Afternoon Tea

Afternoon Tea, a brand-new Spera short illustrated by Emily Block, is now online at Spera-Comic.com!

This comic offers a brief glimpse into Pira and Lono’s younger days, as well as an early peek at the conspiracy that will later change their lives.

My Top 10 Games of 2010

1. Super Street Fighter IV

I haven't been able to get into a fighting game since Street Fighter III: Third Strike (and I look forward to the PSN version of that). I also had to miss out on the original Street Fighter IV due to disposable income woes. But when this came around, I was ready, especially since I had moved away from my hometown and knew this would be the one way I could steadily keep in touch with friends. I grabbed a little Bluetooth headset and my first ever fighting stick in preparation. When I finally got the game, I was blown away even after building up some hype: colourful and charming graphics, a great cast of old favourites and bizarre new faces, fun music and a fighting system that emphasises the individual style of the player. The only games with in-game clocks that I've played over one hundred hours of are this, Oblivion and the original Phantasy Star Online. It's just an absolute blast.

2. Final Fantasy XIII

I absolutely love the linearity of this game. Outside of the music (which I consider the second-best soundtrack of an FF, just below Final Fantasy VI), the linearity might be my favourite aspect. It feels and plays like an RPG intended for arcades. The story may not make much sense, and the characters may not have much character to them, but this is undoubtedly the most fun I've had with a more traditional JRPG since Persona 4.

3. Yakuza 3
4. Sin & Punishment: Star Successor
5. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
6. Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition
7. Super Mario Galaxy 2
8. Nier
9. Gran Turismo 5
10. Kirby's Epic Yarn (co-op with wife)

Olivier Pichard’s Spera New Year card

Nier: An Adventure Game About Playing Adventure Games

Nier is a game tailor-made for gamers who grew up losing themselves in the worlds of the 3D Zeldas (Ocarina of Time, Wind Waker, Twlight Princess) and 16-bit/32-bit action-adventure games (specifically Landstalker, Alundra and Brave Fencer Musashi). It is also a game made by fans of Team Ico for fans of Team Ico (Ico and Shadow of the Colossus), capturing the melancholic feel of those games through its adult fairy tale-style story, overblown lighting, sparse environments and overall art direction.

The Story

A father vows to save his daughter from a curse. The player controls the father. To say more would be to take away one of the greatest joys of experiencing Nier.

The Gameplay

Nier is an action-adventure RPG, with its gameplay most closely resembling Landstalker at its most simple and Brave Fencer Musashi/3D Zelda games at its most complex. This means lots of hacking at enemies, using powerful spells and solving simple puzzles.

There are a few towns to explore, fields to traverse, dungeons to conquer, bosses to fight -- everything one might expect from a classic Japanese adventure game.

The Legend Of Nier

Nier is loosely structured after Ocarina of Time, with a central hub, plains that act as a Hyrule field substitute (complete with drifting boar instead of Epona), and towns which give way to further dungeons. The puzzles never become anywhere near as complex, and the game world is not nearly as detailed, but it is clear the 3D Zeldas were an inspiration and influence on Nier. Those familiar with Navi will have their ears burn when a specific townsperson says 'Hey, listen!' once spoken to. And if that little reference isn't enough, there's a moment when a character retrieves an important item in a dungeon and holds it up to the camera -- all in a parody of the 'item found' pose from the 3D Zeldas, complete with unintelligible grunt and catchy jingle.

The Graphics

The graphics, which have often been referred to as 'generic' and 'mediocre' by both reviewers and players, are actually more appealing to me in their simplicity and general lack of detail than many of the big budget games currently available. I personally find that too many games of the current generation opt for incredibly busy graphics and overly-detailed textures, leaving almost no room for the imagination.

The look of Nier does far more for my imagination than most of the games I've played since the Dreamcast days, with notable exceptions being the aforementioned Ico and Shadow of the Colossus. There's also a certain thickness to the graphics that make it look like how I would imagine a Dreamcast 2 game to look like, in the very happy alternate dimension where that console exists. In other words, it looks how Dreamcast games tend to look in my fond memories of them.

The Music

The heavy use of vocal tracks can quickly become repetitive and grating, which is my biggest complaint, but I do find it interesting that one of the lowest points of the game for me tends to be one of the most loved aspects for Nier's defenders. The instrumental music, however, is almost always charming and beautiful, with a special oddness to the sounds and arrangements.

The Fetch Quests

The endless fetch quests in Nier are awful, focused almost exclusively on inane grinding and farming. They're entirely optional, of course, but really shouldn't have been in the game in the first place.

In The End

By combining its influences in clever ways, the whole of Nier becomes a game that is altogether unique. If only it had been marketed as such and not as a Devil May Cry-style clone. I highly recommend Nier to fans of atmosphere and originality, and of course to fans of Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, Landstalker and Twilight Princess.

My Top 5 Albums of 2010

1. Autechre - Oversteps

Autechre take the best of their glitched beats & ambient washes and add an accessible spin to it all, resulting in my favourite album of 2010.

2. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs

Already a contemporary classic, this album somehow feels like it's been around for ages. Despite the reserved positivity of some of the lyrics, it really just makes me want to leave the sprawl even more.

3. Envy - Recitation

Lots of pained screaming and kitschy, melodramatic post-rock instrumentation in a quirky Japanese wrapper (love the traces of Christmas carol melodies).

4. Blonde Redhead - Penny Sparkle

Blonde Redhead go electro-pop with what has to be my second favourite album of theirs, after the lovely 23.

5. Autechre - Move of Ten

More material in the vein of Oversteps, though lacking the textural hooks of that album.

And for some context, and because I love lists, here is my Top 10 Albums Overall, with the albums presented in alphabetical order:

Arovane - Lilies
Autechre - Draft 7.30
The Knife - Silent Shout
Ladytron - 604
M83 - Saturdays=Youth
The Magnetic Fields - 69 Love Songs
Mogwai - Mr. Beast
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
The Organ - Sinking Hearts EP
Radiohead - Amnesiac

Places To Find Me

deviantART: http://gyroscope.deviantart.com/
MUBI: http://mubi.com/users/34036
Tumblr: http://joshtierney.tumblr.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/jwtierney

Spera: Blood

Spera: Blood is a brand-new, full-length 24-page comic available right now on Spera-Comic.com! Pira, Lono and Yonder, now full-fledged adventurers in the realm of Spera, seek out the valuable blood of a band of horned demons. By selling this blood the trio will gain enough income to eat for two months. But is it really worth taking the lives of others to improve their own?

Blood was drawn by Matt Marblo and features cover artwork by Leela Wagner, a backup comic by Belicosa, a pin-up by Nick Edwards and a design by Joel Hentges.