tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83086452024-03-08T02:59:07.867+00:00The RetroModern Gaming blog V2.0Thoughts on gaming, from the 8-bit era through to the latest consoles and including everything in between, plus anything else that catches my eye.Wibblefishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12170885091117064057noreply@blogger.comBlogger298125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308645.post-40059864408311915472021-09-19T13:39:00.006+01:002021-09-19T14:55:20.845+01:00Lost in Random review<p>I haven't written many reviews lately, but I just had to write one for <b><i>Lost in Random</i></b> because I was enthralled by it from beginning to end, managing to finish it in just over a week. It is now a very strong contender for my Game of the Year, though it is by no means perfect which will get to in due time. </p><p><br />Since the very first trailer dropped for <i><b>Lost in Random</b></i> and we got a first glimpse of the visual style, I knew I wanted to play it. The comparisons to the visual style of <i><b>The Nightmare Before Christmas</b></i> were there for all to see from the start, though what the gameplay actually entailed wasn't as apparent at first glance. I am a fan of anything that takes place in a dark and witty fantasy world though, and I could see bits of Terry Pratchett's <b><i>Discworld</i></b> and <b><i>American McGee's Alice</i></b> in there too. What I discovered when I played through it were highly original game mechanics beyond just the look of the game. Let me take you through what made this game so fun and special for me that I couldn't stop playing it until I had finished it.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn58YD60bRLsatqRyF5TMAjlnQfxXeVNjKBwFF4SG03_CWI7xvGO9boQp3Uz0XYRlh7ZTW8vsJ-legcxiNhzZu635MXWxmiPyoEiraC5MioXf8PN8jRlGBkpDfCWGI1C1SZGIG/s800/original.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="800" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn58YD60bRLsatqRyF5TMAjlnQfxXeVNjKBwFF4SG03_CWI7xvGO9boQp3Uz0XYRlh7ZTW8vsJ-legcxiNhzZu635MXWxmiPyoEiraC5MioXf8PN8jRlGBkpDfCWGI1C1SZGIG/w400-h200/original.png" width="400" /></a></div><p><br />The world of Random is divided up into six boroughs and when each resident reaches 12 years of age, the evil Nanny, under the employ of the Dark Queen, arrives to roll the black dice. The resulting number dictates in which of the boroughs you will spend the rest of your life. Even and Odd are two sisters that have grown up in Onetown and their family has been quite happy together despite being poor. This happy family life is about to be torn apart though because Odd has reached her 12th birthday. The black dice is rolled and things initially look good with a one being rolled meaning Odd can stay with her family. <br /><br /></p><p>However, the Nanny manipulates the dice and changes it to a six at the last minute which means Odd is taken away to Sixtopia, the home of the Queen herself. From here Even vows to rescue her sister and sets out on an epic journey across all six boroughs to get her back. Shortly into the journey she find herself in the sacred Valley of the Dice, which is littered by mostly dormant dice. A little one does come to her rescue in a fight against the Queen's automatons and from that point on joins Even in her quest, giving her vital assistance in battle through the use of cards.<br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmAD1X9yRXt-BmNWINFMXg2NhEKDoYlnY1uXvCZ-bZGpzhsUXqe4hqoxeCXU-1qYquasxD2i1cGxiJE2VXci9MfWzQLiBIJyKqSgWaQ4xM7otBya07QQ-mnyLaM2bbrRNS48Xb/s852/Lost+in+Random+Screenshot.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="479" data-original-width="852" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmAD1X9yRXt-BmNWINFMXg2NhEKDoYlnY1uXvCZ-bZGpzhsUXqe4hqoxeCXU-1qYquasxD2i1cGxiJE2VXci9MfWzQLiBIJyKqSgWaQ4xM7otBya07QQ-mnyLaM2bbrRNS48Xb/w400-h225/Lost+in+Random+Screenshot.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Even having a bit of a chat with Dicey</i></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br />The flow of battle goes a little something like this. At first, Even can only use her slingshot which won't do any damage to enemies but can be used to destroy blue crystals growing from them which releases dice energy. By running close by the dice energy with Dicey or your back or by sending him out with the RB button it will get sucked up into him and fill up your card meter, You can then choose to roll Dicey when you have enough energy for a few cards or wait until you've filled up your energy completely to choose from 6 cards out of your deck of 15 maximum. The number the Dicey rolls then dictates how many points you've got to spend on these cards with him only being able to roll a 1 or a 2 very early on in the game. The cards vary from being free to use to costing 3 points for the very powerful ones. <br /><br /></p><p>There are a few different types of cards including basic but useful damage cards that give you a temporary sword or of a bow to do direct damage to the automatons, ones that give you a one hit shield, and extremely useful ones that grant you an extra point for free or just lower the point cost of all cards in your hand by 1. There are quite a few other kinds of cards including some that sounded cool in theory but then were pretty crap in practice, such as a cannon that you can drop on the field to fire at your enemies. However, this cannon doesn't track the enemies, it just keeps firing directly ahead and then disappears after 30 seconds. It will also hurt you if you get shot by it. So I quickly removed that one from my deck and never used it again. It did find the bombs incredibly useful as it is quite easy to lure a group of automatons close to them and then do massive damage.<br /><br /></p><p>Throughout the game there are also quite a few board game arenas where there is a massive chess piece that you need to get to a goal. Every time you roll Dicey in combat the chess piece will move along the board the same number of spaces that he rolls. Quite often the path of the chess piece will be block until you kill a certain enemy. These board games take quite a while to finish but it is hard to fail them for the most part. Should Even get killed you will have to start over but I found there was very little risk of that if I always kept a few healing potion cards in my deck. There was one board game which was quite stressful because you are constantly being chased by a moving wall which will hurt you if it catches up to you, but I did still beat it on my first attempt. <br /><br /></p><p>The only real difficulty spike I did encounter during my time with the game was in the very first boss fight against Royam, the evil mirror image of Twotown's mayor. This was partly my own fault though, because I was stubbornly trying to muddle through with the same deck I had been using since the start of the game. When I finally did stop for a moment and put some better cards in my deck I beat him on my very next try. Once again those bomb cards became incredibly valuable against Royam, especially the the final phase of the fight where you're having to deal with both him and a bunch of regular automatons at the same time. <br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFSoHoh16quOcyW3OPMdLqyxf558o-RleBPVCxixF2S8NHQ4qo5Ka-ljkjSudzrEsneZGwG6dAts0e9acMlohDMKww26w3uQtG35p1gWTDSubJ5LFAjDrH_MXybtBRzpJShJK3/s1023/lir-usp-in-engine-screen-twotown-royam-no-logo.jpg.adapt.crop16x9.575p.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="575" data-original-width="1023" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFSoHoh16quOcyW3OPMdLqyxf558o-RleBPVCxixF2S8NHQ4qo5Ka-ljkjSudzrEsneZGwG6dAts0e9acMlohDMKww26w3uQtG35p1gWTDSubJ5LFAjDrH_MXybtBRzpJShJK3/w400-h225/lir-usp-in-engine-screen-twotown-royam-no-logo.jpg.adapt.crop16x9.575p.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>You can definitely see the likeness between Royam here and Oogie Boogie, can't you?</i></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br />We've already touched on the visual influences for <b><i>Lost in Random</i></b> but it is still a cool look that works well for this game and the world that Zoink wanted to build. Everything has the feel of a stop motion animated feature about it. On a technical level I didn't encounter a single problem at all while I was playing through on the Xbox Series X - not slowdown, glitching or any notable bugs of any kind which is impressive as I was playing it so close to launch and so many other games come out with all sorts of bugs and problems these days. On the audio side of things, the voice acting is very strong across the board with believable performances from all involved and some quite memorable characters being created. The music is decent but once again it does wear its Elfman inspirations on its sleeve. There are a few songs throughout the game that are well written and help to flesh out the world quite a bit as well.<br /><br /></p><p><b><i>Lost in Random</i></b> took me around 15 or so hours in total to beat and I did take my time and make sure I completed every side quest that I encountered. I didn't go out of my way to find every single hidden card or story book chapter but I did come across the majority of them throughout my travels. I was quite satisfied with the total time spent with the game especially as this isn't a full priced release, costing about £25 in the UK with a small discount if you are an EA Play / Xbox Game Pass Ultimate member. <br /><br />My only real gripe with the game would be that combat can sometimes drag on for a long time because the cards that are chosen for your hand are random from the pool of 15 that you set, so you could for example keep getting health potions come up when you're at full health or get high cost cards that you don't have enough points to use. Some may find themselves getting rather frustrated with this system but I still enjoyed myself even during the fights that went on for 20 or so minutes. It's all part of the random nature of the world that Zoink has created. I also think that it's a bit of shame that there is no physical version of the game at the moment. I wouldn't be at all surprised if Limited Run Games or a similar company does something eventually, but these can be expensive and hard to get.<br /><br /></p><p>The combination of the art style, the story and the game mechanics all combine to deliver something that feels very fresh, despite the obvious stylistic inspirations that the game draws upon. It's for this reason that I am lining up <b><i>Lost in Random</i></b> as my potential Game of the Year. We still have a few months to go though and something else may come along to take that slot. I do have my eye on <b><i>Kena: Bridge of Spirits</i></b> but I recently heard someone describe the combat as "souls like" which was enough to strike fear into my heart. We shall have to see when the game comes out next week. I hope you enjoyed this review, I shall do my best to write these more often going forward!<br /><br /></p><p><b>Overall:</b> 8 out of 10<br /><br /><br /></p>Wibblefishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12170885091117064057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308645.post-75705222923580956532020-01-17T10:13:00.000+00:002020-01-17T10:13:28.214+00:00Yakuza Kiwami 2 mini reviewYakuza Kiwami 2 is a comprehensive remake of Yakuza 2 for the PlayStation 2, and to be honest it was sorely needed. The first two games were really starting to show their age but the story in each of them was still worth experiencing, so Sega took the new Dragon engine that they built for Yakuza 0 and Yakuza 6 and used it to build these remakes. The director of these games has gone on record to say that if Yakuza 0 hadn't performed so well in the west then these games wouldn't exist at all, but the series has experienced an well deserved increase in popularity outside of Japan since the prequel game was released. Being able to experience the entire Kiryu saga on one single console is fantastic.<br />
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As usual for this series, the main protagonist of Yakuza Kiwami 2 is is Kazuya Kiryu, an ex Yakuza with a heart of gold who always manages to get mixed up in their clan squabbles and whatever schemes are going down. This time a group has split off from the Omi Alliance in Kansai, led by the intimidating Ryuji Goda and are aiming to wage war with the Tojo Clan (the group that Kiryu is aligned with). They have joined forces with the Jingweon Mafia from Korea, whose survivors are out for revenge after the Tojo patriarch tried to have them wiped out in the 80's.<br />
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The Yakuza games always manage to tell an interesting and believable (for the most part anyway) story with a compelling mystery at the centre of each one, and Yakuza Kiwami 2 is no different. The production values are always extremely high too, with lengthy cut scenes, full voice work and attention to detail like no other series. I am always impressed with the foley work in these games, with even the smallest thing getting its own realistic sound effect.<br />
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Outside of the main plot is where the series takes the opportunity to get a bit wacky. There are dozens of side quests to be found dotted around the districts of Kamurocho and Osaka. These include one mission where you meet a bunch of burly Yakuza who like to dress up like babies and be nursed. When Kiryu refuses to take part the inevitable fist fight ensues. That's my one main criticism with all of the Yakuza games actually - nearly every quest will result in a fight at the end, which can make them a tad predictable. I do wish they would get a bit more creative sometimes.<br />
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On top of all of the side missions there are tons of other mini games and distractions, like the arcade games that you can find in Club Sega, gambling in the casino and a full underground fighting tournament. For this remake, Sega have brought back two mini games from other games - the Cabaret Club Grand Prix from Yakuza 0, and the Clan Creator from Yakuza 6. The Cabaret Club mode is really addictive and a ton of fun to play through, but I found the Clan Creator to be less so. It's a kind of tower defence style game and I've never really found that genre to be very fun anyway. Both of these modes do have a fairly lengthy campaign for you to get stuck into though complete with stories and cut scenes, so there's plenty to get stuck into if you do enjoy them.<br />
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All in all, Yakuza Kiwami 2 is another solid entry in the series. I don't think it's my favourite - so far that would have to go to Yakuza 0 for the brilliant way it tells Goro Majma's backstory, or Yakuza 5 for the way it offers you five different characters to play as, each with their own city to explore and unique mini game to play. For fans of the series, it's a bit of a no brainer that you would play this game. For newcomers, start with Yakuza 0 instead and work up to this one if you enjoyed the games before it.<br />
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<br />Wibblefishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12170885091117064057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308645.post-32430446585090202012019-03-26T14:00:00.000+00:002019-03-26T14:00:07.725+00:00New Covertape Chaos Season begins soon, and other news!At the moment, assuming the world doesn't end first or something, I am planning to start Covertape Chaos Season 5 on Tuesday April 2nd, with new episodes every fortnight until we finish off with Power Pack 64. As you many know, there were actually only 61 official Power Packs, but the Commodore Format blog have produced three more since the mag closed down for good. All of this will take us most of the way through the rest of 2019, but that doesn't mean that I'm not already thinking about what to do with the series after that. There are several directions that I could go in - I could go through all of the ZZAP Megatapes, I could morph the series into Coverdisc Chaos and look at Amiga demo discs, or I could change it up even more and look at the CD's that came on the front of Official Dreamcast Magazine. PlayStation demo discs are also a possibility, but I feel that these are already pretty well catered for thanks to Giant Bomb's Demo Derby series. What do you think I should do?<br />
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Other than that I really need to get PS2 Tuesday's Season 5 finished off. I was doing quite well at the start of the year with three new episodes, but after that there has been a gap again. I still owe everyone three more. I also need to crack on with The A-Z of Amiga, make some more RetroGrade episodes, and throw in a few other types of video here and there to keep things interesting for myself, such as Time for a Wii and Last Gen Regen.<br />
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I am making slow but steady progress through <b><i>Dragon Age: Inquisition</i></b>. I want to explore the last three or four world areas that that I have yet to visit, then I will tackle the end of the main story. After that I'll put together my review, and then get started on the DLC. Give me another few weeks and I should have something for you. I've also been spending a considerable amount of time with <b><i>The Division 2</i></b> lately - my character is level 22 right now. I might be able to to get to level 30, choose my specialisation and get started on the World Tiers this weekend, I shall have to see how much free time I have. I do hope to review the game eventually.<br />
