Captain Salt

A Broken Pencil Is Less Pointless Than The Xbox One (Redeemer Edition)

Tue, 28 May 2013 05:01:00 -0400

So I just returned from the Black Hills, having cleansed myself of the overload of life stresses (and to get away from the “who-gives-a-shit” amount of media saturation surrounding the reveal of the Xbox One [myself included]), and with a refreshed focus I wanted to reflect on my previous post regarding said Xbox One.

If you’re prepared for a doozy of a rant, then be my guest. I’ve been told that I was rather tough on MS, and I agree, but I was pretty upset, and felt like an hour was ample time to prove to gamers that your “new console reveal” was equally as important as to what you actually showed off.

I still stand largely towards the belief that E3 will give us a better show of what’s to come, but whether that’s good or bad is still up in the air. Frankly, I’m not too concerned about the dividend of which games are Kinect-based or which games are in-house devs only. It’s ultimately going to come down to how great Halo 5 is from the multiplayer side and how great the singleplayers end up being. Plain and simple.

That being said, as much as I loathed the overcompensation in the mixed-media spectrum of being able to multitask being able to browse the web and watch a movie, a very thoughtful idea was presented to me by a close friend that somehow went over my head, and from a communication standpoint just sounds excellent now. The inclusion of Skype with my online gaming has really built the value for me, and now feels like a welcome addition that I will truthfully use so long as its execution flows as well as intended.

One trend that immediately followed this announcement was the great divide amongst gamers about the validity of this new console. The consensus right now is that it’s not going to be worth it, which to a certain degree I still believe. The perception I find to be most frustrating is the notion that we should “deal with it” (read Jim Sterling’s “Piss off and buy a Sony” tweets). Others have even created the stance (Dan Amrich comes to mind) that if you don’t like the Xbox One, then look at your smartphone and explain how that’s any different.

In my previous post, I feel that I didn’t create adequately replicate the connection to my disappointment with the Xbox One’s reveal without bashing something that’s not even been released to the public.

Nevertheless, I don’t feel that I am at liberty to back down from my belief that if you’re going to name your event a “Next-Gen Console Reveal,” then it should have truly been a next-gen console reveal.

When Amrich compares the Xbox One’s relevance to a smartphone’s, I certainly agree with him, but what we’re all missing with that argument is that the smartconsole already exists within this generation, which means that this isn’t exactly the innovation a console reveal would lead anyone to expect (barring the upgrades that make interactions amongst the various operating systems close to seamless).

While I am admittedly a player who enjoys the distraction of Netflix on my console, and can understand the need for some of the other distractions available, I just don’t think that gaming consoles need these features to survive. Where the comparison of smartphone to smartconsole is certainly obvious, what we’re forgetting is that the smartphone needed to exist so that cellular providers could remain competitive.

To be as straightforward as possible about this, gaming as a lifestyle/hobby/culture/art/industry/yadda-yadda is already competitive enough amongst itself without having to evolve into an all-in-one device in a sea of all-in-one devices (see: Personal Computers, streaming boxes, tablets, smartphones, et al). Some may argue that this would be taking a step backwards, but I don’t find it to be much of a crazy notion that a gaming console’s priority focus is in delivering the finest of gaming experiences, followed secondarily by the other cool stuff it can do.

If I could be so bold, I’d like to share the idea given to me of an alternate version of the console that could be simultaneously released alongside the Xbox One (call it the Xbox Core or whatever). Cut out the blu-ray player (read: disk drive), and force players into the Xbox Live subscription while buying their games solely through the marketplace, and take a firm stance on blocking out the used games industry via this version of the console, and leave the Xbox One for the premium buy-in instead. [Credit to my friend for this idea. It is not mine] Maybe exclude the Kinect 2 to show the difference in navigation capability, and downgrade the controller to a reflexively similar “S” version (sans the Kinect sensor), and BAM! you can keep just about everything else the same, and have a convincing asking price in conjunction with a premium model for the more die-hard/living room buyers. Hell, you’d definitely be more competitive against Ghosts.

