local library's

They stink. Not wholly but sometimes in general.As great as some people make than out to be, and I as one also like them because they hold a relatively wide selection of games for one to choose from.all the games and books are the two thing I like most about them.Plus the activities they hold for people make them great too. But sometimes they can leave you feeling rather disappointed. Like when you rent a game you've never played before, with great reviews and hope to share in what is believed to be an awesome experience. Then you pop the disk in the trey and it doesn't work. After having downloaded the necessary content for the thing it still didn't play. What a sad story. 

The game I tried to rent was Uncharted 3:Drakes Deception. I looked forward to three different aspects. His character, something great to delve into when playing a game,when you like one it adds to its appeal.Another is finding out what type of game it is. Action,adventure,shooter. Lastly would be the graphics. There's something great about a good game with good graphics. Th fact that it Dident work was pretty lame I thought, because I was looking forward to it.So instead of playing it, I'm watching watching Harry Potter and the half blood price in blue ray which to me is just as good. Im a huge fan of the series. All the movies are great and the books to me are not better but equal in just overall entertainment.I'll just go back another time and get a different game, hopefully one that this time still works. When I went there where two copies so I'm in hope that this other copy works. As far as the half blood prince is concerned that was easily my favorite to read. How the story twisted into how to take down lord Voldemort by the destruction of his evil magical creations called horcruxes and finally getting a little more character interaction with Dumbledore was endearing. I guess library's aren't all that bad then. I'm sure our society isn't gonna just burn them all and revert into some type dystopian adventure movie. If that we're the case I'd have to go ask Vigo mortensen to borrow a horse and a sword. Either that or just walk around blindfolded with a couple of machetes. As fun as all that would be..Maybe I'll get game of thrones? Who knows.Considering buzz it's getting and the HBO series that I'd look forward to reading. 

Killzone Shadow Fall

In Which I Ruin the Story a Little Bit More...

Well, I've written my relatively spoiler-free Killzone: Shadow Fall review by now, and I figured it was about time to write some more on the spoiling of the game's story itself. Now, hopefully this works and that nasty no blogs posted glitch doesn't come back. Once more, if you haven't yet played the game or don't want to ruin the experience while you are playing it, then please refrain from reading this blog. If you have already "gotten your feet wet" so to speak and already read part one, then I suppose you may as well continue reading. If not, but you'd like to read the first part anyhow before reading this one, then you can find it right here. As promised, although greatly set back by this blog glitch thing, my "After-Edition" of my Wolf Among Us spoiler series will be coming before too long hopefully. Now, let's get this show on the road!

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1. Shadow Marshal Lucas Kellan is now being interrogated by Helghast and Anton Saric, the head security of the officer in the "city" of New Helghan. Saric continually taunts the Shadow Marshal by stating that the Vektans are weak and their world is failing. This doesn't elicit much of a response from Kellan, who drifts in and out of consciousness.

2. Echo- the part-Vektan, part-Helghast crossbreed appears before Kellan when he finally regains consciousness. She tells the Shadow Marshal that she means him no harm, and only seeks to end the war- reiterating that it was not the general populace of the Helghast that were responsible for the terrorist activities in Vekta City- that it was the actions of a few only.

3. As Echo tries to figure out just who was Tyran's contact on the inside, Kelln informs her that it was in fact Jorhan Stahl- an answer that doesn't really seem to shock her, and only proves that it was not unknown that the man survived the events of Killzone 3.

4. Kellan momentarily points out that the reason Echo is not surprised at all is because she handed over Doctor Massar to him, and that now, with the bio-weapon in the madman's power, it will wipe out the Vektans as well as half-breeds like Echo herself.

5. All of a sudden, the Lady Hera Visari arrives with an armed escort- rather, several of them, and scolds Echo for her rash actions, to which Echo retaliates by accusing her of working with Jorhan Stahl. Visari only confirms this, to which Echo inadvertently responds by revealing that the Lady Visari is her mother- thus insulting the woman.

6. For players that search the area properly enough, a dossier containing sensitive information about an operative known as "Maya Visari" can be found in the next level of the campaign. As it turns out, this "Maya Visari" is in fact the half-breed operative known only as Echo.

7. Flashing back to the current time however, Lady Visari orders her armed guards to take Echo 'somewhere safe"- meaning away from where she can do any harm or help the prisoner at all, and Echo begs her to rethink that decision and to stop. Anton Saric reenters the room and Visari contemplates the irony that the Vektans and Helghast were once part of the same race, yet they strode two different paths and now one is the enemy.

8. As the Lady Visari makes to stride out of the room, she turns to Anton Saric, telling him to keep Kellan alive. Her reasons for this, while mysterious, may yet be justified or explained later on... Maybe they just need him for information after all, because everyone knows information is power, especially in the midst of a cold war.

9. Later on, Kellan awakens in his cell in the middle of the night to hear an unfamiliar voice telling him that it is time he escaped. This unknown ally helps to disable various security posts and equipment as Kellan makes his way through the underground compound, and helps to warn the Shadow Marshal of approaching security guards as well. If any guards do happen to catch sight of the Marshal, the ally then takes them down before they can raise the alarm.

10. Suddenly, Kellan is corned by several guards, who stat to advance menacingly towards him. As they near, Echo drops from a ceiling grate and dispatches them easily, simultaneously helping him and revealing herself to be his helper.

11. The duo makes their way to the surface, and while en route, Kellan inquires about Echo's half-breed origins, stating that the Lady Visari seems to be more interested in war than any Vektan he has ever met. Echo replies that she, as well as Visari, in their fights, would only be defending their homes, and that in her case (Echo) no more innocent lives would need to be taken.

12. Once the duo reaches the surface, they decide to split up- with Lucas on the ground and Echo providing support from the rooftops via a high powered sniper rifle she is deadly efficient with. Kellan fights his way through the city slums, seeing the results of Helghast deportations- with numerous dead lining the streets from the senseless brutality of the soldiers.

13. Later on, Echo asks Kellan if he will tell the Vektans to stand down because of what he has witnessed, and the horrors and brutality that the Helghast have had to endure as well. He states that the Vektans just want "justice" and that they are not concerned with the truth, because they already blame the Helghast and that is enough. They just needed a face to put to an enemy.

14. Echo then reminds Kellan that the Vektans have never had to face total annihilation, and that the Helghast have had to do so- and push on regardless of that annihilation coming to be a reality and decimating their entire home world as a result. Eventually however, after many philosophical moments, the duo makes their way to the security center they were heading for and succeed in disabling it.

15. After having witnessed enough Helghast suffering, Kellan promises Echo that he will ask the Vektans to stand down, and then he rides a special drone piloted remotely by Echo over The Wall, to the Vektan side. As he lands and makes his way into VSA hands, he demands to then see his former mentor, Sinclair.

16. As promised, Kellan makes his way to Sinclair with the revelations that he has witnessed, telling the man that they should stand down before things heat up any further. Sinclair is outraged, stating that the Helghast, The Black Hand, Visari, and Stahl are all the same and that there is "no difference" between any of them in his view, because they all mean to destroy the Vektans.

17. Despite his anger with Kellan, Sinclair tells him that they have intercepted Black Hand intelligence, and that the VSA has discovered massive mining spires above the planet Helghan, which now lies in ruins. Kellan is tasked with infiltrating the main spire and finding Doctor Massar and the bio-weapon she helped to produce.

18. Once inside the mining spire, Kellan freefalls down the main shaft towards the station's mainframe and the Doctor's lab. After fighting a number of Helghast, he arrives at the laboratory but finds only Massar, who informs him that thee weapon is with Stahl being prepped for the "final test."

19. Sinclair orders Kellan to escort Massar to one of the secondary spires, where they will join up with the ISA fleet waiting to retake the bio-weapon. Kellan proceeds to follow his orders, protecting the doctor from numerous security drones coming from the spire, and meeting with the ISA team sent to extract them.

20. Suddenly however, they find themselves in a massive firefight as many more Helghast soldiers arrive, and the ISA men are eventually able to push the Helghast back after an extended engagement. Just as they are prepping to leave the station, Echo arrives in order to fulfill her assignment of killing Massar. Despite Sinclair's orders to kill her, Kellan orders the ISA soldier guarding the woman to stand down.

21. The ISA soldier refuses to stand down, so Echo kills both the soldier and the doctor. This results in Sinclair coldly telling Kellan that his safety is no longer 'guaranteed" and that he has condemned himself because of his assistance in allowing Echo to fulfill her mission's parameters. Now, Echo and Kellan team up- following a dropship into Helghan's atmosphere.

22.As the dynamic duo descends over Helghan, following the dropship they spotted earlier, Kellan witnesses the effects of the Terracide- pockets of leftover Petrusite that have created gravitational shifts throughout the planet as a result of the actions in Killzone 3. These pockets have caused massive portions of land, as well as the planet's core, to destabilize and have resulted in a desolate landscape wracked with earthquakes.

23. As the two freefall through the hellish world, they see that the dropship has crashed, and they make landfall on top of a sideways facing building. As the two meet up after their impact, Echo states that she did what had to be done, and that Vekta cannot meet the same fate as Helghan, because then she will have lost two homes.

24. The two split up, using gravity wells to navigate the dangerous terrain and destroying various Helghast security drones and droids littering the landscape now. Eventually however, Kelland and Echo meet back up at the crash site, and discover that Tyran is in fact still alive, and holed up in a base by the side of the canyons nearby. Echo tells Kellan that the bio-weapon should be the priority, and that it cannot be used under any circumstances. Kellan states that hopefully it won't "come to that."

25. The duo makes their way into the canyon-side base, discovering a massive fleet of ships in dry-docks, revealing that Jorhan Stahl has in fact anticipated the arrival of the ISA and these two operatives in particular. Kellan tries to warn Sinclair of the impending threat, but doesn't get a response.

26. As they finally make their way to the security control tower, Echo attempts to reveal the location of the bio-weapon while Kellan engages a massive Helghast force lead personally by Tyran. Eventually, Tyran joins in when most of his forces have been destroyed, and serves as a boss encounter of sorts- similar to the shield generator one on the prison ship in Mass Effect 2.

27. Having incapacitated Tyran, Kellan and Echo demand how to stop the bio-weapon from devastating the Vektan world. Tyran states that New Helghan was a 'fantasy" created by cowards and traitors, and that an invasion would "cost you everything." Echo states that that may be so, but Tyran will never know, promptly before she executes him.

28. Finally, Kellen gets through to Sinclair, telling him that it is impossible to win the battle and that the bio-weapon will devastate the ISA fleet. Sinclair dismisses Kellan's words, thinking he is not to be trusted because he has consorted with the enemy (Echo), and has lost his way thanks to her influence. The assault is therefore to proceed as planned.

29. Kellen and Echo frantically move towards Tyran's downed dropship, Echo remarking that it is ironic that they are now both outcasts- for much the same reason, but that it isn't a bad thing to have in common during a war.

30. As their dropship rises, so does Stahl's fleet. When they reach the surface of Helghan, they witness the ISA beginning their fatal assault on Stahl's base. Stahl activates Massar's bio-weapon and a red cloud of radiation engulfs all of the ISA ships, which then plummet down to the surface of the world, leaving the Helghast ships intact and unharmed.

31. Echo suddenly loses control of the dropship and Kellan falls into a massive gravity well beneath Stahl's base, losing communications with Echo and everybody else. Floating up, Kellan enters the base as the Helghast fleet prepares for an all out assault upon Vekta City. Kellan reaches the base's war room and is greeted by many heavily armored Helghast soldiers, resulting in a long, drawn out firefight.

