Ni No Kuni - A simple review

        And so, after 76 hours and a half I have finished the adventure in the fairy world proposed by the JRPG (Japanese Roleplaying Game) "Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Which", going so far as to get the Platinum trophy. For me it was a great experience, a kind of blast from the past, since the game is heavily inspired by the most famous and old JRPGs (Wild Arms, Final Fantasy I to V etc. Etc.). So here is my opinion about this game:

    History
    The game has a linear story, which begins with a boy traveling to a great adventure because of a sad tragedy. This adventure takes him into a world of fantasy and fairy tale, full of magic and strange creatures. The story itself is fairly typical, but it has the right amount of twists and turns, and results intriguing in its simplicity and, perhaps, banality. There are plenty of typical, JRPG-styled, bad-guys (I do not provide more details to avoid spoilers!). It's clearly thought in a way that even childs can follow it with ease, but an adult can also enjoy its cliché, becoming a child again for the duration of the game. The main story and side quests also allow you to discover some interesting details of the setting. This helps to understand a part of it's past and helps to make it more vivid, which is always appreciated in this kind of games.
    Vote 8.

A cutscene

    Graphics
    One of the strengths of the game is, definitely, it's look. It is not surely special by the technical point of view (don't expect amazing visual effects like Crysis 3), but definitely valuable for the eyes. Even the graphics are inspired by old JRPG, especially the "free roaming" sections of the world. Do not forget that the sketches and animations are created by the renowned Studio Ghibli (founded by Hayao Miyazaki), a leading authority in the field of anime. The game is therefore a colorful and pleasant visual experience, with varied environments (from the desert to snow-capped islands), although a little lacking in the dungeons, where it is a bit monotonous. The graphical effects of spells and special attacks do not scream in amazement, but they are fine, and recall the style that could have a Meteor of Final Fantasy VII. Do not forget that the game was also released for the Nintendo DS, which must have forced the creators to make some sacrifices in terms of usable power.
    Vote 9.

    The Musics
    The game soundtrack is the work of the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, and is executed with impeccable craftsmanship. For me, though, the themes are few and short, especially the combat and worldmap ones, which has made me feel them as repetitive and monotonous. It is known that this flaw afflicts many games of this type: truth is that this is not the fault of the composer(s), but of the fact that you end up grinding monsters over monsters, forcing yourself to listen to the same tunes over and over.
    Vote 8.

A fight

    The Gameplay
    Here is the sore point. Seriously. I can't say I really liked the combat system, which is lame and very poorly thought in some of its sequences. It is certainly not something that ruins the gameplay, since most of the fights are pretty easy when you have the party of the appropriate level (or higher), but a technical "veteran" of JRPG like me feels he don't have the right level of control on the characters. Allies AI is at least inaccurate: healing spells arrive late, allies do not move away from lethal attacks of some enemies, sometimes they make crazy choice in pet's deployment etc. etc.; even if you set their behaviour, nothing assures you that the ally will react promptly when needed. An other thing I found very annoying is that some special attacks have a full-screen animation that undo most of the other moves you're trying to execute (like spellcasting with your active character): this can be used to your advantage to neutralize some special moves the enemies perform, but it can become just frustrating in many battles, when your very same allies break your action because they execute some of these attacks. Apart from these limitations, the combat is pretty simple, functional and dynamic, with even the possibility of kite enemies around the field while the allies attack them!
    Vote 6,5.

World map

    Longevity
    The game just makes you want to crank it up. Grind to find familiars, travel around to complete quests and bounties, explore the world in search of secret areas are all activities that can only bring joy to fans of the genre. Some activities are obviously repetitive and monotonous, but if you appreciate the JRPG, you are ready to make the sacrifice in exchange for this powerful object, rather than that familiar you're missing or the completion of a trophy. Finishing the game will take around 15-20 hours, although a bit of grinding to increase party's level is helpful to avoid problems with certain enemies. Devoting yourself to complete all the optional stuff (which is the fun part of the game!) requires around 60 more hours. Alchemy (which requires drops obtained by monsters, some vary rare) and the capture of missing pets can become tedious, given the randomness that distinguishes these two activities, but, fortunately, Internet offers numerous tips on how to optimize farming. In any case, if you have completed some or all the optional part of any Final Fantasy, you have the patience for Ni No Kuni. Getting the Platinum trophy is not so difficult, since the game does not have skill based trophies: it requires just enough time to get all the "drops" necessary for this purpose.
    Vote 8.

