Savior Gaming

Grand Theft Auto 3

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I grew up with Grand Theft Auto, beginning with this entry as many- controversies and all. Yes, most people played it to kill anything that moved, wreck cars, blow shit up, and occasionally pick up a hooker or two and watch the car rock while you two just sat awkwardly in it. For a while, this game was every parent’s worst nightmare.

Though not as raunchy and vulgar as Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas , this game sets the stage. You and a dude named 8-Ball get set up, go to prison, and get free when the transport gets wrecked and now you gotta figure out who the hell was behind it as you dig into the crime infected hellhole that is Liberty City.

In 2001, this game really set a new precedent for open world games to come and the amount of freedom you could possess in them. 2018, much of the game hasn’t aged well I’m afraid. Graphics range from meh to damn right crappy, water past knee high kills you super quick, gun play is sloppy, and the missions become punishing too quickly at times. But the game is hilarious. Whether you are getting beaten up by the elderly, listening to a mobster cry about his mommy issues on the radio, or listen to the absurd random crap the people say walkin down the street (I’m hot and you’re not.) Driving handles pretty well after all this time and the stunts are cool. It ain’t a terrible game but don’t expect a legendary experience after all this time. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Sun Tzu: The Art of War

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One of my favorite books of all time even when I was younger is The Art of War, by Sun Tzu. The book is famous for being a military strategy guide discussing topics that range from how to use a spy properly to why capturing enemy supplies are worth far more than your own. However the book is also used by many other people in life. For a time many business people all over the world have read it for guidance.

Looking into the history of the book tho it becomes even more interesting. Sun Tzu wrote what even today is considered by many the greatest military book ever written. Its thirteen chapters weirdly don’t focus much on actual combat but how to make plans. Born around 545 BCE Sun Tzu was a Taoist that believed combat was at times unavoidable, but was the most dangerous thing the state could undertake and as such should be done only as a last resort and only when plans were meticulously planned.

What is also surprising to many, he may not have existed at all. More on that here. Some believe Sun Tzu was actually a title of a man in the Sun family ( I once read maybe Sun Wu but admittedly can’t remember where or how reliable it even was) and many people over the years have added to the book and left it under the name Sun Tzu.

Regardless of who wrote the book, over 2,500 years later lawyers, military generals, sports coaches and people in business still use it today. It is very much worth reading. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Fortnite, first impressions

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Fortnite, in the few months it’s been out, has become a runaway sensation. Everyday my friends play it; everyday I wonder what’s the big deal. Finally, Savior and I gave it a try last night and after 6 matches I feel like I have a fair opinion. The short version: Fortnite feels almost like a Hunger Games simulator. You get dumped off, (if you are smart) you haul ass to avoid the crowds, get some kind of supplies, and haul ass to survive a map and host of other players that want you dead. I can’t stress that tidbit enough: don’t go for the balls-out approach unless you are really leveled up or you have a full group. Savior and I creeped around and gathered what we could for a decent chance at surviving later encounters. Gameplay is surprisingly solid for both gunplay and crafting. My favorite aspect was the tension I felt as we went creeping about, not knowing what or who we would find next. This is ABSOLUTELY a game I recommend playing with your buddies because I can see it getting boring, if not totally annoying if played alone.

To round out this review, I’d like to share a video, courtesy of our friend Sir Feliciano of Jonathan Media Group @ Youtube of him getting his ass kicked but having fun. I also gave him a shout out for his help on my Immortal Unchained (Alpha) preview. post. May the gaming gods bring you glory and enjoy.

Great Games With Odd Flaws

Every so often we all play a game that is fun or even great, but it just has a really odd flaw. Not game ruining or anything like that, just enough to be annoying at times or just generally piss us off. Here as just a few I have come across.

Dark Souls 2, Scholar Of the First Sin.

When I played this game first i hated the game, the hit boxes were trash and the camera angles drove me nuts. Not as bad as the original Dark Souls or even Demon Souls but it was there. Than a friend lent me Bloodborne and SOTFS and the work they did was amazing. But the one odd flaw Dark Souls 2 still has, it seems like the vast majority of the bosses are still hidden. Sure if you look around enough you can still find them, but why would you hide most of the bosses this way? Great game, odd flaw.

Civilization Revolution is an amazing game where you guide you country from helpless nomads to the technological marvels of space travel. Weirdly tho, there is a turn limit. Now you can usually finish off anything you want to do before this becomes an issue but sometimes you will be building a rocket and suddenly you will have 5 turns to finish, suddenly the game ends and that is it. Highest score gets a domination victory.

Fortnight,yea I realize this one will probably get me some shit. The odd flaw in this one is it seems like every game I watch the winner has 1 kill. The person spends the entire gaming hiding or roaming around, shoots 1 maybe 2 people and boom wins. I’ve noticed this same thing happens in PUBG.

Both are perfectly great games in their own rights, I am not bashing either game or any game on this list. But to me these are just very odd flaws. So what are some odd flaws you noticed? Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Ghost in the Shell

Ghost in the Shell is one of the most influential animes of all time, spinning off other movies and anime series and the live action film adaptation in 2017. Weirdly enough, I never watched the anime, instead starting directly with the live action film. As I watched both, I began to see the reach of the influence it’s had on science fiction over the few past few decades.

What’s the same? In the future, technology has evolved to such a degree where people have used cybernetics to enhance themselves, whether on a small level or extreme level. We follow Major Motoko Kusanagi, an officer of Section 9 that deals with cyber crimes. Her and her partner Bato are on the hunt for a dangerous hacker that is screwing with peoples memories and rewriting people. Major is a ghost, a living brain in a full mechanical body. Many of the breathtaking and gorgeous images have been recreated in the 2017 version, as well as the context to both.

