Ladies and gentlemen, let's all let Adam Sessler know that we all like melons.
Now that that's over with, this week Adam has been playing through Batman: Arkham Asylum and Shadow Complex, and it reminded him how much he loves games that include exploration. Specifically, games that encourage you to dig deep into their virtual world by rewarding you with perks, special unlockables, and weapons upgrades. You know, like Metroid. So why not take the time to explore Adam's brain and watch this week's Sessler's Soapbox.
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wiggum
Hey Sess, even after seeing your explanation I still have no idea what the hell you're talkin' about :)
But yeah, if I'm gonna spend hours wandering around looking for collectibles and trinkets, I want a better reward than just some measly achievement. Big fat soggy deal. Assassin's Creed, I'm lookin' at you. Stupid flags!
cookie1012349
I only partial agree with adam because though I do love exploring to often game developers do not do it well. When it works exploring is great but when there is to much to look for (fable 2) then I just dont care. Do it right game developers.
Flynfsh
and i hate cantalope
Flynfsh
as a fellow crazy person i feel your pain adam
Flipz15
Hehe I think we all immediately understood when you said that Melon statement, Adam. I did anyway, I thought it was funny! No need to beat yourself up about it if that's what you were doing. That was great :D
Yeah I'm still not done with Fable II just because of my innate need to explore everything as much as I can while maintaining course through the main story.. Wow I severely lack enough free time for awesome games anymore.. Maybe I should just stick to more pick-up&play titles from XBLA or the DS or something.
Glad to see Publishers taking swing on the idea of exploration again though.
Lordofnightmares
I laughed my ass off at the I like melons line.
NetNapoleon
Hahah Adam you're awesome!
GamerbyDesign
Fallout 3, Oblivion, GTAs, & Mass Effect, all games I like because of the amount of exploration you can do.
randomamber
Mr. Sessler's commentary really struck a chord with me. It is a much discussed topic among my circle of gaming friends. How do you create a living and breathing world in which is fully realized but does not get bogged down in the minutia of realism distracting from the playing experience?
It is reminiscent my feelings about my early days playing D&D. The purest joy in role playing gaming came before all the various and sundry volumes that became A.D.D. It was when we played with the original soft cover Gary Gygax rule book and our own imaginations. We filled in the blanks with our literary experiences with Tolkien, Le Guin and Zelazny. However, eventually the shortcomings of the game system had my friends and I searching far and wide for ways to improve our experience. Yet games like Runequest, while more realistic, lacked the charm and simplicity of D&D, or at least the world that we created around it.
It seems to me that the same goes for current generation gaming. Any "story" experience fails when the world does not seem authentic and alive. This goes beyond invisible walls, pop in enemy A.I. and boxed in game play. For example, when a developer includes N.P.C.s whose only purpose in life is to wait for you to show up to aid/hinder you in your experience, it demonstrates a lack of depth and it detracts from the overall experience. Games resonate when the virtual world you inhabit seems vital and real.
Having said that, there is something to be said for innocence and fun. What good is an enormous "sandbox" world if the core game play is dull and uninspired. This is why games like Infamous and Fallout 3 are so special. They are D&D and Runequest wrapped into a big ball of fun. Here's to hoping that Shadow Complex, Arkham Asylum and many more of the upcoming games (I'm looking at you Ass ass inz Creed duh) can strike this delicate balance.
OgreSamanosuke
I totally agree, exploration of interesting environments is why I'm still obsessed with FO3 a year later. I've been working on a super detailed mod trying to recreate the charm I find in that game, which is just finding new awesome stuff to poke around in. For me personally, a game can fail hard for having less believable areas or being to on rails through it, not letting you take in it's grandeur.
blackleo81
"I like a nice Honeydew" My new comment on XBL
EpicAmbu
I'm not even sure what got more attention on this soapbox either the melons or the games.
~LoL
The_Big_Badd
I love games in that style too. What I hate however, is that every game now encourages you to find a bunch of "hidden items", with absolutely no reward at all, except for maybe some achievement points. In GTA 3, for instance, the more hidden items you found, the more better unlimited weapons would spawn at your safehouse. In GTA 4, you had hidden packages as well but your reward was.....absolutely nothing. That was definately a downer.
antagonist_wes
Wow. That reminded me of that little boy who likes turtles. "I LIKE TURTEWLS"
EntropyMu
I think developers need to be careful about it being a fine line. Collecting life powerups in Metroid was fun. Collecting all majillion things in GTA:San Andreas was not fun. The exploration also needs to have some variety to go along with the fleshed out world thing. Oblivion felt like a world with more going on than what was in the game, but exploration got boring because basically, everywhere had the same stuff over and over.
AngelsandDemons
Jeez...I ca't believe Sess took 2 minutes to expound upon his trite comment. Mispeaks happen all the time for "normal" people who are given a lot of autonomy to voice their opinions. Sometimes you're ego gets the better of you. It goes back to the old adage..."better to remain silent to hide your ignorance than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.
PopReference
I thought that's what you meant.
Exploding heads => broken melons => eat some melon => Mmmm, good melon => putting your foot in your mouth
And yeah video game stuff, cool.
Inkred87
That was truely funny sir, I didnt even get to watch the whole thing because I just had to show everyone your awesome-ness, but I think the kid that said "I like turtles" is still funnier; And yes, I too like games that make for a good ester egg hunt/experience/exploration.
CrimsonDusk
If you are saying that Arkham Asylum offers you that kind of experience than I'm their client. I played the demo and enjoyed allot the gameplay mechanics but for me it didn't seem like a Metroid or Zelda game were you get to revisit places to explore them with new gadgets. I think Eidos should of made that more clear because I followed most of the stuff that got out of the game and always though that it's another game were you pass through a level and than to another.
Arguello
I love exploring. That what separates great games like Splinter Cell and Hitman from bad games like Halo. And by Halo I mean its campaign, So Fanboys don't get all RROD on me. Halo's campaign consisted of walk this like or you will fall of this cliff and die. Where as in SC and Hitman gave us almost too many options. Way, Way, Way too many options. In Splinter cell say i needed to take out a light, i could use my emp on my pistol, or just shoot it, or find a rock and take out the light all together. Or you can even do what i did on by mistake(which made it more awesome) and hit the guy beneath the light with a rock. In Hitman I can almost guarantee that if 1000 people read this and tried to explain how they did the New Orleans mission in Blood Money, every single one of them would be different, except maybe the like 15 or 20 people that just went in Guns Blazing.
Basically I'm just here to give Adam another virtual high five for another great soap box
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