Video Game Tuesday: Strategy Games

This week for Video Game Tuesday I’m back with a look at some different types of games and the bigger differences between them and the common features. It’s all about Strategy Games!

Strategy Games?: There are two main types of games that come to mind when you talk strategy games at least to me. There is the RTS, or Real Time Strategy, and TBS, or Turn-Based Strategy. They are very different in how you play them, and while there are some common strategies between the two, how you go about them is completely different.

RTS?: So RTS games are games like Starcraft or Command and Conquer. These take place in real time with you giving orders and building armies and bases to destroy your opponents. Often the biggest skill that professionals in this kind of game look for is APM, or Actions Per Minute. Getting 100+ APM consistently is generally a good thing and means you may be cut out to try becoming a pro if you so desire. If you can’t do that you’re unlikely to be able to ever compete at a professional level. I think I remember getting 100+ apm for brief spurts of time in some games of Starcraft 2, but I never considered myself ever cut out for the pro scene. One because I dislike competing immensely, and two because even getting 100+ for those brief times is already rather incredible with my physical disability.

TBS?: Games like the Civilization series are a good example, these aren’t always as action or war oriented, and sometimes you can even play a game and win without ever getting into conflict once, at least with AI opponents.  I tend to prefer these sorts of games, although I’ve not played too many strategy games in general with more in the RTS category, although those are mainly for the custom game maps and types that you could create in games like Warcraft 3. Angel Arena is still one of my favorite custom game types, beating over any DotA clone easily.

So what are some similarities between the two?: Well in both games the key to success, at least to me, is to always increase your production capabilities. This means increasing the number of your base or cities as the game progresses to constantly produce units that you may need to fight off an opponent quickly. In RTS games this means quickly building your worker units and getting a steady supply of resources as your first steps. Once that happens you can start building up your fighting force while constructing your base. In TBS games this is still the case, but it’s more about buildings and land improvements at least in the Civ series.

In addition always upgrading your units with tech upgrades as much as possible is always a key to winning, if your units can launch more powerful attacks than your opponent, battles will quickly turn your way even if you have the same amount of troops in a battle.

What’s different?: Well in RTS games speed is always going to be a priority, can you attack your enemy before they get a defense going? If so you have a quick victory in sights and can probably clinch a fast win. In TBS games, it’s more about location and choke points. If you can block your enemy from getting resources or funnel them into one area you can easily defend your bases and prevent them from overwhelming you.

That’s it for this week’s Video Game Tuesday. What are some of your favorite strategy games? What type are they? Leave a comment below!

 

Anime Sunday: Violet Evergarden Episode 01 Impressions

This week for Anime Sunday I’m covering another series from this winter’s line up. It’s my Violet Evergarden Episode 01 Impressions!

Plot Synopsis: Violet is a soldier in the Leidenschaftlich Army who served under Major Gilbert Bougainvillea, who she was utterly devoted to. However, Violet is injured after a mission which resulted in the loss of her arms, requiring them to be replaced with prosthesis. Colonel Hodgins, an old acquaintance of Gilbert, arrives to pick up Violet. He explains to Violet that the war they were fighting has ended and peace has come, though he is unwilling to tell Violet what happened to Gilbert….

Plot: This isn’t a happy series, despite that I’m still deeply interested in watching this series despite how depressing the setting seems to be. I will note that this an adaptation of a completed Light Novel series, so the adaptation should cover the entire story, although I don’t know anything about it myself. I enjoyed this first episode, and I’m curious to see what occurs in later episodes.

Characters: Violet is a very broken young woman, and yet I still found her endearing, if a bit distant.  The rest of the cast is good too, although we don’t have much of their background story yet. Hell we don’t even have much of anyone’s background. Hopefully this is fleshed out sufficiently in subsequent episodes.

Art: This is a Kyoto Animation production, so the quality is quite good. That being said I still find it lacks the fluidity of ufotable’s work, but I wouldn’t use that particular animation studio as my gold standard if it wasn’t as good as it is.

Music: The score is very fitting, with little to no uplifting tones used in this first episode, it fits the somber mood of the episode incredibly well.

Overall: Definitely worth a watch, although I expect this series to be a real tearjerker given the mood of this first episode.