Speaking of which, I have to apologize for neglecting the footnote of the entire conference: a worldwide reveal of the next Call of Duty.

Boy, is the fence too short to sit on now. I was unable to share any real excitement for Ghosts. We got to see some components of the campaign, a new system engine, a graphical comparison against one of the most graphically unimpressive iterations in the series, a series of sleeping-with-the-enemy-traits carried over from Treyarch’s take on Call of Duty (sliding vs. dolphin dive and customizable skins? Really?), dynamic maps (which actually looks pretty cool), and a dog as a teammate.

I am certain that this Call of Duty will succeed, but aside from the inclusion of the familiar moniker, it is also noteworthy that new-not-really-Infinity Ward will take their game into new territory with Ghosts, even though the aftermath of over-saturation may finally rear its ugly head. If there is any future for Call of Duty, it’s now or never.

Keeping in the spirit of avoiding fanboy-esque ranting (at least this time around), I’m going to go back to playing with some of the pictures from my trip.

Also, as a final note- I was definitely too harsh with the whole “this console won’t be worth your time,” because that’s obviously not entirely true. I’m sure that I’ll end up getting one (and even the PS4 the way things are going), but irrationality took over during that conference, and it just left a bad taste in my mouth between that and the entirety of the Internet not knowing how to react over it, either.

If I ever become an uncle…

Mon, 27 May 2013 13:41:39 -0400

If I ever become an uncle…

A Broken Pencil Is Less Pointless Than The Xbox One

Wed, 22 May 2013 04:16:57 -0400

Negative backlash, confusion about what “it does”, an overreaching appeal at the unnecessary, and an overwhelming level of unrest amongst the subordinate, yet still most pertinent of publics— the Xbox One was unveiled today, and somehow people clapped for it.

I had to let everything sink in during that fateful hour in which the Xbox One got shown off today. The conference seemed to just fly by as I was pacing to relieve the stress I was feeling, as though I were the only one wanting to speak out against what was happening while an entire studio audience was cheering and revering this new device that wasn’t even acknowledged as a gaming console. And once it was all over, I had to ask myself a rather serious question:

“At what point has it become the standard for a gaming console to not be about gaming?”

While I lovingly hold my Xbox 360 as my current go-to console of choice, there is a common disconnect I feel has vastly interrupted the feeling of escape that gaming has always granted to someone like me, whose concerns with the real world took a break for my longest-standing relationship.

While it boasts an expectedly impressive upgrade from its predecessor, most notably the inclusion of a Blu-Ray player or the ease of access to expandable storage, the next Xbox brought with it what appears to be one of the most loudly-heard explosions of discontent from THE ENTIRE FREAKING WORLD over just about everything else.

On the positive side, Mr. Spielberg of Spielberg-everything presented a new Halo TV series that is intended to be on the same scale of excellence of previous Spielberg (and Tom Hanks?)-ilk, such as Band of Brothers. It’s erroneous to believe that Microsoft would avoid building off of the success of Forward Unto Dawn after the awards and prestige it has earned, and with all that Spielberg/Microsoft money going into an all new series, this was probably the most spectacular news of the entire day.

I will wait until I actually hold onto the controller before I pass judgment on it. It looks ugly, but looks were never the focus in comparison to overall function, which in terms of the system’s use, will likely make sense in due time.

Afterwards, there was a trainwreck of unbelievable applause.

The first twenty-five minutes of the conference was spent entirely on the repeated notion that the Xbox was essentially going to replace your DVR box. In that time, we learned a lot about Xbox One’s ability to multitask seamlessly between watching TV, movies, and Internet browsing, all the while playing apps at the same time.

The Xbox One will be able to add subscriptions to a variety of previously-cable-provider-exclusive listings that will net you access to highly sought-after programs like NFL Central, which for the sports enthusiast on a budget is spectacular, because now you only would potentially only need the Xbox One with a current Xbox Live subscription plus the subscription to NFL Central, and then you can ditch all of those other cable channels you might not even watch, and still end up paying the same thing. Congratulations, you got less for what will likely be the same price at the end of the day.

