I got an extension on my TED Talk, so I can’t talk about mine as I’m still finalizing it for tonight. Instead, I’m going to talk about someone else’s TED Talk. I watched group member Emma Foley’s TED Talk and thought it was really good! Her quality of voice (pitches, stops, etc) was really good, and I thought that her vocabulary (for example, the freedom of the 40s coming to a “crashing end”) was also very nice. As I’ve noted in comments before, the slides were amazing and seemed very professional. The only negative I have is that she was reading off of something for the majority of the VoiceThread post, so there wasn’t a lot of eye contact. Nonetheless, her TED Talk was incredibly well done and interesting.
Some ideas for the History of a Public Controversy:
-The OJ Simpson trial. We all saw how he handled the gloves, and it’s pretty much quietly acknowledged that most people think he did it- however, he got off without that conviction.
-A more recent example of public controversy could be something from the QAnon movement. We all know how well Trump’s loss in the most recent presidential election was handled by them, and their reaction to the COVID vaccine.
So this is the last passion blog post I’ll be doing for class this semester (however, I will be doing a review when the Diamond and Pearl remakes come out tomorrow. I’m planning on going to the midnight release at GameStop, so come by and say hi if you feel like it!). I figured I would end on a good note and review one of my favorite Switch games, Fire Emblem: Three Houses. My cousin had one of the previous Fire Emblem games on the switch, I think Birthright or Conquest, but honestly the only similarity between those games and this one is the unit and turn mechanics. The game developers did SO much here in terms of plot/lore/stylistic choices, especially with the addition of crests (basically helpful sigils that activate occasionally with entering into different forms of combat, healing, etc). I absolutely went feral for this game in high school. Basically, the premise is that your character or unit (Byleth, but you can rename them whatever) is the child of a famous mercenary and ends up a teacher at this monastery- and you have the choice of heading three different classes, all of whom are led by characters in line to be in major positions of power. You connect with characters inside and outside your faction, and then you end up having to fight against those other characters (and kill them) later on down the road. There’s major character death in this one too, in a couple different forms. This is a game that, at its core, is about the horrors of war, and how no side ever truly wins. Personally I recommend going with the Golden Deer, because their ending is the closest to the true ending, I believe (and I maintain to this day that it’s a crime that the final boss music, God Shattering Star, didn’t get into Smash with the rest of the main songs)- plus I have a soft spot for Claude (I always listen to English VA on this game just for his voice actor, Joe Zieja). As a side note, I’ll be making the images a little bigger this time so that you can read the dialogue. I screenshotted these for a reason. I don’t have a whole lot of screenshots of gameplay this time because I thought the dialogue was more interesting- however here is one of me finally catching the giant fish that I spent maybe two hours attempting to get:
In context, this is not as creepy as it sounds. Just a little weird.
FUN RATING: 4/5. Man, I had such a blast playing this game. It was my first Fire Emblem game and it definitely lives up to the hype that the series gets. There was some grinding to do in terms of leveling up my units- that’s what I always do, because I like smashing everyone down into the dirt. It’s enjoyable for me. But honestly, with some money management and a couple divine pulses (time rewinds) if anything goes wrong, you’ll be just fine. There were so many different options of things to do, from fishing to interacting with characters to dealing with lost items and having teatime, I literally never ran out of things to do. And then they added the DLC, and I sunk even more of my time into this game.
Decent enough strategy, but man does this really give a lot of insight into his character
EASE RATING: 3/5. Fun, but can be challenging at times. If I hadn’t had Lysithea for the Death Knight I think I probably would have spent a lot of time extremely frustrated at this guy’s bonkers defense. The Death Knight got nerfed but in the opposite direction when they made this game. There’s a lot of strategy that goes into gameplay on this one (which is fair because its literally a strategy game). I really enjoy that it shows you the attacking paths where you move characters to certain tiles. I personally play on the normal difficulty without permadeath, but some people really enjoy the looming threat of the permadeath of their units. It takes some of the fun out of it for me and makes it more high-stress, but if that’s what you want to use, it’s there. Nothing is insurmountable if you just look at it from a different angle and try something else, similarly to Rune Factory Four (as discussed last week).
