EDITOR IN CHIEF Daniel Ingebrigtsen CHIEF REPORTER Jenny Kristiansen EDITOR Espen Mathisen RESPONSIBLE Richard Wong CIRCULATION 40 000 copies WEB www.expmagazine.com RELEASES Monthly DISTRIBUTION Posten Norge ADVERTISER Madeleine Maraz MARKETING Grethe Bentsen EDITORIAL WRITERS Navn Navn / Navn Navn / Navn Navn / Navn Navn / Navn Navn / Navn Navn / Navn Navn / Navn Navn / Navn CONTACT US +47 911 92 942 exp@futurenet.com subscribe online at www.expmagazine.no DESIGNER Daniel Ingebrigtsen +47 911 92 942 ingebrigtsendaniel@gmail.com PRINT Printed in Norway by Norges Kreative Fagskole, Oslo on paper from Norway Designs Print subscriptions Norges Kreative Fagskole +47 815 68 090 info@norgeskreativefagskole.no COVER The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim ŠBethesda Game Studios CONTENT/EDITORIAL Picture: Bethesda Game Studios
CONTENT PAGE 5 - 10
NI NO KUNI PAGE 11 - 16
JOURNEY PAGE 17 - 22
THE ELDER SCROLLS V: SKYRIM PAGE 23-24
GAME OF THE YEAR PAGE 25-26
THE ART OF VIDEO GAMES PAGE 27-32
UPCOMING GAMES
03 EDITORIAL
VIDEO GAMES AS AN ART FORM? It’s been a strange year. In many ways, at least for the mainstream, 2012 could be seen as the year the industry adopted a holding pattern, with the next generation a heartbeat away. There’s a sense of the biggest players catching their breath and cautiously waiting as they watch Kickstarter circumventing them, social games appear to falter, and fortunes being won and lost faster than they can keep up with. It’s also been a year of looking back to older generations. Storied developers offered to remake their past glories, and publishers plundered their dustiest IPs and design philosophies. Then there were the indies, and 2012 was their year. The wild range of new styles and forms they’ve yielded has been extraordinary, exhibiting vast ambition and a quality of execution that has seen such games bearing at least the same significance as the products of the mainstream industry. Video games as a whole have been made profoundly richer as a result.Ate provid et ditae. 2012 was an interesting one in gaming. It was transitional and informative, and nothing will ever be the same! Of course, that is true of every year, but 2012 more so than most. We saw the rise of the digitally distributed game, and the first volley in the next wave of console wars with the Wii U. Daniel Ingebrigtsen, Editor in Chief.
EDITORIAL
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05 NI NO KUNI
NI NO KUNI WRATH OF THE WHITE WITCH text:
Kimberly Wallace pictures: Studio Ghibli / Level-5
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Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is a collaboration between two Japanese creative powerhouses; Studio Ghibli, creator of beautiful and touching animated films such as Spirited Away and Level-5, the acclaimed RPG developer known for Dragon Quest.
J a pa n e s e R o l e -P l ay i n g G a m e is useful shorthand for a certain way of character-led storytelling and combat mechanisms. But there are times when it’s tempting to recognize such rubric as restrictive and embrace games merely as beautiful tales, without cultural baggage. This suits Level-5 and the animation house Studio Ghibli just fine, as they jointly seek to bring us the wondrous world of Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, translated and localized from a Japanese version launched last year. The combat system, likewise, merges real-time elements with traditional turn-based battles, while adding Pokemon-style use of familiars. Indeed, the emotional punch offered from early previews of the game, in which main character Oliver moves from a difficult life in an ordinary world, to one that is magical, suggests something that ought to have appeal beyond a segment of gaming that knows or cares about JRPG’s fine and illustrious heritage. That’s a good thing, at least for anyone who seeks to escape the dusty confines of segmentation. In an email exchange, EXP recently interviewed Level Five’s CEO Akihiro Hino, a programmer, producer and director of dozens of fantasy games. Here’s what he had to say: EXP: Ni no Kuni is set in a charming world. What tricks do you use to make this world feel like a living, breathing place?
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AH: One of our objectives was to fully utilize the specs of the PS3 to 100 percent represent our vision of the world of Ni no Kuni, including the artwork and music. One of the most important elements of Ni no Kuni is being able to enjoy Ghibli’s anime, so we put a lot of effort into making it feel like you were freely moving about within an anime feature film.
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this isn’t simply aiming for
realism , but provides you with a wondrous experience
of playing within an anime feature film.
” To make the transition between the hand-drawn anime cut scenes and the game-engine’s real-time cutscenes feel seamless, we adjusted the color tones, the shadowing of people and buildings, and even the minutest detail of character movements so they matched that unique Ghibli anime feel. Mr. Momose, the director from Studio Ghibli who worked intimately with us on Ni no Kuni, taught us that it was important to portray the “real world” thoroughly before Oliver sets out for the “other world,” in order to make that parallel universe feel real as well. Of course we knew we had to draw the world that formed the background so it felt like it actually existed, but we also put a lot of effort into portraying Oliver’s emotions.
EXP: What do you want players to feel as they explore this world? What are the emotions you are hoping to reach?
EXP: Tell us about working with Studio Ghibli, and the specific and unique qualities they have brought to this project?
