Opinion – Page 211 – Savior Gaming

Laserlife

laserlife

Ok, so I admit I first bought this because it was 3 bucks during a PlayStation sale and it reminded me of a weird music game I got with a P.O.D CD back in 2004. Laserlife revolves around the skeleton of a spaceman floating around the cosmos. We play as two streams of consciousness as we reconnect his memories and learn more about the spaceman through various psychedelic mini games. I cannot lie, this game is a beautiful, vibrant acid trip and a half. You control each stream with your control stick and essentially fly them through pretty colored clusters or avoid pix elated memory blocks. It is fun, simple but more challenging than you would think at times, testing your hand-eye coordination pretty intensely each memory. It’s a calming change of pace from most common games nowadays but it is short. If you find it on sale, go for it, but I discourage paying the full $20 price tag for it.

Mega Man Collection PS4 Review

Oh Mega Man, you beautiful blue bastard. A long time ago, when I was a small kid,I got Mega man 3 for Christmas. That was my first of many experiences with Mega Man. This collection was a huge surprise for me as I didn’t know it existed until it was released.

The Mega Man Legacy Collection contains Mega Man 1 through 6 and also has a museum and a fun challenge mode. The experience hasn’t much changed in all these years. 1 is still fun but a complete pain in the ass, and 2 is still as magical as it has always been. That being said, these games are old, and they at times feel their age. The sound, while amazing on the nostalgia front, is still outdated, as are the graphics. This will be a great thing for many, but others may find it annoying. Personally, I loved it and will play it many more times, I’m sure. I highly recommend checking this out if you are either a retro gamer or simply a fan of gaming history.

A Link to the Past Retro Review

One of my first games on the Super Nintendo was The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. Before this game, I wasn’t a very big fan of the series, but for some reason, this game just got me hooked. Somewhere between finding boots to help me run and being launched into the dark world, I fell in love. Realistically, tho, I can’t say why. Graphically, it has always been pretty average. The sound, while nice, wasn’t anything special. Now I’m not bashing the game; most games fall into these categories, and most even a novice computer nerd could recreate it, I’d guess. Be that as it may, this game is rightfully a classic, and I’m not sure you can even call yourself a gamer without having at least watched someone else play it. As always, thanks for joining me, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Ataribox

After years without a major console release Atari seems to be making a come back with what is called the Ataribox. Not a ton is know about it tho more info can be found below.

http://whnt.com/2017/07/18/atari-reveals-new-game-console-the-atari-box/

Honestly, if this ever actually releases I will be surprised. I hope i’m wrong, but despite that it would be fun to see a hybrid retro console with some newer things along with it. I won’t pretend to know how this turns out, but it would be nice to have a 4th console choice.

Shining Force

Shining Force was originally a Sega Genesis game that was later released as part of other collections and even as a gameboy advance game, tho oddly I have met very few people that have played it. The game itself is heavily based on story and the battle system is a tactics style game that changes view for the combat scene like shown below.

ss_cf1a98690c1ea1264e919139aac4efe533f2c283.600x338.jpg

The story involves a young man chosen to lead the Shining Force when strange creatures from a foreign land investigate a nearby ruin his kingdom is sworn to protect. With plenty of characters to choose from and command and plenty of battles to enjoy any fan of the genre should check it out. As always thanks for joining me, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Heavenstrike Rivals

Heavenstrike Rivals is a mobile game from Square Enix that is, in a weird way, similar to Final Fantasy Tactics except not as fun or strategic. The game is plenty good enough. The story isn’t bad but it takes a backs seat to the combat. You use jems to summon troops to fight enemies on a grid that is only 3 squares down. The turn based system is pretty solid for a mobile game, but the best troops will sadly cost you some real money. It is by no means pay to win, it simply makes life easier. Thanks for reading, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

JLA trailer review

jla 2

So its the weekend of San Diego Comic Con and the trailers are all aflutter, including a huge Justice League trailer. First I have to say, it’s no surprise Wonder Woman was the forefront of the trailer after the success of her solo film this past summer. She was flat out my favorite part of what I saw. Gal Gadot is a gorgeous bad ass that in my opinion stole the show in her brief appearance in BvS. I was also thrilled at a lot of what we got to see of Cyborg and Aquaman. I’m not really feeling the film’s version of Flash so far; I feel having two separate actors playing the same exact chacter confuses the shit out of a lot of lesser informed fans. How many times have I been asked since trailer 1 for this thing : is TV Flash going to starting hinting at JLA soon, why does Flash have a different costume in the movie than the show, is Flash still Barry Allen, why is his lightening blue in the movie but orange/ gold in the show- is it all a different universe? This are just the questions I’ve been asked on this one thing (I’m not not even going to start how many people scratched there heads when Henry Cavill didn’t pop in SuperGirl as Superman or how many times I have to explain Stephen Amell won’t be making a cameo appearance as Green Arrow in the movie or Ryan Reynolds as Green Lantern…ugh). TV Flash comes off with a look that feels realistic but also practical while his film counterpart looks more he came out of the game Injustice: Gods among Us rather than something suiting someone of Flash’s traits. As for Batman, I enjoyed Ben Affleck as the Dark Knight in BvS but I fear the HUGE tonal shift between BvS and JLA may hurt his character a bit. When we were reintroduced to Batman, he was cold, cynical, and grim; he was a weary older man almost lost with anger and fear. I loved that take on him instead of from an origin point, as a comic fan soaking in all the little nuggets to piece why he started cracking ( RED HOOD MOVIE DAMMIT!). But suddenly now we have a Batman that cracks some jokes and seriously, nothing against Affleck at all, but the tonal shift screws with the overall flow. Still, the cast of heroes has a lot of potential. We got a first glimpse of Steppenwulf and I couldn’t help but get a major Thanos vibe from him. My two biggest problems with what I’m seeing from the trailers come down to tone and style. I feel DC is trying to sway into Marvel’s flavor a bit more but it doesn’t fit what they established and we can tell. As for style, you can tell this movie was made by the guy that gave us Watchmen and 300. Especially 300. The slo-mo gets irritating after a few trailers, it makes me nervous what a 3 hour movie will be like. Anyway, this is what I took from it but but what did you all think? leave a comment below and until next time may the gaming gods bring you glory.

