Goombd Was There! - Yoshitaka Amano at Gameworld 2012

When you stop to think about artists that helped define videogames, the name Yoshitaka Amano probably pops in your mind, right? Or at least his works if you don't know the name right away. His contributions to the Final Fantasy series dates back to 1985 and ever since then, Amano's paintings have been synonymous with then Square and now SquareEnix's flagship franchise.

Goombd had the chance to meet the master last weekend, when Amano-san touched down in São Paulo in order to show a few pieces of his portfolio during the Gameworld 2012 expo. The shy artist doesn't usually have direct contact with the public, so his press conference event was a rare chance for the local press and videogame enthusiasts to pick his brains a bit on a variety of subjects.

While it's difficult to credit an entire game concept to just one person, in many people's minds, Final Fantasy was pretty much a child of Amano-san's creativity, in the form of his drawings. According to him, though, its creation was far from being that. His collaboration with the team at the time was only as successful as it was due to the combining of creative forces and not just his drawings.

Not only that, but his art was frowned upon at the time due to how conservative the general public used to be back in the 80s in regards to videogames. Amano-san reminded everyone of how shy the overall population is and that games were a closed off hobby at the time, something that has completely changed since then. From his early days as an animator over at the famous Tatsunoko Productions on to his work at SquareEnix, formerly Squaresoft, Amano has seen the growth of videogame popularity in its entirety, from a shied away hobby to the common place "play anywhere" fever that the Japanese are obsessed with nowadays.

When asked about how his work is usually received in different cultures outside of Japan, he was sure to mention that very little of that actually influences how the public sees his art - in fact, different cultures are even more in love with it, which he has come to admire and appreciate over the years. According to Amano-san, the fans' support is more valuable than anything and in that regard, he considers himself a very rich man.


"Art is a broad subject and I try to treat it as such. I cannot cut corners and make generalizations in my work." - Amano-san added as one of the journalists commented on how Japanese art had influence Amano's work. He was quick to add that local art has certainly played a part in his development as an artist, but he didn't stop there. There's something of everything in his work and according to him, that's much needed and is probably why people from all over the world have claimed to be able to identify themselves with some of Amano's characters. By looking outside for inspiration, Amano ended up coming back to the East, due to how some of his own influences were once inspired by Eastern culture. In a way, Amano considers himself influenced by Japanese art but from the outside set of mind, diluted and focused by previous artists from the West.

His family played a part in his art development, from the earliest memories, Amano-san shared that his father was a lacque artist and his work always fascinated him, its use of black and gold paint, the strokes of his father's brush is something he keeps in mind every time he starts a new painting. Colors are another reason behind his visit to Brazil, so he can absorb some of the local culture and possibly apply it to future projects. According to him, Brazil's fauna and flora are incredibly inspiring, not to mention uniquely colorful. At the time of the press conference, Amano-san had been in town for only a day and was already enamored with São Paulo's sprawling architecture and graffiti art.

Amano's work extended to other mediums outside of games. His most notable non-gaming work was probably his collaboration with Neil Gaiman in the book Sandman: The Dream Hunters, where he contributed with most of the art. He mentioned that the creative process was a conjunction of Gaiman's script and his own drawings, a mutual brain storm of ideas that resulted in a lot of unused art which Amano-san laughed off. Not all of his ideas were that good, according to him. "We beg to disagree, Amano-san", the audience clearly cried.

Amano's shyness quickly gave away to his humor. Quick to break out in laughter, when asked about the difference in his work over the years, about the creative process changing from 1985 to now, he simply said "I forgot!" and laughed it away. In all seriousness, he responded that in his mind, art is a tool to disseminate culture and to help show how rich a world can be to those outside of it.

The base of his early work is still seen these days in games like Final Fantasy XIII, where core characters that make repeat appearances throughout the series are still modeled in designs from back then, even though their looks might be slightly or even radically different. "The more modern the technology", Amano-san said, "the closer the fidelity with my original work". The pixel art of early Final Fantasy games could only bring out the unique visuals of his paintings so far.

"I hate cell phones..." Amano-san drops in between questions about fan feedback. "I have very little interest in keeping up with social media". Very little of the fan reactions actually makes it into his ears and even less actually influences his work, Amano admits. That's the main reason he likes to keep it to himself and not give many interviews.


