Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Happy Trilogy Day!


That is apparently what today is, as there were two rather high-profile trilogy sets announced in roughly the same period of time, and it would only be better if there were, in fact, three trilogies announced.  Because that's...you know.  Thematic.  And fitting.  And stuff.  Anyways, the two that were announced were kind of important, so I'm going to do a little talking about them since that is sort of what I do.  And enjoy doing.  Interestingly enough, there are a few parallels between the two of them which I will point out when I get that far, but first, I suppose I need to stop stalling because I can't think of a more proper way to introduce the post and I just really like introductions in my posts, since they're supposed to set the mood, but this is setting up a scattered and terribly-done mood and oh god.  But maybe that's the point, eh?  Maybe it's some sort of commentary that I am doing to be clev-okay, it's not, I'm just bad at writing tonight.

Anyways, as you can see above, the first mentioned trilogy is the Assassin's Creed:  Ezio Trilogy which, unsurprisingly, has three games in it that star Ezio.  I say this, because it is apparently a surprise to some people and these people, I just don't know about.  In the comments for the Playstation Blog post announcing the Trilogy (as it's apparently PS3-exclusive in North America.....for a little while maybe) I saw no less than a few comments asking about, yes, you guessed it (or maybe you didn't) whether or not Assassin's Creed 1 would be included.  Now....okay.  I can kind of almost maybe sort of understand why it might be something of a thought that might perhaps cross your mind, since AC1 was included on PS3 copies of the Revelations disc because Ubisoft said "eh, why not" and thus associated it with the game.  But I am just confused, my gast has been flabbered, if you will, as to why people would assume that AC1 would be included in a disk that says very clearly Ezio Trilogy.  It literally means a Trio of Ezio.  Three Ezio.  Three games with Ezio in them.  AC1?  Altair.  Who is not Ezio.  Who is not Ezio at all.

Not only are people confused over this, people are angry over this, suggesting that the trilogy is, in fact, worthless without AC1 which continues to boggle my mind and smack my gob and other such general similar statements for being absolutely confused.  These are people whose brains I will never understand because I think that they do have a layer of stupidtanium surrounding it or -something-.  I mean, I understand very well the desire to be able to get an entire -thing- in a single purchase of a single item, but I also understand that if I am buying a box of Captain Crunch, I will not be angry and indignant when there are no corn flakes in my box.  Other complaints are only slightly more valid in that the post lists that AC2 will include the two DLC chapters, but no mention is made of Brotherhood or Revelations DLC, since well, that is more or less just trying to squeeze a little more value out of that, and there's nothing inherently wrong with that.  Regardless, I think what has been said about it is what we're going to get, and as someone who owns all three games already, I don't feel the need to rush out and get this.  Especially when it releases in November, which is -after- AC3 comes out, but I can certainly understand who this is for.


The Mass Effect Trilogy, which is something much more pertinent to my interests is pretty much exactly what it says on the tin.  Er....cardboard.  Plastic?  I don't know what the hell that box is going to end up being made of, but whatever, it says Mass Effect Trilogy and is just that - the three Mass Effect games, on disks, in a single package.  What's important about all this, you might ask yourself, since it is pretty much just a rereleasing of games that are already out and have been out for anywhere to some months to five years.  Well, it is for reasons that I have littered purposefully in the opening sentences of this paragraph.  And for one big point that I didn't mention, but is also kind of hinted at, if you know me and what I game on, thus why I would even consider this somewhat important.  So, think on it for a moment.  Really, go ahead, I've got nothing to do but listen to Deep Crimson Foe over and over again because my ears demand it.

Alright, got it sorted?  Well, alright then.  You see, the big deal is that this Trilogy pack, with all three games on disk format, is coming on November 6th for PC and 360 with, wait for it, a PS3 version to follow at an undecided date.  As in, a PS3 version of the Trilogy where Mass Effect 1, previously the only game of the series not on the console, will be on the console in playable form.  That's right, five years later those of us who have put off buying a 360 and/or a gaming PC, who haven't gotten into Mass Effect 2 or 3 because it is a very story-centric game and we'll be damned if we buy into 2/3rds of a story, all four of us, can finally have our very own chance at owning Mass Effect 1 on our console of choice.  Will it be worth it?  Almost decidedly not.  The game will probably not stand up against all the different ideas that have been implemented in the five years since its release.  It is most likely one of those nostalgia-fueled games, even at this short juncture, but the important thing is that I will be able to suffer through it with the Shepard of my choice to soldier on into Mass Effect 2 and 3.  I will be able to get the full experience, finally, and that is decidedly what matters.

Much like the Ezio Trilogy, DLC is sort of a sticking point with this collection without so much as a hint from EA and/or Bioware as to the actuality of its release.  Well, perhaps -a- hint, in that in the bullet points, no DLC is listed whatsoever, and when you consider that Mass Effect 3 is still getting DLC....it's pretty telling, I should think, but I can -hope- as well, considering that the amount of DLC spanning the three games is likely in the triple digits, money-wise, and I do not have $60 for the trilogy as well as money on top of that for after-bits, even the 'essentials'.  I can certainly -hope- that I will not get the base games for $60, but I can't say that I would feel ripped off if I did, since the Mass Effect games are touted for their all-around greatness, their length, and richness, and I am sure that I will get my moneys worth out of one game alone, and certainly twice over in the entire trilogy, but I'm sure what I -don't- have will be tantalizing, and I have not the willpower to resist.

These are some pretty neat things, whether or not I will be getting them (which, I will likely be getting the latter only), and I really wanted to bring them up.  It -would- have been nice if there was another one announced, or I suppose I could have used one of the more recent collections to talk about in contrast, but that seems a little wacky.  Still, I would like to have something to close this on, so with that in mind, I would like to formally announce that I am re-imagining Journey's Fall in LittleBigPlanet Vita and it will likely span over three levels, or in other words, be a trilogy.  Isn't that fantastic?  And topical!  Now it's just up to you to believe if I'm joking or not.  Because I could be joking.  I could very well be joking.  Or making empty promises.  I do that sometimes.  I guess we'll just have to see!

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