Beaten: Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion (One)

 When I worked in fine dining, we used to host these elaborate seven-course "wine dinners" where a winemaker would come in with cases of their stuff to show off, each bottle paired with a dinner course designed by the chef to accentuate the offering. There was a structure to the courses, with, if I recall correctly, the fifth course being an "intermezzo". This course was not paired with a wine and was meant to be a "palate cleanser" after four other flavorful courses, and to clear the taste buds for the courses ahead. It would usually be a nice sorbet dish with a cool garnish.

After some of those heavier action games I needed a videogame intermezzo, so there I am looking at Xbox Gamepass and I see a title called Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion, which is one of the best titles I have seen since Communist Mutants From Space for the (Supercharger) Atari 2600. Sometimes a title just grabs you, so I looked at the game's description and screenshots and decided to try it out.

Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion plays in the top-down Adventure style, similar to the first Legend of Zelda, and the story features a cute vegetable character that loses his home due to, yep, tax evasion, and then goes on a quest to not only get his home back but to end the corrupt rule of Mayor Onion. NPCs are other fruits and veggies that usually need something and help move the story along.

Is there high social commentary here? Maybe, but it's lighthearted and our little anarchist turnip is so cute that it's okay if the message is not beating you over the head. It's an absolute delight ripping up every document you find, and also very funny. The combat works and the quest plays out quickly.

So let this article be sort of an intermezzo as well,  before I write up the next game I beat. Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion is a funny, quick and relatively easy adventure and I highly recommend it. There you go, palate cleansed.

Beaten: Light Crusader (Genesis)

 After playing Dust: An Elysian Tail, a 2D side-scrolling hack-and-slash that was definitely not my usual genre to play, I decided to take on another classic type of game that I never got into back in the day due to their inherent difficulty and clunkiness. That was the isometric view action-platformer, where the character on screen moves northwest, northeast, southeast, and southwest, rather than the normal north, east, south and west compass directions.

The arcade classics Qbert, Congo Bongo, and Crystal Castles all had this viewpoint and their share of difficulties in learning how to make the character go in the direction you want and jump the direction you want, with Crystal Castles actually using a trakball and having the character run at ludicrous speed, only jumping to avoid contact with the enemies. It was essentially isometric Pac-man ahead of Pac-Mania.

Of course, the trakball worked perfectly in the flawless isometric arcade game Marble Madness.

My first and brief foray into a larger game with this perspective was Fairlight for the Commodore 64, and I remember little of my attempts to play it other than awkward controls. It might be a masterpiece for all I know, I had bought it used and cheap late in my Commodore 64 years and by then had a backlog of games that I was eager to play anyway.

Another one I tried around that time was Solstice for the NES. Briefly. Based on my previous experiences in this type of game, then, I had passed by Light Crusader on my Sega Genesis Mini, until I was feeling like something different.

So I dove into Light Crusader, from the legendary Japanese studio Treasure, with some trepidation. My fear was that I would hit a wall of frustration with some crazy hard jump or enemy that would be really overpowered. I was pleasantly surprised to find little frustration and some really challenging puzzles.

The game starts in a castle that’s in a small town, and you’re quickly tasked with finding out why the townsfolk are disappearing. From there it’s delving under the town into a multi-level dungeon. The action is about what I expected, with the character slashing in an arc that the game usually recognizes as a hit when close to the enemies, but nothing in the control there felt precise. If one is going to play an older game, one must simply work with the controls that are there and learn what works and what doesn't. Light Crusader's combat works.

The game's magic system absolutely shines though. The player picks up charges for each of the four elements - Water, Fire, Earth, and Air - and then casts a spell by using one of those charges. However, combining two, three, or even all four of those elements casts a different spell. So if one just casts Fire, using one fire charge,  they get a fireball that hits one opponent. Casting Fire and Earth together creates a new spell called meteor that sends a fireball bouncing around the room causing much more damage.

I didn't engage the magic system at all in the beginning, but as I accumulated more of the charges, I started to play with it until it became an essential part of the gameplay. I did not have a paper manual with me, so exploring the magic system was as much fun as exploring the dungeons. I know, I could have gone running to the internet to uncover it, but anytime I play through an old game I really try not to let the internet be a tool I use to beat it.

The dungeons themselves are a delight, too. There seems to be a 50/50 mix of puzzle rooms and combat rooms, which was a good balance, as the puzzles were challenging but not unfair. Yes, there were hard isometric jumps and precise timing required in a lot of places, none of which generated frustration. Sometimes, coming back later to a room I had found myself stuck was all I needed to get moving forward.

There is a lot going on in each dungeon level, and they sometimes have a theme, like a Goblin Town and a  Wizard Guild. There are people to rescue (they get out on their own once you free them), a goblin fight arena, and so much more. There are plenty of save points and healing fountains, and the Sega Genesis Mini has the option to save anywhere as well, reducing frustration. 