Music plays a huge part in Amano's work. Much of his work, according to him, is also influenced of the pop art record covers of the 70s and 80s. Also worth mentioning is his involvement in a partnership with a music magazine, where he would publish a couple of paintings every month. That went on for a few years. Since then, however, he was forced to stop due to the amount of work needed, in order to focus on his main line of designs. While disappointed about having to stop working on that magazine, he still keeps very active just listening to music, he laughed.

Whether they are monsters, heroes or even beautiful princesses, Aman-san can't identify himself in any of his creations nor really admit to having a real person as a mold to any of his designs. Again, the master kids around and mentions how he wouldn't want to identify himself with any of his monsters, they are too ugly!


As for more recent work, Amano-san mentioned his current work in Devasan, an animation that combines traditional Japanese folklore, like samurai and demons, with some more Western stories. Due to last year's earthquake catastrophe, Amano's contributions had to be halted and were only picked back up recently, with some of the production having been shifted to offshore in order to see conclusion anywhere near their estimated 2013 release for this series. He hopes to put together a collection of his art from Devasan soon in the form of a book too.

In regards to the recent controversy about the lack of creativity of Japanese games, Amano-san didn't mince words. They are indeed lacking, but due to many reasons, not only creativity-wise. In earlier days, sales were much stronger and he also pushes some of the blame to weaker profits in this generation and the overall lack of investment in the development of games. He pinned some of the blame to less than enthusiast developers too, which according to him have been on the rise recently.


When asked about keeping in touch with former company mates Hironobu Sakaguchi and Nobuo Uematsu, Amano said that he is in constant contact with both and pointed out that he is indeed working with Uematsu on an unannounced game which he shrugged it off as something he forgot the name too. Fellow attendees to the conference whispered "Final Fantasy VII remake!!!". I kept my mouth shut.

It was surprising to see such a candid figure in Yoshitaka Amano. Not only in his sincere answers, but in his humor and presence. I also had the chance to meet him in person during his sit down at the space where his works were on display. Shaking the man's hand was the least I could do as a fan and for that I'm thankful for his visit.

Photo credits: Fabricio Vianna, Tambor Digital

Goombd Played! - Zen Pinball 3D

For the uninitiated, I'll lay down one of the truths of my video-gaming career: I love pinball games and completely suck at them. Now that's out and everyone is up to speed, we can get on with this write-up on Zen Pinball's newest game, their first outing on 3DS that's aptly named Zen Pinball 3D.

Surprise, surprise, this is a brilliant download for any 3DS owner that's not without some quirks. Some of which aren't exactly with the game itself, but with the hardware.


Zen Pinball 3DS comes with 4 basic tables 'packed' in, each with an unique theme, from space to ancient civilizations. Much like previous Zen Studios pinball titles, they're very colorful, vibrant and extremely busy to look at, not to mention noisy. You can expect to hear all the sounds you'd associate with a pinball machine coming out of the tiny 3DS speakers. Surprisingly, it's all as crisp as the visuals.

Gameplay-wise, you can either use left hand or right hand controls for the table flippers. Controlling the game can get tiring, considering how cramped the buttons are on the 3DS itself. The same hardware design limitations extend to the limited size of the top screen, with how sprawling the levels, in this case, the tables are and how small the ball is in comparison. It's extremely hard to keep up with everything going on, especially with the 3D slider turned up, having to be mindful with the positioning of the screen as well as with what's going on in-game.

Granted, once you get acquainted with these limitations and get into the game, there's plenty to keep yourself busy. All of the levels have layers upon layers of missions to tackle, as well as what you've come to expect in terms of high scoring possibilities. Like I mentioned before, I completely stink in this and just about every pinball game out there, virtual or real, and even so, I had a blast plinking that fake metal sphere around on the go.

Whether you're a pro pinballer, a newbie or just plain terrible like me, Zen Pinball 3D is an excellent pick to fill your 3DSWare download library with. Just keep in mind the limitations that come with the system. |7

Goombd Played! - Rochard

I appreciate games that don't treat me like an idiot, especially ones that are as intelligent and charming as Rochard, an 'indie' platformer from Recoil Games.

You start off getting to know John Rochard, a hard knocking space miner who along with his team, has hit rock bottom. None of his recent digs have brought out any profits and everything was just about to be shut down by his employers when a mysterious artifact is found and his world is turned upside down.

