Tyler F.M. Edwards's Blog, page 16

Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition Impressions

The trilogy of Age of Empires remasters is now complete, and it feels like their trajectory has matched that of the original releases.

[image error]The first game was impressive for its time but was surpassed by its successors, and while its remaster was competent, it couldn’t fully make up for the game’s age, especially with no new content. Age of Empires II was when the franchise reached its peak, and its remaster was a virtually perfect example of how to update a game, delivering major improvements without changing anything that made the game great.

Age of Empires III, meanwhile, was still a solid game but unable to match the greatness of its predecessor, and its new Definitive Edition is a solid upgrade, but not the masterpiece the AoE2 remaster was.

Playing this, I quickly remembered why 3 is my least favourite Age of Empires game. They tried to improve on the formula of 2, but mostly all they accomplished was adding a bunch of unnecessary bells and whistles that made the game more complicated, but not more interesting.

That said, Age of Empires is still Age of Empires. Beneath all the bloated tooltips and wonky extra mechanics, the core formula is still plenty enjoyable, and it still works out to a fairly good game, just not one that quite lives up its legendary forebear.

So too with the remaster. Overall they did a good job — every change is a positive — but it does leave a little something to be desired. It’s good, but it could have been better.

[image error]The best trait is easily the graphical overhaul. The game looks gorgeous now. Everything is colourful, vibrant, and detailed.

There are a number of small but welcome gameplay tweaks, too. Home city leveling has been effectively eliminated, so everyone has access to all of the shipment cards off the bat, which is a nice way to prevent people having to grind all over again.

The revolution mechanic has also been fleshed out more. This is mainly noteworthy for me because it’s added Canada as a playable option. Even if it’s just a revolution option for the British and French rather than a complete civilization, it’s nice to have my country represented in an Age of Empires game for the first time.

They’ve also tweaked the indigenous civilizations to be more culturally sensitive. I will admit that in my ignorance I didn’t realize there was anything problematic about the old versions, but I’m glad they’re making the effort to be more respectful. In hindsight, the firepit thing does seem… less than ideal.

Finally, there’s new content. Here’s where I have some complaints, and even then it’s not that there’s anything wrong with the new content. I just wish they’d done more — what’s there feels like an appetizer rather than a full meal.

[image error]There’s two new civilizations, the Swedes and the Inca. Based on early impressions, they both seem pretty fun. I always enjoy the indigenous civilizations because I prefer the lower tech aesthetic, so the Inca are an easy win, but I also found myself enjoying the Swedes to a surprising degree. Being able to harvest resources with houses is a very strong economic boost, and their tech tree is simple but effective, with clear tools for every situation.

There’s also a new short “campaign” of standalone historical battle missions. These are fun enough — it’s nice to return to historical events rather than the fictional stories of AoE3’s base campaigns — but I really wish there was more. There’s only six missions, and strangely the new civilizations are not represented in them, which feels like a real missed opportunity.

Part of the problem is simply that the bar was set so high by the AoE2 remaster, with its multiple new civilizations and campaigns.

Which was always the problem with 3, remaster or no. It’s a solid game, but it predecessor was just too tough an act to follow.

Anyway, for all my humming and hawing, I’m pretty happy with the Age of Empires III Definitive Edition, and I’d recommend it to fans of the franchise. Just leaves me wanting more is all.

Reflecting on a Month of Horror

No, I’m not talking about politics. Or the pandemic. Or climate change, or my mental health, or any of the other 3,462 horrible, horrible things happening at the moment. Although I’m not generally a big horror fan, I did decide to go on a bit of a horror gaming binge this month, if only to clear some of the older titles from my backlog.

[image error]Alan Wake:

I was a bit underwhelmed with Alan Wake. If it hadn’t been such a short game, I might not have finished it. The “fight with light” mechanic is one of those things that seems super cool and innovative when you’re first introduced to it, but which quickly becomes an obnoxious chore when you have to deal with it every fight.

