screenbehindthegamer

[screenbehindthegamer]

Outland

♫ Here I am, back again, and with a very cool game to talk about! What else can I ask for?

Last year, I was looking for games at my regular store and found something called ‘Ubisoft Combo’. It was three Ubisoft games in one, that sounded good enough to let it pass. The three games the remastered edition of Beyond Good & Evil (wonderful game), From Dust (lovely, but it has an important bug and the game crashes right in the middle of the journey T_T shaaame...) and the awesome game I want to talk about today

OUTLAND

(Point that sword elsewhere, would you? you’ll end hurting yourself)

What initially looks as a simple 2D plataformer mixed with action, it’s actually a very beautiful and intense game, with a good story and a very dinamic system of gameplay that makes it very funny and addicting to play.

Story begins when a man had started to experience dreams and visions of the past. Asking a shaman for a way to cure him, he discovers that an incoming chaos is about to be realased on the world to destroy and reshape it and it is his duty to stop this from happen. So, he starts a journey thru forests, old cities and even thru the underground to reach the force of chaos before it spreads and destroys everything.

We will have to learn to use the energies of Light and Darkness to reach the end of the joyrney. 

(Free glowing tattoos, want some?)

This will allow our hero to pass through their respective barriers, and attack monsters born of the opposite alignment. In some stages, we will have to hone or reflexes in order to change fast wich energy are we using at the moment, to avoid damage. Further from this, he will learn special powers from the shrines, from simple melee attacks to the harnessing of Light and Dark energy. We’ll even have to collect hidden objects called "Masks of the Gods" in order to unlock extras such as concept art or enhanced in-game abilities. (Honestly, I still lack five of them and it’s a little frustrating to not be able to locate them, but if you are as stubborn as me, to find them, you’ll be okay!?)

(*rave music playing*)

Plus: We also can find an option to experience the entire storyline online with a friend in co-operative mode. There are also co-op challenges scattered throughout the world that can be unlocked and played when in co-op mode. Funny! Also, there is an Arcade Mode that puts us to the test by putting a set time for the player to traverse throughout an entire region and defeat its protector. An Arcade chapter for one area is unlocked as soon as the area itself is unlocked. You up for a challenge? this is your lucky day!

This game, as I said, it’s very dynamic, the moment you get a hold on the gameplay and techniqes of combat, you cannot stop playing!

Also, it doesn’t need to be a 3D game to possess a very beautiful enviroment and backgrounds, such as these:

(Holly shit! I mean... shrine, Holly Shrine!)

The final bosses of each stage are amazing, their designs are terrifying as well as awesome and even beautiful, and sometimes they’ll get on our nerves, but that’s just a plus. Who wouldn’t like a good challenge in a boss fight? They can be simple enough once you learn how to deal with them, but until you get the idea of how and when to attack, they can be a pain in the a$$, so just do as I usually do and keep trying (while screaming profanities if possible, or just murmur them, we don’t want to alert the neighbours, do we?)

Soundtrack? Oh my, so GORGEOUS and EPIC, surely suits the taste of a gamer who loves an action game with music that keeps you on alert at the same time entertains you!

(THIS GIRL IS ON FIREEEE!! ♫ )

Nothing else to say, except that I highly recomend Outland for a good evening of running from side to side of the screen. Honestly? Sometimes you need a good game like this, simple enough to just worry about slashing enemies and take the keys to the next room, complicated enough to have to use your reflexes and skills to pass a complex zone, and with an amazing story that will entrall you.

Have a nice play!

#Outland #Ubisoft #video games #2D #action #plataformer

[screenbehindthegamer]

Any Suggestion There?

I’ve decided that it would be great to accept suggestions from everyone. Sometimes it takes time from me to choose a game to talk about, try, take a look, or to write a review about. So, wouldn’t be a great idea to hear ideas from you? Maybe are great games you want me to talk about, or to just review, maybe I’ll discover a really cool game that I’ll end loving and playing endlessly! That would be awesome.

So now you know:

I’M ACCEPTING SUGGESTIONS!

Bring it on, baby!

#suggestion #c'mon #I'm wainting #sounds like F U N

[screenbehindthegamer]

BackOnBusiness

I’m B.O.B! I mean, I’m Zanthia, of course, but I’m BackOnBusiness XD

Sorry for the long delay, many things happened around me to be able to write a proper post. But soon I’ll start again, promise!

#Back on business

[screenbehindthegamer]

Exceptions

As I was saying in the post of 'Dressed for... battle?, I'm going to talk about the exception; at least for me, on the fact that I don't like over-sexualized costumes for female characters on video games. Make no mistake; I don't like it and I'll never will, because I don't need to see a woman so UNDRESSED that I don't know why it never appears any "+18" censor at middle game or in some camera angles...

One day, I was talking with a friend that didn't like it either, he's straight and a total gamer, and he doesn't like to see any useless battle armor. When talking about this issue, he told me that sure thing I wouldn't want to know anything about a game called

BAYONETTA

Didn't know a thing about that game, so I asked him a very intelligent “uh, wich game? Bayo-what?” and for a brief description of the game. His summay was:

-Is about a woman that is a witch.

-Her hair is her battle suit. (At this point, my thoughs were 'Must be a very long hair to make it form her clothes...)

-Some of her attacks are made with her hair.

-When she does so... she is left half-naked on screen... or totally naked sometimes...

...at the last point I said 'Ok, I don't want that game in my collection'.

Buuuut...

To be honest, I have always liked long hair. (Mine reaches my hips and in some ocassions it has reached my knees.) Peculiar hair is something I like too, so, the idea of someone using the hair as battle suit and for special attacks, was worthy enough for a quick view at the least. So, I decided to give a peek to the game, and if I liked it, to not pay attention at her when half-naked and complaint just for myself.

So, first goes first, and I searched for a pic of that Bayonetta gal, to see how she looked like and her famous hair-clothing. Then, I found this:

At least, she doesn’t appears naked here...

First though was that the sleeves are obviously hair; that's for sure, and if I hadn't know, I would doubt that the catsuit was made of hair, it really looks like leather. I didn't expected her to be so covered, in fact, I was ready for something in the style of the women from many this days rpgs and mmorpgs.

And most important though was “OH MY, she wears guns in her heels?!?!” That was really cool, to be honest! And she wears glasses, something I have never seen so often on many games, at least not in the main heroines, or in the games I've played before. I started to be very intrigued and continued to investigate many details of the game... and I liked it more and more. So, next post, I'll talk about my critic about the game itself.

See you soon!

#video games #Bayonetta

[screenbehindthegamer]

Dressed for... battle?

Today, I'd like to talk about a fact that I specially dislike about many games, specially fantasy and rpg. More exactly, I want to talk about OUTFITS.

My friends know that I'm a big fan of the Game Bayonetta, but it wasn't always like that, because at first, I didn't want to even play it when I was told that she was dressed with her hair and everytime she uses a hair-attack she ended almost naked on screen. Later, I will talk about what changed my mind about having such game. The reason I heard about this game, on the first place, was because I was talking with a friend about the outfits of many women on videogames.  On additional note: he is a male hetero friend and he was almost more annoyed than me about the fact that many women are dressed by their designers in a very revealing way that was very uncomfortable even for him. Our thoughts exactle were that it's not practical for combat and, many times, very ridiculous to the point of naming many clothes as 'the useless censorship'.

Game designers, don't you realise that we women play games too and it's very awkward for us to see all that skin on display without any sense at all? You are dressed for battle, for Akatosh sake! You are not on the Victoria's Secret runway! If you are trying to give us, girls, characters to 'feel identified' or to 'walk on their shoes'... you gotta be kiddin' me...

See, why in many videogames; not only rpg, but in general, or with an specific main char with some companions, WHY, I repeat, male outfits are like...

(concept art from Atlantica Online) I'm really sure that, even if you try to stick a finger in his eye, he'll crush it while blinking

...aaaand meanwhile, women are dressed like THIS?