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Looking to the future, we have <b><i>Days Gone</i></b> coming out next month which I was not terribly interested in to begin with, but having watched a few videos about it I have to say it does look pretty impressive. 2019 is looking a bit thin compared to last year right now, but there are a few games that I'm looking forward to. <b><i>Rage 2</i></b> could be pretty good, and I love a good kart racer so I am quite excited about the prospect of <b><i>Team Sonic Racing</i></b> and <b><i>Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled</i></b>. I don't know if we're likely to see the finished version of <b><i>Torchlight: Frontiers</i></b> this year as well, but sign me up for that on day one if it is. Hopefully it will get a console release, it was disappointing that Torchlight 2 was never ported to anything.<br />
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Finally, I want to try and get to back to writing on this blog more often, rather than just making videos on the YouTube channel. Sometime I end up wanting to talk about a game but I didn't capture any footage as I went along - in these cases a written review makes perfect sense and gives readers something of an exclusive. <br />
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<br />Wibblefishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12170885091117064057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308645.post-72795994014488016242019-03-12T13:00:00.000+00:002019-03-12T13:00:19.165+00:00Dragon Age II DLC Round Up<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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My <b><i>Dragon Age</i></b> series retrospective continues today with the DLC round up for <b><i>Dragon Age II</i></b>. Like my round up for <b><i>Dragon Age: Origins</i></b>, I will be focusing on stuff that actually adds story content, and not all of the various items that were sold in packs or given away for free for various reasons.<br />
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<b>1. The Black Emporium, free from the Xbox store</b><br />
<b><i>The Black Emporium</i></b> is a curiosity shop full of strange creatures, items and relics ran by the mysterious and rather creepy Xenon, but unfortunately there's not a lot to it. It's fun to look around for 15 minutes or so investigate all the weird stuff that's on display, but there's not really a lot to do. You can buy some equipment which changes out every so often, but you will probably find better stuff on your travels anyway. You can also change your appearance if you don't like how your Hawke turned out or you get bored of it. You also get a mabari hound as part of the deal, who you can summon in combat and talk to at the Hawke estate. One mustn't grumble too much as this is a freebie, but it's not terribly exciting all things considered.<br />
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Overall: 5 out of 10<br />
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<b>2. The Exiled Prince, £4.69 from the Xbox store</b><br />
This is the <b><i>Dragon Age II </i></b>equivalent of <b><i>The Stone Prisoner</i></b> from <b><i>Origins</i></b>, seeing as it adds a new recruitable character to the game who is as fully fleshed out and integrated into the experience as any of the others that were included for free. But whereas Shale was a well written, extremely funny and interesting character with an interesting back story to uncover, Sebastien Vael is rather dull in comparison. He was sent away by his parents to become a member of the chantry, only for his family to be murdered shortly after he arrived in Kirkwall. Now he's trying to find out who was responsible and weighing up whether to abandon his religious pursuits in the name of revenge or put try and put the hatred he feels aside and embrace the teachings of the chantry. It's not terrible, just a little bit bland compared to what has come before, not to mention overpriced.<br />
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Overall: 6 out of 10<br />
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<b>3. Legacy, £6.75 from the Xbox store</b><br />
If you have already played both <b><i>Dragon Age II</i></b> and <b><i>Inquisition</i></b>, but skipped this DLC, then it may actually be of some interest to you. Hawke travels to a recently exposed part of the Deep Roads after being called out by members of the Carta (essentially a dwarven version of the Mafia). It turns out that they are trying to bring back creature by the name of Corypheus that Hawkes father had a hand in imprisoning during his time as a Grey Warden. Corypheus was a major player in Inquisition, and he was introduced here. This pack is actually pretty decent, and as well as some important back story you also get a nice new weapon in the form of Hawke's Key, which you get to personalise a little bit by choosing which attributes it gets powered up with. This DLC also feels more substantial than anything that was released for <b><i>Origins</i></b>, at around 3 hours if you do everything. Worth a look!<br />
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Overall: 7 out of 10<br />
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<b>4. Mark of the Assassin, £6.75 from the Xbox store</b><br />
While not as important from a story point of view, <b><i>Mark of the Assassin</i></b> is a lot of fun. You team up with the titular assassin, Talis (voiced and modelled on the appearance of Felicia Day) and head off to Chateau Haine in Orlais to try and steal a valuable artifact called the Heart of the Many. During your time with this DLC you will go on a big game hunt for a wyvern, explore the chateau either with the option to go loud or stealthily, before experiencing some interesting twists with an entertaining boss battle at the end. I sometimes find Felicia Day annoying but she is at least a decent actress who delivers her lines well and makes a convincing elf. I think this is the best DLC of all the stuff that was released for <b><i>Dragon Age II</i></b> and it's fitting that it was the last. Again it weighs in at about 3 hours of content if you take your time, explore and complete all of the side quests.<br />
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Overall: 8 out of 10<br />
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<b><u>Conclusion</u></b><br />
With the exception of <b><i>The Black Emporium</i></b> which is free, I would say that all of the <b><i>Dragon Age II</i></b> DLC is just a tad too expensive for my liking. Unlike <b><i>Dragon Age: Origins</i></b> though there is no complete or ultimate edition that I know of, at least for the Xbox 360, which is a shame. These are included in sales every so often though, so it's worth holding out for one of those before you decide to pick them up. On the whole the quality level has increased compared to <i><b>Origins</b></i>, apart from the extra party member where Shale was most definitely better than Sebastien. That brings us to the end of <b><i>Dragon Age II</i></b> then - I will soon be embarking on my play through of <b><i>Inquisition</i></b>. I was thinking I might try playing as a Qunari, as previously I have played it as an elf and a human. I expect there will be a bit of a gap before I return with my <b><i>Inquisition</i></b> review as it is extremely long and I don't want to burn out before the end due to rushing through it. There will be other stuff on the site / channel in the meantime though!<br />
<br />Wibblefishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12170885091117064057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308645.post-90332390857636213562019-02-08T15:00:00.000+00:002019-02-19T12:16:05.988+00:00Dragon Age: Origins DLC Round Up<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Now, I do realise that this is somewhat overdue, seeing as <b><i>Dragon Age: Origins</i></b> was originally released way back in 2009, but I never got around to writing about all of the various DLC that Bioware made in the years following the main game. I am currently in the process of replaying the entire <b><i>Dragon Age</i></b> series from beginning to end, so what better time to share my thoughts will you all about the optional extra content? This article will be focusing on the DLC that is quest related, rather than those that just add some extra weapons or armour. There will be a short summary on each pack followed by a score out of 10. I won't be including <b><i>Awakening</i></b> here because that is full on expansion pack which already has its own, separate review.<br />
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<b>1. Warden's Keep - £4.69 from Xbox store, free with Digital Deluxe, Collector's and Ultimate Editions</b><br />
This is a fairly brief, but useful bit of extra content that gives you a quest that will take roughly 45 minutes to complete at the most. When you're done, your warden will have a new base of operations, although that doesn't really mean very much. It mostly just gives you access to a party storage chest where you can dump your loot in between quests, and a vendor to sell the junk to. The quest itself is quite good fun with some interesting lore to listen to or read in the codex, and there are some moral choices to be made at the end. It's not worth the rather steep price of almost a fiver, either wait for a DLC sale or buy the Ultimate Edition instead. <br />
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Overall: 6 out of 10<br />
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<b>2. The Stone Prisoner - originally free with pre-orders, now free for everyone to download</b><br />
This is quite easily my favourite of all of the extra content released for <b><i>Dragon Age: Origins</i></b>, and I can't really imagine playing through the game without it. The Stone Prisoner adds an extra recruitable party member to the main game, in the form of Shale, a golem. There's an introductory quest that needs to be completed in order to add her to your party, which takes about half an hour. After that you can bring Shale along on any quest that you see fit, and chat with her in camp. She is a very well written and interesting character who has some very amusing dialogue and a bit of a problem with mages and birds. By increasing your standing with her through dialogue options or gifts, you can eventually unlock a loyalty mission which will give you some insight on her backstory, which is well worth taking a bit of extra time to do. Shale ends up being one of best party members in the game, and because there's no cost involved you may as well install her! <br />
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Overall: 9 out of 10<br />
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<b>3. Return to Ostagar - £3.39 from Xbox store, included with Ultimate Edition</b><br />
This one adds about 45 minutes of extra content again, and allows you to return to the battlefield of Ostagar, which is where the Grey Wardens were betrayed by Tehyrn Loghain at the start of the game and King Cailan lost his life. Your task here is to recover all of Cailan's armour from the darkspawn that are still lurking about, ending with a final confrontation with a nasty Genlock Necromancer. After that, you should return to Cailan's mutilated body and give him the burial he deserves. This DLC reminded me very much of the <b><i>Normandy Crash Site</i></b> DLC for <b><i>Mass Effect 2</i></b>. It is similar in tone and purpose. Not too bad, but nothing all that spectacular really. <br />
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Overall: 6 out of 10<br />
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<b>4. The Darkspawn Chronicles - £3.39 from Xbox store, included with Ultimate Edition</b><br />
This DLC lets you play out a "what if" scenario, where the darskpawn end up winning during the invasion of Denerim at the end of the main game. You take control of a Hurlock who hear's the whispers of the archdemon and can enthrall other darkspawn units such as genlocks, shrieks and even an ogre. This one takes roughly an hour and a half to finish, and it's a bit of mindless fun really. Laying waste to the hero's from the main campaign does give you a bit of a sick thrill. <br />
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Overall: 6 out of 10<br />
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<b>5. Leliana's Song - £4.69 from Xbox store, included with Ultimate Edition</b><br />
This takes the form of a prologue to the main campaign and gives you some insight into the backstory of Leliana, the rogue who became a member of the chantry for a time, before eventually joining up with the Wardens. You will be carrying out a variety of crimes in and around Denerim alongside your partner, and lover, Marjolaine. Those who have spoken to Leliana extensively in camp will know that Marjolaine ended up betraying her and leaving her for dead - now you can get the full, sad story. This is probably the best DLC so far after The Stone Prisoner, as it actually focuses on a character that I already care about. <br />
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Overall: 7 out of 10<br />
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<b>6. The Golems of Amgarrak - £3.39 from Xbox store, included with Ultimate Edition</b><br />
This is probably my least favourite of all the DLC that was released for <b><i>Dragon Age</i></b>. The main reason for this is that it doesn't feature any of the party members that you have formed a bond with over the many hours that you spent from them, and instead introduces a couple of dwarves that are looking for assistance in recovering the lost secrets of golem creation from the ancient fortress of Amgarrak. It's another very brief tale at around a single hour - not enough time to get to know these new characters or care about them. It's also punishingly difficult, and it's highly recommended that you don't attempt it until you've completed the <b><i>Awakening</i></b> expansion. I did quite like the design of the new creature that is introduced, called the Harvester, though it did remind me of the polymorph from <b><i>Red Dwarf</i></b> a little bit. This DLC isn't worth seeking out individually, but you may as well play it if you obtained it as part of the Ultimate Edition.<br />
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Overall: 5 out of 10<br />
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<b>7. Witch Hunt - £4.69 from Xbox store, included with Ultimate Edition</b><br />
<i style="font-weight: bold;">Witch Hunt </i>is another incredibly brief, and somewhat underwhelming piece of extra content. Like many of the others, it weighs in at roughly an hour. This one actually had a lot of potential because it sees the return of Morrigan, a very popular character from the main game excellently voiced by Claudia Black. After the final battle with the Archdemon, she took her leave from the party and requested that you never go looking for her. Well, here you are, looking for her. The final conversation with Morrigan is incredibly brief and after its over the end credits roll and that's it. I would have liked the chance to have a quick chat with Finn and Ariane, your new companions that you barely have any opportunity to get to know. It's a shame you don't, because their dialogue is well written and humorous and I would have welcomed more of it. Instead of going out on a bang with its last adventure, <b><i>Dragon Age: Origins</i></b> fizzles out instead, which is incredibly frustrating.<br />
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Overall: 6 out of 10<br />
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<b><u>Conclusion</u></b><br />
Overall I would say that the DLC for <b><i>Dragon Age: Origins</i></b> is worth playing through at least once if you are a fan of the original game. Most of these packs are pretty brief however and are definitely not worth paying the full amount for in 2019. However there is a solution - the Ultimate Edition of the game includes everything listed here as well as the <b><i>Awakening</i></b> expansion, and because everything is included on a second physical disk you can buy a second hand copy safe in the knowledge that you will still be able to access everything (as long as the DLC disk isn't missing, of course). This is definitely the cheapest way to get ahold of everything - copies go for a bout £15 on Amazon and eBay. While most of these only add an hour or two of game play at the most, it all adds up to an extremely solid package that I think is still worth a punt, despite the rather dated visuals.<br />
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One last thing - I wasn't sure if the the Ultimate Edition would work properly on the Xbox One, because you install the DLC from a second disk, put apparently it does work after you jump through a few hoops. Apparently you should install the DLC disk first, then the main play disk, then put the DLC disk back in before launching the game. Then you should be able to access anything. I haven't confirmed this myself because I don't own a copy of the Ultimate Edition, but if you do this you should be OK.<br />
