Persona 5 Delayed...again

"A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad"- Shigeru Miyamoto

So as of today, Persona 5 is getting delayed once again, hopefully for the last time, until April 4,2017. Apparently it's to iron out some issues that cropped with localization to which I have to respond, why the FUCK now? The game has literally been finished for months now and has been in a completed state for over 2 months in Japan and over here we're getting word that we're still going to have to wait because Atlus USA hasn't even come close to finishing the goddamn localization yet. Better yet, the report comes that as a result of our wait, they're going to reward us with dual audio, a feature that comes standard with 90 percent of Japanese games with voice acting nowadays. I have no idea how they could be this up so badly. I could understand if this was a smaller company like Aksys games who were recently unable to provide a dub for Blazblue Central Fiction, but this is fucking Atlus! They provided dual audio back on the PS2 for Odin Sphere! Why is it that it is so hard all of a sudden to have dual audio for a game like Persona 5, much less have it localized and ready to ship for a worldwide release? Persona 5's biggest competitor at this point in time has already one on sales alone by default thanks to the fact that it's launch alone will lead to it having a worldwide release later this month. There is no delayed region release and the developer has already confirmed that the game will have a dual audio option. So why is it, that Final Fantasy 15 has already secured dual audio and a world wide release while Persona 5 just barely manages to eke out a delayed release. Hopefully it turns out good and worth the wait but goddamn is the wait turning out to feel like it's just not worth it at this point.

Nintendo Switch: Keep your hype levels at a minimum

The Nintendo Switch was just revealed yesterday and already people are playing it up as the next big thing, thanks in part to how it combines elements of portable and home console gaming. Not only that, but the smooth appealing design plus promise of future Nintendo games is of course going to appeal to longtime fans. Here's the thing though, what games, besides Breath of the Wild, were actually shown for the system? I know people like to act like this is a moot point, but for the past two generations, Nintendo has been having a bad habit of acting all secretive and mysterious in regards to their upcoming titles only to produce underwhelming results or fail to deliver anything of substance.

Based on the trailer, the only new games that have been teased include a new Mario Kart, a new 3D Mario, a new Splatoon, and what appears to be a port of the 5-year old game, Skyrim. My biggest concern in regards to all of these is that none of these were formal announcements. They were all possible teasers for games and concepts that might be but no concrete announcements as of yet. People like to counteract this argument by showing the little graph with all the exciting upcoming third-party support, but remember that people jumped ship just as quickly shortly after sales declined for third party titles on the Wii-U.

Speaking of third-party titles, I know everyone is excited about seeing their favorite games finally being playable on a Nintendo console, but the thing about that is why would you want to if it's perfectly playable on another console. I feel like this is a move that is being done, not so much to appeal to the hardcore crowd, but rather to the people who exclusively buy Nintendo consoles as Nintendo desperately tries to regain their "street-cred".

Regardless of all the negativity I'm spewing, I am still excited for the console. I've been a Nintendo fan since I've been a child so seeing what they can come up with is always exciting. However, due to the fact that I got my Wii U less than a year ago has left me a little burnt out especially since the support for that console was minimal at best. So until I see the full library of games for the Switch, I don't think I'll be getting one soon.

Persona 5's asinine Release schedule

Persona 5 has been one of my most highly anticipated games since it was first announced back in 2013. I’ve loved the Persona games ever since I first played Persona 3 and loved it’s unique anime-esque esthetic combined with its strategic gameplay, social link mechanic which encouraged interaction with NPC’s and a unique story which combined elements of Jungian psychology, and a modern setting which helped set it apart from the traditional swords and sorcery settings.

So it’s no surprise that Persona 5’s release schedule has proven to be complete asinine in terms of having to be released over 5 months after its Japanese release. We live in a world where we have easy access to just about any form of information on the planet so the fact that Atlus chose to delay the release for 5 months makes no sense. We have internet forums that are already discussing the story in-depth,  as well as items, character progression, and game mechanics which could end up ruining the game for people who end up casually browsing the internet.