(concept art from Atlantica Online)..........could somebody spare more fabric? Pretty please?

...saaay, has ANYBODY thought, juuuust for a second while you where making this design, that enemies will not go straight for her because she is 'atractive', but because wearing NO PROTECTION AT ALL, it will be a piece of cake to kill her?! Oooh right, the legendary excuse:

'she's an archer, she relies on her agility and she needs light clothes'

Yeaaaah, right, and in the middle of an ambush, were combat will be hand to hand? She will have no oportunity to evade damage, and with those heels, running away must be hard in a forest; not to mention that she will be unable to climb trees neither!! And what if the party travels, by example, to THE LAND OF THE ETERNAL WINTER? If she has Heartburn, even that will freeze! Jeez.

'oooh that clothes are so pretty we had to make her wear it'

Oh yeah... those pretty impractical clothes will look awesome covered on blood as she bleeds to death on the ground... I don't buy it, you can create beautiful sets of clothes than can be less revealing and more fitted for combat, explore, environment... whatever. Because, like that one, there are MANY MANY TOOO MAAANY in the likeness.

Let's take a quick look at this

Nariko, from Shameless Heavenly Sword

You are a tought girl?

Yes.

You carry and amazing sword?

Aye.

Your legs are going to be scraped from toe to hip, your arms will be scarred in no time and your butt its going to freeze up?

DEFINITELY

Puh-leeeze, nor even me; that I used to climb the cliffs when I was a child, and used to play in the clearings around my town... I was careful about not wearing short pants, because if not, that used to mean returning home with bleeding knees at the least. 

Honest, can you picture yourself fighting zombies like this?

...thank goodness, today she's wearing the LONG SKIRT...

This clothes, the default ones when you start Resident Evil Nemesis... care to explain the tactics here? Trying to distract the zombies, who are more interested on eating her alive than to look at her boobs? Nor even a little protection on her knees! There will be no skin patch bite-safe! Then we have this guy:

Send him every zombie in town if you like; unless they bite him on the face, there's no way to reach him, that clothes are more than enough to protect him and to resist any direct assault for enough time to regain the upper hand. And, as you can see, he's not showing chest, or legs, and he is still atractive to the eye; not for the face, but the body too. A good outfit speaks for itself!

Aaaaand, now... somebody please explain...

*inhales*

What...

the

f*ck

is

THIS

ABOMINATION?!

...the Useless Censorship...

Are you goint to charge into battle like this?! Seriously??!! There will be no skin safe for more cuts! There's only left for rain to start pouring in the battlefield and VOILÁ, Miss Wet Piece of Cloth contest!! because 'that' thing is even less than a cloth. I'm sure the ticket has more fabric that the outfit itself.

Now, watch this:

Skyrim is doing it well

There are some examples of female armor that are exactly, or almost, like the male armor, and it looks great!! She is no less feminine for wearing a complete armor set, she is protected, the armor looks flexible enough to vary your combat style between charging with your drawn sword and using a bow, and surely it's comfortable enough to climb anything!!

And most games, even with no fantasy-medieval-like theme are no different. No matter the genre, the gender of the characters or the time period the game revolves about, every character should be well outfitted for battle or moving in hostile grounds, be a little more logical about dressing women for videogames. Not only it's better for the eyes of the players, but for our minds too; because we; not as men or women, but as PEOPLE, know when it's time to dress in a way or another.

If you don't believe me, well, go play Airsoft while dressing like the girl with the red bikini I posted some lines up! Then, inform us if it was comfortable or useful.

#video games #outfit #armor #male armor #female armor

[screenbehindthegamer]

Brutal Legend

I think I'm ready to talk about a really great one!

BRÜTAL LEGEND

By the hand of the mighty and always incredible Tim Schafer, creator of awesome works like Day of the Tentacle, Monkey Island 2, Full Throttle (HELL YEAH...), Grim Fandango, Psychonauts... ok, the man has a great historial in videogames (that mostly makes us drool all over the place...). Brutal Legend is the story of one of those guys that goes unnoticed in the concerts: the roadies. Always dressed in black, moving behind the scenary, taking care of everything and fixing problems without being seen, just to make their employees look great... This guy is Eddie Riggs, best roadie ever, who, prior to an accident thanks to one of the idiots of the group he works for, got himself transported to the ancient world of the heavy metal, where he will have to fight against demons using... wait: AXES AND GUITARS! WOOOHOO! yeahhh I like it loud.

Great plot we have here, so, lets get started: Mix of action, adventure and a little of strategy, Eddie, brought to life with the voice of great actor and member of Tenacious D, Jack Black, arises in a gloomy temple were some weird demonic-like monks tries to eliminate him, blades on the hands, for sacriffice. Luckily, Eddie uses by instinc an awesome battle axe and his beloved guitar Clementine, wich will aid him as his main weapons of mass destruction. In this world, Clementine unleashes electrifiying power everytime she is played on battle or in a guitar solo, that is just COOL. During the story, more solos can be unlocked for better use of Clementine in battle. The world has an impressive plain to tour, Eddie will construct a hot-rod, calling him The Deuce, wich can be upgraded too for a better experience on game. Plus it will be great to drive on enemies. During gameplay, we will recruit different units; each one with a unique cooperative movement with Eddie, that will be useful to smash quickest our enemies... Enemies like followers of Glam Rock, goth music... lots of enemies for us to sharp our axe with, while we bang our heads to the rhythm of Deathstars, Judas Priest or Manowar, among others!

-Those guys gives us their music? No shit?!!

Fans, merchandising stands to fuel or solos and units... and plus the scenary, with odds such like mountains made from speakers or tires, piled metal bones, trees whose fruits are BEER BARRELS, guitar-shaped rocks... lots of references of album covers of the genre and missions bassed on songs like "Ride the Lightning" or "Run to the Hills". Besides the great Jack Black, more rockstars share their image and voices, like awesome Lemmy Kilmister, Rob Halford, and even greatest figures of metal like Ozzy Osbourne himself, to share some help to us, poor metal souls. We'll even count with an amazon tribe whose war paints are totally alike of those of King Diamond and KISS.

-Mighty Guardian of Metal, we are not worthy of your presence. *worship*

Soundtrack has 107 songs on it, from 75 different bands selected by Schafer and Emily Ridgway, being every song a "sincere choose destined to be loved by every fan of Metal". Yessssss, thank you.

Aaand, among our enemies, main evil one is a guy dressed in BDBS with more devil-like appareance than a thousand demons, and he... is... voiced... by the FANTASTIC Tim Curry!! Who the shell doesn't want this game, for Ormaggoden's shake!!??

-Tim Curry is under that skin? goood... goood indeeeeeed... *drools*

Plus to all of this, we could explore all the world of Metal in search for the sountrack's songs to play them on the car, free serpents's statues, search for monuments that will relate the story from the very beggining, small missions to pass some time if we want, before going to the next stage of the storyline... it has everything! I liked heavy metal before, but didn't have so much songs in my folders, until I played this wonderful game, and is a genre that I like very much by now. Thanks for a game like this, with so much things to do, to explore, a great story, good music and many many things! Something I don't like? the strategy parts; I don't like RTS, lucky me I love Starscraft and played it for so long that is something I'm good at, despise not liking it... but oh well! in general is a really good game that I highly recommend to play until your hads burns!

- By the power of Greysk...! I mean... Hail Ormagöden, beast of Metal!

After seeying this, you should understand why in Rock in Rio I was waiting for them to sacrifice someone while yelling 'BLOOD TO APPEASE ORMAGÖDEEEEN', right? XD

LONG LIVE HEAVY METAL, DAMN! \M/

KICK ASSES NOW!

#Brutal Legend #Tim Schaffer #heavy metal #action #adventure #real time strategy

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Survival Horror

As much as I like to talk about games I love or I find curious or interesting, I’d like to, also, talk about games and genres I don't like, or I can’t play, whatever the reason may be. As the title say, today I'm gonna talk about Survival Horror.

