The Sands of Time–Episode 6

Getting My Feet Wet

balancing on beams

bats swarm when inconvenient

emerge from the well

Play nice, everyone!

The Sands of Time–Episode 5

Going Sleeveless!

tandem tower climb

fighting birds atop stone walls

waterfalls are loud

 

Play nice, everyone!

The Sands of Time–Episode 4

Friendly Fire!

In this episode I begin by trying to recap the story so far. Because I’ve been trying to focus on playing the game while also having interesting things to say (the success of which I will leave open to your interpretation), many of the story beats have eluded me. As I discuss in the video I also think this is potentially due to the era in which the game was released. This was a generation where gameplay instruction and story were not conveyed solely via printed manual or in game methods such as cut scenes and on-screen text, but rather a combination of the two. In today’s gaming landscape we’ve grown accustomed to just jumping in the game and being properly informed of those things throughout the experience.

We also find a new weapon that grants passage through a new type of barrier, encounter more enemies to combat, puzzles to solve, and Farah actually shoots me in the back! She acts like it was an accident, but we did destroy her home, steal all the valuables, and planned to make her a servant of some kind before it all went pear-shaped. Can’t really blame here, I guess. Enjoy the episode!

Play nice, everyone!

The Sands of Time–Episode 3

Back For More! 

I’m getting a lot more comfortable with the process of editing, audio balancing, and posting these videos. And I’m having a lot of fun too! I’m also learning some valuable lessons, like beginning the recording well before I start playing as well as stopping well after I’m done. That gives me more footage to come in and out with, without cutting off important things… like cut scenes. I discovered the end of the previous episode cuts off rather abruptly, and the cut scene that plays after that save point I also managed to skip off camera. Even I didn’t see it, I must have inadvertently pressed the wrong button. This resulted in Episode 3 beginning with some remarks from the characters that had no context, and me having no idea why. The funny thing is that even though it occurs after a save point, simply reloading the file from that save point doesn’t trigger the cut scene again. It just starts gameplay at the next section where you have control of the character.

Since I already needed to replay some earlier sections to find segments that would be good to use for the episode intro graphic, I was also able to capture the missing cut scene to insert at the beginning of the video. Now, instead of just hearing me confused about missing something, you get to see the cut scene… then hear me confused about missing something!

In replaying the earlier portion of the game I was also able to get a better handle on the story. While it’s probably mostly due to me being overly conscious of being on mic (something I’m still getting used to), the game could have presented the story better. Maybe it’s because of the period of time the game released in. Earlier generations typically included a manual booklet that would contain an introduction to the game world and characters, while current video games almost never include any printed material. The Sands of Time may be a result of that middle ground where the game story had a foot in both methods.

Speaking of being on mic, boy is that a lot more than I was ready for! It turns out that it’s not easy to carry on an interesting conversation about the onscreen action… with yourself. I’m looking forward to the day I can look back on these early attempts and be surprised about my progress. It would also be fun to try an episode or two with a friend to help keep the commentary going, especially when the action heats up and my brain can’t decide which way to go. Volunteers? Enjoy the episode!

Play nice, everyone!

The Sands of Time–Episode 2

The Adventure Continues! 

The action heats up with new combat moves and more elaborate traps. Join me as I lose against new enemy types, get stumped by simple puzzles, and struggle with indecision. I even make a bad Fruit Ninja joke! This episode has everything!

Play nice, everyone!