Never change, Claude.
REPLAYABILITY RATING: 5/5. There are so many different plotlines to play through, and the game gives you numerous save slots to use. You’re supposed to go wild. With the addition of New Game Plus, you basically are set up to do multiple playthroughs. There’s some stuff you can’t access in the first playthrough, like dragon sigils (which are basically crests but manufactured) and finishing augmenting the statues in the monastery chapel. That said, it did take me over 100 hours to finish my first playthrough- however, that’s because I wanted to do everything.
OVERALL: This game is near and dear to my heart, and is one of the only games where I have had next to no complaints about anything in the game. They literally did so much well, even down to the little things like being able to pet and feed cats and dogs on the monastery grounds. And there’s cooking, growing, and harvesting vegetables! Another pseudo farming sim, but I’ve never disliked those. The main focus is on the combat, though! As I played through the games, I got really attached to the characters. I absolutely would recommend this game to anyone who asked me about it, and I have gone out of my way to tell people about it before unprompted. This game was so good to me. I liked it so much, in fact, that I’ve been wanting a spine tattoo of some of the crests for several years now. Hopefully this summer I can get it. If the universe didn’t want me to get a sick tattoo, why would it make the designs so cool?
IN-CLASS EDIT FOR CLARIFICATION: Ended up switching my topic to monetization of games over time- just to avoid confusion! I was more passionate about this, and that translates to me being able to go into more depth about the subject.
For this, I’m just putting in photos that I plan on using with a link to the original source and a small description.
I’m using this image when talking about Doodle Jump as an example of an older game that didn’t use to have ads when it first came out in 2009, and then started to have advertisements show up- you have to pay to get rid of them. Originally, you would just download the game and play it.
This is the rainbow credit system for the popular first person shooter game Rainbow Six Siege. I’m using this as an example of “pay to win”, because there’s been complaints that this microtransaction is required in order to get different characters, rather than regular gameplay unlocking. I don’t know a whole lot about this game, so I might find a different example, but this is what I have so far. This particular photo is in GBP, but it shows a pretty accurate example of price points- from what I’ve seen, it is approximately 600 credits to unlock a new character or “operator”. Ubisoft has said that it takes 25 hours to unlock one operator, and it is supposed to take 200 hours approximately to unlock them all. That’s a lot of playtime that not everybody has time for.
I’m using popular game Genshin Impact as an example of a gacha game, where the characters and weapons you redeem are randomized. You can get new things using game currency known as Primogems, but according to the players I’ve spoken with it takes a long time to get a substantial amount of them without paying for them. You can get some packs through Twitch if you have Amazon Prime, but other than that they’re kind of difficult to obtain. If you want more pulls for the gacha mechanic, you typically end up having to pay for them- it sucks you in.
I’m using this to round off the photos- this is a photo of Nintendo Online, something you have to purchase in order to have access to specific parts of some games, like trading with other people over the internet in the newer Nintendo Switch Pokémon games, going to other people’s islands in Animal Crossing, and using the GTS in Pokémon Home, the successor to Pokémon Bank (which you actually have to pay more for). What do all these things have in common? They were previously free features of games. Now you have to pay to use them.
It’s not another Pokémon game this time, readers, you’re free for now. This is another video game that originated in Japan, Rune Factory 4, but if I had to pin it down I’d probably put it closer to something like Final Fantasy based off of it being a hack n slash JRPG- but it’s also a farming sim if you want it to be. Crops are entirely optional, though! That said, if you want to make money it’s best to do ’em. If you’re so inclined, you can even romance NPCs, but it’s locked in to your gender option that you pick. Sorry, folks, you can only be straight here. If you’re inclined to put in a little extra work, you can beat the game and choose your visual preference in another game, so long as it’s saved on one of your files. The Rune Factory games have the same creators and idea as Harvest Moon, except you can also go out and fight monsters. I first started playing this in middle school, and I was delighted to see it get a port from the 3DS to the Switch.
