Kat Bailey
Articles by Kat Bailey
Jurassic Park: Trespasser remake aims to make good on long-lost promises
Fifteen years later, Jurassic Park: Trespasser still seems to bring out the dreamer in game developers. It's largely forgotten today, but there was a time when the 1998 first-person shooter published by Electronic Arts aspired to be the ultimate technical achievement. Developer Seamus Blackley dreamt of a perfectly seamless, immersive world with intelligent dinosaurs – an idea that still has the power to spark the imagination with its insane technical ambition. Despite assurances prior to release that the game would revolutionize PC gaming, Trespasser was critically panned and commercially ignored. Today, the dream of that revolutionary title lives on through a group of dedicated fans unwilling to let to die. The architect of that effort is Larry Ellis – an Australian working part time at a local distribution company, with the rest of his hours devoted to the long forgotten licensed game. Utilizing Crytek's powerful CryEngine, he recently captivated the internet with a series of gorgeous updates to the original Trespasser jungle environments. Ellis' ambitions, however, are far greater than a simple remake. The part-time designer has grand ambitions with plans to recreate the game's entire world – Isla Sorna – and within it, inject new missions, objectives and more. Utilizing technology that lies at the bleeding edge, Ellis aims to make use of both Oculus Rift and the Razer Hydra to live up to the game's original vision for a unique control scheme. Ellis' project seems almost crazy in scope - a one-man attempt to make good on assurances made by a company he has no affiliation with nearly two decades ago. Perhaps it's an impossible dream, but it's hard not to cheer for an underdog with so much passion.
Finding Mario's co-op sweet spot with Super Mario 3D World
While I'm a Mario fan, I was utterly baffled by the appeal of the four-player co-op play introduced in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. People tell me: "It's chaotic and fun!" But all I ever experienced was that little jerk Luigi distracting me while I try to make a precision jump. In Super Mario 3D World, however, four player multiplayer manages to avoid the chaos found in New Super Mario Bros. and it's actually preferable to playing alone. In Super Mario 3D World, momentum is much less important. Momentum counts for a lot in New Super Mario Bros., whether it be jumping over a chasm or dodging an enemy. Having three other players around can affect that momentum, which could lead to a lot of funny but unnecessary deaths. In general, the action is slower and more measured in Super Mario 3D World than the typical 2D Mario game. There's more on-screen real estate to work with, too, lessening the chance of running into some errant enemy or falling off the screen by mistake. Super Mario 3D Land gives the modern Mario series a much-needed jolt with its tweaks to the game's precision of movement.
GBA's Fire Emblem is a great strategy RPG for beginners
This is a column by Kat Bailey dedicated to the analysis of the once beloved Japanese RPG sub-genre. Tune in every Wednesday for thoughts on white-haired villains, giant robots, Infinity+1 swords, and everything else the wonderful world of JRPGs has to offer. In 2001, Nintendo of America had a decision to make that would have a huge impact on what at the time was one of its least known properties in the U.S.: Fire Emblem.Super Smash Bros. Melee was set for release that fall, and among its cast were Marth and Roy, whom most westerners had never heard of before. Nintendo of America weighed cutting them for a time, but eventually relented and decided to leave them in. In the early going, I had no clue who they were; soon enough, I grew to like them, just like everyone else. The stage was set for Fire Emblem to make a surprise leap to the U.S.