For the entirety of the conference, the Xbox One was not referred to at any point as a gaming console. At all. It “does” gaming, but it is not a “gaming console,” rather a Home Entertainment System to complete your living room.

At best, the Xbox One was presented from the gaming standpoint for all of ten minutes total. That means for the announcement of a next-generation gaming console, 1/6th of the announcement was in regards to how it games, while the majority of the announcement was about all the (mandatory) cool tricks it can do.

Imagine I’m trying to sell you a TV, and I don’t even turn the damn thing on.

Of the gaming take-aways that were present, we got a glimpse of the next Forza, a collection of EA Sports titles, a new original title from the makers of Max Payne and Alan Wake (which we’re still unsure as to whether or not is actually an Xbox One exclusive), and a worldwide reveal of Call of Duty: Ghosts.

Let me rephrase that:

There were fifteen games that were announced as exclusives to the Xbox One*,** with eight of them being all-new IP’s. Forza Motorsports 5 was most obviously a certainty in terms of being one of that alleged fifteen titles that Microsoft will now have to deliver, and Quantum Break being potentially the second, while being one of the eight original titles, and Call of Duty: Ghosts, a multiplatform title was the only other game that was revealed at this conference.***

*This is all excluding the possibility that one or more of these fifteen games will require using the Kinect 2 to play them.

**This is also excluding the EA Sports lineup that will likely still be multiplatform despite EA’s forsaking of Nintendo’s current offerings.

***This is finally disregarding the ominous premonition that Microsoft has pooled a collection of internal development studios that will only make games for the Xbox One in the same way that Sony has done with Naughty Dog.

While I am sure the world can handle console exclusives, it is wildly irresponsible to believe that those without disposable income are going to be callous to the double-edged pinch of knowing that they are either going to be stuck with a console that’s only games worth purchasing are the exclusives, or being on the outside looking in as the console they chose not to buy has some potentially great games, but the cost to actually play them is too great.

Or worse yet, they choose to stick with their old, outdated console instead of upgrading to a device that is neither earth-shattering nor innovative, to be generous to what was shown to us today.

Microsoft is banking on the idea that just because their consumers pay for Xbox Live, play online, use Netflix, and on occasion use their Kinect to control their console, these consumers will pay the cost once again just to gain a marginal upgrade to what they already have now. Aside from the upgrades to the Kinect and the actual build of the system itself, what exactly was truly innovative about this reveal?

So the system can update you on your fantasy team’s progress in the middle of a game without having to pull your phone from the charger just to look. The system can switch over to Internet Explorer (*facepalm*) and hopefully not stumble upon a virus while the user is taking the Bing It On challenge. The system will be able to port over your existing Xbox Live account and achievements, but won’t be able to play those incomplete games, making the convenience of opening space back up to get rid of your 360 completely out of the question, all the while completely invalidating the need to move over your achievements in the first place.

All oddities aside, none of this answers for the outrageously bold neglect of what these console reveals are all about, and that is the game.

We all can say what we will about how the major competitors are seeing the benefits with pulling in the more casual audience, whom otherwise would never think for a second that what they were buying would embark them on a journey that years ago they would never take part in, or would mock and taunt anyone involved with the culture. We have the evidence that shows how the Xbox One is nothing spectacular in the event that the games we see during E3 prove they are nothing great in terms of promise and anticipation.

And on top of all that, it was spoken that the Xbox One will in face be released this year. Likely, at the same time as the next Call of Duty. It goes without question that neither of Microsoft or Sony are really thinking about the fact that both of their consoles are being released around the same time that one of the best-selling franchises in gaming history is going to exist at roughly the same time. What should be further noted is that the uninformed buyer is going to take the $60 game over dropping what could potentially total out to $700 just to play the only game they play anyways.

So at the end of the day, your console is going to get outsold by a gaming franchise that is not only stale and ill-fated with recession, but they will also face the damages of being overlooked by a game that is somehow showing off more new assets than a major product you’re selling that is exponentially more expensive.