32. Once Kellan finally takes out all of the soldiers, he makes his way onwards towards Stahl's last known location. Stahl congratulates Kellan over the intercom for making it so far and states that the Vektans in general "lack a belief that truly unites them," unlike the Helghast  and that Kellan is rare in his determination. By killing Stahl, he (Kellan) will only delay the inevitable.

33. Kellan finally reaches Stahl however, tied to a life-support system due to advanced aging and Petrusite exposure, who claims that the Terracide only happened because the weak had to be destroyed and that it is Vekta's turn to 'share that fate."

34. Suddenly, there is a gunshot from behind Kellan, and he turns to see Sinclair who then proceeds to shoot Kellan as well, having already killed Stahl. Sinclair announces that he is saddened that of all people, Kellan would be the one who lost his trust, and that, as long as the Helghast exist, Vekta will be threatened.

35. With the newly acquired biological weapon, the threat can be ended however- forever, according to Sinclair. He proceeds to apologize that he couldn't be the person to protect Kellan as he promised to his father, Michael, and then shoots him once more- this time finally killing him. Now the credits come rolling in...

36. But...it's not all over yet- far from it in fact, as the story would suggest, and as the game goes to show us after the credits. In fact, it's far from over, as a new conflict is just beginning- whether we want it to or not. The second war has started, picking up barely where the last one ended...

37. The credits unfold to show the player- who is now obviously a Helghast operative, seeing as Shadow Marshal Lucas Kellan met his untimely and undeserved demise at the hands of his trusted, misguided mentor, Shadow Marshal Sinclair. The operative infiltrates Vekta City, where Sinclair can be heard giving a rousing speech in the abckground.

38. Sinclair's speech calls for war on the Helghast, noting that they must "finally be eradicated" if the Vektans are going to be able to live in peace, and that the two species- though once the same race, can no longer "coexist together" in the same area or even in close proximity. Therefore, it would be easiest and just best to wipe them out before they "wipe us out."

39. The operative fights through dozens of ISA and VSA personnel, finally coming to a well-positioned perch facing the now rebuilt VSA Headquarters, where Sinclair can be seen giving his speech. Pulling out a sniper rifle, the operative takes a deep breath, lining up a shot with Sinclair in the crosshairs. You can then hear the operative whisper, "For Kellan..." in a voice obviously belonging to Echo, before pulling the trigger. The screen fades for the last times right before the bullet is about to hit Sinclair's head.

40. And thus ends Killzone: Shadow Fall's excellently crafted futuristic cold war story- with some confusion on each side, yet a perfectly clear final shot to end a war before it officially begins. However, it is as of yet unclear if this will end the war or only martyr the twisted viewpoints of Shadow Marshal Sinclair. It would be interesting to see the Helghast as the actual "good" guys in the next game, or at least to play as Echo- seeing as there aren't really many good guys in this conflict at all. Shadow Fall is more like Game of Thrones in this aspect than anything else... Well, I hope you've enjoyed this spoiler blog, and good night folks.

Welcome to December 8^th and day eight on our unofficial GameInformer advent calendar: the ADVENTure Game Calendar, where we count the days to Christmas and flap our visual gums with discussions about an under-appreciated adventure game genre one series at a time. Today we are going to talk about a series of games I started playing early on in my adventure gaming career. That's right all you adventure game fans, today we are talking about:

Quest for Glory is a series of adventure games that actually draws a number of gaming mechanics from the role-playing game genre. Characters gain strength and charisma by performing tasks and grinding through combat with bandits, kobolds, goblins, and a whole slew of other enemies. But these few action based moments are hardly gooey and meaty center of these charming and hilarious adventure games.

The first title in the series was initially called "Hero's Quest" (in fact, my copy was one of the earliest copies that still bore this name) but Sierra was beat out on the trademark by Milton Bradley and Games Workshop when they trademarked their HeroQuest board game into a video game (I honestly had the board game but never once touched the video game, it just never appealed to me). Having lost the ability to continue calling the series "Hero's Quest", Sierra switched it up and decided to call the series "Quest for Glory".

Like most of Sierra's adventure titles, Quest for Glory's five entries are never entirely serious, throwing in humor and cameos from Sanford and Son to The Chronicles of Narnia. Later entries of the series would even include narration and voice acting by famous actors including John Rhys-Davies (Gimli in The Lord of the Rings) and Jennifer Hale (Mass Effect voice actor as well as a voice actor for dozens of other video games, this may have been her first gig as a voice for any video game character as she was the voice of Katrina in Quest for Glory 4).

Of all of the older games we have discussed to this point (and probably all that will come), Quest for Glory is one gamers of the current generation would find most accessible. The game does not have a specific character it follows, you build a character who can be a warrior, a thief, a mage, or a Paladin (this is something of a hidden class). Each class plays a little different and provide different solutions to many of the puzzles. Additionally, the character and their progression carries from on title to the next as you import your character, similar to Mass Effect. It also blends in action sequences and combat.

I got my hands on this game by pure chance. I found it in a bin at the local computer store. They had lost the packaging to the disk and had it in a clearance bin. Seeing it was an adventure game made by Sierra, my favorite developer/publisher of adventure games at the time, I bought it without question and never looked back. While it took me a while to adapt to the concept of combat in an adventure game, I soon learned to love the combination and Quest for Glory became one of my favorite Sierra titles of all time.

While doing research for the title, I found plenty of places to download Quest for Glory titles for free or for super-cheap. I strongly recommend you go and, as usually, get it...PLAY IT!

"The wolf growls an unintelligible response. What did you expect, a lecture on canines?" - Narrator in Quest for Glory 4: Shadows of Darkness

Take a look back at the prior days in the ADVENTure Game Calendar

Day 1 - Space Quest

Day 2 - Sam and Max

Day 3 - Full Throttle

Day 4 - Eco Quest

Day 5 - The Walking Dead

Day 6 - Still Life

Day 7 - Freddy Pharkas Frontier Pharmacist

[As Originally Written on SNo2.]

Before I begin this semi-review, semi-not-a-review post in earnest, allow me to state the obvious: you’re undoubtedly going to hear Little Nightmares in the same conversations you hear about Limbo and Inside in some ways. Ignore that chatter. Little Nightmares may strike some similar chords to what Playdead has done with their past titles, however it is in no way striking the same tone or note in what experiences it attempts to convey.

Yes, there are the similar tropes that come with dark games and brooding environments featuring dire and grotesque consequences for any unwary and unwelcome traveler. There are ultimately gruesome ends your adorable character can meet and plenty of equally gruesome foes to send her there. Environmental hazards and puzzles come in equal numbers and the mere use of light and darkness is more than enough to set the tone for each stage of the short yet endearing exploration.

If you’re into platforming puzzle titles that also feature palpable amounts of ambiance and relevant horrors and low-key fears that will probably make you cringe once you realize the extent of their depth and attention to detail, then Little Nightmares will rock your socks off. Or knock them off and freeze you with fear. Perhaps the most exciting component in the game is that it leaves pretty much everything except what you see with your own eyes quite ambiguous in an almost ‘Souls’ sort of way (of handling lore)- minus the bloody scratch marks on the ground everywhere.

Ambiguity permeates the entire experience and makes it a more convincing and exceptionally interesting one for that matter. You aren’t even given so much as maybe the occasional hint to rotate the camera around if you get stuck, however the rest of the controls are never exactly specified and so it’s up to you to learn the ropes. The experience perfectly meshes both two-dimensional and three-dimensional perspective into a very well thought out 2.5D platforming puzzler.

Although you are very definitely little and dwarfed by the surroundings you will encounter, there is nothing little at all about the immense nightmarish rogues you will inevitably face or flee. Because you cannot fight back in most cases, there is always an air of tension and terror whenever these foes enter the picture and you must fly through some puzzle or another and make it to the next area. I’m still quite shocked at how well thought out each room is and how each area ratchets up the tension and the screen literally crawls with the sound effects and slight background happenings as well.

Little Nightmares is a game that will easily catch you if you pay too much attention to your surroundings, but will ironically let you escape its clutches time and time again should you not find yourself entirely caught up in the warped reality it presents. For the most part the puzzle and platform gameplay never gets too difficult and so the entire experience is perfectly accessible, enjoyable, and entirely worthwhile in my opinion. The presentation itself will pique your curiosity and then the events themselves, as they unfold, should firmly grasp it and drag you into the experience.

The vivid imagery and scenes steal the show almost when coupled with the eerie and daunting soundtrack accompaniment. Oftentimes you may stumble onto a new area and not even notice the body dangling from a rope overhead with its feet just barely visible or the faint outline of a shadow shuffling hurriedly in the background. It’s the moments like that that add to the feeling that someone is always watching and that every skittering motion on screen is some new devilish foe come to rend your flesh or curdle your blood.

Needless to say, Little Nightmares isn’t your typical horror game and it’s much better for that fact. Ambiguity is the name of the game and the game itself will wear you out each and every time you think you’ve understood its nature- right up until the very end. You can feel free to stop and stare at the beautiful surroundings any time, however it still has a relatively run time and as such is a compact and entirely artistic and expressive experience.

If I were to apply my typical review material and run down the brief checklist of everything I tend to go through in those lengthy posts, Little Nightmares would be getting no less than a 9.5 out of 10 from me. It’s entirely deserving of that and a highly replayable experience if only to see the little touches that you’ll pick up with each runthrough here and there.

When everything is said and done, and 2017 is in the rearview mirror, Persona 5 will, in all likelihood, be my game of the year. Disregarding the fact that I may have come to this conclusion before even playing the game myself, it may seem is a bit too early to declare such a statement when we still have more than half of the year ahead of us and many more game releases – there are also the several early 2017 releases I haven’t gotten around to yet, like For Honor, Resident Evil, and Nioh to keep in mind. But I love the Persona series and I love Persona 5, so unless something very unexpecting comes along and blows me away, I believe my statement is justified.

Persona 5 retains almost everything I loved about the past entries in the series – likeable characters, interesting story, addicting social sim elements, fun combat, awesome dungeon crawling, and great music – but also makes enough revisions to the core gameplay that the experience still feels fresh, even if it is a fundamentally similar. The game didn’t captivate me in the same way that Persona 4 Golden did when I first played it back in 2015, where entire days seemed to revolve solely around me playing the game, but expecting such an occurrence to repeat itself would have been akin to hoping to catch lightning in a bottle twice.

There is so much great stuff to say about Persona 5, I wasn’t quite sure where to start. But the heart of the series has always been the characters and the bonds they shared, so that seemed about as good as place as any. If you didn’t already know, I believe the characters of Persona are some of the best to be found in any media. While I can’t say they are on the same level of the Persona 4 characters, this mix-matched gang of troubled misfits that make up the cast Persona 5 live up to the series reputation admirably and I believe they even surpass Persona 3’s SEES team. Though there are several reused character templates from past entries included in this group - such as the pervy animal mascot with an identity crisis, the high school detective, and student council president – and while their rapport is a bit weak, the group’s overall dynamic is diverse enough to fill its own niche.