AH: We would love you to experience the excitement of going on an adventure, as well as the feeling of returning to your childhood, while you play through this game we have prepared for you. Further, it would make us happy if younger players could live out their dreams and the spirit of adventure through this title, as they also think about the importance of their own loved ones, such as their family and friends.
AH: It was a great stimulus for us, as well as an experience that helped Level-5’s staff to grow. One of Studio Ghibli’s unique approaches is to ‘properly portray the mundane acts of everyday people.’ Before we learned that, we would tend to move the camera around to create the coolest composition we could envision, or exaggerate the characters’ movements for extra effect. Mr. Momose only moves the camera about when
necessary, and instead composes the scenes so they are easy to view the natural movements of people that he has drawn in detail. On the other hand, if the motion doesn’t look perfectly natural, then they do not show it. Not only does this provide the viewer with a greater sense of realism, but the level of empathy is totally different. This served as a great lesson for us. EXP: Tell us about the creative process of the creature designs, of making these bizarre characters. How do you get from a clean sheet of paper to a newly invented animal?
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” WE WANT THE PLAYERS TO THINK ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF THEIR OWN LOVED ONES, SUCH AS THEIR FAMILY AND FRIENDS ”
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AH: We took each characteristics into consideration as we thought about what kinds of creatures would appear in similar places within a Ghibli world, as we carefully crafted each of their designs. One of the fun factors of Ni no Kuni is the ability to win over wild creatures so they become your pet-like “familiars” that you can then raise up. So we tried to prepare as much variety as possible in the look and personality of the individualistic creatures in order for you to want to collect them and so we hope you will find your favorites to build your own unique team. EXP: Some in the West argue that the JRPG is in a state of crisis. Do you think this is true?
AH: Ni no Kuni is a title that cherishes the so-called fundamentals that makes RPGs interesting. Perhaps you will find this orthodox approach a refreshing change from the many overly-individualistic titles that make up the bulk of the market in recent years. We have included elements that create the true charm of RPGs in abundance: the excitement of stepping foot into a new area of the map; the sense of achievement from clearing tough battles and missions; the joy of exploration or discovering new items; the mixed emotions of meeting and then parting ways with a huge array of characters, and so on. So perhaps it actually could be considered a restoration or reformation of an RPG from the good old days.
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presenting the player with a world that would be like adventuring within an anime was one of our primary goals for the title. we made great efforts to blend the
AH: If pushed, I’d say Japanese RPGs tend to cater to players who are not skilled at action games and prefer to have command systems that allow them time to strategize, as well as those who enjoy stories that are similar to reading novels. So for fans of Western RPG, such JRPGs might seem somewhat antiquated. In Ni no Kuni, we used some cutting-edge technology to help create a game that isn’t simply aiming for realism, but provides you with a wondrous experience of playing within an anime feature film. EXP: Would you say that Ni No Kuni attempts to re-imagine JRPGs, or does it seek to bring back what was best about this genre, when it was more popular?
animation sequences and the event scenes into one experience so that it would be difficult to distinguish the differences between them.
” EXP: Tell us about translation and localization. Is this an easy, straightforward process or does it have challenges that gamers might not realize? AH: Ni no Kuni was a massive localization challenge. On top of the large amount of text, approximately a million Japanese characters, and voice overs, we had the 352 page Wizard’s Companion to translate and lay out for both digital inclusion within the game and for physical printing. There are many puzzles and other interactions between the Wizard’s Companion and the game itself, which required a lot thought put into them in each language, such as the creation of the Nazcaän alphabet.
The English audio also used child actors for some of the main characters and theme song, which added further complexity to the recording process. There is also a lot of technology going on behind the scenes to make the text as natural as possible, such as font resizing on the fly, as well as a complex system that handles English and European languages’ grammar, including German cases/declension. Hopefully you won’t even notice this because the text will seem perfectly natural to you, as if it was originally written in your language and not a translation from Japanese. . We created the game so that players can enjoy the animation of Studio Ghibli and the music of Joe Hisaishi as though they are watching a high-quality movie. One thing we can say that applies to all of our titles is that we are careful in creating games that do not overwhelm the player with too much too fast, with what might be called a very snug progression. Basically, we don’t make choices too difficult. Looking at our finished product, we feel this attention to detail was worth it, and hope you will be blissfully ignorant of these changes as you enjoy the game. Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is available now exclusively on PS3.
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JOURNEY A MASTERPIECE text:
Keith Stuart pictures: thatgamecompany
JOURNEY SOUGHT TO EVOKE IN THE
from the web. Fast forward 20 years and we have Journey, the latest release from experimental LA studio thatgamecompany. If there’s one thing most game critics can agree on, it is that you must experience it. This ethereal wonder – part adventure, part meditation on life and death – is one of the most fascinating mainstream video game releases of the decade; not as much for its content (which is beguiling enough) but for what it actually is. And what it actually is, is the key question. Because, by generally accepted definitions of the word, Journey is not a game. It has no fail state: although there is perceived peril, it seems impossible to actually ”die” while playing. There is no time limit, so solving puzzles has no sense of tension. And although the presence of puzzles suggests challenge and therefore a game-like experience, these tasks are simple and toy-like. Players cannot compete for resources or physically interact (the collision detection was apparently removed so that participants couldn’t knock each other off walkways). Although there is exploration, the experience ends inevitably with one conclusion – though of course, that conclusion can be interpreted differently by each player.
