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## Quizzical
> They want to tell stories that will touch people’s hearts. It should be the experience, that is touching. What I strive for is to make the person playing the game the director.

<p align="justify">I figured it's time for another input section so Quizzical makes a return for Round Two. <b>This time with a more general topic – <u>video game genres</u></b>. I imagine that's something we all share in common considering the place we're posting at right now so it's a safe bet.</p>

* What are you favorite video game genres?
* How did you get involved with them and why are they your favorite(s)?
* Which titles from their respective genres would you recommend to others?
* Are there any genres out there you could never <i>ever</i> get into and why?

<p align="justify">Unsurprisingly, I'd say I carry favorite genres on my sleeve if you look at my Steam library or if you know my tastes in video games beyond that. Might as well share some thoughts on them while I'm here and I'd appreciate if you jotted down some of your own. Please don't expect this to be a research paper or anything like that. These are merely my thoughts presented as such.

<p align="justify">If you favorite game isn't listed I'm sure you'll make it known to me. ◕‿◕ </p>

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    <li><a data-toggle="tab" href="#" data-target="#RPG"><h5>Role-Playing Games</h5></a></li>
    <li><a data-toggle="tab" href="#" data-target="#ADVENTURE"><h5>Adventure Games</h5></a></li>
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  <div id="RPG" class="tab-pane fade">
    <p>
    <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Western_role-playing_video_games">
    <img src="http://i.imgur.com/7qqJDyN.jpg" alt="I see your soul, traveler. It screams, tattered and spent. Do you feel its pull? Do you hear its wailing?" title="I see your soul, traveler. It screams, tattered and spent. Do you feel its pull? Do you hear its wailing?" style="float: left;margin-right: 10px;margin-d: 10px; width:350px" class="picture">
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      <h3><span style="color: #CA831A;"><b>🏲 <u>Western RPG</u></b></span></h3>
<p align="justify">It is said that staring long enough into the abyss will result in it staring back at you, and I believe such is the almost doomed nature of trying to have a discourse about RPGs in general. There is not a single other genre of video games in existence that has changed as much as RPGs have over the course of decades, in my opinion. Trying to put all of that into a single post, even a book, would be a tremendous undertaking... so I won't even try. Still, there are people like, for example, <a href="https://crpgbook.wordpress.com/">FelipePepe who's trying to do precisely that by putting together an e-book containing reviews and opinions of significant CRPGs</a>. I urge you to check out the preview version as it is a very worthwhile effort and who knows, maybe you can even contribute with additional content that hasn't already been covered. Not to mention it's an amazing way to depress yourself when you think you have a handle on your backlog only to realize there are still dozens upon dozens of RPGs you haven't even heard about, let alone played. </p>

<p align="justify">Stay strong, BLAEO.</p>

<p align="justify">With that long preamble out of the way let's get down to business – real-time or turn-based. Dilemma that has raged among RPG fans since time immemorial and inclusion of real-time with pause (RtwP) has only muddied the waters further. In my humble opinion, turn-based works perfectly fine if you're adapting from some already existing roleplaying tabletop game where the ruleset/system exists so sticking to it is just being faithful. Nothing wrong with going real-time though, and it's easy to see the appeal that choice would hold for audience that things former is boring and slow. Which is really more of a problem with game design itself aka trash combat encounters will grate you either way, but it becomes much more pronounced in turn-based games. RtwP is really just a compromise but it brings me to my next point.</p>

<p align="justify">That being how RPGs would probably be dead had they not hybridized at various points in time. People like to look at Infinity Engine era games <i>[Baldur's Gate, Planescape Torment, Icewind Dale]</i> and proclaim those are, in fact, pure RPGs as it fits their definition. Except those are clearly different from Strategic Simulations, Inc generation <i> [Dark Sun, Pool of Radiance, Eye of the Beholder]</i> that preceded it and former were successful hybrids of strategy and roleplaying that would essentially become the template for future games. There's another point of view that holds true pretty much anything prior to the first Fallout is not an RPG because you're really just choosing how you want to kill something, which holds some merit but I find it incredibly dubious to dismiss things retroactively to fit the newly held view. No matter how you swing at the matter it's pretty clear modern crowdfunding breathed new life into the genre, with all of its permutations and sub-genres I won't go into at the moment because that would <i>actually</i> take forever and I'm not trying to write a thesis here, and has enabled old properties to make a comeback and even existing studios to give their new IPs a shot. </p>