<br />Wibblefishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12170885091117064057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308645.post-52325310485972099452018-10-12T10:55:00.000+01:002018-10-12T10:55:45.676+01:00Game Diary: The Vast OdysseyDo you ever get overwhelmed by the sheer size of a game and suffer from indecision about what to do next? That has happened to me with <b>Assassin's Creed: Odyssey</b> this week. I have been playing it every day since I received it last Friday, but yesterday I needed to take a break. I have already managed to put 20 hours on the clock though so that's probably understandable. Things were going well to begin with - the game limits you to the fairly small island of Kephalonia for the first few hours, giving you some freedom to explore and get used to the mechanics of the game. A lot of it will feel familiar to those who play <b>Origins</b>, but there have been some siginificant changes. <b>Origins</b> took some steps towards becoming a full fledged RPG, and now <b>Odyssey</b> has gone all the way there. Instead of simple outfits that just changed your appearance, you now have helmets, torso armour, gloves, belts and boots as well. This has increased the level of enjoyment for me because it means the random loot you find and treasure you pick up is a lot more meaningful. There are a lot more dialogue options with important decisions to be made that will affect direction of the overall plot, ala <b>Mass Effect</b> or <b>The Witcher 3</b>.<br />
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Then there are the multiple levels of side quest. First is the mercenary system, which is quite similar to the nemesis system from the <b>Middle Earth</b> games but a lot less annoying. While random mercenaries will come after you, they will only do so if you have a bounty on your head, which you can pay off from the map screen at any time, or just wait for your bounty level to drop over time. These mercs have strengths and weaknesses much like the Uruk Hai of Mordor and there are no less than 9 tiers of them to work your way through. They don't appear to be randomly generated though, or at least not the early ones. At the end of the starter zone in Kephalonia you will get access to your ship, but you won't really be using it very much as much of the first 15 or so hours takes place on land. There are vast areas of water to explore further on into the game, but it takes quite a bit of time to get there. Not long after you get your boat, the game reveals the next system: the Cult of Kosmos. There is a large network of 30 or so targets that need to be taken down, and their identities remain hidden to begin with. You have to explore the world and find clues before you know who is part of the cult, then you can go and murder them. The higher level the cult member is, the more clues are required, and these high end cultist are level 50 or close to it so you won't be able to finish all of this until the end game or beyond.<br />
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In addition to this, I also did an optional quest to kill a legendary boar, which then triggered seven more similar quests to hunt down similar legendary beasts all across the Greek world. When you add in the daily and weekly notice board quests that can be completed for orichalcum and traded for good weapons and armour, you have quite a lot to be getting on with. You're looking at a game that will easily take 80 or so hours to finish if you want to do everything, which I do and I was fine with, until I got to Athens. With the city sprawling in every direction as far as the eye can see, and the map screen littered with question marks, I started to feel like it was getting too much, and that's when I needed to take a break. I have no problem with the massive length of the game, as I can just chip away at it a little bit for months to come. It's more the sheer number of options of where to go next - just visiting all of those questions marks in Athens will take hours, and it's just one district in the huge land mass of Attika. In addition to this, there are another four or five places on the map that I could go to now that I am level 20.<br />
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I think what I have decided to do for now, is to focus on taking out the low end cult members, working my way systematically through them and thoroughly exploring the rest of whatever island they happen to be on as I go. In between I will play around in Athens for a little bit, but not try and do the entire city in one go. For me the best parts of the recent <b>Assassin's Creed</b> games has not been the densely populated areas, it's been the open countryside and the highly atmospheric tombs, of which there are many to be found in <b>Odyssey</b> too. I haven't even got to the point where you can fight the mythical creatures like gorgons, minotaurs and so on yet, though I know this is in the game because various streams have shown game play of it. I will also be taking regular breaks from <b>Odyssey</b> to play other stuff like retro games and <b>Forza Horizon 4</b>. I am really enjoying my time with <b>Odyssey</b>, but I am wary of burning out and not finishing it. It wasn't that long ago that I finished the DLC for <b>Origins</b>, after all. Kassandra seems like a really great protagonist from what I've experienced so far, up there with Ezio, Edward Kenway and the Frye twins, so I want to see this game through to the end. I might have another update as I get further in, or I may just wait and write a full review when I'm finished, we'll see!<br />
<br />Wibblefishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12170885091117064057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308645.post-54690363647472881372018-09-21T12:00:00.000+01:002018-09-25T12:09:24.594+01:00Summer Backlog Diary #6 / Game Diary: Challenge CompleteI had hoped to get at least one or two more of my Summer Backlog Challenge list completed before the deadline of September 23rd, but alas this isn't going to happen. Still, I did manage to pass the challenge by completing five out my ten choices, so I don't feel to bad about it. I still intend to finish the rest of the games, just on my own schedule. I will try and make a point of finishing sooner rather than later though. A number of things happened which caused me to drop the ball towards the end of the challenge, unfortunately. Firstly, a ton of triple A games all dropped within a short space of time. First it was <b>Yakuza Kiwami 2</b>, then <b>Dragon Quest XI</b>, and mostly recently <b>Spider Man</b>. So I spent quite a bit of time playing each one of these instead of focusing on my challenge list. Then, my cat grew very ill and had to be put to sleep, and I haven't really felt like spending much time gaming since then. Not on the bigger games, at any rate, I have still been dipping into retro and indie titles a little bit. I will recover eventually, but at the moment I miss my fuzzy buddy.<br />
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I've also recently acquired an Nvidia Shield TV, which has done it's bit in distracting me away from my task as well. With this little beauty, not only can you stream 4K video from all the usual sources, you can play Android games, install emulators for retro consoles and computers, and play certain Steam games via Geforce Now. This works amazingly well provided you have quite a fast internet connection, and it means I can play some PC games in much higher quality than my poor PC could ever manage. I don't own many of the compatible titles just yet, I have tested out <b>Grim Dawn</b> and <b>Two Point Hospital</b>, both of which are fantastic. The Geforce Now service is currently free because it's in Beta, and I have no idea how much it's likely to cost when it's rolled out properly, though I hear it will be less for Shield owners vs those who login via PC's, Macs or mobile devices.<br />
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You also get access to a range of 40 or so games to play around with via GeForce now, though most of these are quite old. I have tried out a few of them to see how well it works and I have to say I am very impressed. So far I've tried the 2013 <b>Tomb Raider</b> reboot, <b>Alpha Protocol</b> and <b>Sonic Racing Transformed</b>, and they all look great and play really well. The Nvidia game pad that comes with the Shield TV is very nicely put together - it's comfortable and the buttons are good quality. I have experienced no lag at all with the games and though I haven't tried streaming at full 4K yet, 1080p still looks very nice indeed. The main reason I bought the Shield TV is for the retro gaming - though I do have a Raspberry Pi box which is good for certain things, it wasn't quite delivering the goods for me. With the combination of the ARC Browser, Retro X and ton of great emulators, the Shield TV provides a robust and reliable method of playing the classics, and capturing the footage so I can make more videos for you. That it also allows me to check out Android and Steam games as well is a very nice added bonus!<br />
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You've probably noticed that I've been releasing quite a few episodes of RetroGrade recently. This is because they are fairly easy to make (though they still take about five hours each). Unfortunately I can't just decide which PS2 game I want to make a video about on a Saturday, play it for a bit and make a video on Sunday (technically I could do this but I would be short changing both myself and my audience), whereas it is possible to play an arcade game for a couple of hours before summing up my thoughts. I realise that I've been saying that PS2 Tuesdays is going to return for a while now, and it is - I just need to work out what I'm going to play and then spend enough time playing it so that I can give it a fair review. That's also why I don't review many RPG's on the PS2, though I hope to try and rectify that by making them either the first or last game in a season going forward. I think I might take a look at <b>Burnout Dominator</b>, <b>Soul Calibur 3</b> and <b>Rogue Galaxy</b> during the rest of the season, though this is subject to change.<br />
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OK, I've rambled on enough for now. I am really quite excited about the opportunities that the Shield TV offers up though! As always, if you have any recommendations for games I should check it, be it modern, retro, Android or Steam, then let me know! In the meantime, take care.<br />
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<br />Wibblefishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12170885091117064057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308645.post-32102499435554644672018-09-03T18:00:00.000+01:002018-09-03T18:00:07.056+01:00Game Diary: Big Game SeasonIt's been a few weeks since my last update, so I thought I'd better let you all know what's going on. Since I uploaded my review of <b>Cosmic Star Heroine</b>, I'm afraid I've dropped the ball with the Summer Backlog Challenge a little bit and have been playing other things, so this is just a regular game diary. As of today there's only three weeks left to go before the challenge ends, so I need to get on with things and try to finish <b>Pyre</b> at the very least, plus Hob if I can possibly manage it. I do also intend to finish <b>Battle Chasers</b>, <b>Odin Sphere</b> and <b>Growlanser: Wayfarer of Time</b> but they will be outside of the challenge at this point. I can take my time with those but I do want the get to them sooner rather than later - I really don't want another 5 or so years to have gone by before I finish them.<br />
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I had a week off work last week though, and the busy gaming season really got underway, so today I'm going to go over what I've been playing recently. Before my break, I got back into <b>Assassin's Creed: Origins </b>- particularly the DLC. I finished <b>The Hidden Ones</b>, which I thought was solid but rather dull, and also pretty brief. Then I started <b>Curse of the Pharaohs</b> which is much more exciting, and pretty huge as well. You're looking at least 20 hours of gaming if you intend do everything. I haven't quite finished it yet - I still have two Pharaohs that I need to lay to rest which involve exploring the afterlife and completing some quests before doing battle with them. The boss fights in this DLC have been pretty challenging so far - they have a lot of hit points and hit hard, so you really need to be patient, use arrows to charge up your meter and then let loose with a powerful attack, then rinse and repeat. I was struggling because I kept running out of arrows half way through one of the fights, but then I realised I had two other bow types which each had their own unique arrow counts. The arrows do negligible damage but they do charge up your meter from a safe distance which is the key factor.<br />
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I also got the urge to play a <b>Diablo</b> style game again, but I didn't really want to just play <b>Diablo 3</b> again, as I have done that to death at this point. I almost chose to play <b>Grim Dawn</b>, and I still want to eventually, but for now I returned to <b>Path of Exile</b>. While I played through the single campaign a few years ago on the PC, a great deal has changed since then, with a whopping six new acts being added and loads of new features. I'm also playing on the Xbox One X this time, which has been great. The game runs really well and Grinding Gear Games have done a great job in making the controls work on the Xbox controller. I didn't really enjoy the Incursion league and it's new feature where you go into the past and open up rooms within a Vaal Temple, as you only get a very limited time to try and take down a boss and open some doors before you're wrenched back into the present. If you don't manage to open the right doors within the temple, it's pretty much a waste of time exploring it for real when you finally get the opportunity because you won't be able to get to the boss. The brand new Delve league begins today on consoles though and I would like to check it out - it involves exploring an infinitely generated mine with only the protection of torch that trundles along beside you on a cart. Move too far away and you will be consumed by the darkness, though of course the best loot can be found just out of the safe zone.<br />
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Moving on to brand new stuff, <b>Two Point Hospital</b> was released last week, and it's every bit as good as I was hoping it would be. Anyone who played <b>Theme Hospital</b> 20 years ago and loved it should rush over to Steam and buy a copy right now - it's only about £20 which if you ask me is a bargain! I've only played the first level so far but I have heard there are about 25 in the game total which is loads of quality gaming right there. It does play pretty much identically to the classic game but with much nicer graphics and plenty of quality of life improvements. The in game radio stations are great too with some really catchy, cheesy music and hilarious dialogue from the DJ's. The terrible puns and dad jokes are also in full force and will have you groaning and chuckling in equal measure.<br />
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The other new game that I've been playing an absolute ton of is <b>Yakuza Kiwami 2</b>. This may be the fourth <b>Yakuza</b> game to be released in the west within the last two years, but I have been waiting patiently for my chance to finally play <b>Yakuza 2</b> and here it is at last. I was tempted to start the PS2 version last year, but I'm glad I waited because this enhanced PS4 remake adds a load of extra content, such The Truth of Goro Majima mini campaign, hostess club management, a tweaked version of the Clan Creator from <b>Yakuza 6</b>, and a saucy photo shoot mini game. Just playing the hostess club mini game is enjoyable enough, let alone all of the other content! This game is my main focus at the moment, but I will have to cut back on my play time a little bit in order to finish off the Summer Backlog games.<br />
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Looking to the future now, another two massive games are just about to come out. Tomorrow finally sees the arrival of <b>Dragon Quest XI</b> in the west, a game that I have been longing for since before it was announced. We didn't get <b>Dragon Quest X</b> as that was an MMO released on the Wii and Wii U, two consoles that were either being phased out or weren't successful enough for Square Enix to bother bringing the game over, so it's been years since a new mainline game in the series was released outside of Japan (<b>VII</b> and <b>VIII</b> on the 3DS were nice, but they weren't new). While it will be extremely tempting to dive in to the game as soon as it arrives tomorrow, I shall try and resist until I have the Summer Backlog Challenge is over, and I have wrapped up the <b>AC: Origins</b> DLC and <b>Yakuza Kiwami 2</b>. It will be tough but I can do it!<br />