Throughout the day, I tried everything I could to rationalize the Xbox One. I imagined setting it up in my gaming room, inputting a one-time-use code to access a game that requires the permission to play, even though I will pay full-price for it, powering the system up, and finally just playing the game. In that time, I have to hope that the Kinect doesn’t accidentally recognize me scratching my crotch, or the speech recognition doesn’t take me yawning from a long day’s work as me telling the Xbox to shut off.

I can just see one problem after the next, and I’m not even talking about the underlying issue that the Xbox One won’t see the light of day in many living rooms. I personally don’t have the advantage of a room with the ideal space to utilize the Kinect 2’s features, and yet I don’t have the ability to just unplug it and leave it in the box. In this current issue of a stabilizing, but far-from-thriving economy, I’m sure the essential features of the Xbox One were met with dead stares by the vocally-outspoken at home, while the invited and well-connected will share the benefits of a mandatory premium-built system that does nothing more than your average PC, but has a different moniker.

Without going into a flamboyantly fanboy-based console war argument, I will say that I am equally unimpressed by the Xbox One and the PS4, but I am more cautiously optimistic for the latter after hearing developer comments on it.

To keep it concise, I simply can not recommend this system for anyone who games until it sports a good promotion. Otherwise, it would be best to wait until this current trend of gaming-consoles-for-everyone-but-gamers comes to a crashing halt.

Someday.

Oh No

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 03:57:37 -0400

The amount of farting going on right now in my room is frightening.

A Couple Notes On Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 21:43:13 -0400

I can now understand why it’s such a niché game here in US. It’s like WoW without any of the raids and endgame content, but all of the farming and gathering.

Not exactly my cup of tea, but a pretty slick game nevertheless.

Not ANOTHER Review??? Castlevania: Lords of Shadow: Mirror of Fate

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 05:37:02 -0400

It wasn’t terribly long ago that Castlevania fans were pleasured with a fantastic 3D-vania, where developer Mercury Steam embarked on its maiden voyage by completely revamping the story of the Belmont clan and took some dangerous risks with its version of the narrative that may or may not have had some influence (directly or not, no one is really sure) from the father of Metal Gear, Hideo Kojima.

The resulting game was flawed, but more than enough to have snagged my Game of the Year for 2009 against a bevy of other undeserving titles. The platforming aspect of the game may have been agonizing at times, and the inconsistencies in the game’s framerate was at times a noticeable struggle when it didn’t need to be. Regardless, the brilliantly-weighted combat mechanics rivaled Lords of Shadow’s influences found in your average God of War or Devil May Cry, which is not a task to be taken lightly by any means. Compound that with a story that warps your entire perspective of a man exorcising monsters and demons with a whip to a tale of love and loss that strikes a chord so well with anyone struggling to exorcise monsters and demons with a whip.

On top of all that, an ending that caused a lot of double takes. I will say no more on that matter… even though it’s been like three years, and if you’re at all interested in Mirror of Fate to the point where you’ve come across this review, then at the very least your backlog for Castlevania should at least contain the first Lords of Shadow to shed some light on the story’s affairs.

So we know now that I have a strong passion for the Castlevania games, even if some have been lackluster— ranging from a weird multiplayer download title to some of the less-than-inspiring 2D iterations that had a large following on the Nintendo DS regardless of my discontent with them.

But how does Castlevania: Lords of Shadow: Mirror of Fate (phew!) stack up as the lead up to Lords of Shadow 2?

It falls flat on its fucking face.

Perhaps I’m being overdramatic, but I was severely disappointed in Mirror of Fate, and I really wanted to be impressed by Mercury Steam’s first attempt at a 3DS game. I remember the game first being announced, which led to the flipping of several tables in anticipation. A long-time friend and I shared excited glances at the first screenshots of the return to a 2D Castlevania style getting married to the narrative power of Lords of Shadow. This is without even mentioning— TREVOR BELMONT— TREVOR FREAKING BELMONT. For the younger players, Trevor was the main protagonist of Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse, and personal trivia, one of the very first games I played as a young lad. Seeing one of my favorite characters come back as a playable character (along with the damphir, Alucard, the original Belmont, Simon, and Lords of Shadow anti-hero, Gabriel) was more than enough to convince me that Mirror of Fate was on track to be utterly brilliant.

