This week is an interesting recording session. Chris could not make it, because he has a new job. The rest of us, however, were more than able to make it. Since it was such a weird week, the podcast was posted pretty late. On behalf of the cast, I would like to apologize to you, the viewers.

0:00:50 Viewer Questions
“What do you think of Anita Sarkeesian’s 8 point suggestions?”
Turns out I was wrong about when this came out, because I found an article talking about it as of the time of writing.
At the time of the recording, none of us saw this particular talk, so we tried to get away with discussing this in the general sense.
Now that I have read those points, I don’t see the issue with any of them. They make logical sense and the problems they address are real problems.
One of the throughlines I see repeated in comments to these points, and other issues raised by Sarkeesian, is that they tend to think that she wants to apply these points to all games. That is not true. What she wants developers to consider these suggestions and try to incorporate them more often. I also want to point out that the only angry comments we have ever gotten on this show came from the one episode where we defended Anita Sarkeesian when GamerGate was still a thing people cared about.

“What games are you guys looking forward to in the next few months?”
I was pretty nervous when this game came up, because I honestly could not think of anything on the top of my head. We’re still in this initial rut brought about by the dawn of new gaming consoles. As a result, the number of new titles, at least in the AAA space, that have my interest is small.

0:18:50 Gaming News
Steam Machines/Controller announcements
The thing about the Steam controller is that it is basically trying to make the keyboard and mouse more viable for a home theater setup. Honestly, I’m not sure how many game will benefit from such a device. Maybe it’s just me, but I am fine with the idea of having a KB & M on my lap as I play.
As for the machines themselves, I’m not sure who the target market for them is. For most people, they are better off just upgrading their PCs and home theater setups at the price these machines cost. Even at the lower end, a gaming console is about as good and easier to add to whatever setup you have.

Maxis is shut down by EA.
I don’t think anyone is surprised by this announcement, but to do this at the same time GDC is going on is a little painful. EA has been on people’s shit list for a long time because of this behavior, so I doubt it will change.

0:27:10 I played a new little game called Hand of Fate.
I have slowly, gradually begun to love this little game. As an aspiring game designer, I think the way it combined so many different mechanics into a cohesive whole is brilliant. It’s difficult to explain, but immediate obvious when you start to play and/or watch someone else play.
Just be warned that there are technical issues in the game. It’s not perfect, but it’s good.

0:35:35 I played Dragon Age 2.
I don’t hate the game, but it does have its flaws.
The biggest problem is honestly the combat. I am getting so tired of all the waves and waves of enemies. What I would have done to improve the game is to give each enemy group a leader, with significantly higher stats than the others. Once the leader falls, than the other units will retreat.
Also, Carver and Anders are some of the most irritating people I’ve ever had in an RPG party. The game isn’t the best thing I’ve ever played, but it’s not bad. I can see how fans of Dragon Age could not like it.
I didn’t mention it in the cast, but I had a huge problem at first because it felt like I was just doing nothing but sidequests. As the game went on, the game evolved from that, and I began to like it a lot more.

0:53:10 Sam tried a PS2 emulator.
And we had a pretty good conversation about old PS2 games, regional differences, and how different regions respond better or worse to different stimuli.
The Nier comparison shots of the Japanese vs. North American protagonist can be best show off with this image.

0:59:51 Sam got a PS4.
We kinda go rapid-fire through the games he purchases with it.
The other big discussion involves graphics and how technology is improving.

1:10:30 Sam played inFamous: Second Son.
I know we talked a lot about it when I played the games, but I was nice to talk with Sam about it, since he now has the experience that I have from playing.

1:30:30 Garrett talks about his week.
In this segment, we cover:

  • Five Nights at Freddy’s 
  • League of Legends 
  • voice acting 
  • music 
  • Cards Against Humanity 
  • shoes 
  • Campbell’s soup and other foods 
  • CSI 
  • Hotline Miami 2
  • alcohol
  • watching other people sleep on Skype?
  • consumption of meat

1:59:55 We talk about game engines.
The recent news that Unreal 4 and Source 2 will be free inspired this conversation. For guys like Garrett and myself, who are aspiring game designers, this is a huge boon.
We get into a side conversation about Watch_Dogs and how terrible it was.

2:13:30 Wrapping Up
My Outlast article is here.
Interactive Friction: Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon is here.