Ryuji is the Yosuke-Kanji hybrid I never knew I wanted to hang out with and fills the role of best bro architype perfectly. The way Yusuke is handled is strange as he fades in and out of the story, but his oddball and eccentric personality goes right the face of his aloofness and makes him unforgettable even when the story does - plus it is also nice to see a male party member with book smarts, something which Persona 4 was devoid of. Haru’s inclusion into the story is hackneyed, but her passion for doing good and over-the-top showmanship sets her far apart from the typical rich-girl stereotype. Ann plays her own role well, while Makoto’s drive to change others perception of her along with her natural intelligence and adorable quirks makes her all the worthier of the codename Queen.

Unfortunately, at least in mind, Persona 5 was unable pull the straight flush that Persona 4 did - by which I mean having an entirely likeable cast. I know other people rank these two are their favorites, but Morgana and Futaba didn’t do much for me. For Futaba – her being practically the world’s greatest hacker is such a trite character development and she’s about as immature and condescending as a YouTube commenter, which I guess makes sense considering her backstory but still dosen't make me like her. Then again, while I certainly don’t love Futaba, I can't say she's offensively bad either. Morgana, on the other hand, is one of the most annoying characters in the series – he’s doesn’t top Ken, but, then again, no one can top Ken. An egomaniacal devil in the shape of a cat (figuratively speaking), Morgana’s need to gush about himself and his greatness drives me to anger. His perving out over Ann is obnoxious, and his constant railing of Ryuji is just as bad, but becomes even worse when the tables get turned and the game actually wants you to feel about for this a-hole of a cat. Also, he doesn’t want you to call him a cat just about as much as Ken doesn’t want you to call him kid.

The story of Persona 5 manages to expertly straddle the line between the darker and depressing tale of Persona 3 and the more upbeat, lighthearted Persona 4. There are some rather serious topics being tackled in Persona 5, but instead of allowing all fun the to be crushed under the weight of it all, there are numerous moments of jovial humor and fun dialogue to balance it out, while the thieves gimmick pieces the entire plot together nicely and is used to great effect. Despite starting with a strong narrative hook, though, the story does take a while to get going. The overarching plot remains dormant for a while, apart from brief cutaways to scenes to villains being evil, and starts to lag in the middle, but the way the storylines seeds they covertly planted at the beginning are brought back together near the game’s conclusion is admirable. One glaring weakness in the writing of Persona, however, is retained – and that is the game’s inability to disguise obvious plot twists. I won’t say much more at risk of spoiling anything, but I was really hoping they would tried a little harder. Thankfully, though, the game’s ending does pick up some of the slack and deliver a few surprises.

Have I mentioned how much I love seeing a turn-based game get such a well-publicized release? Because I do. Turn-based games are become fewer and fewer on non-handheld consoles, but Persona 5 should be used as an example of why we need more. The combat still relies on exploiting enemy weaknesses, but new (or returning) affinities like nuclear and psychokinesis give additions layers of strategy to battles. I’m also glad to see that Persona 5 finally added a much-requested feature of mine - the ability to switch party members anywhere in the dungeon. You can even do it in battle (though you must unlock it first), which, as Tokyo Mirage Sessions proved last year, is a useful mechanic and gives you more incentive - and not to mention makes it easier - to use all your party members. Instead of ignoring the outliers during the later parts of the game, which is something I was guilty of in past Persona games, I maintained a more active rotation. It doesn’t hurt that they now allow inactive party members to gain experience (again, you must unlock it first).

As much as I loved past Persona games, if I had to voice a criticism with them I’d say they do feel a little grindy at times. But that’s not the case with Persona 5. Your actions are now mapped to individual buttons streamlining the entire combat process, thus results in faster paced battles and less time spent digging through menus, while the introduction of the baton toss ability, which can trigger a barrage of chain attacks, helps cuts down on wasted turns.  The fact that dungeons are no-longer randomized and now feature set designs with more puzzles and intractable environments probably helps as well; they are also much more fun to explore than the empty corridors of past. Though Atlus seemed to realize that some would be discontented without the randomized dungeon crawling of past games, and included a Tartarus-like area called Mementos that allows you to grind for more experience in-between dungeons and fulfill requests, which, in another smart move by Atlus, gives you side-story benefits to grinding.

The only new (or returning, if you count the original Persona games) addition to the combat that I’m not a fan of is enemy negotiation. It kind of brings the fast-paced flow of battle to a crashing halt, which seems to the opposite of what Atlus was intending - considering every other change they made - and generally bland and not explained very well. I do like that you’re now battling against corrupted Personas instead the same batch of repetitive enemies with only slight variations that you fought in previous games. All in all, though, I would have preferred if they had just brought back Shuffle Time from Persona 4 Golden; it was fast and straightforward way to obtain Personas, items, and money, without having to click through repetitive text.

Speaking of Personas, maintaining, collecting, and fusing your Persona remains a stable of the combat and brings together all the gameplay elements. And once again, I spent many hours cycling through them, weighing their skills and weaknesses, and then finally fusing them together – all in the effort of finding the ideal lineup to bring into battle. Fusing works about the same way for the most part, but is now done by execution. While these “executions” lead to some cool and eerie visuals, they are lengthy and repetitive that after the first several times I never bothered to watch them again. The only other change of note – the ability to sacrifice a Persona to strengthen another or convert it into an item – is one I never really found much use for.

I love the combat. I love the Persona management. But what really makes Persona Persona is the social sim segments. Living the life of a high-school student by hanging out with your friends, going to movies, playing video games, and eating at the local burger joint, has always had far reaching effects on the other game elements and is a big part of what makes Persona’s gameplay cycle so addicting. And Persona 5 takes things up another notch by boosting more activities to participate in than either Persona 3 or 4. Other minor additions like, being able to listen in to snippets of the movies and television shows your character is watchaing (which are parodies of real movies) don’t add much to the gameplay per se, but they do give you something to look forward to apart from the usual stat increase.

 Social Links (now called Confidants) remain the highlight of the game. I love relationship building in games, and Persona is one of the best at it. Reiterating the point I made earlier about Persona series featuring some of the best characters, I wasn’t just referring to the main characters but the NPC’s as well. Persona 5 has several shining stars in that department too, but I think they could have balanced things out with a bit more diversity – I mean, about half of the Confidants are attractive, young females; all of whom unsettled me by their willingness to hit on the teenage protagonist.

Moving on, despite the name change, social links work the same for the most part. One big difference, though, is that there are now abilities that can only be unlock through specific characters (like the ability to switch party members during battle). While these abilities are cool and do give you more incentive to max out as many social links as possible, I’m not so sure I like the idea that the game is essentially forcing me to prioritize who I hang out with based on the benefits I can gain from them instead of who I’m the most interested in.

While you can plainly see the game was originally designed for the PS3, Persona 5’s graphical inferiority is suppressed by the excessive amount of pure style that can be found in every aspect of the game. I may not be the upmost authority on what is stylish, but I do know enough to tell that Persona 5 captures the essence of the word perfectly. Seriously, the game is just oozing in artistic flavor. Persona 5 touts it fantastic and dynamic art designs everywhere. The dungeons themselves are visual treats and so is getting to see the recognizable Persona from past games in HD. Every screen and menu - plus the screen transitions themselves - in the game are aesthetically pleasing and embrace the outlandish side of Japanese pop culture with elegance.

Like I said from the at the beginning of this piece, Persona 5 is great and probably will my game of the year. I might have done a bit of nitpicking here and there, but since first getting introduced to the series in 2015, Persona has quickly jumped to the top of my favorite video franchises. And the things I love the most tend to be the things that I judge the harshest.

When it comes to business, every company that sells a similar product as your company is competition.

If a consumer walks into a game-store and purchasesCall of Duty: WW2for their Xbox One instead of a PlayStation 4, Sony loses out on potential revenue. If that game isn't on the Nintendo Switch at all, that may sway opinions of those who might have wanted a Switch and enjoy playing Call of Duty. It's ridiculous to assume that the big three gaming companies aren't aware of situations like these, and it is equally ignorant to suggest that Microsoft, Nintendo, and/or Sony shouldn't worry about said competition. Consumers do not want second-best, nor do investors; every single thing your competition does better than you, is one more reason for these groups to place their cash with them instead of you.

There are different solutions for reaching out to consumers. Some companies choose to fill out certain niches that others don't. Atlus, for instance, focuses on high-budget JRPGs that may not pull in the same crowd as Battlefield might, but instead capture a market that doesn't have nearly as much competition as the latter. EAgoes for a shotgun approach, publishing many different genres of games every year or so. While this method is more risky, they rely on the big hits to help recuperate the losses from the games that don't perform as well - and then they focus on polishing hits while testing a new batch of games. In this case, publishers can coexist, although if too many publishers try the same approach with the same genres, or vie too much for the same audience, you run the risk of no publisher selling optimally. There are benefits to finding your own niche and doing it well.

However, console manufacturers do not have the same luxury. It is foolish to assume that the consumer will want to buy multiple consoles that cost hundreds of dollars each, compared to the relatively lesser prices of games. In an ecosystem where consoles share access to many of the same games, you can't expect the audience to find much point in buying both an Xbox and a PlayStation. There are exceptions to the rule, but you can't build a business out of those exceptions.

Unless you're an anime lawyer, of course.

This is where console gimmicks, exclusive games, DLC, and services come into play. These are going to be the talking points that will persuade someone to buy your console or its versions of games over its competitors'. With this blog series, I wanted to focus on how Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony are each going about this, looking at sales data to compare how well their solutions to winning over the market are working, and giving my opinion on who I think is doing the best job, and how the three companies could improve. As for the contents of this discussion, I will be going over the consoles, their games, services that are available on the companies' systems, and the marketing campaign of the companies themselves. I will notinclude the Wii U, as its successor is out, and its production nearly finished. The PlayStation Vita and 3DS are relics of last generation, so unless they are relevant to whatever I'm speaking about, I won't include them.

Disclaimer: I own a PlayStation, and think that Monster Hunter is the best series ever.

Part I: The Hardware

Sony has enjoyed the top spot in the market for six months running now [1],and it's believed as of January that there are approximately double the number of PS4 consoles in the hands of consumers than Xbox Ones[2].The Nintendo Switch is also having an amazing start, selling over 2.4 million systems to retailers and consumers as of this writing. Not quite as amazing as the 4.2 million the PlayStation 4[3]sold over its first six weeks, but it must be noted that the PS4 launched over the holiday season, which likely impacted sales as well. Microsoft isn't releasing the sales numbers of their consoles anymore, so my best totally-scientific estimate is that they are selling four consoles per week.

Now, did Microsoft's initial dud of an announcement for the Xbox One hurt their chances of winning the top spot this generation? I think it hurt them initially, definitely, but I also believe that such claims are exaggerated. It's no secret that Sony's PS3 beat out the Xbox 360 near the tail-end of last generation[4],and honestly I think that the momentum carried onto this generation.

But that's a discussion for a later installment; I just wanted you to get a feeling for the sales numbers so far this year. Let's get to what all three companies are serving us in 2017.

Microsoft and Sony have been measuring their teraflops a lot in late 2016 and 2017. They have latched onto the talk from the beginning of the generation when it was all about“frames-per-second” and “resolution”, and have decided to solve their dilemmas of not having the most future-proof boxes by pushing out more powerful and equally expensive versions of their consoles. Both companies claim that the “PS4 Pro” and “Xbox Scorpio [yet to get an official name as of this writing]” are not replacements for their current systems, but hardly anyone would be surprised if in 2020, the OG PS4 and Xbox One are both shifted out.

Get ready for the PS4 SlimPro 2 in 2020, now with 50% more teraflops!

