Comic Con, E3, PAX Prime, Dragon Con - there is a plethora of conventions you can attend if you have a passion for gaming or nerd culture in general. Halls flooded with cosplayers, booths littering the show floor, and demo stations for upcoming video games are a standard. Most of these you hear about in the headlines, but one popped up this morning that I had never known existed...in Saudi Arabia.
GCON is an annual convention focused on female gamers and game developers. [1] Female gamers were barred from an all male convention in 2011. Tasneem Salim and Felwa al-Swailem soon set out to form their own convention, persuading big names in gaming to back their convention. Playstation, Nintendo, Microsoft; they all hopped on board and in 2012 the first ever G Con was held.
This year marks the fourth annual event, and the crowd has been growing. Over 3,000 attended the con event that took place in November.
"This is not the Saudi Arabia most people know" Salim says. "It's
definitely not. It's a side of Saudi Arabia that people rarely get to
see, but it's real and it exists. And here we are."
Competitive tournaments in games like Black Ops III and FIFA, cosplaying attendees sporting their favorite characters; all the elements make this an open place of self-expression, something unheard of in the more conservative society of Saudi Arabia.
GCON is not just about gathering like-minded individuals, it also aims to encourage girls to pursue careers in science and engineering. Female college students in Saudi Arabia tend to outperform men in the tech related fields. They even encourage game development by holding competitions to nurture that growth further.
It is wonderful to see a convention that is not only bringing together female gamers, but takes small steps toward encouraging women to pursue their dreams and express themselves. For more information you can check out the full article from NPR [1] as well as the video interview posted above from Wamda. [2]
Score: 8.5 / 10 Child of Light Xbox One - PS4 - Wii-U Developer: Ubisoft Publisher - Ubisoft Release Date -April 2014
Pros:
One of the most captivating soundtracks for a game, start to finish
Visually stunning look compliments the storybook tale approach
Classic RPG combat tailored for new and veteran players altogether
Oculi system allows you to strengthen each character your preferred way
Cons:
The rhyming scheme quickly goes from charming to annoying
Abrupt ending with little payoff
Characters added late to the roster get little use
2D segments lack the depth of the combat
Charming. That is the first word that comes to mind with my experience in Child of Light. A storybook inspired tale told in rhyme, a varying cast of fantasy characters, and large scale creatures that stand in your way. Your journey with Aurora is a classic tale of a heroine that rises up to fight a great evil, trying to find her way home and restore order. This Wizard of Oz like tale has a few bumps along the way, but is so wonderfully crafted and light hearted you cannot help but be drawn in with wonder.
...still cannot find Mr. Tumnus
The most powerful aspect of Child of Light is not the gameplay, the visuals, or even the story. The part that sticks with you most is the soundtrack. Catchy, soft, and wonderfully crafted; it sets the tone for the entire game. The main theme's soft elegance is catchy and hooks you into the fantasy world, as a violin and piano carry forth an emotional tune that echos over the entirety of the campaign in varying intervals. At the same time, it is able to provide upbeat melodies for villages, and intense music for the decisive battles. It was so catchy and simple, that I often found myself humming the theme after playing.
Coupled with the soundtrack is a mythical world you slowly unravel. You take the role of Aurora, a princess who many think dead, but instead has become trapped in the world of Lemuria. This world, once ruled by a queen of light, is overtaken by a new evil queen and darkness has spread over the land. It is up to Aurora to gather the elements of light, and find a way home. The plot is nothing too deep, but works with the overall poetic tone of the game, appealing to the mother/daughter relationship that tugs at your heartstrings. The rhyming scheme is a simple touch, and although it gives the game more character, it often limits the dialogue to pure simplicity. The visual tones of light and dark intensify the setting as you dive into vast forests, bright villages, and brooding dungeons to uncover a way home.