By the time this piece is published, I will have already completed Interactive Friction’s season of Far Cry 3. When taken with my article comparing it to Wolfenstein: The New Order, my opinions of that game cannot be made any more clear. That said, I have always had a fascination with Ubisoft’s products. They always manage to make enough good and bad decisions that excellent conversation can be had. Though I have many complaints regarding Far Cry 3, I enjoyed it enough to purchase and play the sequel. This week, we will discuss Far Cry 4.
Those who played Far Cry 3 will find themselves right at home. In that respect, the game is fairly iterative. Players take a trip to an exotic landscape that would feel at home in the pamphlet of a travel agency. Once there, they do the things that have become so deeply linked to the typical Ubisoft game. Enjoying the fight against hordes of nameless, faceless soldiers, climbing towers, conquering outposts, and hunting animals and collectibles are all the order of the day here. Nobody should be particularly surprised by this. In this way, the game is just as derivative as one can expect. The fundamental gameplay loop is the same, with no real big changes occurring. Because of this, most gameplay-related criticisms that have been made of a AAA-game published by Ubisoft in recent years could be levied towards Far Cry 4 and be just as accurate.
What distinguishes Far Cry 4 from the rest of Ubisoft’s big games are smaller, less visible changes. The game is less of a unique title in the lineup and more of a refinement of the formula that has been used repeatedly for the past few years. Some of these updates are a step up, while others have more mixed results. Exploration in particular has been vastly improved for this sequel, with the new helicopter allows for more freedom and verticality when traveling around the map. Even without it, the wingsuit from the previous game can be purchased very early on, which allows the player to safely jump off of high cliffs and move huge distances. Autodrive even removes the tedium of driving from waypoint to waypoint in order to get to different objectives.
The story is also much more bearable than what was present for Far Cry 3. Unfortunately, it is not because of the characters the player will spend most of their time interacting with. Honestly, most of the major characters come off as either one note or bland. Despite my intense loathing of Jason Brody, at least he does have some character, if not a great one. Far Cry 4’s lead character, Ajay Ghale, is a blank slate. He comes to the fictional country of Kyrat in order to burying his mother’s ashes there, completing her dying wish, getting swept up into the politics surrounding the region. Taken by Pagan Min, the king of this nation, Ajay soon finds himself rescued and recruited into the Golden Path, who oppose his rule.
The Golden Path is headed by two people. Sabal, the man who rescues Ajay from Pagan Min, believes that sticking to old customs and traditions, including the status of woman as second-class citizens. Counter to his ideals is Amita, who wishes to abandon tradition and take a more progress stance towards Kyrat’s future, funding it primarily through the trade of illegal drugs and narcotics. As the third man, Ajay is often forced to make binary moral choices in support of one person’s plans over the others. I found the whole affair painfully dull. Although they are the two characters that players interact with more than any other, they are the least interesting part of the entire game. There is simply nothing else to those two aside from their chosen stances on how Kyrat should be ruled. One could even make a drinking game out of the number of times Sabal uses the word “tradition” in his dialogue. As the player avatar, Ajay is robbed of whatever chance he had of decent characterization because of this dynamic of being the mediator between two uninteresting paths.
And that is a real shame, because the rest of the supporting cast is much more interesting. First and foremost, the chief antagonist, Pagan Min, steals the show whenever he is on screen. Voiced by Troy Baker, Pagan is very clearly aware of his role in the plot. He chews the scenery in every appearance, which is why he ultimately comes off as strangely likable compared to the other characters in the cast. Min is the bad guy. He knows it and is willing to let loose and have fun with it. Regrettably, the man only makes a scant few appearances in a plot which is, at least in theory, all about taking down his regime. The plot twist regarding his history with Ajay’s parents also recontextualizes the main campaign in a way that is oddly self-aware, to the point where one could say it openly mocks the video game conventions that the rest of the plot takes for granted. Even if he is not Vaas, and does not make many appearances, the game is made better for his character.
Most of the side-quests are given to the player through characters with unique views and idiosyncrasies. The quests to hunt legendary animals for the game’s carrying cases is delivered to Ajay by a fashion designer who believes that garments can only be truly beautiful if they are practical as they are stylish. A radio DJ with a tendency to just say whatever inane thoughts come to mind gives the player the side objective of shutting down Pagan Min’s propaganda centers. The local weapons dealer is also a missionary who needs someone to help him atone for his past crimes by killing the people who still commit them and reclaiming their ill-gotten goods. Not only do these characters entertain the player, but they also serve to contextualize many of the side-missions in a way that Far Cry 3 never really did aside from the radio towers and outposts. I understood more clearly in this game why my character would have a vested interest in going out of his way to do these things, and the side-cast was instrumental in that.
Which is great, because those smaller characters are part of what make Kyrat such an interesting playground. The other big draw is the land itself. Taking a helicopter and flying high over the terrain reveals impressive and beautiful vistas. Though I am not one for graphics, there is no denying that these moments make the game look fantastic. The nation also has a very interesting and well-written backstory, especially when compared to the islands from Far Cry 3. Ajay’s parents, the previous king, Pagan Min, and the Golden Path all have detailed and rich histories with each other, which helped flavor the game so that it felt like players were in a living, breathing place. Kyrat is as much a character as the rest of the game is.
Unfortunately, despite the praise I have for the game, I do have one serious complaint. Somebody at Ubisoft needs a stern talking to with regards to collectibles, because the sheer amount of them in this game is absurd. Some of them, specifically the letters from an 18thcentury explorer and pages from the journal of Ajay’s father, provide interesting reasons to explore the world by giving the player stories to discover. However, the rest of the collectibles are pointless. They consist of spinning wheels, shooting evil(?) masks, and tearing down propaganda posters. Not only are the reasons for doing these activities unclear, but there are so many things to collect that most of the game’s roughly 40 hour playtime comes exclusively from these innocuous trinkets. The propaganda posters are particular egregious because there are an excessive 150 scattered throughout the game. Eventually, someone at Ubisoft is going to wizen up to the fact that artificially injecting length with pointless collectibles does not make gathering them up fun. This revelation will sadly come too late to help Far Cry 4.