Nintendo, on the other hand, after completely tera-flopping with the Wii U, decided to merge their console and handheld audience by releasing the “Nintendo Switch” in March 2017; a relatively powerful tablet-like device that you can hook up to the television to play on the big screen as well as on-the-go. It's not as beefy as even the original PS4 or Xbox One, but what Nintendo lacks in power, they double down in portability; it's an interesting trade-off to say the least, and I am excited to see whether that helps.

Microsoft has all but abandoned the “Kinect 2.0”, and let's not pretend that Sony was ever going to support their“PlayStation Eye 3.0” or “PlayStation Move” past their initial launch phases. Sony is, however, still actively supporting their “PSVR” virtual reality headset, but we'll have to wait until E3 to see if they're going to continue support, or let it fall to the wayside.

I can't really argue with what Sony and Microsoft are doing right now with their consoles. Yes, the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One both came into the generation underdeveloped and under-powered. I don't like that halfway into a generation, they're both offering“refreshed” consoles that only accelerate these feelings. But, it was the most sensible solution, rather than ending the generation early, or living with games that may not run well without serious optimization. It was a decision that neither manufacturer should have to make in the first place, but I haven't gotten to the point where I feel like I need a PS4 Pro or Scorpio, so I won't denounce either company just yet.

Likewise, I'm not upset that the Kinect and PlayStation Move failed this generation to garner interest. Business ventures fail, it happens. This isn't the first time either company has tried to push the technology, and there comes a time where it's best to cut your losses and pull back, rather than waste money and studio resources to make games for a technology that doesn't work well with it.

It is, however, disappointing, that Sony released PSVR on a console that clearly can't handle it. Experiences are in, skeptics was right. It sucks. Sales that were initially exciting are now merely “on track”[5],with no sales numbers given this year by the company since December 2016. The most angering thing about this, is that PSVR is how many curious casuals are getting their first virtual reality experience. When you push out an inferior product, prone to cause dizziness, with inaccurate cameras, and low resolution, and no AAA games for it, you poison the well for not only yourself, but any other company who wants to sell this new technology to customers. Sony pushing out an unready headset to the public in order to grab the first sales is short-sighted, and will burn them in the long run.

I find that this is the problem for most Sony products. They tried to sell the public on the Vita's cross-play with the PS3, but the result was shoddy at best until the PlayStation 4 came out. The PlayStation Move was a decent venture, a solid alternative to the Wii, with no games built from the ground-up to support it. The PlayStation Eye has always been garbage compared to the Microsoft Kinect, and Sony had a longer time working on the Eye to begin with. They push out things before they're ready, and abandon ship when their plans fail. I don't see this hurting Sony now necessarily, but there will be a time where consumers start catching onto this, and get wary of buying in. This will affect Sony, and many other companies in the future.

Honestly, does anyone even remember what Wonderbook was?

As for now, however, Sony will do fine. They aren't selling solely because of their hardware, but rather the strength of their exclusives, a fantastic marketing campaign, latching onto what the competition does do right, and the momentum of three generations worth of these things. Yes, their hardware could use more work, but there is more than just that when it comes to selling the consoles, the rest of which are things Sony does beautifully.

Microsoft has been the opposite, very conservative with what they're doing with their console as Xbox as a whole. As of now, we won't know most of the details on Project Scorpio (besides rumors and details to a handful of outlets[6]) or a possible VR headset until E3 this year, and their talks of cloud computing at the beginning of the generation have all but ceased completely. I am very curious to see what they are going to announce at E3, because as it stands, they need something big if they are going to come back in this generation as a serious competitor, with Sony dominating them in sales, and Nintendo fresh with a new console.

It's hard for me to give Microsoft much praise, or even criticisms for their hardware development; no one has much information to go on. They aren't - to my knowledge - doing anything that Sony isn't, and perhaps that's the biggest tell of all, they aren't doing, and if they are, they aren't showing.Your current console has no bells and whistles; Microsoft isn't impressing anyone with what they have. I am expecting Scorpio to blow everyone out of the water, because if it doesn't, Microsoft's gaming division may be in serious trouble later on – and they know that. They need something that they can say they're best at, because they aren't beating in console exclusives like Sony is, and they aren't beating in interesting gimmicks and console innovation like Nintendo. Maybe power can be their clutch, at least until the AAA exclusives do start rolling in at a faster pace.

Nintendo has released their Switch this year, and I think it's a strange but alluring concept. Combining the portability of handhelds and the strengths of a console is a risky venture to a company whose handhelds do much better than their consoles - two out of the last three being flops. They're putting all of their eggs in one basket, and no one knows how this is going to turn out; it's too early to say. I am worried about it being so underpowered when it comes to third-party support. Games like Mass Effect: Andromeda, Ghost Recon: Wildlands, and Overwatch are all skipping the console - and regardless of how one may feel about particular franchises, consumers are going to think about all of the third party they're going to miss out on if they make the Switch their console of choice. Now, if the Switch continues to be a big hit, developers will port games to it, quality be damned. But that takes time, and not having publishing giants like EA, Ubisoft, and Activision supporting you fully year one is a huge hit to Nintendo's system when it comes to expanding its market.

I think that it takes courage to come out with a system that thinks about portability when your biggest competitors are talking about power. I think that it's telling that Nintendo released the console in March rather than the holiday season. That shows confidence in your product. This isn't to say that the Switch isn't missing some key features that would help make it a sell to consumers who weren't on-board with the Wii U - but once again, that's a story for a later installment. You're not going to beat Sony and Microsoft when you're talking about power, when you're talking about RAM, and graphics cards; they have that market cornered already. Nintendo is choosing to carve their own niche, and if they can pull this off, they can sell at least as many units as the Nintendo 3DS did. I don't see them winning over a new crowd with their current game-plan, but those are due to software issues, service issues, and a woefully ignorant PR team (good God the PR team has to be run by a bunch of monkies) - not necessarily the hardware itself. Do I wish it were more powerful? Yes. Will the lack of said power hurt potential ports? Definitely. But as far as I'm concerned, the Switch is a reasonable device, with acceptable sacrifices if it brings the quality that the 3DS did. It's sleek, it's modern, and it makes portable consoles look like they're not just for kids. I'm excited to see what Nintendo does with it in the future.

"I work for Nintendo now. Deal with it."

In the end, I see positivism on the horizon, and skepticism on its heels. Sony has room to grow in its hardware, but whether they choose to strengthen their long-lived weakness is anyone's guess. Microsoft has grown silent, but maybe the next iteration of their Xbox One and their VR plans can win back consumers who may have fallen out of favor. Nintendo is in the most peculiar spot of all, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that all eyes are on them and the Switch at this critical moment in their history. E3 is fast approaching, and that's when we can expect the three companies to put their money where their mouths are. I – for one- can't wait to see the new hardware innovations that will surely be unleashed upon us this year.

What do you think of what the big three are all doing on the hardware side of things? Are you excited for anything coming up, and what would you like to see from each company going forward? I'd love to hear your opinion!

And catch tomorrow's installment; I dig into the games each company offers, their relationships with other publishers, and services that the big three all offer. Stay frosty, peeps.

[1]http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2017/03/16/npd-game-sales-slump-for-the-month-of-february.aspx

[2]https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/01/reports-ps4-is-selling-twice-as-well-as-xbox-one-overall/

[3]http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/01/07/ces-playstation-4-sales-pass-42-million

[4]http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/01/10/report-ps3-surpasses-xbox-360s-worldwide-shipped-total

[5]https://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2017/01/16/is-sonys-psvr-doomed-heading-into-2017/#7eb0b0ae1492

[6]https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/apr/27/project-scorpio-xbox-chief-microsoft-plans-console

WELCOME TO ANOTHER

DO GAMERS KNOW THEIR COVER ART!

 If this is your first time allow me to explain how this works. I will post a picture of a video game's cover art almost entirely blacked out. Each picture after that will slowly reveal more of the cover art and it's your job to figure out what game it is with as little of the picture as possible. The cover art can be from any system, any game, past, present, and even future if it has yet to release. I look forward to hearing how well (or poorly) you did in the comments. Sound good? Good. Let's begin shall we!

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15.

ANSWER: God of War

SCORE:

1-4: Clearly you possess the Rage of the Gods! Well done Spartan!

5-8: You have Zeus' Fury! Like father like son I suppose!

9-12: You command the Army of Hades. Just a bit morbid.

13-15: Not even fit to be the ash on Kratos' body...seriously though.

Can you believe God of War came out more than 12 years ago??? Me either! It's amazing how quickly this series became a Sony staple. The original God of War didn't appear until well into the life of the PS2, but its impact was felt immediately. Kratos made a huge impact and while the original game did come to a satisfying end with Kratos on the throne as the god of war, we all wanted more. At the time of this game's release I was nearly finished with high school. History wasn't exactly my favorite subject, but Greek mythology and the Iliad and Odyssey were something I really enjoyed. They are some of the most memorable stories in history and seeing those characters placed into a video game, especially a puzzle/platformer/adventure game, was just too perfect. While I would have been satisfied with the series ending after the initial trilogy, especially after Ascension came out (which I still have never finished), I can't help myself but to be excited for the new game coming to PS4. I hope Kratos can make a huge comeback and deliver a new series of games that can live up to the original trilogy. If nothing else, I can at least be excited to learn more about Norse mythology which is something I know surprisingly little about.

Thanks for playing! I'll be back with another as always on the 15th!

[As Originally Read on SNo2.]

The Witcher 3 is still one of the greatest games of this generation and perhaps once you really get into it one of the greatest and most ambitious projects of all-time as well. As with any expansive quest to combat evil and save loved ones, there are plenty of popular references along the way- harking both to previous adventures of Geralt’s as well as to things that exist in other worlds entirely. I will only be discussing two of these references today- one of which I’ve talked about at some length previously either in comments or my other Witcher 3 discussion blog which can be found here.

The first reference is perhaps the deepest and potentially even completely or mostly unintentional in its origin and yet still altogether interesting whatever the case may be- me reading too much into it and nerding out or otherwise. I must warn you first and foremost, if you’re reading this post then know that I will be shamelessly discussing things of the spoilery nature that pertain not only to The Witcher series (although are predominately limited to Wild Hunt), but also to popular fiction and other mediums. The first reference I have comes in two very simple words and is in fact related to the name of one Gaunter O’Dimm- a non-playable character whom Geralt first meets in White Orchard at the onset of the game but becomes shall we say more important in the Heart of Stones expansion.

Yes, that’s the guy right there. Now, you may be wondering how it is that a simple thing such as a name can in any way, shape, or form be a huge pop culture reference. Well, this one goes pretty deep so just bear with me as we descend into a rabbit hole of sorts and I try to make sense of the startling revelations I’ve been having lately. Gaunter O’Dimm seems to be a little bit off but it’s not until you really get to know him that you begin to realize that being off is just the tip of the iceberg- he’s obviously some sort of djinn or conjurer or demon as Geralt himself deduces.

Now here’s where I do a bit of conjuring of my own and send your brain into oblivion with my next few words: Gaunter O’Dimm can be related in more than one way as a reference to Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series. BAM. Didn’t see that one coming now did you? Oh yes- I assure you there is at least marginal ground for this presumed assumption whether intentional or not. You see, In the fifth book of the main novel series (Wolves of the Calla) there is a character referred to as Walter O’Dim- or Randall Flagg for those of you into Stephen King who recognize the demonic presence in both The Dark Tower series and The Stand.

So in essence this is pretty much a reference within a reference within a ton of references- confounding, I know.