The story was lackluster, too. The concept is interesting, but weak writing, cringy dialogue, and mediocre voice acting sucked most of the fun out of it. It doesn’t help that the game is superficially similar enough to The Secret World that I kept comparing the two, and very few games can emerge from that comparison unscathed. TSW set the bar so very high.

I also played the even shorter semi-sequel, Alan Wake’s American Nightmare, and I actually enjoyed that much better, despite it being kind of a hot mess.

I feel like most horror franchises follow this trajectory where they start out deadly serious, but then slowly escalate until they transform into campy self-parodies that are as much comedy as they are horror (intentionally or not). What I find amazing about Alan Wake is how rapidly and thoroughly it underwent that change.

The first game is a super serious horror story, or at least it tries to be. American Nightmare, on the other hand, is an arcade style action game with a ridiculous story that at no point even pretends to take itself seriously. The difference between the two is whiplash-inducing.

[image error]But you know what? I like American Nightmare so much better. The cheesy dialogue and campy voice acting stop being a hindrance and become an asset. Instead of being a mediocre attempt at a serious horror story, it’s a successful attempt at a goofy action adventure.

Call of Cthulhu:

This was a pretty by the numbers eldritch horror game — if you know anything about Lovecraft, little that happens in this game will come as a surprise — but it was well-executed. They did a very good job of setting the mood, which is something I really like about Lovecraft-inspired works.

Something I appreciate about this genre of horror is how, when done well, it escalates over time. You start out in a relatively ordinary setting doing mostly normal things, with perhaps just vague hints that something is off, and by the end reality and sanity are coming undone all around you. The progression from normalcy to utmost horror is a great journey. I suppose other horror genres do similar things, but eldritch horror seems especially good at it.

My main problem with Call of Cthulhu is more a problem with me than the game. That is, I’m a scaredy cat. There’s a reason I don’t usually play many horror games. Most of the time Call of Cthulhu isn’t that bad, but there’s one or two sequences that had me seriously shook. Even though it’s a good game, I had to struggle to keep going sometimes.

Conarium:

Another Lovecraft-inspired game, this one based upon At the Mountains of Madness.

As I write this, I’m a little over an hour into Conarium (which according to Google is about a quarter of the game), and I don’t think I’m going to go any further. It’s a weird mix of very scary and yet also kind of boring.

[image error]The bits I’ve played so far do a good job of keeping you constantly on edge through isolating environments and superbly spooky environmental sounds. A proper horror aficionado might not be impressed, but for a lightweight like me it’s nerve-wracking, especially while I’m still recovering from Call of Cthulhu.

At the same time, though, it still manages to be pretty uninteresting. The writing and voice-acting are very inelegant and don’t bring the kind of immersion or mystery I’m looking for in a game like this.

As I said above, good eldritch horror delivers a slow escalation from the mundane to the unthinkable, but Conarium pretty much throws you straight into the weirdness. It feels very ham-fisted.

If it were less scary or more intellectually stimulating, I might stick it out, but as it is I think I’ve had my fill of horror video games for the time being.

Curse of Strahd:

That said, I’ve also been binging horror when it comes to tabletop gaming this month. I recently joined a group playing through the Curse of Strahd campaign for Dungeons and Dragons. That started before October and will continue after, but we’ve been playing extra sessions this month to celebrate the Halloween season.

It’s been a good time. Our DM sets the mood very well, and I’m enjoying the grim and twisted nature of the Ravenloft setting. It’s a refreshing change of pace from the more traditional fantasy of Forgotten Realms, which never quite grabbed me as a setting.

[image error]We got a pretty good introduction to the terror of Ravenloft right off the bat. We had an okay time exploring the first dungeon, with only occasional close calls, until we got to the final boss. That thing mopped the floor with us. One party member was away that week, and of the remaining three, two died and were eaten, and my poor traumatized sorceress escaped with a mere two hit points left.

Since then we’ve been coping a bit better — with the other two people rolling new characters — but I remain keenly aware of the danger that could await us as we continue to explore Barovia.