Far Cry 4 is, for better or worse, an upgraded Far Cry 3. If you enjoyed that game, you are going to enjoy this one. It is very similar in terms of how it plays, and the new location offers a bit more freedom in how players explore the world. What sets it apart mostly is how much more self-aware the writers of this game seemed to be compared to the writers of the previous game. Despite using similar tropes, this new awareness makes the plot a lot more tolerable, even humorous, than it otherwise would have been. That said, if Ubisoft’s standard formula for AAA games has begun to wear you down, Far Cry 4 is not going to do you any favors. It is a good game and a fun experience, but you have to be aware of that before you dive in.

Out of curiosity, I decided to try out this whole “scary game” thing again. With Dead Space 2 and Dead Space 3 out of the way, “horror” games are apparently something I do now. For this reason, and sheer curiosity, I decided to try out Outlast. Originally released on PC in 2013, moving to consoles almost a year later, Outlast is an indie-developed survival horror game. Developed by Red Barrels, the game chronicles the adventure of journalist Miles Upshur. Armed with only a notepad and a camcorder, he investigates a tip about an insane asylum doing unethical experiments. This week, I discuss how it both succeeds and fails its intended audience.
As the game began, I admit that it scared me in a number of ways. The initial scenes all to their best to set an atmosphere of creepiness. The tension runs high and, while I was aware that eventually I was going to get scared, I did not know in exactly what way. For a fairly long stretch, the game built tension without attempting to cache it out. It is subtle in the way that it began to unsettle me in those opening scenes. When the scares finally began to happen, that tension amplified them beyond what would be normally expected.
Unfortunately, the horror began to fade quickly the further I progressed. The game tried to give the player a brief reprieve every chapter, in order to help restore tension between encounters. Sadly, none of them are as long as that first moment. Furthermore, they grow shorter and shorter with each successive chapter. Without that tension, it just never gets as scary those initial scenes. Events are no less disturbing, and remain gruesome throughout, but the illusion of danger fades along with the suspense. Compounded by the predictability of the encounters, horror is the first feeling to get invited, but leaves before the party is over.
Fortunately, the game offers more than just that. Even when the horror fades, there is a noticeable thrill in the act of playing the game. This is because the protagonist cannot confront enemies. He has no combat ability, so in a straight up fight against the insane asylum patients will result in a swift and painful death. In order to stay alive, he has to either hide, stay out of sight, or run circles around them to get to his objectives and get out.
This means that there are generally two strategies when going through one of these encounters. The first one is a bit more slow and methodical, along the lines of a traditional stealth game. Players slowly move about in the shadows, watching inmate movements and trying to stay out of sight. Hiding under beds or in old, rusty lockers can help facilitate this idea. Since the protagonist’s camcorder has a nightvision mode built in, the player has a slight advantage in that he can see better than his pursuers. In the ideal world, the player will be able to find whatever item they need to precede, usually a key or something, and get out before any is the wiser.
But, that rarely ever happens. As a result, most players will inevitably shift to the other possible strategy. That is, they will run as fast as they possibly can. Since there is no stamina bar, no penalty will in incurred for just sprinting aside from all the noise that is generated. Even more fortunately, Miles Upshur runs faster than most of the enemies in the game. This makes it entirely possible to just rush through a given segment by sprinting through the level, gathering everything needed before the inmates even get a chance to blink. Once players realize that most enemies will take 4 hits to kill Miles, 2 for stronger ones, this tactic becomes more viable. After all, it is perfectly acceptable to take a few hits while sprinting. Even if things get bad, it is easy to break line of sight and hide in a locker to recover for a bit. This is part of why the game gets less scary, but just narrowly escaping a powerful foe by outwitting him is exactly why it becomes more of a thriller.
There are also a number of collectibles scattered throughout the game. By recording events with the camcorder, players can unlock notes detailing the protagonist’s opinions on the events of the plot. Documents located in various places also provide detail regarding the purpose of the asylum. Lastly, since using nightvision requires charge (but not the act of simply using the camera normally), the player can collect and store up to 10 batteries to reload into the camera and restore charge. The notes and documents provide some mildly interesting reading, even if the story is fairly forgettable in and of itself. On the other hand, the batteries can be fairly scarce, particularly in the early game, so picking them up will be almost required.
Speaking of the story, it is very bland. You, the reader, probably groaned at the premise that I mentioned at the start of this article. Honestly, it does not get much better than that. If you have watched a movie, you can predict the twists and turned that you will encounter in the story. None of it is bad. However, nothing stands out from other, more well-known pieces of horror-themed fiction. Secret government experiments, horrible mutations, evil ghosts/monsters, and other devices have all been used before. This is also true of the the trope of the intrepid reporter risking his life for a major scoop. Though players will get through the game, it will not be at the forefront of their minds once they finish.

