Review - Hazen: The Dark Whispers PC Game

Hazen: The Dark Whispers (PC Game)

 
















Minimum Requirements:
CPU:    Intel Pentium 4 2.0 GHz/AMD Athlon SSE2
RAM:    1 GB RAM (1.5 GB for Vista)       
VGA:    128 MB with Pixel Shader 2.0
Direct X version 9.0       
OS:      Windows Vista or Windows XP SP2       
HDD:    3 GB    
Sound:  DirectX compatible sound card

Recommended:
CPU:    Intel Core 2 Duo/AMD Athlon X2 family
RAM:    2 GB RAM (3 GB for Vista)
VGA:    NVIDIA 8800/ATI 3850 (512 MB)
OS:      Windows Vista or Windows XP SP2
HDD:    4 GB 

Hazen is a Diablo clone with some noticable differences.  

First off, it saves it exactly where you left off.  This is important and addressed to all game designers who will be designing games from this day forward: Stop putting us fucking back at the beginning when we save!  It was a quantum leap forward when you could boot up a game and not be back at the inn (like in the Wizardry games of the early 1980s).  With Diablo II, Dungeon Siege II, and other games, the designers decided that if you saved it, it would throw you back in town.  What's more, the monsters would respawn, so you'd have to fight your way back through again, possibly at reduced effectiveness with broken items and lost hit points or attributes, etc.  Apparently the game designers' dump stat was Wisdom.  In Hazen, if you're in the middle of a bridge fighting skeletons, if you save it, you'll be right where you expected to be, in the middle of a bridge fighting skeletons.  Wow!  What a concept!

The skills are not restricted to character classes.  As interesting as these classes are in the Diablo series, Hazen pretty much lets you learn any skill, the only restrictions being level.  While I don't care too much for the level limit theory, I like more open-ended skill systems.  The skills sound kinda cool too, with evocative names like Deathbringer and Evoke Guardian.

The manual leaves A LOT to be desired.  It's fucking thin.  It's got a spot to show off the interface (including a topic heading by that name), but its blank.  Fortunately, the interface is fairly straightforward, but I would have liked some explanation of hotkeys, at least, and maybe a map to go along with the descriptions of the areas I'm supposed to go to.  The in-game automap seems fairly sparse and next to useless.  

The fighting is fairly simple.  Just click on enemies until you or they are dead.  Right-click on items, and left click on items in the game world.  Quest areas often have a floating question mark over them, and so do quest givers.  The journal lets you know when to head back to town, but you have to read it to find this info.

The graphics aren't exactly light years ahead of their time.  They're fun, with the particle effects, ripples in the water, and reflections you'd expect to see, but some landscape items are cartoonish -- which is okay.  The graphics and sound pretty much let you know what's going on.

Here I come, charging against the Death Cows of the Wild Frontier!  Whee!

If there was one thing I could wish for it would be something more like Divine Divinity.  If you're going to make a Diablo clone, maybe have a huge well-thought out storyline behind it.

I think that's something that we as Game Masters and Players can take away from this, as well.  That window dressing is all fine and good, but what engages us most is a compelling story.  A story isn't just something that breaks up endless hordes of monsters to fight, it engages us, challenges us, and inspires us.  At least it does me.  Fantastically well-played characters, successful adventures, layers of plot peeled back, and like an onion, there's always more to peel.  At the end of a day of gaming, what makes you feel good?

I Write Like H.P. Lovecraft

Odd, I always thought of myself as more like Hunter S. Thompson, but there you have it. When I was younger, that would have sent me into an ecstatic state for months.

You can find the analyzer over at I Write Like

Review : Blind Guardian -- At the Edge of Time

Blind Guardian - At the Edge of Time (2010)

   1. Sacred Worlds - 9:17
   2. Tanelorn (Into the Void) - 5:58
   3. Road of No Release - 6:30
   4. Ride into Obsession - 4:46
   5. Curse My Name - 5:52
   6. Valkyries - 6:38
   7. Control the Divine - 5:26
   8. War of the Thrones - 4:55
   9. A Voice in the Dark - 5:41
  10. Wheel of Time - 8:55 

The last few years have been barren ones for Blind Guardian fans.  In 2006, they released A Twist in the Myth; while there were a few standout tracks, it was quite a departure in sound, particularly in tracks like Fly and Otherland.  It felt overproduced to me, and lacking in energy and inspiration.  Its predecessor, A Night at the Opera, was a much finer album, in my opinion.