jla

Cowboy Bebop

bebop

I got giddy as hell just prepping this review; so many memories! Cowboy Bebop is a fascinating specimen of anime. One part space odyssey, one part soap opera noir, some ass kicking fights, all wrapped in stunning animation and a soulful blend of jazz and the blues creating a story of four bounty hunters and a dog going through space trying to make it rich and avoid old pasts. Our main characters (from left to right on the poster above) are Spike Spiegel, Faye Valentine, Jet Black, and Ed (and I can’t forget Ein, the dog.) Each is a deeply rich character that leaves an impression. Spike is a lazy, good hearted fighter escaping his past with a deadly gang; Faye is a woman who had been Cryo frozen, broken hearted, and now breaks hearts for money; Jet is a tough ex cop with a synthetic arm and head of the ship; and Ed is a super smart, super quirky 11 year old hacker with no past we know of but her love of Ein.

Right from the get go with the opening theme titled Tank! you immediately feel pumped up and ready to go. No matter how bummed out I am, just hearing that classic opening spreads a smile on my face and a second wind in my soul. The show isn’t very long, about 26 episodes, but it fits right. Every episode gives you a little something different, though overall there is a beautiful sense of melancholy artists rarely capture without making it too depressing. The action is cool and more plausible than most other anime; in fact, although a Japanese anime, Cowboy Bebop feels very American, like a livelier Blade Runner with jazz music. If anime has ever seemed too over the top or too weird for you, I suggest Cowboy Bebop for an fan of drama, anime, or great music. See ya next time cowboy and may the gaming gods be with you.

The Center of the Galaxy

As some of you may know I decided to make the long trip in Elite Dangerous to Sagittarius A, the center of the galaxy. After hundreds of jumps and probably 12-20 hours I finally arrived. I’m admittedly not sure how long it took since I mostly was busy putting a ship together and planning my path 1000 light years at a time. The first picture was the super massive black hole at the center. The next is the view looking away from the black hole.

All in all the trip was very very long and very uneventful. That being said i saw tons of interesting things, some of which literally nobody else ever has, and judging from the fact the game has around 400 billion systems no one may ever see them again. If you are very patient and have plenty of time to spend i’d suggest making the trip. Now all that’s left is the return trip. As always thanks for your time, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Jigsaw first trailer review

jigsaw Ugggggggggh. Dammit I cheered in 2010 when I thought Saw was over. I actually stood up and cheered in a theater in downtown Scranton ( by the way, it was the first week it was in theaters and I was one of four people there so I’m pretty sure no one really gave a flying crap a fat guy up and cheered at the screen.) Well, sorry Torsten 2010, Saw has returned….with bucket-helmets this time apparently. Ok, I’m not going to lie, I am going shit on this trailer not because Saw returned with a fresh new plan. If I saw any kind of originality or even an inkling of anything I didn’t already see in the last 7 films, I’d gladly give it the benefit of the doubt. Alas, no go little doodle. A lot of the scenes reminded me of scenes I’ve seen in the others, just with a different actor, different lighting, or a slight variance to the trap. Example 1: broad daylight in a fairly populated area, people stop slowly and stare at what I’m sure is the sight of a Jigsaw trap going off for all to see (Saw 7). Example 2: five people strapped onto leashes against the wall, getting pulled to there deaths; granted, in Saw 8 they are being pulled forward into a wall of buzz-saw blades instead of a what the hell ever happened in Saw 5 ( I try to forget Saw 5 happened.) Ok, so in 7 we saw the end of Hoffman, but who knows if he’s really dead or perhaps now we’re into Gordan’s line of carnage since we know him and a group of Jigsaw survivors have taken up the mantle. What does this mean? No damn clue. So I will wait to until trailer 2 before making up my mind on even if I want to see it at all. When I was 12- 14, Saw was the shit. It was every middle/ high school kids favorite blood and gore slasher flick; hell, I’d go as to call it the Scream of the 2000’s decade. I think it is a fairly solid trilogy, or would have been if Loinsgate didn’t get greedy and people didn’t keep askin for more. So what do you think of Saw’s return? leave me a comment below or hit me up on twitter @TorstenV and may the gaming gods bring you glory and pizza!