What’s different? The anime film was a more contained story where the live action film went into some heavy Blade Runner territory, trying to make it a deeper story and give more answers. In the anime, the adversary is the Puppet Master, while the live film has a more elaborate villain. Major is more coldly portrayed in the film and surprisingly more human in the anime.

Ok, so which do I like better? Though not quite my favorite anime and/or film, I respect both of them a lot. I love the concept and art style of both. I found both fascinating and beautiful but somehow neither grabbed me as much I thought they would. I recommend watching the anime first but I think you’re solid either way. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Enjoy the Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom Launch Trailer — All The PlayStation You’ll Ever Need.

Brah. Us Gamers have been waiting patiently on Ni no Kuni II since the PSX 2015 reveal. Guess what? THIS FRIDAY IT’S HERE!!!!! Bandai Namco has dropped the launch trailer, so if you don’t mind seeing tiny spoilers, WATCH IT. If you’re on a media blackout, DON’T WATCH IT. Will you help King Evan reclaim […]

via Enjoy the Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom Launch Trailer — All The PlayStation You’ll Ever Need.

Daredevil, season 1

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Just when I thought I had enough of superheroes, Daredevil on Netflix revived my love of the genre. Not to be confused with the 2003 Daredevil film, the Netflix series retells the story of blind lawyer, Matt Murdoch, who fights the crime of Hell’s Kitchen at night with his superhuman senses. On the opposing side is Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin of crime, who pretty much wants to own New York.

At first, I expected Arrow (summary review) with a Marvel paint job but that couldn’t be more wrong. First, I have to say the characters are this show’s greatest strength. I love how flushed out and complex they are, and I loved all of the character arcs. Charlie Cox is spot on as Daredevil, while Vincent D-Onofrio is both disturbing and sympathetic as Kingpin. I’d go as far as to say he was the best villain I’ve seen in a while. The show does really well to keep itself grounded to feel more realistic; I love the practical Daredevil costume reveal at the end. In the end, I highly recommend this series for comic fans and TV lovers alike and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Mermaids (1990)

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When I was flipping thru the movies on Netflix and Hulu my girlfriend saw this one and wanted to watch it. Now being an idiot..I mean good boyfriend, I said sure I will watch and review that. I mean I overlooked the fact that Cher was in the movie, plus Winona Ryder and Bob Hoskins are always solid. So this had to be good right?…right?

No, no it didn’t. First Charlotte (Ryder) is a very religious 16-year-old girl in the 1960’s, all good. She is also discovering herself in a sexual manner. Pretty normal. But this has been blown WAY over the top to the point a stereotypical teen boy would be telling her to chill out. And this is legitimately something that happens in the movie, she pursues and sleeps with her much older and adult bus driver.

Mrs. Flax (Cher) is the worlds worst mom, first off she encourages the actions of her daughter,and has more emotional baggage than a large international air port. Seriously she has a great guy in Lou (Hoskins) and she does everything in her power to drive him away. At one point he even turns an entire room in his house to look like the bottom of the ocean so the youngest daughter can know what it feels like to sleep on the bottom of the ocean ( she is a swimmer and loves the water and ocean) and Cher treats him like garbage and even accuses him of attempting to use her kids to get closer to her like what he did was some nefarious scheme.

The movie did however have some funny parts, but all in all just wasn’t very good. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Pride, Prejudice, and Zombies

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Another great WTF story from Seth Grahame Smith, we get a new way to reintroduce the Jane Austen classic, Pride and Prejudice, to young folks of this generation. Add ninjas, guns, and a zombie apocalypse and whamo, we have Pride, Prejudice, and Zombies. The five Bennett sisters are divided women, raised to be sophisticated ladies of old time British society by there mother, but there father wants them to be strong to survive the mysterious zombie virus. Because of him, they’ve been trained as warriors. Elizabeth sticks to the warrior life close, not wanting to be a frail lady, but will she be doomed to be alone and unmarried? She finds herself connected to fellow warrior Darcy, but he is most disagreeable; but Elizabeth may be able to meet her hero as her sisters fall off of the path of the warrior…

This is a weird one to review. For much of the book, it is very much Austen’s classic. More experienced, clever readers will notice the transitions between Austen and Smith (I don’t Jane Austen wrote about zombies and ninjas back then.) I will warn people though: it is in old English for most of the book so that turn off quite a few readers. All this being said, it is a cool, if not batshit crazy at times and the illustrations add a nice touch. I can’t say I liked it as much as Abe Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, but it’s a fun book. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Look Who’s Talking Now

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The last of the look who’s talking movies, and in my opinion the best of the group, tho also the most odd. In the first movie, Look Who’s Talking (1989) we met Mikey and in the second, Look Who’s Talking Too we met Julie. In Look who’s talking now, we meet their dogs, and yes we will hear their side of things. Rocks ( Danny DeVito) and Daphne (Diane Keaton) Come home when both the parents decide to be the cool parent and bring home a new family pet

Like the other look who’s talking movies, this one was predominantly met with mixed reviews by both critics and fans with what seems like younger people and parents enjoying them and others not liking them so much. The story also revolved around typical family problems where one again there is almost a divorce. The movie honestly does nothing new from the last two, they just did it better and added animals to the mix. If you enjoyed the last two you will probably like this one, if not you probably won’t like this one. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.