Harvesting giant crops
FUN RATING: 4/5. This game has so many different things to do! If you aren’t enjoying one part of gameplay, you can literally just go do something else. I’ve gotten really invested in growing gigantic crops and nurturing my friendships with the townspeople of Selphia, the town that’s the player’s “home base”, so to speak. You can also use any weapon provided you can obtain it through item drops, crafting it, or buying it! The higher level weapons are only available to be crafted, though. There’s a lot of versatility in the options that this game gives you.
Riding monsters! They can assist you in combat.
EASE RATING: 3/5. This is less because of true difficulty during combat, and more of difficulty in obtaining resources/crafting/some storyline progression. The last arc in the main game is locked as a randomly triggered event, so it’s really a tossup when it will show up. This is a complaint that a lot of people have about this game, but personally I remember I only had to wait a few days of playing. Because time is not synced to the actual clock on your system, you can just sleep through the days and check your save data every morning when you wake up (current events show up at your diary on your bedside table, so you only have to take a few steps). As a kid, I had trouble accessing the “spring” area, and it took a couple of months for me to get there, but I think that’s me just not having a lot of access to game walkthroughs. Combat at times can be occasionally difficult, there’s one dungeon with pitfalls that was the main issue. If you hit a wall, you just have to reevaluate your gear or strategy- if you come at the problem from a different angle or just try again with better gear/monster friends to support you, you’ll take care of it. It’s nothing too frustrating.
Dragon best friend :’-)
REPLAYABILITY RATING: 4/5. I’ve replayed this game three times on the 3DS over the years, and I have a fourth playthrough on the Switch. Evidently it’s enjoyable enough be worth doing multiple times. The game, as I previously said, even rewards you for having completed the game with new options. The game itself is incredibly extensive in terms of sheer story volume, and the storyline is incredibly touching. I will admit that in the later parts of the plot I did cry playing. You have three save file slots in your game cartridge, so you can replay the game without deleting your other data- this is super useful and I think is part of what got me to play so many times, just because I knew that I wasn’t losing anything.
OVERALL: This is one of my favorite games of all time, if not the top spot. While a fun and sometimes cute medieval fantasy JRPG (can you tell I like medieval fantasy games?), this game does get pretty dark- there’s a war going on as part of the main plot, and your character is in the thick of it. There’s intrigue, a lot of killing, possession, things are definitely happening. I will warn that there is major character death in this one. The graphics aren’t spectacular, but it’s pretty much typical considering that this game came out for the 3DS rather than the switch- it’s also a little bit just the art style. The game is a little pixelated, which I think adds a little fun to gameplay- the scenery is also very well done!
For my project, I think I’m going to be mostly going into the impact of the implementation of highways after WWII. I think I’m going to be using a lot of the American Decades book in the resources available through Gale under the PSU library. So far, it’s given me a lot of information on automobiles throughout the decades, particularly in the transfer from more “gas-guzzling” cars to more energy efficient cars- I’m planning on referencing a particular article it has (I don’t know if this link is going to work as it requires login access, but it’s worth a shot) about the energy crisis from 1973-1974 where Americans, largely relying on foreign oil, struggled to get fuel for their vehicles and everyday life due to restrictions placed on oil by OPEC, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. I think it’s also important to take a look at the effects of WWII on the country- it’s largely the cause of the implementation of the Interstate (transfer of military vehicles/soldiers/equipment across the country). The GI bill is also something that I could study. I’d also like to take a look at the lack of public transportation and the minimization of the train system, but I’m not really sure where to find credible sources for that- I might be able to find records of when my hometown, Houston, decided not to try to make a better transportation system in and out of downtown (other than the HOV lane, which is only available at certain times of the day going one direction or another).
Typically, I tend to review games that I’ve either been playing recently, am playing at the moment, or find notable in my mind for some reason. Today’s no different! I’m being a little predictable and going for another Pokémon game, but it’s not in the main series line (and it’s not mystery dungeon!). This time I’m looking at the first installment of Pokémon Ranger (typically overshadowed by the second installment, Shadows of Almia), a game that until a few months ago I hadn’t played since 2008. In this game, you play as a ranger who captures and releases pokémon instead of battling with them (although you do get a Plusle or a Minun, depending on your selected character gender! Plusle was my favorite growing up, and I was and still am delighted to have it along with me). You capture them by drawing loops around them, and the difficulty varies with the movement of the pokémon and the number of loops you have to draw around them.
