttons; Star Fox were tailored around these existing things.

Describe game play and mechanics
Star Fox is a simple game, with a very straightforward objective. It provides you with a list of controls at the beginning of the game... brake, roll, movement, movement boost, nova bomb, and blasters. And then you have the option of either doing the tutorial or pursuing the main "story". Both the tutorial and the story feature very similar aspects, in that; they both feature roaming enemies, your teammates bantering, obstacles, point rings, and then a final boss. The enemies would often exclusively roam, but sometimes they could also be enemy ships and I believe (if I saw correctly) they could also shoot projectiles. The obstacles provided a challenge of environment, as interacting with the set could damage your aircraft. And then the point rings amounted to your total score at the end of the round. What is most interesting about the gameplay however is the inclusion of existing character relationships. While they are missed in the overall noise of the gameplay, it's an interesting addition.

Describe strengths & weaknesses of art & design
I think the primary weakness of Star Fox is the lack of identifying features between the set and everything else that is inherently hostile. While the game features some incredible responsive movement, the game wholly lacks out on clear visuals to aid the player in high paced movement. While it could definitely be a generational disconnect via consumption of games, I do believe the art is simply confusing sometimes. I especially think that the interactions between Fox and his plane team get "lost in the sauce", in that, there is so much happening in the background and foreground, that the text essentially becomes more of a hindrance to the player than a beneficial one. Because, as I was getting to know the controls, I kept getting yelled at by my NPC teammates! A final point of weakness in Star Fox is the lack of existing guidelines especially in the perspective view. While the game is straight forward and narrow, I felt as though it would've helped if not only did the third-person view have a reticle, the environment could also have some sort of recommended path to follow.

What made it fun?
The main feature that made Star Fox fun was definitely the movement, and specifically for me, the barrel roll! Strangely, the setup was fun in finding the controls on PC and having to manually press my keyboard to see what does what. But after that, and even after the inverted controls issue, the movement still felt incredibly responsive and the visuals definitely added to the hectic (positive) nature of the game. What made barrel roll so fun for me, however, was the way I discovered its usefulness. I had initially thought that Barrel Roll was entirely useless so I basically tanked any environmental damage that required my ship to be sideways, but once I started holding the button for roll (Q) I finally understood why it not only benefited the movement but also the incredible meme behind it. Barrel Rolling was spectacular in that, it gave that extra layer of movement that I had originally thought Star Fox was missing, it provided me a very complicated feeling-- in that, it gave me an "Oh Yes! I'm an advanced player! " sort-of feeling. Every time I pressed Q to either sling through narrow spaces or dodge a ramming ship, I felt very "accommodated" by the barrel roll. I'm unsure if I was just really good at barrel roll, but I'm pretty sure that it gave I-frames? Regardless, it's what definitely made the game for me!

(Also, Nova Bomb was cool but I didn't mention it here because the flash was too much sometimes... )

Now that you’ve played it, Why would this game be considered influential? How does it fit into the evolution of games?
Star Fox is influential because of its impact on how both consumers and companies view 3D games in the video/arcade game space. If I remember correctly, executives didn't believe that Star Fox and its 3D features could contend with the current lineup of existing games. But what made it a turning point in a lot of people's perspectives was its incredible emphasis, ironically, was the relationship between movement, 3D space, and the graphical clarity of everything combined. Not only was the game incredible to look at, but it was also historically very easy to learn, and hard to master! Like other successful games with this same aspect (ex. Missile Command), Star Fox was the same, the controls were provided upfront, and also very minimal! The game was straightforward, and while I believed it was confusing to look at, it clearly wasn't for the majority of people during its time. From articles I've read, and recounts from my father who actually played the game back in the day; they basically affirmed my theory that the saturation of graphics that we see today has made some or most people averse to comprehending how older games were viewed and consumed. Finally, in terms of its relation to the evolution of games and how it manifested the ingenuity of games to come, I do believe that the 3D environment and its graphical fidelity majorly benefited the industry and how they could create games with similar features.