Not only I will talk about why I don't play the genre, but also I'll talk about some titles of this genre: You see, I'm not known for being a coward, not even near; but survival horror is a genre I cannot play at all, because of the following reasons:

1: Having someone challenging me and telling me that I don't have the guts for it? pffff don't care at all, cuz I know my limits. As a good Scorpio is not hard for me to accept some challenges, but sometimes my common sense tingles and I can scape with my health bar intact.

2: Because I know myself, I won't accept that challenges specially if I know I'll end in the most ridicule of the situations or I will end with hysterics. The survival horror genre always has their surprises, spooky moments, dark ambient, or rotten or tetric or horrible or gore, etc. I'm a really nervous person by myself alone, so if I get to play a game like one of these, I know that one of this things will happen:

- I will intone an "AAAAH" with all my lungs and decibels that rivals those of an airplane. Sometimes it will be a swearword.

- I will jump on the spot and break the roof with my head; or at least I will fell from the chair

- if something accidentaly rubs on me, I will react hitting hard -you can ask the sewing cabinet on my back, the door is always opening by itself and has received plenty punches by now- (This option is the one that happens the most...)

3: because I get quickly desperate with the environment. Excesive tension in the likeness of "now is when a monster appears" or "don't have enough ammo!" or "where can I hide?!" or "I cannot see a $hit three feets from here, what the shell is that shadow?" or "DIEMONSTERGETAWAYFROMMEEEE"; my patience drops to zero and the game’s disk will meet its end at flying high into the night after I threw it.

There are some exceptions I can play, like "Alien vs Predator" for PC, but I was only able to play while in the Xenomorfs's skin; playing as a human or a Yautja  had me totally nervous, I could only think that, at any time, a facehugger would drop in the screen, giving me the fright of my life. So I played as the parasitic xenomorphs and enjoyed it, to the point that I infected a human and fought my way out of his chest through biting; I even laughted and said "I give myself the creeps, coooool!" before laughting.

By the way, with this last game, the one who got a great scare was my brother while playing as a Predator, a facehugger trapped him and it was a full screen capture, that made him jump from the chair while I was at my own computer at his side. That surprised me, because he usually doesn't have a problem at all to play survival horror games.

He adores the genre; curiously I usually ended helping him with them, looking at details or solving puzzles for him, in games like this ones:

SHADOW OF THE COMET

(Don't loot at me like that, man; I'm scared too...)

An old graphic adventure from the best ones, but a little survival at key moments, I can say is a good balance with the best of both genres, where you have to resolve puzzles to continue, mix inventory items in order to advance to the next zones or scape from an horrible death at the hands or creepy monsters.

Bassed on the well known Cthulhu Mythos from Lovecraft, the game takes place in 1910, and concerns the visit of a young British photographer, John Parker, to the isolated New England town of Illsmouth (an alteration on Lovecraft's Innsmouth) to witness and photograph the passage of Halley's Comet. When he arrives, Parker stumbles upon a sinister conspiracy and must survive the three days between his arrival and the comet's passage while finding out what happened in 1834.

A lover of Lovecraft's stories and games of this genre, my brother was unable to resist any tentation and played it, getting trapped sometimes in puzzles and labyrinths really complicated, sometimes with solutions halfway from bizarre and "good idea to get my a$$ outta here.". Here, I found out more about his stubborn's side, he spent two days trying to solve a puzzle from the movable plates to form an image kind, while ignoring my assistance; he didn't remember that when we were children he used to play games like Street Fighter while I opted for puzzle games like Sokoban. The third day he gave up and called me to solve the evil puzzle (took me one minute... sorry bro, but you know I love puzzle games!) and finally gained access to a cave full of creatures that, when steping on the main character's path, a full screen of the monster appeared, making your heart pumping as crazy as the heart of an F1 pilot on the track. Another labyrinth where I opted for him to explore any single room while drawing a map for him to guide him; specially useful because he discovered that, once in the end, he has to get the main char outta there in reverse way to scape from being eaten alive. It was a funny afternoon, he were exploring every corridor while I was drawing the map and putting warnings in some rooms. 

Good times, when I couldn't stop laughting everytime he messed up things and ended in the belly of a Deep One. (He laughted too... a few hours after.)

RESIDENT EVIL 2

Personally, I never knew of this game until my brother got it and brought it home, recommended by a friend of his. Plot, you know: zombies invaded Raccoon City, the T-virus has plaged the city and two figures appears and are still alive: Leon Kennedy, a newbie police that was sent there and Claire Redfield (an applause for that tough girl fighting zombies!), an university student who is looking for her brother Chris, from the STARS unit. Leon and Claire are forced to take different paths to find a way out of the city and scape alive from the zombies attack.

Guaranteed frights from the begining, could never forger the scare my brother had when he got near from a boarded up window and the zombies's arms grapped him. He even screamed and I laughted really hard -I'm not bad... just a little sometimes XD- Gotta admire him for continue playing, because between zombies and creatures like this one...

Gene Simmons apprentice... (pff amateur...)

Still got fresh in my mind the "F*CK" he yelled out loud the first time this, obviously, cuddly and lovely lil’ fella, jumped on him.

Between this puppies and myself, telling him predictable things as a joke, like "and now the zombies in the floor will rise when you move to get out of the room" or "puff that tank-like man sure looks like if he is going to burst again in the other corridor and you will had to kill him again"; the worse part was not me telling this all the time, but that I WAS RIGHT. He asked me to stop telling 'prophecies' and to just keep remembering passwords and key zones. Dunno why, he kept taking scares up without my advises.

SILENT HILL 2

Everyone here, at this point, knows the plot of Silent Hill series. You know: creepy fog, creepy monsters, creepy places, creepy -but interesting- plots and plot twists... and this refined gentleman...

"A man’s knife speaks for itself" ...with that size, I’m sure that knife has more to say than his owner...

...a ‘man-thing’ that I wouldn't dare to turn my back on, not even for mere seconds to open a door with a giant EXIT sign on it; no one able to use that butcher's king's size knife with a single hand while wearing that metal pyramid helmet deserves to be out of your sight, not even for a single second. 

Silent Hill is like the Sacred Land for a lover of Survival Horror. You’ll be surrounded at all times by a thick fog that wouldn’t allow yo to see a damn thing until it’s REALLY and dangerously close to you. Monsters like the acclaimed Pyramid Head, and even worse, will chase you, scare you, give you shivers for weeks, and the worse part is that you will enjoy it... you know it...

On this game, my brother got the 'trying too hard' award, awarded by me, because he had no better idea than playing it at EARLY MORNING to enjoy it more! I even praised him for having that guts, I was on shock while preparing to sleep, watching him still in Silent Hill's hospital, with the gentleman up here chasing him...

or so I thought...

Days after starting the game, he asked me at 1 AM for help on that cursed game: he wanted me to get him out of an underground labyrinth where he was searching aimlesly for hours to reach the exit, while pyramid head was patroling the corridors. At first I contanied my laughts; not only because was early morning, but after having a look at the labyrinth...-dark with blood and flesh walls- I understood why even him was scared! I helped him outta there and in the end, helped him the rest of the game; while keeping on reading a book to keep my nerves under control, meanwhile he shooted the monsters down. 

This didn't stopped the game’s hability to be able to cast some more frights into us both, but I've never had to stand as hard as the title that comes next in this post.

CALL OF CTHULHU: DARK CORNERS OF EARTH

Again in Lovecraft's word, the main char is Detective Jack Walters. His adventure begins on September 6, 1915, he is summoned to a decrepit manor house in Boston, Massachusetts. The manor is inhabited by a small bizarre cult called the Fellowship of the Yith, led by Victor Holt, who has asked specifically for Walters to come and talk to him. Taking cover from an ensuing firefight, Jack finds himself separated from the police and trapped inside the mansion, with no option but to investigate. When the rest of the police finally break in, they find the cultists dead by mass suicide and Walters apparently insane. He is committed to Arkham sanatorium, where he stays for several years.

