Category: Opinion

Mass Effect

mass effect

There’s a rare time when almost all of our passions collide into a single artwork. For me it was a great story, interesting characters, cool sci-fi lore, and some fun gameplay. For me, that equals the Mass Effect trilogy.

Mass Effect takes place in the distant future where mankind has joined the rest of the galaxy because of Mass Effect tech, allowing humanity to travel to the far corners of the cosmos. We play as Shepherd, a soldier in the Alliance military climbing through the ranks. On a mission that should have been pretty cut and dry, he discovers betrayal and an unfolding threat to the universe from an ancient Enemy: the Reapers. Being a Specter and given almost endless authority, he’s tasked with hunting down the rogue Specter Saren, and the Reaper’s probe, Sovereign. Along the way Shepherd joins forces with some strange and fascinating characters from other worlds to stop a seemingly unstoppable threat…

This may have been one of the hardest reviews I’ve had to do. There is A LOT to the Mass Effect’s overall story: grudges between species that make you think, political intrigue and corruption, a subtext of humanity having to prove itself amongst several more developed races and how we can only defeat the unstoppable together. Shepherd, depending on which way you swing on the Paragon or Renegade scale, can be either a great good guy or awesome dick- either way there is a lot of replay-ability. Shepherd can be customized a surprising amount of ways, combined with your teammates attributes, I haven’t been able to have such varied gameplay since Borderlands 2 . I fell in love with the characters, heroes and villains alike and found myself in love with the world of Mass Effect; the mission on Vermire tore my heart out at first. The only issue I have is that you do feel a bit OP with the crazy amount of shit you can do and gun-play feels off at times. In the end, I regard Mass Effect as a near flawless classic with probably my favorite video game story of all time, with only the 2nd game tying there and I can’t recommend it enough. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Live Action Sonic revealed

sonic live

A few days ago we got a look at what Sonic the Hedgehog is going to look like in his live action film debut? I can’t say I’m a big Sonic fan by any real stretch but I can say I never thought of him in live action; I’m a firm believer in certain characters in certain mediums should stay animated ( ex, the Cat in the Hat, Charlie Brown, Spryo the Dragon to name a few). What do I think? He isn’t nightmare fuel thankfully but looks strange to me. I guess he looks Ok but at the same time my brain keeps telling me this shouldn’t exist. I’m oddly curious how it will look in the trailer. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Trine 4 Announced

For those familiar with the Trine series, our good friends over at Modus Games recently announced the 4th installment of the series. Find the trailer below as well as some of the released info.

  • Gorgeous 2.5D landscapes
  • Local and online multiplayer
  • Captivating storytelling
  • Dynamic puzzle-solving
  • Abundant skill trees
  • Completely revamped combat system
  • Enchanting soundtrack

As you can see it is looking to be a pretty beautiful game and recently Modus has done quite well with there work, and this one probably won’t be any different. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

X Men: Dark Phoenix trailer 3

I find it really weird how the marketing for this movie is going: there’s been delays, reshoots, we got one trailer months and months ago and weirdly we get two more full length trailers of original content within a week of each other.

As for the trailer itself, It looks Ok. I still can’t help but feel it’s X Men: The Last Stand reworked. Though I didn’t hate that movie as some did, after reading what I have in the original story, I feel they could’ve done better with setting it up. The Phoenix effects look better nice. Overall my feelings haven’t really changed since X Men: Dark Phoenix trailer 2 . May the gaming gods bring you glory.

The Caligula Effect: Overdose

The Caligula Effect Overdose was originally released back in 2016 in Japan, then simply called The Caligula Effect. They have added quite a few things to the game, but before we get to that once again a huge shout out to NIS America for hooking us up with yet another game. Nothing but love for you guys. In the past, they have let us check out Disgaea 1 Complete (PS4) and The Lost Child (PS4) so it is always a pleasure to hear from them.

Now for the added stuff, first you can now choose to play a boy or girl and playing as the female protagonist does change many of the character interactions. There are also 2 new members of the Go-Home Club which is the group you are in as well as an entirely new story path in the game that lets you get to know the musicians. They have added quite a bit to this version of the game and admittedly it adds a lot of replay value.

The gameplay itself reminds me quite a bit of the Persona series. It is very Japanese in nature, in fact, all the voices are in Japanese with English subtitles. At first, this was a bit distracting to me but I did get used to it pretty quickly. It didn’t take away from the story at all so, in the end, it doesn’t really matter. The story itself is rather interesting as you are trapt in Mobius and you in the other members of the Go-Home Club attempt to track down the musicians that brainwash all of its inhabitants so you can find their leader and force them to take you home.

The battle system is pretty original. On the surface, it may look like a standard JRPG with a turn-based system, but if you look under the hood there is a ton more going on. As you pick moves you will get a small preview of the following action. This represents how the turn will go if things go pretty much perfectly. Things won’t necessarily play out this way but it gives you a good idea. Some actions will also pop enemies into the air while other actions cause more damage to airborne enemies or that have fallen on the ground. So it is pretty handy that you can delay a character’s actions until after someone else with just a push of a button. So person one can pop an enemy into the air, delay the action of the next and shoot them while they are in the air causing massive damage. It functions very well and may be the best part of the game except for one small detail we will get into later.

