Star Ocean Anamensis (Mobile)

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Star Ocean Amanesis is a mobile game from Square Enix and developed by Tri-Ace for android and iOS. Like many mobile games this one is free to play and features the characters from the Star Ocean games of the past. It follows the events of Integrity and Faithlessness and involves being attacked by pirates and memory loss. I won’t spoil too much since the game is free to play so i won’t spoil it to much.

The game board basically alternates back and forth between story tiles and battles where you collect items and such. As per usual you progress thru the game and collect characters and more powerful weapons. You don’t need to you money to do this, but as always it will make things much easier and more powerful. The game so far for me hasn’t come across as pay to win, but the best stuff isn’t easy to come across either and I would much rather play the more traditional Star Ocean games. Suffice it to say I will be playing it, but I won’t be sinking any cash into it. The game however does look and sound nice. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Pokemon Quest (Mobile)

Pokemon Quest is a free Mobile and Nintendo switch game from Game freak released in 2018.

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Pokemon Quest is a cute little game for Nintendo Switch, Android and iOS. I decided to check out the Mobile version on Android since its free and admittedly I don’t have access to a Switch or iOS device. I am curious if there are any differences between the Switch and Mobile versions so someday I hope to find that out, if I ever do I will be writing another one of these.

The game is quite simplistic, you go to an island to discover treasure and befriend a pokemon for help. You will choose from one of the three original starters of Charmander, Squirtle or Bulbasaur. There are also 2 additional choices of Evvee and Pikachu. There is a small twist tho, they are all little block creatures.

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The game is mostly just your pokemon walking around on their own, they also attack on their own but you choose their special attacks. The game is quite intuitive on its own. I never had an issue with them getting stuck or anything like that.

The biggest issue I had with the game was the cooking mechanic. You need to go thru 4 or 5 levels until its done cooking, then you get a pokemon based off what you cooked. While this is interesting it can take a while to get the pokemon you need for where you happen to be. It’s not a deal breaker it can just be pretty annoying at times, tho there are enough guides online to make it less time-consuming. It is also worth noting you can play the game without spending any real money, tho as always it will make your life much easier.

At the end of the day tho you have to ask yourself what you want from a game. Pokemon Quest is basically a cute time sink for the more dedicated pokemon fans. I think your more average fans won’t really put enough time into this to collect the pokemon or the equip items to get far enough to enjoy it. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

 

Railway Empire PS4 Pro Vs Xbox One X

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After getting to play both the PS4 pro version and the Xbox one version Railway Empire I decided some of you may have wondered, what is the difference between the two versions of the game?

Well for starters the content is exactly the same, so if you have to choose don’t worry there. You will be buying the same game regardless. There is some DLC available opening up Mexico, but I have no experienced that on either console so I can’t say if that is worth purchasing.

Graphically they both look great, but I do honestly have to give a slight advantage to the Xbox One X. This isn’t to say the pro looked significantly worse. In fact it is truly splitting hairs to say one looks better than the others,I truthfully can’t even say why I like the Xbox versions looks better, I just do. It just seems a bit more crisp.

As for controls, I have to give it to the Pro. They respond better and function better. Again, this isn’t by a significant amount and I am by no means putting down the Xbox version. The difference is slight and you can go wrong with either console.

Both versions of the game look and play great, the sound of both as far as I can tell are exactly the same so really its tasters choice on which one to pick. I do prefer the Pro version. It just seemed to play a little better to me, not by any substantial margin, but just enough to make me like it more. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

It (1990)

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The 1990 version of It has been a classic since, well since 1990. When the remake was announced people kind of lost their minds. Who could possibly play Pennywise better than Tim Curry? Well this isn’t about all that, but if you are interested we did cover that you can read more here.

Watching this movie made me remember that this wasn’t truly a movie, but a made for t.v. series. This does show by the lack of swearing and blood, something the 80’s and 90’s usually didn’t shy away from. This being made for t.v. tho, they did have to find a way to tone down what is actually a pretty violent and disturbing book. This is where they succeeded quite well.

In fact this may actually be the most successful part of the whole thing. When I was younger this movie actually was pretty freaky, but as an adult there were things that actually annoyed me more than anything. For example the constant jumping back and forth between childhood and being an adult as they introduced characters seemed completely unnecessary. It was also a 3 hour series that easily could have been two hours with much of it being feeling stretched out for no reason I can think of.

That isn’t to say the whole thing is bad, each character is played magnificently and Tim Curry still plays an amazing Pennywise the clown. I also feel comparing the two may be a bit unfair seeing as how one is made for t.v. and the other is a full-fledged movie.

At the end of the day however I have to admit, the 1990 version of It just doesn’t hold up very well for me. It’s still solid enough but it just doesn’t compare to the remake for me which I would much rather watch. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

 

 

Twisted Metal:Black (PS4)

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I have been a fan of Twisted Metal for a long time, ever since the original. My favorite like most people has actually always been Twisted Metal 2, but I wasn’t going to pass up the chance to pick this one up when it was on sale.

The game itself is exactly what it has always been. You pick one of the characters, each with their own story and vehicle. You then drive around picking up weapons on different levels killing the other people. The controls are nice and the graphics aren’t bad for an old PS2 game remastered for the PS4. The game also now has trophies which is nice, tho none of them are really all that hard to get. The game is worth picking up for fans of the series, and it’s really not a bad spot to jump in. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

We Are Doomed (PS4)

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We Are Doomed is above all a 2 twin stick shooter that is quick to get into but hard to master. Learning the game itself is about a 1 minute tutorial, assuming you read very slowly.