Six years later, Walters is released and becomes a private investigator. On February 6, 1922, he takes up a missing person case at Innsmouth (don't go there, buddy), a xenophobic coastal town, and the site of the recent disappearance of Brian Burnham, a clerk that had been sent there to establish a local store for the First National Grocery chain. Arriving in the isolated town, which appears to be depopulated and in a state of collapse, Jack unsuccessfully asks around for Brian. He stays the night at a hotel, where he barely escapes an assassination attempt and then flees from a chase by an armed mob.

Many puzzles and riddles to solve, and moments of runing in a "try to save your a$$ at any cost" style, yeah, you hitted Jackpot! Got to say, the game has an incredible environment sound, that is so goddamn good that, while my brother was playing it for the first time, I was on my computer, next to his, totally nervous, at the brink ot my self control; even more when he was at the part when Walters had to scape from the hotel while the monsters where trying to kill him, he got killed more than a dozen times, and the horrible sounds, the music and the screams were getting my nerves into even higher levels; I ended totally hysterical, to the point that I ended yelling at him and decided to help him to get out of that stage, looking at his screen while yelling "GO RIGHT, NOW GO FRONT AND JUMP, TAKE THAT DAMN STAIRS AT YOUR LEFT, THAT ONES YOU... DIDN’T YOU SAW IT BEFORE?!?! QUICKLY, GODDAMITT, RUUUUUUUUUN, DON'T YOU JUST STAY THERE LOOKING IF THEY GET CLOSE YOU IDIOT! YOU ARE WASTING TIME  JUST-RUUUUUUUN!" ...it. Was. Horrible.

My nerves could’t stand so much pressure if I try to play them myself; that’s why I can only watch other play this games and help anyway I can.

Come visit Illsmouth; it is well known for his exotic species.. yeah right...

Any time he asks me for my help in this game I always ends really nervous; the sewing cabinet ended punched a lot of times that week; damned loose door...

As I said; with things like that, is not like I lack courage to play this game genres, but I have plenty more of jitters and I usually get myself in mode "I first hit wathever it was and the I look at what has touched me", and is not recommendable. Not only for my sake, but for the furniture’s safety. Even so, they are interesting, most of them, and their plots are truly good, so I still keep and eye in many Survival Horror games to talk about them!

#Survival Horror #Shadow of the Comet #Resident Evil #Silent Hill #Call of Chtulhu #Dark Corners of Earth

[screenbehindthegamer]

Interesting Characters: Kain

Again, starring a char from Legacy of Kain series; we'll precisely talk about the main char: Kain.

Here he is:

(uhm... yeah, he's smiling for... the promotional poster... right...)

If you are not familiar with the universe, you will ask "who is this guy? I like his hair..." or something like that; but I doubt there is somebody who doesn't know who he is or the plot of his games. Ok, anyway, here I go.

Kain is the main character from the saga with his name. A human Noble once, turned into a vampire, Kain is destined to restore the Balance in Nosgoth and regain the control of the Pillars to their rightful owners, the vampire race. Hardest of tasks, indeed... He was born in Coorhagen, and choosen as the next guardian of the pillar of Balance at birth, a unknown destiny to him while human. When he was 30 years old, more or less, he was murderer and then resurrected by the guardian of the pillar of Death, Mortanius, offering him a chance for revenge, taking him back to live, but as a vampire. Searching for a cure for his vampire condition, he traveled to the pilars, where he met the ghost of the former Balance Guardian: Ariel. She ordered him to end the corruption of the Circle of Nine guardians that protected the nine pillars of Nosgoth. Not telling you much more, so I won't ruin you the plot completely to you if you want to play this incredible game.

Once he finished them, Ariel revealed to him that he was the new Balance guardian and that he should sacrifice too in order to restore de last pilar. Kain, now liking is vampire condition, decided not to do so, causing the pillars to colapse and choosing to rule Nosgoth as his rightful vampire heir.

Stoping here! Now my fave part: my crazyness and photos, haha.

"I'm looking for a cure for my vampirism!!" -

(...cure? when you are a hunk?! ARE YOU CRAZY?!)

Yeah, this is what Kain looked like when he was a young vampire; when they evolve they got different traits, that's something I always find pretty interesting from Nosgoth's vampires: they grow with different powers, as they get different weaknesses too.

Kain is an stubborn one; is hard to get him to see that others may be right and he usually drestroy all that he touches, mosf of the time for not listening to others when they are right and he isn't.

In the end he learn from his errors and will try to mend them.

(What was that?! you ARE NOT GOING TO BUY A LEGACY OF KAIN GAME?!?!)

All right, let's check some more images from him as a totally evolved vampire. As a young one he looks... ok, he looks pretty awesome, but as totally evolved he is outstanding!! (Admit it: you love to see this images even more than me XD or maybe not.)

Lass: stop looking at my crotch...

...and now: stop-looking at my a$$!! (ok, ok, sorry but, who can blame me?)

*Dries her drools*

OMG what a man! Legacy of Kain is not only a remarcable game for his intrigish and well planned plot, that leads you to and end that can almost make you cry and is so fascinating to see and discover how it reatches the climax of the story. It captivates you too for the design of their main chars and their deep personalities. The designs are original and striking; and not only Kain and Raziel, who are the most importan chars here. By the way, looking at Kain's back theres something that calls my attention specially (not only his butt, of course).

Being a macho kind, tall (surely 6′7 or close) and strong, look at his niveous and pretty long hair! so well cared and tied; he still is a noble and takes care of his good lookins. It is a pleasure to move him around the screen and see that gorgeous (body... AHEM) I mean... that gorgeous hair flowing thru the screen when he levitates. Who does not wanna hug that hair when sleep time?

As I said, this game has some of the most awesome designed male chars, like:

The uniqe Raziel

The lovely Janos Audron; the last Ancient Vampire.

With all that awesome guys, with their incredible voices, their personalities, their motivations, their goals, their stories, most of them so tall, handsome and EVERY SINGLE THING ABOUT THEM... this is a fair conclussion:

Legacy of Kain is impressive, is uniqe, every character is perfect!!!! I love this game!!!!

Enough for today. See you next time!

"You think yaoi fans will leave us in peace with this scene? - Of course not; they are expecting more..."

Images from http://lok.revan.us/index.htm

#Legacy of Kain #Kain #screenshots

[screenbehindthegamer]

I often play flash games that are really worthy, or simple, or just so additive that I think they deserve to be named when you talk about videogames.

This is a very relaxing one that is called

FLOW IN GAMES

And then you may ask, what is Flow in Games?

Flow (stylized as flOw) is an indie video game that was originally released as a free Flash game in 2006 and was reworked into a 2007 PlayStation 3 game by his development studio, Thatgamecompany. SuperVillain Studios released a PlayStation Portable version of the game in 2008. In Flow, the player navigates a series of 2D planes as an aquatic microorganism that evolves by consuming other microorganisms.

The Flash version of Flow received 100,000 downloads within its first two weeks of release, and had been played over 3.5 million times by 2008. Its PlayStation 3 re-release was the most downloaded game on the PlayStation Network in 2007, and won the Best Downloadable Game award at the 2008 Game Developers Choice Awards. Reviewers praised Flow's visual and audio appeal, but noted the simplicity of its gameplay; several considered it to be more of an art piece than a game.

For me, it was so relaxing that I could’nt help myself and spend and entire week playing Flow in the pc while I was on my free time

flash version

PS3 version

We'll take control of a small, multi-segmented worm-like-microscopical creature through an aquatic environment. No menu, no tutorial: the game will begin automatically. The game planes contains organisms of varying sizes; our creature automatically attempts to consume them when they are nearby. Most of these creatures are non-confrontational, and are composed of cells that increase the number of segments in the player's creature when eaten. All planes, except for the highest and lowest, contain two specially colored organisms that move the player's creature up or down one plane when touched.

