Balance

Game info
Title- Dota2
Type- Video Game
Genre- MOBA, Strategy
Age- Teen (Not Stated)

A Little About The Game

 MOBAs or multiplayer online battle arena games, are a semi new type of game genre. It has become rather popular over the years mostly due to three different games, League of Legends, Dota 2, and smite. They vary in gameplay but, their basic gamemode follows similar rules. I will from this point on will only be talking about dota 2. In Dota 2 your goal is to destroy the enemy's ancient before they destroy yours. You play on teams of five against another team of five. You pick from a pool of heros each with unique and special abilities. You go through the game killing enemy grunt units called creeps for gold and slowly level up. Every hero has a level cap is 25. You use your gold to buy items making your hero more devastating so you can in turn kill other enemy heros. When you do this you are given a much higher reward for killing the enemy. This usually give you a level which can really give you the upper hand. Anyways the Important thing is that there are three lanes. A top, middle and bottom lane. There is usually one support and one carry in each top and bot lane. The mid lane is given to heros which can usually gank and support their allies in their lanes. There are also two towers in each lane which keep enemies at bay. These tower become less threatening after about level 10 but, under level ten they can easily win fights for your enemies. Your goal in lane is to kill your opponents in your lane and destroy the towers. These lanes all lead to the ancient. The base of each team has a building called a barracks in each lane. If you destroy this it makes your creeps more powerful by turning them into mega creeps. This usually wins games for teams because it puts a lot of pressure on the enemy team. That is basically how dota 2 works. It's much more advanced but, in its bare essence that is what the game is about.

What Makes It Special?

Dota 2 takes balance in a different approach than some. Instead of balancing all of the heros outs by making them all similar they make each hero really good at what they do. If they are heavy carries they are good at killing other enemies in the late game. If they are tanks they take a lot of damage. If they support they normally can heal or harass enemies really well. Basically they go on the rock, paper, scissors standard. There are counters to every hero out there. That is how they achieve balance. The only problem with this is that Dota 2 in known for being unforgiving. If you manage to get killed by the enemies in lane early game (15 minutes and under) they will have a distinct advantage over your are your team mates. This is because that extra level or gold that they got makes them collect experience and gold faster than you can. Also they can kill your easier. So In essence it is fair if you are skilled. Also if you are weak in an area normally you can buy items to strengthen that area making you overall better. Say you do a lot of damage but, you don't have a lot of hit points. Then you can buy items that increase you total life or even your life regeneration. This adds another level of balance to the game. Also there are many different ways to play heros. You can mess with different builds and get an almost entirely different feel from the hero than if you were to use a different one. Another thing is that Dota 2 map is almost completely symmetrical. This mean that no one side has a better start. Anyways that is why I picked Dota 2 for balance this week.   

Battle Ship: Digital Version (advanced)

Game Info

Title-Battleship

Type-Board Game

Genre-Strategy, Guessing, Luck

Age-7+

A Little About The Game

"YOU SUNK MY BATTLESHIP!", possibly one of the most popular quotes in this board game. It's also their slogan. It is a game where two players set up their ships on hidden locations on the map. Your goal is to sink your opponent's ship before they sink yours. You take turns shooting at a letter and number co ordinate on the map. (EX. A2). You keep guessing until someone says hit! After that you keep shooting until you miss or sink their ship. It goes on like this until one of you loses all of their ships. Thus losing the game. I have always had fun playing this game but, it never truly captured the feeling of a true battle at sea. I feel like it could be so much more. That's why I think that this game should receive a more advanced edition to further the realism and complexity of this fun yet simple game.

What Would Happen

I would keep the core mechanics of the game. Two sides firing at unknown locations and such, but I would add a few different mechanics. First of all I would make it so ships could do different things. For example the battle ship could fire twice but, that would be all it would be good for. I would also add movement to the game to make the other ships like the sub and destroyer feel more balanced. The destroyer would get one shot move 2 spaces and see subs. The sub can shoot one and move one space but, can only be seen by destroyers. The tiny ship could move three and would make a great scout. I would also make it so that there was fog of war ( an area that slowly becomes unshrouded as you explore more of the terrain.) I would also make it so that the players could shoot more than just one ship at a time. This would allow for a more in depth strategy and intense battles. You would have to keep a tight micro(management of troops normally in a live game.) and make sure you get what you need done,done. I feel like this game would be a great game to play and would maybe even get tournaments if it was successful enough. This is a game I would love to see made digital.

