About

The Soulful Gamer is my blog devoted to videogames. I'll be looking at the heart and soul behind games and the emotions they elicit.

-Adam Standing

Friday
22Jan2010

Dark Void -> Review

Originally posted on Game People.

...There's a moment in Dark Void when the mythos of the Void world, the history of the Bermuda Triangle and the shadow of World War Two come together and create a brief instant of epic storytelling. Unfortunately, that fleeting moment is buried under generic gameplay and a lurching narrative that led towards an unsatisfying and disappointing end.

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Wednesday
20Jan2010

Bayonetta -> Review

Originally posted on Game People.

...As a result each boss fight that concludes a chapter has a pace and pleasure that’s akin to another stage in the process to a world-ending sexual climax; Each fight has its own stimulating ending but each minor encounter becomes a tease, a deliberate delay to the ultimate climatic conclusion that leaves you breathless with pleasure.

Does this sound fanciful? The kind of fantasy that's 'typically Japanese' and 'bat-s*** crazy'? That would be a clichéd and lazy appraisal of a game that doesn't just pour insanity around merely for the sake of its own visual effect. The world of Bayonetta is fantastical, like the inside of Terry Gilliam's head, but it makes sense within its own extraordinary boundaries.

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Wednesday
20Jan2010

Explaining my hatred for Darksiders


Over the past few years I've noticed, along with other old-man stuff, that I've grown increasingly more intolerant towards certain mechanics or designs that games use. It started with the tendency of Halo games to make you replay a level backwards or put you through ever-increasing waves of enemies - for no reason other than to lengthen the experience of the game. Back-tracking is one of my pet hates and I feel it’s a hangover from ages past - a dinosaur of design that should be put in its coffin and buried six feet under.

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Tuesday
12Jan2010

Fallen Earth -> Review

Taking a familiar setting and building a compelling world around it is just one of Fallen Earth’s many successes. I was blown away by the depth and attention to detail this post-apocalyptic MMO portrayed and the manner with which I was drawn into its world. For a long time I have argued that online games cannot give a deep and meaningful experience due to their very nature - but there’s more heart and soul here than in many other recent games. Whether I was delving deep into the crafting system, following the story or simply taking in the haunting environments, Fallen Earth took me on a journey into a world I’ll never forget.

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Thursday
07Jan2010

Aion: Tower of Eternity -> Review

With the promise of a visually beautiful online experience and the unique ability of flight enticing me into its world, Aion: Tower of Eternity looked like it could be the MMORPG to bring me back into the fold after a two year absence. Unfortunately the excruciating banality of the first 25 levels meant that any promise of uniqueness was crushed under exasperation and boredom.

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