Social Platypus

First Impressions The Good, the bad, and the confusing; My time with Destiny 2. By Josiah Sapp Destiny 2 (D2) gets released worldwide on September 6, 2017. For a fan like me, this date can’t come fast enough. To satisfy those who are waiting and to stress test their servers, Bungie opens up their game for a brief moment in a beta test. It took roughly 5 hours of gameplay to experience everything the beta had to offer but it’s enough to get us all excited and gives us some impressions on what they did differently from their first installment. The Good. Right out of the gate, the first thing you notice is your new abilities. In Destiny 1 (D1) you have a rechargeable grenade and melee ability that you use in every combat situation. In D2, a third power is added to each class that specifically benefits that class’s play style further mixing up the combat sandbox. This is immensely satisfying and feels like we have more options to handle what the game throws at us. Need co...

Opinion Translating interactive storytelling to passive storytelling: Why video game movies haven’t worked. By Josiah Sapp     Cinema has been around for a century now and it still dominates the entertainment world today. The movie going experience is precise and well thought out. It fits into a complete narrative that can snuggle into a two hour run time costing millions of dollars and employing hundreds of people. All working to tell you everything you need to know about what’s happening on screen. From actors and makeup artists to directors and editors. Their goal is to make sure the story is told in a clean way that can be understood in one viewing.     Video games are in another ballpark. They may not have been around as long as film but they can tell a story unique to the medium. Games tell a story through an interactive experience. The player makes the choices, experiences the events for themselves, and has an invested interest in what’...

Opinion Destiny 2 will be awesome because it’s already been made. By Josiah Sapp     Let me set the stage for you. I’m going to list off a set of attributes then I’m going to give you two different games that best fits the attributes that I describe. Sound good? Here we go: Imagine a game with endless amounts of guns. A vast array of armaments that busts open the sandbox of the game completely changing how you play. You’ve got several classes to choose from once you start the game and within each class, is a set of subclasses that will dictate what kind of role you will play throughout. Gameplay is sharp and precise but the story is vague. It lacks characters you care about and a general sense of confusion as you complete the story missions. The loot system is great as you are constantly chasing after that one piece of loot you don’t have and always wanted. Cooperative play is not necessary but encouraged. It definitely adds a layer of fun to the ...