Now it's 2010, four years since A Twist in the Myth.  I've been waiting for this album for ages, listening to the 30-second samples on Blind-Guardian.com, monitoring YouTube for videos and finding not one, but two of 'em in HD!  It's hard to contain my elation.  Once I finally unwrap the thing, I give it a spin.

I have to admit, I didn't expect much after ATITM, but I was blown away.  The opener is Sacred Worlds, written by Blind Guardian for the video game Sacred 2: Fallen Angel, and it starts out with a symphonic score.  The score builds in energy and urgency, with occasional flashes of epic.  But it isn't until 1:26 that we finally enter the song with an energetic and insistent guitar.  The song proceeds with Hansi Kürsch in fine form, with a particular epic part at 6:26:  "My eyes are the eyes of a dead man/I feel the unholy stream/The source of my power/T-Energy/I'm in control!"  The song outros with a symphonic score increasing in calmness eventually fading to silence once more.

The next track is Tanelorn (Into the Void), which is the second song they've done concerning Michael Moorcock's Eternal City from The Elric Saga and other works.  This song takes BG back to their speed metal roots, as it hits you hard and never relents, with the classic Blind Guardian epic chorus we've come to expect since Nightfall on Middle Earth. 

After Tanelorn is Road of No Release, based on The Innkeeper's Song, by Peter S. Beagle.  It starts with a piano riff, and then a military march, and then Hansi's clean vocals begin.  Each verse is told from a different perspective, the different characters in the story.  It drags a bit, but there are times where I love it.

The fourth track is Ride Into Obsession, with lightning fast riffs and Hansi's amazing voice carrying it.  This song is based on Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series.

Track 5 is Curse My Name, which fits in nicely with their other medieval-styled ballads, such as The Bard's Song, A Past and Future Secret and Skalds and Shadows.  With songs like these they re-establish themselves as traveling bards.  Another fantastic track, with a serious and dark chorus: "Let them call me a tyrant so cruel/Let them Curse My Name but remember the truth!"  Curse My Name is based on a political tract by John Milton.  In the book, he claims that kings who fail to carry out their duties should be killed.    

Next comes Valkyries.  It starts slow, then builds to a metal crescendo, and from there we have the familiar layered vocals and Blind Guardian chorus.  It has a definite catchy melody.  It has its basis in Norse Mythology and references the Valkyries, warrior maidens on winged horses who appear after a battle.   They carry those who fought with honor and valor to a great Feasting Hall in the Afterlife, Valhalla.  

After Valkyries comes Control the Divine, about Lucifer in Milton's Paradise Lost and his motives and feelings.  It starts with an epic riff and continues with a pounding rhythm reminiscent of thundering destriers.  "How can we take it away from someone who has no right/No right to Control the Divine?"

The eighth track is War of the Thrones, inspired by the series A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin.  It has a strange dichotomy to it, where the verses are melancholy and slow, and the refrain is more upbeat.  It refers to the war between the different noble houses over the throne and the vast Wall of Ice at the northern border that separates the men of Westeros from savages and horrors.  Unfortunately it gets a tad repetitive, and doesn't quite match the rest of the album.  It is not one of my favorites.

Track 9 is A Voice in the Dark, and it returns to the melodic thrash they perfected on Imaginations from the Other Side.  Technically perfect, energetic and epic, it compels you to contract a bad case of "Slayer Neck."  I got chills and elation the first time I heard the song.  This is also themed around A Song of Ice and Fire, and tells story of how Bran, one of the characters, lay with a broken back after being pushed from a high tower he was climbing, and in his coma was tormented by visions and prophecies. 

The final track, The Wheel of Time, starts out with almost a middle-eastern groove, before the crescendo into the main part of the song.  It, too, drags a bit, despite the frenetic orchestral interludes.  The song takes a bit to pick up the pace.  The subject matter itself is from Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time, and is about males and saidar, the magical power that drives them mad.