For those who like: Drama, Military Fiction, Broken Main Characters, Excellent Artwork, Fantastic Score.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.

Retro Game Friday: Battlefield 1942

This week for Retro Game Friday I’m covering the first entry in a series that is incredibly popular now. It’s Battlefield 1942!

Plot Synopsis: Look up World War II.

Gameplay: This was a pretty revolutionary game at the time, as it had a massive amount of players that could play in a single match at one time. 64 players was pretty amazing. As for the rest of the gameplay it follows the now standard Battlefield formula of capturing locations and holding the majority of them to slowly whittle away the enemies spawn tickets which let an enemy respawn upon death. 1942 also allowed players to pilot various vehicles ranging from Jeeps to bombers. This made the matches get really insane when you had all 64 players playing.

Art: The art has aged poorly, but that’s to be expect of a 3D game.

Music: I don’t remember a whit, I was having too much fun gaming with my friend online.

Overall: It’s might be worth a try if you can get a free copy, but I’m pretty sure the servers for online play are down now so it’s not really worth spending any money on this.

For those who like: FPS, Military Games, World War II, Vehicular Mayhem.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.

Manga Monday: Golden Kamui by Noda Satoru

Hey all, this week for Manga Monday I have another Quick Review. It’s Golden Kamui by Noda Satoru!

Plot Synopsis: In Hokkaido, the far northern lands of Japan, Sugimoto survived the Russo-Japanese war of the Meiji era. Nicknamed “Sugimoto the Immortal” during the war, he now seeks the riches promised by the gold rush in hopes of saving the widowed wife of his now deceased comrade from the war.

Plot: The plot is pretty awesome, I was pretty much instantly hooked after this first chapter, hopefully I’ll get to read all of it sooner rather then later. I do want to point out one more thing about the series, it is award winning, so take that how you will.

Characters: Sugimoto is a pretty interesting guy, it’s pretty obvious he’s dealing with serious issues from the war he fought in, despite all that he’s a pretty stable fellow. The rest of the cast we’ve met are pretty much nameless, but they look fairly interesting from this first chapter.

Art: The art is amazing, but once I looked up who the publisher was I wasn’t surprised to find it was Shueisha. That being said it is very graphic, so those with squeamish stomachs should probably not read this.

Overall: This has me hooked, so I’m going to give it the go ahead. Plus it’s an Award Winning series, it can’t be super terrible if it’s received an award.

For those who like: Historical Fiction, Military, Drama, Action, Adventure, Romance, Excellent Plot, Amazing Cast of Characters, Fantastic Artwork.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.

Anime Sunday: Youjo Senki Episode 01 Impressions

This week for Anime Sunday I’m covering one last series from the Winter 2017 Season. It’s my Youjo Senki Episode 01 Impressions!

Plot Synopsis: Youjo Senki takes place in an alternate world’s version of World War I, but there are mages who take the place of aerial support instead of biplanes. In the Rhine there is one very young lieutenant who despite her incredibly young age is quickly gaining her foothold in this world. But there is something a little odd about her and her speech that makes her seem much older than she is…

Plot: The plot of this first episode is really intense, it’s pretty much nonstop action the entire time, and while there are some more low key sections in the episode they are only low key in the term that there isn’t any physical combat occurring. I really enjoyed this first episode and while I have yet to watch the entire season’s worth of episodes it will be watched in the next few days. However based on this first episode I’ll be incredibly surprised if I don’t love the hell out of it.

Characters: Tanya Degurechaff is our heroine, and she’s a feisty little girl who somehow ended up on the front lines in the Rhine theater. She’s not the typical heroine, and that’s all I’ll say about her. The rest of the cast is interesting as well, although Vicky is probably going to end up being my favorite side character.

Art: The art is excellent, by a studio I’ve never heard of NUT before. It was quite well done. I hope the quality sticks throughout the entire run of episodes.

Music: The music was equally as good, although we really didn’t get to hear the opening and ending themes I’m going to guess they are just as good.

Overall: This is definitely a must watch for any Anime fan. Although the subject matter is probably not appropriate for children so don’t watch with them.

For those who like: Fantasy, Military, War Fiction, Excellent Plot, Fantastic Cast of Characters, Amazing Artwork, Great Musical Score.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above, but really you ought to give this a chance.