PLAYER A SENSE OF SMALLNESS AND WONDER, AND TO FORGE AN EMOTIONAL CONNECTION BETWEEN
THEM AND THE ANONYMOUS PLAYERS THEY MEET ALONG THE WAY. In the 1960s, the pioneering British artist Roy Ascott became fascinated with the possibilities of the telecommunications network as a conduit for his work. He had long been interested in the idea of cybernetics and human-machine interfaces, but as the internet emerged, he saw in it, the possibility of a new form of interactive art, in which groups of distant participants would be able to collaborate in online projects. Later he coined the term telematic art to describe artworks constructed with telecommunications networks as their medium. The most famous example is his 1983 work, La Plissure du Texte, which arranged for a group of artists in different places around the world to collaborate, via the internet, on an emergent narrative, each contributing a section of a story to an online work, none having an overall vision of where that story may lead. Some of the collaborators may have known each other, others wouldn’t, but all they shared was a string of words appearing on their separate terminals – a tale emerging seamlessly
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Thatgamecompany continually refers to Journey as an experiment. When I interviewed the producer Robin Hunicke last year, she was very clear about that. Aware that they’d never produced a game with a traditional multiplayer component before, the studio set about exploring the meaning and conventions of online interaction, and sought to manipulate them to create something more spiritual and reflective. All thatgamecompany titles are effectively a Voight-Kampff test – they are designed specifically to provoke an emotional response. And in this sense, they are more like art than games. That’s what Journey is; interactive art. Through its gorgeous emotionally resonant soundtrack,
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journey is a gorgeous, meditative game that combines disciplined design, cutting-edge technology and beautiful art into something remarkable and moving.
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its looming symbolic landscapes, its exploration of interactivity and telepresence, it wants us to ask questions and experience feelings, without necessarily having to engage with game-like structures. It has more in common with the works of, say, interactive art collective Blast Theory, than it does with Modern Warfare or other traditional online games. The problem, I suppose, is that the term ”Art” carries so many connotations, many of them negative. Art can mean pretention, hubris, exclusivity. The brilliance of Journey is the way in which it has got people to think about and engage with the experience as they would a work of art, without necessarilyhaving to be conscious that they’re doing so. Journey is art without all the baggage; it is art without a gallery, art without a critical elite telling you what it means or where it fits to their esoteric pantheon. All art is about communication – that’s the only
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definition that really works. And at the centre of Journey, is the conundrum – how do two players who find themselves in this landscape, with no traditional means to talk to each other, share the experience? And what is the game trying to tell us, anyway? Roy Ascott imagined an era of art in which the lines of telecommunication were both the medium and the message, and in which stories emerged from telepresence. Journey is the modern commercial realisation of that. You don’t have to think about any of this as you are sliding down a great sand dune, interweaving with a stranger, intermittently bouncing sound icons between each other; and, of course, you don’t have to think about art when you look at an amazing painting by Titian, or Monet or Picasso. Whatever you feel is the most important thing. That isn’t pretentious, that’s sort of beautiful. I’d knitted it off and on for most of life. I never felt any
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hurry to complete it; in fact, I never really knew how long I wanted it to be. Just, every so often, I’d pick it up and weave another couple of rows.
temples, places exotic and mysterious. Always forwards, and up; always towards the mountain.
It’s many years later now, and I lay old and tired in my bed. I’ve lived a long, full life, and here I am, pushing onwards despite sickness and age. I move the scarf through my hands and look at its oldest sections, where the needlework is most frayed and the colors most faded. I think back to the days when I began knitting it—how young I was then! How careless and strong, how healthy and free! Tears well up as I picture myself then; how could they not? But those days are gone, and this cold struggle is all that remains. That story sums up what Journey meant to me. What it’ll mean to you remains to be seen. But no matter what meaning it imparts, ThatGameCompany’s creation is a triumph, a video game that is as remarkable for its discipline as it is for the effortless manner in which it welds its vast reserves of breathtaking beauty.
Journey is an astonishing synthesis of technology, animation and art that brings a world to life in a way I’ve never before experienced in a video game. I could write yards about the sand alone—this sand is more than sand, it is an entity, flowing, shimmering, sighing with life. Sometimes the wind ripples through it like water; other times it billows like snow. Sometimes, the wanderer will surf down a sand dune like the world’s most graceful snowboarder.
In Journey, players assume the mantle of a silent desert wanderer. This faceless, robe-clad nomad looks more or less like a ballet-dancing cousin of the Star Wars Jawa. As the game begins, the wanderer climbs a giant sand dune in the middle of a lonely desert. In the distance beyond the dune’s crest towers a mountain. As the mountain comes into view, a title screen appears: ”Journey.” Until the credits roll, this is the only piece of text in the entire game. It wasn’t chosen by accident. That one word presents a clear imperative: Your journey leads to that mountain. Go. And so you do go, forward through blinding sun and murky darkness, through sunken, abandoned desert cities, through sandstorms masking ghostly, still-operating machinery from a bygone age. Through palaces and
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M o m e n t s o f j aw - d r o p p i n g , eye-moistening beauty come on fast and then melt away. One early section in particular is less a game than a tiny symphony, a cascading build to a climax of searing visual splendor. Austin Wintory’s musical score, punctuated by Tina Guo’s lovely solo cello work, combines with the vast horizon and flowing scenery to conjure a space that is mournful, beautiful, playful, and sad.
