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.
Wednesday, June 22, 2016
Friday, June 10, 2016
Dark Souls 2 Review (PS3 Version)
I really wanted to like Dark Souls 2. I really did. Darks Souls 1 is one of my favorite games of all time and Bloodborne is one of my favorite games of this generation. Fromsoftware did an excellent job combining high difficulty with expansive worlds brimming with atmosphere, creative bosses, and compelling lore that made me want to keep playing despite dying over and over again. However, despite all this, I can safely say that Darks Souls 2 is one of the most disappointing sequels I have ever played. By stripping away the environments, simplifying the storyline, and focusing too much on the difficulty, the game is proof that if a developer fails to understand the basic tenets of what makes a game work, then it can spell failure for the remaining structure of the game.
The story of the game is overall a step down from the previous one. The opening cinematic gives us an idea as to what we're in for in regards to the story which involves the curse of the undead, and going to the land of Drangleic to find a cure. However, the issue here is when they introduce the theme of forgetting about oneself within this first cinematic. A big deal is made about how thee player character is at risk of forgetting about who they are and what their purpose is, but this concept itself is almost immediately dropped for a rehash of the plot for Dark Souls 1 wherein the main character had to link the fire. This feels like a lost opportunity as it would have been an interesting take on a new theme and new ideas. However, it instead turns into just a repeat of the plot from the first Dark Souls.
Basic combat is almost exactly the same as it was in Dark Souls 1, as the controls have not changed much from the first installment. Weapons still have a feeling of weight to them and it is incredibly satisfying to strike an opponent and weapons have a satisfying crunch to them. However, there are several areas in the gameplay department that feel like a step back. A new attribute has been added in to the game called Adaptability which affects your character's agility, which affects your character's invincibility frames while performing a dodge roll. As a result, it is far too common for a character to try to roll out of the way of an attack only to be struck by a weapon that should not have hit them at all if you haven't been leveling your adaptability. Another change comes in the form of humanity. While being human determined whether or not you could be invaded in Dark Souls 1, in Dark Souls 2, you can be invaded at any time and humanity works more like it did in Demon's Souls, where being human gave you a health boost. One thing that hasn't changed is that being human still allows you to summon aid from another player, so on the bright side, you can go to the nearest summon sign near a boss and call for aid there after using a human effigy. Healing has also received a change and, in my opinion, not a good one. In the previous game, after receiving the Estus Flask, the main source of healing, the flask automatically began with 5 charges that the player could use at anytime. However, once the charges ran out, the only way to recharge was to get to a bonfire. The charges could also be increased up to 10 or they could be increased even further after getting an item from a certain boss. In Dark Souls 2, however, the player starts off with a one Estus Flask and can only increase the charges by finding Estus Flask shards in the overworld that can be used to increase the amount of charges, As such, the Estus Flask is borderline is useless in the early game and instead, the primary form of healing comes from lifegems, which function similarly to the grass in Demon's Souls. However, the result is that healing is incredibly unbalanced. This can often result in a late game scenario wherein the player can have an almost infinite source of healing if they pace themselves properly. Fighting enemies in-game is also an issue. Several of the enemies have a problem where they are hyper-aggressive to the point where the AI seems to enjoy swarming the player in an attempt to create more difficult scenarios which end up coming across as more frustrating than like a well put together challenge. This is ultimately the biggest issue with the game as a whole, as the game's combat is designed to deal with enemies one at a time, so whenever groups of enemies with a large amount of health show up, it can be difficult to deal with them all it once. Aggroing these anemies one at a time also proves to be ineffective as it is very easy to accidentally trigger one group of enemies to attack you as opposed to having the group come after you one at a time. Another change is that enemies will frequently track the player's movement, which makes it almost impossible to find an opening when going in for the backstab. Not only that, but some enemy's attack patterns are set up to the point where it can be impossible just to find an opening such as the turtle-like enemies encountered early on. On the positive side-however, enemies will stop showing up altogether after they have been killed a certain number of times. While this may make it easier to reach some areas after having died multiple times over, it also encourages the player to recover their souls as soon as possible, for as soon as these enemies disappear, so does the player's chance to grind for more souls.