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Finally, at the end of the week we have the release of <b>Spiderman</b> on the PS4. I wasn't planning on buying it just yet, but the hype has gotten to me so I have pre ordered it from Amazon. While it does looks like a very good game, I am less excited about it than the other games I've already mentioned today, so it will probably go on to my backlog pile for a while. After that I have a bit of breathing room until October. There is also <b>Shadow of the Tomb Raider</b> in September but I still haven't finished <b>Rise of the Tomb Raider</b> yet, so I don't really feel compelled to pick it up just yet. If I can hold out until the Christmas holidays I expect it will have come down in price by then (something I really should have done with <b>Spiderman</b>, but oh well). Let me know what you're playing at the moment, and what you're looking forward to from the months ahead. There will be another video up on the channel tomorrow, and hopefully another Summer Backlog Challenge update here on the blog quite soon. That's all from me today though, so I'll see you again later, and in the meantime, take care!<br />
<br />Wibblefishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12170885091117064057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308645.post-56594881149821700632018-08-14T12:00:00.000+01:002018-08-14T12:00:11.435+01:00Summer Backlog Review #5: Cosmic Star HeroineWelcome back to my fifth review for the Summer Backlog Challenge 2018! With this, I have successfully completed the challenge, which I failed to do the previous two times I attempted this. I'm not going to stop there though, we still have over a month left which should be plenty of time to complete at least one or two more games from my list. For now though, it's time to review Cosmic Star Heroine. First of all though, like always, let's go over a bit of the history.<br />
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Back in the glory days of the Xbox 360, Microsoft had their Indie Games program where talented (and sometimes not so talented) amateur developers could create their own games using the XNA platform and make them available for others to enjoy. Two of the best and most popular games on the service were <b>Breath of Death VII</b>, and <b>Cthulhu Saves the World</b>, from Zeboyd Games (aka Robert Boyd). These were classic 16-bit style RPG's with a very strong sense of humour and plenty of fun gameplay. Eventually, Zeboyd were handed the reigns to the <b>Penny Arcade</b> RPG series and make the third and fourth entries, which I thought were a big improvement over the first two. Then, in 2013, a Kickstarter campaign was launched for <b>Cosmic Star Heroine</b>, which would be developed in Unity and released initially on PC and PS4. Since it was released the game has been well received by the sales haven't exactly set the world on fire, unfortunately. The game is just about to be released for the Nintendo Switch, however, so hopefully it will get into the hands of more people. I think it really does deserve to do better, so let's get into the reasons why...<br />
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<b>Plot & Character:</b> 8 out of 10<br />
<b>Cosmic Star Heroine</b> puts in you in the shoes of Alyssa L'Salle, a talented super spy in a futuristic science fiction universe. The first mission of the game sees her rescuing hostages and defusing a bomb in a skyscraper with the help of her friends, the "gunmancer" Chahn and hacker, Dave. Rather than being the sort of spy who keeps their identity a secret from all, though, Alyssa is famous across the entire system of planets and has plenty of fans. This fame comes at a price though, and after discovering something that may threaten the safety of everyone, Alyssa finds herself in the crosshairs of would-be assassins, chased by bounty hunters and double crossed by her own agency. From there it's up to her to conduct her own investigation, gather a rag tag bunch of allies and take down the evil that's threatening the universe.<br />
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The game has a lot of characters that you will recruit over the course of the roughly 12 hour long campaign, 10 not including Alyssa herself in fact. All of them are interesting and have their own part of play in the story, but I found that I didn't really use the later ones very much. Not only was I near the end of the game by the time they came along, I was also quite used to my set up of Chahn, Sue and Psybee (an insectoid alien guy). This is partially down to me though - more adventurous types would probably revel in experimenting with various power combinations, and it certainly is possible to come up with some creative and powerful attacks if you play around a bit.<br />
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On the whole I enjoyed the story, it moved along at a brisk pace, and the writing was very good with plenty of jokes as well as more serious moments when required. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>There are plenty of pop culture references that you may recognise.</i></td></tr>
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<b>Graphics: </b>8 out of 10<br />
The visuals of <b>Cosmic Star Heroine</b> definitely evokes the look and feel of a PlayStation RPG, such as something by Working Designs, except in full widescreen to make the most of modern TV's, of course. The environments are nice and colourful with plenty of different types of location to explore, from swamps to space ships, and tropical planets. The character sprites are nicely defined and animate well, and there are also nicely drawn character portraits whenever someone speaks. Also, during key scenes there are animated sequences, and quite a lot of work has gone into these. A particular highlight was the concert where you meet Lauren, and she performs an entire song. There is definitely a high amount of care and polish that has gone into the graphics which I really appreciate.<br />
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<b>Sound & Music:</b> 9 out of 10<br />
While there is no voice acting at all in <b>Cosmic Star Heroine</b>, I really don't feel that the game needs it. What it does have instead is an absolutely fantastic soundtrack thanks to Hyperduck Soundworks. Highlights here include both the regular battle music and the boss music, and the song from Lauren's concert once again which does include vocals. I've used each of these pieces of music in the background to my review, so I hope Zeboyd / Hyperduck don't mind!<br />
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The other component here are the sound effects, which are also very well done. Each ability, such as Dave's Zap or Chahn's Purification Torch have their own sound associated with them which are well crafted and sound suitably sci fi.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Here's Chahn in her introductory cut scene.</i></td></tr>
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<b>Game Mechanics:</b> 9 out of 10<br />
In battle, <b>Cosmic Star Heroine</b> adopts the <b>Chrono Trigger</b> style of encounters where enemies can be seen wandering the map and you actively engage with them, rather than the classic random battles. Then, the characters and the enemies take turns biffing each other depending on their speed statistic. Alyssa and friends have up to eight abilities that they can choose from at a time, most of which can only be used once before you have to defend and recharge them. Some of these abilities will be purely offensive such as Alyssa thwacking something with her bo staff or Dave zapping something with electricity, others could be buffs to boost defense or offense, and others still can have some interesting effects.<br />
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Take Clarke for example, the disco dancing robot who joins your ranks roughly half way through the story. He has an ability called Mortify, which means that the rest of the party does more damage while he's dead. You activate it, then on Clarke's next turn you either choose an ability that kills him and heals the rest of the party, or kills him and does massive damage to all the enemies. He's dead for the rest of the battle but everyone else is now stronger. This is probably something you want to save towards the end of a boss battle, but it's an interesting mechanic.<br />
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Equipping new weapons and shields can also give you access to new "programs" in battle which are additional abilities that can be used. The battles themselves always move along at a brisk pace, with animations playing out smoothly and responsively which is very much appreciated. Those who have experienced the terrible PlayStation versions of various <b>Final Fantasy</b> games will attest to just how annoying it can be when it takes ages for a simple animation to load, but there's none of that here thankfully.<br />
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For roughly the first half of the campaign, your party is preset but different characters will be swapping in and out as the story dictates, which means that you will have to learn and adapt to new skill sets quite frequently. This keeps things interesting. Eventually though the game will open up and you will have free reign over who you bring with you. You also get your own spaceship and can travel back and forth between the three planets in the game at will, though the main story does remain linear - this just allows you to go off and do some optional quests for your various party members should you wish to.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><b>Cosmic Star Heroine</b> features a large and diverse cast of recruitable characters.</i></td></tr>
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<b>Value & Replaybility:</b> 7 out of 10<br />
While <b>Cosmic Star Heroine </b>is hardly the longest RPG, I do feel that you get your money's worth. If you just focus on the critical path then it will probably take you around 12 hours to complete on the standard difficulty setting, which is a decent amount of time. There are some extra challenges that can be sought out though, such as boss battles with Dem Bones from <b>Breath of Death VII</b> or Cthulhu himself. These are likely to require a bit of grinding before you will be able to take them on.<br />
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There are also four separate difficult options, ranging from Tourist for people who want the game to be a cakewalk, up to Heroine for those who want a steeper challenge. I found that the normal difficulty was about right for me - it was a perhaps a little on the easy side for most of the game as long as I didn't avoid too many fights, though I did still die a few times during some of the boss battles. This was usually a case of me either trying to rush through the fight too quickly or not knowing the best strategy, and usually a simple change in tactics or a more patient approach would see me through.<br />
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The game isn't terribly replayable really - the story is going to play out the same way regardless of what you do, though you could start over on a higher difficulty. It is well written and entertaining enough that I could see myself coming back to it again after a while, I guess. This gets less likely the bigger my backlog gets, unfortunately.<br />
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<b>Innovation & Cleverness:</b> 6 out of 10<br />
While the plot and setting are not terribly original, <b>Cosmic Star Heroine</b> deserves some points in this category because of it's well thought out battle system. Each character has their own palette of abilities that have been very well thought out and often work in conjunction with the abilities of the other characters in interesting ways. Limiting the palettes to eight active slots and giving out new abilities as you level up really forces the player to think hard about what they will leave out. It is quite easy to quickly swap out a party member or an ability depending on the type of enemy you're likely to face in a given area, however. Very smart stuff indeed.<br />
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<b>Overall:</b> 8 out of 10<br />
I had a lot of fun playing through <b>Cosmic Star Heroine</b> - so much so in fact that when I finally did start playing, it only took me a few play sessions to reach the end because I didn't want to stop. The writing, graphics, music and compelling battle system all combine to deliver an extremely solid RPG that will keep the majority of players amused for a minimum of 12 hours, potentially longer if they decide to increase the difficulty or seek out all of the optional challenges that the game has to offer. If you own a Switch and you enjoy a good RPG then do seriously think about picking this up - it would work very well in handheld mode. I look forward to seeing what Zeboyd Games does next!<br />
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<br />Wibblefishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12170885091117064057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308645.post-1537360484846648362018-08-09T15:00:00.000+01:002018-08-09T15:00:08.755+01:00Summer Backlog Diary #5: Cosmic Hob SphereI know it's been a little while since my last Summer Backlog Challenge 2018 update, but other than one weekend where I played <b>No Man's Sky</b> instead, I have still been playing the games in the meantime. One day last week, I decided I wanted a bit of variety, so I played the first hour or so from each of <b>Cosmic Star Heroine</b>, <b>Hob</b> and <b>Odin Sphere: Leifthrasir</b>. I had a lot of fun doing this but at the end I knew I had to commit myself to playing one of them or I would never get anywhere. <b>Cosmic Star Heroine </b>was the game of choice, and I just got to the end yesterday, so the full review will be incoming next Tuesday. I am going to share a few thoughts about the game here but I will be fairly brief.<br />
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I remember first hearing about <b>Cosmic Star Heroine</b> when Kat Bailey spoke about it at length on an episode of Axe of the Blood God, or it may have actually been the precursor show Active Time Babble, I forget now. At any rate, her in depth review and her interview with the main programmer Robert Boyd made me want to pick it up, so I did shortly after it was released for the PS4. There, it remained unplayed until this year. I'm not entirely sure why - I think it was a combination of factors. Firstly, I play my PS4 Pro far less than my Xbox One X, I just don't like it as much as a console. Secondly, I was constantly running out of space which I just fixed this year by buying an external hard drive, though this shouldn't have been a major factor for Cosmic Star Heroine because it's a small file size anyway. Regardless, I am glad that I put it on my Summer Backlog Challenge list for this year and have now finished it, because I loved every minute of it. The game is about to come out for the Switch next week so I really hope it gets a lot more attention as a result, Zeboyd Games really deserve it.<br />
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Next up, let's talk about <b>Hob</b> for a bit. This is the very first game I thought of when I came up with the list of ten games for this year. How could another game by the makers of the amazing <b>Torchlight</b> games be anything less than amazing? So far, it is indeed pretty good. It plays like a classic 2D <b>Zelda</b>, with a strong emphasis on puzzle solving and exploring your surroundings. While there are enemies, who do pack quite a punch, they aren't too common. Despite that, I am still tempted to dial the combat difficult down to its lowest setting so I can just focus on solving the dungeons. I love the aesthetic of the game - it reminds me a lot of Studio Ghibli's <b>Castle in the Sky</b> (aka <b>Laputa</b>), my favourite film by Hayao Miyazaki by far. You have the ancient ruins reclaimed by nature, and the stone golems covered in moss with little bird friends. Something is slowly poisoning the land though, and it's up to Hob to find out what and put a stop to it. The main character looks a lot like the one from <b>Journey</b> - so much so that I think he must be a cousin or something. Billy Bob and Hilly Hob? Yes, that makes sense!<br />
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Lastly today, we come to <b>Odin Sphere: Leifthrasir</b>. This game appeals to me a lot because I love the gorgeous artwork (which now looks absolutely stunning because it's been remastered in full HD) and I'm also quite fascinated by Norse mythology. The combat does feel a bit button mashy at first but the game slowly layers on more depth as you go through the early sections of the story, and if you want to ensure you get an S rank in each encounter you will need to stop and think about what you're doing a little bit rather than simply flailing around. I am not sure I will actually have time to finish this one by end of the challenge, but I still want to play through it even after that.<br />
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I am going to return to <b>Pyre</b> and finish playing the rest of that next, because I am already pretty far through. After that, <b>Hob</b> will be the focus. Although I have played quite a bit of <b>Battle Chasers: Nightwar</b>, I'm not confident I will get to the end before the deadline. The need to grind has kind of sapped my enthusiasm for it, to be honest. I will go back to it eventually though. That's all for today - don't forget to come back on Tuesday to read or watch my <b>Cosmic Star Heroine</b> review!