Alas, it was all a ruse. Take note of the above picture, particularly near the bottom where it says “Mercury Engine Mobile”. Call me paranoid, which is my greatest flaw, but when I read the mobile part, my initial interpretation was that this engine was designed with mobile development in mind. Now, taking the bright side of this, a mobile 2D Castlevania sounds sweet on paper. Be that as it may, this is a 3DS game, and after completing the game 100% in under 12 hours on my first playthrough, it doesn’t exactly denote the same level of depth and replayability that nearly every other Castlevania title still has to this day. Hell, I even pick up Simon’s Quest every so often despite the fact that I can hardly stand playing that disaster for more than an hour.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow: Mirror of Fate puts a temporary halt on the 3D mechanics its predecessor was built upon and falls back to the classic 2D semi-Metroidvania style found periodically within the game’s lineage. Mirror of Fate maintains its focus on brilliantly executed combat (which frankly saves this game from being unplayable), and tries its best to tell a comparatively good story that follows, and in the prologue leads up to the events of Lords of Shadow.

Players will find out very quickly that the combat does not require too much thought beyond knowing when to block or counter and when to savagely assault any undead being in their way. Your direct attacks from mashing the Y button generally does the bulk of your work, while certain area attacks with the X button takes care of almost everything else that might be out of the reach of your direct attacks. Many of your attacks can be chained together with various combos, much like what you’ve seen before in the first Lords of Shadow, all the while tossing in your secondary weapons by either pressing or holding the A button depending on that particular sidearm’s use. Defending yourself is built around timing your use of the L shoulder button to either block or initiate a timed counter, which leads you right into a higher-damage short combo. You can also dodge unblockable attacks by holding that same L shoulder button with a direction on the joystick, or jump over or out of the way of the attacker with the B button. A lot of enemies can also become dazed by your attacks and finished off with the R shoulder button once they start glowing, which is a dead giveaway that they’ve had enough and desire a quick end. You level up throughout the game to add on to your selection of combos to wail on enemies with, so don’t feel as though you’re stuck thinking there’s only one attack needed, even though for me the quick combo you do by tapping Y and then holding it was, and still is my favorite combo between both Lords of Shadow titles.

Platforming is mostly done with the B button and the R shoulder button depending on the situation. Most often they’re not too braintickling, nor do they really try to stump you on which plank to grab on to next or which chandelier you can attach the Combat Cross to. Come to think of it, there wasn’t a moment in the game where I had to scratch my head about how I was going to get passed an electrified floor or through an underwater tunnel, which actually makes the platforming much better this time around than in Lords of Shadow. I suppose that’s a plus, although it doesn’t build on the potential to make Castlevania a great contender for platforming titles.

Each of the playable characters has their own unique skills and equipment between them, although Gabriel’s prologue chapter is severely limited to only utilizing his Combat Cross. The rest of the cast have certain qualities to them, from Alucard’s lack of concern for holding his breath underwater to Trevor’s ability to leap greater distances with some wicked boots… come to think of it, it really made Simon look like a wimp in comparison when you play through his part of the game knowing that he can’t even double jump… I mean, I guess the whole Belnades’ protection thing is pretty cool, and the Reinhardt reference was pretty cool in that, too. But then Alucard also had that cool gliding thing he could do after double jumping, and Trevor had the exploding boomerangs. Man, step up your game, Simon!

Going through the game, you’re split up into different “Acts” that denotes the amount of time you get to spend with the playable cast. You start off playing as Gabriel, which takes place one year before the events of the first Lords of Shadow. You go through each Act rather quickly, so if you’re interested in the whole exploration side of the series, it’s best to collect everything before you finish each character’s final sequences. Sure, it’s easily remedied by just reloading that character’s chapter (wait, I thought it was by Act? OH WELL) and picking up whatever you missed, and it’s also a quick backtrack with the warp spots and the minimal need for exploration.