Presentation-wise, the game is all over the place. The music is mostly uninspired and forgettable and many of the enemy designs are either just regular knights in armor or some type of other bipedal humanoid. The bosses suffer from this as well, with many of them being straight-up copy pasted jobs from Dark Souls 1 or Demon's Souls or feeling like oversized versions of normal enemies. The environments also feel like they are lacking something with many of them feeling like either genric hallways or boxed rooms stacked on top of each other, poorly organized together, failing to form a cohesive world. However, some of the environments look absolutely breathtaking from offer and it makes me wonder why the same level of polish hadn't been applied to the whole game.
Dark Souls 2 feels like one giant misstep. Every time the game had a chance to do something creative with itself, the game felt the need to remain anchored to the past. With uncreative enemy designs, a poorly developed story, and questionable changes to the basic mechanics, I highly recommend sticking to the original Dark Souls over this one.
The story of the game is overall a step down from the previous one. The opening cinematic gives us an idea as to what we're in for in regards to the story which involves the curse of the undead, and going to the land of Drangleic to find a cure. However, the issue here is when they introduce the theme of forgetting about oneself within this first cinematic. A big deal is made about how thee player character is at risk of forgetting about who they are and what their purpose is, but this concept itself is almost immediately dropped for a rehash of the plot for Dark Souls 1 wherein the main character had to link the fire. This feels like a lost opportunity as it would have been an interesting take on a new theme and new ideas. However, it instead turns into just a repeat of the plot from the first Dark Souls.
Basic combat is almost exactly the same as it was in Dark Souls 1, as the controls have not changed much from the first installment. Weapons still have a feeling of weight to them and it is incredibly satisfying to strike an opponent and weapons have a satisfying crunch to them. However, there are several areas in the gameplay department that feel like a step back. A new attribute has been added in to the game called Adaptability which affects your character's agility, which affects your character's invincibility frames while performing a dodge roll. As a result, it is far too common for a character to try to roll out of the way of an attack only to be struck by a weapon that should not have hit them at all if you haven't been leveling your adaptability. Another change comes in the form of humanity. While being human determined whether or not you could be invaded in Dark Souls 1, in Dark Souls 2, you can be invaded at any time and humanity works more like it did in Demon's Souls, where being human gave you a health boost. One thing that hasn't changed is that being human still allows you to summon aid from another player, so on the bright side, you can go to the nearest summon sign near a boss and call for aid there after using a human effigy. Healing has also received a change and, in my opinion, not a good one. In the previous game, after receiving the Estus Flask, the main source of healing, the flask automatically began with 5 charges that the player could use at anytime. However, once the charges ran out, the only way to recharge was to get to a bonfire. The charges could also be increased up to 10 or they could be increased even further after getting an item from a certain boss. In Dark Souls 2, however, the player starts off with a one Estus Flask and can only increase the charges by finding Estus Flask shards in the overworld that can be used to increase the amount of charges, As such, the Estus Flask is borderline is useless in the early game and instead, the primary form of healing comes from lifegems, which function similarly to the grass in Demon's Souls. However, the result is that healing is incredibly unbalanced. This can often result in a late game scenario wherein the player can have an almost infinite source of healing if they pace themselves properly. Fighting enemies in-game is also an issue. Several of the enemies have a problem where they are hyper-aggressive to the point where the AI seems to enjoy swarming the player in an attempt to create more difficult scenarios which end up coming across as more frustrating than like a well put together challenge. This is ultimately the biggest issue with the game as a whole, as the game's combat is designed to deal with enemies one at a time, so whenever groups of enemies with a large amount of health show up, it can be difficult to deal with them all it once. Aggroing these anemies one at a time also proves to be ineffective as it is very easy to accidentally trigger one group of enemies to attack you as opposed to having the group come after you one at a time. Another change is that enemies will frequently track the player's movement, which makes it almost impossible to find an opening when going in for the backstab. Not only that, but some enemy's attack patterns are set up to the point where it can be impossible just to find an opening such as the turtle-like enemies encountered early on. On the positive side-however, enemies will stop showing up altogether after they have been killed a certain number of times. While this may make it easier to reach some areas after having died multiple times over, it also encourages the player to recover their souls as soon as possible, for as soon as these enemies disappear, so does the player's chance to grind for more souls.