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<br />Wibblefishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12170885091117064057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308645.post-63771126195671185122018-07-28T12:00:00.000+01:002018-07-28T12:00:04.258+01:00Summer Backlog Review #4: JourneyWelcome to the fourth review from this years Summer Backlog Challenge. After this, I'm just one game away from successfully completing it. I don't intend to stop there though, I'm going to try and get through as many of the ten games as possible before the deadline of 23rd September.<br />
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This time I'm shifting my attention away from the Xbox One and over to the PS4, to play the Sony exclusive, <b>Journey</b>. Of course, it was originally released on the PS3 but I have shied away from playing it for all these years because it got somewhat overhyped and I tired of hearing how amazing it was, and how it proved that games were art. Some of us don't need proof, we know that games are just as valuable as books, movies, paintings and sculpture, but this game was held up by those insecure in their hobby as some kind of miracle. So now, all these years later, I can finally see what all the fuss what about. Let's begin!<br />
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<b>Plot & Character:</b> 7 out of 10<br />
The plot of <b>Journey</b> is not explicitly spelled out for the player like all of the other games I have reviewed as part of the Summer Backlog Challenge so far, but it is present if you're paying attention. Every so often you will get a glimpse at a mural that depicts part of the back story, with the full picture coming into focus by the time you finish the game. This hadn't fully sunk in for me during my first time through, so I ended up going to YouTube to watch a very well made video explaining it all. It's not really the fault of the game that I missed certain details, it's more a symptom of my own ADD.<br />
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The gist of it is this: once upon a time there was magic in the land and resources were plentiful - life was good for the people who called this realm their home. Gradually over time the resources started to be depleted, so the people invented machinery to speed up and automate the process, as well as fearsome guardian robots to protect their riches. This inevitably served to speed up the downfall of this society, as the resources finally ran out. The once great civilisation ended up in ruin and the people died out, with the many gravestones scattered through the land their sad and lasting legacy. Just before all hope was gone and all life was extinguished, the last bit of magic created a new life, which is you - Billybob. Now it's up to Billybob to reach the top of the sacred mountain and sacrifice himself, which in turn will bring the magic and resources back to the world. The people will not learn from their past mistakes though, and eventually the whole cycle will begin again, and again, and again...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>This was one of my favourite sections in the game - triggering giant scarf bridges to appear</i></td></tr>
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<b><br />Graphics:</b> 8 out of 10<br />
<b>Journey</b> is a game that is not flashy, but does feature some impressive vistas and environments nevertheless. During your relatively brief time with the game you will travel through desserts, amidst the ruins of the old world and the many graves of the people who sadly died there. Then you will go under ground and encounter those deadly guardian robots, before coming out the other side into the bitter chill of the mountain. Finally, when Billybob's life force has been spent and he succumbs to freezing death, his life force will be released and he will be given access to Heaven, or Nirvana, or whatever it is known as in this fantasy world. This last part of the journey is full of vibrant colours, sunshine and waterfalls and is a great contrast to the bleak whiteness of the mountain that you were struggling through just minutes before.<br />
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<b>Sound & Music:</b> 9 out of 10<br />
While there is no voice acting at all in the game, <b>Journey</b> really doesn't need it. The decision to show you story rather than tell you it means that dialogue would serve little purpose, and may have even detracted from the experience. Instead what you get is an absolutely amazing soundtrack by Austin Wintory, one that won him two BAFTA Awards upon the games original release in 2013. There are also some sound effects as well which fit in well with the overall atmosphere of the experience. Billybob can emit a cute little chirping noise which he can use to communicate with the magical scarf creatures he meets and other players should you be lucky enough to meet some, and those giant snake like robots make some really intimidating noises. For me, the sound was my favourite part of the <b>Journey</b> experience, but it works in tandem with the visuals and the game play to make the game as special as it is.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Billybob getting ready to scale the mountain and make the ultimate sacrifice.</i></td></tr>
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<b>Game Mechanics:</b> 7 out of 10<br />
Unlike most of my reviews so far where this section is pretty long, this time I can be fairly brief because the game play of <b>Journey</b> is fairly simple at heart. It's really an adventure game, or something close to a "walking simulator" (a term that didn't really exist when the game first came out). There are a few sections of light platforming, puzzle solving and stealth (when you try and avoid the gaze of the guardian robots) but nothing is ever very taxing and it should be possible for the vast majority of players to reach the end without too much trouble. While the game is fairly good fun to play, it's really the presentation and the themes that elevate it to something special.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Billybob in the cave network, hiding from the guardian machines.</i></td></tr>
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<b>Innovation & Cleverness:</b> 8 out of 10<br />
I feel that <b>Journey </b>really does deserve a fairly high score in this category because we had not really seen anything like it at the time. Of course other similar games such as <b>Abzu</b> have come along but back in 2013 this was a pretty unique experience. The subtle way the story is told and the fantastic presentation are hallmarks of just how clever thatgamecompany are at crafting amazing interactive experiences - <b>Flower</b> hinted at this but they truly perfected their craft with <b>Journey</b> in my opinion.<br />
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<b>Value & Replayability:</b> 4 out of 10<br />
It can take a scant two hours to get to the end of <b>Journey</b>, which may well be a dealbreaker for some. If you are quite hard up for funds I can understand where you're coming from. If this is the case, then probably the best way of experiencing this game is the <b>Journey Collector's Edition</b> package, which also includes <b>Flow</b> and <b>Flower</b>. This can be had on Amazon for about £20, which is a decent price in my opinion. The game does have a little bit of replay value because there are hidden scarf upgrades dotted around the environment, and finding all of them will give you access to a special white robe which grants unlimited flight, as well as a trophy.<br />
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<b>Overall:</b> 8 out of 10<br />
It may not take you very long to complete the <b>Journey</b>, but it is one worth taking. It's a shame that I put it off for so long because I was unable to experience the online mode when I did finally get around to it. I'm not sure if that would have enhanced the experience overall but it would be nice to see it for myself. At any rate, this is one game that will stick in my memory for quite some time, and one I shall probably return to before too long. If somehow you also haven't played <b>Journey</b> yet, then you really should - it does deserve all of the praise that was heaped upon it years ago.<br />
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<br />Wibblefishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12170885091117064057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308645.post-14828309302023527972018-07-26T12:00:00.000+01:002018-07-26T12:00:06.660+01:00Summer Backlog Diary #4: Fanning the FlameIt's time for another Summer Backlog Diary! Firstly, some news on the next video - I have my <b>Journey</b> review all written so I just need some time to put the video together. I'm hoping to have it posted either on Sunday afternoon or Sunday morning, so please look out for it! My usual Tuesday slot will be taken up by Covertape Chaos #49 this week. That series will be going on a break after episode 50 though so that will free me up to focus on some other things. I plan to finish off PS2 Tuesdays season 5 and then get back to the A-Z of Amiga, among other things.<br />
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Until then though, I am now part way through both <b>Battle Chasers: Nightwar</b> and <b>Pyre</b>, so I thought I would share my initial thoughts with you. <b>Battle Chasers</b> is a blend of classic turned based JRPG style game play, with the aesthetics of the <b>Darksiders</b> series. You have some fantastic Joe Mad artwork and lovely tunes composed by Jesper Kyd to enjoy as you explore the dungeons, which are in part randomly generated each time you run them. I was making steady progress until I completed the third dungeon, then I encountered something of a difficulty spike which put me off playing for a while. The game fully expects you to revisit dungeons you've already completed and do them on a higher difficulty for better rewards. It is also one of those RPG's where your spare party members don't earn any XP if you don't use them in battle, so you will end up having to grind with them to match the rest of your party eventually. I'm not really a fan of this. The story is surprisingly decent though, and it makes me want to seek out the comics. I wonder how easy they are to get hold of these days? I'll get back to you on that.<br />
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It's been a while since I last played <b>Pyre</b> now but I really must get back to it. When I started it I was completely blown away by the amazing art and music, and the game play is truly something unique as well. It blends RPG elements with a <b>Oregon Trail</b> style mechanics where you choose where to go next from several options on the map, and then a fantasy sport which is reminiscent of <b>NBA Jam</b>! I am still unlocking characters for my squad at the moment - though you can only take three people into each Rite you will build up quite a roster to choose from, many of whom have unique abilities based on their race. The sport part of the game hasn't been terribly challenging so far - I've played 6 or so matches and haven't lost one yet, though I did come close several times. I tend to favour the smaller characters who can zip around the map, though it is important to have a big guy on your team as while to defend your flame. Apparently the game will proceed whether you win or lose the Rites, though I'm guessing that will affect the ending. I'm enjoying it a lot so I definitely want to try and get back to it soon - probably this weekend.<br />
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So I'm now pretty close to completing five games and passing the challenge, but that's just the bare minimum requirement, so I'm not going to stop there. Time is moving way faster than I had anticipated so I'm not sure that I will get through all ten games, but I will do my best. If there are any games left unfinished at the end, I will either just carry on until I've finished them as well, but not consider it part of the Summer Backlog Challenge anymore, or I will put them on the list for next year and prioritise them first. I do have a desire to play some <b>Odin Sphere</b> though so I'm not sure I can wait until next summer for that. That's all I have to say for today, don't forget to check back for my Journey review over the weekend. In the meantime, take care!<br />
<br />Wibblefishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12170885091117064057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308645.post-8491595802324057312018-07-24T12:00:00.000+01:002018-07-24T12:00:00.319+01:00Summer Backlog Review #3: Mass Effect: AndromedaWelcome back to the Summer Backlog Challenge 2018, and review number three! We're making steady progress through the games this year, which I hope will continue for a bit longer. Eventually though I will run out of the shorter games so these reviews will be further apart. That's where the diary entries come in - they pick up the slack when I'm not quite ready to give my full opinion. I have just finished <b>Mass Effect: Andromeda</b> this week though so it's time to weigh up what I think about it.<br />
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Those of you who are familiar with the <b>Mass Effect</b> series already will know that it is a sci-fi action RPG series developed by long term legends of genre, Bioware. By the time the original game was released they had already entertained 1000's of PC owners with their classics set in the Dungeons & Dragons universe, such as <b>Baldur's Gate</b> and <b>Neverwinter Nights</b>. Then with the advent of the original Xbox they decided to make something a bit more console friendly, which resulted <b>Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic</b>, still regarded as one of the best games set in a galaxy far, far away ever made. That experience gave the company the idea to create their own original space opera, and thus the <b>Mass Effect</b> series was born. It was conceived as a trilogy right from the start, with story seeds sown from the earliest moments that would pay off two games later. Everything went smoothly, until players got to the end of <b>Mass Effect 3</b> and witnessed the ending. To say it was divisive would be putting it mildly. The disgruntled fans ranted and raged all across the internet, until Bioware finally relented and released the free Extended Cut DLC. Then, all went quiet - the series was seemingly done, for now. A few years later though, <b>Andromeda</b> got announced and the fans started to get excited about what the new game might bring. Then they played it, and the backlash began again. Is it truly as terrible as everyone would have you believe? I really don't think so, but allow me to explain further...<br />
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<b>Plot & Character:</b> 7 out of 10</div>
<b>Mass Effect: Andromeda</b> sees the series transported 600 years into the future and into another galaxy. The Andromeda Initiative has set out to try and set up a colony on one of several potential "golden worlds" that have been identified thanks to some clever Salarian technology. Things don't go according to plan, however - a strange dark matter known as the scourge causes massive amounts of damage to the human Ark, Hyperion and the planet that they were hoping would be conducive to supporting life turns out to be un breathable and beset by devastating lightning storms. The "Pathfinder", i.e. the person spearheading the expedition to find a livable world, tragically dies while exploring this planet, and so it falls to their heir to take up the mantle in their stead. This is your playable character, a male or female human named Ryder (you can choose their first name).<br />
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I did think this was a pretty good starting off point for a new game (or potentially a whole new series) but certain developments later on in the story weren't so great. The new antagonists, the Kett, came across as a weak facsimile of the Reapers, or rather the Collector's from <b>Mass Effect 2</b>. Vaguely humanoid, hostile aliens who take the genetic material of other species and use it to make more drones. Not very original at all, and not as well executed as before. There were also several plot lines that were set up in this game that never went anyway, because Bioware were obviously expecting to continue the story in a sequel at some point. We now know that this isn't going to happen, not even in the form of DLC, so it does make these threads quite unfulfilling.<br />
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In terms of characters and your crew, I have slightly better news. While it took me a while to warm up to them, I actually came to really like the crew of the Tempest (which is the new Normandy), at least the alien ones. I found the two humans, Liam and Cora, a bit boring and predictable really, despite the latter being trained as an Asari Commando for much of her life. The new Asari, Peebee was annoying at first but once you get used to her energetic personality she's actually pretty cool. Drack, the Krogan, shares a lot of personality traits with Wrex and Grunt before him - he's gruff, likes to shoot the bad guys and is a nice guy at heart. His unique trait is that he is very very old, and most of his organs are synthetic transplants.</div>
