Virtual Masks: KID CHAMELEON

LATE!!!R THAN USUAL!
Yeah, so I'm a weekend late for this last mask post, I was really struggling with this one, then decided I simply had to do Kid Chameleon, not because it's like the epitome of masks in video games or anything, more so just because this is an awesome game in theory, and I have spent quite a bit of time on it.

TITLE: Kid Chameleon


LAST ONE:
As such, we'll just be passing through the Kid Chameleon universe to take a look at what makes the kid so fantastic. Kid Chameleon was (as is evident from the art above) a Sega game that was popular enough to find itself on most Sega rereleases (Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection, Sega Smash Pack, Sega Genesis Collection, etc.) and boy am I glad for that?

I won't go so far as to say that Kid Chameleon formed a foundation for anything in my youth, I won't even go as far as to say it dramatically impacted me at all. It didn't, but it was a terrific way to burn time. Let's hit the high points: Kid Chameleon focuses on a character who ventures into a Virtual Reality game in order to rescue children who have been trapped in the game or some such. Along the way he picks up power-ups a la Super Mario Bros. that augment his appearance, health, and abilities. These power-ups come in the form of masks that pop out of blocks he smashes with his head (good guess Mario and Majora's Mask fans).

The best part is, like so many other games on this list, I've never legitimately completed Kid Chameleon! It's...kind of difficult, I've never been the greatest gamer of all time, but I'm generally decent at getting through games. This one though I've never even come close to. That's not what we're talking about anyway, we're talking about masks, and this one has plenty to choose from.

Notably the first mask collected is the Iron Knight mask, which gives Kid a massive increase in health and increases his weight, causing him to smash blocks he lands on. The knight can also scale walls (not clear on how that associates, but whatever.) The second is one I find more aesthetically pleasing, and I think far more useful than the knight, Red Stealth. This one allows Kid to break blocks below himself without the threat of breaking too many (as the Iron Knight can not stop), it also allows access to Red Stealth's samurai sword. I could describe every mask in the game, but really there are too many, instead, I'll tackle those two very standard masks (already done) and the so-called game breaker.

Cyclone, the most powerful and stereotypically superhero appearing mask in the game.

There he stands, gazing out across the realm, ensuring everything is well and good. Moments ago I made the statement that this was the most powerful mask in the game, but not in terms of actual power. In that fashion basically any other mask besides Iron Knight and Berserker offer greater damaging abilities, instead, Cyclone offers meta power. This is potentially the best mask for the Kid to use, as it allows him to bypass much of the game by simply flying through stages.

This mask is also essential to a...how should this be termed..."skilled player reward" known as the 100,000 point trip. Basically the player must speed run the first three levels without getting hit, and clear the first two without picking up masks, then travel to Elsewhere 1, the only location in Stage 1 of the game where Cyclone can be obtained, then collect the 40,000 points of 10k blocks Under Skull Mountain. If this is all done correctly the player is immediately teleported to Stage 3! So...yeah, I'mma have to try that later, because I have come really close to that a hundred times without knowing it.

I have also recently learned of a cheat that teleports you to the final level that I'll have to try. But that's a story for another day, anyway...

Peace out!

The Strategy of Masks: DOFUS

PUT IT ON!
Here we go again, another day, another mask themed gaming post. If you're looking for even more mask posts, check out My Cinema, where I discussed the masked protagonist of Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion.

TITLE: Dofus


Just Passing Through:
Let's get straight into it, no need to give you the full-blown backstory of Dofus. We'll just cover a few basics.

Dofus is a turn-based strategy role-playing game. TBSRPG I suppose. Every character is one of twelve (wait fourteen...no fifteen....sixteen?!) character classes (which also serve as races in some cases...I think) that determines their abilities. Some are ranged and some are melee, some perform summonings and some get in the fray themselves, some are squishy and some are beefy. And sometimes...what they do differs based on how you play them.

That's actually generally true of all of them, but one particularly notable example is the Masqueraider. The Masqueraider is one of the two classes introduced after the initial twelve, the Rogue and Masqueraider. Both the Rogue and Masqueraider naturally introduced different mechanics from the other classes (of course) and today we'll be discussing the mechanics of the Masqueraider.