The biggest question then is why did Atlus choose to delay a completed game for an additional 5 months despite there being no major issues in regards to gameplay or bug-testing in what is otherwise a completed game. The only two reasons I can think of revolve around the issues of localization and making sure that enough copies have been shipped out in anticipation of the game’s big launch. But the issue here is that another big Japanese game, Final Fantasy XV, is scheduled to launch in about two months and it plans on bringing with it an equally large scope, story, and launch period which begs the question, what exactly is it that caused Atlus to decide to delay the launch of their big flagship title as opposed to choosing a worldwide release? All it really does is limit the access fans outside of Japan have to play the game. With the Persona franchise having become Atlus’ flagship franchise, it makes even less sense for the company to place a 5 month gap between release dates, especially considering the fact that it has been 8 years since the original release of the previous mainline Persona game. And if there were going to be issues with the localization that would have prevented the game from being released on time, Atlus should have taken steps forward in order to ensure that the localization along with the necessary bug fixes had been completed in time.

In the end, I don’t mind a game having to be delayed in order to ensure that it is of the utmost quality. However, what does concern me is when a title is clearly complete and is released in one region without any discernible reason. Persona 5 is still my most anticipated game of 2017 but I feel like Atlus could end up hurting their business in the long run should they continue with this attitude. Hopefully they’ll learn from this one situation though if Europe’s experience has shown anything, they don’t plan on changing their minds on this anytime soon.

Death of the Action Game

I recently picked up the Wonderful 101 and have been having a blast with it. The bright colors, lively music, likable characters, and over-the-top action make it a must play. This is despite some areas that could have used a bit more polish such as a few trial-and-error gameplay sections and some difficulties with the game registering some unite morphs. However, in playing this and watching the new God of War reveal trailer, I'm concerned that big-budget action games are going to undergo the same fate that survival horror did a few years ago.

Now, when I say action games, I don't mean third-person shooters such as Gears of War, Uncharted or Dark Souls. Those games are released on a regular basis and they're pretty much the driving force of the industry. The types of games I'm referring to are the kind of character action games such as Viewtiful Joe, God Hand, Devil May Cry, and Ninja Gaiden. These types of games were known for their brutal difficulty, emphasis on over-the-top action, and grading systems which judged the player's actions based on how skillful the player could go through a level. However, besides the fact that two of these have had subpar games be released in recent years such as Yaiba Ninja Gaiden Z, Ninja Gaiden 3, and the highly controversial DmC: Devil May Cry, it's as if no developer outside of Platinum Games has any interest in releasing fun, over-the-top hack n' slash games. This is most evident as the recent God of War seems to be aiming for a type of "high art" gameplay, taking cues from the Last of Us in terms of narrative structure and Dark Souls for the slow paced aggressive gameplay. The thing is, God of War already had it's fast-paced, frenetic style of gameplay. The God of War games have a history of being both fast-paced and steadily improving on the gameplay over time. God of War 1 and Chains of Olympus were a pretty by-the-numbers affair with a focus more on just beating the crap out of everything that moved with some puzzle solving thrown in. By God of War 3, however, the combat had been improved significantly and relied more on player skill especially to clear the higher difficulties. This is why it's so surprising to see the new God of War going in this supposed "new direction". Combat looks to be more "intense" but it appears to have a greater emphasis on button mashing as opposed to player skill and a story.

This is actually something I've been wanting to cover for sometime, but it appears that games have been recently trying to get more focus towards having grand stories and dropping most of their focus in gameplay. The thing game developers need to understand is that most games over the past 30 years have had compelling stories without having to yank control away from the player or dumbing down the gameplay. Games like Devil May Cry 3, Metal Gear Solid, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy 6, and Xenoblade Chronicles all managed to tell fantastic stories without ever yanking control away from the player for too long. My biggest concern is the industry will want to turn all of their games into titles into stuff like Heavy Rain and Dragon's Quest to be credited as a 10 out of 10 gameplay extravaganza while neglecting the core gameplay.

I know most action games don't have deep compelling stories but this is why gaming continues to appeal to me to this day. There are thousands of games in a variety of genres that focus on entertaining gamers with a wide-variety of interests. But until we get out of this comfort zone where everyone feels like their newest title can't appeal to the masses unless it's high art, then I'm worried that we could end up losing several genres. I know there are still plenty of indie developers that will always cater to the niche crowd's tastes and Platinum Games has done a fine job putting out quality action titles. But unless there is that big budget title that can come out and attract the masses, it could be a long time before we see something along the caliber of Devil May Cry or God Hand.

