Three Weeks for Dreamwidth: First Prompts

So, perhaps as a change of pace, I thought perhaps we could participate in the idea of three_weeks_for_dw, posting content meant just for this platform, for three weeks or so.

Leaving me in the usual quandary - what do I write about?

So, if you're prompt-inclined, please do leave topics or entire writing prompt sequences on the doorstep, and I'll see what I can get. I could also do

• the April Moon image sequence
• a series of video game prompts that look fun
• more baseball Tarot

...or something else entirely. Prompt away, please!

Three Weeks for Dreamwidth: Let's Play

Grabbed from atelierlune

1. Do you try to stay away from walkthroughs?
   
   Nah. When I had time to work through tricky puzzles and platformer sequences, I didn't use them, but at that time, they were "strategy guides" and "hint books" and were quite expensive. Or you could call a hint line. These days, since I have precious little time to game as it is, I generally use the walkthrough to make sure that I experience the entire game, or as much as possible, the first time around. Since I like long RPGs, this is pretty important.


2. Company you're always loyal to?
   
   The Sierra/Dynamix combination is a strong, strong pull for me. Much of my training in games was on their adventure and puzzle offerings, but one they stopped making those signature style games, I pretty much put offerings under that name into discontinuity, because it's some other company just using the name.


3. Best game you've ever played?
   
   Ooh, that's tough, but I think the game I've had the very most fun with was The Incredible Toon Machine, because it was all about building ridiculous contraptions to help a debonair cat catch a mobster mouse. And explosives that sounded bored to explode.


4. Worst game you've ever played?
   
   I think it's going to be Duke Nukem 3D, but that might only be because I haven't played Duke Nukem Forever...
   
   ...or Daikatana.
   
   No, wait, it's the original Alone in the Dark.


5. A popular series/game you just can't get into no matter how much you try?
   
   If by "can't", you mean "have zero interest in trying", then Five Nights at Freddy's. I have no interest in jump scares or too many other scary kinds of games, because I scare easily and I tend to react violently to scares. I like my computers and devices too much to hurt them for frightening me.


6. A game that's changed you the most?
   
   I don't know if there's a single game that's changed me, but I like big sweeping story kinds of games for their ability to let me feel like I can save the world or do big things.


7. A game you'll never forget?
   
   Probably Crono Trigger. Mostly for Doreen. And the part where the party finally confronts the truth of their future and decides to Do Something.


8. Best soundtrack?
   
   There are a lot of candidates for this one, because I grew up with increasingly excellent synthesized music that has since been orchestrated and fanmixed for extra excellence beyond the original. I suppose the winner is the soundtrack that I like all the tracks to, rather than just some: Okami.


9. A game you turn your volume off every time you play it?
   
   I tend to do this most often with first person shooters, despite the obvious advantages of audio cues in figuring things out. Perhaps the sound of constant gunfire and monsters doesn't do it for me.


10. A game you've completely given up on?
    
    The original Half-Life. There's a spot right before you get to the platforming section on the other world where you have to protect a squishy scientist from aliens and despite having all the cool guns, it doesn't happen. That said, I'm apparently not missing much.


11. Hardest game you've played?
    
    In what terms? Geometry Wars is really rather difficult to achieve a high score on, but not the most difficult to play.
    
    Console first person shooters tend to be tough for me, because I don't have the skill of aiming with a control stick. I think that makes Goldeneye the hardest game I've played.


12. Shortest time you've beaten a game in?
    
    Super Mario Brothers 3 for NES could be vanquished in an hour or less with two warp whistles and the knowhow of World 8.


13. A game you were the most excited for when it wasn't released yet?
    
    The fifth Quest for Glory game, which is ironically the most disappointing one for me, but some day, with time and DOSBOX, I'll put the whole series through, start to finish.


14. A game you think would be cool if it had voice acting?
    
    So many of them do now, and a lot of the ones that didn't picked it up in later installations. I think, perhaps if the Krondor game had gotten enough, but the Feist license might have been a lot.


15. Which two games do you think would make an awesome crossover?
    
    Torin's Passage and either Sam and Max or Day of the Tentacle. Characters that, for the most part, are accidentally going to save the world mixed with a mostly comedic plot to do it with. Plus, I'd love to see how Max handles being in a high-fantasy world.


16. Character you've hated most? From what game?
    
    Let's see, which poor A. I. escort do I choose?
    
    Actually, no, it's the A. I. itself from a multitude of fighting games where it crosses into "cheap, cheating, [expletive]" and you're just expected to handle that.


17. What game do you never tell people you play?
    
    There shouldn't be a game that you're afraid of saying you play, unless it's like h-games or Leisure Suit Larry, you're not old enough to be playing those, and you're talking to someone who cares about that.


18. A game you wish your friends knew about?
    
    My friends tend to introduce me to games, not the other way around, but the Lego series of properties is surprisingly accessible and playable in cooperative mode regardless of the skill levels of the players, which is a pretty important consideration as your life continues.


19. Which game do you think deserves a revival?
    
    An old turn-based online dungeon crawl called The Shadows of Yserbius. Mostly because it was freaking hard to do alone, and because I think a lot of people would appreciate having a truly turn-based MMO to play, instead of one that requires some action component.


20. What was the first video game you ever played?
    
    I remember playing either Hunt the Wumpus or Ladders on a Kaypro at a very early age.
21. How old were you when you first played a video game?
    
    I think I was three at the time, so I wasn't very good at it.


22. If you could immerse yourself in any game for one day, which game would it be? What would you do?
    
    If death wasn't permanent, I might enjoy taking a day in the Smash Brothers universe, battling and using items to see if I could defeat a demented hand.


23. Biggest disappointment you've had in gaming?
    
    I'm not so sure it counts as a disappointment, but finishing the hidden temple in Commander Keen 4...


24. Casual, Hardcore, or in the middle?
    
    False distinction, and I don't like buying into the rhetoric of people who want to exclude games they don't like as not real games.


25. Be honest; have you ever used cheats (like ActionReplay or Gameshark)?
    
    Absolutely. I'm a bit ticked that there aren't more cheats and such built in to games these days, because I firmly believe that everyone has the right to experience their game in the way they want to without mockery or derision. If that means God Mode, so be it.


26. Handheld or console?
    
    PC mostly, thanks.


27. Has there ever been a moment that has made you cry?
    
    Only in frustration at the difficulty spikes.


28. Which character's clothes do you wish you owned the most?
    
    I'll take anything that gives me access to the pocket dimension that adventure heroes have for storing their stuff, but in terms of actually wanting their clothes, I think I'd like Sora or Roxas's outfits.


29. Which is more important, gameplay or story?
    
    Story if the game intends to have one, gameplay otherwise. Good gameplay will help with your story, of course, because it will mean people get to experience it, instead of a major frustration.


30. A game that hasn't been localized in your country that you think should be localized.
    
    There's an entire back catalogue of RPGs that could come across and get localized, if for no other reason than to have, say, the entire set of Dragon Warrior or Secret of Mana series available to play through completely.