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journey is art, without all the garbage.
”
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THE ELDER SCROLLS V:
SKYRIM The High King of Skyrim has been murdered. In the midst of this conflict, a far more dangerous, ancient evil is awakened; Dragons. The future of Skyrim, hangs in the balance as they wait for the prophesized Dragonborn to come; a hero born with the power of The Voice, and the only one who can stand amongst the dragons. text:
Charles Onyett pictures: Bethesda Game Studios
I was stacking books on a shelf in my house in Whiterun, one of Skyrim’s major cities, when I noticed a weapon rack right beside it. I set a sacrificial dagger in one slot, an Orcish mace in the other. They were on display for nobody but me and my computer-controlled housecarl, Lydia, who sat at a table patiently waiting for me to ask her to go questing. The chest upstairs was reserved for excess weapons and armor, the bedside table for smithing ingots and ores, the one next to the Alchemy table for ingredients. I’d meticulously organized my owned virtual property not because I had to, but because tending to the minutia of domestic life is a comforting break from dealing with screaming frost trolls, dragons, a civil war, and job assignments that never seem to go as planned. It’s even a sensible thing to do; a seemingly natural component of every day existence in Skyrim, one of the most fully-realized, easily enjoyable, and utterly engrossing role-playing games ever made. Part of what makes it so enjoyable has to do with how legacy Elder Scrolls clutter has been condensed and in some cases eliminated. In Skyrim, there’s no more moon-hopping between hilltops with a maxed out Acrobatics skill. That’s gone, so is Athletics. The Elder Scrolls V pares down the amount of skills and cuts out attributes like Endurance and Intelligence altogether. There’s no time wasted on the character creation screen agonizing over which skills to assign as major. You don’t assign major and minor skills at all, but instead pick one of ten races, each with a specific bonus. High Elves can once a day regenerate magicka quickly, Orcs can enter a berserk rage for more effective close-range combat.
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do a quest, kill a dragon, snatch torchbugs from the air, munch on butterfly wings or simply wander while listening to one of the best game soundtracks in recent memory.
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”
dream. patience. there are formalities that must be observed , at the first meeting of two of the dov . by long tradition, the elder speaks first. hear my thu’um! feel it in your bones. match it, if you are dovahkiin
”
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These abilities are best paired with certain character builds – the High Elf regeneration is useful for a magic user – but don’t represent a rigid class choice. Major decisions don’t need to be made until you’re already out in the world and can try out magic, sneaking and weapon combat, emphasizing first-hand experience over instruction manual study, letting you specialize only when you’re ready. It contributes to the thrilling sense of freedom associated with life in Skyrim. Do a quest, kill a dragon, snatch torchbugs from the air, munch on butterfly wings or simply wander while listening to one of the best game soundtracks in recent memory. Despite the enormity of the world and the colossal amount of content contained within, little feels random and useless. Even chewing on a butterfly wing has purpose, as it reveals one of several alchemical parameters later useful in potion making at an alchemy table. Mined ore and scraps of metal from Dwemer ruins can be smelted into ingots and fashioned into armor sets, pelts lifted from slain wildlife can be turned into leather armor sets, and random books plucked from ancient ruins can trigger hidden quest lines that lead to valuable rewards. Skyrim’s land mass is absolutely stuffed with content and curiosities, making every step you take, even if it’s through what seems like total wilderness, an exciting one, as something unexpected often lies just over the next ridge. Many times the unexpected takes the form of a dragon. Sometimes
they’re purposefully placed to guard relics, sometimes they swoop over cities and attack at seemingly random times. In the middle of a fight against a camp of bandits a dragon might strike, screaming through the sky and searing foe and friendly alike with frost or flame. Momentarily all on the battlefield unite, directing arrows and magic blasts upward to knock down the creature, creating impromptu moments of camaraderie a surprising change from what may have been yet another by-the-numbers bandit camp sweep. Dragons show up often, their presence announced by an ominous flap of broad wings or an otherworldly scream from high above. The scale and startling detail built into each creature’s appearance and animations as it circles, stops to attack, circles again and slams to the ground makes encounters thrilling, though their predictable attack patterns lessen the excitement after a few battles. In the long run they’re far less irritating than the Oblivion gate equivalent from The Elder Scrolls IV, can be completed in a few minutes, and always offer a useful reward. Killing a dragon yields a soul, which powers Skyrim’s new Shout system.
these abilities provided you find the proper words – each Shout has three – hidden on Skyrim’s high snowy peaks and in the depths of forgotten dungeons, serving as another reason to continue exploring long after you’ve exhausted the main quest story, joined with the Thieves Guild, fought alongside the Dark Brotherhood, or thrown your support behind one of the factions vying for control of Skyrim. Not only is this land under assault by dragons, long thought to be dead, it’s also ripped in two by civil war. You can choose one side or the other, but so much of the allure of Skyrim is how, even outside of the confines of quest lines, the embattled state of the world is evident, and steeped in a rich fictional legacy. Lord of the Rings this is not, but with the release of every Elder Scrolls game, the fiction becomes denser, and the cross-referencing for long-time fans all the more rewarding.