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My two favourite crew members are definitely Vetra and Jaal. Vetra can't possibly match the excellence of her fellow Turian, Garrus Vakarian but she's not too far off. She's loyal, dependable and very good in a fight. Jaal is a member of the only new non hostile race in the game, the Angara. He's a part of their resistance and very experienced in fighting the Kett, and he's a very interesting person with lots of stories and insights to share about life in the Andromeda galaxy. The crew is rounded off by Lexi, an Asari doctor (voiced by Natalie Dormer from Game of Thrones), Suvi, a human science officer with a lovely Scottish accent, Kallo, the ace Salarian pilot, and Gil, the chief engineer. While these last four won't be joining you in battle, they are all fairly well fleshed out with their own "loyalty missions" to complete throughout the game. In fact, this is one aspect of <b>Mass Effect: Andromeda</b> that I thought was done really well, the loyalty missions were more extensive and spread out that they have been in previous games, and even when you were technically done and had unlocked the level 6 skills for that character, there were normally more scenes to see with them.<br />
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Ultimately, even though the story is quite unoriginal in key areas, the fleshed out characters go a long way for compensating for that. The unresolved plot points were quite interesting too, such as they were, so it is a shame that we will probably never find out where they would have led us (unless a novel or something is released that covers that stuff - that could still be an option).</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Mass Effect: Andromeda does look nice, but not quite this nice (this is early promo artwork).</i></td></tr>
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<b><br />Graphics:</b> 7 out of 10<br />
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For a good deal of the time, <b>Mass Effect: Andromeda</b> is a decent looking game, and occasionally a beautiful one. For me, the icy world of Voeld was the stand out, with the blizzards eventually giving way to serene tundra with a very pretty skybox to behold. The jungle planet of Havarl also impresses, with it's dense, lush vegetation. Outside of the environments, much has of course been made of the poor facial animation in the game, so much so that it became a meme for a while and staff who worked on it were persecuted. While this has been improved with patches since the game was released, it still ain't that great - NPC's have a tendency to look like waxy automatons rather than living, breathing people. Of course, it stands out the most on the human characters as our brains know what they should look like and can spot when something isn't right. There is also a noticeable difference in quality between minor characters and important ones - your crew obviously had a lot of work put into the making them look halfway decent, whereas a random scientist on Eos can tend to look a bit half baked.</div>
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<b>Sound & Music:</b> 7 out of 10</div>
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I don't think the music of <b>Mass Effect: Andromeda</b> is quite as strong as the trilogy that preceded it, but I did come to rather enjoy it by the end of my time with the game. The main theme starts of rather subtly, but gradually builds up to something more epic. You will hear this tune every time you load up the game and during the end credits, so you will be rather familiar with it by the end. Other than that, there is also some great battle music with some furious drum work, perfect for driving you on and furthering your blood lust. There was also one particular use of synthwave that gave me goosebumps - I think it plays as you land on Voeld for the first time, if I'm remembering correctly.<br />
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The voice acting is pretty good most of the time but I do remember a couple of instances where there were some very odd line reads - almost as if the voice actor wasn't aware of the context that they were saying these things and therefore emphasising the wrong part of the sentence. This has to be the fault of whoever was directing the voice actors, and also whoever decided it was fine to insert these recordings into the game as they were. Maybe the studio was rushed, I don't know, but it does come across as rather unprofessional, especially from a big studio like Bioware. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Havarl is quite a nice looking environment but the dense foliage makes it trick to navigate at times.</i></td></tr>
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<b>Game Mechanics:</b> 8 out of 10<br />
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Like it's predecessors, <b>Mass Effect: Andromeda</b> is a third person cover shooter with strong RPG elements, such as levelling up, equipping and modifying armour and weapons, spending points on skills, an in depth conversation system and romance options. The combat mechanics have been tweaked in a few different ways that I actually came to enjoy after a while getting used to them. Firstly, you no longer stick to cover with the press of a button, instead all you have to do is kneel down next to something large enough to provide cover and you will automatically protect yourself. It feels odd at first but became second nature by the end of the introduction. You also have a jet booster built into your suit which is used both in navigating the world and in combat. By jumping in a fight you get a few seconds of slow motion where you can snipe fools in mid air, which feels really satisfying when you pull it off. There's a skill that you can buy that will extend this bullet time as well.<br />
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<b>Andromeda</b> also scraps the notion of fixed character classes, allows you to spend your skill point on whatever you want right from the get go, from either the combat, tech or biotic skill trees. As you unlock more skills you do unlock different profiles that kind of act like classes, except you can add multiple profiles to a favourites list and switch between them in battle on the fly. It's very handy, and allows you to experiment with various different skills to see what you like best. I'm not too sure what they level cap is in this game, or if it even has one, because I was around level 56 by the end of the game and still going. My companions had maxed out all of their skills already but I was still going, because there are roughly 50 skills to choose from with 6 levels each. When it comes to powering up the skills, Andromeda has borrowed the same system that was introduced in 3, where you have one choice of upgrade for the first three ranks of a skill and then you have a choice of two different options when you reach ranks 4, 5 and 6. For example you may have to decide whether a skill does more damage vs shields or vs armour.<br />
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This game also takes a leaf out of <b>Dragon Age: Inquisition</b> and shifts over to open world exploration for the bulk of its play time. There are plenty of more structured missions such as the main story events and the loyalty missions with your crew, but a lot of time will be taken up with bombing around in the Nomad (which is the new Mako), establishing new forward stations (that you can then fast travel to) and completing side quests. Because you are trying to make these planets liveable and establish new colonies on them, almost everything you do in the game gives you Andromeda Viability Points, or AVP, with the goal of getting every planet you visit to 100% viability. If you are thorough and do everything (or a good deal of it at any rate) this isn't too hard. Reactivating the Remnant vaults (which are like atmospheric processors that radically change the planets for the better) and killing Remnant Architects (huge worm like robot creatures that are the most challenging things to fight in the game) will give you a large amount of AVP. Once you hit certain thresholds you get to choose who to bring out of cryo which basically gives you a new perk such as the ability to detect and mine more minerals.<br />
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On the whole I didn't mind the open ended structure too much - it made sense for the story they were trying to tell here, but I think I still prefer the briefer, more tightly designed structure of the original trilogy over this one.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Jaal ended up being one of my favourite characters and a valuable addition to the crew.</i></td></tr>
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<b>Innovation & Cleverness:</b> 4 out of 10</div>
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Quite a low score here because as this is part of an established franchise, it's a little low on originality, and as I said earlier a lot of plot came across as a bit rehashed. However, I do want to give props to Bioware for managing to come up with an entirely new crew of characters that are interesting to hang out with for the most part. They also do a decent job of establishing some mystery in the plot, with Ryder's memories gradually being unlocked over time. </div>
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<b>Value & Replayability:</b> 8 out of 10</div>
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The <b>Mass Effect</b> series, like most of Bioware's games, are designed to be replayable. As well as the Paragon / Renegade choices, the story and side missions often present you with choices that will have an effect on the overall plot. It can be fun to go back later on as a completely different version of Ryder and do things differently than before. In the previous games, decisions you made in the first and second game wouldn't pay off until the third part, and some of the key choices you make in <b>Andromeda</b> obviously would have changed something in the planned sequel. Again, we're unlikely to find out just what at this point.<br />
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This is also a pretty huge game - the new open world structure with vast planets to explore and a seemingly endless supply of quests to complete ensure that your play time can easily reach the 50 hour mark. I ended up just shy of 55 hours on my clock and I know I still had quite a bit left to do. That is considerably longer than any of the previous games in the series which took about 30 hours at most to finish if you took your time with them. So you definitely will get your money's worth with this one. What's more, you don't need to go out and buy a full copy of the game, at least if you own and Xbox One. It's included as part of EA Access so you can sign up to that at a cost of £3.99 per month until you're done, which if you ask me is a great deal.</div>
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<b>Overall:</b> 7 out of 10</div>
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I don't agree with the general consensus that <b>Mass Effect: Andromeda</b> is a terrible game, in fact I think it's quite a decent one. It certainly has its flaws, and overall I would place it in third place within the series overall (with <b>Mass Effect 2</b> being first, <b>3</b> being second, and the original game coming last), but we aren't exactly swamped with quality science fiction RPG's so it is one of the better efforts in recent years. I also don't think this game is directly responsible for the death of the franchise - for that I think the blame lies partly with the "fans" who ranted and raved about every little problem, and partly with EA for not providing Bioware with the time and support they needed to deliver a AAA product.<br />
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Wibblefishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12170885091117064057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308645.post-74716787201775152232018-07-13T12:00:00.000+01:002018-07-13T12:00:00.867+01:00Summer Backlog Review #2: OxenfreeWelcome back to the <a href="http://retromoderngames.blogspot.com/search/label/summer%20backlog%202018" target="_blank">Summer Backlog Challenge 2018</a>! My first review, for <b><a href="http://retromoderngames.blogspot.com/2018/07/summer-backlog-review-1-night-in-woods.html" target="_blank">Night in the Woods</a></b>, was fun to write and has been fairly well received, so I'm going to capture that energy and use the momentum to forge ahead with my second review, this time for <b>Oxenfree</b>. This is another modern adventure style game, with a strong emphasis on character and player choice. It was developed and published by Night School Studio and was released across all the major platforms in early 2016. As I mentioned in my introductory article explaining why I picked my ten games, it was the only one of the bunch that I hadn't bought for myself, instead being part of my Xbox Game Pass subscription. So then, should you buy it? Or at least use your Game Pass trial to check it out? Let's take a look...<br />
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<b><br />Plot </b><b><b>&</b> Character:</b> 9 out of 10</div>
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<b>Oxenfree</b> begins with Alex, the player character, Ren, one of her best friends, and Jonas, her new step brother, arriving on Edwards Island for their annual summer party. They soon discover that not many people have bothered turning up this year though - just two others in fact. The rather bitchy Clarissa, and her friend Nona that Alex doesn't know very well.</div>
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After a while chatting, drinking and playing an ill-advised game of Truth or Slap (like Truth or Dare except, well, you get slapped), Alex, Ren and Jonas end up investigating a nearby cave, where some strange phenomena involving a radio that they brought along results in the entire group getting scattered to all corners of the island. From that point on your objective is to reunite with everyone and figure out what the hell is going on. That's easier said than done though because you find yourself trapped in some rather disconcerting time loops that seem to get more serious as you go. To say any more about the plot would risk spoiling the game for you so I'm just going to leave it there.<br />
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Depending on your responses to the other characters, Alex can be a friendly, helpful girl or a complete menace to everyone. I was generally trying for the former but occasionally I picked an option that put me down the bitchy path. As the game proceeds you can either get to know more about Jonas, or spend time reconnecting with Ren. Personally I chose to go with the first option most of the time. You also gradually come to understand why Clarissa has such an attitude to you, and you might even become friends with Nona, although I didn't really interact with her very much. The story is intriguing from the get-go and Alex is a strong enough protagonist to carry it along - soon after starting the game I didn't want to stop until it was done, which says a lot.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>You frequently have to choose between dialogue options,with each one mapped to a different button.</i></td></tr>
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<b><br />Graphics:</b> 8 out of 10</div>
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<b>Oxenfree</b> features a truly gorgeous hand painted art style that I fell in love with the from the moment I first saw it. Every part of the island has been lovingly pieced together, from the woods, to the caves, the beach and the little town center. The character models are apparently 3D but from the zoomed out perspective that the game is set at they complement the style of the backgrounds well. Whenever necessary there are also some decent lighting effects, and the "VHS player with dodgy tracking" effect that happens whenever there's a time loop is very cool as well.</div>
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<b>Sound </b><b><b>&</b> Music:</b> 8 out of 10</div>
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First and foremost, I was very impressed with the voice acting in <b>Oxenfree</b>, especially as I hadn't heard of any of the actors used before. They may be established performers already, but if they are I'm unfamiliar with their work. At any rate their delivery came across as natural at all times. My only small gripe is that at several points in the game when I had chosen a dialogue option, my reply cut across what they were saying - there doesn't seem to be any queuing of lines like in <b>Mass Effect</b>, for example. It was irritating because I wanted to hear what the characters were saying but sometimes it doesn't give you very long to answer before the game just moves on without you.</div>
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This is backed up by a fantastic soundtrack performed by the artist know as scntfc which is both dreamlike and spooky. I may actually listen to some of this outside of the game - perhaps at work or during my commute home, it's very nice stuff indeed.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><i>The art in Oxenfree is really fantastic, with a hand painted feel.</i></td></tr>