Now first, according to their lore, the Masqueraiders are under the protection of the god Sadida. Oh, I didn't explain how the gods work? There are twelve Gods of Amakna (the Dofus world) and each God is represented by a class who are granted powers by that god. That is, except for the last four classes, who each get their powers from a different source, but are associated with a god. The Masqueraiders draw their power from the masks they wear, and according to legend they are immortal due to this fact. They claim the gods do not offer as much power as their masks do, but this doesn't actually play out in game (since the game is PvP, every class has to be balanced against the others, so the mask users are, theoretically, on an even playing field with the others). The masqueraiders have a set of three masks:

The classic mask, which is their standard mask they wear all the time.

The cowardly mask, which makes them better at running away and gives them access to ranged abilities.

The psychopath mask, which dramatically increases the power of the masqueraider but forces them into an aggressive playstyle.

Despite the immense power their masks grant them, masqueraiders are always very wary and not particularly trusting. According to lore this is because they are often hunted for their masks, which makes sense, but then again I probably wouldn't pursue a supposedly immortal, extremely powerful being, unless I was sure I could catch them, and do something with them there after.

As a side note their names are a combination of the word masquerade, the ball where people wear masks as they dance, and raider. I'm sure you already knew that, but if not, there ya go.

That's it for this post guys, be sure to check out my other ones if you enjoyed, leave me a comment if you like, and I'll post again tomorrow!

The Purpose of a Mask: THE ELDER SCROLLS IV- OBLIVION

LATE!!!
I'm terribly late on posting this, I struggled to get a topic for My Cinema today, eventually settled on Harlock: Space Pirate, so you can check that out if you like. This post though has actually brought me my topic for tomorrow, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion! Looking forward to writing that one actually.

TITLE: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion


STRAIGHT INTO IT:
We've not time to waste (see what I did there?), let's jump right into the premise of the post. People wear masks for reasons, different masks for different purposes sometimes, and in RPGs very often if there is one mask, there will be many. In Majora's Mask different masks give you different abilities, sometimes different masks modify your stats differently, in the real world these aren't what masks are used for. Instead, masks are used to hide one's identity, even sometimes to take on the identities of others.

This is also the premise behind the Grey Fox mask in Oblivion. SPOILER ALERT FOR THE NEXT LINE:
When you complete the thieves' guild quest, you become the guildmaster by taking on the Grey Cowl from the previous Grey Fox.
Good to go on that? Awesome. So this mask not only allows you to hide your identity, but it actually causes you to take on a different identity, much like Bruce Wayne becoming Batman, when the unnamed hero takes on the Grey Cowl, he becomes the Grey Fox, your bounty is immediately maxed out, any guards pursuing your player character will cease (but will now pursue you as the Grey Fox), any crimes you commit will be attributed to the Grey Fox, and naturally people will react differently to you (master crime lord status).

This item was a favorite of mine in this game, partially because it's an awesome item for a thief, but also because it played into basically any roleplay style. I ran a character for an extended period of time who was, according to my own themes set in the privacy of my mind, a scholar, studying Daedric Artifacts. By the end of the game he had collected every artifact associated with Daedra except one. Because I forgot the Grey Cowl had its origins with Nocturnal. So, of course, my character set out on the rigorous task of obtaining the Grey Cowl by gaining the trust of its bearer. Learning that it was cursed and could not be removed he sought to break the curse, and of course eventually succeeded. So there you have it, just one character of many who owned the Cowl.

This didn't just play into the thief role though, an assassin might obtain the cowl in order to have his crimes attributed to a different power. A rival of the thieves' guild might seek out the Cowl to blaspheme their great leader. There are really any number of reasons from a role-playing perspective to own the Grey Cowl. But it had terrific mechanics as well. The cowl allows you to detect lifeforms nearby, carry additional inventory, and of course makes you better at moving undetected. (100% Chameleon armor also has that effect, just sayin'.)

So yeah, probably one of the coolest masks in gaming, and one of those really great games anyway. Loved Oblivion, and we'll probably revisit it in the future. Maybe even next week if no other ideas crop up (they probably will, but who knows.)

Yo-ho yo-ho, the Grey Fox' life for me!

Hope everyone enjoyed and I'll see you tomorrow!

Who is that Masked Man?: MAJORA'S MASK

Continuing a Trend
Onward and upward as they say. "Who's they?" you ask. Well, that's for you to find out. I say it enough for they to be me though, so "Onward and upward," as I say.