<p align="justify">I think a fitting way to end this would be to say couple of words about my favorites. As evident from the art used you can tell <b>Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura</b> is up there for how it truly merged fantasy and steampunk for more than just their aesthetics as well as variety in character builds with varying levels of challenge, and if not for its shoddy combat system(s) it would probably be my favorite RPG of all time. <b>Fallout 2</b> qualifies as well even if it may draw the ire of fans who consider it more imperfect compared to the original and aren't necessarily keen on some of its references, but that freedom that manifests itself in choices and consequences is stellar and I can't do without. Lastly a pair of games I cannot separate from one another because I see them as two sides of the same coin: <b>Deus Ex</b> and <b>Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines</b>. Proving you don't need an isometric 2D game to make a good RPG an examples where despite some flaws in the hybridization process overall package is pretty damn outstanding, latter also serving as a fine representative of its property.</p>

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      <h3><span style="color: #5E96DF;"><b>〶 <u>Eastern RPG</u></b></span></h3>
<p align="justify">Looking back on it in retrospective I've come to realize two things about the subject at hand – there's more to eastern RPGs than just Japanese ones and JRPGs were honestly my first real plunge into RPGs as a whole. Maybe because western RPGs have their roots in tabletop games which I had no interest in when I was younger? No one can say with certainty. All I know is Japanese take on the genre tickled my fancy way more back during earlier console generations. Sadly, genre never achieved much prominence on the PC aside from some odd ports here and there even if that is a trend that's been changing as of late.</p>

<p align="justify">If you were to  put a gun to my head and ask “What was the best period for JRPGs?” I would say PlayStation 1 era. Not to say SNES was worse off in any tangible way, but it's hard to compare the two and not see just how much more variety Sony's gray machine brought tot he table in terms of all the visually different art styles, merging of 3D and 2D for some truly outstanding results and sheer prominence of pre-rendered backgrounds. Simply put it was the CD as a medium that affected a lot of production aspects we've come to take for granted nowadays but all of which were major breakthroughs. That's even putting aside companies like then Squaresoft which could apparently do no wrong, for example.</p>

<p align="justify">Touching on that a lot of the genre's history is tied to two big names – <i>Dragon Quest</i> and <i>Final Fantasy</i> franchises. Titans of JRPGs each with its own approach, that of consistency vs reinvention, they would come to be the “top dogs” but Japanese developers have been extremely prolific with their releases... to a point genre stagnated over the decades. Playing a game from couple of years and following it up with something released 20+ years ago will not feel nearly as alien as it would elsewhere.  If we stick to the neighborhood you'll remember I've mentioned Chinese also develop their own RPGs, but majority is sadly too obscure and remains untranslated. If you get the chance check out <i>The Legend of Sword and Fairy</i> as well as few Steam releases we've seen as of late like <i>The Gate of Firmament</i>. Sadly, majority of these series remain unavailable to English-speaking audiences.</p>

<p align="justify">That's a whole lot of history and summaries, though. What can you really expect if you get into JRPGs? Rather amusingly they follow familiar setup; turn-based, real-time and Active Time Battle (ATB). First two are self-explanatory, but last one may require some explanation. An ATB gauge fills up over time, and once filled that unit may act, either attacking or casting spells. Taking action then causes the gauge to empty, and the cycle repeats itself until the battle ends. What series' adopted which of these systems is... well, they're all two timers and basically flirt with all of them on consistent basis. Especially when you take into account portable consoles where majority of JRPGs aimed at older fans and capable of being developed without insane budgets have moved onto. Genre may have seemed like it went through a mid-life crisis during the last generation, but that was simply because majority moved to PSP and Nintendo DS. I'll avoid about those specifics because that's an entire can of worms I don't feel like opening right now.</p>

<p align="justify">I know keyboard, I know. I'll get down to my favorites so as not to wear you down entirely. </p>