Presentation-wise, the game is all over the place. The music is mostly uninspired and forgettable and many of the enemy designs are either just regular knights in armor or some type of other bipedal humanoid. The bosses suffer from this as well, with many of them being straight-up copy pasted jobs from Dark Souls 1 or Demon's Souls or feeling like oversized versions of normal enemies. The environments also feel like they are lacking something with many of them feeling like either genric hallways or boxed rooms stacked on top of each other, poorly organized together, failing to form a cohesive world. However, some of the environments look absolutely breathtaking from offer and it makes me wonder why the same level of polish hadn't been applied to the whole game.
Dark Souls 2 feels like one giant misstep. Every time the game had a chance to do something creative with itself, the game felt the need to remain anchored to the past. With uncreative enemy designs, a poorly developed story, and questionable changes to the basic mechanics, I highly recommend sticking to the original Dark Souls over this one.
Thursday, June 9, 2016
I have a twitter now!
Just a quick update, I now have twitter account where I will be posting any and all updates as well as games I'm playing, updates on reviews, and any other information that may be pertinent to the blog. You can find it @ https://twitter.com/PeanutButterMon. So if you have any questions, please fell free to post them there.
Sunday, June 5, 2016
Splatoon Review
Nintendo has had a long history of creating some of the most beloved and iconic video game characters of all time. From franchises such as Mario, Legend of Zelda, Pokemon, and Kirby, Nintendo always manages to craft memorable gameplay experiences which feature bright and cheerful visuals alongside upbeat music. Now, with Splatoon, Nintendo is proving that they can continue this tradition despite taking on a new genre outside of their usual area of expertise by incorporating unique gameplay elements alongside and unique Squid-like character designs and 90's urban setting.
The story is actually surprisngly complex, or as complex and intricate as one can get given the nature of the game. The main plot of the game revolves around the player character, a custom-created Squid-kid, being tasked with saving the source of the city's power, a giant electric eel, which has been kidnapped by another race of marine-based creatures known as the Octarians. From then on, the main story is a fairly by the numbers rescue plot that focuses more on the action as opposed to the narrative. While the occassional cutscene will play following boss fights to set up some exposition and provide context for the player's actions, don't expect any sweeping revelations or shocking plot-twists to keep you invested in the story. However, for those who are truly curious as to why marine life has all of a sudden taken to walking on two legs and why there is a random cat who sleeps in the the main hub area, there are collectible scrolls that can be found in the single player game that serve to provide additional context to the setting of the story. It's not much, but it does serve to flesh out the world.