My problem with all of this is that I got through the entire game in a matter of ten hours with minimal setbacks. I finished the game with 100% completion after another hour. What sucks about this is what little I had leftover to do after my final bout at the end. I wiped the floor with Alucard’s Act in probably the shortest portion of the game despite weird puzzles that can easily be mastered by even the easiest to stump in terms of puzzle complexity, and can be made even easier by having the game Super Kong the puzzle for you (although not in the visual tutorial way you’ve come to expect from other Nintendo titles, so that reference probably didn’t work, but whatever… you get me). What bothers me about pretty much everything regarding Mirror of Fate, despite its excellent combat, is that I have found it to be arguably the least inspired Castlevania in the entire lineage of Castlevania, and considering that the Lords of Shadow story has been considered a reboot or a dramatic retelling of the series, inspiration is one of the most important things you should probably draw from to make players believe that this add-on to your reboot of the series is just as important as the first. To have it compared to the more traditional “Metroidvania” titles out there is akin to classifying Resident Evil 6 as a survival horror. To call Mirror of Fate a Metroidvania title would be to put it in the same realm of being a 2D Castlevania title that directly included the heavy aspect of backtracking through areas where a certain door couldn’t be opened or that a platform was too high to jump to without a special weapon or powerup, which is equally similar to, and one of the defining aspects of many of the Metroid titles from start to finish.

I can not in good faith liken Mirror of Fate to a Metroidvania title, no matter how silly the reference is to me, because I can’t relate the two minutes it took me to go back and fetch a health bonus to the hours it would sometimes take me to figure out what part of the map I couldn’t reach or the numerous trial and errors to solving a particular puzzle before I was rewarded with a special piece of equipment I would otherwise have to deal without. Perhaps it’s because I can take notes on certain things I couldn’t reach early on (a feature I used once to try it out), perhaps it’s the truncated options available per character that made figuring out these obstacles that much quicker, or perhaps it’s the abundance of Quick-Time-Events that I’ve grown accustomed to, but still feel intrudes on the experience, but also doesn’t hurt the game anymore than it already has.

Mirror of Fate, at best, is a Diet Metroidvania Lite Zero. What little exploration and seeking out of hidden powerups and upgrades you have to do is equally challenging as amassing extra lives in New Super Mario Bros. 2. There was hardly a moment in Mirror of Fate where I thought to myself “How the HELL do I get to that,” and for a Castlevania game that has been compared to many of its ilk, this is just not acceptable. I’m all about focusing on the cinematics that Lords of Shadow had in spades, but with a total of about eight to ten hours of gameplay to compliment the short cutscenes, you end up with a game that is incredibly short, even for a handheld title.

The argument could be made that the early days of Castlevania sported similarly short titles, but I just can’t see the point of giving us such little to work with, and not even make it all that memorable or worth the investment. Going back to the “Mercury Steam Mobile” comment, Mirror of Fate would be much better suited as a mobile game than it is a 3DS exclusive, and doesn’t exactly validate the 3DS the same way that other recent releases like Fire Emblem: Awakening has. When one of your major focuses are in the narrative of your retelling of a classic, you have to make that content something I’m going to keep with me for a very long time. While there are a few moments within Mirror of Fate that I had to sit down and assess for a few hours (one of which is potentially one of the most earth-shattering moments I’ve experienced in a Castlevania to date), I have been drawing a blank on the amount of redeeming qualities this entry in the Lords of Shadow saga has to offer to the narrative.

I’ve been looking back on the content of Mirror of Fate since it was first opened, and I can only draw one particular scene I truly enjoyed involving Simon and Alucard, a particular sequence during Trevor’s Act, and the previously mentioned scene that is spoiler alertish and will be kept out for now. Aside from that, the story is overwhelmingly forgettable, and doesn’t build on the mythos of Lords of Shadow in the way that captures your attention like the first did. I went through all of Mirror of Fate hoping that I would be rewarded despite what little effort that was needed to be put into it, and even then I felt I was undercut by this title. It hurts, but at least now I’ve taken some important tidbits of relevant information that will likely be validated once Lords of Shadow 2 comes out at the end of this year or the beginning of 2014.