Loot comes at a fair pace and I rarely returned to the shop in town to restock. Boss battles were pretty epic, too, and full of variety. As you can tell, I enjoyed this classic, and that joy reaffirms my direction of playing old videogames is justified. Light Crusader had as many "wow" moments for me as The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom did this year, and if that's not a great endorsement, I don't know what is.

It's isometric done right. Good job, Treasure!

Beaten: Dust-An Elysian Tail (360)

 Continuing my break from the latest, endless Zelda game over on the Switch, and seeking those Xbox 360 digital games that will be going away next year, I found an interesting and gorgeous game called Dust: An Elysian Tail to try. It's a 2D action-adventure Metroidvania-style game with some minor roleplaying and platforming, it was designed by one dude, and it really is a gem.

The player starts out with amnesia, and quickly finds an enchanted sword which comes with a small companion flying around to help the player out with advice, and thankfully, attack boosts. From there it's fighting the way to town, where other characters offer quests and help the story unfold. There are multiple areas to explore as the player develops their character and abilities.

Playing on normal setting, one will find the challenges tough but fair as well as rewarding enough to keep up with the purchases of new gear and healing items. Some areas are unreachable until the player finds a key item, so backtracking is required, but none of it seems tedious and the world map allows the player to return to explored areas easily.

I am not usually one for hack-and-slash games that light up the screen with effects, numbers, and other such chaos to the point where the action is so obscured that one can only hope they are doing the right thing (I'm looking at you, Dragon Crown for the PS Vita). Dust manages a good balance of all that while not holding back on the glorious and beautiful combat. 

The combat starts out hard, but with patience and thorough exploration the player can easily level and keep up. There are side quests and timed challenges that help fill out the game but never feel tacked-on. Loot comes at a generous pace and shops dot the land in case the player needs a few more things. 

Each screen is a magnificent display of color and design intent, and the fact that the game's creator, Dean Dodrill, created all that by himself is a testament to talent over whatever the hell it is most game companies are doing these days. Dust is not short, but not long either, and most importantly does not overstay its welcome.

The story is also really well done, although it starts out with the amnesia trope. Nonetheless, great points are made about topics like genocide in its telling. It's all done with cute animal characters too, so that juxtaposition stands out well as the player reveals the truth about their lost memories.

Fortunately, this masterpiece has been ported over to other platforms since its 2012 release on XBox Live, so players will be able to enjoy it long after the XBox 360 store closes next year. Everything about Dust: An Elysian Tail works well and the game stands as more proof that even one designer can craft a short epic of action and storytelling far superior to what the big guys normally create. 

Beaten: Arkadian Warriors (360)

 So I needed a break from the endless fun of The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom, and I was looking for something simple, fun, and quick to beat. At the same time, Microsoft announced that the Xbox 360 store was going to close next year. This lead me to a search of XBox 360 digital-only games that were going to go away once the store closes.

Arkadian Warriors was on that list so I checked it out. It was released to the Xbox Live service in December of 2007 and got mediocre reviews, but it was exactly what I was looking for in a game.

It’s a top down dungeon hack and slash with randomly generated dungeons, three classes to play, lots of loot and levelling, and a mere 19 quests start-to-finish. There is a central hub in the form of a small town where the player receives quests, and starting one opens a portal to the randomly generated dungeon level.

Once there, the top-down action starts right away, as nearby monsters attack as soon as they see the player. However, it’s one of those top-down games where you can usually see the enemies sitting there until you get close enough to activate them, allowing the player to strategically and meticulously pick them apart.

Getting kills raises a bar that when filled allows the player to activate a beast mode and transform into a giant, rampaging form for a short period, tearing through enemies quickly. It’s definitely a fun part of the game.

There is loot to get, levels to raise and all that, but no grinding to do. If the player explores each level and kills every monster, they should level accordingly to keep up with the game’s difficulty. 

There is a co-op mode but I didn’t try it. The graphics are crisp but simple and met my expectations for a 2007 game. In spite of all of the reviews, Arkadian Warriors was the exact kind of fun I was looking for at the time I was looking for it. I’d certainly recommend picking it up before the Xbox 360 store closes next year.

That Giant Endless Open World Malaise

 This year has had most of my time wrapped up in two big games: Horizon Forbidden West and The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom. With limited playtime, I focused on Horizon for three months and Zelda for about three and a half months. While I have beaten Horizon (sort of), Zelda remains unfinished and I have not fired it up in about two months.

I think my character is ready to move the story forward, having explored most of the three maps that compose the sky, land, and underground of the game. I've gotten a lot of health and stamina built up, acquired some great weapons, upgraded my armor, beaten some bosses, and so forth, but I have not yet been able to get motivated to finish the job.

