Mechanics and Narrative: RPGs

I've covered horror and FPS, so now let's take a look at mechanics and narrative in RPGs.

Roleplaying games typically work a lot harder to construct a complex narrative than other video game genres. They also typically tend to focus a lot on the player's choices and how they affect the characters or story. But there's a balance here: giving the player too much freedom weakens the narrative, while not giving them enough makes a game that's supposedly about freedom and choice feel pretty restrictive.

Personally, I have a lot of problems with how many big RPGs handle choice - I find that they simultaneously offer too much and too little freedom. The very principle at the core of the RPG genre is the root of almost every issue.

Top Ten Games, 2011 Edition

First things first: this is NOT a Top Ten Games of 2011. This is a list of my top ten games as of 2011. There are no qualification requirements other than that I like the game — they didn't have to have been released this year, I'm not looking at any specific genre or platform. Furthermore, I don't play enough new games to have a top ten of 2011 list. Nope, these are just my ten favourite games as of 2011. Although I've also included an Honourable Mentions section because picking only 10 games is haaaarrrrrrrddddddd.

The games are in alphabetical order. If you're a regular reader, you'll know I'm loathe to assign numerical scores, so I'm not ordering this list in any way that suggests a #1 game. If you're not a regular reader, well, now's as good a time as any to check out what Post-Launch Reviews is about.

Some of the game names are links. Those links will take you to the full review of the game. The others? Well, consider them to be on the to-review list.

Deus Ex Human Revolution: The Missing Link

This is a quick, short review of The Missing Link DLC for Deus Ex: Human Revolution. For the review of the full game, click here.

About
The Missing Link is a DLC pack released October 18th 2011, which takes place during a three-day gap in the story near the end of the full game where Adam is in transit in a stasis pod for three days. As it turns out, Adam wasn't in stasis the entire time -- the Belltower operatives on the ship discovered the stowaway, captured him, and shut down his augmentations for interrogation and security purposes. Of course, with a little help, Adam quickly escapes and finds himself trapped in a secret Belltower base where he's forced to deal with a sinister black-ops project before he can continue on.
The Missing Link costs $15 and is a 2GB download.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Post-Launch Review

Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Developer: Eidos Montreal, Nixxes Software (PC)

Publisher: Square Enix

Released: August 23, 2011

I know this is much sooner after release than I like to review things, but I wanted to play this game. I apologize for violating my principles.

About

Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a prequel to the original Deus Ex, released in 2000. The series is known for its mix of shooter and RPG elements and extreme richness and versatility of options and play styles.

DX:HR is set in 2027, 25 years before the first Deus Ex, in a time where corporations have become more powerful than governments and more influential than nationality or racial divisions. The game follows Adam Jensen, the security chief of Sarif Industries, a leader in the field of human augmentation and biotech. After a massive terrorist attack on the company headquarters the night of a key hearing on a technological breakthrough, Jensen is nearly killed and severely damaged. He is revived and mechanically augmented without his permission, and turned loose to discover the truth behind the attack.