I’m playing a slightly modified version of Dorotea, my demonic Drow sorlock. She seems a good fit for the setting. My goal is to at least keep her alive until Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything comes out, so I can at least try one of the new subclasses with any potential replacement character. Dorotea is remarkably hardy for a sorcerer, especially now that I have a Cloak of Protection, but considering the nature of the campaign, I’m not super optimistic about poor Dorotea remaining alive and sane all the way to the end.

I enjoy horror a lot more in a tabletop setting, I think. Tabletop can’t really do jump scares or other cheap tricks. It’s more about the ambiance, which is the style of horror I prefer. Creepy and immersive rather than terrifying.

Song of the Month: Sloan, The Other Man

Time for some more CanCon. This is probably my favourite Sloan song. Leave it to me to pick a super melancholy song from a band mainly known for being fun and upbeat.

Wyrd Street: The City of Morhold

I’ve been continuing to slowly make progress on Wyrd Street, my indie RPG. Today, courtesy of Inkarnate, I bring you a new teaser: A map of Morhold, the city where most of the game takes place.

(Click for full size.)

[image error] Me starting this: Why didn’t I do this sooner?

Me four hours later: Oh, right.

Song of the Month: Efflo, Crystalline

I was planning to pick something else for September’s SotM, but then Efflo went and dropped a new song out of the blue, and I just had to signal boost it.

This is fantastic. It’s different enough from their older stuff to feel fresh, but close enough to be exactly what I want from an Efflo song.

Now on Dungeon Masters Guild: The Arrow Knight

Continuing my foray into the world of tabletop RPG design, I’ve recently published my first rules supplement on the Dungeon Masters Guild.

[image error]The Arrow Knight is a bundle of new content intended to make archery a valid playstyle for paladins in Fifth Edition. It includes a set of variant rules for the base paladin class, a new subclass suitable for play with both Arrow Knights and traditional paladins, and three new magic items themed around paladins and archery.

This is loosely based on my own paladin, whom I’ve been playing almost every week since I started playing D&D. I tweaked the paladin rules to make her work as an archer, and this is an expanded and polished version of the homebrew I made for her. One of the magic items in this bundle, Crowsight, is her bow. The campaign she’s a part of is finally winding down, so putting together this bundle was in part a way of saying goodbye to her.

Four Digits

This is the 1,000th post published on Superior Realities. Feels like a bit of a crazy number, but when you consider I’ve had this blog for the lion’s share of a decade now, it feels a bit more reasonable.

[image error]I wanted to do something special for the 1,000th post, but I’m a bit too short on spoons at the moment to go too wild, so I’ve settled on a simple retrospective. I’m going to dig up links to some of my favourite or most memorable posts. I’m not being super thorough or scientific about this, so undoubtedly I’ll be forgetting some good ones, but off the top of my head these are some that feel worth revisiting.

The Trinity Trinity

No less than three posts deconstructing the trinity of traditional group roles in MMORPGs. Put a lot of work and thought into this one.

It’s really funny going back and reading all my hand-wringing about not being a professional game designer now that I am a professional game designer. Admittedly a novice one who is still far from an expert, but still.

Twenty Years

In which I outline the world and story I consider to be my life’s work.

TSW Homebrew

My first foray into tabletop RPG design. I’d really like to work more on this at some point, but it’s hard to justify it when I could be spending the time on paying projects.

[image error]At the very least I should go back and nerf Exquisite Corpse again. Gods I created a monster with that spell…

Take a Walk on Wyrd Street

Speaking of RPG design…

The Mustering of Azeroth

Not one post, but a massive series covering World of Warcraft: Legion and its myriad class and artifact quests. I still haven’t played WoW since, and it’s starting to feel more and more like this was my way of saying goodbye to the setting.

The Secret World’s Combat Is Fine

I will die on this hill.

World Spectrum: Living for the Future

Always really liked this story. Leha and Alistos are two of my favourite characters to write for.