Even with these two games being near perfect, their giant open worlds - with so many locations, quests, and other goals - were just too much to enjoy in one three month setting. By the time I get near the end, I end up rushing past a lot of content and just wishing it was over. Even with every side mission and plot development being fun and engaging, I find myself eyeing the next game down the road and wishing I was there.

So this malaise I feel with giant open world games is a result of my gaming wanderlust, where I want to play and beat a large variety of games from different eras. When I was single, I would squeeze every drop out of games like these, but as an old ass nerd with a lot of other commitments and an ever-growing backlog, I don't want to spend all my time with just one or two games a year.

So I took a break from the unfinished Zelda and jumped into a bunch of smaller, shorter games over the last two months and have found those experiences to be varied and enjoyable. When returning to Zelda hits me as something other than "work" or "unfinished business", I'll pencil it back into the schedule. Going forward, however, I think I will only choose one of these types of games a year. 

Again, the games are awesome and near perfect, and I am glad that they have so much content and continuing playability. The current version of me, however, is imperfect and less capable of staying in one place for long periods of time, it seems.

Remembering Andy Kiss

I recently decided to look up some old hometown friends, all of whom I had lost contact with over the years, and discovered that one of my old gang had passed away back in 2020. It was heartbreaking in a sense that we never said goodbye, but that is life. One day, as a child, your friends mean the world to you, and then you grow up, drift away, and have so little in common that reunions are a little awkward and are usually just a chance to rehash the glory days.

Andrew Steven Kiss Jr., the oldest of three sons, moved in next to me at some point in the late 1970s. He was an overweight and bit obnoxious kid, and the others in our gang were reluctant to let him into our circle of childhood assholes, but after some hesitation I thought he'd make a good addition. We helped him ease up on the spastic energy and he became a great friend to all of us.

Andy had a father who, while not a good man at all, was a young computer programmer, and was the first in the neighborhood to have an Atari VCS, before the industry-changing event that was the home release of Space Invaders. The previous owners of the house they moved into had also left behind a full pinball machine and bowling game in the basement, so staying over at Andy's house was a treat.

By Christmas of 1981, the rest of my friends had gotten their Ataris and I had gotten my Odyssey 2.  The arcades were on fire from all the new games coming in, and not long after that Andy came over with news that there was now a videogame magazine, Electronic Games. We pored over that second issue (having missed the first) and the world of videogames was truly open to us.

While we were all about arcades and consoles, the magazine also highlighted the booming computer game industry, showing the unbelievable sophistication of games like Wizardry and Zork.  Andy and I both wanted those games very much and talked about getting home computers. In spite of his father working on computers for a living, though, he never acquired any of the brands available. It is important to keep in mind that those computers, especially the Apple 2, were extremely expensive at the time.

My basement was the home base for our gang, and our sleepovers now included Atari and Odyssey consoles hooked up to the basement TV. Of course my friends had given me a lot of crap for getting an Odyssey instead of an Atari (not my choice as it was a Christmas gift), but they had to admit that UFO and KC Munchkin were pretty damn good.

It was here that I was able to play Atari games, including 4-player Warlords, Adventure, Haunted House, and Raiders of the Lost Ark, the latter of which I solved one of those nights, to Andy's surprise, since he and his dad had not figured out how to reveal the ark's location. One night, Andy was playing Killer Bees on the Odyssey 2 and pressed the wrong button on the keyboard resulting in the discovery of an Easter egg in the game.

Andy's dad also built up an amazing library for the VCS, somewhere near 70 -80 games, and it was an inspiration seeing that many videogames lined up on shelves in a library. I wanted that. The other amazing thing he taught me was "choose both if you can afford it" when it comes to having to choose between consoles. He had, and developed libraries for, both the Atari 5200 and Colecovision.

We were in high school by the early 1980s, growing up in a small midwestern town, so while videogames were new and cool, there were lots of other things to keep us busy. A little later in the 1980s I was attending college nearby and living at home, and Andy came over a few times to play on my new Commodore 64. His scores on The Great American Cross Country Road Race, saved on the game disk, were still there when I sold the game in 2008.

Just before I moved to Columbus permanently, Andy was the one with me at Montgomery Wards encouraging me to get Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar, even though I had not beaten The Bard's Tale yet. When I visited I always encouraged him (and all my friends still living in my hometown) to get out and move to the city where there were actual jobs. Andy tried, with a girlfriend, to make it in Columbus back in 1989, and we hung out a few times, but not for gaming. He lasted a year in the big, bad city.

After Andy moved back to our hometown, he worked as a cook for a bit before settling in for the rest of his life at a machine shop outside of town. Contact in those days was sporadic but when we met we always talked about videogames. In early 1996 my friend Chris and I drove up there with our Playstations and an extra TV and we spent the evening in Andy's trailer playing head-to-head Doom. During that visit, Andy showed me this new game he had rented called Resident Evil, and it looked amazing. This would be the last time we played videogames together.

