Vagabond Dog is a small independent game studio from Toronto. They make games about life, inspired by their experiences.
http://vagabonddog.com/
Always Sometimes Monsters is a unique roleplaying game set in the modern world. You take on the life of your character for 30 days as you try and make it from the east coast to the west coast before your one true love marries someone else. Along the way you'll face a myriad of choices that will alter the course of your journey and change the fate of your character. These decisions will affect the characters you encounter and the world around them, but few things are ever as binary as right and wrong. Your unique story will be shaped by your personal ethical compass, with none other like it.
http://www.alwayssometimesm...
Play on: PC
https://www.youtube.com/wat...
Mini Q&A
Answers by Justin Amirkhani, Creative Director
Why do you make games?
There's this idea in my mind that is complex to an almost unintelligible level. I struggle to make sense of it, and to convey it to people around me. Games allow players to step into the shoes of another person, to experience a small slice of reality as someone else. This is the best means I know of to get other people to come to that same complex idea, and begin a dialogue about it so that it may be better understood.
Why should people play Always Sometimes Monsters?
Always Sometimes Monsters is the kind of game that will make you ponder the reasons behind your every day choices. It will make you wonder whether you even have choice in the first place, or whether we are all ruled by causality. Lastly, it will do all of this within a unique narrative tailored to your own personal values.
What element of game design do you hold above all others?
Freedom of choice is probably the single most powerful element of game design. In fact, one could argue that it's the only real element of game design at all and the one thing that separates this medium from every other. Regardless of whether a game handles choice as consciously as Always Sometimes Monsters does, all games exist to provide players agency over their experience.
Today’s Stories:
Win a Copy of Always Sometimes Monsters: http://n4g.com/user/blogpos...
Interview with Vagabond Dog, Part One: http://n4g.com/user/blogpos...
Interview with Vagabond Dog, Part Two: http://n4g.com/user/blogpos...
Developer Blog: http://n4g.com/user/blogpos...
Some Words for Always Sometimes Monsters: http://n4g.com/user/blogpos...
Day 8 | Vagabond Dog
Alan Wake, from Max Payne and Control creator Remedy, is a horror classic, prompting one player to buy 4,000 copies that don’t even work.
Kind of a goody story...
On a serious note, that is why I try activating gift cards asap. It's happened to me where the store didnt scan it right where the card was unusuable. Happened at Wally World.
Usually most of those redemption card have an expiry date on them. If they expired all buyer did was buy recycled paper. And some of those codes are country locked to certain countries. I buy a card from the States I can't use it in Canada.
UKIE published its latest Consumer Market Valuation Report, showing that the UK games market was worth £7.82 billion in 2023, a 4.4% increase compared to 2022's revised total of £7.49 billion.
Final Fantasy is a long running series at this point — it's easily one of the most storied franchises in gaming. But when you're up to the sixteenth mainline entry, you must start wondering whether fresh installments still have the power to pull new players in. Indeed, audience growth will be an important metric for the suits upstairs at Square Enix.
Pretty much. It was barely an rpg. Sorry if I like a little rpg in my final fantasy games.
I really hope this doesn’t mean they are going to continue to streamline the games even more going forward
It didn’t even have element weakness and the like during battles. A game with element based Eikons you use in combat and they didn’t include any elemental strategic tactics
I expected fire to burn grassy enemies. That didn't happen.
I also expected to see a "we have to go there!" moment in a cutscene, and have to travel there myself. FFXVI instead loaded the map to one selectable map marker and the next cutscene loaded to us there.
Disappointing as an RPG. Disappointing as even being "open area". I'll maintain that this game would've been best served as a more linear DMC-style experience than what we got, because the core of the combat and story were so great.
I'm an old fan who's played literally every FF game (excluding 2) and I *loved* FF16.
I genuinely struggle to understand the mindset of people are who get weird and territorial over JRPG franchises. I think as a whole we should be encouraging developers to try new things. We're the old guard - what we want to see in a game is going to become increasingly irrelevant with time so we gotta change the way we think about this stuff.
Classic franchises thrive on their familiarity. While they can introduce new ideas, it's crucial that these innovations stay true to the essence of the franchise. Otherwise, it might be more appropriate to develop a new franchise or spinoff.
And that's where FFXVI sort of drops the ball for many. It doesn't offer much to old Final Fantasy fans. Honestly, I loved the game, but I feel it might have worked better as a spinoff, a new franchise, or even a reimagination of another classic series like Musashi or Dewprism.
Sounds exactly what Tales did with Arise. I enjoyed FF16 more than FF13 and FF15 personally. I just hope the next mainline entry Yoshida makes is more party RPG based.
I enjoyed the game but I would like them to try making a turn based FF. It’s been too long. Even if it was a spin-off that would be fine.
For me the Bravely Default series is more Final Fantasy than current Final Fantasy. Since it started its development as a FF spinoff, it even keeps some FF stuff like magic names (Fire/Fira/Firaga etc.).
Unfortunately it doesn't sell that well and we can't be sure Square will keep making them, but I hope they do.
"This doesn’t mean that all future Final Fantasy games will take a similar direction to Final Fantasy 16,"
Here is a quote from the article to keep the XVI haters easy .
I enjoyed the game for what it was. What the team wanted to make. And i hadn't enjoyed a mainline FF game like i did XVI since X. Not counting Remake. People say it isn't an JRPG but it's pretty much Kingdom Hearts gameplay wise.
I decided to play some Arcade mode in XVI to get ready for the DLC after 220 hours of Rebirth and i still love the gameplay.
Can't wait for the DLC to hit in less than a week and see how crazy the Leviathan fight will be.
Very interesting, I will look forward to seeing more about this game soon.
I like the concept of the 30 days from east coast to west coast.
Loooove choices in games,
Indies are on the rise