Dev.log Violet

Dev.log Violet

option 2b

   This week I sat down to play Raji: An Indian Epic . It is an action adventure/ hack and slash game by Nodding Heads Games available on Steam. It is about a girl pursuing the her brothers demonic kidnappers. While it is short, the setting and narrative style are so unique that it should not be passed up for anything, having a place alongside similar games like God Of War (2005) and Ninja Gaiden Black (2004)

    Raji is a really gorgeous game that allows the player to pick up divine weapons against hordes of demons. As the player I take the role of Raji, a circus performer whose agility allows her to perform wall running maneuvers to traverse and fight. Mechanically the player can execute wall-running attacks near any wall in a fight. The are armed with various weapons that launch strings of combos. I use the mouse to steer Raji's, and shift to use secondary attacks that change what will happen. The player can also dodge with the spacebar. The player can also collect charges of energy from shrines of the goddess Durga to execute large radial attacks that hurt many enemies at once.
   Dynamically, Raji becomes diverse when the player is backed into a corner. Raji can use her wall running to dodge enemies attacks and immediately perform aerial counter attacks. using the left or right mouse buttons produces different attacks with each weapon.  Using her bow, she may land and shoot arrows all around or shoot explosive arrows at enemies below. With her Trishul, she summons lightning on foes or slams into a large thunderous radial attack. Her Sword and Shield can switch between offense and defense quickly, the shield keeping her safe from devastating attacks, but using it for too long will cause her guard to be broken. Her bow, a gift from the god Vishnu proves to the most interesting, as it can be charged up to reward skilled players and punish distant/ flying foes. It may freeze enemies and cause them to fall to their doom, or stun chains of foes with lightning, opening them up to more attacks. It's secondary mode shoots a swarm of arrows into the air which can pin down many enemies at once. I was surprised to even able to hit airborne and hopping enemies, knocking them out of the air. It can also be used defensively, shooting straight up to trap charging enemies for melee attacks.

   Aesthetically the game makes the player feel as if they are on an epic adventure, as if they had found themselves among the pages of the Mahabharata itself. The gods narrate your adventure, speculating and musing on the sufferings of man, and how it parallels the events of the divine cosmology. Vishnu relates sacred events of the Hindu pantheon, explaining the bitter hatred between birds and snakes and how the snakes became immortal. One level even goes as far as to personify the protagonists self doubts, turning into a dizzying platformer challenge where negative thoughts threaten to send the player into a dark void.  Durga and Vishnu debate whether Raji can accomplish her goal, and ultimately if the fight against the demons will matter as their world is bound to return to the primeval force that began it. The games cutscenes depart from 3d, offering a very detailed and distinct style of puppetry that conveys emotions and movements very memorably.  So sensation, fantasy and discovery are strong points.

   While Raji is short and it ends on a cliffhanger, with the final level feeling a bit short, it really is quite unique, and I'm very happy I got to play. It is radically different from many similar games I've played, featuring a likable protagonist who doesn't rely only on quips and one liners to sell it.

Option 1 

    While reading chapter 9 of Fullerton's Game Design, I came across something very helpful. On page 291, Bill Fulton talks about a standout portion of user testing from the development cycle of Age of Empires 2. The part where he mentions that having successfully shown a non gamer how to the paly the sequel to a game that even veteran gamers found difficult calls to mind a design problem I've been grappling with for some time. I've been working on a spirit photography-like game and one of the inspirations was Koei-Tecmo's Fatal frame/ Project Zero (2001). 
   I vaguely recall an interview for Fatal Frame 2 in which one of the designers/ directors stated a design problem they needed to solve in the sequel was that it was so scary, players complained they couldn't finish. I personally believe this was a mistake for them to try to change, but it points to a large problem with many of the older horror games I like. There is a lull in each game, where I myself personally arrive, perhaps having something to do with the flow of the game itself. The lull arrives when the  player is too scared to continue, and compounded with not remembering what they were supposed to be doing in the game, so they stop playing. It impeded my ability to play Resident Evil for instance. I know if I make a similar game, I'll have to contend with the same problem. 
    The section about 'not leading' play testers sticks out in my mind, because recently I came across a game that 'fails to lead enough'. 
   I've previously written about an early access title on Steam called 'Hellsign' A recent update upset players as some of the in game gadgets were changed, but instructions on using the new functionality was limited. Nothing in the insufficient tutorial, or games UI suggests how to activate a particular gadgets secondary 'mode', when other gadgets tell you in their item descriptions how to use them exactly. Without this knowledge, the game cannot be completed reliably. As an early access player, I am technically the play tester. I've found many surprising glitches I have to remember to avoid myself. The results of this were staggering as many recent reviews have turned negative, not just from new players, but veterans as well, harkening back to the problem of accessibility.  I personally feel as if the target audience has been alienated slightly.