Comfort and stability: Unraveling the appeal of Tales of Xillia
It was around fifteen years ago now that a good friend of mine urged me to try out Tales of Destiny, which had recently come out on the PlayStation."I really like the characters, and it's funny," he told me. Pretty soon, he was finding ways to incorporate the characters in his fan-fiction, his favorite being the 16-year-old master swordsman Leon Magnus. He wasn't alone.The Tales franchise has grown by leaps and bounds over the years, going from bona fide cult favorite to one of the most successful JRPG franchises this side of Final Fantasy. Unlike its competitors, the Tales series has been mostly content to stay the course over the past ten years or so. That remains the case for Tales of Xillia, which will please its now very vocal fanbase, even if it won't make many waves outside of the RPG community.%Gallery-176879%
Empowering your Fire Emblem: Awakening army with StreetPass
Despite the unique and interesting qualities of the 3DS' StreetPass and SpotPass functionality, I've rarely had reason to use it. So far, my favorite example of StreetPass functionality has been found in Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy, where it's possible to swap Dark Notes and custom character cards. When Fire Emblem: Awakening launches next month, however, I expect the mileage I get from those features will increase.At a preview event on Wednesday, Nintendo demonstrated its upcoming 3DS strategy game, giving the media a glimpse at its secondary features. My time with it left me intrigued. It's rare to see StreetPass bonuses and DLC embedded so deeply in the single-player experience.Fire Emblem: Awakening's DLC plan, for the most part, has already been revealed. We've been aware that characters such as Marth, Roy, Ike, and other franchise luminaries will be available via an in-game variant of the eShop. What I hadn't realized until now, however, is that there are actual rewards for completing a map in the game.%Gallery-175932%
Three interesting trends found in 2012's JRPGs
This is a column by Kat Bailey dedicated to the analysis of the once beloved Japanese RPG sub-genre. Tune in every Wednesday for thoughts on white-haired villains, giant robots, Infinity+1 swords, and everything else the wonderful world of JRPGs has to offer. As both a columnist and a fan, I've felt relatively lucky this a year with plenty of JRPGs to play and enjoy in 2012, including Persona 4 Golden, Xenoblade Chronicles, and The Last Story.I'm not exactly drowning in RPGs or anything, but this is probably the happiest I've been since 2008 or so, which was the year I discovered Valkyria Chronicles. I don't want to say that there was something for everyone, because it's a lousy cliché, and not really true either. But for those who were willing to look, it was a good year.Is this the beginning of a return to form for Japanese developers? Well, maybe not. The accelerated growth of mobile gaming, an aging population back home, and outsized budgets are all substantial obstacles for Japanese studios. But a few interesting trends are taking hold that could have a substantial impact on the industry in the near future:
Crimson Shroud review: A successful roll
You may not see them, but dice rolls are pretty much everywhere in RPGs. Even role-playing shooters like Alpha Protocol feature dice rolls to an extent. But Crimson Shroud is one of the few I can think of to literally feature dice. It's one of its most endearing features.In essence, Crimson Shroud is a one-shot tabletop adventure for the Nintendo 3DS. As with the classic Dungeons & Dragons games, multiple dice are used in everything from rolling for initiative to determining whether the party can launch a surprise attack. Characters are represented by the tiny figurines used to map distance, and the story is told across long tracts of text, as if the Dungeon Master were actually narrating. For longtime tabletop gamers, it's a treat.%Gallery-173328%
Still finding love in turn-based Japanese role-playing games
This is a column by Kat Bailey dedicated to the analysis of the once beloved Japanese RPG sub-genre. Tune in every Wednesday for thoughts on white-haired villains, giant robots, Infinity+1 swords, and everything else the wonderful world of JRPGs has to offer. When Japanese role-playing games come up in casual conversation, one word that I hear a lot is "nostalgic." As in, it's a genre that brings people back to a childhood spent playing old SNES RPGs, or maybe PlayStation classics like Final Fantasy VII. Traditional JRPG storytelling and gameplay tropes are seen as outdated, none more than the turn-based battle systems that drove all those 8 and 16 and 32-bit RPGs.It's a sentiment shared by many in the industry itself. Responding to the repeated drumbeat for change, for example, Square Enix has broadly hinted that the next numbered Final Fantasy will be an action RPG. In Japan, the action-based co-op RPG Monster Hunter has become something of a holy grail for the industry – the series that everyone aspires to emulate.This is where I take a stand though. Much as I like Ys and a handful of other action RPGs, I like good old-fasionhed turn-based RPGs that much better. Not every RPG has to be as frenetic as a Call of Duty. In fact, I rather prefer it when they're not. Case in point? The turn-based Persona 4 Golden, which remains as relevant now as it was when it first arrived on the PlayStation 2 in 2008.%Gallery-165800%
Recommendation shortlist for rookie JRPG players
This is a column by Kat Bailey dedicated to the analysis of the once beloved Japanese RPG sub-genre. Tune in every Wednesday for thoughts on white-haired villains, giant robots, Infinity+1 swords, and everything else the wonderful world of JRPGs has to offer. It used to be so easy to get people to try Japanese role-playing games. If they asked where they should start, all I had to say was, "Let me tell you about this little game called Final Fantasy VII." In the end, I would almost always have a convert.But times have changed. Many of the old PlayStation standbys have aged rather poorly, and modern RPGs are more complicated and time-consuming than ever. There are more high-quality JRPGs out there than the average person might think, but many of them are tough to recommend to newcomers.But from time to time, I'm approached by a gamer who has barely even played Pokemon, let alone Xenoblade Chronicles, and they ask me to recommend a good JRPG. It's a moment that can be every bit as delicate as recommending a good entry point into something like Star Trek. The goal is to recommend something that starts fast and makes sense, but also highlights the genre's relative strengths.