Last week on My Cinema I had a sort of horror movie theme going on, this week I have a science fiction theme going. Naturally, I follow all of that up with My Arcade having some kind of theme this week, and we're making it masks. No not just Majora's Mask, although that is what today will focus on, primarily.

TITLE: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask


NO TIME TO WASTE:
I won't regale you with information like the premise of this game, I posted on it just yesterday! And I can't really break this down into the same sections as that one, because I don't have another theory to theorize about. No, I just kind of felt like talking about the Mask some more. Call it laziness, call in unoriginality, call it an obsession if you must.

I just really like The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. Don't get me wrong, I loved Ocarina of Time too, but this installment in the Zelda series calls out to me, like the darkness in Majora's Mask calls out to this guy:

But maybe it's an infatuation with masks, and not the game itself. I mean, Code Geass is probably my favorite anime series, and it focuses on a masked protagonist. Gundam is potentially my favorite anime franchise, and it stars masked antagonists all the time. My favorite recent movies have all been superhero movies, but my least favorite superhero is Superman, a.k.a. the maskless one.

All of that can be explained away in other manners though, except for one of those, the first one, the one before Code Geass, Zelda. Because this game is basically reviled as the unwanted offspring of Ocarina of Time, why shouldn't it be? The game is built using almost entirely rehashed characters from Ocarina of Time, it's entitled the Legend of Zelda, but the titular character appears during one, maybe two, flashbacks. It doesn't even take place in Hyrule, it takes place in some distant land called Termina. In reality, I spent more time playing Ocarina of Time as a child than I ever did Majora's Mask. So why?

Well, I like to blame it on the masks, the game focuses on a mechanic all its own, the main character gaining special abilities from his headgear. Now, this isn't new, even in the franchise, because it's based on the same complaint many people have, the characters are just rehashed from the previous game. Right down to the happy mask salesman, from whom Link receives several of the same masks that appear in Majora's Mask. But, that's a side quest, there's no necessity to obtain those masks, although they are necessary for 100% completion, of course. Majora's Mask centers on you needing to collect masks to progress, particularly the three transformation masks: Deku, Goron and Zora.

Each of these transformation masks changes Link's shape, giving him new abilities and varying limitations. Most notably the Deku form and Goron form are unable to swim, drowning if they enter deep water. Through the three primary transformation masks Link inhabits the body of a deceased member of the race, taking on their spirits' burdens or some such.

But besides those three transformation masks, there is the issue of the game being themed around masks. There are 24 masks that Link can wear in the game, 20 of them not being transformative, and an additional six that are collected through the duration of the game, four of them being the remains of bosses and two acting as side quest items. Collecting all 20 non-transformative masks will allow you to obtain the 24th mask at the end of the game, the Fierce Deity mask, which is the most powerful transformation in the game, but can only be used in the final boss fight. But never mind that.

20 masks that do not transform you, but add other abilities to the character, some of them completely useless outside of obtaining more masks, like the Bremen Mask, which just lets you lead animals around while playing the ocarina, or Kamaro's Mask, which is just used to dance so you can obtain a piece of heart. This sounds like a drawback to the game, but I love it! Maybe that's because I love side-questing in video games though. (Seriously, I played the Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion [also has a magical mask in it, which I love] for months on end and only completed the main storyline after completing every major side-quest line in the game, and a lot of the not so major ones.) Then there are more practical masks like the Bunny Hood (obtained using the Bremen Mask),  which lets you run twice as fast, not only does this let you get around more easily, but it is the key to some side-quests, or the Blast Mask, which serves as a bomb in case you run out, or just don't want to buy any!

On my current play through, which I started about four nights ago (I don't play much, but when I do I try to accomplish something) I have really only acquired the masks above and one or two more. Because that's kind of what I love about the game, collecting masks, side-questing. If there was a game where the main quest centered around completing side-quests, that would probably be my favorite game. Don't worry, I realize that's an oxymoron, and I don't care. It's not that Ocarina of Time doesn't have side-quests either, it's just that I prefer the mechanics of Majora's Masks rewards.

I realize of course that this was basically a huge mess of rambling, and it didn't serve to reinforce all of the good things about Majora's Mask, in fact I really only talked about the masks, not the atmosphere or quality controls or whatever. Just masks. But that was kind of my point wasn't it? Anyway, be looking out for my posts later this week, they'll probably deal with Dofus and the Masqueraider, Oblivion and the Grey Fox, and more than likely some classic masks in games!