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| Now that I've seen this, I've got Medusa and Hemlock by Cradle of Filth buzzing around my head... |
This week I’ve been playing a bit of The Elder Scrolls:
Arena. This was the first Elder Scrolls game released in 1994; I’ve had a
dalliance with some of the Elder Scrolls games that have been released since
then but have never seen one through to the end. While a lot of the ideas that
ended up in the later games were there from the beginning, the interface shows
its age! I’ve had a reasonably good time having a go with the different
character races and classes, which is easier to do in Arena than it was in Morrowind,
Oblivion or Skyrim because the first dungeon (in which you start as a prisoner,
so it’s good to see the Elder Scrolls series started as it meant to go on) can
kill you quite quickly if you’re not careful! I got to know the area very well;
where all the loot drops and enemies were, as I explored it multiple times with
different characters. I eventually settled on a Wood Elf mage; I’m aware that
the stats of a Wood Elf don’t necessarily support the Mage class, but I found
that it had enough physical power to outlast a lot of the other classes I’d
been playing. I guess this is one of the areas where video games differ from
table top RPGs; when there’s only one player character, you must be able to
handle more than the situations your class would normally deal with! I
eventually managed to get to the end of the dungeon but then emerged into the
town in the middle of the night and got killed by the enemies hanging around
the town; often before I even knew they were there! Thank goodness I thought to
save the game. It was also amusing to see that the Khajit were originally human
in appearance, rather than the feline appearance they later acquired.
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| Tricky though this bit is, it's nothing compared to the next bit... |
I also tried Super Castlevania IV on my WiiU again. I played
the level where some of the old music from the previous games had been remixed
for the 4th iteration of the game – including a track that was
involved in one of Jim Sterling’s “F**Konami News” gags, so that raised a smile
from me! That level has some very tough platforming segments, so I didn’t get
very far, but my three-year-old daughter noticed what I was doing and wanted a
go. I set her off on the first level; she hasn’t quite got the dexterity to
handle platforming yet, but she was having a fine time making Simon Belmont walk
up and down the stairs on the first screen! She enjoyed the results of whipping
the skeletons too, though she hadn’t got the reaction times to do it quickly,
so I often ended up doing it. But it’s all good; at this point she just enjoys
doing things with her Daddy!
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| Alright mate, put it down; you'll get DQ'd! |
Finally, I had a go with a game I’ve left far too long without
trying: Fire Pro Wrestling World. It’s been a while since I had a wrestling
game to play with, and the WWE series that started with Smackdown has, if I understand
the commentary on it correctly, disappeared into its own bottom trying to make
the best and most comprehensive creation mode while forgetting to make the gameplay
itself any good. Fire Pro Wrestling, free from the shackles of having to use licensed
wrestlers or keep up with constantly-evolving graphics engines, has certainly put
a lot of thought into the gameplay. The controls are more of a timing-based system
than WWE’s button-mashing, and you have to balance light and strong attacks, or
you will very easily be countered. I’m currentlyplaying through the mission mode,
where you have to achieve a certain condition by the end of the match (not
always a win!) This is a great way for me to get used to the different wrestlers
in the game, and to learn the mechanics. I even streamed some of it earlier today
and put on a rather embarrassing show, but the one person watching it sat through
most of it so I’m not complaining! I’ve really enjoyed Fire Pro Wrestling World
so far, and I hope I’ll continue to do so!
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