Not an RPG without larger to scale spiders
Child of Light is primarily a turn-based RPG. A timeline bar is displayed on the bottom of the screen, and evolves the fight into a game of micromanagement. You can interrupt enemies by attacking them in a short window before they attack, and likewise, enemies can do the same to you. Constantly you are working to manage the enemies, defending big forthcoming attacks,and boosting your potential to attack first. You are limited to two party members at a time but the game does well in allowing you to swap party members on the fly, adapting to your enemies who may be weaker to more physical or magical damage. It is fast paced, challenging, and always keeps you on your toes to adapt.
A classic leveling system is in place in addition to an Oculi system for equipment. Oculi gems have a specified color, which can be combined to create new colors or stronger gems. Three red gems can make a stronger red gem, or a red and blue gem can make a purple gym for new effects. These gems range from increased fire resistance to faster spell casting time. Each party member is proficient at some aspect be it Finn's proficiency in elemental magic or Robert's speedy physical attacks. You find yourself constantly switching characters to adapt to enemies' strengths. You acquire some members pretty late game, which gives little time to develop or work with these characters before the game's conclusion sneaks up on you.
Matching shapes is what children excel at...
Though you are limited to a 2D side scroller, you still have a small amount of exploration you can do. Chests are scattered throughout the world, sometimes tucked away in corners of the map that you must truly explore to uncover. There are also a few puzzle segments, but these are limited in difficulty, often matching shapes or some similar task. This proves to be the most disappointing factor, as you are given the ability to fly right at the end of the first chapter, allowing you to avoid pretty much every enemy and taking away any real platforming element that could have been utilized to make traversal much more interesting. There are some sidequests to invest time into and fast travel to encourage revisiting older segments, but it can be easy to overlook.
The simplicity of Child of Light is both enticing and limiting. On the one hand, the simple turn based combat is easy to pick up and challenging enough to warrant thoughtful gameplay on the harder difficulty. On the other hand, the 2D side scrolling segments can be a lot less eventful and the simplicity of puzzles and lack of platforming have you breezing through the game. Despite the shortcomings, the game is still a wonderfully crafted title that will satisfy any classic RPG veteran.
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided Xbox One - PC - PS4 Developer: Eidos Montreal Publisher: Square Enix Release Date: 2016
Human Revolution was a fantastic title in the Deus Ex franchise, offering combat and stealth with sandbox rooms to experiment with both approaches. Two years after the events of Human Revolution, Mankind Divided will bring back Adam Jensen with a slew of new features.
Not much is being revealed as of yet, but the 25 minute gameplay demo shows off some interesting features:
Swapping bullet types for each weapon, using EMP ammo to disable a camera for example
Multi-path options are approaches are still viable in this game, with branching corridors for your preferred approach.
Non lethal tesla gun arm - targets four enemies at the same time, allowing you to stealthily take out multiple targets
Icarus Dash - allows adam to traverse terrain out of reach, or rush enemies
The takedown animations are still as awesome as ever, going into third person for a flashy takedown
Remote hacking opens up pathways, takes over robots, or disables camera
Nano-blade is a long range projectile capable of sticking enemies to the wall
Combat has been reworked to be as fluid and enjoyable as the stealth approach
Titan Shield has been added to allow Adam to become a human tank in facing enemy weapon fire
The game looks promising, and if it is as much fun as Human Revolution, it will be a must-play for next year.
User The Great Gatsby has successfully done what many have been working toward, killing Oryx by himself. This six man encounter required a lot of coordination, and he is able to manipulate a few things to make it all happen. [1]
-Rounding up Light Eater Ogres by lowering their health to sliver then having them enrage and charge him to group up the bombs.
-Ignoring the Knight completely and instead relying on Radiance to revive. This negates even having to do platforms.
-Using an up close Super Good Advice to stun Oryx before he claps.
While the Radiance perk seems like a cheat, this is still insanely impressive and validates having a Warlock handy from now on... [1] - Casually Soloing Oryx - The Great Gatsby - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eBhv4bP8fk
The same pattern follows every year; November releases an insane amount of big name titles and December trickles in a few surprises. That is not to say December is void of game releases, but it certainly slowed.
You can check the New Releases tab to see the biggest games for the month. Or click here.