Nintendo's Wii U may be an attractive device for Japanese RPG fans
This is a column by Kat Bailey dedicated to the analysis of the once beloved Japanese RPG sub-genre. Tune in every Wednesday for thoughts on white-haired villains, giant robots, Infinity+1 swords, and everything else the wonderful world of JRPGs has to offer. I didn't manage to get a Wii U over the weekend. By the time I got around to ordering one, pre-orders were closed, and I wasn't willing to camp outside in the rain or add my name to the wait list. I'm still getting a Wii U though, and not because of Nintendo Land, New Super Mario Bros. U, or even The Legend of Zelda. I'm getting a Wii U because I'm intrigued by the potential of its RPG library.[Ed. Note: For more on the Wii U, check out Joystiq's comprehensive coverage.]As I've discussed before, this is not a new development for Nintendo. Toward the tail end of the Wii years, it made a concerted effort to woo RPG developers. The result was the "Operation Rainfall" games – Xenoblade Chronicles, The Last Story, and Pandora's Tower. Last week, I listed the Wii's Top 10 RPGs for 1UP, and I didn't even have to include Shiren the Wanderer or Tales of Symphonia 2. That platform's RPG selection is deeper than many people know.
Deja Review: Persona 4 Golden
This is a Deja Review, a quick look at the new features and relative agelessness of remade, revived and re-released games. Try explaining Persona 4 to a friend sometime – it's not easy. Any explanation inevitably begins with: "Well, it's about Japanese high schoolers who fight demons in an alternative dimension that can be accessed through a TV." And it only gets crazier from there.Back in 2008 though, it was Persona 4's slightly insane premise and its unique format – the story follows a high schooler from April to December as he tries to keep up with his studies, make friends, and solve supernatural murders – that helped it stand out against the drab backdrop of the declining Japanese game industry. It's no less charming on the PlayStation Vita, where it benefits from redrawn high-definition art and some very interesting online functionality. Then, as now, it stands among the best Japanese-developed RPGs of the past decade.%Gallery-165800%
How RPGs can avoid descending into early game hell
This is a column by Kat Bailey dedicated to the analysis of the once beloved Japanese RPG sub-genre. Tune in every Wednesday for thoughts on white-haired villains, giant robots, Infinity+1 swords, and everything else the wonderful world of JRPGs has to offer. Whenever I want to get in some quality procrastination, I turn to one of two sources. Either I while away the hours messing around with my team on Pokemon Online, or I start hitting "random" on Television Tropes & Idioms. The other day, I went in for the latter, and I came across an article titled "Early Game Hell."Early Game Hell, as you might imagine, refers to games that are really difficult at the outset, but eventually get easier. Fire Emblem, for example, is even tougher than usual in the early going due to the main characters' lack of hit points and skills. In fact, almost every entry in the Early Game Hell page is an RPG. That's not exactly a surprise – every fan has struggled through the early game of an RPG at least once. But I also wonder if an RPG can't be entertaining and deep without being excruciatingly difficult to get into.To wit, as you may recall from my previous entry, I'm currently playing Persona 4 Golden – an RPG that is well-known for being a slow starter. It's a good 90 minutes before anything of note occurs; and when the action finally arrives, it doesn't pull any punches. For the unprepared, the Avenger Knight mini-boss is quite capable of knocking out the main character in one or two hits. And without the Fox to offer any meaningful healing, it's not easy to grind.%Gallery-165800%
Capturing the grandeur of the hunt in Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate
The sheer scale of Monster Hunter can be overwhelming at times, full of moments spent looking off into what seems like a never-ending horizon while chasing monsters three or four times your size. It's meant to make you feel like one tiny participant in a massive ecosystem – which you are also trying to destroy.The only window to this massive world over the past few years has been the PSP. In North America, the lone exception has been the Wii's Monster Hunter Tri, while the PlayStation 3 port of Monster Hunter Portable 3rd has remained exclusive to Japan.But North America will finally be able to explore Monster Hunter's creature-filled worlds in high-definition in Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate for Nintendo's Wii U. Ultimate is an HD update of the aforementioned Monster Hunter Tri that includes a large amount of new content. Playing the upgraded version after spending time with the game on 3DS felt right; it was like suddenly being able to see after being locked in a dark room.%Gallery-171028%