So close But, So far

Game Info

Title-Brink

Type-Video Game

Genre-First Person Shooter, 

Age-Teen

A Little About The Game

Brink is a game that is widely known as a failed game that was given too much hype. You play a one of two teams. You are either a rebel trying to leave the overcrowded floating city called the Ark, or the the defenders of the ark who are trying to keep order and prevent the disruptive rebels from leaving. There are four classes and lots of customization when it comes to character types. You can play as a medic, soldier, engineer, or spy. Each one is need for the completion of certain objectives throughout the game. One of the most praised aspects of the game is its free run. Every character has the ability to jump off of walls and climb over high ledges. It turned out to be one of the few saving graces of the game. The game also has eight maps and only one game mode. IT also has a very short campaign clocking in at around 6 hours. Not bad for a game based mostly around its multiplayer but, still not a good thing. 

What It Did Wrong

Brink was a game that focused way to much on on customization. Now is most cases that isn't a problem but, as many people say they tried to do too much. There was also very little content. Eight maps for a game with only one game mode is honestly kinda pathetic. Also they tried to throw leveling on everything. Classes, weapons and even levels on customization. This would be fine but, the difference in a maxed out character and a new player is too different. The objective type game mode also limits the play for the player that wants to go off and lone wolf it up. The story was half decent but, preformed horribly. The guns also weren't very precise because it decided to take the realism of random bullet placement ( there was a spread on single shot guns even if it was slight.). This angered a lot of people and for the most part caused the game to die out. It's honestly a shame because if there were more maps and even more gamemodes the game might actually be really fun. I honestly found the game to be at least decent but, I also have never been able to play online. Anyhow I feel if it was executed differently it would have in fact lived up to the hype. 

Feedback

 

Game Info

Title-Bastion

Type-Video Game

Genre-Adventure,Exploration

Age-Teen

A Little About The Game

Bastion is an adventure game where you play as a mysterious character known only as kid. All information for the game is slowly introduced to you but, the narrator in the game. You go around the world collecting shards to bring bastion, the safe have you are staying at, back to its former glory. You slowly discover new enemies, weapons, skill, and all sorts of combos with the items. You enter each area by picking a location on the map after going to a jump pad. Each area contains something to help you on your quest. You can also find all sorts of cool back story items that show the history of the game. It's really interesting to slowly find out about the place around you.

What Makes It Special

As most people will agree the most impressive feature in Bastion is in fact the narrator. He adds lots of depth to the game and helps you understand moments around. Kinda like a mini Morgan Freeman.

Anyways, he replies to almost anything you do. Taking a path at a fork, you weapons combos, new items, everything. He also responds to you falling off the map in a playful manner. "And then the Kid fell to his death." (Kid immediately falls back onto the play area) Naw, I'm just foolin'." . Things like this add to the game. You gain the feedback that you feel is needed in the game without it feeling forced or overdone. Either way Bastion is a creative and fun game. I hope to see more like it in the future.

Characters

Game Info

Title-Dungeons & Dragons

Type-Table Top Role Playing Game

Genre-Adventure, Fantasy, RPG

Age-13+ (Anyone can play, this is just a recommendation)

     A Little About The Game

Dungeons and Dragons, a personal favorite of mine. This game is all about your imagination and just really getting immersed in you character. You are playing a role, thus the reason it's called a role-playing game. When you play this game you are not just playing, you are making another person. The game it's self is very diverse but, in a normal game you start by gathering some players and creating or using a campaign. You can also just free play if you want. Everyone usually has a character in mind, and then they roll their stats using 6 sided dice. You then distribute your rolled stats among 6 categories, Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and  finally Charisma. Each stat is good to focus for different fighting styles and classes. Some basic classes you can play are Fighter, Mage, Cleric, Paladin, Bard, Rogue, and Ranger. There are more but, these are the most common ones. After making the basics of your character you start going into personalization. He/She can be tall, short, old, young, long haired, no haired and everything in between. You can also pick your race. Many people tend to play elves or dwarves. There are of course stranger races such as minotaurs, or teiflings. There are all sorts of options to choose from. The game itself is all about losing yourself in the fantasy and really connecting with the character. You fight monsters and go on quests. You meet people and create tales of yourself. So you make the fun by just doing what you want to do (Within limits of course.).

What Makes It Special?

 

When you play D&D you are not just making a character. You are making an extension of yourself if you will. In some way they are a part of you imagination. You choose their lives and personality. Even if this person is nothing like you, you can always do what you want to do. basically if I can quote something it would  be "Our futures up to you, so whatcha gonna do?!". You make the future of you character. You made them and you can unmake em. You can make them great heroes, or evil overlords. The reason why I personally think that this game is so good for characters is the whole thing about being able to do anything with them. If you want to create a doctor who steals the souls of his patients go ahead. If you want to make a hunter with a fear of blood you can. You can even make a hero looking to avenge his murdered family who was killed by a band of marauding thieves. It's as close to a sandbox as you can get without it being one. You can make some of the coolest and most interesting characters ever in D&D. It's like writing a mini story while the epic is in the making. That is why D&D is perfect for making and falling in love with various characters.