Certain planes feature aggressive, multi-segmented creatures that perish when all of their segments are eaten by the player's creature; however, they can eat segments of the player's creature to regrow their own. These creatures release many cells upon death, which can restore the health of the player's creature, temporarily increase the size of its mouth, or cause it to sprout decorative protrusions. Players are not required to eat these or any other organisms; they may travel to higher or lower planes at any time. Being defeated by aggressive creatures does not result in death, but causes the player's creature to float to a higher plane. In the Flash version, the player can replay the game with a jellyfish-like organism by defeating an aggressive creature on the bottom plane. If the player reaches the bottom again, the creature there is their original worm-like creature, and defeating it starts the game over as that organism.

We'll hear pretty relaxing sounds each time we'll consume another creatures's parts, such sounds will give us more flowing sensations. Cute!

Simple and addictive.

In case you want to give it a chance, here is the link. Flow In Games

Oh the vice...

That's it for now! See ya!

#flash games #Flow #Flow in Games #Thatgamecompany #relaxing

[screenbehindthegamer]

Interesting Characters: Raziel

Well, as I said before, not only I will talk about my favourite games, flash games and genres. I will talk too about interesting characters! and this one is a very special one for me, cuz he's awesome, original and uniqe.

He is RAZIEL, from LEGACY OF KAIN series ((c) Eidos & Crystal Dinamics)

The honoree (How is it possible to be so hunk when he lacks all that meat on his body?!)

(WARNING: may be some spoilers, (or at this point I don’t think so, but just in case) so if you want to play Legacy of Kain series, go get it right now, and then come again to read this article ;D)

Raziel was the right hand of the main char of Legacy of Kain: the vampire King, Kain. He is his firstborn child and his favourite, the most powerful, the bravest and most loyal of his six sons. (And to be honest... the most handsome one.) He begins his own story on Soul Reaver saga from the series, explaining that on Nosgoth, vampires evolve in some peculiar and different ways, always after their sire had evolved first. It seemed that, by unknown reasons, Raziel evolved before his master, growing an elegant and majestic pair of wings. Aparently moved by envy (but in the end far away from it), Kain ripped the bones of his wings, leaving only their skin dangling from his back and ordered his other sons to throw him into The Abyss; a deep whirlpool that supposedly conects with the otherworld, where he was sentenced to burn alive for a millenium (Nosgoth vampires cannot stand water; is like lava for them). He reached the bottom of the Abyss, where he was rescued by an entity called The Elder God (who resembles a multi-eyed tentacled horrible squid monster... nice sushi he would do...), giving Raziel the chance for revenge against his brothers and Kain, changing him and his apetite for blood for a hunger for souls: he became a reaver of souls, at the service of the Elder God.

Armed with the ability to shift between the Material Realm and the Spectral Real, Raziel escaped from the Abyss in search of his corrupted brothers, gaining their abilities and becoming even stronger. (He gained the ability to stand water, climb walls and many others...) On his first reencounter with his former master Kain, the vampire seemed pleased to see him again and tried to defeat Raziel with the legendary Soul Reaver; the sword that fed on his enemies's blood and lastly devoured their souls, but the sword broke when it hit Raziel and it's within spirit scaped from the sword and joined Raziel, turning into his simbiotic weapon, eternally attached to him. The spectral sword manifest on his right arm and retains the ability to fed on souls, like him. So then, armed with the Soul Reaver, he continued his quest in search for answers for his many many questions...

Aaand enough with the 'spoilers' or the 'story'; another day I'll talk about Kain. From now, I will move to the part I like the most:

Raziel, of course.

Honest: this game has a lot of fanservice for us girls! (We too enjoy action games, you know?)

His change is awesome... from the handsome dark vampire with golden gaze to the poor creepy and demonic-skeletikal-like soul reaver... (and he still has some hot on him!! How does he do it?!)

Compared with his vampire former self, Raziel is just a shadow of his glorious past form (something that haunts him constantly), nevertheless even more powerful and stronger and limber at the same time, getting out (sometimes in the brink of situation) from the worst of the fights. He resembles so much a zombie: no skin (flesh became weirdly blue), his ribcage and backbone are at sight, lacks his internal organs... and his mandible fell out while in the Abbyss (explain to me: how it is that he is still hot?! I know, I'm sick (me and the rest of his fangirls, of course, ha ha ha)), that's why he uses what it was his cloack as Clan Leader as a Mask. (And it really looks well on him.)

Great; he resembles Nightcrawler and then they draw him in that pose... what's with me, to be attracted to blue guys with black hair and three-fingered hands? (No complains here, of course)

Even in this pitiful form, he is still really strong and his combat skills have improved after becoming so light and lacking stomach, he became faster, limber and resilient and is able to dodge more easily, besides he can stretch was left of his wings with his arms to glide a little, so he can reach some innacessible points.

Concept art of Raziel's reaver form (look at that gorgeous a$$!(I don’t mind if I’m sick!!))

About his personality... he is totally a character! (gives me the hots...), he has and extrange impatient patience, a little (too much) badass behaviour because he is almost permanently upset with everything and even when he is generally distrustful he is usually as gullible as incredulous, specially incredulous, the reason? he is often being manipulated, so is not strange that sometimes he is so confused that he can be upset to the ones that tells him the truth or are trying to help him.

On the other side, he is brave and noble, never gives up on what he must do, is protective with what he thinks is precious to him or with people he wants to protect, and is really sad with the destiny he knows it's awaiting for him. But he knows when he has done a mistake and does everything in his hand to amend things and say 'sorry'. (Oh my, he got me crazy *drools*)

Well, what more can I tell you about this peculiar anti-hero? GO GET SOUL REAVER 1 AND 2, the story is a little criptic and enigmatic, but is a really original one! as much as sad, but REALLY good. Besides, the main char is not a typical one: he goes from the handsomest guy that had everything to a poor soul that has lots and lots of problems, always ends in the worse situations ever and he was left physically a shame and all the hardest trials are for him. Cuz he has a really heavy burden on his shoulders.

Look at him, is impossible not to love him!!

See ya on next post!

Raziel (c) Eidos & Crystal Dinamics

#Raziel #Legacy of Kain #Eidos #Crystal Dinamics #screenshots #concept art #Interesting Characters #video games

[screenbehindthegamer]

Today I'm talking about a wonderful game that received positive reviews, but was not a commercial hit, its release coinciding with the mid-1990s decline of adventure games that also caused the failure of other critically acclaimed games such as Grim Fandando (another great one).

The Neverhood

Somethin's nae right about this place.

What I admired the most the first time I saw this game is that is entirely made of plasticine. According with the official info "Doug TenNapel came up with the idea of a plasticine world in 1988, creating approximately 17 structures. (Holy Primus!)When TenNapel left Shiny Entertainment in 1995, two weeks later he announced at E3 that he started his own company The Neverhood, Inc., which consisted of a number of men who worked on Earthworm Jim 1 and 2. (Wich explains some of the aesthetic of the main char and some gestures as well.) Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks Interactive, which just started in that time, needed fresh and unusual projects, and TenNapel approached Spielberg with the idea of claymation game, with Spielberg accepting it for publication. The Neverhood, Inc. made a deal with DreamWorks Interactive and Microsoft, and the game went for development. After a year of work, The Neverhood was finally released to the public in 1996. The game elements were shot entirely on beta versions of the Minolta RD-175, making The Neverhood the first stop motion production to use consumer digital cameras for professional use."

Quite interestin' really! Earthworm Jim, uh? Now I know why the main char, Klaymen, body reminded me of something, and I love it.

I feel sad because this game wasn't a hit, because is good; really good, and so funny you cannot imagine:

Gameplay is a point-and-click style, with the difference in the inventory: it is inside Klaymen, literally; he clicks a button on his chest and then he'll keep it on his body until you find some place for the object, making most of the puzzles easy to beat, but not all of them; you'll have to check details and find clues to solve some others.