That can almost be said for the game itself. It is fun to play, and does its job. However, it does not do enough to stand out among its contemporaries in the horror genre. After beating it once, it is highly unlikely that it will be remembered for long. As a smaller, more independent game, this can forgiven. I would even recommend a playthrough for people who are desperate for a horror fix. With that in mind, most people will not be losing much if they skip out on it. Though good, it is not great and the players who are likely to enjoy are just as likely to have played better.

So, we here at The Texture Pop have begun to make an earnest attempt to reduce the overall length of our podcasts to more manageable levels. I know I have said this before, several times, but I believe that we can stick to it this time.

Also, we did not receive any viewer questions this week. If have any questions, comments, or thoughts for us, feel free to send them our way at thetexturepop@gmail.com.

0:02:30 The only piece of news this week.
Leonard Nimoy has passed away.
I think I can speak for many people when I say that he will be missed. He’s made many contributions to the world through what he’s done and the roles he’s played. Few people can claim to live a life as full as his, so we took the time to acknowledge that in this segment.

0:06:50 Garrett plays League, reads books, has a birthday, and hangs out with friends.
And this all happens in the span of a few minutes.
Also, I just realized that the new League of Legends character Garrett was talking about has a Kabuki mask. That’s the word we spent so much time not thinking of.

0:17:00 Chris talks about an anime fighting game.
And Sam is just enthralled by it. I’ll be honest, I mostly zoned out until Chris said “Yu Narukami” and/or “Persona.”
I just wish talking about the game didn’t involve the word “inbirth.” I’m not entirely sure why, but that just doesn’t sound right.

0:30:20 Chris talks about buying Dragon’s Dogma.
And hilarity ensues. At least he was able to see the silver lining and use his misfortune to his favor. All’s well the end’s well.

0:32:50 I finished Far Cry 4. *spoiler*
I have an article due soon on Far Cry 4. As a result, I will let the conversation here stand.
It’s a good game, and better than it’s predecessor, but I don’t think Ubisoft can keep producing Ubisoft: The Game for much longer. The formula is growing stale. I just don’t think that it’s sustainable.

0:46:25 I finished Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition
There were parts of the game I enjoyed. As a whole though, the game isn’t really that great. It is only worth playing if you need an excuse to hang out with a friend.

0:54:50 I played more Muramasa DLC.
Still worth it.

0:57:40 Sam played Resident Evil Revelations 2: Episode 1.
It’s a shame the first episode wasn’t that great. Still, it’s hard to talk about games like this until more episodes get released.

1:10:50 Sam played Nosgoth.
And (successfully) attempts to convince us to install it so that we can all play together.
While the game sounds really good, I am almost immediately put off by the nature of the microtransactions. In short, those prices are way too high. Still, I love asymmetric multiplayer, so I would say it’s probably worth trying out.

1:22:55 Sam picked up Ranma 1/2.
I’ve heard of it, but never read it. Seems a little too out there for me.

1:26:00 Wrapping Up
Remember, you can send us stuff at thetexturepop@gmail.com.
Sam’s Saya no Uta article is here.
My Final Fantasy VI piece is here.