There are two primary game modes: multiplayer and single player. Single player mostly consists of going through various obstacle course-like levels before reaching the end and collecting the zapfish at the end. It's a very basic set up and you'll find yourself completing it in only a few hours. However, the real attraction comes in this game's extensive multiplayer modes. Matches consist of teams of four players going up against one another in order to see who can cover the most terrain with ink. While this may sound simple at first, matches can quickly become chaotic. When you factor in the fact that each weapon also has three different abilities, one of which is a super move that can quickly change the tide of battle, and you realize that there at first seemed. Another layer of depth to the gameplay, lies in the ability to transform from a kid into a squid. At the push of a button, your character can turn into a squid, and by doing so, it allows you traverse across the map at insane speeds while lying in allied ink. Not only that, but by tapping on an ally on the Wii U touch pad, you can launch yourself across the map in an instant. However, you want to be careful as so much as touching enemy ink will damage you, so going too fast can prove problematic. As you play more matches, you level up your character which allows you to buy more clothes and weapons. What clothing you have equipped can also alter the way the game is played. While it may seem purely cosmetic, each article of clothing has a different special effect attributed to it. Furthermore, higher leveled clothing has more abilities to it than lower-leveled clothing and as such, there's a balance as to whether you want to spend money on new weapons or new upgrades for yourself. One downside to all of this, however, is the stages. While none of them are poorly designed, the stages are set up on a rotation schedule, meaning that only two stages are playable every week. While this means that there will always be variety in the stage selection, it also means that you're not allowed to play on you're favorite stage until it pops up on rotation. Another concern of mine is how Nintendo plans on handling this feature when the servers inevitably go down.
Finally, the presentation is outstanding. The environments are peppered with lively music and bright colors. All of the stages are vibrant and designed to accommodate maximum mobility for your characters. The music is all heavily-influenced by J-pop and goes so far as to feature two of the game's main characters, Callie and Marie, as J-pop idols. Furthermore visuals are also a mix of the 90's and Japanese pop-culture giving it and identity all it's own.
As a whole, if their's one word that can best be used to describe Splatoon, it's personality. The game oozes personality from the visuals to the music to the gameplay. There are some drawbacks such as the limited stage selection and the weak single-player campaign, but the music, the colorful graphics, and the deep gameplay makes the game more than worth picking up.
The story is actually surprisngly complex, or as complex and intricate as one can get given the nature of the game. The main plot of the game revolves around the player character, a custom-created Squid-kid, being tasked with saving the source of the city's power, a giant electric eel, which has been kidnapped by another race of marine-based creatures known as the Octarians. From then on, the main story is a fairly by the numbers rescue plot that focuses more on the action as opposed to the narrative. While the occassional cutscene will play following boss fights to set up some exposition and provide context for the player's actions, don't expect any sweeping revelations or shocking plot-twists to keep you invested in the story. However, for those who are truly curious as to why marine life has all of a sudden taken to walking on two legs and why there is a random cat who sleeps in the the main hub area, there are collectible scrolls that can be found in the single player game that serve to provide additional context to the setting of the story. It's not much, but it does serve to flesh out the world.
There are two primary game modes: multiplayer and single player. Single player mostly consists of going through various obstacle course-like levels before reaching the end and collecting the zapfish at the end. It's a very basic set up and you'll find yourself completing it in only a few hours. However, the real attraction comes in this game's extensive multiplayer modes. Matches consist of teams of four players going up against one another in order to see who can cover the most terrain with ink. While this may sound simple at first, matches can quickly become chaotic. When you factor in the fact that each weapon also has three different abilities, one of which is a super move that can quickly change the tide of battle, and you realize that there at first seemed. Another layer of depth to the gameplay, lies in the ability to transform from a kid into a squid. At the push of a button, your character can turn into a squid, and by doing so, it allows you traverse across the map at insane speeds while lying in allied ink. Not only that, but by tapping on an ally on the Wii U touch pad, you can launch yourself across the map in an instant. However, you want to be careful as so much as touching enemy ink will damage you, so going too fast can prove problematic. As you play more matches, you level up your character which allows you to buy more clothes and weapons. What clothing you have equipped can also alter the way the game is played. While it may seem purely cosmetic, each article of clothing has a different special effect attributed to it. Furthermore, higher leveled clothing has more abilities to it than lower-leveled clothing and as such, there's a balance as to whether you want to spend money on new weapons or new upgrades for yourself. One downside to all of this, however, is the stages. While none of them are poorly designed, the stages are set up on a rotation schedule, meaning that only two stages are playable every week. While this means that there will always be variety in the stage selection, it also means that you're not allowed to play on you're favorite stage until it pops up on rotation. Another concern of mine is how Nintendo plans on handling this feature when the servers inevitably go down.