Capture start screen
FUN RATING: 2/5. I hate to say it, but gameplay is pretty uninteresting in terms of plot. Capturing the mons is decent, but it’s not particularly challenging. There have been a couple of puzzles I’ve had to work my way through, though. I also enjoyed the aspect of interacting with the world of Fiore and its towns and areas (plus, the Ringtown music is incredible). You can also do timed races capturing pokémon, which is pretty fun and similar to the Safari Zone in the mainline games.
Dude if I fail this battle one more time I’m gonna lose it
EASE RATING: 3/5. I’m giving it a 3 because I’m stuck between a 5 and a 2 for difficulty, and I don’t want to do halves. The area I’ve been stuck in for a week is apparently the hardest part of the game and it’s getting more frustrating. Bias, I know. Everything up to this point, however, has been incredibly simple. The difficulty spike is the issue that this game faces- either it’s too easy or it’s too hard. There’s not a lot of middle ground to feel things out. I’ve gone through so many tutorials and explanations, and I keep catching it and then it breaks my line right after I get the “OK” symbol for a completed capture. I am descending into hell carrying Ls.
Instead of regular saves, you have these funky save goblet thingies
REPLAYABILITY RATING: 2/5. I don’t want to rate this a 1, because I did end up replaying it from my 2008 save file. However, I’m gonna be honest- I’m doing this for the Manaphy egg you get at the end. Thank god for those people who put the codes up online so everyone can get it, because I don’t know if I would do this otherwise. That said, I’m enjoying my playthrough so far.
OVERALL: If you really want a Ranger game, probably try Shadows of Almia. I haven’t played it myself yet, but apparently it’s really good (and you can get a Manaphy egg you can transfer to Platinum directly, rather than trading it through Diamond and Pearl and then to Platinum later). This is kind of a nostalgia trip, and the music is pretty fantastic. I know the Pokémon Ranger audience is kind of niche, and it’s been kind of fun playing a different style of Pokémon. However, I don’t think I would recommend this game with glowing reviews outright. Again, if you want a Ranger experience, this would probably not be my first choice. That said, it’s pretty good for what it is- a spinoff Pokémon game. It doesn’t really pretend to be more than it is, and it’s a decent way to pass the time. I really wish I could give this a higher review, but it is what it is. Maybe I’ll update this when I finally get through the Flygon challenge. As an aside, DO NOT play this or any other Ranger game without a stylus. You will wreck your lower screen.
This time, I’m going to be covering a Pokémon series game that got a lot of backlash at release, Pokémon Sword. I’ll be honest, I initially did not like this game that much. The gameplay was decent, but the plot was easily foreseeable and things seemed far too easy. The wild area, a huge natural area full of pokémon, trees, and raid dens, seemed too barren and uninteresting. But the DLC breathed new life into the game and, as I have been playing it more often due to the Pokémon club I’m in on campus, I’ve found myself liking it a lot more.
Camping curry
FUN RATING: 3/5. Originally this would have been a 2, but I have discovered the joys of hanging out at other people’s campsites. While I enjoy running around and battling things as much as the next person, I’ve really been enjoying making curry with other people and playing with their pokémon. While you can’t speak to other people directly, it’s a fun experience to have with other people and, when done well (people don’t leave directly after cooking, people actually cook with you, etc), it’s really enjoyable. I was on a quest to finish my curry dex (a collection of every type of curry you can make in the game’s camp “minigame” area) and have finally finished it! It took a couple of weeks, though. Doing max raids with other people online is also fun, and has resulted in a couple of random shinies. That said, without Nintendo Online, this game becomes a little limited in terms of features- you want to be able to connect with other people to fully enjoy this game.
Battle (with no decision screen?)