Skyrim’s
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residents are all
aware of current events . they’ll comment on the civil war some sympathizing with the rebels, others thinking the establishment sold its soul.
These are magical abilities any character can use, you don’t have to specialize in spell casting to slow time, throw your voice, change the weather, call in allies, blast out ice and fire, or knock back enemies with a rolling wave of pure force. Even if you favor sword, shield and heavy armor and ignore magic entirely, you’ll still be able to take full advantage of
” The peasants complain about the Jarls who control each settlement, the Jarls complain about the rebels or foreign policy, the overprotective College librarian complains when I drop dragon scales all over his floor; many characters feel like whole, distinct personalities instead of
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vacuous nothings that hand out quests like a downtown greeter hands out flyers for discount jeans. Characters stereotype based on race, they double-cross at even the slightest hint it might be profitable, and they react to your evolving stature within the world. It makes a ridiculous realm, filled with computer-controlled cat people and humanoid reptiles, demon gods and dragons, feel authentic, like a world that existed long before you showed up and will continue to exist long after you leave. You can speed by all this if you want. You can drive directly through the main story content, see the conclusion and bail out, having never increased a skill category to 100 or read a virtual copy of The Antecedents of Dwemer Law. But to do so is to defeat the purpose of playing The Elder Scrolls. This is a world that rewards the obsessive and the adventurous, one where creative quest designs are the standard across primary and secondary storylines, not the exception. Primary quest lines may proceed in predictable fashion for a while, but only to lull you
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into a sense of complacency before the inevitable betrayal sends you scrambling in unexpected directions. The rewards are just as exciting, offering all sorts of unique gear and significant bonuses for dealing with the Thieves Guild, entering into the ranks of the magical College of Winterhold, or joining the battle-hardened Companions in Whiterun. These are the strongest storylines in the game, but even the shorter quests sprinkled all over Skyrim impress. Random NPCs will run up to deliver notes in the middle of the wilderness, others whisper rumors in inns. Blacking out after randomly entering into a drinking contest, luring innocents to their deaths at demonic shrines or complying with the demands of a cannibal haunting a morgue are only some of the peculiar events you may encounter in Skyrim’s non-essential content. You may see all of this, or after an extensive playthrough miss the quests entirely. Bethesda Game Studios’ achievement isn’t simply that there’s well over one hundred hours of content in
Skyrim, but that the content so frequently defies expectations. To have such an immense game where so little feels like a grind is incredibly rare, and a significant part of what makes this one of the best role-playing games ever created. For such a complex game, Skyrim is surprisingly user-friendly. The Elder Scrolls’ traditional leveling mechanics still apply. When you turn in a quest or kill a character, you don’t receive experience points. Instead, skills level up through use. Cast fireballs and frost spells and your Destruction skill will go up. Craft armor pieces and your Smithing will increase, brew potions and your Alchemy will shoot up, and deflect damage with a shield to increase Block. After enough of these categories have increased, your overall character level notches up, allowing either Magicka, Health or Stamina to be increased. This is how you define your class, piece by piece, favoring Magicka if you want to use spells, Health and Stamina if you prefer weapons, or a combination if you don’t want to specialize. It’s an easy to use,
sensible system, and the results are easy to see, a welcome change from the attribute system of old, which in retrospect seems cumbersome. The spell system has received BioShock-like adjustments. When playing in first-person mode your hands hover at the sides of the screen with magic active. When you finally snap out of the mesmerized stupor brought on by gazing into the rotating blue cubes that characterize Alteration magic, you can cast from both hands. One hand can blast fire while the other shoots electricity. One can channel a heal while the other shoots a jet of frost at an advancing enemy. You can conjure a spectral sword and use the free hand to set fiery runes along the ground that explode when any hostiles step over. If you’ve unlocked the proper perks, it’s even possible to combine the same spell into a more powerful version, letting you cast fireballs Street Fighter-style for better results. The system makes playing a pure caster the most fun it’s ever been in The Elder Scrolls, and opens up useful hybrid options, letting you swing an axe while actively channeling a fire spell or healing effect. With a greatly improved visual presentation and the always entertaining physics system that takes hold after a target dies, tossing magic in The Elder Scrolls has never felt this satisfying, as a well-placed fireball can send a charging bear tumbling helplessly down the slope of a stony mountain. You don’t have to be alone during combat, either. You can summon magical creatures or hire NPCs to tag along.
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Mountains shrouded in mist ring every tract of open field, forest and marsh, and if you’re willing to walk, you can eventually climb their slopes and view the rest of the world from above.