In the 2000s, I reconnected with Andy and his wife, introducing them to my wife, and it was a good visit. While there was no game time with this visit, we exchanged XBox Live information and made each other friends on Microsoft's online service. Andy was playing shooters and racing games at the time but not taking on bigger campaigns like Mass Effect and Grand Theft Auto IV.

There was one more contact with Andy in the early 2010s before we both let it slide away, as is the way of things. He passed away on June 24, 2020 "suddenly", "of natural causes", according to his obituary.

Andy was a great friend and there with me at the start of all of videogaming. While more passionate about cars, he was always encouraging me to get every videogame I could get, and I usually do that to this day. 

His xxDRUTHEKILLAxx profile on XBox Live remains as a monument to his last videogaming, with a total Gamerscore of 3,553 and his last achievement obtained on May 27, 2012 in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. You will be missed, my friend, and always remembered.

Ultima X Odyssey: Twenty Years Later

In an alternate timeline where Ultima X: Odyssey was not cancelled but actually released, I might be writing an article today of how the plucky little MMO, released in competition against the juggernaut that World of Warcraft became, held on with a loyal fanbase and was still chugging along to this very day. I might discuss the expansions that came later and added player housing and new lands, how the designers made good and bad decisions, and members of the community that came and went over the years.

Here in the financially-prudent-for-Electronic-Arts timeline where the game was cancelled less than a year after it was announced, there is not that much to say that I haven't already blathered on about for most of the rest of the 2000s. Twenty years ago today, on August 21, 2003, Ultima X Odyssey was unveiled at an amazing event in San Francisco which I had the honor to attend.

Of course, I was there for a second reason - the design lead for Ultima Online itself was going to bring me in to consult on the development of the unannounced High Seas expansion, as me and my little website on ships and sailing in UO was the definitive advocate for such an expansion for a few years at that point.

After souring on Everquest and the empty shallow model of an MMO that it brought to the table, I was not truly excited about a similar MMO with the Ultima name on it. However, the differences between what I saw in UXO and its competition were enough to make it stand out. There were some innovative player races to try, there were instanced dungeons, and most importantly there were classic Ultima gameplay elements such as following the virtues that all showed promise.

Of course, the game was cancelled, and the High Seas expansion was dropped as well until a decade or so later, long after I left Ultima Online. Still, I think about that day - which for me was a personal turning point - all the time. Something I wrote on the internet about a videogame got the game's developer to notice enough to invite me to that huge press event. Ever since, I feel that there is not a single stupid thing I do out of love and enthusiasm for gaming that is over the top. 

I commemorate that day to myself by picking up Ultima X Odyssey swag on Ebay whenever it shows up, which is rare. Over the last decade I won a t-shirt, the only magazine ad for the game, and a fine crystal paperweight, numbered and packed with a certificate of authenticity. I have that on display in my little Ultima X Odyssey shrine in my guest room:

If you want to know more about Ultima X Odyssey, scroll way back to some of the articles I wrote in 2006-2007, including a post-mortem with some of the people involved in the game.

And for the real never-give-up enthusiasts out there, who may hope that someone, somewhere, will revive this game, here is something to give you hope:

The game is still listed on Amazon.

If I'm still around in 2028, I'll do a nice 25 year retrospective on the whole story. Tonight, I'll toast all the good people who worked so hard to make an amazing game and who came so close.

Beaten: Ace Attorney Phoenix Wright Dual Destinies (3DS)

 "It was great to be back in court!" is something most normal people do not say, but to gamers who've enjoyed the Ace Attorney Series, it's probably pretty common. For me, it had been around twelve years since I beat Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney before I finally downloaded the first of two 3DS Ace Attorney games, Dual Destinies. 

I had also sputtered out during my unfinished playthrough of the spin-off game Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth, finding that game not as enticing, and also bitter knowing that the second game in that series was not coming to our shores.  I also think Dual Destinies being a download-only title in North America deterred me, as being old means wanting physical copies, because that new-fangled internet thing you kids are keeping your games on will likely go away at some point.

So I finally downloaded Dual Destinies a few years ago and did the first case. A year or so later, I did the second case. Recently, I decided to go ahead and finish the game rather than dipping in and out like that, and it was a fun, rewarding experience as always. These games I would describe as mostly storytelling with some logic puzzles thrown in. 

The bizarre world where the Ace Attorney games takes place is one of swift justice, meaning that your clients are always this close to prison unless you can find tiny inconsistencies in someone's testimony to undo them. Defense attorneys dress pretty straight but have bad hair day issues, while Prosecution attorneys usually dress with gaudy flair like rockstars, bully the judge, often fabricate evidence, and sometimes physically attack the defense attorneys with whips or knives during the trial. Just go with it.