Persona 4 Golden takes an interesting page from Dark Souls
This is a column by Kat Bailey dedicated to the analysis of the once beloved Japanese RPG sub-genre. Tune in every Wednesday for thoughts on white-haired villains, giant robots, Infinity+1 swords, and everything else the wonderful world of JRPGs has to offer. It's always around the month of May that I take a look at the lengthy list of daily decisions in Persona 4 and start to sweat a bit."Should I be going to the sports club so much? Shouldn't I be building my relationship with Yukiko?""Crap, I forgot to buy a book to read.""Exams are coming up and I still haven't hit the first Knowledge threshold. I'm screwed."More than most RPGs, Persona 4 is about the long game. It's set over the course of a full Japanese school year – from April to December – and there are important decisions to be made almost every day. Most of the time, you end up hanging out with various non-player characters, some of whom won't become friendly until you get to know a specific character. It's big, complicated, and stressful.%Gallery-167418%
Genius Sonority's Denpa Men reaches back to the company's 16-bit roots
This is a column by Kat Bailey dedicated to the analysis of the once beloved Japanese RPG sub-genre. Tune in every Wednesday for thoughts on white-haired villains, giant robots, Infinity+1 swords, and everything else the wonderful world of JRPGs has to offer. Genius Sonority made its debut under that name in 2003, with Pokemon Colosseum. It was billed as a successor to Pokemon Stadium, and I ended up putting in more than a hundred hours before eventually souring on the recycled sprites and Colosseum's grinding "purification process."Since then, Genius Sonority's name has mostly been a byword for "outsourced" among Pokemon fans, bringing the same shudders that Backbone does for retro gamers. But with the recent release of Denpa Men: They Came by Wave, a kind of augmented reality RPG for the Nintendo 3DS, I've found that their roots go back further than Pokemon.%Gallery-169215%
Can Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate break through in the U.S. and boost the Wii U at the same time?
This is a column by Kat Bailey dedicated to the analysis of the once beloved Japanese RPG sub-genre. Tune in every Wednesday for thoughts on white-haired villains, giant robots, Infinity+1 swords, and everything else the wonderful world of JRPGs has to offer. I just finished a viewing of the fabulous Shin Megami Tensei 4 trailer. In a month I'll be playing Pokemon Black 2 & White 2, and Dragon Quest X and Monter Hunter 3 Ultimate are set for the Wii U. Once again I'm reminded that Nintendo's platforms might not have all of the Japanese RPGs, but they have most of the good ones.On the subject of Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate: What does the announcement that it will be released on the Wii U mean for Japan? Is the series finally ready to make the leap in the U.S. now that it's about to released on a (presumably) mainstream console? The answers may not end up deciding the Wii U's ultimate fate, but they should offer some insight into how the system's library will shape up.Most of you have probably heard about the Monster Hunter frenzy in Japan by now, since it's a good five years old at this points. Thanks to a unique combination of urban density, falling PSP prices and peer pressure, Monster Hunter has become a cultural force in Japan. In the face of this cultural climate, any new Monster Hunter game brings with it a certain amount of pressure to join in with the group.Monster Hunter has enjoyed niche success in the U.S., but the factors that propelled its meteoric rise in Japan have been largely absent on this side of the Pacific. Put simply, it's tough to find another Monster Hunter fan in the west, which is a problem for a game that puts so much stock in its multiplayer experience. If you're really dedicated, you can attend meetups organized over the internet, but not many gamers seem persistent in that effort. I know I'm not.