Soulsborne doesn't need an easy mode.

The Soulsborne franchise is easily some of the best sets of games I have played in the past two years and I'm not exaggerating. With the exception of Dark Souls 2, each game is a masterpiece thanks to it's dark atmosphere, brutal difficulty, and extensive lore. However, as anyone can tell you, the part about the brutal difficulty can easily turn people off and it's not helped by it being the driving force of marketing when it comes to the Dark Souls games (Demon's Souls and Bloodborne didn't play up the difficulty as much). Regardless, I have met several people who are turned off as soon as I mention any of the games in the franchise as they feel that it is a franchise aimed at masochists. The biggest issue I have with this is that, once you learn the nuances, the games become some of the easiest franchises to get into.

For starters, the games require several hours clocked into the series to understand all of the nuances, lore, gameplay, and to fully grasp the layout of the environment. This is not a game that is meant to be rushed through as dashing through and unknown area will punish you for failing to take into account audio cues, enemy placements, your own item inventory, and your armor and weapon stats. There is alot of micro-management to go through and stubbornly insisting on one type of build can be a death-sentence for newbies. This is ultimately why I am so against the idea of an easy mode. By removing the challenge and set up of the game, several of the key themes of helplessness and overcoming adversity are lost. There's no reason to feel at odds with the environment or worry about checking your environment because you could easily just run through an area and walk through basic enemies. 

And this is another reason why I feel like there is no purpose in adding an easy mode. Enemies, as whole, have very basic designs to them. Their attacks are often slow, they can be easily dodged, and they can often be baited to even fall off a cliff if the player plays carefully. If a player is struck, the damage is significantly high, but after getting back up and learning enemy attacks patterns most enemies can be cleared through no problem. By including an easy mode, this feature would become a flaw as most players would wonder why such enemies hit so light after performing what appears to be a devastating attack or wondering why enemies hit really hard after winding up for 30 seconds. Bosses would also be turned into complete jokes. Most of the bosses are known for having a high damage output and requiring skill, patience, and endurance to take down. With an easy mode, most of these bosses would be turned into a complete joke with their telegraphed attacks and large frames.

But overall, the online component would be what would take one of the worst hits. The games have massive online communities built around the game's extensive multiplayer which runs simultaneously with the single player experience allowing players to leave notes or assist their allies. The problem with trying to incorporate an easy mode in this situation is how other players could possibly interact with other players. One solution may be to lock out players from the online to provide a better solo experience and to prevent invasions. The catch with this is that there is already a way to avoid this. If the player does not use a humanity, human effigy, or ember, they end up locking themselves out of multiplayer and they can re-enter whenever they want. Another problem is that players can no longer receive assistance from other players were this to be the ideal situation nor would they be able to receive hints as the series has become known for.

Finally, there is the famous attribute of player death. The games have earned a massive backlash due to the heavy emphasis on player death through the marketing. However, the biggest thing people don't realize is that bonfires are easily accessible and they are scattered strategically around levels in order to allow players to quickly recover, level up, or take a break should they be feeling overwhelmed. As a matter of fact, the death system is almost identical to that of Shovel Knight, providing the player with an infinite number of lives and goes a step further by adapting the Metroidvania design and encouraging the player to find shortcuts in order to lessen backtracking and provide quick access to bonfires.

Due to the stigma that the Soulsborne games have received, it will be almost impossible to get people who think the games are to hard into the series. However, forcing an easy mode should not be the solution, but rather changing a player's mindset is. We have been conditioned so much to games having us rush through them or being railroaded to the next location or sidequest that the lack of hand-holding can seem intimidating. Just paying attention to your surroundings or by backing off from an overwhelming challenge, any player can come to see that the challenge is often due to an individual's own mindset. Once you learn from your mistakes and adapt, any challenge can be easily conquered without having to go to an easy mode.

