Final Fantasy: War of the Lions, War Against the Interface

This game is one of the highest rated PSP gaes on Metacritic but I have just found unbelievably frustrating. The amount of key pressing is unbelievable. If I press attack and there is only one target I can attack then you know what computer machine? Just select it for me. In fact wherever I just have one option why don’t you just automatically set it up so I can confirm it? If I am going to be selecting Wait from a menu loads of times why not bind the common options to the symbol buttons so I can just press a button series rather than using arrow keys and X all the time?

There is also a lot of Game Over in War of the Lions. Fail a battle, Game Over. Your character dies in a battle, Game Over (is there a way to save a dying character? if not then why make it a game ender?). And what happens when you get game over, the game reboots… from the start sequence. Sorry but when did I switch on Iron Man mode?

I know this is a port but that’s no excuse for making no effort to try and make the user interface fit the device. Even D&D Tactics is better than this. The excellent cut scenes really don’t compensate for the cruddy design decisions.

God of War: Chains of Olympus

So far GoW: CoO (TLA 4TW) has proven to be my favourite PSP game I have purchased so far. Graphically it is an amazing title that really looks like a normal console game on a tiny screen. However the secret seems to be the way the game uses the PSP’s controls.

The tactile experience mirrors what is happening on screen. If you are struggling to break free from the grip of a monster then you are hammering keys, if your character is straining to snap open a chest then you are holding the button in a death grip yourself. The analogue stick has a better feel for movement. You feel like you directing this torrent of motion rather than going left a bit, right a square…

This link between interface and game only breaks down when you are asked to chain together various specific interface interactions very quickly to complete boss-type fights. In particular I find rotations quite difficult because the on-screen icons are not very clear as to whether you are aiming for clockwise or anti-clockwise.

Take Command a satisfying replacement for Sid Meier’s Gettysburg

So I finally installed Take Command: Second Manassas (TCSM) after many delays. I really loved Sid Meier’s Gettysburg (SMG) and I have been looking for a replacement for it for a while. To be honest the graphic content is not really far off its venerable ancestor but it is a satisfying game that seems to capture ACW tactics in a visually appealing way.

Some interesting features are that the battlefields seem to be bigger and therefore you are actually expected to use Road Column movement! In SMG column movement was just a way of breaking your troops unless they were reinforcements. TC: SM introduces couriers that actually ferry orders between the general and your command. That’s a really atmospheric touch.

One thing that is a bit disappointing is that barriers on the battlefield do not seem to interact with the troops in a decent way. During the tutorial I lined some troops up behind a wall, which was relatively easy, however later they decided to concentrate their fire to their left and therefore the unit AI wheeled the line left putting straight through the wall rather than anchoring on it. Apart from breaking the illusion this also gave me a UI headache as I could not easily tell whether the AI had opened itself to enfilading fire or not. Since the unit seemed to retain its defensive bonus I assume this was only graphical compromise but I would be annoyed in a tighter balanced scenario if I could not easily see that a unit had broken cover.