EASE RATING: 5/5. This game is super easy. That’s one of the complaints that a lot of people have, and they’d be fair to make that assessment. In this game, you get experience crystals from beating max raid dens (you go to the rocks and the glowing pillar of light, you jump in with a couple of other people to beat a strong pokémon, and then you get rewards). These crystals are incredibly easy to access, making it easy to level up your pokémon if you so desire. This is the first game I’ve gotten my pokémon to level 100 before the Elite 4 (in this case, the gym leader tournament). The battles also aren’t that difficult. This really hammers home that either pokémon was tougher in the older generations (some of it definitely was, if anyone remembers the Cynthia battle in Diamond/Pearl/Platinum), or it’s really getting into the “marketing for kids” easiness. While Pokémon is a kids’ franchise mostly, it’s also something with a wide fanbase of adults who think that things are becoming too easy. I did not encounter any walls or problems progressing in this game, and beat everything on the first try, which was a little disappointing. I would have preferred more of a challenge.
Dude, seriously?
REPLAYABILITY RATING: 3/5. There’s some side quests in the postgame after you complete the main storyline, as well as a slightly more fleshed out main postgame, but mostly you can just keep doing whatever you were doing before you beat the game- catching pokémon. You can run around doing raids, trading with other people, making curry, you can even go through the gym tournament again- it’s pretty endless. However, there is definitely a degree of burnout to this game, and I personally had to put it down for a few months to do other things before picking it back up again towards the start of the school year with club activities.
OVERALL: This game definitely is a little rocky in terms of performance. However, it still has some aspects that are charming, notably the camping options. In the DLC, they also made it so that your pokémon can follow you around (but I wish they didn’t have to do this through Kubfu. I’m really hesitating on finishing the Isle of Armor storyline, simply because I’d have to train the thing up, and I think it’s really ugly. Oof), and it’s better put together than the wild area is. Dynamax raid adventures are also a thing you can do with other people to possibly catch legendaries (with an increased shiny chance!), but I haven’t done enough of that to offer a concrete opinion on it. The battles are pretty average, although the inclusion of Dynamaxing (make your pokémon big and strong for four turns) is decently interesting- however, I think that they are leaving that in this series installment exclusively. The gym challenge aspect was new and interesting, and in my opinion is better than what they tried in Generation 7 with the island challenges (thank god, we have gyms back). I wish that they had done more with the plot than Evil Corporation Man Is Evil, too. There’s definitely a lot that this game can improve upon, but the DLC is like a breath of fresh air. I’d recommend it if you’re planning on getting the DLC and have Nintendo Online, but only as a decent game for your money’s worth. It’s not spectacular, but it is fun enough.
This TED Talk about slime mold was super interesting to me! Mostly because I like mushrooms etc., this falls in line with that. I think it’s super cool that they were able to create mathematical models based off of the mold! I wouldn’t think that there was a group just for slime mold research, but there is. That’s super nice. I also thought it was funny that they gave the slime mold human experiment participants beer because they thought it’d make them work better.
Possible topics as (mostly) covered in class on Tuesday-
Transition of the automobile industry from gasoline to electric. Could make a connection here with the fit people threw about seatbelts back in the day. Mostly would focus on the green energy movement in relation to this and how it’s better for the environment, and the challenges that users of electric cars have to deal with.
The “9 to 5” work week gradually shifting to commonly accepted unpaid overtime- being available for your job 24/7, and the backlash that this has gotten from workers over time. Ties into the topic we covered of “The Great Resignation” where workers are getting fed up with their conditions. Could talk about working from home, but wouldn’t go too far into detail about it because that’d be getting off topic after hitting a certain threshold.
The interstate highways that sprung up after WWII, taking the place of trains. It connects people, but at the cost of public transportation. Most places don’t have a metro system except for downtown areas, and the bus systems aren’t great. The highways also tie into the environmental impact of so many cars that run off of gasoline being used.
Today I’m going to be covering a game I really enjoy but that doesn’t seem to get as much hype, Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen. It’s a medieval open world game (similar to Skyrim, which is also fantastic) with online features that didn’t get as much content as planned, but is still great to work with and fun to experience. You can create your own character and a pawn to support you (complete with lore!), and your character gets their heart stolen (more like eaten) by a dragon, thus gaining the title of Arisen (basically you can’t permanently die without your heart), and has to go on a quest to defeat it in order to have the heart returned to them.