Luckily, the defense attorneys usually have a magic McGuffin that helps them see through lies and perceive hidden emotions, and these are game changers in some trials. These only deploy at certain times in the case. The gameplay divides into investigations, where the player interviews people and checks out crimes scenes,  and of course the courtroom where the magic happens. 

The main improvement over the previous Ace Attorney installments is obvious in that the graphics on the 3DS are far superior to the old DS games, and the use of the system-based 3D effects really shines here. Everything is so crisp and clear, and the feeling of depth in the screen is almost tangible.

I'm trying to remember, and too lazy to look up, whether or not the old DS games allowed saving at any point. Whatever that answer, the 3DS can, making the parts of the game much easier where you can't quite complete the logic bridge they think is being built in the player's head and have to guess what evidence to show.

For the most part, the logic holds up, and I had successfully guessed where the trial was headed a good bit before the lawyers in the game had. This game also felt like it was made as a farewell to the series (even though it was not), as lots of characters from some of the previous games show up to help out toward the story's end.

I had thought I was all set when I downloaded this title a few years ago, but I found out recently that I had missed a DLC for it. In addition, there was another full Ace Attorney game made for the 3DS, but like Dual Destinies, it was digital only. By the time I realized all this, the Nintendo 3DS shop was closed.

But good news broke recently that those titles were headed for a re-release on the Nintendo Switch next year, in a package with Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, Ace Attorney Dual Destinies, and Ace Attorney Spirit of Justice. On top of that, I already have another Ace Attorney compilation for the Switch, comprising the other two new Ace Attorney games that apparently take place in the late 1800s.

Revisiting Ace Attorney was like hanging out with old friends, sharing the unfolding of their new story, and feeling reassured that even when I can't make it to court, these weirdos with strange haircuts will be pressing forward shouting "OBJECTION!" when they have to. I'm sure I'll be back in court with them someday, but until then, my victory in Ace Attorney Phoenix Wright Dual Destinies will be proudly admitted into the court record.

Review: Tunnels of Terror (Odyssey 2)

This week saw the release of Tunnels of Terror for the Odyssey 2, a terrific translation of the timeless Atari VCS classic Turmoil. I received it today and determined that I should try to put together a timely review, which is something I almost never do with a new game release.

This game comes from programmer Chris Read and was published by Odyssey Brasíl. Mad props to all involved, and I love the Odyssey 2 enthusiasts everywhere, but Brazil seems especially eager to keep the console alive.

Since the dawn of the homebrew era there have been many great games made, but few that come with great packaging. The simple reason is that it’s expensive to create. So the $60 price tag for this limited release was well worth the expense. In the above picture, the game comes with a great poster and another glossy picture, for some reason. Very cool!

However, the best part of this package is the box itself, created in the classic Odyssey 2 fashion. The paper box is sturdy, glossy, and really well done. My only complaint is minor. If one is going to call their Odyssey 2 homebrew a "Challenger Series" game, that is fine. But it should not only show on the front of the box, but on the side as well. Tunnels of Terror does not have the side callout for it being a Challenger Series game, even though it is on the front. I know, I'm nitpicking.

The cartridge and manual are also very authentic looking and well done. Also included was a certificate of authenticity, two flyers, and a cute Wizard of Odyssey (an 80's spokeswizard character) sticker.

The cartridge handle was a little different but feels just as sturdy.

As for the game itself, it's Turmoil, it works, and it is great to have this fantastic shooter on the Odyssey 2.  Turmoil was a part of the great pantheon of single screen shooters that came after Space Invaders and exploded in the early 80s before consoles and computers were better capable of scrolling the screen. Space Invaders, Galaxian, Demon Attack, Megamania, and the like were as popular and common as first person shooters are today, and Turmoil was fast, fun, and original.

Instead of the player's ship being at the bottom of the screen, they are in the middle, able to move up and down and shoot left and right at attackers passing through the tunnels. In the early wave I tested, there were only two types of enemies, and only one of each on the screen at a time.

Thus Tunnels of Terror is less tumultuous than Turmoil, and the player can, in this early stage, carefully maneuver and shoot as needed. In the classic Turmoil, things were a bit more frantic, with more enemies on the screen.

Perhaps the tempo of Tunnels of Terror turns up in later waves; I was unable to test further due to family visiting (and occupying) our guest room where the Odyssey is hooked up.

The real simple test I have for these homebrew games is to ask myself “If this had been released by Odyssey in 1982, would I have been eager to get it?” Tunnels of Terror is a definite “yes” answer to that question.

Beaten: Fable II Pub Games (360)

 I don't usually play gambling games at all, but three months ahead of the release of Fable II in late 2008, Carbonated Games released Fable II Pub Games. There were a few compelling reasons to get it. One, it was free for those who had pre-ordered Fable II, and second, cash and prizes won in the game would transfer to one's Fable II character once the game came out.