The graphics and sound are great with the music being even more outstanding when the musicians are on a map. They all have their own distinct style that matches their characters. Speaking of characters, while I don’t like most of the characters, they are well done. Also, the reason I don’t like them has to do with the very reason Mobius exist in the first place and is very much by design. One of the musicians, Stork, is legitimately a pervert and sends his time attempting to get a free peep show from women. This is, in contrast, one of the ladies in your party absolutely HATES men with a blinding passion. All of this will be explained throughout the game, and it all has a very good reason, but many of the characters are simply not good people. It is, however, fascinating to see and learn.

The game does have some issues I will admit. For example, as great as the battle system is, unless you are playing on the hardest difficulty setting you won’t be overly engaged. In fact, I won the first few boss battles by simply holding the X button to quickly input commands while playing on normal. There is a pretty significant difficulty spike from there tho. Also, there are certain doors locked by special words that the game never truly explains very well how to get, tho if you make a lot of friends and help them on their side quest you should get them just fine anyway.

Now for the reason, you all came. Should you spend your hard earned money on The Caligula Effect Overdose? This one is a hard one for me to answer. The game has a fun story and battle system but there are long periods of simply going through the motions. JRPG fans will enjoy the game, however, I think most people may be a bit hit or miss with it. The game is a solid 7 out of 10, and a great example of what an updated version of a game should be. I personally would be happy to spend money on it, and fans of other NIS American fans will enjoy it I believe. Others looking to break into the genre tho are probably better off looking at a different game, however. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

 

Batman: The War of Jokes and Riddles( DC Rebirth)

batman jokes and riddles

As a kid, Riddler was one of my favorite Batman villains, likely because of Jim Carey in Batman Forever . As I got older, I realized there was certainly more dangerous villains, but I always thought he deserved a darker incarnation on screen. I’m glad to say I got my wish with this book…

Batman has been haunted by a memory for years, a time he almost crossed the line, so he recounts the tale for his beloved Selina ( Catwoman) of the War of Jokes and Riddles. Edward Nigma, known to Gotham as the Riddler, is one of it’s greatest criminal masterminds and has been aiding the police in solving crimes they didn’t want the Bat involved. One night, in a bloody display, he escapes Arkham Asylum in search of Batman’s greatest foe, the Joker. Joker, who has lost the will to laugh, is in the midst of a rampage to find laughter again. Riddler makes a truce with Joker, for them to team up to kill Batman, to solve the ultimate riddle and tell the ultimate joke. As you would imagine, this partnership doesn’t last long and suddenly the criminal underworld of Gotham is divided, a gang war killing hundreds on the streets. the police can’t handle the madness and Batman finds himself unable to take both forces on himself. In the end, he’ll have to choose a side, but who do you side with?

First and foremost, Riddler steals the show for me here. He’s creepy and damn memorable with his riddle filled dialogue and his ruthless nature. This is the Riddler I’d love to see on screen. The story has a great character list that doesn’t get used much except for show, though Riddler does have a nice stroll with Poison Ivy and there is a epic sniper war between Deadshot and Deathstroke. The story isn’t bad but I felt disappointed, although it does pick up by the end. The art is fine but the character designs are more classic based and none really standing out. I was not a fan of Joker in the story, who just comes off as blah to me here. In the end, it’s not a bad story I suggest checking out if you like the Riddler and want a very villain based story, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

 

Return of The Living Dead: Rave To The Grave

This is not a good movie. I am going to get that right out of the way. The dialogue is horrendously corny, the story itself is beyond ridiculous and mostly made no damn sense. Seriously, I am not even going to explain it. Okay, that is a lie, I have to. Kinda my thing.  Basically, the guy finds a container, the container contains a drug that creates zombies, the guy gets killed by zombies. His nephew finds a different container the uncle had hidden because his uncle had 3 of the damn things hidden in a room in the attic nobody knew about. Yup, dude lives in the house for 18 years with his uncle and parents, nobody knew about the hidden room. They use these containers of zombie making mystery substance to make drugs that they sell.

This was not a good movie, it was, however, fun. Don’t think about the story or crappy script both of which seem to have been made by students on a drunk weekend. That is what makes it fun, a nice chunk of the movie is a drug and booze filled parry seen of breast and senseless violence like an 80’s slasher flick. The movie is not good. It is however fun. If you like 80’s horror films that make no real sense but are fun this is for you. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Why A 2019 Final Fantasy 7 Remake Would Be Too Little Too Late For Me

First, let me make this clear, I don’t hate Final Fantasy 7. I actually beat the original U.S. release about 3 days before it came out when a friend of my brothers broke street date and gave it to me the day they got the game in and instantly restarted it. I bought it again for PC and beat that in an age when you still bought games on disk, then bout it again on PS4 and platinumed it. This is not a post about how I hate the game. This is also not a post about how I am a purist that is mad about all the stuff they are supposedly changing. The game is a remake, not a remaster. Stuff is going to change.