For what it’s worth, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow: Mirror of Fate is not a title you should spend $40 on, but at the very least could be worth your time when it’s on a really good deal. I found this entry in the Lords of Shadow saga to be uneventful despite some interesting revelations that you may or may not be shocked by. The lack of depth and content worthy of a classic Metroidvania really defeats the purpose of classifying Mirror of Fate within the same category, but is somewhat made up for by improving the platforming mechanics while still being held together with some of the best combat the series has ever seen.

You can buy the game at any major retailer right now for the $40 price tag, or wait for a better deal, or wait for it to release on your mobile device under a different moniker for probably a fraction of the price— but that’s just me being paranoid/optimistic.

Just keep in mind that there’s some particularly special parts of Mirror of Fate you’re either going to want to see for yourself or look up online before Lords of Shadow 2 comes out.

Fire Emblem: Awakening

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 01:26:03 -0500

It has been a while since I have been so grossly captivated by a tactics/strategy game, and while I am constantly enraged by my 3DS’s poor lifespan between battery charges, I must concede that Fire Emblem: Awakening is easily the best game available in Nintendo’s library for the 3DS thus far.

If you haven’t already, and are a fan of turn-based strategy games, I highly suggest it.

Clem

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 06:39:50 -0500

I would save you over and over because you are my lifeblood.

Don’t get me wrong, Wind Waker was awesome. Incredibly...

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 03:43:05 -0500

Don’t get me wrong, Wind Waker was awesome. Incredibly awesome.

But I’ve learned something about HD “remakes” of games:

HD resolution as an add-on does not count as a “remake”.

Oh? There’s touch controls being added to WW? That’s rich. Because touch controls make every game better. Why not just use the motion sensor, which was the entire point of your previous Zelda titles? Oh right, because tapping screens is the future now. Tappa tappa tappa.

You can probably tell I’m kind of salty about this, but am still happy to see that Wind Waker isn’t passing slowly into the night, but for God’s sakes don’t call it a remake if it’s just a port of the game with “updated visuals”, Nintendo.

To view a finer specimen that legitimately falls under the category of “remake,” please observe Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes. Yes it’s just a fan trailer, but this is something that was also on the Gamecube and at the time was a remake of the introduction of the Solid saga to Metal Gear.

On The Topic Of Devil May Cry

Sun, 20 Jan 2013 06:03:00 -0500

So the DMC reboot hit shelves Tuesday of this last week and a lot of reviewers are giving it quite the ovation, and in the midst of this a slew of new arguments saying otherwise are just on the opposite spectrum, stating claims that were otherwise non-existent (save for an intellectual dialog I shared with another online writer) prior to the game’s launch.

Previously, my concerns with NT developing this reboot were in the combat system and overall game mechanics. They did what I thought was passable with Heavenly Sword, but a completely shoddy job putting together Enslaved: Odyssey to the West. While the narrative was nothing short of memorable and engaging, I did not have the most enjoyable time going through their previous works.

While I haven’t picked up DMC yet (it’s a funding issue, because yeah… I really want to get it), my concerns have mostly diminished after playing the demo. Others cry foul at the sacrifice of depth for the simplicity factor, but I have grown fond of the intuitive use of streamlining their combat system in such a way that it is less strenuous on your fingers to pick up while being just as much an accomplishment to master. After having gone through the demo three times, I know that it would be a worthy investment down the road, but NT quite honestly deserves a pat on the back for this, despite the incessant nagging going on from only-God-knows-who.

Without trying to sound pretentious, how badly did people want this game to fail?

Start off with the look and you can find a warehouse filled over a dozen times about how people despised the “emo” look as a departure from the wild-anime style that Dante sported before. There was even a change of moniker for the new “Donte” that I’ve concluded is a digital resistance to the latest incarnation of this character that I personally did not feel much attachment to in the first place. I’ve always admired Dante for being the badass that he is, and while the styling of his predecessor was obnoxious to a fault, I could never feel less than impressed with his ability to stun you with his mastery of demon fight choreography. Judging by what I’ve seen in DMC, this Dante is no different other than in aesthetic (and apparently demeanor, which I still have not seen), and for that fans were in outcry.