I was at first put off by the unfamiliarity of the games and the complexity of their rules, so I only played it a little during the wait for Fable II. Recognizing the need to start the game with some money, though, I eventually dug in and earned a nice sum.

The three games are basically a card game, a dice game, and slots. The card game (Fortune's Tower) and the dice game (Keystone) required a little strategy and a lot of luck, whereas their slot game (Spinnerbox) was pure luck. So I dove in, gambled cautiously, and did well. I also picked up a few achievements along the way.

Fable II arrived and was a great game with a big scope, and by the time I had beaten it, I was pretty rich. There were a few DLC chapters added later, as well, adding to my fortune. Returning to Fable II Pub Games after beating the campaign allowed me to enter the pub with said fortune, as well as get a zero point achievement.

Over the years, I fired up the pub games a few more times, even getting another achievement in 2015. Recently, though, I was looking at my achievements and noticed that I only had four left to get for the game, and thought "Why not get them?" as in doing so would require unlocking everything, getting a jackpot in one of the games, and placing in the top five in every tournament, all of which for my campaign-oriented playstyle counts as beating the game.

So I looked up ancient guides that told me what I basically already knew - getting these achievements would take a lot more luck and tedium than skill. To unlock all the games, for example, just means getting points, which thanks to a loading screen tip, I knew I would acquire win or lose. With my in-game fortune this was just a matter of spending time and money grinding through them.

Next up was beating all 5 tournaments for each of the 3 games, for a total of 15 tournaments. One achievement dropped for beating just one tournament, so that was easy enough. Just as that achievement unlocked, my old ass XBox 360 decided it was no longer connected to the internet, resulting in the timestamp for the achievement being glitched when reviewed later over on the XBox One or in the app:

Strategies online recommended playing it safe in terms of betting in these tournaments and that seemed to work, as my computer opponents were more aggressive in their betting and would usually dig themselves a little hole, even if they would win big occasionally.

This worked for Fortune's Tower and Keystone pretty well, with only a few failures on the way to the top five. For Spinnerbox, though, it was a matter of luck and grinding since it is a slot machine type of game. In it, the player is up against 19 computer controlled gamblers to get the highest score in a hundred spins. On the second of the five tournaments I was very unlucky and failed to break the top five in about a dozen tries. After that, it only took a few tries for each one. In the last one, I got a huge jackpot halfway through which carried me to number one in that tournament, unlocking the achievement.

The final achievement required getting a jackpot in Keystone by either rolling three ones or three sixes in the very first turn. Failure meant cashing out, going back to the main menu, and starting the game over. I dug in and expected that to take weeks, but it took about fifteen minutes.

It was a fun diversion and something different to play, and the satisfaction in beating such a game after fifteen years is pretty strong. I may have to see if my old Fable II save is still there, so I can check out all the items I unlocked playing those tournaments. This was an "unfinished business" game that was fun to finish.

Beaten: Horizon Forbidden West (PS5)

 For my first foray into the current generation, I choose a game I knew would be enjoyable to play, have a huge map, and showcase the improved graphics and load times of the Playstation 5 I purchased after Christmas. Horizon Forbidden West, from Guerilla Games of Killzone fame, was an easy choice as I had found the first game in the series "good enough to forget Killzone" a few years ago. 

It's a gorgeous game set in a far future after an apocalypse wrecked civilization, leaving tribes of various folks to survive in the wild, salvaging the scraps and living under the threat of strange mechanized animals and dinosaurs. The story behind this world is really deep and interesting science fiction, and in this second installment in the series, kicks into high gear as the bigger picture of what happened is revealed.

The graphics are amazing, but not photorealistic or anything. Load times are the welcome improvement with this generation's hardware, and that is a relief as the PS4 and XBox One load times were reminiscent of the days of loading cassettes to my Commodore VIC 20. There were still some things happening that made me less impressed with the new hardware, however. "Arrow stuck in space" still occurs; this is when the player is shooting the bow while standing close to an object and the line of sight shows a clear shot, but when they fire the arrow sticks to the cover they were using and stops there floating in space. I saw this a lot in Dark Souls games, and it continues again here.

Once I got through the opening part of the game and was unleashed in the Forbidden West, I enjoyed the freedom of exploring in an organic way. I would usually finish any local side missions before moving on the the next town, for example. So why was this game so good at keeping me engaged when other open world games lately have me scrambling for the end? 

The things that are out there to do are just as plentiful as any Ubisoft open world, but they were not as in-your-face about them in Horizon. Side quests felt organic, and some of them just occur out in the wilderness and not just at a town or camp. I spent most of the two and a half months trying to clear out each area, revealing the map, fighting whatever beasts I came across, before taking up the next story quest and moving to a new area.