Sadly for John, other people are also interested in his find and are willing to kill for it. Even though mining and engineering doesn't include combat training in their résumé, John quickly learns to use his tool of trade as a means of defense. A sort of gravity gun if you will, à la Half-Life 2's, the Helga can pick up boxes, which can in turn be used to make footholds, platforms and you guessed it, be turned into projectiles against enemies.

It's an easy comparison to make, so I'll get it out of the way - Rochard might just be the alternative to Metroid on the PC and the PlayStation 3. You find health and weapon upgrades that are quickly put to use during puzzle and combat scenarios, but unlike the heroine from the aforementioned game, John still needs to use just about everything he discovers to his advantage until the very end of his adventure. Out of all of his abilities, there isn't one that doesn't get used throughout the entire game.


That isn't to say that very few of these abilities happen to overlap their usefulness depending on the situation. Granted, it's easier to simply shoot an enemy down once you've found the necessary upgrade, but I'll be damned if dropping a box on top of him isn't as fun in the 100th time I've done it as the very first. The same goes for a very late game pickup which makes it all even easier, although not as much fun.

There are also a few issues in regards to how the game treats physics. Item interactions are never the same in repeat attempts, for instance. Even if you happen to place a box on top of the other every time, you're not guaranteed they'll stay put every time. Given the trial and error in this type of game, this lead to some slight frustration during a handful tight spots in conjunction with how disparate some of the checkpointing is placed in those few cases. None of these issues take away much from the Rochard, however, and can easily be excused by how well the rest of the game plays.

Like I mentioned before, it was surprising to be treated as a smart player than a dumb one during the course of Rochard. None of the puzzles I've found seemed particularly obvious at first. The game gives you a feel tools, cleverly disguising them under the aesthetics of the game, say, a few boxes stacked together in the corner or a faulty robot flying around. At no moment did it just say, "hey, dumbass, grab that thing and place it there", which goes a long way in making me appreciate smartly designed games much more than the 'run and gun', 'lead you by the hand' variety that I'm simply sick of playing.

Rochard's also impressive in the presentation department. All characters are voiced and surprisingly enough, the acting is very well done. John has a gruffy U.S southern accent that gives him a lot of charm. The script is funny enough to punch a few laughs here and there too, which helped keep things light during a few particularly tough puzzles I've ran across. Not to mention the awesome soundtrack that can easily be associated with John Carpenter, with synthesized tunes that beg to be bought and listened to even outside of the game.

Simply put, if you like puzzle games, you shouldn't pass Rochard up. Despite some small issues with the physics model used, its smart combination of platforming, puzzles and combat makes this game a perfect excuse to check a weekend out and just dive into it. You'll dig it as much as I have, that's a rock hard promise! |9

Goombd Played! - Trine 2

Following in the footsteps of its 2009 predecessor, Trine 2 is absolutely gorgeous. It carries the great combinations of beautiful art and smart puzzle design the original Trine an amazing indie game and takes some core ideas even further.

The magical artifact called the Trine calls upon the trio of heroes yet again. The wizard, an expert in conjuring items out of thin air, was busy taking care of his new family, while the bulky, sword and hammer wielding knight killed evil weeds and the acrobatic thief looked for the next big heist. Called off for a new adventure, they each employ their unique set of skills in their new quest to save a kingdom. Their only catch, which quickly becomes your problem - you can only control one of these guys at once.

That is if you're playing Trine 2 by yourself. This is the first time in the series where you're able to invite a friend onto your couch or online lobby to join you, each controlling a different character. Playing solo is possible and fun on its own but Trine 2's big draw is the new cooperative mode. The puzzle design is brilliantly designed in a way that allows you to figure everything out on your own but can also be broken up by a group of players putting their brains together.

Much like the first Trine, Trine 2's story is presented in a fairy tale book style. Each colorful level brings its own flavor, hitting your eyes with vibrant visuals in just about every corner. Even caves are beautifully drawn in this game. This is probably one of the few instances where you'll be happy to be in a dank place for so long, only to find your character drawfed by a gigantic sunset.

There's a lot to look forward to in Trine 2 if you're familiar with the original game. Likely, you probably got annoyed by the character development tree in the original or how magic drained a meter with every spell. One of these matters are done away with, in a sense. The magic meter, of one, is gone, while the development tree is made much simpler to deal with. A new skill point is earned with every 50 experience points you collect. It can be spent in new abilities for one of the three characters. This time, though, you're able to freely "respec" the tree at any time, so even when you don't have enough points to max everyone out, you can activate the right abilities at the right time and switch everything out on the fly.