Player Interaction

 Game Info

Title-Dark Souls

Type-Video Game

Genre-Action RPG

Age-Mature 17+

A Little About The Game

Dark Souls, a game well known to the more hard core population of gamers. It is known for being as rewarding as it is punishing. Dark souls is a game where you play as a chosen undead. An undead being marked with a curse that makes you unkillable. You live on the verge of death slowly losing your humanity. The only way to sustain yourself is to take the humanity of other living humans and beasts. So you roam the world in search of both maintaining your state and exploring the land around you (you have no prior memory of the world you are in.). The combat is also very calculated and difficult. You have to pick your every attack and block. You also must beware of other enemies who can be circling around you. You have to keep track of you limited stamina, and very easily lost health points. There are also bosses who are very difficult and each have their own unique attacks and tactics and if that's not enough challenge for you, other players can invade your world. They fight you and try to kill you to take your humanity. These battles are often hard due to the fact that they don't follow patterns like the AI and can use any item you can use. The world is full of wonder and battles to be had. Dark souls , while difficult honestly has a lot of things going for it. 

How Is It Special?

Dark souls has possible the most player interaction types in one game to date. Normally the game is PVE (Player versus enemy) where you fight the AI. There is also as I mentioned before PVP (Player versus Player) with the invasions. There is also cooperative play because you may summon other players to your world to help you defeat bosses and other minor enemies. They do this to gain humanity and money in game. Also since you can be invaded by three invaders while you have allies summoned so you can also fight on teams against a team of invaders. This game is very original in getting players involved with each other and the game in a multitude of ways. All of these are cool ways to get people involved without taking away from the game or making it seem like too much. Many people feel as if some of these features are unfair or stupid, but in a lot of ways it adds to the game and makes an already interesting experience better.  Dark souls makes player interaction, and many other aspects of a game work. This is why I did my post of Dark Souls this week.

Engagement

Game Info

Title-Mass Effect (one, two and three)

Type-Video Game

Genre- RPG, Shooter

Age- Mature (17+)

A Little About The Game

Mass effect is a game all about your choices and how they effect to changing world around you. You play as a created character that everyone refers to as Command Shepard. You and two other selected from a pool of slowly amassed allies travel around interacting to the random situations at hand. It can be as simple as helping a man find his ID or as massive as saving an entire race from a complete genocide. The cool part about mass effect is that you can move you character cross games. They won't keep their levels or equipment but, all of you choices made in the previous games carry over making the game feel much more tailored to your way of things. The game stay a game by challenging the player with intense fire fights that require quick thinking and micro management of your other two squad mates. The enemies get progressively stronger to match your increasing experience and better weapons that are acquired throughout the game. In the fire fights it all depends on what class you picked. Only certain classes can uses certain weapons and abilities. So everyone who plays this game will probably go through a different experience than some of the other people who played the game. You do have to worry about three things no mater who you play though. First your shields and health. If your health hits zero, game over. You go back to your last save point and try again. Second is your squads health. While normally they can do well on their own, you need to be sure to provide occasional support when it is needed. Lastly you need to worry about the objective. If it's to kill all of the enemies you only need to worry about you. If you need to guard a person or object then prepare to fight waves of enemies until you can leave the area. Overall the game has a balance of story and shooting so no matter what you consider a challenge it's there.

 

What makes it special?

 

I chose Mass Effect as an engaging game mostly because of the choices. You really see how you effect people around you and how you make a difference, for better or worse. While playing you get this sense that you are the character because the choices and questions you ask are all based on your actions. Relationships are formed, allies and enemies are made, people are killed and races can be saved. It's all based on what you pick. You decide what you become and how you effect the world around you. The gunfights also pick on this a little. Due to the fact that this game uses a skill tree you build yourself for your style of combat. Are you a sniper, A rough and tumble in your face kinda guy or even a powerful biotic( a biotic is a mage-like guy who uses mind powers!).  The game engages the player with limited choices but, without making you feel too forced down a linear path. This game probably get you as close to the game as you can be in today's gaming world. I think that this game is one of the more engaging games out there and all because of the choices. You even get to make little choices like, "do I want to explore this world and learn the lore?" or "do I want to rush through and kill as many people as possible?" or even a bit in between. This game trys to engage the player by letting them set their own path and priorities so you can really experience the game the way you want to. That is why the Mass Effect series gets my highlight of the week.