Improving Old School Game Mechanics.

I just recently finished up Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow for DS. I really enjoyed the game and can't wait to dive into another Castlevania game sometime soon. I can't help but complain, though, about the difficulty of actually navigating the world within the game.

The game is set up so that all the action happens on the bottom screen, and the map is constantly displayed on the top. Much like other Castlevania, or Metroid games, your placed in an open world that is for the most part unmarked and devoid of any points of reference. The only rooms marked on the map are save rooms and warp stations. As a result of this, there were plenty of times where I would come back to the game and not really recall what I did last or where I left off. I was forced to double check every last spot on the map that looked promising. Towards the end of the game, I became more adept at reading the map and remembering the shapes of rooms to reduce the amount of time spent running around pointlessly, but should navigation really be the most diffucult aspect of a videogame?

It really wasn't as bad as I'm making it sound, but it seems like there are so many easy little fixes that could have done away with all my problems. For example, Dawn of Sorrow was really good at implementing the stylus within boss fights and puzzles. What if when I pulled up my map, I was able to tap a spot on the map with my stylus and make a note to myself? Something like "door is locked, need new magic seal". This would prevent me from repeatedly running back to check that same door. It doesn't seem like it would be too much to ask for, even the ability to set waypoints would be nice.

That being said, if you were into the backtracking and exploring aspect, there are rewards to be had. The world is full of nifty little secrets and there were several times where I accidentally discovered unmarked nooks and cranny's that contained special items, but nothing significant enough to erase the navigational paranoia I faced each and every time I started up the game.

While I'm not all about purging every last ancient game mechanic and making games super easy, I think it's safe to say that vague world maps in an open world game are a thing of the past and can easily be improved upon. Sorry for the rant, any thoughts?

Matt (MWG)

My rant on Home….

Ok, so I booted up my PS3 the other day just to, you know…..play some games. During my time navigating the XMB I ran across the Home icon. Then I thought, wth, let's see what's new in the world of Home. After Home got done with all the downloading and loading, I appeared in my apartment. I ran around a couple minutes then ventured into the outside area to see what was going on with other PS3 users. It took me no more then 10 seconds to realize how much a waste of time Home is. Maybe it's just me, but it irritates me to think about the time I wasted getting Home up and running. I could have been playing something else. I understand that Home is supposed to be some kind of social networking hub where you can meet new people to get your game on with, but I would much rather just meet people online through an actual game. I could see myself liking Home if I was into chat rooms and such, but not as a gamer. Then again, these are just my thoughts about it. You very well could be a gamer, enjoy Home, and understand what the purpose is, but for some reason I cannot.

Another thing that gets me is just how much time and money Sony has put into getting Home up and running. I can't remember the initial amount but I know that when I heard about it, I thought, "Home must be something really groundbreaking if there willing to put that much effort into it." Everybody was talking about it and it was getting great recognition about how it was supposed to be the next great thing to come to gaming since Live. I'm not going to hide it either, I thought Home was going to be all sorts of awesome, but that feeling was short-lived after the open beta rolled out. It seems to me that it will always be an open beta too, because Sony is afraid to admit that Home is broken and doesn't work like they had hoped. It just makes you wish that Sony put the time and money into a new IP or actual try to put more support towards 3rd parties or something. I don't know, I just think that where Sony is standing right now financially, they could have put their resources somewhere else. Sony claims that they have made $1 million off of Home so far and that they have gotten a hold of all of these endorsements from different companies, but how far will it take them? I don't mean to sound so bitter about the matter, but Home could have been something we could have lived without, in my opinion.

What is everybody else's take on Home? It almost seems like it doesn't get brought up anymore. To tell you the truth I almost forgot about it until I just happen to stumble across it the other day. I don't know, maybe Home will turn out to be something great, but right now, in my opinion, it's a complete waste of time. Maybe someone that uses it often can take me on a tour and show me what is so great about it or something and maybe I will change my mind. Until then though, I'm sorry to say it, my thoughts are down on Home.

////End rant////

Travis (MWG)