These special abilities play a big part in game. Some puzzles require simple deduction and probably only one of your characters while others deal with complex timing that demands quick reactions and multiple abilities working in tandem. That's the fun aspect of Trine 2 that constantly dares you to be creative and think outside the box or even better, not to over-analyze a situation and simply look at what is dealt to you.

Trine 2 is a blast. While not the longest of journeys you'll embark in anytime soon, it's one hell of a ride. It's gorgeous, smart and mostly importantly, it doesn't hold you by the hand. This is one the best sequels out there and it can easily fall into anyone's 'favorites' list like it did with me. If you're into puzzle games with charm, personality and a little something extra, you should look no further. Trine 2 is just that. |8

Goombd Played! - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

What can you say about a game like Skyrim? Possibly, that it's a huge undertaking for anyone planning to play it. Like previous Elder Scrolls games, Skyrim is immense, filled with little bits of content just about everywhere. Are you ready to get started?

Dragons are back to terrorize the Tamriel continent of Skyrim, the snowy home of the proud Nords. Sadly for our viking friends, the drakes aren't their only worry. The Empire is moving into their territory as well in their quest to gain even more power. But that's not for your lowly character to worry about. He or she has bigger problems. They're about to die at the gallows.

Without spoiling anything, it's obvious that your avatar in the game survives and it's exactly at that point that Skyrim begins. You're left alone, in the middle of a destroyed town with only a nudge about where to head next. Do you follow your fellow prisoner to safety or will you trust an Imperial who just moments ago was ready to lob off your head?


Skyrim is a game about decisions. They start with whether or not you want to help a greater cause or with the mundane task of deciding about your character's gender or race. If you don't want to focus on the main story, that's fine. Wanna rush it all and get it done with? Cool. You'll find something cool to see and mess around with at just about every corner of the icy lands of Skyrim.

Like in Oblivion, the guilds are easily best distractions in terms of quest content in Skyrim. Sadly, some of the groups seen in Cyrodil, like the Fighter's Guild, are nowhere to be seen. On the other hand, the groups that did survive the cut manage to provide some of the coolest quest lines in the game. If you were like me and loved the Dark Brotherhood missions in Oblivion, get ready to be blown away in this one as well.

Most of the action in Skyrim is reliant on how you build your character and how you decide to use your powers. In the Elder Scrolls tradition, abilities level up as you use them, for instance, if you're a heavy bow user, your marksmanship points will go up as you line up and make shots. That also goes for involuntary skills like heavy or light armor, as you take hits. Unlike previous games, though, you can also level up by talking to certain trainer characters and pay your way up the scale or by reading special books that you can find by exploring.


Irregardless to how you decide to take your character, there's always a companion just around the corner that will easily counter balance your development skills. Bethesda took one of the best aspects of their other RPG series Fallout and applied it to Skyrim in the form of companion characters "for hire". These guys are very damn useful, especially for less resistant character builds like wizards and can take a lot of punishment. Unfortunately, they aren't as well developed as your buddies from the Capital Wasteland and very rarely bring more story elements for you to mess around with.

In terms of story, I'll have to admit that I was a little disappointed with Skyrim's main quest line. The build up for the most of the game is very well developed but it just doesn't go anywhere. The ending is not satisfying at all. The world keeps going, people go back to their routines and heck, even though you did something that should have rid the world of a particular kind of problem, as soon as you step back into the world and keep playing, lo and behold, they're still around causing havoc.


Still, if you take into account the sheer number of things to do in this game, the fact that the main story is its weakest element is pretty much forgivable. The guild quests, allied with just about a ton of extra tidbits and areas to spelunk in are easily more exciting and will be the main crux of your activities in this game.

I'm very much looking forward to see what Bethesda will do with Skyrim in terms of DLC, especially after loving what they had to offer in Fallout 3 and finding most of the areas that heavily hint on possible threads to explore in future downloadable content in this game. You can be sure that once you're through with everything this game has to offer, you won't be done.