The reason I say there is very definitely at least some sort of relation here is mainly because of some of the elements that make up Flagg/O’Dim’s character and contribution to the story overall. In many ways the devious and devilish acts that O’Dim and O’Dimm try to pull off are vaguely similar in scope and design. Plus they have semi-similar existences and inevitably come to about the same conclusion in terms of character arcs as well. Just as Walter O’Dim toys constantly with King’s Gunslinger in the series, Gaunter O’Dimm toys constantly with Geralt of Rivia in Wild Hunt- often working with him as much as against him behind the scenes as well as completely out of the shadows.

It’s an interesting relationship that both sets of characters have and one that dynamically affects their respective stories as well. Another interesting note is that whereas King’s O’Dim is an evil wizard who also maniacally permeates the very fabric of fourth wall breaking time and appears time and time again throughout King’s works as a minor yet outwardly evil presence, O’Dimm is as far as anyone knows “evil incarnate” and can manipulate both time and souls on a whim. Needless to say both are incredibly terrifying and powerful forces of nature and not to be trifled with.

Although their relationship as far as references go mostly stems from very similar names and highly suspect powers and intentions, it’s interesting to see that two well-known and well-respected worlds of fiction should share such amazing entities that are startlingly similar after all.

I’ll leave you clinging to your seats with a little glimpse at at least one incarnation of the infamous Walter O’Dim of King’s legendary series…

But now we must really be moving onto our second and most interesting in-house reference, at least as far as CD Projekt Red productions and games go. It is not secret that the talented minds behind The Witcher series have been putting their respective time and effort towards a new, much more modern (but no less dark and gritty) world. Cyberpunk 2077 understandably strikes a lot of Blade Runner-esque chords and looks entirely too promising not to be an interesting next project for the team.

Although there have been recent stories in regards to the nature of the proposed trademark and how it might affect others attempting to create games in the cyberpunk genre, which has been around long before CDP deigned to craft their role-playing adventure, I believe we are in much better hands than the whole Scrolls debacle between Mojang and Bethesda seemed to be industry-wise. Potential scandal and news tidbits aside, there is an interesting relationship between both Wild Hunt and Cyberpunk 2077 and it stems from a direct and quotable source within the confines of Ciri and Geralt’s adventure. Literally- there’s dialogue support of such a reference and even lore to back things up.

Later in the story- actually, shortly after you rescue some dwarves (or leave them to die, your choice really) from a misty island filled with plenty of nightmare-inducing creatures, Ciri will be reunited with Geralt and there will be plenty of ensuing dialogue. At one point, Ciri will mention offhandedly that she traveled to other worlds (as is well within her power) with Avallac’h and one of these worlds boasted flying carriages and people with metallic heads and something of the general futuristic-y kind of noire vibe essentially.

Well, if that obvious and blatant references doesn’t just light the signal fire for Cyberpunk 2077 then I don’t really know what will. As The Witcher 3 is probably Geralt’s last huzzah at least for the foreseeable future and a completely appropriate end to an amazing generational character arc, the next project predominately on CDP’s plate is of course none other than 2077. As such, it would only make sense that they include some kind of passing of the baton and what better way to do it than to actually confirm that both The Witcher and Cyberpunk actually exist in the same universe/multiverse? Actually, it’s quite brilliant from a developer perspective and even gave them an excuse to build in other worlds (showcasing their design abilities and unique ideas) as well as time bending mechanics into Wild Hunt as well. Really, well done CD Projekt.

Although the first of these two references is of course a lot grander and perhaps more farfetched than this second quite brief one- both are thoroughly interesting to ponder and the mere thought of Geralt and cyborg ninjas (or whatever) existing in the same dimension is mind blowing to be honest.

I don’t know about you, but I’m sure Geralt has always wanted to travel between worlds and get attacked by what Stephen King would eagerly refer to as massive “lobstrosities” as well. Well, you’ll have more than one opportunity to travel to other realms and not all are as sunny and forgiving as this ruined desert world that echoes of human vanity and global warming and other issues prevalent in our culture today. For example, you may find yourself in a future where the Wild Hunt has decimated Gearalt’s world with the White Frost and the mere touch of snow chills you literally to death.

Or in another instance if you descend from suitably safe platforms and into the fern forest below then you suffocate and die thanks to toxic fumes. Really, Avallac’h and Ciri were lucky to wind up in a dystopian future rather than the places that Geralt was spun all around creation and quite literally through time and space for. The man just attracts bad luck and worse monsters like no other, it’s true.

Anyway, it’s been a long haul and I’m sure some of you have thoroughly fired your brains by now with at least one of these supposed references- real or otherwise theorized. I do hope you’ll share your comments and questions or even discuss some of the other spoilery intricacies of The Witcher 3 with me either now or in the future. If you cannot tell, sometimes I’ve just got to nerd out. Cheers.

A few weeks or days ago, I wrote about how I'm skeptical about the game's release, since the new Prey is a reimagining of the original. Not too long after that, the demo was release as the first hour of the game was revealed to us. I got it and was surprised to what I saw, but still stand by my previous statement. Hello and welcome to this Abstract Review.

The game starts like how the game's reveal was, you wake up on March 15th of 2032, considering that the year is not too long from now. You wake up to this great apartment and are going to your first day of work. You get to so these "Tests" and somehow they all are strange. You expect something to happen while your doing these "Tests." I mean, the test where you are to hide in the room with only a chair to accompany you. Like, I said before, this makes you expect that something will happen to you like how GLaDOS would do her tests. I actually liked it, it  had the right feeling to it: Unsettling. Not disturbing, that's something completely different. This moment made you be more aware of your surroundings as they made it as a boring old tutorial. Is that bad? No, that was a good formula to make a boring tutorial into something unsettling and anxiety inducing. 

After that, you are to answer typical questions, the train one. You know, the one where you have to choose who to save, a single person or a group of people from a train. It was typical, but it was still unsettling, especially the person testing you asking what happened to the "Real" tests. I wonder what he had in mind. As you're answering these questions, on the counter where the scientists are observing you, something takes the form of a Coffee cup. One of them pick it up and discovers his cup was empty. Before you know it, the coffee cup sucks the life out of his face. That's what happens when you drink coffee, kids!

Once that happens, you are gassed and wake in the same room in your apartment, with the automated voice saying the same date, March 15th of 2032. I actually would say this was a great little scene. Something psychological where you have this Groundhog moment where you wake up in the same day every morning, although, (I believe) it's actually January. After that whole 45 minute ordeal, you finally get to the gameplay. 

Although, you are limited to the game's ability (Since this is a Demo), but the game feels great. I don't like how the sensitivity is at 20, though. That's some slow camera movement my friend. "StarterPack, the camera is better on PC." I bet it is, but my PC is now trash after my cousin fixed it. Every time I try to play something new, the game's floor doesn't load. Need a new graphics card. Anyways, I like the start of it, the game has a Half-Life feel to it, where you are armed by a familiar weapon. It's not a Crowbar, it's not a Wrench-no wait, it's a wrench. It took the Bioshock root to the first weapon of the game, you find a Wrench. Although, this might be a weapon that would hardly be used, but it does the job on those mimics. Speaking of which, I love the idea of mimics, it's such an ingenious enemy for a horror game. 

Basically, the mimics do as they should, take the place of any inanimate object just so they can catch the player off guard. Despite their size, they are pretty hard. I don't know on any other difficulty, but on Hard, they pack quite a punch. They can sometimes land two hits and take you down by half health. I really like that, despite their punch. Really makes you be more aware of your surroundings. When you get things like the Gloo Cannon or the Shotgun, I wouldn't suggest taking the time to aim it at them since they are pretty fast and hard to hit. Just stick to the Wrench since they are easily staggered, but don't charge at too many of them with just that Wrench, sometimes it's fine to just let them hide. 

Another thing I enjoy about these mimics is how they show so much about them in the demo. I know this is suppose to show things about the game, but most demos these days don't show that much about their game. Instead of saying or speculating that they just took over and ask why they had so much of them, they show you that they are easily multiplied. Once they consume a victim, they split into 6 more of themselves, making the infestation look more reasonable. There is more enemies in the game, but they only reveal a larger one called the Phantom. Although, large, they are sort of easy to put down. If your not surrounded, you can just Gloo them down and pump a shell on them. They can escape you don't have a good eye on them, but they are easy to spot since they leave a trail to where they go. I would have liked to see more about the enemies, but I guess that's the point of the demo, just to get the game. 

The only thing I dislike about the game's enemies is their announcement music. It's cool when you first listen to it, but when you killed everything in sight, you have to prepare for a full 15 minute, heart pumping music to play and annoy you. I mean, we get it game, there was a mimic, you can stop now... You're not stopping... 

Besides that, there is one weapon I don't understand. The grenade you find in the game seems to be a flash bang, but I see some damage down to the mimics, but nothing else. Just seems it disperses the enemies to make the walkway safer to cross. And the Huntress Crossbow, thought that was a Joke, but then I saw the game's weapon trailer, it's a full fledge crossbow that seems to a large amount of damage. The one you get in the Demo is a Nerf Gun that shoots foam darts. I bet in the full game, you make it into a full on Crossbow, but for now, I feel teased about it. 

And then, the game has something called Crafting! Wow, a survival game with crafting? That's new! Anyways, the game has a strange system for you to craft with, although limited, but the game gives you four different components: Organic, Synthetic, Exotic and Mineral. They appear as blocks, but when you look at the Organic one, it looks soft and it's skin colored sometimes! That is just disturbing. Anyways, you can get these materials by getting unwanted material and placing them into the "Fabricator." Although simple to reduce them to four different materials, but I'm glad they didn't make a complicated crafting system where you have to look for a bolt to upgrade something, but I like this simple system. It's less of a stress to find something extremely specific. 

The one thing I dislikes about this demo is that they didn't show off the powers. "But StarterPack, they are trying to get you to buy the game!" I know, but I want to see how they work! I want to see what they can do and be more excited to get the game when they restrict me from the other abilities as well as how to upgrade them. Speaking of which, the few Neromods you get are fun. Although, they are limited to you, still fun. A little tip for the players out there, safe the mods for when you need. I used them all on Engineering and found out hacking is need to play further in the demo. 

Another thing I want to talk about is how the one thing they stuck to was the mouses on screens. "But that's just a regular computer, StarterPack!" I know, but when you view a device, the cursor is replaced by a mouse cursor. It makes me nostalgic about the previous game and Doom. Great games. 

Well, that's my Abstract Review. I hope you enjoyed the piece and I am temped to get the game. So far, I am happy with what I am given, although limited, but I am almost excited to get this game. Again I hope you enjoyed this and 'til next time...

Play More Games!

I came all the way here just to kill you!

Ohai there Game Informer, last month's entry seemed to stump quite a few people, only ended up having 1 person be able to guess the game. It was a tough one for sure. This month's entry should be a little easier, I think...

Allow me to welcome you to Guess that Game, a monthly feature loosely based off of the game of 20 Questions. The first thing you might want to do is make sure you are viewing this with the website lights turned on (the switch is located at the top of the website near the search box). If you don't...the clues and answer might be inadvertently revealed as you read this.

However, instead of each of you asking me 20 questions, I have come up with 20 clues about a game whose identity you are trying to guess. The clues start out rather generic and progressively get more revealing, so if you have to read all of the clues, the answer should be fairly obvious by the end (or if you read only the 20^thclue, you have a fairly good chance of guessing it, but that kind of defeats the purpose). Your goal is to guess the game after reading as few of the clues as possible starting in numerical order with Clue #01.