I have listened to this album practically nonstop since its U.S. release, banging my head in ecstasy as the band kicks ass again and again.  This is a very strong album, a much finer effort than A Twist in the Myth, and most tracks are very reminiscent of earlier releases such as Imaginations from the Other Side and A Night at the Opera.  I love the energy and feel to this album, even if the subject matter is entirely derived from other people's works.  It holds together well, and renews my hope in a band that I thought had lost its magic.  Well done, Blind Guardian!  May you continue to rock well into your golden years.  You are indeed worthy of Valhalla, all of you! 

Drakensang vs. Dragon Age

After my laptop died, I didn't hold much hope for computer gaming, but my wife kindly let me install some games, so I can while away some time here and there, having some good high-tech fun.


I installed Drakensang, in a wistful fit, revisiting the world and making different choices.  During combat, I had a few epiphanies that made me realize that another game I own, Dragon Age: Origins, was completely inspired by other things, and that it was so transparent it hadn't hit me until now.


Everyone who owns Dragon Age: Origins who is a fan of George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series knows that the computer game is highly derivative of that series, especially if you play a Human Noble.  The betrayal of the King by one house that has designs on the throne, the eradication of other houses loyal to the King, an organization dedicated to fighting back the forces of darkness, etc.  Almost slavishly derivative.  I didn't have a chance to replay before my laptop died, but I finished one game, so I got a chance to experience everything first hand.


What hit me playing Drakensang is that combat in Dragon Age is identical, and yet Drakensang was out for several months before Dragon Age went gold.  Here are the similarities:


1) The auto-pause option to issue orders.  Not unusual in and of itself, but taken with everything else it tends to look bad for EA...


2) Once you issue your orders and unpause the game and your orders are carried out in realtime.


3) Everyone has a few special abilities that can be brought to bear on the foe.  These options can be trained and new options are bought in a skill tree fashion, where once you have one combat ability new ones are automatically unlocked.


4)  Characters can fall unconscious during combat if they take enough damage, and if everyone falls unconscious the game is over.


5) When the characters who fell unconscious get back up, they have wounds that must be healed manually, usually by some manner of "Treat Wounds" skill or similar.  Unhealed wounds cause penalties to everything, particularly fighting. 


Both games have all 5 things there in common.  So, not only did one of Dragon Age's stories come straight out of fiction, its game play came straight from another video game!


True, there are some things about Dragon Age, the interactions among the characters, that were truly humorous and in many cases genuinely moving, and in a few cases outright disturbing.  I have to give it kudos there.  Few other games I've seen captivated me like Dragon Age.  Other games that gave me similar "must play" compulsions were Redguard, Arena, and Morrowind.


But this new revelation has challenged my belief in the creativity of the designers.  Was it intentional?  I dunno, I've come up with original mechanics and settings only to see them surface in published works weeks, months, or even years after the fact.  But, on the other hand, I'm not under a deadline, and I game for the love of it, not money or any other discernible reason.


I'm not saying that there is a clear case of plagiarism, but I'm merely musing about it.  It's a question I will probably never have an answer to.

My version of D&D (but why?)

The purpose of my authoring this game was to write a fantasy game that gets back to the "feel" of Dungeons & Dragons. The Original Edition, while playable in its own right, had too little of what I wanted, so I wasn't too interested in playing something that limited my options. The Supplements added complications I wasn't keen on dealing with either.

I got more of a charge out of the Basic rulebook as authored by Moldvay. Erol Otus, David Sutherland, David Trampier, Jeff Easley, Bill Willingham, Jeff Dee, together with Elmore's early work really defined what I thought D&D looked like. Despite the art, I felt AD&D was rather a chaotic mess that the PHB and DMG did nothing to clear up, system-wise (though I loved adapting everything else under the AD&D banner).

AD&D 2nd edition and 3rd edition really did nothing for me. Whatever happened to the days when players were supposed to be clever instead of just relying on dice and character sheets? So gone are the the 3300 Feats, 187 Base Classes, and the 762 Prestige Classes from D&D3E. Overkill doesn't even begin to describe it.