Efflo, Mexico

Literally just me sharing a YouTube link, but this band is so good I’ll take any opportunity I can to plug them.

On Being Represented

[image error]In which I discuss those rare characters in fiction I can see myself reflected in.

Fan Fiction: The Black in the Red

The story of my Templar character in The Secret World, written in the style of the in-game lore entries. I’m pleased with how well I managed to replicate the style. I actually did some lore entries for all my other characters. Maybe I’ll post them one day.

RPGs Versus Progression Games

Probably the piece of game design analysis that I’m most proud of from the history of this blog, maybe my whole career.

What’s New: Horizon Zero Dawn and Umbrella Academy Disappoint, while Cursed and Iron Harvest Impress

I once again apologize for my slowed posting schedule. I just haven’t had the spoons lately. But there’s a bit of a lull right now, so let’s do a quick run through what I’ve been up to lately.

[image error]I recently finished playing through the PC port of Horizon Zero Dawn. I was excited to finally check out such a well-regarded game, but unfortunately I found myself rather underwhelmed. The setting is very unique, but it’s a depressingly ordinary game otherwise. It plays like any other open world RPG from recent history, excessive boring side quests and all, and it doesn’t really do anything to set itself apart from the pack aside from having a unique aesthetic.

I never thought I’d say this about anything, but it should have been more like Pokemon. Taming machines and using them to assist you should have been the core gimmick of the game, not a wonky side feature that wasn’t good for much other than acquiring mounts.

I also think Aloy was a missed opportunity of a character. As someone who actually grew up isolated from the world with no one but a father figure to talk to, I can assure you Aloy should be much, much more socially awkward. I’m perfectly willing to accept that Aloy is the ultimate badass when it comes to hunting, tracking, and fighting — that makes sense given her backstory — but she ought to be a hot mess when it comes to interacting with people.

She could have been a unique character that someone like me could as a role-model, but instead they made her a generic wise-cracking action hero. She just doesn’t feel like a real person.

Also on the subject of things not living up to their hype, I recently finished the second season of Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy. Now, I was never the biggest fan of this show, but even so, I expected a lore more from the second season.

[image error]Basically, it’s just season one all over again. It’s the same plot, with only cosmetic differences. There’s no significant character growth compared to the first season, there’s no significant surprises, and what new characters and plot threads are added are mostly irrelevant and forgotten by the end.

It bothers me how this is a show about a team of superheroes that seems to go out of its way to avoid ever showing them working as a team. I get that they’re supposed to be a dysfunctional bunch, but there are ways to show that don’t involve scattering everyone to the four winds.

It’s the same problem the Netflix seasons of Arrested Development had. The show’s greatest strength is its cast and how they play off each other. Why are you doing everything you can to not let that happen?

Meanwhile, I’ve also been working my way through the latest season of Lucifer. It’s also felt like a bit of a letdown, but mostly just because the last season was so damn good. Season five has been solid so far; season four just set a really high bar, so it’s hard to live up to.

On a brighter note, one thing that has impressed me on Netflix recently is Cursed. I went in with pretty low expectations, and the first few episodes didn’t exactly blow me away, but since then it’s really drawn me in. I’ve got a few episodes left in the season, and I’m trying to savour them. It’s been a good ride.

[image error]It’s kind of by the numbers fantasy, but I think that’s what I like about it. It feels like the classic high fantasy adventures I grew up loving. It’s not hiding the magic off in a corner or focusing on petty politics. It’s true, proper high fantasy, with magic and wonder around every corner.

I’ve also been thinking about how Cursed is a fantastic example of how to do dark story-telling the right way. These days too much media goes too far and just wallows in awfulness. Everything is bleak, visually and emotionally.

Cursed isn’t like that. It’s definitely a brutal story, and it doesn’t pull any punches. It’s a story about genocide, and it’s got the gorey battle scenes and horrifying villains to match.