NOTICE: Of course I have no way of verifying the integrity of your answer, so should you choose to leave a comment with your score, it is based off of the honor system. I'll take you at your word.

Now, you might notice that except for Clue #1, the rest of them are blank. How are you supposed to read the rest of them? Ah, using the magic of technology...the clues are there, however the font is white so the text appears invisible. In order to view them, all you have to do is highlight the text by clicking and holding the cursor on the text and dragging the cursor over each clue. This is an extremely easy process that most of you are undoubtedly familiar with. Oh, as a reminder - if you're viewing the GI website with the lights off, obviously this isn't going to work since the font color is reversed. I recommend turning the lights on when viewing this blog.

The same concept applies to the answer which is found at the very end of the blog.

With that said let's jump right into the clues!

Good luck, you'll need it!

GOAL: Guess the game by reading as few of the clues as possible, starting at #1.

CLUES:

1. This game comes from a franchise that started way back in 1991

2. There have been games from this series on many different consoles including PC, 360, Super NES and even the Nintendo DS

3. There have been over 10 games in this series, including expansions.

4. This particular game came out in 2010

5. There are multiple ways to win this game including combat or diplomacy

6. This game had multiple terrains, each with benefits and disadvantages

7. Players also had to collect resources from those terrains in order to progress

8. This game has over 80 different units for players to use

9. Players are able to discover new technologies in order to help them throughout this game

10. This series has had the name of the original developer on every game

11. This game originally had 18 factions to choose from when starting a game, eventually rising to over 40

12. There are many famous historical characters in the games from this series

13. This game is a turned based strategy

14. When players capture enemy cities they are able to decide what to do with it including razing it or annexing it

15. There are many famous landmarks that players are able to build in this game including the Great Wall of China, the Pyramids, Stonehenge and many more

16. The previous game in this series was known for having "death stacks" of soldiers

17. Many people who have played this series suffer from "just one more turn" syndrome

18. An error in coding in earlier games from this series made a normally peaceful leader go full nuclear late in the game

19. This game featured hexagonal tiles for units to move across

20. Players will advance from the stone age all the way up to the future as the progress towards victory.

CONCLUSION:

So, how did you do? Finals for school edition!

Got over 100% by getting bonus points! Woohoo! (1-5 clues)

Did really well and was still able to get some great grades! (6 - 10 clues)

Forgot about that one really important final, whoops! (11 - 15 clues)

You know those dreams where you're in your underwear and have to present in front of the 300 person class? Like that except real... (16 - 20 clues)

I never was able to play much of this game as I didn't really have anything that was able to play it until a few years ago. This was my first time playing a game in this series as well and I loved it.

ANSWER BELOW:

Sid Meier's Civilization V

Until next time, Game Informer

Regards

Want more Guess that Game in your life? Check out last month's entry here!

DISTINCTION: My 4th Favorite Movie of All Time

Rotten Tomates page, IMDb entry

Truly outstanding acting, atmosphere, and writing are the core elements of what makes this remake of the already-fantastic Let the Right One In just as good as (if not better than) the original. I went into the theater expecting something merely okay, with certain elements of the original but not really worthy of comparison. What I was greeted with was an intelligent, scary, and genuinely touching tale of, ultimately, what human beings are willing to do for love.

Now the original film, Let the Right One In, though a bit overrated, is easily one of the greatest horror films of all time. Granted, it's not really that scary; the scares came from the constantly suspenseful atmosphere, the almost complete lack of music, and some great and touching conversations (even though the average American viewer will definitely snicker at some of the lines). It was also a revolutionary film for the vampire horror subgenre; at a time when the Twilight series was sucking the life out of people's fascination with vampires (pun intended) by treating the fact that one of its main characters is a bloodsucker as a distant afterthought. Let the Right One In strutted onto the stage with something bold, new, and adventurous...and was ignored for its trouble. Further proof that generally, money, not quality, is what motivates Hollywood.

The writer and director of this remake, Matt Reeves, is best known for his controversial Blair Witch-Godzilla love child, Cloverfield. After such a thrilling, balls-to-the-wall disaster flick, Let the Right One In is probably the last movie one would attribute to him directing, let alone writing. But, lo and behold, he has done the impossible: he has (still on the record) IMPROVED ON THE ORIGINAL. No, your eyes do not deceive you. Let Me In is superior to Let the Right One In.

Now, I know this is hardly a popular opinion, so at least finish reading this before you start complaining. There is absolutely nothing the original film does that the remake doesn't do better. Acting? Music? Direction? Actual horror? Check, check, check, and check. I can comfortably say that this was my favorite film of 2010 (and one of my all-time), including giants such as Inception, The King's Speech, Black Swan, and The Social Network, rivaling some of the year's Best Picture nominees in terms of pure quality of filmmaking.

Kodi Smit-McPhee stars as Owen, a 12-year-old boy who is leading an unenviable life in Los Alamos, New Mexico. His soon-to-be-divorced mother passes out drunk on a nightly basis, he is constantly bullied at school, and has no real friends to speak of. This forces him to spend his time doing homework, eating Now and Later candy, and spying on neighbors for occasional entertainment and boredom relief. The divorce thing is a change from the source material already, and a welcome one, as it adds more emotional weight to the boy's situation, instantly making him a more sympathetic character.

One fateful night, he sees a tall, strange-looking man (Richard Jenkins) and a small girl (played by the always-wonderful Chloe Grace Moretz) enter his apartment complex. Naturally (supernaturally?), the murders begin, with an early duo of gruesome scenes that take the gore further than Let the Right One In ever did. Almost counterintuitively, the violence adds another emotional layer to the story, though one that doesn't come into play until later on. Oblivious, of course, to the fact that he is living next door to a pair of experienced killers, Owen befriends the innocent young girl; first, in a scene almost directly ripped out of the Swedish version, Abby warns him that she cannot be his friend. No reason for it, really. Just that it's probably better that way. Their next interaction is one that will make your heart melt. I will not discuss it here, but suffice it to say that you know you would have said the same things, asked the same questions, as Owen does. All of which is immediately followed by Abby's first personal killing, establishing Owen's new friendship as a double-edged sword, dangerously sharp.

The story plays out almost identically to the Swedish version for a while from here, with Owen devising a system of communication through walls so he and Abby can talk even when they cannot see each other, as well as following the exploits of the local sheriff (Elias Koteas). This is followed by the father going out to claim another victim to temporarily quench Abby's bloodlust, going awry in a well-executed car crash sequence, which leads back to the very beginning of the film.

Reeves manages some truly miraculous feats with the camera and actors around this point, even if the scenes are taken out of the Swedish original. There is one shot in particular of Owen opening the door to his apartment to visit Abby, all seen through a reflection on a TV screen displaying an old 80's intermission: "10:00 PM: do you know where your children are?" The children in question offer some dazzling performances. Chloe and Kodi have a chemistry all-too-rarely seen these days, and you can feel everything they do, even fifty feet away from the screen.

The cinematography in this film is something to see. The colors blue and yellow feature prominently, with yellow being present when Abby and Owen are interacting face-to-face, and blue when some crisis is in progress. It's surprisingly subtle, but enough to be a noticeable device with which to tell the story. Further adding to the atmosphere is the soundtrack, a melancholy, subdued mix of strings and pianos that manages never to intrude on what is happening in front of your face. Hell, this score (courtesy of the reliable Michael Giacchino) is certainly Oscar-worthy, though the film itself is not something the Academy would notice even if it were already on top of them.

I know I've gone on a bit long with this one, but don't just take my word for it. Go rent it from Netflix or something and see for yourself. You might be surprised at what you find.

And here's the next clue. You probably don't even need to Google this one.

A story would be basically nothing with a protagonist, Antihero, or a main/lead character. This can be said for many things like movies, plays, novels, and story's in general, but in this case: Video Games. In video games there are an abundance of iconic characters whom we all have come to know and love or admire and respect. Here I make a list of some of my favorite characters from various video games and try to explain what makes them unique, or what defines their character. The evolution of a character through new stories that are told about them in separate installments of games can make each new story shed a light on some changing aspect of a character. The choices the character is forced to make would make him dynamic, or changing themselves in some way internally during the story. And then there are just reasons about that character that we like and hold in our hearts as being one of our favorite. But these favorites we chose don't always have to be given to the lead actor in a story. Maybe cl4p Tr4p from the borderlands series pulls at your heart strings for being a peculiar comedic robot, or sully from the uncharted series because he's Nathan Drakes right hand man who's not afraid to tell it how it is, or even the Joker, for being one of Batman's biggest foes in the Arkham series (and in batman lore in general) captures what you love about an antagonist. The Video game media is a great way to encapsulate the many things we love about a fictional being in story's and bring them to life and shed light on many of their traits. So this is a list of some great characters from gaming whom I love to play as and/or see in the story in general. I thought of some of these characters pretty quickly, and just decided to write something about them each. 

John Marston

John Marston Exemplifies a dynamic character because of his past and the way in which he reformed himself and chose a life of peace for his family. His outlaw past coupled with his undying crusade of redemption against his former pals and partners in crime makes for a compelling story, but also interesting implementation of his character development as a whole. He meets some other eclectic and equally interesting people along the way who john is relied upon and visa versa. It seems there's a certain sensibility he possesses in the dialogue that lends itself to the overarching goal of redemption. I enjoy some of his wardrobe unlocks as well which are an added bonus to complement his style.

Nikko Belic

Nikko Belic on the other hand is a hired gun willing to participate in glorious amounts of anarchy to propel himself further along and to adapt to his shaky new life in the land of opportunity. His willingness to do the dirty work and get the job done without remorse seems to be his greatest ability. That along with stealing pretty cars.

Kratos

Also who seems to be in the throes of a redemption quest and mission of glorious violence and vendetta is Kratos. A hero of the PlayStation console over a few generations. This God of War kills the gods of Olympus and enacts great acts of vengeance on his path. Kratos is one of my favorite characters because he is fueled by the wrath of a thousand men, is tasked with killing the gods, and is a Spartan Warrior.  

A broken pot falls down on my head, how often a broken vessel is shot

Geralt of Rivia

There might be something, something about passing the trials of becoming a Witcher that is the reason for Geralt's serious demeanor. Maybe it's because not everyone makes it out of those trials alive. This serious and sometimes stoic personality might also lend itself to his intense job as a monster hunter and getting witcher contracts.  Being a non-human leads the npc's of the world to reflect a negative attitude towards witchers in general. In crows perch I remember all of the townspeople having fled because of seeing the Witcher Geralt except for one old man who had accepted despair. That would be just one example of the way Witchers are viewed in the game, in this case being feared made the people hide from him. As well I have heard a couple people compare him to snake from metal gear solid as well, which I guess I can see the comparison. Either way there is something cool about a Witcher that makes Geralt one of my favorite characters to play as in a video game.  

Starkiller

Starkillers antihero status is reflected through his struggle with the light and dark side of the force or maybe even his decision to save Juno to serve his self-interest. In The force unleashed 2 a cloned version of Starkiller is haunted by visions of the original Starkillers life and by the end of the game you can choose either the light or dark sides of the force to see a different end game narrative.     

Mordecai (From borderlands)

When I think, Mordecai, all I can picture is the plucked sound of an acoustic instrument and a bird calling out in the distance with a screech. Not much else. Maybe ray mysterio?