All that said, the game was originally announced in 2015 which even the director Tetsuya Nomura admits to being too early at this point. That is 4 years ago with almost no real information given. The actual only truly notable update from the company itself in recent memory was that it moved from an outsourced company to in-house. Even the 2019 part is pure speculation based off reports that Square Enix is expecting a large source of revenue for the end of the year hinting at a huge release.

So why is it too late? Honestly, it is because I can’t care. I can get past the fact that they will undoubtedly change many of my favorite aspects of one of my favorite games or the fact that the game will apparently be episodic the same way Final Fantasy 13 was and I will end up buying multiple games to play a single game I played years ago in what will probably be an attempt at a massive cash grab. I am however open to the idea that they will be simply combining all the FF7 games into one and that is why it will be so long, but even that will be kind of weird depending on how it is done honestly.

Combining that with what has already been a pretty substantial wait and I truthfully just can’t care or be excited anymore. This is after the roughly six-year wait after Kingdom Hearts 3 was first announced and waiting so long for Final Fantasy 13 Versus it became Final Fantasy 15, none of which were worth the wait if we are being 100% honest. Not to say they weren’t great games in their own right, but after that kind of wait they could have been better and should have been. So no, for me even if Final Fantasy 7 Remake comes this year, it will be far too little and far too late. I’ll buy it eventually I am sure, but they can wait. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Guardians of the Galaxy/ All New X Men: The Trial of Jean Grey

trial of Jean Grey

So, before we begin, let me pose a question that has been asked in fiction and is what got me to read this book: how far should you go to prosecute someone for something they haven’t committed yet? I love the All New X Men series, where the original 5 X Men go forward in time to stop a radical mutant movement while having to come to terms with there futures, whether it’s Iceman coming to terms with his sexuality, Beast discovering he’ll lose much of his physical humanity and it will eventually be his end, or in this case, Jean Grey finding out she will be the death of millions as the Dark Phoenix.

A console of planetary figureheads led by J-son of Spartax ( Star-lord’s real father; Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) changed that hard). Earth has been put under a sort of quarantine because of the damage done to the universe as well as the amount of super-powered people there. The Guardians of the Galaxy have fought back and forth against this. The problem is, word gets out Grey is alive and well on Earth. This news sparks outrage amongst the others, especially Earth’s former ally Gladiator of the Shi’ar Empire who takes it upon himself, against everyone else’s wishes to have her captured and brought to trial and punished. A crew of mercs attack the X men and manage to capture her; the Guardians investigate thinking it was part of a plot from J-son Quill, showing up soon after Grey was captured. The X men and Guardians decide to free her, but it’s the Guardian’s allies, the Star-Jammers that wrecks Cyclops’s world- meeting his long lost father in space. Can the Guardians of the Galaxy and X men free Jean Grey and bring down a alien empire?

I had a lot of fun with this story and it’s a quick read. My favorite aspect was the interactions between the two teams, like Angel and Iceman being terrified of Groot or a quiet exchange between X-23 and Drax. The character roster and art work is pretty good and may I say the variant covers, which feature a member from each team paired together which are pretty epic. Good news for those who aren’t familiar with either series or it’s characters, there is a character sheet and two detailed synopses that bring you up to speed. The only drawback I have is there isn’t as much action as I would have liked to have seen and while it doesn’t make much sense, I would have loved a quick fight between the two. In the the end as I stated in my post 5 Marvel stories that hooked me and I’d say it’s worth checking out. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

 

Stellaris Console Edition (PS4)

The console version of Stellaris was always going to be a bit odd to me. A true grand strategy game on the console is a dream come true for many, but the mouse is a natural fit for them, the question of controls were always going to be there. Certain things were a given tho with Paradox Interactive.

First, the game was going to be pretty, and of that, there is no doubt. So it is no surprise the game is exactly that. The game looks amazing whether you are zoomed out looking at the map or zoomed in watching ships blast each other into space dust. The sound is equally amazing. I won’t spoil it for you but I highly recommend eventually turning the tutorials off completely, because the voice of the robot was hilarious to me.

The game itself is quite simple in concept. You create a species that just started traveling the stars and expand what will hopefully become a massive space empire. As you explore you will find new species to interact with. Some will be other space-faring races and others will be less developed. Each decision will help grow your empire or lead it to a path of destruction. From allowing slavery to free travel and open borders with other species. You can create your very own federation with your allies to crush stronger enemies or try to avoid conflict altogether, the choice is up to you.

It truly does come down to how the controls function with Paradox has honestly nailed. The D-pad lets you bounce between most menus pretty easily with the usual X and O being to confirm or cancel as usual. Obviously, I would never say it is equal to having a mouse to use but damn it is pretty close. Having played it on both PC and PS4 I can honestly say my biggest issue is that it is based off a much older version of the game. However, if you are a console player that has been wanting to play a grand strategy game but lack the PC to do it, here is your chance. Stellaris is one of the most easily approachable and it functions very well. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.