Musical puzzle!! One of my faves. (I still remember how many water spits goes in every pipe.)

The plot involves Klaymen waking up in a surreal world of clay, without knowing who or where he is and what he is supposed to do. While traveling through the Neverhood, sometimes on first view and some others on 3rd. Searching for the weird Willie Trombone, who is the one that is sending letters to aid Klaymen and tell him what he has to do, we'll find the wackiest situations and will have to solve them in order to find Willie.

Klaymen will need to fire a cannon, complete a bridge, make a copy of himself made of TNT... and lots and lots of funny random things.

The Soundtrack is funny as hell, it was composed and performed by Daniel Amos frontman Terry Scott Taylor and went on to win GMR Magazine's "Best Game Music of the Year" award. Tom Clancy's video game composer Bill Brown called The Neverhood Soundtrack, "The Best of any of them (video game soundtracks).

Plus, there is only one place in all the entire game where Klaymen can die, and fortunately is well indicated (by a giant sign warning about the danger!).

He got it right... DANGER!

What else can I say about this game? Is just awesome! If you ever had the chance to play, give it a try, don't hesitate!

See you and eat your veggies!

#The Neverhood #Klaymen

[screenbehindthegamer]

This time, I'll talk about one of the best sagas I have ever played: Thief, a game with 3 tittles of his own (4 right now) and for me one of the most original games for his plot. Ready?

Garrett watching the City.

Thief places us in the skin of Garrett, and like the tittle says he is a thief, but not any regular thief; he is the best one that ever lived. Rarely seen and never caught by the citywatch, Garrett rests at day and when the night comes he goes into the streets of the dark necropolis know just by the name of 'the City' (not so original, but doesn't matter when our job is only to take all possible wealth at sight, right?), to fill his pockets. But, what else can we say about him, appart from being just a thief?

About his past, Garrett was just a kid without parents or a home that used to roam the streets pickpocketing people to survive. One day, he saw a man dressed with a cloak that nobody seemed to see except him, so he decided to follow him and try his luck on making the stranger’s pockets lighter. Suddendly, the man caught him and told Garret he got talent because is not easy to see a Keeper, specially one that not wanted to be seen, so he brought him to the Keeper Library and trained him in the art of the Unseen.

The Keepers are an ancient order of expert observers, dedicated to preserving balance in the world. Garrett, instead of becoming one of his acolytes, decided to use his train in the art of the unseen for his own purposes. Nevertheless, his acts always drag him to help them; because he has a remarcable place in Keeper's prophecies, so they always try to recruit him again to avoid a dark future, Garrett, sometimes, doesn't know were he gets the patience to accept their requests.

The City is divied in various places, from the poorest zones to the richest ones, I recommend to, before a mission, to explore a little by yourself and memorize the streets; seriously I got lost many times on Thief 1 and 2. In my opinion: the maps are all a MESS. The ambient of the City is dark medieval, with steampunk traces in some places.

From this point, I'll say that I will mostly talk about the 3rd game of the saga, cuz as I said is the one I play the most and my favourite. (I just played once the other two games. I had so much fun, but I got myself lost maaany times!!)

-No taffer scapes in my watch... Ha! (Flowers for the widow...)

(Just promo-concept art. Garrett is a professional thief and he doesn’t kill the guards. He usually knock them off.)

Being in Garrett's skin during the game is really awesome and exciting: opening locks, knocking down people, sneaking past the guards without being seen or heard, and then you go to the black market to sell all the stolen stuff. Note to say, again: is curious how Garrett usually preffers to knock people or blind them temporarily instead of killing them; he is truly a professional. But things are not easy for our anti-hero, not only for the fact that the city watch are the ones who can recognize him and will try to kill him, but also, soon or later he will have to meet some other factions or allies or enemies, like:

Hammers The Order of the Hammer, also know as Hammerites (or HammerHeads if you are in the mood for some paganite mocking) is a technocratic religious group, they seek to carry out the vision of the Master Builder, their architect god, and are the burning force of progress in the Thief world. They represent order and orthodox religion and zealously enforce the tenets of their faith. Plus, they are armed with a seriously big hammer that can crush backbones to kindling. They will do serious stuff to tip the scales in their favor; even asking some favors to a famous thief, who will end begging sarcastically to everyone to be left alone.

Pagans The Folk o' the Woodsie or commonly called Pagans; a term they've been known to call themselves, represent the human faction aligned with the forces of nature and chaos in the Thief world. They are primitive humans and beasts who promote nature and chaos at the expense of technological and environmentally-destructive progress. The shamans, warriors and humanoid beast members of the Pagan people pray to the Trickster, whom they most often call the Woodsie Lord, an ancient god of nature and chaos. Like the Hammers, they will ask Garrett for favors too, like if he didn't have enough problems already.

Hammers and Pagans are, logically, EXTREMELY against the other, but will never ask Garrett for help them if they are fighting in the streets. He may be an ally but is not an idiot neither. And he has so much to steal!

Besides, the wanted thief has not only the city watch to avoid (peasants will never say anything, unless he is caught picking a lock or stealing), there are some supernatural creatures like:

Beast men In any shape and size, big and noisy creatures that roam in the underworld searching for human prey. Many explorers wouldn't dare to say exactly if they are hungry or are just guarding their territory, but bite me if there are enough brave ones there to go and find out.

Zombies Brainless enemies that can not be excluded from any dark good game. Invulnerable to certaint attacks, they will not hesitate to run in an attemp to catch anyone that they will not recognize as any of them and kill it (still dunno if it's for territorial issues or because they cannot go like regular people to the fruit market). Vulnerable to holly water and fire, they can be found in the ruins or ghost ships.

The deeper and hidden abysses of the City rarely have guards (I’m sure they must know there are monsters...) and are usually full of unimaginable horros that could scare the sh*t outta Freddy Krugger himself. Is not hard to think that, even it he is the best, is no good for Garrett to frequent that places without a quiver full of arrows and more usefull items in his pockets.

It is not polite to listen to other people's chats, but... it’s hella funny.

During the missions, the master thief will make use of his awesome arsenal of arrows, bombs and more items that will make things easy:

Arrows

(Broadhead): (Rarely used by me) Point them to the head or chest of your opponent if he's unaware of you and shot. Angels straight to heaven.

(Noisemaker): Not for combat, they are the perfect diversion. Shot it far away from the door that annoying guard is to send him to investigate the noises; then we sneak past him. Take that, moron.

(Water): Not combat either, they are good to light out a torch in order to create more shadows for us to move and hide. Pointing one to a blood puddle will totally clean it, so no clues either. Nor even CSI could catch him like that, ha ha.

(Fire): Yeah, a combat one. They explode at impact and if used on a puddle of oi it will give us a fire wall. Disadvantage: they are great for some combats, but if you shot them really near from you, they will make a lot of damage on Garret, and while you wait for the perfect time to shot, their intense light will reveal your position even in the thickest shadow. Aww crap...

(Moss): You got it, not combat neither. They cover the floor on moss, like metal plated ones, letting us the chance to run without making any noise that will reveal us. But they have a plus: shoot them on the face of an enemy, and they will choke for some seconds with the moss, until recovering. It’s really funny.

(Gas): Combat; releases a cloud of sleeping gas that will let unconscious even the biggest enemy. Aim always to the face, or the result may not be the desired one.

Hand weapons

(Blackjack): a club that will be useful to send down to sleep civilians or hostiles, unharmed; only if they are not aware of Garrett's presence. Don't forget to hide the body, of others could notice and they will all be on alert and searching for us.

(Dagger): is a small knife that can kill enemies with one backstab; but he will scream and alert nearvy strollers. Can be used too in a sword fight.