Harley Quinn

A lot of the times Harley Quinn serves as a type of secondary boss, using her henchman to try and stop batman in one way or another. And even though she is more than just a video game character her implementation in the Arkham series is used sparingly and uniquely during some plot points or during certain encounters with Batman. Going up against her seems mandatory because she is at the heart of a lot of the Jokers sick plots to destroy Gotham and the Bat, her place in the story is one where she and her cohorts try their hand at taking him down, Even after the joker is dead and gone.

There was once a game called Advent Rising. It was hyped up as the next great science-fiction adventure that would transcend games and become something more. Unfortunately, it released in 2005 with a multitude of bugs in an era where patching post-release was a rarity at best. Advent Rising caused the implosion of its development studio, GlyphX Games. A group of individual developers escaped the studio's downfall, banding together to form Chair Entertainment. The newly minted indie studio went on to develop and release Shadow Complex in 2009. 

The 2.5D metroidvania sidescroller adopted a more realistic aesthetic and spawned a series of novels authored by Orson Scott Card. The game released and seemed to fill a niche in the indie gaming world that hadn't been filled in quite that same way before. With a recent remaster, it seems like a perfect time to ask the question: Is Shadow Complex one of the best games period?

Each week we will be tackling a video game, old or new, that at least one of us believes deserves to stand as one of the greatest games of all time. We'll dive into its history, development, and gameplay, while trying to argue for or against the game of the week. Sometimes we will be in harmonious agreement, other times we might be fighting a bitter battle to the very end. However each episode shakes out, we hope that everyone who listens will find the show entertaining and informative.

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Outro music: Tales of Phantasia 'The Koan of Drums' by djpretzel (http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01500)

You can download or listen to the podcast over on Soundcloud, our hosting site, and iTunes. A YouTube version is (sometimes) available as well, so you can watch what we are talking about while we talk about it! A Patreon has been created for those looking to support the show. If you want to have your voice heard on air, follow the show on Twitter and participate in the weekly polls: @BestGamesPeriod 

Don't forget to sign up for Extra Life to help sick and injured kids in hospitals around the US and Canada by playing games!

New episodes of The Best Games Period will be released every Monday

It’s been a year since I finished my independent study where I examined The Legend of Zelda franchise from a feminist lens – and what a year it’s been. It only seems fitting that I celebrate the last 12 months by tackling the newest addition to the Zelda family. Plus, hopefully the game will have been out long enough that people will have finished the game and are able to read this without fear of spoilers.

If I learned anything from my independent study, it’s that Zelda tends to be used as a plot device in these games. Sometimes, like in Twilight Princess or Skyward Sword, Zelda is given the chance to develop into a strong and powerful leader and woman. Other times, she spends the whole game in a painting or asleep. Either way, she turns into a plot device more than she is a fleshed-out character – something that still disappoints me.

I’m mostly disappointed because The Legend of Zelda is full of strong girls and women that are great representations – you just have to look for them. Or, you know, in a shameless plug go through and read some of my old blogs (this one especially) to find out/refresh yourself. So, with the exception of Zelda, I was expecting some pretty kickass women in Breath of the Wild. While I may have been a little surprised about the level of representation in this game, I definitely wasn’t disappointed.

*** Just in case spoilers start here***

I’ve always been a fan of getting the bad news first, and this is post is no different. Although I do love the women in BotW, I can’t ignore the fact that Zelda is once again presented as a plot device. In such an open-ended world and story, your one real objective is to save Zelda from Ganon. While her inability to save herself is explained and valid, she still fits the definition of what a damsel in distress is – a beautiful young woman who is powerless to save herself. While beating Ganon is a large part of your motivation, what narrative we do get encourages you to motivate yourself by learning Zelda’s story.

But, I don’t want to get to that story quite yet. Instead, I want to talk about bodies. The oversexualization of the female form is not a new discussion. But, I want to applaud BotW for, while still making a game filled with attractive women, giving them different body shapes – well, some of them at least. My favorite example of different body shapes comes with the Great Fairies. Zelda has a history of sexualizing the fairies in their games (Majora’s Mask), and BotW still does. But, instead of being unrealistic, the fairies are depicted as being plus sized and still beautiful.

The media rarely shows plus size women as being attractive. But, what I love about these fairies is that they show a growth in how the series depicts their women. Way back in A Link to the Past, the greatest Great Fairy of them all is in distress because Ganon made her heavy. Really, she looks to be the same size as any of these fairies in BotW. And their story doesn’t revolve around them wanting to lose weight, they just want money which I sure relate to. These fairies really make me think that Nintendo is looking at their history and trying to make an effort.

I feel the same way about the Gerudo. Always attractive, the Gerudo here are do have different shapes to them. There are very skinny women, “average” women, and more plus sized women. I loved seeing characters that there was an effort to make these women look different. I especially loved that not all of these women seemed to have flat, toned stomachs. It made the world feel a bit more realistic, and a bit more familiar. Games still have a long way to go in not sexualizing women, but giving them different body types is such a good and cool start.And, while we’re on the subject of Gerudos, I want to talk about how much I love the Gerudo women we get to know through cutscenes.

Riju is so great. I love how Zelda games depict female leadership and the struggles that come with it. Riju is realistically struggling with taking on an enormous role and not feeling equipped to handle it – a theme that we see with Zelda as well. She’s also a very good leader. I love that she is so explicit that you will not get the Thunder Helm until you help everyone in her town. She shows that being a leader isn’t just about the big responsibilities. And, despite everything, she’s still strong and willing to risk her own life to help Link. Plus, I love that she’s younger – I like this trend of tough girls in games

Which, leads me to the next lady – Mipha. There’s something about how soft-spoken she is that makes her seem young. That, and her dad feels pretty overprotective and seems to still think of her as his little girl. But, Mipha isn’t. She goes against what’s the norm to pursue a relationship with Link and make him armor. She’s also strong enough to be the Zora Champion and hold off Ganon until the very end. Just because someone is shy and quiet, it doesn’t mean that they can’t be strong as well.

I think that Urbosa is another great example of this. She’s intimidating in a lot ways, but that’s not what made her one of my favorite characters in the game. In one of the memories we see her talking to Link as Zelda lays asleep in her lap. Urbosa is so protective over Zelda and whether it’s as a sibling or more, it’s a really great moment because it shows how important female friendships are. It’s important to show heroes being kind as well as tough – it’s also so important that we see Zelda being tired and drained.

This Zelda, is my favorite Zelda in any game and is a character that reminds me a lot of who I was younger. I always put a lot of pressure on myself to be perfect and fit myself to others expectations of me. While I don’t have to worry about training to stop the world from ending, sometimes it felt like it. Zelda really captures that pressure – a pressure a lot of girls face – in a really beautiful and encouraging way.

I love how vulnerable this Zelda is– it gives her a sense of character and personality that she has never had before. Making her almost jealous of how secure Link seems is brilliant. Not only does it make Zelda feel realistic, but it allows us to actually learn about Link as well. Seeing their relationship build from animosity on her side to mutual respect is so refreshing. This is partly because Zelda never feels like a romantic interest. Instead, she’s a realistic woman dealing with more pressure than she knows how to handle.

Every time I watched a memory, I was waiting to see Zelda’s growth – and I almost missed the best moment. I completely forgot to go see Impa after I found all of the other memories. I almost missed seeing Zelda finally come into her “powers”. I love the message that this memory has – sometimes strength comes when you least expect it and when you need it most. Or basically, you’re a lot stronger than you think. Zelda felt useless, but at the end of the day she ended up saving the world from complete destruction.

Zelda is the most complex character of the game and I think she makes a great role model for any girl out there who feels worthless because she’s trying to conform to someone else’s idea of what she should be. It’s hard, but in the end, you’re strong enough to get through it and it’s okay if at the end of it all you still need help. She’s a wonderful character and was one that I wasn’t expecting to find knowing Zelda’s track record.

All of this said, there is one more lady I want to talk about before I sum up. Do you remember that little girl in Kakariko Village who’s trying to cook for her sister? Her name is Koko and she’s trying to recreate the dishes her mother used to make – a mother that was killed by the Yiga Clan after her father left. Koko is such a tough little girl. She’s staying strong for her dad and her little sister. She’s a girl that’s more mature than she should be and is all the stronger for that.

Koko is why I think BotW may have the best representation of women since Ocarina of Time – and maybe even better representations. The world is large and filled with women and girls that are worth finding and learning their stories. Women don’t feel like plot devices or cookie cutter versions of the same women we’ve seen before. Each feel unique and memorable – which is something I can’t say about a lot of games. BotW understands that all women are different and that to represent them well, you have to try to represent as many as you can. It’s not perfect, but it’s such an enjoyable sign of progress.

So, who is your favorite woman in BotW? How do you feel about Zelda? And for those who have been reading my stuff since the beginning, did you miss this series? I didn’t realize just how much I did until I started writing and knocked out 1600 words in an hour and a half. Thanks for reading and let me know what you think!

If you were to take a beloved PC classic like Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines and hand it off to a one man studio who...decided it should be a dungeon crawler first and foremost, you'll get something like Bloodlust. While it does have a hub with its share of secrets and areas to explore, a majority of your time will be spent in one of the many dungeons this game has. Nearly everything, from repeatable NPC quests to even progressing through the story will have you returning to one of these procedurally generated dungeons and hope RNG is on your side.

Okay, let's get the negatives out of the way - a game boasting 30+ floors of randomness sounds neat in concept...but when you're merely there just to nab a quest item and get out, it can get jarring. First off, you'll need keys to access a dungeon, although they're plentiful enough. Quest givers usually hand off a couple, and these things can be looted off containers and enemies. While the game says these dungeons are randomly generated, they're essentially identical floors with different layouts. And with that randomness in mind, it can be fruitless to scour every inch of a dungeon and not find jack ***, and have to move onto the next floor. Worse, you don't simply exit the dungeon once you had your fix...again, an exit will appear randomly on the map, meaning you might have to delve through another floor or two and see that red square on your map. Honestly, it's not as grating as it sounds, and at that point you'll be spoiled with enough loot that you're bound to find something that you like...and sometimes I just keep pressing on just to see what other goodies I run across.

People expecting to look like a heavily clad bad-ass will be disappointed, however. Aside from gear you wear on your face like glasses or masks, hats and piercings, the rest of these armor sets are in name and stats only. What outfit your character started off with is something you're going to be seeing forever. In fact, even character creation is very basic, choosing between vampire and dhampir (whose only difference I can tell is that blood depletes slower with dhampirs), your gender, and your class...which is pretty much what outfit you want to be stuck with. Over the span of 2 years, this game has been updated diligently, and character creation is...well, "improved." Aside from the stock model (that you can tell because it's the most detailed) there is some variety, although it's basically the same pale skinned alternate with different make-up, Mike Tyson tattoo, scar or darker skin tone.

Look, I don't want to make the game sound like it's terrible. You're looking at a game costing a sly $13 (and if I remember correctly, released on Halloween a year and a half ago) and yet...I had over 20 hours clocked in. I...really can't explain it. Bloodlust just has enough charm that the padding feels less like a slog knowing the longer I spend in these repetitive dungeons, the more awesome the loot becomes. And hell, it's the perfect place to constantly level up...something you might consider biting to bullet for, considering some of the later gear have some ridiculous stat requirements. And besides...this impressive game was literally made by one guy. I know, I know...it's the usual excuse some developers love to cling onto when their game sucks, but believe me, Bloodlust is one addicting game. 