Berserk Musou's Marketing Campaign

I can safely confirm that the upcoming Berserk game developed by Omega Force is easily one of my most hyped games for the coming year. While I don’t enjoy the mainline Dynasty Warriors, I am a fan of the anime spinoff games such as Pirate Warriors and Dynasty Warriors Gundam Reborn. The pacing of the Berserk manga makes it ripe for adaptation into a video game and when combined with the fast-paced, hyperactive, over-the-top of the Dynasty Warriors engine, it seems like a match made in heaven. However, if there’s one thing that’s concerning me right now it’s the way the game has been marketed since it’s reveal, in particular the treatment of the character of Casca.
The reveal trailer opens up with Casca being held by some tentacles while being suspended naked in the air, before the tentacles wrap around her body and lead to the brand of sacrifice. Long-time fans will immediately recognize this as the infamous Eclipse, wherein the Band of the Hawk was sacrificed to Godhand in order to allow the band’s leader, Griffith, to become the 5th member, Femto. Afterwards, he proceeded to violently rape Casca, the protagonist Guts’ love interest, in front of him. This is easily one of the most iconic and disturbing scenes in the history of the series and has resulted in the series unable to be talked about without mentioning this scene. So what does the reveal trailer decide to do? Focus on the scene itself. At first I was disturbed that Koei Tecmo would use such a scene in order to drum up hype for the game. Afterwards, once more information was brought forward, however, I was just baffled as Koei Tecmo decided to have a huge focus on the sexual aspects of the series. Berserk is a violent manga with a huge emphasis on action as well as on world-building, so Hisashi Koinuma’s statement describing the series as a “violent and erotic manga” feels only half true. To add on to that, the fact they even went so far as have a pre-order bonus were Casca wears the smock after she’s recovering from the events of the Eclipse and it’s described as her “bathing suit”. This feels so disjointed compared to the tone that was set for this scene as this is the first time that she shows her fear of men due to what happened to her. This actually leaves me worried for he rest of the game as the developer has gone on record to say that they plan to adapt the Golden Age to Millennium Falcon arcs, especially since towards the end of the Golden Age arc is when the sexual aspects shoot up, before going by the wayside after the Conviction arc.
Overall, while I feel that on the gameplay side of things the game looks fine, especially after the recent gameplay trailer, but I feel that if the developer is not careful on the way that they handle the sexual aspects of the game, they could very easily come under fire for portraying rape in a poor light. I hope this isn’t the case, but they need to find some way to portray as tastefully as possible.

E3 2016-Games: The hype is real.

Another E3 has come and gone and once again I feel like it's time to stop and take a look at what games were announced or gameplay was shown and analyze it based on my overall personal interest. While some people may be against this approach, I feel like it will really help in narrowing down all the games that were shown at E3 as while several of the games looked impressive, many of them just didn't pique my interest. I'll also try to avoid covering games like Yakuza 0, as the game was already released in Japan, so it's quality is guaranteed.

Yooka Laylee- It's a Banjo-Kazooie style platformer being developed by several Rareware alumni and with music composed by Grant Kirkhope. The game looks to be following in the footsteps of its predecessor based off of the available gameplay and looks to rekindle the spirit of the mascot platformers from the 90's with its emphasis on bright colors, whimsical music, and exploration-based gameplay.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night- Seeing as how Konami gave a giant middle finger to fans and converted 90 percent of their properties into pachinko machines, this looks to be a proper follow-up to the Castlevania. It's to the point that the level demoed shows the influence of games such as Symphony of the Night, Order of Ecclesia, and Dawn and Aria of Sorrow. My only complaint so far is that the 3D character models look a little bit off, but otherwise gameplay is fine.

Injustice 2: Being a fan of both DC comics and the new Mortal Kombat games, I can safely say that this looks like a worthy follow-up to the 2013 Injustice: Gods Among Us. The fighting looks fast and it's reportedly running off of the same engine as Mortal Kombat X. The gear system also looks to be fun and from I what I heard it's going to function similar to the customizable characters in Smash Bros. so I probably won't use it. So far the roster looks promising, especially with additional characters such as Atrocitus, Gorilla Grodd, and Supergirl, though here's to hoping for John Constantine, Blue Beetle, and Captain Cold being announced as playable at some point. I am worried about the supposed "aggressive" DLC campaign that Netherrealms plans to utilize so if worst comes to worst, I may just end up waiting for the Game of the Year edition.