Skyrim is easily recommendable to just about anyone looking for a fantasy world to dive into. The content is rich and the shortcomings are easily overcome by the sheer amount of awesome stuff to do in the frigid land of the Nords. Whether or not you decide to be a hero or a villain, one thing is for certain, this is one of those gaming experiences that are not easily forgotten. |10

Goombd Played! - PixelJunk SideScroller

Happy 2012, everyone! To start things out with a bang, after all we're all living in the future, where soon we'll be driving flying cars, why not go back in time, at least figuratively, and play an old school arcade shooter?

PixelJunk SideScroller was probably one of my best surprises at E3. I unassumingly walked into the Sony booth and found the game right there and boy did it hit all the right notes for me right then. Even as a limited demo, I fell to the charm and care given to SideScroller right away. Now, with the full game in hand, that feeling is just even more evident.

SideScroller plays pretty much like an old sidescrolling shooter, hence its name, bathed in a new coat of paint. Well, paint probably isn't the correct word. More like new lines. The horizontally scrolling sections have their own unique look to them, despite the simplicity of the the vector look of the presentation.

You get to use three different weapons right from the get go. As you destroy enemies, you're given power-ups that boost the currently equipped weapon, whether it is the precise and focused but limited in scope laser, the scattered and extremely destructive cannon or the standard albeit very useful machine gun. From their descriptions, you can guess which of those is my favorite.

Too bad that regardless of which weapon I grew fond of, PixelJunk SideScroller still kicked my merry ass to oblivion. It's a very tough game right from the beginning and doesn't let up even at lower difficulty settings. Shooter purists will be glad to know that there are many incentives for diving into the harder modes and newcomers will have to get better at the game if they hope to see the true ending. Takling casual mode will only take you so far! As you'd might expect, if you'e been reading this blog for a while, I fell back to casual mode a lot during my playthrough!

Even though you'll probably get yours handed to you as well, you'll be receiving it in style. SideScroller is one great looking game and the music department is just as impressive. Awesome beats indeed. Similarly to previous PixelJunk games, this is one sleek package.

Regardless of my skill, or rather, my lack there of in this game, it wouldn't be fair to call it unfairly difficult. Challenges are introduced at a quick pace and can be surpassed if you persevere. SideScroller is the sort of game that rewards yours dedication with even more challenges.

In the PixelJunk pantheon of games, SideScroller ranks high among my favorites. I'm a big fan of both Shooter entries although SideScroller's simpler form of gameplay scratches my itch rather nicely. |8

Goombd Played! - Fractal

Fractal, or Fractal: Make Blooms Not War, is the newest indie game to hit the scene. This time we're dealing with a puzzle game and in terms of being puzzling and immersive, it does its job in spades.

Making blooms of hexagons is the name of the game, and although some of the gameplay ends up feeling a tad random and out of our control, the smooth audiovisual presentation and quick pace help keep things moving.


The play field is a simple looking emulation of a flowerbed, with a few scattered hexagonal buds. Instead of directly moving these buds, you're given the choice of pushing them along a certain direction. Thing is, this movement acts a lot like a wind current, so whenever you blow the wind, any other cubes in the vicinity of its range will move as well. When the blocks make contact and a flower is build, a combo starts, more buds move in and so the game continues. You're given a limited number of blocks to play with and an overall score to beat. Clang that score and you're golden and move on to the next level.

The aforementioned random nature of the game comes from how blocks come in and the overall shape of the playing field. Sometimes combos come in way too easily, simply as soon as new blocks are placed. In earlier levels, where there's only one block color to worry about, this randomness becomes apparent, but thanks to the quick pace of beating levels and moving on, you're quickly taken to harder stages that not only add extra bud colors, but also a changing color influence your wind can have
.
At that point, Fractal turns into a much more strategic game and starts to rise above a simple concept turned into a cheaper gaming alternative, like a lot of indie downloads tend to fall into. This is even more evident when you jump out of the campaign mode and start poking around the extra modes, where new elements and alternative objectives are introduced. In one of the special stages, you're pushed forward by a strict time limit while having unlimited blocks to deal with, while challenge mode gives you specific objectives such as triggering an specific number of flowers or reaching a certain combo before time expires.

Fractal is one of the best indie puzzle games out at the moment. Even though it started out a little too easy for my taste, it quickly kicked me into high gear and kept me interested past the campaign mode with some clever extra modes that could have easily been made into separate games by themselves. |8