As a moderate fan of the series, I didn’t see much of a problem here, but I could relate to this dilemma from a time when Nintendo made Link right-handed in Twilight Princess (and subsequently Skyward Sword). I was passively aware of how fans felt about this, but it never struck me as a dealbreaker for DMC in the slightest.

Moving forward to a week or so before the game released, and now you hear complaints of how the game is too easy and that the combat was tweaked for scrubs and that any idiot could pick up and play the game.

I will be amongst the few to say that this was on my mind for a long time when it was first announced that Ninja Theory would develop this game, and up until I played the demo, I kept my skepticism unsheathed. Once I played a few minutes of this small sample of DMC, I withdrew any doubt I had that this would be the enjoyable experience I’ve always wanted from the series. Yes, the natural difficulty is nowhere close to what it once was, and I’m sure to some extent that even the highest difficulties aren’t more than a shadow to what the previous games had to offer, but this isn’t unlike the much button masher of today as it is also the Devil May Cry of today. I enjoy my good challenges from time to time, but to try to say that this game “fails” because it’s lacking the hair-pulling intensity of the previous four titles is just a tad absurd considering that a converse argument could be made for an oddly-similar Batman series that has coexisted this generation just fine with raving reviews.

The point I’m trying to make here is that just because you can’t eat your own cake doesn’t mean that you can’t still enjoy it. I’m still trying to wrap it around my head today that a DMC even got the greenlight considering how quickly DMC4 fell into the night. I didn’t even think that this series would ever make it in the HD era, and yet here we are, whining over hair. *le sigh*

And let’s face it: Capcom may have put Dante/Vergil in UMVC3, but they aren’t going to personally make a standalone for you anytime soon. It’s harsh, I know, but for a series that was so staple to an older generation, the shock of maintaining relevance this much later on is much more than I can say for the Son of Sparda compared to Capcom’s otherwise lack of interest in a far more important license.

OK, that was mean— we know Capcom still wants Mega Man to be popular. And remember, the reviewers are posting reviews. While there is always the lingering conspiracy theory of reviewers getting paid to say nice things about the games in question, there is also the much higher likelihood that this game might actually be awesome, and you’re missing out by not buying it.

superchampionfunzone: Purity Ring - Fineshrine I’ve been...

Sun, 20 Jan 2013 04:39:05 -0500

superchampionfunzone:

Purity Ring - Fineshrine

I’ve been addicted to this song for weeks now.

based song i’ve heard from ‘em.

Ni No Kuni

Sat, 19 Jan 2013 01:53:00 -0500

Comes out in a few days. As much as I wish it wasn’t a PS3 exclusive, my excitement is pretty much uncontainable.

8 Years Later...

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 04:59:05 -0500

I’m probably gonna start using this to post my gaming news/reviews/stuff… since Gaming Nerd has exploded and no longer exists.

nedroidcomics: Reginald is trapped in the Videogameiverse

Mon, 29 Oct 2012 16:05:17 -0400

nedroidcomics:

Reginald is trapped in the Videogameiverse

nedroidcomics: Scruff McGruff, Chicago Illinois, 60652

Fri, 26 Oct 2012 04:05:25 -0400

nedroidcomics:

Scruff McGruff, Chicago Illinois, 60652

oh trololololol just kidding.

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:19:33 -0500

oh trololololol just kidding.

a whole year of work just … right down the damn shitter. piss.

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:17:55 -0500

a whole year of work just … right down the damn shitter. piss.

Imagine The Rage I Feel...

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:15:09 -0500

…when a blog site I work for gets shut down and I have everything I’ve ever written saved to the site.

Captain Dumbass here, everybody.

Jim? Your house is on fire, too, I guess.

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 23:20:38 -0500

Jim? Your house is on fire, too, I guess.

Billy, my boss won’t believe me if I’m the one who...

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 02:56:53 -0500

Billy, my boss won’t believe me if I’m the one who tells it.