” Followers exist all over Skyrim, and if you do them favors, they’ll be willing to venture outside towns and deal extra damage during a fight. Followers can even be given simple movement and interaction commands or saddled with extra gear. The followers are meant to be tools of battle instead of ever-evolving personalities, but some still stand out, such as a boundlessly self-confident Khajiit in Winterhold’s College, or, if you’re into Conjuration magic, a summoned demon warrior that can’t help but insult any hostile that walks into range. The visuals have also been dramatically improved over the last Elder Scrolls game. The sense of adventure and discovery is strong enough in Skyrim given
how many cool items and quests there are to find, but the addition of beautiful scenery makes the inclination to obsessively scour Skyrim’s landscapes irresistible. Waterfalls tumble from high cliffs and split off into smaller tributaries as they wind through the rocks below, flowing across terrain that feels realistically varied. You’ll see foggy mornings and crystal clear days, take in polychromatic aurorae streaked ribbon-like across night skies, rainstorms and near blinding blizzards, making it easy to drop what you’re doing and survey a scene just to appreciate its beauty. Weapon and armor designs are fantastically detailed, to the point where the increased damage or armor bonus for a new piece of gear is usually less exciting than the opportunity to marvel at its design. Playing in first-person gives you a close up of the weapons, like the curvilinear patterns built into steel war axes or the spiny surface of a demonic mace pulsing with glowing-green glyphs. Bethesda seems to recognize its talent at creating flashy items, since anything you pick up can be examined in your inventory from all angles, from every piece of Glass armor to a purple mountain flower. For the best view of armor, though, you’ll want to switch out to third-person view, which in Skyrim is a far more viable way to play than it was in Oblivion. I still prefer the traditional first-person combat and interaction for the sense of immersion it provides, but the third-person mode isn’t the vanity mode it once was. As good as the visuals are in the Xbox 360 version of Skyrim, there are a few drawbacks. Every time you fast travel, every time you enter a building or town with a door, you’ll need to sit through a load. You’ll also experience framerate drops depending on how much happens to be onscreen. The PC crowd should be happy to hear that, assuming you’ve got a powerful machine, The Elder Scrolls V looks far and away the best. There’s always one more pressing quest, one more unexplored tract of land, one more skill to increase, one more butterfly to catch. It’s a mesmerizing game that draws you into an finely crafted fictional space packed with content that consistently surprises. The changes made since Oblivion are many, and result in a more focused and sensible style of play, where the effects of every decision are easily seen. Featuring the same kind of thrilling freedom of choice The Elder Scrolls series is known for along with beautiful visuals and a stirring soundtrack, playing Skyrim is a rare kind of intensely personal, deeply rewarding experience, and one of the best role-playing games yet produced.
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PURE MAGIC IN AN ADORABLE HAT FEZ: GAME OF THE YEAR text:
Kimberly Wallace
picture:
Studio Ghibli / Level-5
FEZ IS A GAME FOR XBOX LIVE ARCADE
Manipulating pieces in such a way that they look traversable is all Gomez needs to navigate. In twisting the world to your will, disconnected objects become the literal stepping stones to your success. Perhaps a single platform becomes part of a wall, or positions itself within jumping distance of another platform. If two separate, smaller ladders appear as one long ladder from a certain angle, they act accordingly The rotation gimmick could have made a simple side-scroller something far more frustrating, but the dozens of levels are all laid out quite cleverly. New areas are always within reach, and altering the camera gives Gomez plenty of extra opportunities to explore. You can always get to the next area, even if you don’t quite know what to do when you arrive.
DEVELOPED BY POLYTRON. IN IT, YOU PLAY AS GOMEZ, A 2D CREATURE LIVING IN WHAT HE
BELIEVES IS A 2D WORLD. UNTIL A STRANGE
AND POWERFUL ARTIFACT REVEALS TO HIM THE EXISTENCE OF A MYSTERIOUS AND AWESOME THIRD DIMENSION! There’s a mutual awe between people discussing the deep secrets and mystery of Fez. Curiosity, envy, and excitement dominate conversations about bewildering thematic patterns, creative solutions to intelligent puzzles, and unforgettable level design. Players are likely to gush about the beautiful aesthetic and childlike sense of wonder in equal measure. They’ll probably say something about the insane but exciting ambitions, how bad their brains hurt, and how cute the little hat is, too. Fez appeals to the adventurous soul’s want for discovery, and delivers it in an entertaining and original way. After a catastrophic event adds a third dimension to a 2D world, Gomez, the fez-adorned hero, finds himself capable of shifting the dimensional plane. This is where Fez starts challenging player perception. Imagine the world like a four-sided column. With each pull of a trigger, Gomez rotates the column left or right 90 degrees. Each rotation displays a different side of the landscape, each of which has a distinct set of objects to interact with.
Fez has so much to see and do that most players will make their way through numerous stages in a short span of time. As they discover the rules and how best to get around, they’ll return to earlier areas to dig deep into the remaining mysteries. The sum of Fez’s intelligent level designs, perception mechanic, massive number of stages and secrets, and incredible art is so much more than just a shout-out to old-school gaming. Fez is a game in love with games. It has a respect for classic ideals and a confidence in its original ideas. Polytron draws on this to remind players why they fell in love with video games in the first place, all the while daring to make them think about the medium from a new perspective.
FEZ
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THE ART OF VIDEO GAMES Like comics, video games are a bastard medium, perpetually trapped in the purgatory of “low art. text:
Keith Stuart picture: Taito
What is art? What isn’t? It is a fool’s errand, really, and when applied to video games, there can only be one true and valid response: does it really matter? The perfect arc of a Mario jump, the iridescent beauty of Rez, the pastoral longing of Flower, even the architectural brilliance of a Counter-Strike map; none of this is belittled if it fails to ’qualify’ as art. ”Jonathan’s piece is the normal half-baked reactionary response that’s been wheeled out several times over the last few years,” says Dan Pinchbeck, a lecturer in computer games and creative technologies at Portsmouth University and designer of Dear Esther. ”To be honest, I don’t think its actually a very interesting question. I don’t think games need to aspire to being art, like art is an inherently more worthwhile form of cultural expression - people were playing games long before they were making art, so it’s certainly not an older one. A more interesting question is, why is it so important to some people that games are NOT art? Why do they feel so threatened by games being art?”