<p align="justify">One glance to your left will reveal a cover to <b>Suikoden 2</b> which might be my favorite JRPG of all times for a number of reasons, least of which be that it's a textbook example of a perfect sequel if your aim is to improve the original's formula. It could've been a bit more challenging but otherwise I adore this game from the myriad of memorable characters, story that doesn't come down to “defeat evil god to save the world” like so many stories do, base building and character recruitment as central theme, etc. And to top it all off it was a really overlooked game at the time because, let's face it, PlayStation was home to many much more famous names and JRPG power house on its own. Glad to see the tide turning, though. Packing three disks, not that uncommon for the time honestly, <b>Lunar 2</b> is probably my second pick for the sheer sense of adventure Game Arts excels so much at and is otherwise a very fun, exciting and now almost archetypal game because it resonated so much with developers it became a template for “anime game about the heroes' journey”. Rolling back and delving into fan translation waters we get <b>Live-A-Live</b>, a game I persist in thinking would've been one of the much celebrated JRPG classics had it ever received SNES localization... which sadly never came and left the game unknown to many despite all the various time epochs and characters going through vignettes of their own. Highly highly overlooked game that needs more love.</p>

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  <div id="ADVENTURE" class="tab-pane fade">
    <p>
    <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adventure_game">
    <img src="http://i.imgur.com/dBrQcmN.jpg" alt="Don't worry. Anything we discuss is strictly between you, me, and anyone else I tell." title="Don't worry. Anything we discuss is strictly between you, me, and anyone else I tell." style="float: left;margin-right: 10px;margin-down: 10px; width:350px;" class="picture">
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      <h3><span style="color: #673B70;"><b>🜃 <u>Traditional</u></b></span></h3>
      <p align="justify">Alright alright, don't jump at me all at once, fangirls. I realize I didn't post Monkey Island cover in this case, but there's a reason for that. It's not my go-to adventure games series. Definitely a great one, even Escape from Monkey Island with those clunky WASD controls that came to mar that particular period of adventure games as they were trying alternate gamepad controls, but if I had to point fingers at some LucasArts games they would be <i>Indiana Jones</i> titles, <i>Sam & Max</i> and probably <i>Grim Fandango</i> from their later offerings. It's no coincidence that particular game probably lead me to my favorite game, but let's take it slowly.</p>

<p align="justify">You see there are three sections for adventure games and might be wondering why is that? Because there are couple of clear divisions in the genre, and this one is basically where it all took form following early text adventures. Point & click aka using your mouse to interact with hotspots in the world as you solve puzzles, talk to people or just get insightful comments, is the norm and there's a LOT of takes on. Aside from LucasArts from the above which was king of the genre for quite some time, or at least co-ruler with impressive Sierra offerings, there's been quite a few other companies that took their chances – Funcom, Revolution Software, etc. Despite what you may have across the years genre never really died and even today it keeps going in its most popular form thanks to modern titles like the <i>Blackwell</i> series, <i>Deponia</i> series, as well a slew of remakes or much smaller titles that kept it chugging for all these years. </p>

<p align="justify">To name my favorites... well, it's all on display once again. Probably my most favorite P&C adventure game would be a tossup between <b>Discworld Noir</b> and <b>Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars</b>. Former is cut from the same cloth as both previous Discworld games, but it does strange and dark things with it as it embraces the noir aspect and makes full use of it in the fantastical city of Ankh Morporkh following a series of mysteries, while latter is a gorgeous looking, globe trotting investigation game of what begins with a clown planting a bomb and blowing up a cafe in Paris. Both feature likable protagonists and sharp writing, but I could just be incredibly biased towards mystery stories where you piece the clues together for that final reveal. Beyond that I'd throw my lot with <b>The Longest Journey</b> for its genuinely interesting setting, strong characters and story that goes places you won't really see coming... and ended on unfinished note, but that's a story for another time.</p>

<p align="justify">Now that I've done reminiscing I can safely say I've half-forgotten just how diverse all these adventures were. From bikers to space captains, and everything in-between, you could find something that suited your taste just right.</p>

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    <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adventure_game">
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      <h3><span style="color: #74555A;"><b>🜁 <u>New Wave</u></b></span></h3>
      <p align="justify">Now we come to a rather touchy part that I'm not precisely sure how to classify. First thing first is I don't really consider these “new adventure games” in the same vein as the originals or, god forbid, their evolution. They're simply a different path down which these games have gone. Not better or worse for it, unless we're going to debate on game-to-game basis, of course. </p>