Like many gamers in my age group, Final Fantasy served as my entrance into the JRPG genre. Before my initial playthrough of Final Fantasy X at a cousin’s house, I had never really given them much thought. Since then, I have been gradually playing the other Final Fantasy games whenever the opportunity arises. With my new-found mass of free time, I decided to use this chance to play through the 6th of the franchise’s numbered entries. Aside from the 3rd, it was, until recently, the only non-MMO main-entry that I had yet to play. Because of many of the old school fan-base call it the best game in the entire series, I was more than interested.
Released in 1994, Final Fantasy VI was originally released for the SNES in both Japan and the United States. Back when the US first got the game, it was the third Final Fantasy game released in the region, so it was titled “Final Fantasy 3”. To this day, there is still a degree of confusion born as a result. However, subsequent releases have attempted to correct these errors by giving the game its proper title, now that Final Fantasy has become so well-known throughout the world. The version I played for this article is the version for the original PlayStation, obtained from the PlayStation Store and played on my PlayStation 3.
What I found most interesting about Final Fantasy VI is how much darker in tone the story was compared to previous entries. This is especially true since the 5th entry in the franchise is known to be one of the most light-hearted by far. The game is not shy about killing off very prominent story characters (but no one in the main party). In fact, the protagonists learn magic by holding onto the corpses of magical beings called Espers, turned into gemstones called Magicite. The villain is also one of the most well-known for being the only Final Fantasy villain to ever succeed at destroying the world. Though it may not be the darkest game in the franchise, it is definitely one of them.
And of course, the tale would not be anywhere near as good if it did not have a excellent cast of characters. This is something that Final Fantasy VI has in spades. The game is interesting because it is one of the few in the series that does not have a true protagonist. Some of the party members are less vital to the story than others are, but none can be truly said to be the driving force of events by themselves. The story is more about how all of these characters, from different regions and with their own unique backstories, gather together under a common banner to fight the evil empire.
As villains, the Gesthal empire serves its purpose well. Particularly, Kefka is one of the franchises most infamous villains. In a nutshell, he is what one would get when combining the joker with the resources of an organized military and immense magical power. Callously destroying many villages and ending countless lives, Kefka serves as a great motivation for players to keep playing. Furthermore, thanks to the superb translation, his dialog throughout the story will just as often entertain as much as it will horrify. He has so many memorable quotes that there are pagesdedicated to them. The cast of characters work, and are a massive part of why the game is so well-loved.
The other reason the game is notable is because of what it did it terms of design. In the beginning, Final Fantasy VI plays like any other Final Fantasy before. Though the map is large an open, players traverse it in a linear fashion, from point A to point B. Later on, after an extremely important plot event, the party gets separated. From then on, the world is much less restrictive. Taking the role of one particular player character, the goal shifts to gathering up the party in preparation to challenge the final boss. It is made clear at this point that who the final boss is and where they are hiding. At this point, it is possible, though difficult, to skip the rest of the game, head directly to the end, and finish it.
Alternatively, players can try to find and retrieve all of the old party members, deal with their baggage, and prepare them to come together to tackle this challenge. In essence, all of the content aside from the last dungeon at this point consists of side-quests. Those missions are about 15 hours of the game’s roughly 40 hour playtime. Fans of modern-day RPGs like Skyrim and Mass Effect 2 probably will not be too impressed by that. However, since this game originally came out on the SNES, this was an extremely bold and revolutionary move at the time. Honestly, it is a little surprising that this style of RPG took so long to become mainstream. The transition from linear JRPG-style play to that more familiar to us in the west was handled smoothly, and the game is better for it.
Despite how much I enjoyed it, the game does have some noteable blemishes. Unfortunately, these flaws have much more to do with circumstances than any real measure of quality. First, at least on the PlayStation version, I noticed an issue with loading times. About 2 or 3 seconds are required to transition between scenes or to go to the menu to use items or manage characters. While that does not sound like much, having this same slowdown compounded over the hundreds of times these events will happen in a given playthrough can become a major nuisance. Since I had this same problem with the PlayStation versions of other sprite based RPGs like Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy V, I suspect it had more to do with technology than anything else. It is nothing Square could help, but it is nonetheless a source of frustration.
The other issue, at least for me, comes from the time in which Final Fantasy VI was originally designed. Back then, random encounters were seen as one of the best, and most well-known, ways to make sure that players always have the opportunity to strengthen their party before a boss fight. Given how much game design has evolved since then, I can no longer subscribe to the thinking that random encounters are a good game design decision. Personally, I find them quite frustrating, especially when I am in the middle of navigating a dungeon, among many other grievances the typical method in which they are implemented. Again, it is hard to blame an SNES game from 1994 for following standard genre conventions of the time (especially when it challenges others), but it can be a detractor for people who subscribe to modes of thinking similar to my own.

As a total package, Final Fantasy VI is a classic game that is definitely worth completing at least once if you have even a cursory interest in the genre. There is good reason to consider it one of the best entries in the Final Fantasy franchise. In some ways, it can be seen as an experimental game, and a precursor to the more open-worlds we see in video games today. Even from a modern perspective, it aged more gracefully than many of its contemporaries, serving as a good example which budding game designers can learn from. In all, it has earned its place among the pantheon of legend RPGs, but you are probably not surprised by that.

This week, I’m the only one who played video games. Well, in between our usual shenanigans.

0:01:00 Viewer Questions.
“Do you think that The Order: 1886 is a symptom of a trend among AAA developers to makes games more like movies, even if it means sacrificing gameplay in order to achieve it? Is the race for cutting-edge, movie-like graphics ultimately doing a disservice to AAA gaming and gaming in general?”

In short: No, and likely.
I don’t believe that The Order did not try to be more like movies at first. What I hypothesize is that they simply used that as an excuse to justify 30 FPS and letter-boxing. I would further speculate that the true reason is that lower frame-rates and letter-boxing is easier on the system, allowing them to do more for graphical fidelity.
Considering how many delays it had, I would not consider The Order to be a rushed title. But what likely happened is that after investing so much time and money into the game and seeing no return, Sony cracked the whip and said “You have to release SOMETHING!?” We talked earlier about Peter Molyneux and what a train-wreak Godus was without a publisher. Ready At Dawn likely just wasn’t prepared to make a AAA game on current-gen consoles, and this was the result of their unpreparedness. They needed graphical fidelity, but lacked the skill to pull it off.
The Forbes article that I mentioned is this one.

“How awesome is Kamala Khan?”

Boy, am I glad Chris and Sam were here to answer this question.

Now, Adonisus got his questions answered. If you would like us to answer your question about life, love, and video games, feel free to send us an e-mail at thetexturepop@gmail.com.