When I was young, players described what they were doing. The best of them were precise (“I check the 3rd block from the right, five blocks up, to trigger the secret door”) or cool (“Ragnar leaps into battle, his axe drinking blood from foes left and right”). There were no rules for this, per se, just people's imaginations – and they were rewarded for it. Nowadays, the style of play appears to be min-maxing to squeeze every last “plus” out of the rules. Half a dozen bonuses from this and that and the other to give you this number which affects that number. Why use your imagination when you can just read what's on your character sheet and roll some dice? The author of this game prefers the first option, and wrote this game to help address it. Characters shouldn't take longer than 10 or 15 minutes to whip up, and should have a fair amount of leeway in what they're allowed to do.

What I'm trying to do here is to re-create the early feel of D&D, trying hard to give it the same “gee whiz” factor it had back in the day.  The editions by Moldvay and Holmes; the Judges Guild add-ons, the Arduin Grimoire booklets, and Role Aids supplements; all of these have tons of flavor.  I would love to give back to D&D what I got out of it, and more.   My hope is, as you read this, is that I succeed.

Choose from unique races, such as the Pa'arr (Tigermen), S'srath (Lizardmen), Pachyars (Elephant men), the Aerosi (winged humans), and Skrettle (mouse men).  Yes we have Elves, but we have other races as well!

No skills!  Your character is unique and does have abilities all his own, and the rules allow anything to be attempted easily!

Experience points reward actually doing things during the adventure.  Treasure allows for a wide variety to be collected, but in a plausible manner.  Hint: collecting spider venom sacs to sell in town is more realistic than collecting coins or gems from its lair.

New combat mechanics allow for any action to be taken, with instant effects rather than “+2 to Armor Class!” 

Almost infinite variety.  We have nearly 40 character classes with 15+ types of Spellcasters and Priest-types.  Unique mechanics allow selection to be a breeze!  Get a character up and running in 10 minutes!

New and different spells, contained in the same Vancian spell slot system, but now with full power over your spells and how they're cast!  Options for variants allow for a richer magic system!  You have 8 different schools of magic to choose from.  A 9th, "Prayer," works the same way as the others, we just refer to it differently. 

Rules on gadgets, potion creation, golems, homunculi, and more.  Easy, logical, and consistent rules.

All this together with a unique fantasy setting informed by the works of Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, Fritz Leiber, H.P. Lovecraft, and more!  Make a name for yourself in the magical land of Andurantha!

Not Old School, not New School, but rather Alternative School.  Backwards compatible with most editions of D&D. 

Clerics, Druids, and Bards -- a Historical Perspective

NOTE: Way back in early June, before I saw the post on Grognardia, I had worked this up.  Unfortunately it remained unfinished, my last crack at it being the 12th of June.  It remains a source of embarrassment that I was too busy at the time to finish it.  New job and all that brings.

The Cleric is a misunderstood term used in D&D and quite a few other games as well.  About the only thing 2nd Edition did right was to come up with a better name than "Cleric."  And then 3rd and 4th editions came along and brought that retarded term right back to life.  "Druid" and "Bard" are also terms I have issues with, but Cleric is chief among them.

Let me elucidate: 

The term "Cleric" is not a generic religious term.  On the contrary, it is a highly restrictive term.  A Cleric is a Roman Catholic term, from the Greek klerikos (an acquisition).  Being a Cleric meant you had to have your head shaved, leaving ring of hair around a bald scalp.  If you didn't do this, you would not be considered a member of the clergy.  So, if you don't consider your character to be a literate dude with a robe and a funny haircut, you're not really playing a "Cleric."

"Cleric" eventually became "Clerk," which is why bookkeepers and such are called that today.

"Priest" would be a better term, as that is a generic term that can be applied to any religious leader of ceremonies.  Though it, too, has its issues, it tends to have broader applications.

"Templar" and "Hospitaller" might even be accurate, considering that they were martial orders.  True, I know those are both specific Christian Orders, but bear with me.  Templar referred to the Temple of Solomon, but in the game it doesn't have to, it could be a temple of any religion you like.  The Knights Hospitaller were also referred to as the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order and as the Knights of Malta.  Either of those, especially shed of Saints and the Hospitaller reference could be used.  Instead of Knights of Malta you could be known as the "Holy Knights of Dawnmoor" or something more fantasy-related. 