”
are games art or aren’t they? nobody need answer.
games are beautiful and important, we can leave it there and know that we are right
” It is possible to argue, of course, that all art is interactive; it is there in the very act of interpretation. The artist is never the soul arbiter of meaning, and artists, like game designers, build structures through which they communicate rather than dictate. ”As someone who has been professionally designing video games for all of their adult life, it’s always surprising to me to hear people claim that there isn’t, ’the presence of an organising mind’ behind them,” says Lemarchand. ”Games are made up of sets of rules and goals that produce dynamical systems as players begin to use them. Those rules are created by someone - a game designer - and circumscribe a space of possibility and meaning for the player to explore. Sometimes the rules are strict and rigidly constraining, sometimes they’re loose and require interpretation - no more or less than a score by Mozart, or a set
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of conceptual instructions from John Cage, Yoko Ono or Sol Le Witt”. And this is the soul of it really; this is what it comes down to. Certain critics will always attempt to barricade themselves against the flood of the new, to fence in what they understand and can safely ascribe meaning to – but new art always seeps through. The next time someone tells you that something isn’t art, that it can’t possibly even qualify, know that what they’re really telling you is that they are bewildered by change. That’s okay, it’s human, but it shouldn’t be mistaken for criticism. we can leave it there and know that we are right. In August 1878, when the editors of the popular American magazine Appleton's Journal first encountered Impressionism, their response was one of bafflement and affront. "What new dogma is this," demanded one editorial, "that so long as colour is heaped on in a vigorous manner, a picture must be accepted as complete, however crude and raw it may seem, however absolute is the evidence that the artist stopped before he had done?" Somehow, this issue is still being analysed and debated – mostly by those outside of the industry, who have little clue about games. In 2010 the film critic Roger Ebert made himself a few thousand internet enemies by declaring that games can never be art. And last week, the Guardian art critic Jonathan Jones reacted with disdain to Moma's exhibition of 14 classic video games. In a piece entitled "Sorry Moma but games are not art" he claimed that games could never qualify as artistic expression because their very interactivity meant that the creator was unable to claim an authorial vision. "No one 'owns' the game," he suggested, "so there is no artist, and therefore no work of art". "Ironically, the arguments that Jones musters are uncannily similar in style to those used against Duchamp's Urinal or Carl Andre's Equivalent VIII. Those critics also asserted that a ready made was not a valid act of personal imagination, that it was 'just' an object that the artist didn't even own".
THE ART OF VIDEO GAMES
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27 UPCOMING GAMES
THE TOP 13:
UPCOMING GAMES text:
Jeremy Parish
Although 2012 is still clinging to life, its days are numbered. But weep not for our dearly departed year. Embrace the future, and help us welcome 2013, a kinder, gentler year, completely free of political elections and Mayan doomsday prophecies. 2012 was an interesting one in gaming. It was transitional and informative, and nothing will ever be the same! Of course, that is true of every year, but 2012 more so than most. We saw the rise of the digitally distributed game, and the first volley in the next wave of console wars with the Wii U. We saw new franchises born, and established properties crumble.
It was a wild year, and it paved the way for an even crazier 2013. And so we look ahead to the games that will make the most waves heading into the new year. There are, of course, some mitigating factors to consider while viewing this list. Due to the nature of digitally distributed games, there very well may be one – or even several – groundbreaking new games that are released without physical media. That makes them harder to gage. So while you won’t find any on this list, please note that we are more excited to see what comes via that medium than ever before.
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The Elder Scrolls: Online GENRE: Persistent Online RPG PUBLISHER: Bethesda Softworks
The Elder Scrolls Online is a massively-multiplayer online game set in the Elder Scrolls universe. The Elder Scrolls Online allows players to quest across the entire continent of Tamriel 1000 years before the events of The Elder Scrolls V, which includes the provinces of Cyrodiil and Skyrim. It is a time of strife and unrest. Armies of revenants and dark spirits manifest in every corner of Tamriel. Winters grow colder and crops fail. Mystics are plagued by nightmares and portents of doom. Four years ago, in 2E 578, an arcane explosion of energy in the Imperial City set off mystical aftershocks that swept across Nirn. Mages died or went mad. Supernatural abominations from the plane of Oblivion, the Daedra, appeared in greater numbers than ever before. The constellation of the Serpent grew so large that it dominated the night sky. So began the grand scheme of Molag Bal, Daedric Prince of domination and enslavement. His Dark Anchors, vortexes of evil magic, weaken the barrier between worlds, threatening to merge Nirn and Oblivion into a single, nightmarish hellscape In the midst of this chaos, three alliances vie for control of the Imperial City and the White-Gold Tower. High Rock, Sentinel, and Orsinium stand as one, united under the rule of the High King in Wayrest. Valenwood and Elsweyr have forged an alliance of their own with Summerset, while Black Marsh, Morrowind, and Skyrim have formed a third, uneasy pact.
