Penny Arcade

Kingdom Hearts 2 is Gabriel’s favorite game, indeed, anything with that name in the title ranks high.  Even Chain of Memories rests on a high perch, Chain of Memories, a game shunned by the whole earth.  Don’t bring it up; it’s a sore point.

His venom sacs began to throb with excess fluid as he absorbed clips of the newest franchise entry, Kingdom Hearts 385/2 Days, as what he likes about the game is the lavish production, which the two tiny portholes of the Nintendo DS must necessarily obscure.

He still bought it.

The first evening with the title was spent entirely in a warren of inescapable learning, moving and leaping, with only drip-fed contextual bouillon to maintain his strength.  Kingdom Hearts, whose braided inspirations need no steady undercarriage to succeed as an Entertainment Product, has (in actuality) an incredibly fucking elaborate story that can inspire even in Morsel Form, but his reserves are low.  It’s been three hours, and he has yet to see a Disney character.  I am told that - for Gabriels - this is a twilight realm, indistinguishable from hell.

I have yet to see a single review of the PSP Go that constitutes a strong call to action.  In fact, I’ve seen the opposite: this is the most savage response to a platform launch in recent memory.  With the DS, there was confusion about the purpose of the device - the functionality was so broad that it was difficult to discern their motive.  With the PSP Go, the purpose is clear, and in review after review one sees the case built:  the system is a campaign of aggression against both retailers and consumers.

When we went out to grab a copy of Dead Space: Extraction at a gigantic local retailer, we saw ample supplies of the platform, and employees audibly bagging on the device while we walked in and out.  We don’t own one, though their substantial investment in the hardware and backend services has added considerable value to even my ancient PSP, which is much appreciated.  We were surprised at how inert it seems, the extent to which the world has not been set on fire.  I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a piece of technology that Gabriel didn’t immediately want to buy.

(CW)TB out.

where my blood belongs

Our Dragon Age comic is up to page five now. Whenever we do a project like this I always jump into the game’s forum just to see what people are saying about our comic. I think I do this because I hate myself and historically these forums have not exactly been a self esteem builder. I was especially proud of the Dragon Age comic and so I really couldn’t resist taking a peek at what people were saying about it. In reality, even one or two positive posts in a fifteen page thread are enough to make me feel really good. The Dragon Age thread about our comic was an interesting read. It had its share of people who didn’t like the project and those who did, but what surprised me were the people saying that Templars would never act the way they do in our comic.

I just wanted to mention that not only have Tycho and I both played the game but we worked extremely closely with Bioware on the story. For some reference, here’s a little clip from the official DA site:

While mages often resent the templars as symbols of the Chantry´s control over magic, the people of Thedas see them as saviors and holy warriors, champions of all that is good armed with piety enough to protect the world from the ravages of foul magic. In reality, the Chantry´s militant arm looks first for skilled warriors with unshakable faith in the Maker, with a flawless moral center as a secondary concern. Templars must carry out their duty with an emotional distance, and the Order of Templars would rather have soldiers with religious fervor and absolute loyalty than paragons of virtue who might question orders when it comes time to make difficult choices.

It is this sense of ruthless piety that most frightens mages when they get the templars´ attention: When the templars are sent to eliminate a possible blood mage, there is no reasoning with them, and if the templars are prepared the mage´s magic is often all but useless. Driven by their faith, the templars are one of the most feared and respected forces in Thedas.

What we chose to do is tell a story that really shows the Templars for what they are. We wanted to illustrate the idea of “ruthless piety” and I think we nailed that.  I gotta say I’m really pleased that the comic has sparked this sort of discussion about the Templars. The worst thing for me would be to make a comic and then go to the game’s forum and not see a discussion of any kind. Unlike some of our stuff this project was not designed to make anyone laugh. It was done to make you think about the Templars and it looks like it worked.

Thanks to everyone who has been reading the comic. I know it’s hard to follow a comic when the pages only come out once a week. Hopefully it has given you an interesting take on the DA world, and maybe even made you a little more excited to check out the game.

Also I tried to post this over on the DA forum but had some trouble making an account. Hopefully this will make its way into the comic thread and give the DA fans over there an idea of where Tycho and I are coming from.

-Gabe out