Games Take Flight

Up until a few months ago, I really loved GameFly. Their website was well-organized, they offered a wide variety of games, and they had the most efficient online game rental service. Recently, however, my opinion of their efficiency has changed.

I was a Gamefly member for about seven months last year and had a great experience with their service. Games would be exchanged within two days. I quit due to time constraints but decided to rejoin the service with a new account last September. That’s when the trouble began.

My games were always delivered to my door on time, but GameFly seemed to have trouble receiving my returns through the mail. I would wait patiently for my account to update but my games were never confirmed as received. Consequently, I would spend weeks with only one game, despite paying the service to have two games out at once. After so many weeks of waiting, I was forced to assume that my returns were lost in the mail, so I started reporting them as such. Seriously, Gamefly, what the heck?

Frustrated, I decided to ask my friends about their experiences with GameFly, since I know three others in the Los Angeles area who use the service. All of them complained about the drastically increased turnaround time before returned games were received and replaced. It could be as long as 2-3 weeks for some games, and some were never received at all. However, many of these people had been members for months with proven track records. Because I had rejoined GameFly with a new account, my fifteen previous rentals weren’t counted toward my credibility. My new record stated that three out of the five games I had attempted to return had been reported lost.

I was painfully aware of the damage this would cause my credibility with GameFly, so I had attempted to follow their advice for lost games and use different mailboxes. The three returns marked as lost were sent from mailboxes in two separate parts of the city: downtown Los Angeles and Century City.

At this point, I was incredibly frustrated. I emailed GameFly, explaining my grievances and how I had consulted others in the city with similar problems. I wasn’t sure whether this was a case of mail theft or if there were issues with GameFly, but I wanted them to know that this was unacceptable.

They wrote back, apologizing for the delays. See below:

In reviewing your account, we noted you have a number of reported shipping problems indicating that the postal route may be experiencing difficulties. We understand this situation is frustrating for you.

We are working diligently with the US Postal Service to address these types of issues in order to provide you with the highest level of service possible. We also encourage you to report the problem to the US Postal Service which may help to pursue other solutions.

[...]

If additional games are reported with shipping problems, unfortunately, we may need to review your account to determine if GameFly can uphold our service commitment to you.

Weeks later, they had failed to receive yet another game I returned (this time mailed from Santa Monica). I called to complain, and they essentially told me that they could no longer provide service to me unless they received some of the lost games.

I consider myself a reliable person. My eBay feedback rating is 100% after nearly 200 transactions, both as a buyer and a seller. I also sell things on Amazon.com frequently. I’ve never been accused of shipping something late, and I’ve almost never had shipping problems. I’ve rented over 100 DVDs through both Netflix and Blockbuster Online, all of which were successfully received when mailed from those same mailboxes. This problem has been curiously specific to my experience with GameFly.

As you can imagine, I am rather frustrated with this whole situation. What should have been an easy rental service turned into two months of aggravation and false suspicions against my character. I would really love to rent games through GameFly, but I can no longer trust their service. It may be the fault of some mail sorter down at the post office, but it doesn’t alleviate the fact that GameFly can’t sort out shipping problems in their own city (they are based in Los Angeles). This is especially disappointing given that GameFly has what amounts to a monopoly on the online game rental market.

If anyone has had similar issues with GameFly, I would like to know. Given the limited reach of my circle of friends, I’m not sure whether the problem is isolated to the Los Angeles area or if it’s more widespread. I hope that GameFly can resolve this situation soon, whatever the source of the problem may be. Until then, can anyone recommend a better online game rental service?

Leaving WoW

I wish I could say that it was just as easy to step away from World of Warcraft as it was the last time. I’ve only played WoW during that ten-day trial almost a year ago and then recently for the free 30-day trial that came with the battle chest. I’ve never been a subscriber to the game, but I did feel a stronger connection to the game after 30 days than I did after the end of my previous trial. So what made it different this time?

Time did not seem to make a huge difference in creating a bond with the game. I got to level 20 after 30 days but I was at level 14 after 10 days last time. I'd seen a much different part of the game world, but that wasn’t what made the real difference. Three factors contributed most to my newly-formed connection to WoW.

The first factor was that I really liked my character. It was fantastic to play as a lovely little blood elf, small and blonde and like a better version of myself. While I did appreciate the level advancement, I liked the fact that I felt like I was doing good for others in the virtual community, even if it was just fiction. I felt immersed and wanted to make my character do well because I liked her.