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

[AllenSalvador17]

Name of Game
Metal Gear Solid

Game Author
Hideo Kojima

Game Studio
Published by Konami, developed by Konami subsidiary, Kojima Productions.

Original Platform & Control Mechanism
PlayStation 1, "Dual Analog "

Control mechanism you used
I utilized a PC emulator with a PS5 controller.

Describe game play and mechanics
Metal Gear Solid is a stealth game with action mechanics, featuring the iconic character, Solid Snake. In the game, you instantly start with the ability to utilize the full functionality of tools and existing player abilities. MGS has an emphasis on resource management, and stealthing to avoid the exertion of materials. The regarded materials being items such as bullets, rations (health potions), grenades, and others. The main play however was in avoiding the enemies, and Solid Snake can do this by existing within three modes that the player can actively toggle. A walk, crouch, and lay; the player can use these to navigate obstructions and avoid enemies. But if the situation calls for it, the player has access to weaponry like pistols and assault rifles, but can also stealthily take down enemies with an extra reward if done that way! Aside from the main combative abilities and resources, Solid Snake also can contact his allies via the codec, which will aid the player being giving them useful information.


Describe strengths & weaknesses of art & design
Metal Gear Solid has several strengths, and they all gather to create the intense atmosphere and heavy story that they immediately start the player with. MGS is great at immersively introducing the world and its characters to the player, and each of them has incredibly quirky attributes. We meet Campbell who is a stern colonel, contrasted with Solid Snake who is a stereotypical flirt. Aside from the story and characters, MGS presents a game with a complex system of resources and management. We instantly jump into the beginning level and have to figure out how to traverse the landscape and avoid enemies. Although I didn't use the original controller, picking up the controls was very easy. Metal Gear Solid also had its bounty of weaknesses, to create an example; if MGS has a great story, it unfortunately had clunky controls (despite their initial ease). My main issue with MGS in the first two chapters that I played were the interactions, and constant camera changes that made basic play quite disorienting unless I knew what I was doing. The game made it very hard to access areas with very narrow points, and disorienting if the player had to switch to first-person mode. There would often be times I would think I could simply see through the item I was under, but then, the camera quickly switched to an awkward position incredibly close to the floor. Another main issue of main with MGS was the lack of tutorials and gradual gameplay (drip-feeding mechanics). I feel like in this particular scenario, a lot of games had this mindset of providing a manual for players to read to understand the controls, which allowed developers to fully create a map without regard to the drip-feeding tutorial approach that modern games do. While this is definitely a symptom of what the times were like when MGS was released, It unfortunately heavily affected me and how long it took before I could actually play the game.

What made it fun?
For me, the greatest fun I had in Metal Gear Solid was actually the stealth takedowns. They required a very specific and controlled set of movements, and if the player moved beyond the limitations of the takedown then the player would immediately be detected by enemy forces. And while at first, this sounds like a slog, I personally found it fun simply because of the silliness and animation that came out of doing stealth takedowns. But besides my personal favorite ability, Metal Gear Solid earnestly pulled me by the story and not so much the mechanics of the game. While they were definitely fun and interesting, I don't think I particularly vibed with the constant camera changes and aiming system that MGS had. But while those do sound like incredibly big problems, I actually didn't mind the jankiness of play, and I was more enveloped in the conversations that were occurring as you progressed the story. Metal Gear Solid has such a rich background of interesting and weird characters, that you can't help but look away from the fresh designs that they were creation then!

Now that you’ve played it, Why would this game be considered influential? How does it fit into the evolution of games?
Metal Gear Solid holds a stake in the gaming world because of its intense ingenuity through and through. From the character and story that it presents, from the gameplay and mechanics that it provides, Metal Gear Solid was a game that did its best to be ambitious, but be good about the content that was developed from that ambition. MGS had a strong grasp on its stealth system, and I believe it was quite revolutionary at the time because not a lot of people focused on stealth gameplay. But beyond its gameplay, it was an incredible narrative that many people could follow! From light research across the internet, a lot of people appreciate the Metal Gear Solid storyline and how it holds a certain level of seriousness and "campiness" in the mix of it all. It's a game that can take itself seriously, but can also pass a joke if it wanted to. It's such a bizarre contrast compared to the gameplay, but it's all those things combined that make Metal Gear Solid a truly unique experience of that time.