These Western-developed JRPGs deserve your time
In my drawer is an unopened copy of Muramasa: The Demon Blade. Having really enjoyed it at E3, I made a point to pick up a copy for myself, then proceed to completely forget about it following a trip to Japan. It's still there, waiting for me to finally start clearing out my backlog. I thought of Muramasa recently while playing another 2D action RPG – Dust: An Elysian Tail. Dust was developed by a westerner named Dean Dodrill, but it has much in common with Japanese-developed RPGs. The art style and the storytelling are just two elements that seem to take after Dust's Japanese counterparts. That Dust has so much in common with Muramasa is a reminder that an RPG doesn't have to be developed by the Japanese to be a "JRPG." I've heard arguments to the contrary, but there is definitely a certain style at work in JRPGs, which is most apparent in their console-friendly accessibility, animated look, and their focus on storytelling. These are all traits that can be readily replicated by western developers.
Pressure's off: What Square can accomplish with Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
This is a column by Kat Bailey dedicated to the analysis of the once beloved Japanese RPG sub-genre. Tune in every Wednesday for thoughts on white-haired villains, giant robots, Infinity+1 swords, and everything else the wonderful world of JRPGs has to offer. It's been a long, strange ride for Final Fantasy XIII. From long delays and substantial disappointment, it has lately seen its stock fluctuate wildly between the improved reception afforded Final Fantasy XIII-2 and the rumors of Final Fantasy Versus XIII's demise. Now Square Enix has a chance to make its definitive statement on the series with Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII – an ambitious sequel that defies the accusations that Square is only out to squeeze a few more dollars out of its expensive engine.As 1UP's extensive preview points out, this is pretty much Lightning's show now. The battle system has been completely rebuilt to showcase her specific talents. The rest of the cast is out, and so are the battle menus. Lightning Returns isn't quite a full-on action RPG, but it looks pretty close. The only real holdovers are the omnipresent Active Time Battle gauges that moderate the use of each of Lightning's moves, which are mapped to the face buttons on the controller.It's a move that will prove divisive as always, but I can't hate the reasoning behind it. The pressure's off. Final Fantasy XIII is very much a known quantity. If this is truly to be the grand finale for an already controversial set of games, why not be as experimental as possible?
The Last Story review: Sakaguchi's experimental side
The Last Story appears to flip the script on Dragon Quest. Where Square Enix's seminal RPG series normally seeks to tell new stories within familiar mechanical frameworks, Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi's latest effort offers a very (very) familiar narrative while experimenting wildly with its battle system.The story is vintage Final Fantasy – a collection of traditional role-playing tropes set amid a world featuring an effective mix of medieval and steampunk elements. The hero Zael has a lot in common with the likes of Cloud and Cecil, and his infatuation with a runaway princess brings to mind Final Fantasy IX. There's even a flying fortress ala Balamb Garden from Final Fantasy VIII. For some, it will be charming (I'm in that camp), though others may find it distracting.%Gallery-162388%
Trends Microsoft should keep in mind for the next Xbox console
In this editorial, regular Joystiq contributor Kat Bailey examines the trends Microsoft should consider for its next generation console. Want to know something amazing? The Xbox 360 has been around nearly twice as long as the original Xbox, and we've yet to hear a hint from Microsoft about its next console. Instead, the hardware manufacturer is happy to keep moving along for another year with Halo 4, Gears of War: Judgment, and even more Kinect games, secure in the knowledge that the Xbox 360 is among the company's most successful products.To be sure, Microsoft is in a much better place now than seven years ago. After four years of running an unprofitable second to Sony, Microsoft was more than ready to move on from what the company had openly described as a test bed. In fact, Microsoft was so desperate to get its console to market that the company was willing to ignore technical problems that would go on to cost them more than a billion dollars. And much as that hurt, Microsoft (if not its customers) would probably still say that the headstart was worth it.%Gallery-95126%