One of the best parts about being a hunter is that you can gain a pet early on in the game. Having a pet cat (mine was a ghostclaw) was fantastically comforting and instantly gave me an emotional connection to the game. I love cats in real life and miss having one as a pet while I’m away at college. In the game world, I had a pet to look after which would, in turn, help me fight and look after me. The cat made me feel much safer in fights and provided and essential support. Even if it wasn’t real, having an faithful, furry companion that followed me around and helped in tight situations was a great comfort.

The last element that gave me a greater connection to the game world was having a friend join at the same time. He got me to buy the game in the first place. While he soon had other commitments and I leveled up faster than he did, I still had a real person that I could connect with in the virtual world. This made the game feel more real and helped me to internalize how other players really are people sitting at their computers.

Given these new elements tying me to WoW, it seems unlikely that I would quit after my trial ended. However, other issues had arisen since I began playing that made me reconsider a subscription. First, there was a physical problem of my PowerBook lacking a video card. Whenever I played WoW, the fan would become incredibly noisy in its unsuccessful attempts to keep my laptop cool. For fear of overheating, I didn’t dare to play any longer than two hours a day. I'd seen what WoW could look like on more powerful computers, where the settings could be optimized. I was able to see so much more in the game, including the subtle bouncing of my elf’s ears as she ran.

My final frustration with WoW was a bigger issue. I enjoy soloing because I don’t have to schedule time in to play and I don’t have to depend on anyone. Given the great diversity of the personalities of other players in WoW, I prefer to complete quests alone. This can lead to problems, especially in the higher levels. There was one quest where I was trying to rescue people from an unpleasant area full of undead. Unfortunately, the undead were grouped into swarms so they were nearly impossible to pick off slowly. After I'd died several times, making little progress, I decided that it would be best to wait for my friend to level up so I could have some dependable help with that quest. While I enjoy playing WoW alone, there seem to be some situations where I need help and I prefer to wait for the point where I can play with people I can trust from real life.

I let my 30-day trial end, but it has not been as easy to give it up as it was before. I enjoyed playing WoW in the mornings before class and found that, while it was not a stunning game, it was somewhat mindless. This made it a fantastic way to unwind. I miss my blood elf and my pet. However, I feel that I had a good experience with the game and learned a lot. For now, I will shift my focus to other games and school, but I hope to take WoW up again when I can find trustworthy people to join my party.

Finishing the Phantom

It’s been a while since I’ve actually finished a game. Given my academic commitments, a game has to be pretty strong for me to play it through. The fact that The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass was on DS made it much more accessible and I finished it within a month.

I had mentioned in my previous post about Phantom Hourglass how it was relatively easy. It got a little bit more difficult toward the end. Unfortunately, one of the points where I got stuck was when I was stuck in real life in an airport. Stranded without the internet, I called a friend for help and soon figured out what I had been doing wrong. So much of the path in Phantom Hourglass is so straightforward that I got tripped up on something stupid. I had to blow a hole in the wall, but the spot to bomb was somewhat ambiguous. In every other area of the game, the spots to bomb were much more obvious.

Despite a few frustrating inconsistencies, most of the game was fun. The path to completion was fairly linear and I enjoyed playing through to the end. Gadgets were acquired one by one. I loved the puzzles that challenged me to use various gadgets, such as the mouse-shaped bombs that followed paths I drew on the screen.

Given the limited resources and space on a DS cartridge, Phantom Hourglass seemed to be a strong portable experience. Despite the linear path, I still felt a sense of exploration as I continued to visit new islands. The puzzles were clever and varied. The NPCs had personality and quirky backgrounds.

Phantom Hourglass was not without a few flaws. My main complaint and chief frustration was the necessity of revisiting the same temple over and over again. While I could skip certain parts of the level, much of it could still be repetitive. I absolutely hate sneaking around in games, and I had to continue redoing parts where I would sneak around. Also, the money and treasure seemed unbalanced. I found a lot of treasure, but I always had too much money so I never had to sell anything. The treasure was relatively pointless. I had often gone through a frustrating and finicky salvaging minigame to find most of that treasure, so I felt much of my effort was wasted. Finally, there was a possibility to upgrade some abilities, such as adding a shock to my sword attacks. I upgraded a couple abilities but it didn’t make a noticeable difference.

