Tag: gaming

What Nobody Really Talks About In Video Game Reviews

With Anthem coming out and Xbox VP Mike Ybaraa essentially attacking reviewers I feel obligated to talk about certain things that many people just don’t discuss or talk about so much.

My first big example is many times we are sent games well before a game comes out, I got Disgaea about 2 weeks before it came out, and there is another game I am currently working on that is under embargo for a while (meaning I can’t really discuss it at all) until almost the end of the first week of March, the 5th if you want to be exact. That means the company is having me review it before any patches are released. They send these review copies out knowing full well that is the version getting reviewed, so the argument of waiting for patches really has no merit.

The other thing most people never really discuss is reviewers, most notably smaller ones like myself or places with one or 2 people doing all the reviews are constantly in a state of working under a deadline. Sometimes we have to beat a 60 or 70-hour game in a week or two while working our regular jobs. Truthfully I don’t know a single reviewer that would change this unless it was to make this our full-time job, this isn’t a complaint. Sometimes tho, things do get missed sadly and we won’t always have time to beat those larger games 2 or 3 times. (Tho I will say this, a game like Resident Evil 2 isn’t finished until you see the story with all the characters the way it was meant to be)

Other things we don’t really discuss is the times we honestly just don’t want to play a game. Not necessarily because a game is bad, tho that happens, but just because we simply want to play something else. More than a few times I have friends have said hey Savior come and slay monsters with us or we have a war to fight and I REALLY wanted to, but I needed to get that review game done.  There are plenty of perks tho.

One great example is getting to work with great companies like Kalypso Media or NIS America and Modius games. Getting to try games like Empire In Ruins, Revisited. literally as one of the first people ever that wasn’t involved in making the game was awesome. Or when Kalypso Media sent me Railway Empire PS4 Pro Vs Xbox One X (And yes both consoles) was great, it was a game I was going to buy anyway and I got to try and compare it for both systems. This isn’t something I ever would have gotten to have done otherwise.

Despite the fact that many times perfection is expected from reviewers, and yes I have gotten a few messages cursing me out from people that disagreed with reviews it really is something I wouldn’t trade for just about anything. Many of the people I have gotten to meet I only met because of gaming and reviews and some of the experiences have been great. So please, cut reviewers a little slack, we are only human. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Valve Retires Non-Gaming Steam Content

Variety reports that Valve will be getting rid of its video section and a bunch of stuff will be pulled since apparently, most people don’t seem to care. This doesn’t really surprise me since honestly it is gaming launcher and people use it to play games and with a growing number of launchers out there, most notably the Epic Games launcher they really will want to streamline things for customers. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Trials Rising Open Beta (PS4)

I have an odd history with the Trials games. I never played them, and never cared to play them. Sometime last year Trails fusion was given out for free on PSN so I figured hell, let’s give it a shot. The truth is I enjoyed it, loved it at times and hated it at others. The constant decisions of do I floor it and go full speed ahead or do I ease up and go slow and steady? Is this the time to front flip or backflip or not flip at all? It was a thrill I wasn’t expecting, so when Trials Rising was announced I was pretty interested.

After spending a few hours with the open beta I have to say the magic is still there, and the addition of the tandem bikes is an interesting one, I personally don’t enjoy it but I can see how many will. The issue is for me that it is still just a Trials game. If you played one you pretty much played the other. Did you like Trials Fusion, you will probably like this one and if you hated the other this probably won’t change it. Also yes there does seem to be cosmetic loot boxes tho you get them whenever you level up anyway. The full release tho is on my buy list. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Good Company (PC Preview)

Good Company is a management simulator that will be coming to early access this summer on PC. The idea is to build your first product, sell it and build up until you can hire and train new employees and grow until you are a massive industry in your own right. There is a trailer out and the game looks and sounds pretty interesting, and I hope to have more info soon. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Degrees Of Separation (PS4)

Some of you may remember me talking about this game a while back, and the guys over at Modus Games sent me a review copy, namely Geoff (seriously go check them out on Twitter) which I am always grateful for. I always like to get this admission out of the way before I review a game because I feel everyone deserves to know. That being said, let us talk about this tale of love that was sent to me appropriately on Valentine’s day.

The game is described as “an atmospheric 2D puzzle platformer”, which tells you a lot and nothing at the same time oddly enough. Sure it will tell you what the game is, but I don’t feel it truly does this game justice. You will control two characters, Ember, who is always in what can probably be best described as summer and Rime, who is always in winter. The two leave their homes and meet on a bridge, and from there they will go on a magical journey of discovery where they will get to know the world around them, each other, and how their abilities will help each other. Yes, there is more to the story, so much more which is both beautiful and for me was sad in its own way but I never want to spoil the experience for you guys.

The key aspect of this game is the puzzles. They range from simple things like using Ember to light something and move a platform to use Rime to freeze some water to walk across. Later you will get a sort of wand to create a bridge out of the area between worlds for one of the characters to walk across with the purpose of collecting scarfs which after collecting so many will allow you to access new areas. See, this is where the sad part was for me. These two characters work together and get closer and closer, but they can’t touch each other or ever truly embrace. Their worlds of summer and winter are literally keeping them apart. I don’t know if this was an intentional thing from the developers over at Moondrop games, but for me, it was a constant thread in my journey.