Kingdom Hearts 2.8: While I'm still waiting on Square Enix to count to three and to hear something new, Kingdom Hearts 2.8 looks to be a nice tide over in the meanwhile. While I'm happy to be able to play Dream Drop Distance on the big screen, and Kingdom Hearts Chi looks to make the canon even more convoluted, the tech demo which features Aqua fighting through the Realm of Darkness against hordes of heartless definitely looks like it's trying to show off the graphical power of the new engine as well as to give us a glimpse as to what Kingdom Hearts will finally look like.

Berserk Musou: While the game wasn't announced on the show floor, Omega Force didn't reveal anything about until the first day of E3 so i'll count it. Either way, I'm a fan of Berserk and I enjoy the over-the-top action of the Dynasty Warriors games. While the only screenshots released so far don't serve to give an indication of the full extent of the gameplay, it looks to be a fun, bloody, romp. The story will begin at the Golden Age arc and while I'm pretty sure longtime fans are sick to death of seeing the same story over again, it looks like it may go into at least the conviction arc. I wish it would go into at least the Falconia arc so I can play as Isidro, Serpico, Zodd, Mozgus and Berserker Armor Guts, but that's just me.

South Park: The Fractured but Whole: Definitely one of the best looking games of the show. While I did enjoy the first game, combat felt a little too simplistic at times and it was a little too easy to get very overpowered very quickly. Fractured but Whole looks to correct several of these issues while also allowing the player to select their gender as well as continuing the shows witty writing style. Combat has also been revamped to function more on a grid system as opposed to the previous system where characters would stand across from each other. Finally, the game will be having more classes as well as focusing on a super hero theme, which will definitely change up the way the game is played. Here's to hoping Cthulhu is the final boss.

Dishonored 2: The game looks to be an improvement in every sense of the word. Two playable characters, voiced protagonists, new levels and powers, plus a revamped morality system with multiple endings. Another aspect that I'm looking forward to is the revamped stealth gameplay which should allow for more nonlethal kills.

God of War 4: Not sure how I feel about this one. While I enjoyed Kratos' adventures in Greece, this take on Norse mythology is looking more Last of Us than God of War, especially with the camera now being placed behind Kratos' back as opposed to being zoomed out like other games. My biggest concern is the camera itself as it may end up proving to be a detriment the once strategic and bloody combat.

Resident Evil 7: While the new Resident Evil looks like a return to horror in terms of atmosphere and puzzles, I'm personally not a fan of the way the game seems to try and ape P.T. or other games such as Amnesia the Dark Descent or Outlast. I would have preferred a reinvention of the gameplay utilizing the fixed camera angles of the old games, but as it stands now, I'll wait and see on how it turns out.

Death Stranding: I have no idea what the trailer was about, as it mostly consisted of dead sea life, a naked Norman Reedus, a baby that dissolves into oil, finished off by Norman Reedus staring off into the distance. I have thoroughly enjoyed Kojima's games in the past and I'm looking forward to any new information that I can get from this new title. Fingers-crossed it turns out fantastic.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild: Easily one of, if not the most impressive looking new games at the show this year. The gameplay has been expanded upon by going back to the design philosphy of the original Zelda, as well as adding in some new spins such as a wide variety of equippable items, the addition of voice acting, and freedom to go wherever you want. The expanded world looks to breathe new life into the series as a whole.

Persona 5: My game of the show. It may not be a brand new title, but after waiting since 2014 and now knowing that the game is scheduled for release on Valentine's Day 2017, I can't help but be excited. The gameplay is way more dynamic than in previous games such as adding in elements of stealth gameplay, as well as turning normally static pieces of gameplay such as the part time jobs or school work into fun little mini-games. Enemies are back to being demons as opposed to the shadows from previously in the franchise so I'm looking forward to seeing how the demon negotiations have been expanded upon. The story is also a nice change of pace, featuring a delinquent main character as opposed to the squeaky clean, goody-two shoes from Persona 4. All-in-all, I can't wait until Valentine's Day.

Overall, this E3 was a good one, with several titles being announced and the focus being on the games. Here's to looking forward to next year's show and whatever exciting prospects may come.