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<b><br />Game Mechanics:</b> 8 out of 10<br />
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The game play of <b>Oxenfree</b> is mainly you exploring the island as Alex, trying to work out exactly what is going on and having conversations with the rest of the party. There are typically three different responses during any particular conversation, and you don't always have very long to answer which I found problematic sometimes. Depending on what you say, the other characters may warm to you or grow to hate you over time - in fact there is an achievement for getting everyone to despise you!<br />
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Occasionally you will have to use your radio to "tune in" to the weird phenomena on the island or interact with things to break yourself out of a time loop. There are no real mini games like there were in <b>Night of the Woods</b>, though - it's mostly just good old fashioned story telling and adventuring. That's alright though, because<b> Oxenfree</b> does this very well. The narrative is brief enough that it doesn't really need game play gimmicks to break it up.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Things start to get weird a short way into the game.</i></td></tr>
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<b><br />Innovation </b><b><b><b>&</b></b> Cleverness:</b> 6 out of 10</div>
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The game play is not all that innovative, really, although much like <b>Night in the Woods</b>, <b>Oxenfree</b> does a great job of translating the classic sort of point and click experience into something much more console and controller friendly. The way the story is told does actually feature quite a lot of innovation though, and is very cleverly put together, to boot. Don't let the six put you off, this is actually quite high for this category.</div>
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<b>Value </b><b><b>&</b> Replayability:</b> 7 out of 10</div>
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Your total play time for a single run through of <b>Oxenfree</b> is likely to weigh in at around the four hour mark, which may sound rather slight. There are quite a few different endings that can be achieved though which gives the game significant replay value. I'm not sure if I will go back and play it again, personally, because I usually consider my first play through of a game like this as my own personal version of the story, and leave it at that. When so much time has gone by that I don't really remember the game anymore though, I may revisit it.</div>
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As part of the overall package you also get some documentaries that touch on various aspects involved in making the game, which is a very nice bonus and something I wish more games would do.<br />
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<b>Overall:</b> 8 out of 10</div>
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<b>Oxenfree</b> did draw me in much quicker than <b>Night in the Woods</b> - I originally only intended to play it for an hour, then that became two, and eventually I just said sod it and played through the entire game in one sitting! Don't let the four hour running time put you off too much, especially if you do intend to replay the game and get all of the endings. This really is the perfect sort of game for Xbox Game Pass because you can try it out risk free as part of the free trial or your subscription if you're already paying for it.</div>
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Wibblefishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12170885091117064057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308645.post-20783004111850005732018-07-07T12:00:00.000+01:002018-07-13T16:21:22.104+01:00Summer Backlog Review #1: Night in the WoodsI've managed to cross off several games from my Summer Backlog Challenge 2018 so far, and here I am with the first review of what will hopefully be a minimum of five, but potentially as many as ten. For those who are not all that familiar with this <b>Night in the Woods</b>, it is an indie adventure title developed by Infinite Fall and published by Finji. It was first released on PC, in February of 2017 and has since made its way to all of the major consoles, including the Nintendo Switch earlier this year. I played the game on my Xbox One because I picked the game up around Christmas time in a sale. I had heard many good things about this game from the likes of Alex Navarro from Giant Bomb and others who recently discovered it due to the Switch release, so it was an easy choice for the first game I wanted to finish as part of this years challenge. So how was it? Let's take a look!<br />
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<b>Plot and Character:</b> 9 out of 10<br />
This is really where this game shines the most, which is just as well because most the the game play does revolve around the characters and their antics. The main character is Mae Borowski, an anthropomorphic cat like creature who has just returned to the town where they grew up after suddenly deciding to bail on college life for reasons that are undisclosed until later in the game. Possum Springs is a quiet, mostly peaceful little town that has seen better days, at least economically - shops and restaurants are regularly closing down, the mall is mostly an empty, lifeless shell, far removed from the hustle and bustle of its glory days. Mae is at that difficult stage in her life where she is no longer really a child but not yet fully committed to the notion of adulthood or aware of what is required of most responsible people. She doesn't yet know what she wants to be, which understandably is the source of quite a lot of angst. She spends her days sleeping or aimlessly wandering the town and chatting to the residents, and her nights getting embarrassingly drunk or doing things that she shouldn't with her old friends.<br />
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These old friends include Gregg, a foxy / doggy thing who has nothing but love for Mae, but is probably not the best influence on her. Nevertheless, despite his fondness of crimes and general immaturity he is at least managing to hold down a steady job at the local Snack Falcon and a loving relationship with his boyfriend, the bear-thing Angus. Mae's other closest friend is Bea, a chain smoking crocodile whose life spent looking after her ailing father and working at their family store every day is starting to take its toll on her. She's tired, cranky, and more than a bit resentful that Mae not only up and left, but randomly decided to throw away the opportunities that were afforded to her at college on a whim. Over the course of the game you will mostly be spending your time with one of these two in various skits. You normally have to choose, too - spending time with Gregg means that you won't be seeing Bea, and vice versa. As the game goes by Mae keeps a journal where she sketches key events that happen, and the only way to complete it is to play through twice so you can do what you didn't do last time. Angus and a strange duck like bloke known as Germ do also feature in the story a little bit, as well as Mae's parents and her aunt in the police force, but the trio of Mae, Gregg and Bea are the main focus.<br />
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The script is incredibly well written, sounding very natural and full of humour. I liked Bea in particular as her snarky comments brought a smile to my face on several occasions. Gregg is cool too but I really didn't spend all that much time with him - maybe I will play the game again so I can see what he was up to. Underneath the charm and the amusing antics is a darker tale though, which I'm not going to elaborate on here - just know that the tone of the game starts to shift a bit towards the latter stages (though there are hints that something sinister is coming throughout the game). Yes, the plot and character are definitely the main strengths of <b>Night in the Woods</b>, but that's not all it's got going for it, thankfully.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgenBKoRu8q_zO4UbbKaPskUDNldUdFaB_s8whKlcVW60AGRzvRERM3BIOaqaxQcOTIwLsyA_KSHe7Iplq6-P1t1VgN-AIa9tIyE30L_T-Zdn-GthwjyALvNOmum-puty5_shJa/s1600/nitw_03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgenBKoRu8q_zO4UbbKaPskUDNldUdFaB_s8whKlcVW60AGRzvRERM3BIOaqaxQcOTIwLsyA_KSHe7Iplq6-P1t1VgN-AIa9tIyE30L_T-Zdn-GthwjyALvNOmum-puty5_shJa/s400/nitw_03.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Yeah, I get that a lot too, Mae. :(</i></td></tr>
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<b>Graphics:</b> 9 out of 10<br />
Visually, <b>Night in the Woods</b> is a delight to look at. No, it isn't a polygon pushing powerhouse, with god rays and particle effects spunking in your face at every opportunity, but it is a great example of 2D artwork. The whole game has a cohesive, cartoony style to it, probably because all of the art was created by just one person. It reminds me a bit of Richard Scarry's Busytown, except a bit darker and with a more autumnal colour palette. Gorgeous stuff!<br />
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<b>Sound and Music: </b>7 out of 10<br />
While I did enjoy the music while playing through game, I've found that a lot of it isn't all that memorable outside of the experience, save for a few pieces. I've used those in the background of the video. I was slightly disappointed that the game doesn't feature any voice acting at all, though I do understand why there may not be any for budgetary or artistic reasons. I picture Bea sounding like one of Marge's sisters from The Simpsons. Sound effects are used fairly sparingly throughout the game, but a pretty solid when there are used.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Most of the time, Mae does speak a lot of sense.</i></td></tr>
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<b>Game Mechanics:</b> 8 out of 10<br />
Being an adventure game at heart, there is quite a lot of talking to people throughout <b>Night in the Woods</b>. Each day in Mae's life begins with her waking up at home, having a quick chat with mom, and then heading out to see what's going down in the town. You are relatively free to explore Possum Springs, although it is not a terribly huge location. Usually, by talking to either Gregg or Bea (and occasionally other people) you will trigger a story sequence, and then the day will end after it has played out. You are given fair warning that this is going to happen though, in case you want to scour every inch of the town to see what's changed (something I recommend doing to get the most out of the game).<br />
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Dotted throughout the game are other mini games as well, such as band practice. I was utterly terrible at the this unfortunately, and Mae's journal reflected this. There's also a complete rogue lite called <b>Demontower</b>, which can be launched from Mae's laptop in her bedroom. I spent almost an hour playing this and managed to get to level 5 (out of 10, I believe) where things started to get pretty challenging. The art style changes to that of a classic 16-bit dungeon crawler and for a side game it's a very polished experience. I think there is an achievement tied to getting all the way to the end but like I said it does get pretty tough after a while.<br />
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<b>Night in the Woods</b> probably won't appeal to those gamers who like a steady diet of blood, guts and wall to wall action, but you probably already know if this is the sort of thing that will appeal to you or not. If you are still on the fence about buying it right now, then I would suggest that you wait for a sale, or for the game to be featured in Games with Gold, PS Plus or Xbox Game Pass. It's the sort of thing that I can see being offered up as part of those services onr day, and personally I would be thrilled to receive it, if I hadn't already bought it of course.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>A feline after my own heart!</i></td></tr>
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<b>Innovation and Cleverness:</b> 6 out of 10<br />
This was a bit of tricky one to score - games like <b>Night in the Woods</b> have definitely been done before so it's not that high on innovation, though the cohesive design style, witty writing and arrays of fun mini games all contribute towards a decent cleverness score. Let's go with a six then!<br />
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<b>Value and Replayability:</b> 8 out of 10<br />
<b>Night in the Woods</b> wasn't quite as short as I had been led to believe it was - it look me about a dozen hours to complete which considering the price is more than reasonable. Then there's the fact that you can play the game over again if you want to and see quite a few different scenes from your first time through. The <b>Demontower</b> mini game is the very addictive cherry on top, and you could sink a fair few hours into just playing that should you wish.<br />
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<b>Overall: </b>8 out of 10<br />
<b>Night in the Woods </b>did take a litle while to get it claws into me, but after I had warmed up to Mae, her friends and the strange world they live in I really did start to love it. If this sounds like your sort of thing then I would really recommend checking it out without hesitation.<br />
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Thanks for reading - I will be back with my review of <b>Oxenfree</b> quite soon. In the meantime you can check out the video version of this review below. Take care!<br />
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<br />Wibblefishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12170885091117064057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308645.post-41937789254689540572018-07-02T13:55:00.003+01:002018-07-12T13:05:26.417+01:00Summer Backlog Diary #3: Night in the Woods & OxenfreeThis post is not going to be terribly long today because I will be writing full reviews of both <b>Night in the Woods</b> and <b>Oxenfree</b> quite soon, and I don't want to end up repeating myself too much. I did want to give you a quick update however because at the moment I'm not too sure when I will find the time to edit these reviews together - hopefully I will have one of them done by next weekend at the latest and then have the other one ready to upload during the week after next. My PC has been acting up just lately though which meant that the latest Covertape Chaos took almost 6 hours to make when it should only take about 3 at the most.<br />
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Anyway, I should stop rambling and get to the point. <b>Night in the Woods</b> and <b>Oxenfree</b> share quite a few similarities: the are both gentle paced adventure games where being able to take your time and explore them thoroughly is really rewarding. Neither of these are a huge time investment, but both are set up in a way that it is impossible to do everything in one play through - so instead of fretting about what you might have missed or looking up how get the best ending, you should just enjoy the story that the developers have decided to tell and go with your gut instinct. At least for the first time through. I'm not sure whether or not I will come back and play either of these a second time - for certain games like the Telltale series, I like to just play them once and feel like that is my personal version of the story. Going back and doing things another way can sometimes spoil the illusion.<br />
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Both of these games are very well written, and do a very good job of portraying believable characters with interesting back stories combined with some very strange goings on in terms of the plot. Both of the protagonists, cat like creature Mae and blue haired teen Alex, are fairly likable but definitely have their fair share of neuroses and personal shit that they have to deal with. I know common wisdom states that Gregg is apparently the best character in <b>Night of the Woods</b>, but I found myself more interested in Bee, the chain smoking crocodile chick who is having to work all hours of the day to support her ailing father after her mother tragically passed away. It's clear that at one point in time Mae and Bee were extremely close, but her situation and resentment of Mae's decision to just give up college one day get between them. I chose to spend time with her and work through their problems rather than carry out crimes with Gregg.<br />
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Whereas <b>Night in the Woods</b> took a little while to get its hooks into me, I was fully committed to finishing <b>Oxenfree</b> by the time my first hour with it was up and got to the end in one roughly four hour sitting. I loved the painterly art style, exploring the island with it's interesting array of places, and delving deeper into the mystery of what's going on. It took me a lot longer to finish <b>Night in the Woods</b> over a dozen or so short-ish sessions, but one of those was almost entirely taken up playing the fully featured rogue lite that can be played on Mae's laptop. The quality of that minigame alone rivals that of many indie games, and it's entirely optional!<br />