0:12:05 Gaming News
Assassin’s Creed: Unity no longer needs the Companion App or Initiates
If you’ll recall my initial thoughts on Assassin’s Creed: Unity, this was a major problem for me. Now that this latest update fixes that problem, I think the game is significantly stronger for it. Unity handled both of these services the wrong way, and they need to rethink it for the next game.

Invader Zim returns in comic form.
Though I can’t remember it too well, I distinctly recall watching Invader Zim with as much excitement as I watched Courage the Cowardly Dog as a child. If memory serves, I had a great time watching it, but specific jokes and episodes elude me. Still, I am excited to see it return.

Dawn of Justice’s Aquaman is revealed.
When Sam said that this guy looked like the Prince from Prince of Persia: Warrior Within (the only game from the Sands of Time that I could not bring myself to finish), I reacted strongly. This is because the went so far into “dark and gritty” that it honestly became completely insufferable. If that’s any indication, DC fans should stay away from this movie.

0:31:05 Sam didn’t do anything this week.
Working, editing videos, and applying to internships took up all of his time.

But him and I did finish the Far Cry 3 season of Interactive Friction, and we’re excited to show you the next season.

0:36:00 Garrett is live-tweeting the Oscars.
And I don’t know movies… so I can’t comment on much beyond my limited knowledge of the Baldwin siblings.
This stuff is more Garrett’s area of expertise, so I’ll just let it stand on its own. This conversation changed from one about the Oscar’s to one about movies in general anyway, so why not?

The IMDB page for Voice of a Distant Star, the movie Sam mentioned in this segment, here.

0:41:30 Garrett had no school due to the weather.
So we talk about both weather and the book that Garrett bought to pass the time: Good Omens.
And of course, Garrett played League of Legends. The novelty there is that for once, he just played “for fun.” I find the need to specify that one plays a game “for fun” to be very disturbing.
For the record, Garrett was right in that Birdman won Best Picture. His prediction was right.

0:52:50 Garrett wanted to talk about Kitty0706’s death.
Garrett took it particularly rough, so I’m glad he was able to get it off his chest. It sounded like he needed to.

0:57:40 Chris did a little “thrifting”.
And we discuss the haul that we obtained through this practice.
That’s pretty much this whole segment.

1:12:30 Chris rants about gaming controllers.
And we talk about several bad, or way too expensive controllers.

1:20:30 I have been playing Far Cry 4.
It’ll be interesting to contrast this with its previous game. There’s a lot to like, and there are huge improvements in both the story and the gameplay. If you like Far Cry 3, you’ll like Far Cry 4.

1:30:00 I also played a bit of Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition in co-op.
It’s not bad, but it’s not good either. It’s somewhere in the middle.
If you don’t expect to be scared, have a partner, and enjoy some action, then you’ll enjoy it.

1:38:10 I played one of the DLC modules for Muramasa: Rebirth.
And it’s pretty good DLC. If the module I played is any indication, they are all exactly as long as it needs to be, and no more/less.
Sam also just learned that Nekomatas are actual things in Japanese mythology.
We even get into a more general discussion regarding DLC/expansions, price, and value. It’s interesting to take this conversation in context with our discussion about The Order in the beginning of the podcast.

Then, after bringing up Interactive Friction, we discuss Far Cry 3 and 4 even more.

1:52:20 Wrapping Up.
As I said, we’ve finished Interactive Friction.
Also, I published an article about Dead Space 2.

And again, if you want us to answer your burning questions, shoot us an email at thetexturepop@gmail.com.

This is it. As of this posting, we have completed our Let’s Play of Far Cry 3.

Overall, Far Cry 3 is not a bad game. As Sam and I have repeatedly stated over the course of this series, the game itself is extremely fun to play. The gunplay and stealth mechanics are both solid, and the upgrade system gives off a clear sense of progress. The variety of weapons and gameplay styles also makes it such that every player will be able to go through the game in their own unique way. (Like the example of Sam not using shotguns, while I relied heavily on them.)

At the same, there are deep-reaching, fundamental flaws. In the course of playing through this game, we hammered home just how unbelievably awful this game’s story is. Jason’s motivations for pressing on after saving his friends is never clear. As players, this means that we don’t really understand what the whole point of it all is. There are also just so many missed opportunities in this story. Not only could they have done more with the premise, but the characters themselves do not take opportunities to complete their objectives when presented with them. All of these problems could be fixed with just slight chances, and a little editing.

Our main villain, Hoyt, could also have been much more threatening. On paper, he should be a scary villain. However, he has several problems going for him. The first one is that he is trying copy the same routine that was done by Vaas in the earlier sections. Since Vaas’s performer did so well in that performance, he just doesn’t stand up. Furthermore, the game keeps telling us that we need to wait for the right opportunity, but the story demands that we pass by 4 separate chances to take him out.

This could by letting him be a little less manic. Instead, he could have worked as a more subdued antagonist, acting a little more coldly, with a more plotting manner. And, in order to avoid the problem of us being in gun/shiving distance, they could have put some distance between us during the initial meeting, by placing in a large, auditorium-style area. Instead of the office scene, we could have had someone give us a message, or be contacted through the radio. There are just too many problems with Hoyt as it stands.