Finally, the presentation is outstanding. The environments are peppered with lively music and bright colors. All of the stages are vibrant and designed to accommodate maximum mobility for your characters. The music is all heavily-influenced by J-pop and goes so far as to feature two of the game's main characters, Callie and Marie, as J-pop idols. Furthermore visuals are also a mix of the 90's and Japanese pop-culture giving it and identity all it's own.
As a whole, if their's one word that can best be used to describe Splatoon, it's personality. The game oozes personality from the visuals to the music to the gameplay. There are some drawbacks such as the limited stage selection and the weak single-player campaign, but the music, the colorful graphics, and the deep gameplay makes the game more than worth picking up.
Thursday, June 2, 2016
Konami...Just Konami...
Earlier today, Konami revealed a new trailer for their newest Metal Gear Solid game, a pachinko machine with backdrop of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater as the theme for it. My only response for this is: why? Why, Konami? The visuals look gorgeous. Each of the character models has been stunningly recreated using the FOX engine and it all opens up with the gorgeous view of the climactic battle between The Boss and the man who would later become Big Boss. But all of these wonderful visuals are wasted to what amounts to nothing more than a paltry gambling machine. And why, I ask again? So Konami can make a quick buck while ruining the legacies of all of their once great franchises? I've heard an argument state that the whole idea of westerners getting angry about Konami changing their focus from being about video games to being about pachinko is out of control and it shouldn't be something that we concern ourselves with. However, what these people fail to understand is, gaming history is being lost here. Several titles under the Konami name such as Metal Gear Solid, Snatcher, Zone of the Enders, Goemon, Boktai, Castlevania, Silent Hill, and Suikoden are at risk of being lost forever due to Konami's sudden and jarring shift over to the world of pachinko. And the problem here isn't the fact that Konami wants to produce pachinko machines, but rather that they want to produce pachinko machines while burying any and all traces of their past as game developers. Sure, they like to pretend that they're paying homage to titles of previous years, but with the way the pachinko machines are marketed, such as focusing on a sultry succubus' breasts for the Castlevania machine or the loud noises and bright colors produced by the Silent Hill machine, they end up appealing to the lowest common denominator.
But do you want to know what the wort part is? Konami is pretty much pushing themselves into a corner and is by all intensive purposes making their brands unrecognizable. The majority of these franchises have not had games released on a regular basis since the 6th generation and as such many of them have become unknown to younger generations. While Konami believes that they can keep their properties alive by releasing pachinko machines or free-to-play games with the same characters, they don't realize that by doing so, they are inadvertently devaluing their own properties. People will see the characters on the screen and think of them as someone doing something cool, but without context it's nothing more than flashing lights being projected onto the viewer. New generations won't understand the reason for the conflict between Alucard and Dracula. New generations won't understand the intricacies of the Metal Gear saga or even experiments such as Boktai. With a business setup as they have now, Konami is ensuring easy money for themselves in the short term, but in the long-run, with all the ill-will they've built up, I guarantee that they shouldn't expect to have much support should they fall into a pinch.
But do you want to know what the wort part is? Konami is pretty much pushing themselves into a corner and is by all intensive purposes making their brands unrecognizable. The majority of these franchises have not had games released on a regular basis since the 6th generation and as such many of them have become unknown to younger generations. While Konami believes that they can keep their properties alive by releasing pachinko machines or free-to-play games with the same characters, they don't realize that by doing so, they are inadvertently devaluing their own properties. People will see the characters on the screen and think of them as someone doing something cool, but without context it's nothing more than flashing lights being projected onto the viewer. New generations won't understand the reason for the conflict between Alucard and Dracula. New generations won't understand the intricacies of the Metal Gear saga or even experiments such as Boktai. With a business setup as they have now, Konami is ensuring easy money for themselves in the short term, but in the long-run, with all the ill-will they've built up, I guarantee that they shouldn't expect to have much support should they fall into a pinch.
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