Gryphon killing
FUN RATING: 4/5. This game is definitely a lot of running around killing monsters, and there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s fantastic. There’s a bunch of different combat options to choose from, and there’s also a bunch of side quests to complete- however, I’ve taken a point off because of the lack of indicators about progression in the story. Certain quests get locked out as you progress through “stages” in the game, and you don’t get told this until you find it out for yourself. Definitely something to look up and keep in mind when playing the game- try to complete every side quest available to you before doing the big ones (as listed in stage progression link).
Pawn bringing back items from other peoples’ hires
EASE RATING: 3/5. The base game quests are about 4/5 ease rating- you’ll do fine with other people’s pawns that you can hire to support you- a lot of them are specifically made to be “twinky”- underleveled with high leveled gear, in order to get lots of hires online by incoming players and make it into the top rankings. The other game area (technically made up of a bunch of other ones), Bitterblack Isle (my beloved, very similar to Dark Souls), is supposed to only be accessed after you beat the game- but obviously, nobody follows that. Even with decent gear or even gear that you beat the main questline with, you’re still going to get your ass kicked in here. This is about a 2/5 rating. It’s not as bad as Dark Souls, but you do literally just have to “git gud”. Post in the forums or on discord, see if you can’t get people to send you gear to purify for an extra boost or some RC (Rift crystals, part of the currency system in this game) to purify items, or pawns to hire that are at your level or above. That said, this will not carry you or get you guaranteed wins- you still need skill here, and to come prepared. This place is my favorite part of the game. Absolutely would recommend it if you don’t mind getting pounded into the dirt a bit.
My Arisen and main pawn
REPLAYABILITY RATING: 4/5. The quest lock takes a couple things away, as mentioned earlier, so you can’t do anything anytime. But there’s a New Game Plus option for a reason, and it comes with some new things, like more customization options, keeping all your gear/levels, having new varieties of monsters to kill after the main quest, and getting to do the quests over again if you missed anything. There’s a Hard Mode and a Speedrun Mode, which are both pretty interesting and fun. You can aim to 100% your area knowledge or your bestiary, too, if you don’t have that already.
OVERALL: Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen, is in my opinion, a fun and versatile game that is vastly underrated. There’s been rumors of a Dragon’s Dogma 2 in the works for years now, and there’s another game in the making that’s taken inspiration from it (the magic system looks basically copied from the casting of DD:DA which honestly is not a complaint at all), and the Gamefaqs boards and Discord server are still up and running despite the 2012 release of the original (the Dark Arisen part, with Bitterblack Isle, was released in 2013). The armor does suffer a little bit from the “sexification” of women’s armor, but it’s not a huge problem. Some of the men’s armor also gets this, so it’s fair enough. There’s a love interest system that’s a part of the end of the main quest for added impact, which is pretty interesting, but you do have to fight a little bit in order to get the person you want when doing certain quests like those related to the Duchess Aelinore, the wife of the Duke who rules over Gransys, the country where the game is set. Having quests completed can up someone’s affection for you, so you have to be kind of careful if you really care about it. You get to choose different weapon classes that you can change at any time, and the open world is always a bonus, even though some content had to be cut due to budgeting in the end. Overall, this is a great game that I recommend to anyone who enjoys other games with medieval settings, like Skyrim, or just people who enjoy fantasy.
(Psst! If you want to add my pawn on Switch, here’s his listing in pawnguild)
I think that my points were fine- I don’t think that they were amazing, but they were at least decent. I was a little nervous about my pronunciation of kairos and I actually cannot remember how I pronounced it in the speech- I did about five tries before getting that particular slide finished how I liked it. I do agree with Chris’s comment that I needed better tonal indicators- that’s definitely something for me to improve upon in the future. I think that my breaking it up into slides corresponding to my topic in the parts of the speech was really good for me, as if I messed up something I didn’t have to redo the entire thing. I was worried about getting it up to snuff time-wise, but I didn’t have any issue and even went over into grace period.
Link: https://www.redbull.com/gb-en/rainbow-six-siege-six-invitational-event-battle-pass