Now, when it comes to the final scenes of the game, I actually felt a fair degree of catharsis when the illusions of Liza pointed out just how stupid it is that Jason thinks he’s a legendary warrior because you have weapons and a magical tattoo. That Jason is ultimate just living a deluded fantasy. In a way. this could also be seen as a admonishment of the player, which makes it more interesting. However, Jason deserves his punishment.

This came out before we got wise to Ubisoft’s tendency, in their big budget games, to use the same formula. Once you are aware of that formula, it is hard to not see it. It is not a particularly bad games, and nor is it particularly good. However, it does work on a basic level. As I said in my final comments, this feels soulless. The process in which Ubisoft develops video games is far too diffuse for anyone to really inject their identity into it. I like Ubisoft games, but they could be so much better than they are right now.

Lastly, for those of you who are curious, posted below is a YouTube video of Sam taking the alternative ending path in Far Cry 3. There is none of us talking, and it exists mostly for completion’s sake. Though interesting in its own right, I strongly feel like Jason wouldn’t go for it given his established character.

And thus ends our adventure in Far Cry 3. However, this is NOT the end of Interactive Friction. Sam and I have already decided on our next game. We will be taking a short break between seasons, but don’t be surprised when you see us come back in due time.

Some time ago, I had written about my experiences while playing Dead Space 3 with a partner. At the time, it was free on PlayStation Plus, so I had no monetary loss from the experience. Going on record, I said that the game was so terrible that no matter how good the franchise may or may not have been before it, any interest I had for the series was irreparably destroyed. In more recent history, a couple of conversations with friends of mine, who were fans of the franchise, convinced me to give earlier games a try. So, when Dead Space 2 went on discount during a sale, I bought it. Now that I have had the chance to start going through games on my backlog, I went ahead and played it from start to finish. This week, I talk about my experience with it.

The first thing I noticed when playing Dead Space 2 is how the game benefits from the inclusion on specific ammo types. Due to how Dead Space 3’s weapon crafting system was implemented, ammunition was universal. Every weapon took from the same ammo pool. Assault Rifle or Plasma Cutter shots could just as easily be used in a rocker launcher. This gave the player no incentive to switch weapons over the course of the game. I had one weapon that I built in the first 3 hours, that I kept using until the end.
Going back to Dead Space 2, I noticed an immediate difference in way weapons and ammo contribute to the overall experience. Unlike its successor, Dead Space 2 gives every weapon in the game its own distinctive ammo type. Plasma Cutter shots cannot be used for the Line Gun, and vice-versa for each pairing of weapons. Furthermore, ammunition for any one weapon was fairly scarce, even if, as a whole, there were more than enough bullets to go around. As a result, the game frequently demanded that players change weapons and tactics to both suit the necromorphs out on the field and the weapons which they have ammo for.
An element of resource management is created as a result, and not just in ammo conservation. Though money to spend on equipment is plentiful, at least on Normal difficulty, it is no less finite. Wasteful spending will get punished later on. In the event that a given player wanted to stick with one weapon for longer, it was still possible to purchase more ammo for it. However, this would mean that money is not spent on purchasing Power Nodes and armor. Power Nodes have two uses. First, they can used at workbenches to upgrade both Issac and his weapons. Second, they can be used to open locked doors that contain large supply caches and schematics which unlock new items in the store. Each of these resources feeds into the other resources in some way. The need to constantly balance the use of equipment, Power Nodes, and money is a large source of the game’s tension, which was lost in the translation to Dead Space 3.
Back when I played Dead Space 3, my partner and I talked through almost the entire game. With our constant bantering, to both coordinate our movements and comment on the game, any attempt to raise tension was completely lost. Furthermore, if either one of us died, the other was quick to resurrect them, reducing the game’s ability to provide any form of challenge. It felt more like an action-heavy third-person shooter than a game attempting to play with my emotional state. Neither one of us felt like the game was particularly scary or difficult.
Now, while I would hesitate to call Dead Space 2 scary, it is an extremely tense game. Enemies can, and often will, come out of nowhere. Even after a player defeats all of the necromorphs in an area, more will begin to spawn if they linger too long before proceeding onward. As a result, the player is rarely ever truly safe unless they are near a save point and/or vendor. Even when opening a locked door with a Power Node, the player will often be ambushed on their way back to the main path. When the need to carefully use resources, this further compounds the tension of the game. The player knows that they need to collect resources, but spending too much time doing so will require them to spend what was just gathered. This generates a delightfully nerve-wracking balancing act between the player and the designers.
Even better, the enemies both demand that the player is both swift and accurate. As many people are already aware, the primary enemies in the Dead Space franchise are the necromorphs. Unlike typical video game foes, they can only be defeated by dismembering their limbs until they are unable to move anymore. They are also fast, moving quickly into melee range. This results in a need to move quickly, while precisely aiming to slice body parts off of enemies. Failure to remember this will result in the use of copious amounts of ammunition and health kits. With a limited inventory, complications arise if the player is not careful.
While not bad for the game, this created difficulty for me towards the end. I found myself dying repeatedly to the same encounters. After a certain number of deaths, tension gives way to frustration. I will not deny that in the interest of avoiding said frustration and saving time, I began to start switching to easy mode for some battles and then switching back to normal after the battle was over. I would be willing to believe that this had more to do with my lack of skill then the game, but it is nonetheless important to make note of.
Lastly, the levels feel like they had a lot more variety in this game then in Dead Space 3. Most of Dead Space 3 felt very same-y, due to the fact that most of it took place in a tundra, while the rest was in a few sci-fi industrial buildings. Combined with the need to backtrack often, it was difficult to ascertain one area from another without the use of the game’s path-finding preventing players from getting lost.
Though most of Dead Space 2 also occurs in sci-fi industrial hallways, the game does use set design and lighting to add variety. Medical areas have all sorts of first-aid and medical equipment scattered throughout the area. Churches and theaters have lush red carpets and candle-lights and engineering bays will have mechanical equipment. Furthermore, the games makes good use to lighting by giving different areas their own colors. With these few additions, players are given a sense of progress and forward movement as they continue the game’s story.
Speaking of, the story makes a little more sense than Dead Space 3’s nonsensical tale of confusion and scatterbrained characters. The main cast had a clearly defined motive for wanting for wanting to prevent the villain from continuing his research. Furthermore, their relations feel a bit more natural, with both protagonist Issac Clarke and deuteragonist Ellie Langford go from grudging working together to something resembling more of a close friendship. Although the villain’s ultimate plan and motivation are at best vague and at worst nonexistent, the relationship between the primary cast is strong enough to carry the game’s writing.