Items

(Flash bomb): is a harmless explosive, that temporarily blinds and deafens nearby beings when thrown. Can be used too to harm zombies, but you will need a lot to kill them.

(Gas bomb): a noxious explosive, that instantly knocks out nearby beings. (I usually end with lot of it, cuz I preffer to sneak behind them and use the blackjack, in case I'll need the gas bomb for latter.)

(Health potion): I don't think this one needs explanation or my opinion at all, hahaha.

(Explosive mine): an explosive that detonates when steppedon or when shot with a Broadhead Arrow. Put it in the floor and when the light turns red, run away from it!

(Holy water flask): a bottle of holy water that kills undead on contact. Can be thrown to the floor to create a puddle that will block their way; but it will not last so much.

(Oil flask): a bottle of oil, that creates a puddle of slippery oil when thrown. Use a fire arrow on it and you will have roasted guards for dinner! mmmh smells like bacon. (I usually don't use them, except if I'm waiting for somebody to pass and I'm a little bored; is really funny to hear and see them while skating in the street before falling.)

I knew I shoulda taken that left turn at the Market.

Thief improved equipment (Garrett is serious stuff)

(Lockpick): To pick locks wich keys are not in your possession. (Deadly Shadows is the only one that has his own system for this, it takes two or three doors to get the hang on it.)

(Wall climbing gloves): leather gloves that will help us climb stone or brick walls. (If you end singing the theme of Spiderman meanwhile, be my guest.)

(Mechanical Eye): After losing his natural eye during the most pivotal point of The Dark Project, Garrett sees with a mechanical eye, a piece of Mechanist technology given to him by the Hammerites. The mechanical eye incorporates a zoom lens.

(Keeper door Glyph): Invisible to non-Keepers, these glyphs serve as a way to get around the City without being seen. Occasionally, the glyph serves as a door to a hiding spot, other times the glyph is set to bypass gates and barricades.

For me, the worse in this game is the (damned) map; that is usually more like an incomprensible hieroglyph... if not for the compass, you could be really lost! After playing twice the game I memorized the missions and the zones, so that I do no need to rely on the map.

Garrett's favourite lullaby: the blackjack's 'KNOCK'

Ok, last notes: I have to say that I adore the game for the ambient, plot and gameplay; for me is a miracle because I don't usually like first person games really much. Have to say, the ambient is really perfect, it can make you tremble in fear even after more than ten times playing it. The missions are very well planned (objectives are separated on total loot you must steal, what you must find or do and sometimes secondary goals); and of course there are a few surprises and plot twists that will put your world upside down. This game has no spanish patch or version so if you are like me, spanish, I recommend to play it with the subtitles; besides you will have more fun, because Garrett is a sarcastic pal and some of his comments are pure gold.

I adore this character. Garrett is cynical, sarcastic, has a strong sense of survival and looks like a self-interest person. But, he is too loyal to a very few, refuses ever to kill, saying that he’s no murderer but a thief (according to Thief canon, he has never killed anyone human; so if you play the game on the hardest difficulty, one of your goals is to NOT KILL ANY PERSON.). And anti-hero you’ll end liking.

Thief (c) Eidos

Please, more games like this!

#Thief #Garrett #The Dark Project #The Metal Age #Deadly Shadows

[screenbehindthegamer]

 Still talking about PAC adventures, am I not? Guess I still like them that much.

Today, I'm going to talk about the first fantasy saga I played and is still one of the top one of my personal list of point and click:

The Legend of Kyrandia

This is a wonderful fantasy point-and-click adventure game trilogy that takes us to the magical island of Kyrandia; that is full of mages, fantasy creatures and of course it burst with mysteries, quests, lots of magic and comedy.

As a trilogy, this saga is divided on three books:

-Book One, also called Fables & Fiends -Book Two: Hand of Fate (my favourite! I have to dedicate it an entire post.) and -Book Three: Malcolm's Revenge (probably the most wacky of the trilogy.)

One feature that make them different from other adventure games like Monkey Island or Maniac Mansion, is that the game's interface does not use verbs for actions. You know, the classical "walk" and point a road, or "talk" and point to a guard to ask him for directions. Also, each book uses the perspective of a different character. In the first book we will take control of a young man called Brandon, while in the second it will be Zanthia, a royal mystic, who will be the main char, and finally, the third and final book, will be about Malcolm, the evil court jester who (SPOILER ALERT if you are planning to give them a round) was previously the main antagonist. Gasp!

So, interested? not yet? then let's take a peek on the games plots!

The Legend of Kyrandia. Book 1.

(More than a jester it looks like an stalker *shivers*)

In the fantastic kingdom of Kyrandia, King William and his wife, Queen Katherine, have been murdered by the evil court jester Malcolm, a madman who possesses vast magical powers. Brandon, the prince, has been hidden in the forest by his grandfather (Queen Katherine's father) Kallak, who is also chief of the Mystics.

Malcolm has fun destroying trees of the country, and faces Kallak, turning him into stone. Brandon, oblivious of his past, soon discovers the truth about his origins. He finds out that Malcolm has stolen the Kyragem, a mystic stone that contains the kingdom's energy. Brandon has to recover the Kyragem and defeat Malcolm! In the tradition of adventure game heroes, Brandon is depicted as well-meaning, but not particularly bright. We have so much comedy ahead with his comments and to figure by ourselves how to solve the puzzles and to use the magic and our brains.

We'll see pretty backgrounds and scenarios, and will laught about things like seeing lots and lots of eyes appearing in the darkness if we forget some light in the caves. Oh, we will laught... until Brandon screams in agony... be careful in your journey! It can end at any time if you are not alert.

(Please Brandon: that’s a STATUE, stop askin’ her for a date!!)

Let's move to the next book, that is not only my favourite; it also features as main char a person who helped Brandon in the first game and for me it was an inspiration to female heroine role:

The Legend of Kyrandia, Book 2: Hand of Fate

(Can you believe I thought the first time that that bridge was the Bifrost?...)

At the start of the game, we will be informed that KYRANDIA IS DISAPPEARING!! Rock by rock and tree by tree, the island is slowly fading to nothing.The Royal Mystics from the Kingdom hold a meeting to discover what is happening and how stop it so the island can be restored. During the council, a giant hand glove that act as the assistant of one of the youngest mystics, Marko, tells them that the key is to retrieve a magic anchor stone that lies in the center of the world. The chosen one for this task is no other than Zanthia, also one of the youngest but one with loads of talent.

Starting her quest, she will discover that her spells book and cauldron has been stolen! so she will have to endure a looong journey to the center of the world, using her brain and -as she call them- infantile-like potions spells to reach her goals.

Unlike Brandon; who was not really bright and a little goofy about some things, Zanthia is described as perhaps the sanest of Kyrandia's inhabitants, her personality is witty, confident, and level-headed. And for once, she is not the damsel in distress of the game! Instead, during the game, she will eventually have to save her friend Marko who will be in distress most of the time while trying to convice her to let him help in her quest.

Also, she is one of the few female protagonists that fully dresses without showing so much and even she will change a lot of times her clothes during the journey, all of them usually matching the environment. So we will see her in a red dress while in a volcanic island, on winter clothing while in the snow... that kind of things!

A good example for a heroine: cool clothes, strong personality and she have to save her boyfriend in distress almost in every location she travels to. She is one of the best! (No doubt why I chose her name as my nickname when I started playing games!)

But she will have to endure some weird situations as well...

(That yeti has an exquisite taste to decorate his cave.)

And finally, let's move to the final game of the Thrylogy:

The Legend of Kyrandia, Book 3: Malcolm's Revenge

(Cannot guess what is he thinking... don't wanna know it either...)

After Malcolm's defeat against Brandon in the first game, Malcolm had been turned into a statue, but after having been struck by lightning, he was liberated from the spell. Malcolm then decides to take his revenge upon Brandon and Kallak, helped by his evil conscience, Gunther. Even though he lost his powerful magic, Malcolm decides to use his malicious wit and cunning to go through with his revenge. He eventually assures that he is innocent of the murder of Brandon's parents. Will he be able to prove it? mmmh...