That's not to say I did everything that popped up on the map, but I did reveal a lot of it. I skipped some of the game's side missions entirely, such as the Hunting Grounds, as they were of no interest to me. I did every rebel camp, though, as those were fun. I must note here that this game has the best sound effect for a headshot I have heard in recent memory.

I must be burnt out on equipment management as well, because I hardly upgraded weapons, coils, weaves, pouches, and all that other stupid minutiae. My game time is limited, so the choice between shooting some giant dino-robot with arrows for a few minutes versus spending time in menus checking my recent loot for the next shiny thing was no choice at all. 

While most of the open world enables the player to use the terrain to their advantage, there were many story missions that put the player in a very closed arena for a boss fight. Even some of the most challenging fights had some cover, at least. Which brings me to the final boss fight. 

After entering the final stage of the game with no turning back and no chance to restock, I found myself fighting all the way to the last boss (minutes after beating the penultimate boss) with very few healing items and overall just not prepared for the out-of-scale battle that was waiting. It was another closed arena fight with no permanent cover, and a boss that can one-hit kill even my level 50 maxed-out character.

After about a week of trying and failing, I determined that I was screwed - I would need to load up a previous save from before I took on the final mission, then spend another week or two in the open world dealing with all those equipment and upgrade details that bored me so much, and then repeat the whole final part of the game again, including both bosses.

I said screw that, set the damn game on "Story Mode" and beat the boss that way to see the end of the story. At first, I thought I would then return to the game and repeat the boss battle on Easy, and then Normal before declaring that I had beaten the game. However, once the game was over, I goth the trophy for beating it, granted regardless of the difficulty I choose.

Well shit, if they are granting me that, I'll take it as a win. I did not play Horizon Forbidden West to stress about inventory or to spend a month hit-and-running an overpowered boss fight in the hopes that one lucky instance might put me over the line. I am also old enough to not care about "gittin' gud", unless we are talking about a From Software game, of course.

This game is amazing, gorgeous, fun, and has a great science fiction story to tell. One thing it fails at, though, is to allow for the kind of playstyle I was using to be able beat the game. That is fine, though, as the available Story Mode was an adequate solution for that.

Beaten: Tenchu Z (360)

It's so damn cool to see From Software become one of the industry's giants over the last decade, as the prolific Japanese company had largely flown under the radar in the USA up until they created the Dark Souls series in the 2010s. I was way ahead of the curve in 1996 when I started playing their first US release, King's Field, on the Playstation, and have been trumpeting their amazing skill at gamecraft ever since.

Now that they are finally recognized by millions of fans after a decade of cranking out unique and amazing "Soulsborne" games (yes they created a subgenre of gaming on their own), everyone got excited when they announced a modern entry into one of their old franchises, Armored Core. They cranked out a lot of these games starting back in the late 90's and through the early 2010s, so when they announced a new Armored Core game, a lot of their fans were asking what that series was all about. It's armored mech combat. I got a taste of it when I played their other mech game, Chromehounds, a few years ago.

I've been sitting on Armored Core 4 (for the 360) for a long time so I went give it a try, caught up in the hype surrounding the release Armored Core 6 later this year. However, next to it on the shelf was Tenchu Z, a stealth ninja franchise they also were prolifically releasing during the same time frame as Armored Core.  Note that From Software was just the publisher for Tenchu games after 2004, not their creators. I decided to try that franchise instead, knowing that their 2019 release, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, was a spiritual successor to Tenchu. So much catching up to do!

Anyway, Tenchu Z.  A quick tutorial walks the player through the gameplay and introduces them to the game mechanics, and then it's off to complete 50 missions and a final boss fight. Stealth gameplay is encouraged but not required, as there is a seemingly deep combat system in the game as well. I went the stealth route, holding down the R1 button (no on/off toggle) for 95% of the time I was in the game.

The player is dropped into a fairly large area, usually a small town or a fortress, with one of several goals. Most of them are assassination assignments, some are find the package, and others say to kill everyone on the map. One difficult mission was to follow some guy through the town without being seen.

The camera is wonky, the controls sometimes fight the player (especially in aim mode by clicking the right stick), and the story is superfluous. However, the game was a lot of fun in spite of its shortfalls.  Standard stealth gameplay had me watching the patrol routes, sneaking up behind guards, and disappearing quickly once spotted.

Crouching, rolling, and use of a grappling hook were all essential to success in these missions. There are a lot of items the player can use, but some of them seem really useless for stealth. Many of them open up once you get to a certain part of the game, and once I unlocked the blow dart thing, that was all I used for the rest of the game. I stopped carrying healing items as they were not required for stealth gameplay.

Enemy AI is pretty standard. They see you or a body you left in the open and they freak out and attack, but if you run away and hide, they quickly forget that there is anything going on and go back to their route, never getting upset again regarding the visible corpses around them.