But there’s good to be found, too. The heroes of the story, while not perfect, are actual heroes. Nimue and her companions are largely brave, decent people doing their best to fight against evil. They’re worth cheering for.

Even the visuals of the show reflect this balance. The battles may entail no shortage of blood and guts, but there’s also a lot of genuine beauty seen in things like the forests of the Fey. It’s not a world where everything is brown and ugly. It’s a world of beauty and wonders.

This is how you do it. Despicable villains, but lovable heroes. Moments of brutality, and moments of peace. Ugliness, but also beauty.

[image error]My only major complaint at this point is that the inevitable flirtation between the leads feels painfully forced, but otherwise Cursed has thus far proved an excellent series. Let’s hope the last few episodes keep up that momentum.

Moving back to the world of gaming, something else that I’ve enjoyed recently is Iron Harvest 1920. I gave my thoughts on the beta over at Massively OP, and now I’m playing the full version of the game and continuing to enjoy it.

I will say that it’s not the most relaxing game. Even on the lowest difficulty setting, it keeps you on your toes. But the story is quite good, and it feels genuinely fresh. While it’s familiar in many ways, I haven’t played an RTS game exactly like this before. It’s got an emphasis on positioning and mobility that you normally would only find in an RPG or shooter. Would recommend.

And that’s about it for now. I should return to slaving in the RPG mines. Stay tuned for some fun news on that front in the coming weeks (hopefully…).

Song of the Month: The Naked and Famous, Everybody Knows

I’m too burnt out from work to have anything clever to say about this, but please enjoy my favourite song from the Naked and Famous’ new album.

What’s New: Warrior Nun, Theros, Agents of Mayhem, and More

I find myself with a number of topics I wish to discuss — many of which I’d have devoted full posts to back in the day — but I am once again knee deep in my latest project for Dungeon in a Box, and I just don’t have the spoons, so I’m afraid you’re going to have to get the Coles Notes version.

[image error]Firstly, the last of the birthday presents I bought for myself have arrived. Among other things, I bought myself a bunch of D&D rulebooks, including the newest entry, Mythic Odysseys of Theros.

I was interested in Theros because of the Greek mythology inspiration, but it’s turned out to be far more compelling than I expected, even for reasons beyond the mythological angle. It’s a fascinating setting with tonnes of cool ideas and fresh takes on all kinds of standard fantasy concepts. The fluid line between thought and reality in Theros, in particular, is really exciting. I need more RPG writing projects like I need a bullet in the head, but I’m more than a little tempted to write an adventure or two in Theros — I already like it much better than Forgotten Realms in many ways.

Meanwhile, I’ve watched through season one of Netflix’s new series, Warrior Nun. Between the goofy name and the less than inspiring trailer, I probably never would have bothered with this show, save for the fact it’s brought to us by Simon Barry. Simon Barry also created Continuum, which is one of the best TV series I’ve ever had the pleasure to watch, so anything he’s attached has got to be worth a try.

It’s not Continuum, but I did enjoy Warrior Nun.

Here’s the thing: In most ways, this could be considered a pretty mediocre show. The plots are serviceable, but not remarkable, as are most of the characters. The series is almost entirely carried by the strength of its lead character, Ava, and the actress who plays her, Alba Baptista.

[image error]Ava is delightful. The “ordinary person thrust into the role of hero” concept is a very common trope, but rarely is it executed effectively. It’s very hard to make a character both heroic and convincing as a normal, relatable person, but Ava nails that balance. From her dorky sense of humour to the palpable sense of joy she has at discovering what is to her a whole new world, she is incredibly relatable and overwhelmingly lovable, even when she’s thrown into the most outlandish of situations.

The are some other positives to Warrior Nun — most notably the character of Sister Beatrice, who is the only cast member who can share a screen with Ava and not be totally eclipsed — but let’s not mince words: Ava is what makes this show worth watching. I haven’t loved any fictional character this much in a long time.