The puzzles were also very well done. See many are pretty straight forward while others pissed me off to no end, but they were fair. I never came across a puzzle I felt was unfair or that once I figured it out I was left wondering who would ever have thought of that. Despite the fact that I hate the phrase, this isn’t the “Dark Souls” of puzzle games and it isn’t designed for you to fail until you figure things out. It wants you to succeed and watch the story unfold and it wants you to explore.

The real thing I loved about this, however, was the couch co-op. Yes, you can play this by yourself, and you are free to do so. I started that way and had some fun. However, when my friend joined me is when we had some fun. She isn’t a gamer, I just said hey Casey I need some help come play a game so she did. She had no issue picking it up and I really didn’t have to explain much to her. It was great to have someone else to help figure out the puzzles and I truly believe this is the best way to experience the game.

The one big gripe I have about this game is there is a quick travel system. The issue is I found it on accident and until that point, I had no idea. While we were trying to figure out one puzzle I got a little to close to a little object, in the picture below it looks like stacked rocks with orange arrows for guidance. When I hit circle I turned into a butterfly to follow the paths to places I have collected the scarfs.

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All that being said, the real question comes down to the one simple question, should you spend your hard earned money on this game? Truth be told, I don’t like puzzle games. I never would have bought this game truth be told, but I asked for the review copy because Geoff is a good guy and Modus games are quickly becoming one of my favorite companies. They haven’t let me down yet and I have enjoyed everything of theirs I have played. The day will come when I will sadly have to say hey this game sucks don’t buy it, but today is not that day. The story is nice and I quickly became attached to them, I never came across any glitches and the graphics and sound matched what they were trying to tell. This game is Savior approved, 9/10 one of the best puzzle games I have played.

Dragon Quest XI Nintendo Switch

No there isn’t something wrong, yes it says Dragon Quest XI for the Switch and there is an 8-bit graphics picture. Why? Well because now confirmed for a worldwide release and will have the ability to switch the graphics to an 8-bit look. For more info check out The Verge. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Subnautica (Ps4 and PC)

Subnautica is the rare game I played on both PC and PS4, not because I loved it that much I felt the need to buy it twice simply because I got it for free on PC so there was no reason not to play it. That being said, I do love the game. I am a sucker for the survival genre and admittedly Subnautica does it very well. The crafting system is easy to use and I never truly felt lost on how to build anything even tho the game doesn’t hold your hand.

The visuals are stunning but the PC version does have a few issues with textures popping in and out regardless of my system settings, and I know others have had similar issues even with better setups tho it is worth noting nobody I know with high-end setups has played it, they are all mid-range at best, the PS4 also does it at longer ranges while traveling. Neither is a major issue admittedly. The sound is also some of the best I’ve heard in gaming, and when you are deep down it can be outright frightening to be damn near blind but hear giant sea creatures all around you. This is where the game shines, as you will feel safe one moment and not the next.

The story, well I can’t say much without spoiling it, but you won’t struggle to find it, and it is worth finding. You will be tempted to simply survive and build stuff which is perfectly fine to do, but the story is worth seeking out. I can honestly give you no reason not to pick this game up on your console of choice, best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Final Fantasy 9 Out For Switch, 7 Out Soon.

For those Final Fantasy fans out there, Nintendo will once again make you love them and piss some of you off. First, Final Fantasy 7 will be out March 26th which is exactly what we needed. Final Fantasy 7 on another platform. (sarcasm) Before that tho, we get Final Fantasy 9, which launched already, that day, in fact, on another platform. Because on every platform known to man almost wasn’t enough. They did, however, skip, once again, Final Fantasy 8. Don’t get me wrong I own 7 and 9 and I did on both PS one and I do on PS4. Also owned 7 on PC, so this isn’t about hating either game, I think 7 is one of the most influential of all time and both can be argued to be two of the all-time greats. My real issue is that once again Final Fantasy 8 is skipped even tho this year, and more precisely this month is the 20th anniversary of the release of FF8. Now I understand why in theory, supposedly they lost much of the original PlayStation releases code and they can’t simply port the PC version over, so there is, in theory, a valid reason, but it still sucks. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Mario Maker 2 Announced For The Switch

If you can’t get enough of creating insane levels to torture other people with, your time has come. Well, will come this June. I have honestly never tried these out, but I can’t imagine more Mario being a bad thing. Check out the trailer below. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

New Tropico 6 Release Date

Not too long ago, much to the dismay of many the PC release of Tropico 6 was delayed for an undisclosed amount of time. Well, Kalypso Media has given us a release date. March 29th, 2019 and as an added bonus if you preordered before 7 p.m. (CET) January 10th, 2019 you will get the first DLC planned or 2019 free. I know the wait sucks, but not a bad trade-off really. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.