    Conclusions
    Ni No Kuni is therefore a game that, in 2013, is able to offer a gaming experience very similar to that of the most famous and vintage Japanese RPGs. Perhaps you'll not like the fairy story, or the light and silly mood the game often take, or the particular combat system, but the fact remains that it is a well structured title, rich in detail and able to give great satisfaction to the nostalgic of a kind of games now disappeared, or, perhaps, just evolved in new directions.
    Vote 8.

The Last of Us - A Sourcebook for GURPS 4.0

Ok, GURPS has really turned my brain, making me want to adapt all the fantastic worlds that I like best to be played with these rules!

And so here's the turn of The Last of Us, a splendid, zombie-themed game for PS3. I've always been a fan of the living dead / infected and all the fiction that surrounds them. The Last of Us particularly impressed me, perhaps due to the significant impact video games have on my imagination, or maybe because I particularly liked the setting, where there are still many communities locked up among the ruins of a city, to protect themselves from the horrors that inhabit the outside.

So, here is an other conversion, absolutely still in progress: THE LAST OF US - A SOURCEBOOK FOR GURPS 4.0 .

TOR to GURPS conversion, BETA 2 - UPDATE!!

    A quick update on my conversion PDF. Added some stuff and started spelling/mistakes check.

    Available at: TOR to GURPS Conversion [BETA2]

The One Ring To GURPS conversion: BETA 1!

    So, here it is. After some day of work I completed the Beta version of my TOR --> GURPS conversion. All template for races are ready, and so are the rules to manage corruption and taint derived by the Shadow.

    To fully enjoy this conversion you need to own The One Ring manuals (or, at least, being able to access them as PDF files, if you get it), because I omitted many text stuff in order to avoid copyright issues.

    Still, by simple reading my document, you can have a feeling and an idea of what I'm creating.

    So, here is the link to the PDF: TOR to GURPS Conversion [BETA1] . Have a good read, have pity of my bad english and mistakes, and, please, share your thought about this.

    UPDATE: A new version of the PDF is available. More stuff, minor change and spell/mistakes check. Link: TOR to GURPS Conversion [BETA2]

Ni No Kuni - Wrath of the White Witch: Platinum trophy!!!

    After a total neat time of 76 hours, 22 minutes and 45 seconds I finally got my Platinum trophy for this interesting and nostalgic JRPG.

    Playing this game was a big dive into the past!

    I'm going to write a review of this game in the next few days.

Beornings: The One Ring --> GURPS conversion

    The One Ring (TOR from now) is a great game produced by Cubicle 7. This game is set in the area around Mirkwood, a few years after the fall of Smaug (long before the events of The Lord of the Rings). The game relies on a rather low level of power, even if it allows you to play as characters already "heroic" confronted with common people. It places a strong emphasis on Shadow, corruption and the loss of Hope faced by adventurers who decide to deal with the Enemy, venturing out of the civilized lands, in the wilds subject to the influence of the Shadow.

    Many of the game mechanics are truly innovative and full of Tolkenian flavor. It is, without any doubt, a true gem of its kind and, probably, the best Tolkenian RPG created so far.

    It has, however, some major limitations in simulation, and its point of greatest weakness is probably the combat, which is monotonous and repetitive for the players, whose options during an armed conflict are severely limited.

    For many gamers this is not an obstacle, but for others, perhaps accustomed to systems based on d20System or in any case much more simulative, is a strong limit. I just started playing a campaign of TOR with a group used to D&D3.X and video-rpg-games: all of them immediately appreciated the setting, but they were shocked by the combat brutality and limitation and by the unforgiving corruption system. After all they're used to play heroic fantasy, and therefore not to see their characters suffer the psychological effects of fighting Evil (yes, with capital E ^_^).

    For this reason I want to try to convert the campaign to GURPS, so as to present them with a more comprehensive and simulative set of rules, still capable of supporting a high lethality of combat and a psycho/phisical degeneration due to contact with the Shadow.