As I said before, this is the most wacky, at least for me, of Kyrandia games. And the main character? cannot be more different than the other two: Malcolm is a mean-spirited, sarcastic, and slightly deranged jester who commands incredibly powerful magic. A jewell... don't you wanna marry him? yuck.... He is also the cousin of the late King of Kyrandia, and widely believed to be the murderer of the royal family. At the end of the first game, Malcolm is defeated by Brandon, who reflects his own magic back at him and turns him into stone. In the third game, Malcolm is freed by a bolt of lightning, but loses his magical powers, forcing him to rely on his wits to survive, get his revenge and ultimately clear his name.

During the game, you will have to decide how you will command Malcolm to do all sort of things and the chats with other characters using his evil conscience, Gunther, or his good conscience, Stewart. Be careful with the choises! He will travel too across lots of extrange places, like an island full of cats, wich fleas that will devour Malcolm if he don't take the proper measures, and he will even reach the end of the world, that will be no other than a big waterfall where you will have to do the weirdest of things to get out while having much fun!

(Outtamawayyyyyy!!)

And I'm afraid I have nothing more to say about this wonderful trilogy (by the moment). Just that, if you have the chance and a good emulator for PC, try it at least once. You'll have no regrets!!

#video games #Point and Click #Kyrandia #Legend of Kyrandia #Fables and Friends #Hand of Fate #Malcolm's Revenge #Brandon #Zanthia #Malcolm the Jester

[screenbehindthegamer]

When I was a child, I fell in love with adventure games. Oh my dear graphic adventures... It was awesome to see that, with imagination and sometimes a good sense of humor, you can find the solution to continue your path. I started playing point and click adventures and on present day I still enjoy them, as in playing new ones, or some classis again with some help from an Emulator por PC or by playing some flash games that are as good as the old ones.

One of my first Point and Click adventures was one of the craziest, funniest and original games I've ever seen, and it goes by the names of one of the greatest pair in history:

Sam & Max

(No innocent creature was harmed during the recording, honest)

The mission was about to find a lost yeti for a circus. Easy? no way! they had to travel accross the United States to find lots and lots of weird things to help them in their quest. Sam and Max, the Freelance Police, were created by Steve Purcell as characters of his comics, and they are the most crazy detectives you'll ever see. As in their comics, they have to disguise temselves, visit the most extrange places and use the more unexpected tools to surprise us and make us laugh.

For me, just awesome! I adore this two since ever, and I was happy to hear about their new 3D games by Telltale. I'll talk about them next time, by the moment I'll move into the next game.

As I said, this was just one of the many adventures Point and Click I played, next one is another classic, and a really good one, as crazy as original as the dog and rabbit I've just talked about:

Day ot the Tentacle

(I would feel ashamed if I could not outrun a tentacle...)

By the hand of the always incredible Tim Schafer, we find three unusual friends who have to stop a tentacle, yes a tentacle! from taking over the world. Oh my... this is gonna be good. Who would ever think in a plot such like this?! Is just brilliant, so unusual and strange...One of the things I love from Tim Schafer.

In this game, you have to alternate between past, present and future to help the trio to stop the purple tentacle and his evil plot to conquer us all -and that without a ring...- and revert the effects of the machine that started the problem. Once again, weird methods to achieve their goals, lots of humor and a hunger for more adventures like this!

And to finish this entry, I will talk about another one, but this time is an adventure that is less crazy, more fantastic and, for me, a really lovely one:

Loom

(I used to play with threads in a similar way, but sadly I never managed to make them shine)

This incredible baby was more serious compared with other LucasArts titles. Loom is the story of a world divided on four Guilds, and our main character is Bobbin Threadbare, an apprentice from the Guild of the Weavers. We'll have to guide Bobbin through the game, using his ability to 'weave' spells; for us, musical notes that, when they are played correctly, will cast the spell. We will have to solve puzzles, interact with other characters and use our inventory wisely; all of this accompanied with a music that will remind us from Swan Lake, by Tchaikovsky.

An incredible story, a wonderful plot and an interesting end. For a game that is old, is still one of the top ones.

Next time, I'll try to talk just about one game, promise!

And maybe, it will be another Point and Click ;D who knows!

See you!

#Graphic Adventure #Sam & Max #Day of the Tentacle #Loom #Steve Purcell #LucasArts #Tim Schaffer #Point and Click

[screenbehindthegamer]

Hello there, I've decided I will start talking about my favourite games, genres, games I would like to play or I simply like without playing it -sometimes I preffer to see others play while I help with details- or things I like/don't like in some games. Even I'll dare to talk about games I don't like at all. So let's start about my first games!

First, first... I cannot exactly say, I remember playing 'Pong' in the TV with my brother and other games of the first generation of consoles. But I could say that I started playing 'seriously' with the Game Boy and a SEGA megadrive.

In the Game Boy I used to play lots and lots of puzzle-like games, -appart from Tetris- like the classic Sokoban (Warehouse keeper) , where you had to move boxes to certain points in a warehouse. So simple, yet, so adictive!

(Why the 'Tetris main theme' usually plays in my head when I have to rearrange things?)

Honest, I ended sooo much addicted that, when I obtained a megadrive emulator for PC, I spent nine months working on the last puzzle! 6 Months to find how to not block the path with the boxes and 3 months to arrange them! My father awarded me the ‘Keep on until your head almost explodes’ trophy... I know I'm a little TOO GAMER sometimes but... pride, pride, pride... never good, really... but fun...

My preference over puzzle games helped a lot so I actually, even when I preffer them, helps me to solve the puzzles you can find in some adventure games, that I love too. I'm usually called by my brother to help him solve that situations when he's stuck on a puzzle in a game; I'll talk about that games in other post, cuz there are very interesting titles that are worthwhile to give a try, in old and new games, of course.

There where other titles like 'Puzzle Road' or 'Pitman/Catrap', or even the great 'SuperMarioLand' that I used to play a lot when the GameBoy was the main char in the streets. And it was in that years that I started to play adventures too and accepted that, not only puzzle games was cool for me. That's the time when I feel in love with Castlevania series. First one I played was 'Castlevania Adventure'.

(First vampire I fighted in my life, and using a whip instead of a stake... cool.)

Ok, it was not as easy or quick to move as SuperMario, but Christopher Belmont was armed with a whip, his faith, the destiny of his family to ever fight Dracula... and the first time I memorized a game's SoundTrack for his awesomeness! Battle of the Holy, the theme of the first stage and totally addictive for me. And the game was not as easy at it could look, Belmont's jumps were THE WORST and endless times I fell to a pit in the second stage until I managed to beat it and continue the game! But in the end, it was ME!... I mean, Christopher who laught the last, cuz he defeated Dracula! and then I heard that he would return in another game. The more the better!

The story continued on Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge, I almost worshiped the cover of the game when I buyed it as a child.

(Oh yeah, come to momma...)

Wow, I cannot recall exactly how happy I was to finally have this wonderful game, that not only promised a really fun time fighting Dracula's hordes, but good music too. The story? Christopher's son dissapeared and four castles appeared. Knowing that Dracula is surely the shadow beneath all of this, is time to expore them and find his son.

The game was a success for me: not only I liked very much the castles, but the soundtrack was WONDERFUL, and with the proper password you had access to it if you wanted to just enjoy it without having to fight lots of monsters that won't let you hear anything but your own complains for them. One of the tracks was the awesome piece of classical music 'Chromatische Fantasie' from the talented Johann Sebastian Bach, that resulted in an awesome theme for a boss fight that had me yelling at the boss for hours until I managed to defeat it! For me, impressive.

Well, I think that's enough for now. I hope you are not bored and have a nice time!

See you!

(Castlevania (c) Konami)

#Game boy #Castlevania #Sokoban #video games