You control a small ship, that basically looks like an odd shape and you shoot other ships that are of various shapes and sizes. The game should also probably come with a seizure warning because this thing has more flashing lights that anything has any right to have.

The game is a blast tho, you can fight wave after wave of ships until you die trying to get a high score. Your other option is just endless enemies to see how long your survive. There is no story at all and no real point to the game beyond that, kind of like an old school arcade game.  That is actually where your issue will come in to this. If you okay with just some mindless fun and a challenge, you are good to go. If you are more of the every game needs a purpose and story with a well-defined purpose and motive, this game is definitely not for you. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Beholder Complete Edition (PS4)

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Beholder Complete Edition lets you authoritarian types live your life long dream of spying on your neighbors and sending them to prison. The game is pretty simplistic on the surface. You manage a building, and use cameras and a skeleton key to spy on your neighbors to make sure things are on the up and up. When they go out you can sneak in and rummage through their stuff to make sure they aren’t hiding illegal stuff, and use the cameras to see what they do when they are home.

The game is pretty in depth tho, you will be fixing up apartments and taking care of your families needs. My daughter actually died from an illness when I couldn’t come up with the money for medicine.  My wife was a complete pain in the neck wanting pots for cooking and candy. Seriously lady, I got stuff to do and people to get locked up.

The graphics are nice but nothing special and the controls are a bit stiff but work just fine. The game is fun, and at its price point you can’t really go wrong with such an odd but inventive game. So if you are looking for something new to check out, definitely give it a shot. It isn’t amazing or world changing, but it is interesting. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Metal Gear Survive

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I was real late to the party on Metal Gear Survive. I heard a LOT of stuff on this game by the way, pretty much none of it good. Then I got to play this game when it was free to play on Xbox recently.  The real question is, was the game actually bad?

Well to start the game actually looks really good on my One X. The controls also work really well. This is short and to the point on what I like, because quite honestly I am about to crap all over this game, just like most other people.

First, the story is ridiculous. The game basically starts as an alternate reality after a certain point then you create a character that is dead then you are basically tossed into an alternate dimension. The dimension is pretty much a point that sucks in stuff from a bunch of dimensions. This is where you will try to survive, as your hunger and thirst drain way to fast to the point it kills pretty much any fun I might have had with the game.

The wanderers used to be human, and apparently have occasionally ended up in our world. They were of course transformed by some sort of disease. Your job while survive is to track down old computer information to figure all this out. Now I know much of this information is quite vague and some isn’t quite accurate, mostly because I would still like for you guys to still be able to play it yourselves. I wouldn’t suggest playing this train wreck, because even for free I felt robbed.

The combat by the way, is not fun. After about 20 minutes of an intro where you don’t even control anything you get a gun, which you lose a few minutes later, you then get a make shift pipe spear. This thing is pretty annoying to use and it is your for the foreseeable future. Hunting food with it is a chore since most things are as fast or faster than you or dives thru you to attack you. Setting up fences helps, but that requires resources and time, which is also making your food and thirst gauges drain.

At no point did I have any fun with this game, and I wanted to. In fact the potential for me was there, the concept is sound and could have been fun. It just isn’t, and may actually be the worst AAA title I have played this year, best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Sudden Strike 4 European Battlefields Edition (Xbox One)

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Sudden Strike 4 European Battlefields Edition, is one of the few RTS games I have played this console generation, and is the ultimate version of the game containing both the game and the extra maps and such. I should also throw a quick thank you to Kalypso for tossing me this review copy.

The game itself on the One X is beautiful, and despite the old days of RTS’s not playing well on a controller, I had no issues with controls on this game.  The game also heavily focuses heavily on real life battles. This is actually my favorite aspect of the game. Each battle has some sort of explanation and as you play the game you unlock historic videos.

The game however isn’t perfect, in fact anyone familiar with command and conquer will remember the missions where you get a set number of units and a set mission to accomplish? These were my least favorite missions, and that is essentially the entire game. This is 100% a preference however. The missions are fair, yet challenging and function just fine and do have some nice variety. You may be securing a gas station to refuel your tanks or securing a bridge. That being said if your favorite part of an RTS is base building like me, this is going to be a bad time for you.

The game also makes it VERY easy to create and switch between groups of troops. I found myself creating groups of tanks and infantry simply because I could and then using them as separate entities to back each other up. The RTS genre is slim on console, but if you are looking for one, this is your chance. The game itself is a 7/10 for me, and I have no issue telling you, if you want an RTS, this is worth checking out. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Real Genius (1985)

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Real Genius is one of those 80’s movies that for some reason most people I know haven’t seen, and that greatly upsets me. The story is simple. Mitch is recruited to a school for super smart people, he works with Chris the smartest person in the school turned slacker. They are tasked with a school project to build a laser. They aren’t the only two doing this but hey they are the main two.

As the story goes on we see all sorts of shenanigans, from the turning an entire section of the school into ice for a winter carnival.

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To throwing a massive party with the local beauty school.

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The movie is first and foremost, a comedy. This starts out pretty early with the scene where Mitch meets Chris, and he asks about him being prepared for gravity reversing itself and even trying to convince him the antenna on an odd remote control is in fact a penis stretcher, and offers to let him try it.

The movie does eventually take a more serious turn however, as early on you the viewer will discover the laser is actually being developed by the school for the government as a weapon to be used from space to assassinate targets. Mitch and friends eventually find this out as well, but not until the laser is finished and in the hands of the government.

They will of course go on a quest to put an end to the weapon and take revenge on the dean of the school for lying to them in the fist place, which will involve filling a house with popcorn. He hates popcorn. Regardless the movie is currently on Netflix, go check this out. The movie is amazing and has a great soundtrack. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.