I really did enjoy playing this game. Each dungeon took about 10-20 minutes, which was convenient for short sessions. (However, you cannot save once in a dungeon.) The ending itself was strong and suitable for the game’s theme and story. I enjoyed the characters and the fact that I was a hero. I would recommend this game to people who like creative, engaging adventure experiences in portable form.

Condescending Wiki

I heard wonderful things about Zack and Wiki, most notably in regards to its innovative puzzles and the return to point-and-click adventure mechanics. Since I grew up with a Mac, I missed the boat on many point-and-click adventures, and I hoped this game would be a fun way to educate myself. While I did learn from Zack and Wiki, the lesson that will likely stick is the scar of its intolerable soundtrack.

Zack and Wiki is full of over-the-top cartoon sounds from the very beginning. While I found it hilarious at first, my good humor wore down after only five minutes. Dialogue is not spoken, but is accompanied by annoying, repetitive sounds. My sidekick, Wiki, would make a high-pitched “Oookiki” sound over and over again. It became very condescending when matched with the tutorial text that made me feel stupid for being a beginner.

While I have very little tolerance for games that belittle the player, especially right at the beginning, there was a plethora of other problems that made Zack and Wiki hard to play. First, the colors were excessively vibrant and felt like a children’s show adjusted to maximum brightness. The graphics of the game looked quite poor on an HDTV and the shortcuts taken in the art cheapened the entire visual style. Cutscenes were way too long and there was simply too much text to wade through. Despite all the dialogue I read, the story was sketchy at best.

As for the click interface, I found it quite limiting. I missed the ability to move freely in an environment. The mechanic where you click where you want your character to go feels outdated. The recent adaptation of this mechanic with the touch screen on the DS is a much more organic use of this type of interface. This leads me to believe that this game would likely be more successful as a DS game. The low-quality graphics and simple puzzles would work better on the small screen. I have found the Wiimote pointer to be much less precise than the DS stylus.

After hearing about the innovative puzzles in Zack and Wiki, I was hoping that it would be fun. Unfortunately, the sound and other shortcomings prevented me from enjoying this game. At its core, however, this game did have spunk. Perhaps it can find a better audience someday with a DS version.

Goddess of Sword

Sony’s games have a reputation. Ever since I played The Legend of Dragoon seven years ago, I’ve come to expect that Sony will continue to impress me with cutting-edge visuals. Heavenly Sword is no exception. In a brief demo lasting no more than 10 minutes, I was sufficiently awed.

Heavenly Sword definitely raises the bar with its visual style. The environments were stunning. Cinematic sequences looked impeccable and the visuals during gameplay were only slightly lower in quality. The game had a very fluid, cinematic style that, combined with the epic scale, made me feel as if I were the heroine in a movie.

Soon after the cinematic sequence ends, I was sliding down enormous ropes thicker than three of my character’s torsos. I had to jump between the huge ropes and land on a column towering over a hundred feet up. While I fought the enemies there, I tried not to get too distracted by the fantastic view of the untouched beauty of nature surrounding me.

There was also a beauty in the grace of my character’s movements. She had ridiculously long, supermodel legs with enough muscle to justify her incredible strength. The combat animation was fluid and the fights were elegant. She moved with the swiftness of a dancer, but executed attacks at a deadly speed.

Combat, although fluid, felt somewhat unrealistic. I enjoyed being able to use my sword in three different ways: as a ranged weapon, for speed attacks (as two swords separately) or as a power attack (three swords as one). The special attacks were cinematic but didn’t waste time with transitions. Some moves felt artificially effortless, such as picking up and throwing bodies with ease. The intense speed and fluidity was fun but unrealistic. It reminded me of God of War in terms of the bloody hack-and-slash, so it didn’t seem to push combat boundaries.

Other elements in the game felt very polished. The voice-overs were high-quality. Sound effects were spot-on. Certain mechanics, such as using the sixaxis to guide a thrown object, were innovative. Aside from a few irregularities, such as a lack of a block button, this game was quite well-rounded.

After only 10 minutes, it is impossible to truly judge a game. I have heard that it is a short game but, from my limited experience, it seems to be worth the time. I hope that I can play the full version of this game when I finally get a PS3 of my own.