Whether you're hacking terminals to unlock secret doors in the hub, exploring the buildings and figuring out how to open the next door...it's surprising to stumble on a lot of things in this game just by picking locks and inadvertently entering a new vampire lair. It's...also a very cryptic game. Bloodlust is a game I recommend you bring a notepad, because things like passwords and hints don't update on your quest log. I don't know how much has changed since last year, but I just started a fresh run, and the improvements are noticeable. Some crucial items can be bought through a vendor instead of slogging through the dungeons, the graphics have been slightly improved, and some quests have been tweaked to be a little clearer. All in all, if you're looking for a budget PC game that'll last you over a dozen hours...really, $13 is easily getting your money's worth. 

A funny story about Defiance - it was one of those impulse buys back in the day, and I remember really liking it. And all this time, I never knew it was based on a TV show. I mean, I couldn't miss the SyFy logo plastered all over it, but I just assumed they were another company hopping on the video game trend (yeah, I don't watch TV all that much). It's a game that starts off with a very good first impression, then...sort of fizzles out. I can't complain. It was an MMO without a monthly subscription, so there wasn't anything stopping me from taking a break from the game and booting it up when I'm in the mood. 

What made Defiance fun was a lot of things. The game world was just fascinating, and for an MMO, it was satisfying gunning down enemies. Hell, Defiance is one of the few games that I enjoyed using a sniper rifle, to the point where it became my main weapon. The massive damage it dealt from far away enemies that I'd pick off until a few stragglers closed in and I'd whip out my SMG. In fact, that's what I enjoyed about Defiance...weapon tiers were more about bonuses to your weapons than making them obsolete as you progress. Weapons largely did the same amount of damage based their category, making it not only a fair competition for those Ark drops, but you'll also never fall behind because of *** RNG. 

You could say that after cutting my teeth on Defiance, I didn't quite appreciate a game like Tom Clancy's Division...which, call me nuts, gave me the same feeling as playing Defiance. You had the oppressive world building, the addictive outfit collection, and it's another game that made using a sniper rifle enjoyable. It's just that...seriously, out of all the games to turn your once rare weapon into a laughable pea shooter...why does it have to be a brand name known for its military realism? It was a missed opportunity in my eyes. Had the Division adopted a mechanic like Defiance, I'd probably still be playing it. 

The problem with Defiance is that at the time, it didn't have the content to feel like an MMO. It was a great romp, the main story was interesting (and I remember the final boss being hard as balls) but...once you wrapped everything up, there wasn't much to do aside from yet another group instance. Which I've done dozens of times already. Needless to say, I didn't stick around for the DLC expansions. Now that Defiance is free to play, I highly recommend playing one of the more interesting online shooters I've seen in a while. I don't know how much has changed since Defiance dropped the price tag, but I can't imagine its in-game shop being anything but weapons and outfits to ogle over. Still, it was at a time I paid good money for this game, and it was totally worth it, even as a game with MMO standards that didn't quite have the longevity of one, the $40 I paid gave me enough content to be satisfied and done with it. 

A game that has a full solid 10 is a game that I had to judge! Despite what people think of the damn game, I will still judge it, no matter how small the pet-peeve is! Well, my sister rented the game and watched he play and beat the game, I saw it and thought it was amazing, the game has so much to it that I had to try it myself. When I came to play the intro, I almost stopped because of the boredom I had to face. Hello and welcome to this possibly controversial thought blog. Probably won't be.

The beginning has you start as regular old Nathan Drake in a boat running away from bandits trying to capsize you. It's exciting at first, but then it turns into too much of a story build game. "What's wrong with that StarterPack?" Well, when you mix story and gameplay, you have to make sure you don't have too much of either side. This game has the story boiling over the rim of the pot and the gameplay just seems to be filler. Once you're finished with this event, almost dying and become believed to be dead, you go to a flashback to when Drake was a kid. If you ask me, it's cool to see that kind of flashback, the animations are amazing and the dialogue are well acted. I liked it, but there was one problem, boring tutorial. I was actually surprised that they didn't ask the player to give him a tutorial or not since this was the fourth installment of the original. I know their can be some changed mechanics to it, but the game is basically the same from the originals as far as I can see in regards to gameplay. 

I know it's to get newer players to be familiar to the game, but why keep this boring part of the game in there. I would have loved to skip this in the game, but I guess this part of the game can be kept in. After that, you find yourself in a Spanish Prison. Cool to see some culture, but portrayed so poorly. I guess they can be forgiven since the main character just wanted to see some lost treasure near the prison. I like how the game shows you the combat mechanics in that one scene, but (I bet you expected that) why have the player get full opportunity to get waled on? I left the controller on the couch one time since it was in a load time, and the game began in that scene where you are beaten by a Spanish dude. I left for about 5 minutes and the screen was in an almost red outline. I stood, watching this guy wale on Drake, and saw nothing happen to him. Just the game trying to give you some simple tutorial on how to punch. I don't know why they thought that no punishment to this tutorial was left out. "But StarterPack, this is a tutorial. It's suppose to make you learn." I know, but in most tutorials, they still give you the chance to fail and learn from mistakes. You can die over and over and still be in the same tutorial just so the game can teach you to learn from your mistakes. "But StarterPack, that would be very annoying." Yes, and that would force the player to be more focused on the game instead of fooling around. This game, since it overflows with storytelling, there is no room for death in the game, no punishment. I know, you can still die in the game, but there has to be some element of death for the player to avoid. "But there is!" But, that would be a one mistake thing, you would have to retrace your steps and fix your mistake. "Isn't that how most games do it?" No, they give you a difficult situation with a variety of ways to complete and fail. Uncharted is a one mistake thing, you can only die this way in this scene and that way in that scene.

Another thing I find annoying about this game is how the game's transitions from cinematic to gameplay. I mean, you don't know how many times I found that the game has put me in a running segment. Why do that? Why have this awesome scene go on and have me runaway for the character? That's not gameplay! That's a running simulator! I wish the game had some good transitions to gameplay since the game's narrative is awesome, I like it, but why ruin it with so many boring parts in the game? You just survived that boat crash! Now here's a climbing segment! So just climb... That cliff edge? That seems easy. You have to do that for half an hour! I really don't understand the fame of this game since the only good thing about it was the story and I feel that it's just a shame to see that this is the only good quality to it.

To move on, the multiplayer segments of the game seemed out of place. You remember that in Bioshock 2? Of course not, because the game didn't need it! It feels very unnecessary to have that in the game, a horde mode and a vs. mode just seemed like they wanted some more players to the community. I actually want the game since the only good gameplay in the game is the multiplayer. "What about Last of Us? That game had a story and gameplay elements to it!" Well, I love the game and the game's multiplayer seems fitting the game's story. I actually like it. "What? But those games are practically the same." No. You are wrong. Both of them are completely different. The Last of Us had a great balance of story and gameplay, they made you intrigued in the story and the gameplay was not a running segment after every scene or transition. They didn't through in the worst of it and make you play a segment where you have to take down enemies in a boat. Last of Us made you be the little girl in the scenes and instead of making it a long cinematic. Well I went off track, the game's multiplayer is fun and is the only reason I want to buy it is because of the multiplayer. 

"But StarterPack, the game is great and is the sad end to the game's franchise. Why don't you feel the same." Well, for starters, I felt the same about the others when I played them. "How dare you!?" I'm sorry, it's just that the game needed more gameplay to it, instead of long cinematics, no matter how good they were. Trust me, I liked the first game, it was amazing and a new kind of game at the time, but now it's just old and feels rewrapped as something new. I know there can be some great fans out there that say that the game is great and a legend and I agree to that, I just don't think it deserves the massive praise it's getting. I know that's a counter to my own claim, but I just think the game should have minor praise, you know what I mean? "You're just trying to be like EgoRaptor." Okay, I guess we're done. 

I hope you enjoyed this possibly hated entry of mine. I had fun with it and I hope not many will hate on me for not liking the Uncharted series. I hope you understand my opinion and again, I hope you enjoyed this and 'til next time...

Play More Games!

With Friends...

[As Originally Read on SNo2.]

Small Crimes recently released on Netflix at the end of April and is the next in the seemingly endless stream of independent or miniature films to be featured on the streaming service. Unlike some of the drivel that often comes with these second chance or low budget films being made and provided on the closed circuit, Small Crimes is actually a pretty competent story as well as darkly comedic satire on turning your life around after a series of unfortunate events.

Based upon the first book in a trilogy of novels written by Dave Zeltserman, Small Crimes sees its main protagonist- Joe Denton (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) released from prison following a short term stay for attempted murder and drug abuse. Each novel in the trilogy focuses on a more or less “bad” person who has recently been released from prison and the effects this has on their prospects as well as how well (or poorly) they manage to escape their past mistakes. In Joe’s case, things get pretty grim from the outset.

Something that sort of surprised me throughout the hour and a half film was how well it manages to handle some complicated ideas and simplify things down to human nature and emotional attachment. There are a lot of ideas juggled by the film but more or less it focuses on a handful and comes out better for it- no complicated plot twists here so much as there are ironic turns of events. Coster-Waldau is easily the highlight of the film as he brings the dirty cop and hitman vibe with equal measures narcissism and grit. Robert Forster, Gary Cole, and Molly Parker also play their respective roles quite well- Forster as Joe’s father, Cole as his former partner and another cop on the take, and Parker as a love interest and nurse.

The thing that Small Crimes does the best is get the job done, quite unlike Joe Denton in many ways. It isn’t immediately apparent that it carries almost a darkly comedic and satirical vibe although there are some instances where things take a dramatic turn for the worse in the most ironic way imaginable. It’s almost like there’s some sense of ex machina except every situation takes a turn for the worse rather than ever getting any better. It is very much a film about a man trying to redeem himself and despite everything being dragged back to his old ways and old world.

Although it has a relatively short run-time, one of the best things about Small Crimes is how well it wraps up and how cleanly it does so after a messy final act that quite literally butchers the majority of the main cast. What at first began as a film that hints at the violent nature of Joe’s world soon becomes a showcase of the reality of cause and effect as well as choice and consequence. What begins as a simple hit on a former mob boss who plans to spill the beans to the local district attorney quickly devolves into an all-out war that rages throughout the small town setting. Nobody is safe, not even Jaime Lannister.

On one hand, the film may not seem altogether too deep and it has been criticized for some of its simplicity and lack of complex motives or meaning. However, if you really look closely you will see there are so many intricate dynamics between the characters and Coster-Waldau predominately embodies this in his performance which really makes you feel as if he knows his fellow actors as intimately as his character does. There is a particularly ironic and tragic bit in the very end where Coster-Waldau gives so much weight to everything that has happened and the scene is veritably dripping with emotion despite him only giving a meaningful glance to his father and wiping a knife clean of prints.

Small Crimes isn’t a simple film by any means but a lot of what it does best is create simple complexities rather than needlessly confusing plot points and obscure references. It is concise and to the point which the story definitely benefits from and it has some interesting and colorful characters that range from extreme to deranged depending on the given situation. There aren’t many unnecessary revelations but the level to which pretty much all of its events tie-in and come together almost reminds me of Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction and the masterful way that it tied together seemingly unique stories.

Small Crimes is by no means perfect but in my mind it is one of the better offerings we’ve seen come straight to Netflix lately and if you’re a fan of darkly humorous and ironic films, there’s a strong possibility that you’ll enjoy this one as well. Think of it as somewhere between a gritty crime film and a typical Coen Brothers production- not quite one extreme or the other, but more a commentary on redemption than anything else.

Overall Score: 7.0