Now playing (double): Skyrim + Aragami

Although I've been playing Skyrim Special Edition lately, I just got Aragami in the mail (signature version, because physical copies are awesome but the "digital" art and music is just stupid in the standard physical release. So... this is technically my first EU printed game. Cool, I think?). Thankfully it didn't take the odd estimation of "december 13-sometime in january" length. I'm sure I'll have some first impressions before I finish this article, so might as well make this a double feature while I enjoy the Aragami soundtrack.

Skyrim: PS4 edition

Might as well call it what it is. Each version of this game is kind of different, and sadly the PS4 suffers from the worst, but more due to Sony's bullshit this time rather than Bethesda. That being said, when I see a significant price drop around this time of season (skyrim weirdly suits christmas time) with a free hat thrown in, I had a hard time resisting. I've got the PC version on my low-end intel laptop, I've got the sloppy and original PS3 release, and now I've got something that mixes the best of both worlds. Mild mods from the PC and running on more solid performance, while at the convinience of my controller and TV... oh and it's the best I'll graphically get to see the game up until whenever I can get a gaming PC. Meanwhile the hat is fantastic, thanks for asking.

So in my crude justification for spending money on a game I didn't really need, I still wound up having a lot of fun. Not only that, but... I've barely bothered with mods. Some moments aside, I'm kind of appreciating what I love about Skyrim again rather than what I've bashed it for here in the past. I love this game for everything that isn't a slap in the face from its RPG mechanics. Adventuring, exploring caves for treasure, developing your sneaking skills, dealing with socio-political cultures during a civil war, and just enjoying the night sky.. it's all pretty awesome. I can still find some old reviews back in its release where people were so impressed by finding a book that tells you of a cool legend, then how you could go to the actual cave and find the treasure it was based on. How cool is that!? Well the game really has a lot of faults, especially back on release with the PS3 version, but for all its faults... it really is a truly amazing adventure game.

So for the time being, I've set aside any remarks, frustrations, or pain that came from the RPG parts. If that attitude stays or goes is a mystery, but for now I'm having a blast. I've made another Khajiit character, who's very opportunistic, sneaky, and bow + mace happy. However as time is going on I'm finding myself using magic a bit more, and I'm also trying to more actively approach crafting, shopping, etc. At some point I'm going to deviate from mods, but right now I'm just having fun deviating from my actual mission to meet the greybeards. The marketing is slightly off if you want to come in and feel like some super hero power-viking that always beats up dragons. Instead the game is at its best not when you're looting through pockets to number manage a dumb inventory restriction so you CAN go fight that dragon later, but rather it's best when you're actually out there just lost and... smiling. It's really about the journey rather than the destination in Skyrim... because that destination has some cheap mini-bosses, outbalanced stats, and a clumsy inventory. But the adventure face of skyrim is more like this little trip, or moments that look sort of like:

Aragami

This game came out of nowhere, and at first... meh. Dishonored 2 was going to be great, so why? But even though that came true, Dishonored left me wanting a tad bit more, and as I was drinking a Cherry Blossom lager one day I remembered this game and the CE copy in the store. Eventually this lead to me grabbing the game's full physical form. My skepticism was however a little present on the basis that this was a full "true" stealth game (instead of stealth action). That's code for contrived game that fails the player if you even blink off cue, and rips all the fun out of better stealth games that don't necessarily FORCE stealth. However this game has proven to be an interesting middle ground between what pure stealth fans probably like in forced challenge, but mixed with the open design and choices of players from awesome games like MGS, Thief, and Dishonored. The most obvious diversion it takes from pure stealth, is that your not sent back to a 10 minute checkpoint because the guard smelled you. You can actually directly assault a guard, it's just extremely unlikely you'll win and it's very counter-productive.

However in breaking away from genre labels and traditions, we might find the real truth is both better and worse. Aragami is a great game from a stylistic stand point, with beautiful scenery and art style, a great choice of theme with a shadow ninja in a fantasy Japan setting, taking interesting spins on surrounding influences by blending Dishonored style powers with Thief style light based hiding, and music that is so good. However it does have its share of faults around the edges, including one I'm real worried about: checkpoints. I've lost at least 15 minutes of planning, waiting, mapping things out, and picking off guards, working up a perfect kill counter for level 3, only to have it all undone because the stupid game goofed on where I was teleporting to (aimed at a river bank, it teleported me clipping into the floor, then threw me into the water where I "died"... and for the record the game never even hinted at water being a real obstacle either). I was in a good mood so I wasn't actually mad, but it was a busy night and between making progress in Skyrim or trying to fight with this 15-20 minute segment all over again, I took Skyrim so that I wouldn't be frustrated. Checkpoints in games are usually fine, but if you dare to put them in a stealth game you better not be an idiot who puts them between 20+ guards, multiple rivers and halls, and then send a player back (like the area I died in). These games are all about waiting, planning, and trial + error, and you're on a fast track to pissing people off when you rip away all that stalking and timing especially when one of the encouraged credentials of every level is stealthy mass murder. AND stealthy pacifism (meaning you have to either perfect the guard pattern to kill them all, or to avoid them all). Oh, and the other issue with the game is simple optimization issues... yes, even after the patches which supposedly fixed that.

Still, Aragam is off to a fun start. One of the best parts of the game is that despite the checkpoint issue, the best moments can sometimes be just winging it and testing just how far you can push your movements around guards in split-second decisions. I've had such a good feeling from doing stuff like watching a guard walk a corner, teleporting to that corner he JUST stood by, and then as think you can get him... he walks just out of range and sits around a bunch of lights you can't be by. So... the second his feet touch the shadows, you phase a reinforcing pool of darkness and pop right up to take his head. Stuff like that is incredibly satisfying, and tense, and a part of why I love this game's pure stealth cycle... it's challenging sure, but it's got a lot of options, level designs, and you can actually fight your enemy in quite a few ways. One of those ways apparently includes sprouting a shadow dragon out of the ground, but I haven't gotten that far myself yet. So between the whole shadow ninja with Kitsune statues and cherry blossoms all over the place in this beautiful game, to the wide array of trying to dance around the shadows in secrecy, this game is a great new twist on stealth from an indie team I still know nothing about. Gotta give credit to these guys though and hope they continue to do awesome stuff.