Druids are next on my list.  There's nothing wrong with the term, per se, but you'd want a bit of historical perspective, change the class description to something more in line with the established historical records, such as accounts by Strabo and Diodorus Siculus.  According to Julius Caesar, they were involved in "divine worship, the due performance of sacrifices, private or public, and the interpretation of ritual questions."  Fairly well like any other priest.  However, druids were much more than that.  They kept the peace between nations, and served as judges, counselors and advisors to kings.  Their truck with deities seems to be different from what we would consider normal today.  It is almost as if they consulted the gods and considered them wiser peers, than the absolute division between god and man that exists in more traditional Western religions. In Greek and Roman writings there is evidence for druid sanctuaries, mistletoe and plant rituals, sacrifices and reverence of the four elements.  The main difference between Druid and Priest (Cleric) is that the Druid was intertwined in many different aspects of Celtic life, whereas the Priest was set apart from (and indeed above) the citizenry.

The Bard was, according to Caesar, related to the Druids, merely not mentioned by name.  In one text published in 1918 (which I cannot put my hands on and therefore have forgotten the title), they were detailed as being educated along with the ovates and druids all together, and that Druid was a career path as well as Bard.  Authors such as Festus, Lucan, and Ammianus Marcellinus indicate that "Bard" was a respected title, and they were the official poets among the Gaulish and Briton Celts.  Summoned by royal commission, it was their job to celebrate the victories of their people and to sing songs of praise to their gods. They were important to the people, and the sense of national pride together with religious belief gave Bards a powerful influence over the hearts and minds of those they sang to.  They were also steeped in the traditions of clan and country, the historians of their people, since no written records existed, only oral tradition.  They were also skilled satirists, some of their satires having the same effect as a curse.

Hopefully this information can be used by a GM or player to really lend some background to these somewhat misused terms.  I'd love to see a game come out that does justice to these classes and places them in their proper roles.     

A Million Rules, a Million Pages

I announced in my last post that I was disenchanted with most RPGs and was hard at work writing a new one.  

I think in some ways what I'm disenchanted with is the tendency to cram a million rules into 300 pages, and the set in stone mentality of many rules systems.  I think I know why the bulk of these rules are written, though.  Aside from a bottom line, the authors usually assume that at least some of their core audience have never picked up a game before.  Never played anything more challenging than Chutes & Ladders.  

Which, to be fair, may well be the case.  

Now, if you were the tyro, and you'd never seen a role-playing game before, which would you prefer?  Something that you can pick up and understand immediately, or something that you have to study in order to play the game efficiently?  

All things being equal, I'd rather someone hand me a 30-page intro and by the end I'd have a character and a basic idea of how to play.  Here's a look at how this has changed over the years:

OD&D (Gygax, Arneson): 18 pages
D&D (Holmes): 17 pages
Basic D&D (Moldvay): 13 pages of character creation
Basic D&D (Mentzer): 52 pages (to be fair, this was the best intro to the game I've ever seen)
AD&D Player's Handbook (1st Ed): 40 pages

In 3.0, this inflated to monstrous proportions.  By page 114, they had not even gotten to Movement yet.

For fun, let's take a look at some licensed properties of TSR, both for AD&D 2E:
Adventures in Lankhmar: 35 pages (and very well-done)
Diablo II: This is a weird one, so it's hard to codify.  Each character received a sort of a character folio, with all the numbers filled in.  There were instructions on the sheets as well, everything from an XP chart to take 'em to 5th level, and explanations of how to make a Hit Roll or a Saving Throw.  The actual rulebook itself was 32 pages long. 

The licensed ones were not only fairly short, they were also the most fun to read.  Diablo II started it out as its own game system, with some additions not found in AD&D before (like their powers, which cost mana).  Diablo II later became entwined in 3.0, and spiralled out of control, but the basic boxed set is fun.   

By contrast, reading The 3E Player's Handbook was a great cure for insomnia.  Watching paint dry was not only more interesting, but seemed to be more useful.  I dunno, I guess the pretty pictures inside failed to suck me in.

This is what I don't understand.  If you assume your core audience has never gamed before, why cram your product full of rules that they must learn?  Why not provide a good framework, explain how to create a character well, and create systems that are intuitive so that there is less to explain?  I'm looking at you, WotC!

This post, however, is very much YMMV.  There are some people who love 3.x, and more power to them.  For my own buck, I'd rather find something else.  I just wish I could take a large number of followers with me...