    GURPS Horror offers a very nice set of rules for corruption, so I'll just use them, tweaking them where I need.

    So, the first step is to convert the races presented in TOR, which are Hobbits, Woodsmen, Bardians, Mirkwood Elves, Beornings and Lonely Mountain Dwarves.

    I decided to start from Beornings, which I am particularly fond of. So here is the template of the people who gathered around Beorn, with a brief description stolen from Lord of the Ring Wiki.

    As always, comments and opinions are always largely appreciated.

Beornings

    Beornings, also known as skin-changers, were a race of men that were able to change into bears. They were descended from Beorn, from whom they inherited their name and their ability to turn into bears. They dwelt in the Vales of Anduin between Mirkwood and the Great River. During the Third Age they guarded the Ford of Carrock from the Orcs and Wargs (though Gloin lamented that their tolls were high) and they also aided the Elves in defending their kingdom in northern Mirkwood.

    Original Beornings are magical shape-changing beings who could take different forms at will. Little is known about them and of their abilities. The only skin-changers identified by Tolkien were Beorn and his descendants (who could take the shape of a man or of a bear). Actually, they're a great community of common men who gathered around the mythic figure of Beorn, becoming the guardian of the areas between Misty Mountains and Mirkwood.

    They had the same life-span of mortal men, and could speak in both the tongue of men and of bears. They did not seem very fond of Dwarves, and were enemies with the Goblins. The people of Rohan shared kinship with them. They hunted neither bird nor beast and lived mostly off of cream and honey.

    The Beornings were well known for their honey-cakes, which they likely made in their bee farms and sold openly to others, at least until the return of Sauron, for then the Beornings no longer trusted strangers and their trade stopped. Gimli considered the Beornings the best bakers he knew, though they were not so willing to give out their cakes to travelers during the days of the War of the Ring.

    During the War of the Ring, while wearing the One Ring at Amon Hen upon the seat of seeing, Frodo Baggins saw many things from afar, including the land of the Beornings aflame. This hints at an attack by Sauron's forces upon the Beornings, though the outcome of this attack is unknown.

    Gandalf believed that Beorn might have come from the mountains, making the Beornings descendants of the men of the mountains. The only known leaders of this people were Beorn and later his son Grimbeorn.

    Racial Template
    Cost: 13.
    Attribute Modifiers: ST +1 [10]; HT +1 [10].
    Advantages: Fearless 1 [2], Hard to Subdue 1 [2].
    Disadvantages: Intolerance (Orcs & related) [-10], Berserker (15) [-5].
    Skills: Two Handed Axe/Mace DX-1 [1], Intimidation Will-1 [1], Survival (Mountain) Per-1 [1] or Survival (Woodland) Per-1 [1] , Tracking Per-1 [1].
    Other suggested traits: Many Beornings have the Animal Empathy or Empathy advantages, and one or more mental disadvantage(s) or perk(s) which categorize them as "grim" persons.

    Every attribute, advantage and disadvantage of the template can be removed by paying/gaining the appropriate amount of points. This template represents just the very common Beorning: heroes are often different from standard.

    A Beorning able to change to bear form is, probably, a descendant of Beorn himself. Such a character will probably be very powerful (and rare): the creation of such a force of nature should be fully agreed with your game master!

Isaac Clarke Action Figure (Dead Space 3)

    Just got this beauty for my Action Figures collection: Isaac Clarke from Dead Space 3, one of my favourite games brand.

    Can't wait to play the Dead Space 4, and always hoping EA will create a PSVita chapter of this horrorific saga!





[Note: Right click on the picture and choose "Open on a new tab" to wath it at full size!]

PSVita: Fantasy Wallpapers

    Here are some PSVita wallpaper I've created with GIMP.

    The pictures all come from Elder Scroll Online concept arts. I've created a framed version, which follow the Vita icons curve, and a simpler one.

    The installation is quite simple: just download the pictures you like on your PSVita. Then activate customization mode by keeping your finger pressed in an empty home screen point, than chage the background by touching the related icon!

UbiSoft store vs Origin store!