Also on the subject of Netflix, I watched the Charlize Theron film The Old Guard recently. It was okay; a pretty by the numbers action flick, but it works. Don’t expect anything more than a popcorn flick, and you won’t be disappointed.

Speaking of disappointment, though, I also tried Netflix’s Snowpiercer series. I’d heard some friends raving about it, so I decided to give it a try, and… man, it does not live up to the hype.

Snowpiercer is a cartoonishly unsubtle parody of grimdark, post-apocalyptic, and dystopian tropes. It’s so over the top it’s impossible to take it seriously.

[image error]I realized I have the same problem with Snowpiercer I do with Star Trek: Discovery. They’re both really dumb shows that think they’re really smart. Being dumb on its own isn’t a dealbreaker; it’s the lack of self-awareness that ruins it. Lucifer is also a very dumb show, but Lucifer knows it’s dumb. It’s all presented with a wink and a nod; everyone is in on the joke.

With Snowpiercer (and to a slightly lesser extent Discovery), there is no self-awareness of how absolutely cartoonish and absurd the series is. It’s all presented with such deadly seriousness. With a few tweaks, it could work as a dark comedy, Tarantino style, but instead it’s a joyless, bleak slog.

On the gaming front, I’ve been working my way through a backlog newly bolstered by the last Steam sale. I recently finished an action RPG called Shadows: Awakening. It was decent, but could have been better. The setting and characters were interesting, but the plot never quite clicked the way it seems like it should have.

Gameplay-wise, it’s main gimmick is its unusual character-swapping mechanic. Essentially, it’s a party-based game, but you can only have one member of the party on the field at the time, so you’re constantly switching between them.

It’s a cool idea, and overall I liked it, but it could have been even better. I would have liked to have seen each character feel more complete and be a viable fighter on their own, making the choice of when to swap more about the tactical needs of the moment. As it is, the limited toolkit and long cooldowns of each character made it feel like the optimal way to play was often to simply cycle through all your characters, spamming all their abilities on cooldown.

[image error]I’ve now moved on to open world shooter Agents of Mayhem. The reviews were lukewarm, so my expectations weren’t terribly high, but I’ve found it extremely addictive. It’s pure junk food gaming — thin plot, dumb jokes, mindless action, and an endless firehose of loot and rewards — but damn it, it works. It’s fun. It can be a bit repetitive, to be sure, but I don’t think it’s exceptionally bad offender on that front relative to similar games, and the moment to moment gameplay is so enjoyable it doesn’t really matter.

I didn’t realize it going it, but Agents of Mayhem actually has largely the same character-swapping mechanic as Shadows: Awakening, though I feel it works a bit better in this case.

I’m mostly playing Kinzie “Safeword” Kensington, a hacker focused on debuffing and mind-controlling enemies (apparently a carry-over from the Saints Row franchise, which I’ve never played). She’s full of personality, and her mind control ultimate is hilarious. I’m mainly backing her up with Braddock, a tanky ex-marine with a versatile toolkit, and Oni, a Yakuza assassin with an aura that debuffs nearby enemies.

I like the gameplay and aesthetics of Rama (a DoT-heavy archer) and Lazarus (an even more DoT-heavy nanite-wielder), but they’re both too squishy, and I like Daisy’s aesthetics, but she’s a bit of a one-trick pony mechanically, so they don’t see as much play. The other characters don’t really interest me much, though I will grant Hollywood’s ultimate is pretty fun.

As for what’s next after Agents of Mayhem, I still have plenty of other options in my backlog, but I’m also considering springing for Horizon Zero Dawn when it launches on Steam next month. What I saw of the gameplay during the brief time Moiren streamed it didn’t entirely blow me away, but the setting and aesthetic seems so unique I think I still want to check it out.

[image error]Finally, as I’m writing this I’ve just finished off the final season of Alice Isn’t Dead, the mystery/thriller podcast from the creators of Welcome to Night Vale. The ending felt a bit too sudden and a bit too simple, but overall I think the final season was probably the best. The way they shook up the formula really added new life to the show, I think.