There are dogs that bark and chickens that cluck, alerting enemies, but I found delight in shutting them up with throwing stars. A few times, I unloaded several stars at what I thought was a dog in the distance, only to reveal that the creature was a cat, that was just background graphics, sitting there nonchalantly as cats do, unharmed by anything. Cute.

For a game that is stealth centric, I found it quite odd that there were two or three boss fights where the player could not sneak up on the boss for a stealth kill and had to face them head on. At least, the boss fights were not in an enclosed space, and the whole level I had cleared to get there was available to use hit and run tactics sucessfully.

Like all From Software (in this case as a publisher) games, there are strange design decisions but fun gameplay. With 50 levels, the assignments get repetitive, and many maps are reused frequently. For most of the game there are no enemies on the rooftops, which made things easier. I can recommend this game to stealth game fans, but only those who are ready for the usual From Software idiosyncrasies and patient enough to endure the graphical, control, and camera issues common in games from that time.

Twenty Five Years Ago: Ultima Online

I've written so much about Ultima Online, a game that changed my life as well as an entire industry, that I feel there is not much more I can say that is not repetition. On this day in 1998 I rushed home from Best Buy with my first modern PC, paid for with my first credit card, with a copy of this magnificent game, and no knowledge whatsoever of what I would encounter.

For example, when logging in, one is prompted to select a shard. I had no idea what that was, so I selected Great Lakes from the top of the list the first time, since I live near those. After a quick run around with my character, I logged out for dinner. When I came back, Atlantic was at the top of the shard list so I logged into that and started over before I understood what was happening. Shards are servers, and each was a copy of the game world all its own.

Once I was up an running, the rest was history. I made a name for myself in that game and in its community with my passion and dogged insistence that they do something with the ships and sailing part of it all.

So last night I logged in to check my vendor and my house. That was it. I really don't have time to play as I wish, the few friends I had in-game are long gone, but maintaining that house and my little piece of history in that game is still important to me for some reason.

Still, I should not let the 25th anniversary of the most important game I will ever play pass without some fanfare, so here is a screenshot of my pirate character in his glory days.

2022 Year in Review

The stupid end-of-year intensity of the holidays make it especially difficult to sit down an write about video games that I hardly have time to play, so here it is, mid-January of 2023, and I am just now starting to jot down thoughts about the previous year. Keeping in mind that I am writing about my year in videogaming, and not yours, or the world's, here we go.

Beaten in 2022:

• Phantasy Star (Master System via Sega Ages version on Switch)
• Mafia: Definitive Edition (PS4)
• Firewatch (One)
• Dying Light 2 (PS4)
• Stray (PS4)
• Ultima II: Revenge of the Enchantress (C64/MS-DOS/Windows/GOG)
• Moss Book 2 (PSVR)
• Car Battler Joe (GBA)
• Tunic (One)
• Borderlands 3 (One)
• Wildlife! (Odyssey 2)

Games of the Year:

• Winner: Stray (PS4)
• Runner-Up: Tunic (One)
• Runner-Up: Dying Light 2 (PS4)
• Runner-Up: Moss Book 2 (PSVR)

The Year in Review

This year my finances were tight and my time limited, so there is not much to report in terms of collecting or game acquisition. The biggest graphical upgrade I have ever witnessed occurred this year, though, as cataract surgeries on both eyes cleared up my vision at a distance and everything looks better. It's not just sharpness that the surgery corrects, but the ability to see colors brighter as well. This makes all videogames better.

My financial situation improved dramatically by the end of the year and I was able to procure a Sony Playstation 5. Oddly enough, this mirrors my acquisition of the first Playstation at the end of 1995. Unlike that year, where by the last day of the year I was able to play enough Wipeout to name it game of the year, I have not had time to jump into either of the two PS5 games I bought - Horizon Forbidden West and Elden Ring - much at all. I'm in the middle of Tenchu Z on the 360 and kind of want to finish it.

A recent blog entry detailed the three Odyssey 2 games I got this year, and I think I mentioned finally landing a boxed Space Wars for the Vectrex too. Muppet Pinball Mayhem for the GBA was another missed opportunity from 2006 that I corrected by getting a complete copy of that game. Other than that, not much collecting going on, but if the budget allows, there will be more such purchases in 2023.

I also hope to acquire an XBox Series X in the coming months and like the PS5, begin building a library for it as well. Continuing to acquire or even re-acquire games for the XBox 360 and PS3 remains a priority, and with bargain bins filling up with titles for the One and PS4, those collections could use a boost as well.

Everything is always up in the air, in our fragile civilization and my own chaotic life, so who knows where I'll end up a year from now. 2022 was like the rest of the 2020s have been so far, and I finished the year once again wondering if I'll ever see my dream retirement of comfortable living, endless video game time, and lots of nice, legal weed.