    So two days ago I pre-ordered the BLACK CHEST Edition of Assassin's Creed 4. I decided to pre-order directly from the UbiSoft site, but unfortunately I made a mistake, buying the game for PS4 instead for PS3 (damn, similar logos! :) ). I intend to buy the new Sony console as soon as it is available (already preordained on Amazon), but I have contacted Ubi customer service immediately, asking if it was possible to CHANGE my order from PS3 to PS4, in order to be able to play AC4 as soon as possible. First thing, Ubi customer service is not contactable by telephone, but only through a system of "tickets" which can be accessed from the site. I was told, one day after my request, I have to DELETE the order, not CHANGE it, you kidding?!? No, absolutely not: the order must be deleted, remade and the deposit of € 9.99 is lost.

    Now, I certainly do not know the complex mechanisms behind UbiSHop e-commerce, but I worked with databases and web-software in the past, and my experience tells me that it is not a too complex action to change a database record. So, if the customer service of UbiSoft can not do such a thing, it simply means they're are more interested in protecting the company rather than customers.

    Some time ago I had a similar problem with the online shop of Origin (EA), regarding Battlefield 3, so I found myself contacting their customer service. First of all, I could call them by phone, talking to a sympathetic and helpful guy in the flesh, not with an operator hiding behind the fictitious name "qqfghhthh." Second, the problem was solved in a completely satisfactory way, allowing me to manage the money tied to the transaction in the way I preferred (refund, redirection to other products), with the only clause to decide by the 18:00 of next two days. I have even been made an offer for a new product a few more money than those I spent with a discount of 15%.
All trading moves, of course, aimed to make me buy something at the Origin store anyway (maybe even spending some € more than the budgeted), but done in a much more polite, correct, helpful and concrete way, respect to UbiSoft customer service.

    So what? So thanks Origin, thanks EA and F**k O*f UbiSoft! You're just lucky I'm a big fan of Assassin's Creed franchise, otherwise you would have just lost a customer, even if a corporation like you don't care less!!

AC Shrine - Detail 1

    First detail of the AC Shrine. Here you can see a zoom of AC Bloodlines for PSP, AC 3: Liberation for PSVita and the rare Black Edition of AC 2!

[Note: Right click on the picture and choose "Open on a new tab" to wath it at full size!]

Climber trophy for Assassin's Creed III: Liberation

    Here's a quick way to get the "Climber" trophy for Assassin's Creed III: Liberation!

    First of all look for a wall without footholds: one that can not be scaled by Aveline. Trying to climb a wall of this type (by pressing Forward + R), you will be credited with 1.5 meters of "climbing".

    Found such a suitable wall, get two rubber bands and something with which they can be secured after crossing the two holes at the sides, bottom, on your PSVita. I found very functional the metal straps covered with plastic / rubber that are used to keep bags closed. At this point, position the rubber bands as in the picture, by passing them below both lever and around the back of the console, pulling them throught the two holes I mentioned earlier. Lock them in that position.

    The left rubber band (looking at the PSVita) need only hold the lever in the "Forward" position, while the right one has to be positioned so as the "R" button is constantly pressed.

    Leave the console turned on in this state and you will get the trophy easily!

    I am forced to give it a look every 10 minutes or so, because on the wall I use, Aveline tends to slide to the left, so I must put her back in place!

    Maybe you will find a better wall than mine ;)!

[Note: Right click on the picture and choose "Open on a new tab" to wath it at full size!]

Assassin's Creed Shrine Overview!

    Here is a picture of my complete collection of the Assassin's Creed franchise.

    Collector Editions of AC 2, Brotherhood, Revelations and 3. AC Bloodlines for PSP and Liberation for PSVita.

    Official guides for AC Brotherhood, Revelations and 3.

    Four AC Books and all the comics available in Italy so far (DESMOND, ACCIPITER, AQUILUS, THE CHAIN, THE FALL)

    I don't own any special Assassin's Creed first game edition, so I can display only the normal version. I hope to be soon able to buy the rare Assassin's Creed Collector Edition.

    A big overview of my "shrine" ;)!

[Note: Right click on the picture and choose "Open on a new tab" to wath it at full size!]