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High Rock, Sentinel, and Orsinium stand as one, united under the rule of the High King in Wayrest, Valenwood and Elsweyr have forged an alliance with Summerset, and Black Marsh, Morrowind, and Skyrim have joined forces and formed their own uneasy pact. Three armies will take up arms against the Empire, and against each other, to wrest control of the Imperial City and White-Gold Tower from the dark forces of Oblivion itself. The drums of war have reached a fever pitch, calling the warriors of Tamriel to the field of battle. The Daggerfall Covenant, the Ebonheart Pact, and the Aldmeri Dominion will take up arms and fight for control of Cyrodiil, the Imperial City, and the throne of Tamriel. Featuring three-sided Player vs. Player (PvP) gameplay, The Elder Scrolls Online supports hundreds of players on screen at once in an open world fight for control of Cyrodiil. Seize, hold, and control the resources of massive strongholds. Utilize massive siege weapons to crumble fortress walls and smash through fortified gates. Conquer the Imperial City, and your alliance’s top player could even be crowned Emperor! Where do your loyalties lie?
BioShock Infinite GENRE: First-Person Shooter PUBLISHER: 2K Games
Welcome to the city of Columbia. Floating amongst the clouds, cruising far above sea level, this is a place unlike any you’ve ever seen. The game is set in 1912, where your goal is to find Elizabeth, a young woman who’s gone missing and return her unharmed.
Dust 514
GENRE: First-Person Shooter PUBLISHER: Sony & CCP
It’s not only set in the EVE universe, it’s actually connected to EVE. The Dust battlefields will determine who controls territory within EVE’s world. The EVE Online players will have to contract players of Dust to go in and destabilize territory.
The Last of Us GENRE: Action Shooter PUBLISHER: Sony
Survive an apocalypse on Earth in The Last of Us. Here, you will find abandoned cities reclaimed by nature. Here is a population decimated by a modern plague. Here, there are only survivors killing each other for food, weapons, or whatever they can get their hands on. Here, you find no hope.
Until Dawn GENRE: Adventure PUBLISHER: Sony
One night, you and seven other teenagers are on a remote mountain on the anniversary of your friend’s mysterious death. The power’s out, there’s no phone reception and you’re trying to get the hot cheerleader to notice you. What could possibly go wrong?
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Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon GENRE: Platformer PUBLISHER: Nintendo
Luigi is back on a mission to remove a bunch of stubborn ghosts from some spooky mansions. Armed with his trusty Poltergust ghost-sucking vacuum cleaner, Mario’s brother takes center stage to capture these pesky phantoms.
Pokémon X&Y
GENRE: First-Person Shooter PUBLISHER: 2K Games
The games, which represent the sixth generation of the series, will feature a familiar combination of monster collecting, trading and fighting. This time, however, the action takes place in a detailed 3D world with a new dynamic combat system. Three new Pokémon have been announced: a cute critter named Chespin, the dog-like Fennekin and an amphibian called Froakie. The video also hints at two new rare or ”Legendary” Pokémon, one resembling a deer, the other a huge bird.
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Resident Evil 6 GENRE: Action PUBLISHER: Capcom
It has been ten years since the Raccoon City incident and the President of the United States has decided to reveal the truth behind what took place in the belief that it will curb the current resurgence in bioterrorist activity.
Gears of War: Judgment GENRE: Third-Person Shooter PUBLISHER: Microsoft
Follow Kilo Squad, led by Damon Baird and Augustus The Cole Train Cole, as they fight to save the city of Halvo Bay from an unstoppable enemy in the most intense Gears game yet. Gears of War: Judgment introduces a variety of new multiplayer experiences, including OverRun, a thrilling new class-based competitive mode that will pit Locust and COG soldiers in a head-to-head battle unlike anything Gears fans have experienced yet.
Tomb Raider
GENRE: Action PUBLISHER: Squere Enix
Tomb Raider delivers an intense and gritty story of the origins of Lara Croft and her ascent from frightened young woman to hardened survivor, armed with only raw instincts and the physical ability to push beyond the limits of human endurance. Superb physics-based gameplay is paired with a heart-pounding narrative in Lara’s most personal, character-defining adventure to date.
Final Fantasy XIV Online GENRE: Persistent Online RPG PUBLISHER: Squere Enix
The MMO role-playing game Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn invites you to explore the world of Eorzea with friends from across the world. Forge friendships, mount up on a chocobo, board an airship with your friends and create your own unique stories within the Final Fantasy Universe. Undertake epic quests and battle with familiar Final Fantasy monsters alone or enlist the help of your friends.
Dota 2
GENRE: RPG PUBLISHER: Valve
Dota 2 promises to take the unique blend of online RTS and RPG action that has made Dota popular with tens of millions of gamers and expand upon it in every way.
Rayman Legends GENRE: Platformer PUBLISHER: Ubisoft
Rayman, Globox and the Teensies are back to embark on a new fantasy adventure through a series of legendary worlds with new environments, characters and enemies. Rayman Legends features a variety of uniquely-themed levels including several musical maps intricately set to creative soundtracks and a spooky medieval theme. Players can also connect online with friends through a variety of challenges to test their skill and speed, and see where they rank on the worldwide leaderboards.
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