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

[AllenSalvador17]

Name of Game
Sonic Adventure

Game Author
Takashi Iizuka, Yuji Naka

Game Studio
Sonic Team USA, (Sega, Publisher)

Original Platform & Control Mechanism
The Dreamcast, "Sega Dreamcast Controller"

Control mechanism you used
I used a PC emulator with a PS5 controller.

Describe game play and mechanics
Sonic Adventures is a parkour, platforming, and story game. There is a variety of main characters that you can select and choose from, and every single different character available has different abilities. In my case, I mainly played Sonic and Tails! Tails, (my favorite) had a sweeping attack, a jump, an ability that allowed him to turn into a ball and dash, and a flying ability that made the levels in Sonic Adventures very easy to get through! Then we have Sonic, the main character, who features the classic dash moves, a homing-in jump attack, and a circling ability. Combined with the character abilities the players also encounter not only obstacle courses but enemies and bosses. Intertwining the bosses and enemies into the game is its story, it seems there is a heavy emphasis on the characters and their relationships. In fact, the only way to unlock characters is to progress the following chapters to unlock more and more characters!

Describe strengths & weaknesses of art & design
Sonic Adventures' main weakness is the design of the story and how it's communicated. You're introduced to a quite flashy video featuring a CGI city, simulated water, and monsters of fantastical nature, but then it is jump-cut to Sonic. That is not at all related to the entirety of the game, and when we enter the first level it's still just as confusing. I don't know Sonic's motivations nor do I know his place in the world, and I feel as if it's very unexplained as to why all these hedgehogs are there in the first place. Coupling this issue of what seems like a disjointed story are the disjointed character introductions. I noticed a strange cutscene where after I had unlocked Tail's and went back to the main menu, the scene of how Tail's was introduced featured completely different dialogue. Another major thing was the lack of direction both in story and gameplay, and how, because of the lack of an objectives list and existing guidelines; it made the game very hostile to play. But as in all Sonic games, the movement and the building of momentum have continuously been good, especially in Sonic Adventures. Unfortunately, I didn't like playing Sonic, but I'm glad to have had options to choose from and if I had played enough I really would've loved to see Amy Rose!

What made it fun?
Sonic Adventure's main pull was the characters and how many there were. It really gave a sense of choice and personality, but specifically for the player! Even though I did say the characters and how they were introduced felt disjointed, I do like the idea of characters having a different perspective of how they met Sonic! Unfortunately, it wasn't presented like that, but regardless, Sonic Adventure had a really good sense of options and I'm so glad I ended up tails. The main feature that I liked the most about Tail's was definitely his flying ability and how versatile he was in the maps. I didn't like Sonic's dash and how he heavily relied on the build-up of momentum, it wasn't too friendly, especially since I was playing on a PS5 controller (and I assume it was preferred if you had a working DPAD). Tail's really made the game easier to play, and his combat wasn't too bad at all! I also liked wandering around the maps, and I did have fun traversing the map because not only did they hold up visually, it was really pleasing to watch... essentially the QTEs play out whenever you interacted with a Springboard or a Speed Pad!

Now that you’ve played it, Why would this game be considered influential? How does it fit into the evolution of games?
Sonic Adventure, especially on the Dreamcast, has a very striking and beautiful aesthetic. It utilizes the 3D environment really well and brings out the best of the Sonic franchise at the time. Sonic Adventures also just seems to have a lot of variety and is very clearly ambitious. Not only are there a plethora of characters, but each map and boss associated with those maps felt unique and different, and the sections of gameplay where it would suddenly switch from a parkour jumping area to an intense boss fight, featuring an airplane-- it was very clearly a labor of love. Sonic Adventure really brought the pull of 3D to the industry, and while it did receive a lot of flack for its Gamecube release and after, it did show the industry what a fully realized game in 3D could look and feel like! Sonic Adventures was clearly a technical marvel and a stylistic one at that!


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