<p align="justify">Undoubtedly standing at the front of this new movement is Telltale Games who moved from making traditional P&C adventures like their original <i>Bone</i> series or more familiar trilogy of new <i>Sam & Max</i> titles to developing a new brand of cinematic adventure games following the bombastic success of <i>The Walking Dead</i>. There's also a matter of their games now being episodic, but that's beside the point right as it's not a novel concept even if it does generally hurt games built around having tight stories and narrative. Fiddling with those from episode to episode does not lead to good things. This new formula is best represented by the idea that you experience games more than you play them as puzzles of yore are largely gone and replaced with more talking to characters in order to advance. There's also a veneer of meaningful choices which more often than not results in just different flavors of things, but there's a matter of development budget to consider and most of the players appear happy as long as there's SOME response to their choices. Needless to say Telltale is not the only developer to embrace this new model as others like Dontnod Entertainment, Funcom or, if you go to consoles and back in time, Quantic Dream.</p>

<p align="justify">While we're on the subject this is also where I extend the category to include those so-called “walking simulators” that have even less involvement on player's part and are truly all about experiencing what the game has to offer on this almost movie-like level. Adding those we have some variety with titles like <i>Gone Home</i>, <i>Vanishing of Ethan Carter</i> and plenty more to go around as they decided to hold hands with horror of all things.</p>

<p align="justify">So what would be the names I'd  put down on my list? <b>The Wolf Among Us</b> certainly gets there, largely because it aspires to be so much like Discworld Noir but also draws heavily from a property I care about so there's that additional investment. Continuing the romp through Telltale's library there's the <b>Tales from the Borderlands</b> which is at the moment of this writing still Telltale's best game yet and got me to car about Borderlands despite some shoddy writing in later episodes as Anthony Burch of Gearbox fame joined as guest writer. <b>Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy</b> is also a very good game that goes from incredibly atmospheric and very well-done introduction to “What the hell is going on?” as story progresses and you come to understand writers' strike is a big deal if this is what you get when you let non-writers handle it on their own.</p>

<p align="justify">Sadly that's it. There are some other games I'd like to check out like <i>The Park</i>, <i>Layers of Fear</i>, <i>Firewatch</i>, etc but I have yet to get around to them. Maybe in the future.</p>

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      <h3><span style="color: #4D6F8B;"><b>🜔 <u>Puzzlers</u></b></span></h3>
      <p align="justify">Lastly come adventures I'm least familiar with – those with heavy focus on puzzles. This is primarily because A) they're not that numerous in the grand scheme of adventure game presence, considering they have to tick more than one box, and B) overwhelming majority of my experience with them comes from the Myst series. You could say I lucked out considering those games are seen as peaks of the this sub-genre, I guess? I'd argue it left me with a serious lack of experience.</p>

<p align="justify">It is worth describing what sets these “puzzlers” aside from the rest of the P&C adventure titles, be they modern or not. Most obvious difference but not a bulletproof method to determine origin, is the fact they're presented in first-person perspective to let you have a better look at your environments. This sentiment is much appreciated when you take into account just how fiendish puzzles are in this hardcore neighborhood where your usual adventures don't dare tread. Why? Because puzzles ARE the main attraction here. It just so happens Myst married story and brain teasers so very well leading one to think that's not the norm. What little I've seen in other similar games story is still delivered through osmosis, be it via notes you find and other indirect ways. In a sense you could say these games were precursors to more simpler titles of today which simply ditched the involved and difficult puzzles in favor of streamlined experiences.</p>

<p align="justify">So what have I played and why does that make me an authority on the subject? I've playe very little and no, it does not. I'll still you give you my [brief] recommendations. We start with <b>Myst</b> and so should you. In my mind Myst IS what these puzzlers/adventures are at their core and there's probably no better representation. I think I wouldn't be able to finish most of them today, though. Days of keeping notes and consulting books are past us, and I imagine most won't have the patience for it. Simpler, yet in the same vein with a horror bent would be two <b>Dracula</b> games; Resurrection and The Last Sanctuary which put themselves out as unofficial sequels to the eponymous books and have some pretty slick atmosphere with more straightforward puzzles. And to further demonstrate my lack of street cred I remember playing <b>Echo: Secrets of the Lost Cavern</b> way back when. Demo, that is. </p>

<p align="justify">To be perfectly honest with you my reader, I was rather surprised to the see the genre survived in modern times with games like <i>The Talos Principle</i>, <i>The Witness</i> and recently <i>Obduction</i> from Cyan team itself keeping the torch very much alive. Pre-rendered backgrounds may have gone to sleep, but visual fidelity of modern titles lets developers realize those gorgeous dreamscapes of yesteryear just as well in real time.</p>

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