Playing through Dead Space 2 hammers home exactly how much of a step back Dead Space 3 must have been to franchise fans. I can only imagine the disappointment of people who went from games like this to whatever they turned its successor into.That said, I can really see why fans of slower, more tense experiences flocked to Dead Space. There is a lot to like with the franchise. What really astounds me is that it is clear Visceral Games know how to create good experiences. So what on earth caused such a terrible transition. I would have loved to be a fly-on-the-wall when they designed each game.

In this episode, we leave behind a swath of bloody, sexy violence in our wake.

People may be able to defend Jason’s decision to not kill Hoyt at the meeting with all the nameless, faceless mooks. I’ll eviscerate all of those arguments, but they can be made. In the office scene in this episode, there is absolutely no excuse for Hoyt’s neck not being cut open by a machete. He has no weapon, no guards, and the only other person in the room is on your side! There is no possible excuse for this blatant oversight in the plans both Jason and Sam.

The other major scene in this episode is the interrogation. It might be because I am an avid consumer of fiction, but I just wasn’t particularly moved by this scene. The actors deliver pretty good performances, the animation is solid, and you can see the fear in Riley’s eyes. At the same time, it felt like the game was trying to tug at heartstrings that have yet to be established. I can’t feel particularly bad for a character that I do not honestly know. After all, aside from the acid trips and the intro cutscene, we have seen nothing of Riley before this.

As for the rest of this episode, I don’t have much to say about it. They are serviceable missions that do their jobs, but that’s about it. Unfortunately, it is mostly just combat. We’ve already spoken a lot about the game’s combat, so any further conversation is pretty pointless. Because of this lack of conversation, we just start shooting the breeze at this point.

Missed Hoyt Assassination Opportunities: 4

We died a few times too many in this episode, so Sam edited a couple of deaths out in post to make it a little more watchable. Also, we had one scene where I commented that a flashing light was “Seizure Inducing.” Sam kindly edited this out too because we obviously don’t want to cause anyone seizures.

I really liked the first mission of this video. It’s cool to be able to fully explore an area and get a true feel for enemy movements and positioning before you engage. In terms of play, this makes it one of the most interesting missions in the game. All stealth requires a bit of planning and tactical thinking, but the disguise gives you even more freedom to do so. It is actually a shame that they only utilize this mechanic on a single mission.

I think the fact that we encountered so many small, but noticeable bugs in this section. from Sam’s animations to the ultra-bloom, and even the guy falling through the bridge, is indicative of Ubisoft spending less time on this second island’s content than the first island. Even the content itself feels derivative of the early content, without being too original except for a few missions.

This could be for any number of reasons. First, studies have demonstrated that not many people actually finish the games that they play. Statistically speaking, most players likely would not have even seen this section of the game. This would naturally lead designers to focus a bit more on the segments at the beginning. Furthermore, designers are just more naturally inclined to start with the beginning missions, and keep going from there. Either of these thought processes would explain why this second island got less attention spent on it.

As for the story itself, there is not much to comment on. This is all pretty clearly filler. We’ve already established that there we do not need to do this to kill Hoyt. By all rights, he should be dead and we should be at the grand finale. But it that doesn’t convince you, the opening to the next episode will.
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