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I am glad that I have finally crossed both of these games off of my backlog list. Time to think about what's next! I'm still plugging away at <b>Mass Effect: Andromeda</b> and starting to get towards the end game now I think, but I don't want to to finish it until I have at least completed all of the crew's loyalty missions. Other than that, I think I will probably try <b>Pyre</b> next, it does sound very interesting. I'm also playing the odd session of <b>OnRush</b> here and there, and will be messing around with some of the Games with Gold / PS Plus / Xbox Game Pass offerings this week, but that's not official Summer Backlog business so I'll save it for another post or video. I think that does it for the time being - keep an eye out for those two reviews over the next week or so, and I'll be back with another diary once I've had time to play some more. In the meantime, take care!<br /><br />Wibblefishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12170885091117064057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308645.post-31067045501359215462018-06-22T09:00:00.003+01:002018-07-12T13:05:36.215+01:00Summer Backlog Diary #2: Putting the "Ass" in Mass Effect?Welcome back! The Summer Backlog Challenge 2018 is now in full swing, and I have mostly been playing <b>Mass Effect: Andromeda</b>... mostly. So today I'm going to share my opinion of the game so far.<br />
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You will no doubt be aware of all the fuss and general derision that met <b>Andromeda</b> upon its original release. Memes were created, rants were spewed forth, mediocre reviews were written by the gaming press, and death threats were sent to one of the animators responsible for the notoriously ropy facial animations in the game. When Casey Hudson returned to Bioware, one of the first things he did was announce that the company had cancelled their plans for any DLC and that the franchise was going to go on hiatus for extended period. <b>Andromeda</b> was blamed with killing off the series, but does it really deserve such a stigma?<br />
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Well, in it's original state, maybe, but in it's patched state I would say that it is actually a decent game. Still flawed, yes, but enjoyable in many ways. At the moment I would place it above the original game in the series, which also had it's fair share of quirks and design flaws, slightly after 3, and way way behind 2 which is the best game in the series so far. I may adjust that assessment when I come to the end of the story, but I have quite a long way to go yet.<br />
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So what do I like about it? Well the most notable thing is the combat. After an initial adjustment period where everything feels wrong, you quickly get a feel for jumping, boosting, and sniping fools in mid air, which is just cool. For this play through at least, I went with a pure soldier character (my usual choice when I play a <b>Mass Effect</b> game for the first time). There are plenty of abilities in all three skill trees to choose from and lots of scope for building interesting hybrid class characters, which I may explore if I choose to play the game through again at a later date.<br />
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I also quite like the main character, Ryder - or at least, my version of her. I have watched some videos from the likes of Outside Xbox and Giant Bomb where they were playing as the male Ryder, and he came across as a bit of an annoying dick, but the female version seems kinder, more jokey. I am also playing as a purely paragon character this time, going to great lengths to help everyone out and be nice to them.<br />
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As for the rest of the crew, there is definitely no one to match Garrus, Liara or Tali among them, but I do quite like Jaal. He is very well written and voice acted, and the Angara are an interesting new race. It is a shame that they are the only new non hostile race that are introduced, and they also came at the expense of fan favourites like the Quarians, the Volus, the Drell, etc. I strongly suspect that these other races would have been part of the DLC, but we will never know now. Vetra is also pretty cool, different enough from Garrus to just be a female clone of him. Peebee can be pretty annoying at first, but I warmed up to her over time. Drack is basically just another, older version of Wrex and Grunt - the same gruff, hard headed Krogan stereotype that we've seen before. I struggle to find the human members of the crew very interesting, they're just a bit too generic for me.<br />
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Talking to the crew between missions, getting to know them and furthering their loyalty quests is one of my favourite parts of the <b>Mass Effect</b> series, and <b>Andromeda</b> does a decent enough job in this regard. There's certainly plenty of content to get stuck into, with about 50 - 60 hours of play time, 6 or so sizable planets to explore, and a seemingly endless supply of quests. Some of these quests can get a bit annoying as they send you back and forth across the Nexus, or to other star systems, but I haven't skipped anything yet. I think if I were to play too much of this game in a short space of time I would start to tire of it, but short sessions every now and then keep it interesting.<br />
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I've already touched on a few things that I don't really like about the game, but let's go over a few more. Firstly, the plot is hardly inspiring. The overall idea of exploring a new galaxy and preserving the Milky Way races from extinction at the hands (claws, tentacles?) of the Reapers is an interesting one, but for the most part it's squandered here. The remnant, and the kett just feel like recycle versions of what we've seen before, and the revelation of what the kett actually are was hardly earth shattering news. They've just used the Prothean / Collectors story again, but not as competently.<br />
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Other than that I am definitely starting to notice some glitching as I get further into the game. Mostly it hasn't been a problem, but there is some noticeable and distracting pop in on the planet of Kadara, and Cora phased inside a shelving unit the other day with just her head sticking out the top talking to me. So although several patches were released and the game is a darn site better than it was initially, they didn't get everything, and now they never will.<br />
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I haven't really explored the multiplayer side all that much yet, just a few quick matches. It seems like it's basically what was present in <b>Mass Effect 3</b> though, just expanded a bit. Your actions in the multiplayer mode do tie back into the single player, giving your money and resources to use on crafting, but it doesn't feel as critical as it did when it was affecting your Galactic Readiness rating.<br />
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I probably could find more to say about the game but I think I'm going to stop there for now. There will be a full video review in time, but it will probably take me a few weeks to play through the rest of the game. In the meantime I hope that I will manage to play through the entirety of <b>Night in the Woods</b> this weekend, so that will be the focus of my post next time. I usually post my YouTube content on Tuesdays, but I don't think I will be ready to make my review by then, so it may end up going up on a different day. At any rate, stay tuned to RMGB TV and keep any eye on the blog for more. In the meantime, take care!<br />
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<br />Wibblefishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12170885091117064057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308645.post-90988292747228265112018-06-05T12:00:00.000+01:002018-07-12T13:05:52.005+01:00Summer Backlog Diary #1: Why I Chose ThemAs I recently <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWxoHi6UGl4" target="_blank">announced on my YouTube channel</a>, I'm taking part in the 2018 <b>Summer Backlog Challenge</b>. If you're not aware what this is, the idea is to choose 10 games that you've been meaning to get around to for a while now, and try and finish at least 5 of them between June 21st and September 23rd (the official start and end dates of Summer). I tried this a few years ago and only managed to complete 4 games, so I have adjusted my tactics this time around. This year, at least half of my picks can be finished within 4 - 10 hours approximately, so I should be able to finish these off over the course of a weekend and have no excuse for not meeting the quota. The rest are significantly longer games that will take weeks, if not months to finish, so I probably won't get around to all of those. If you would like to watch the video I made I will embed it at the end of this article - I've included the official trailers for all 10 of my picks that give you a nice idea of what each one is about. Game length isn't the only reason I picked the games I did though, so let's delve a little deeper into why each one made the cut.<br />
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<b>Hob</b><br />
I loved <b>Torchlight</b> and <b>Torchlight II</b>, so when Runic Games released <b>Hob</b> I bought it to support them, even though I was slightly disappointed that it was a different type of game. I figured that they would probably get around to making <b>Torchlight III</b> later on, after making a few other things as a palette cleanser. Then towards the end of 2017, they closed down. For a while, I kind of resented <b>Hob</b> and blamed it for their demise, but after watching the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yg5JuRDHrZs" target="_blank">Giant Bomb Quick Look</a> for the game, I decided it looked pretty cool and that I should stop being silly and appreciate it for what it was: the last offering from a talented bunch of people that I respect and admire. Of course then there were tons of other games coming out and the game got a bit lost in the melee, until now. According to How Long To Beat, <b>Hob</b> weighs in at around 10 or so hours, so it's the ideal candidate for one of my short game picks.<br />
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<b>Cosmic Star Heroine</b><br />
Another game that takes around 10 or so hours to finish, <b>Cosmic Star Heroine</b> is the latest offering from Zeboyd Games, who previously brought us <b>Breath of Death VIII</b>, <b>Cthulhu Save the World</b>, and parts 3 and 4 of the <b>Penny Arcade</b> RPG games. Their games are always packed full of humour and entertaining writing, and the gameplay is a satisfying mix of classic turned based JRPG style combat combined with some new elements. I picked this one up in a sale earlier in the year and like most of the rest of the games on this list, kind of forgot about it until now. So here it is!<br />
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<b>Night in the Woods</b><br />
I've listened to so many people go on and on about how amazing <b>Night in the Woods</b> is ever since it was first released, and it's been on my gaming "to do" list ever since, but for whatever reason I keep putting it off. Well no more! <b>Night in the Woods</b> tells the tale of an anthropomorphic cat creature called Mae as she returns to her childhood home after being away for an extended period of time, as she hits that stage in her life where she is supposed to start being a responsible adult. The trouble is she hasn't figured out exactly where she fits into the grand scheme of things, so this charming adventure game is mainly about her figuring that out. <b>Night in the Woods</b> should take roughly 8 hours to finish, so it's easily doable, and this will probably be one of the first games I cross off this year.<br />
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<b>Oxenfree</b><br />
This is another adventure style game that I've heard many people discussing over the months since it's release. Unlike most of the other games featured here, I didn't actually buy it for myself. I either got it via Games with Gold, or it was in Xbox Game Pass - I forget which. Anyway, it looked interesting so I downloaded it, and then it just sat there on my Xbox One's external drive with the other 200 or so games. So let's get it done! <b>Oxenfree</b> is estimated to take just 4 hours to finish!<br />
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<b>Battle Chasers: Nightwar</b><br />
Now we start to get into a few of the longer games on my list. <b>Battle Chasers </b>is here because it's the next game from the mind of Joe Madureira, the comic book artist who helped create the <b>Darksiders</b> series with Vigil Games and was responsible for the look of those games. This is an adaptaton / sequel to his own comic book series that was apparently left with a cliffhanger ending for years, before this game was successfully funded on Kickstarter and released on most major platforms. I sampled the first few hours of the game back when I bought it, and it's a mixture of Joe Mad's fantstic art with classic turn based battles, combined with new gameplay ideas that help make it feel fresh. <b>Battle Chasers: Nightwar</b> takes between 26 and 43 hours to polish off, so this will be a more long term challenge.<br />
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<b>Odin Sphere Leifthrasir</b><br />
I've been wanting to play the PS2 version of <b>Odin Sphere</b> for ages now but eventually it got to the point where I wasn't willing to pay out a significant amount of money for an old game. When Atlus remastered the game in HD, tweaked the mechanics to make the whole thing more accessible and put it out on the PS4, picking it up was a no brainer. Unfortunately, actually getting around to playing it proved rather more challenging, so I would like to try and put some time into it this summer. Doing everything will take 30 hours plus.<br />
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<b>Pyre</b><br />
Jumping back to the shorter games for a second, <b>Pyre</b> is on this list due to a combination of factors, most of which will probably sound familiar. Firstly, it's the latest product from Supergiant Games, the developers of the excellent <b>Bastion </b>and <b>Transistor</b>. Secondly, it is very highly regarded by people whose opinions I value a lot. Thirdly, it has very interesting game mechanics, being described as fantasy <b>NBA Jam</b> with RPG elements! Finally, it should only take about 10 hours to finish, so it's another ideal candidate for a weekend binge.<br />
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<b>Mass Effect: Andromeda</b><br />
I have just recently completed the original <b>Mass Effect </b>trilogy again, but I never finished <b>Andromeda</b>. Unlike the rest of the games on this list, I have already spent a significant amount of time with this game on the PS4. However, I have started again from the beginning on the Xbox One with a different version of Ryder, the main character. A lot of people didn't have very kind things to say about <b>Andromeda,</b> to the point where EA decided not to release any DLC and to delay any notion of a sequel for a significant amount of time. This is a shame, because the game is nowhere near as bad as the whingers were making it out to be, especially now the ropey animation and unfortunate bugs have been patched. While none of the characters hold the same appeal as the likes of Garrus or Liara, there is still plenty to enjoy here. This will be the first of the lengthier games in this list that I will focus on, and is expected to take anywhere between 18 and 60 hours!<br />
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<b>Growlanser: Wayfarer of Time</b><br />
This PSP entry in the classic <b>Growlanser</b> series has been in my collection for quite a long time, and I did spend a chunk of time with it on the handheld back when I first bought it - enough to know that it is a fantastic game with a great story, brilliant writing and gripping mechanics. It's also a significant time investment, taking around 50 hours to get to the end. I recently dusted off my Vita TV, which I picked up on the cheap a couple of years ago but never actually used all that much. The thing is, it's great for enjoying PSP RPG's from the comfort of your sofa, on your big TV! This probably has the weakest graphics of all the game on this list, being a PS1 style game created for a very low resolution handheld system, but that doesn't mean it's not worthy of being here!<br />
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<b>Journey</b><br />
<b>Journey</b> has been on my list of shame forever! You know how sometimes, when literally everyone is banging on about how wonderful something is to the point where it actually becomes annoying and you actively avoid that thing as a result? <b>Undertale</b> was one of those, and so was <b>Journey</b> for me. I figured it was probably about time that I find out what all the fuss was about though, especially as it will only take 2 hours to finish!<br />
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So that's my list - after deciding on the final 10 I suddenly remembered another game that I originally wanted to be part of it: <b>Firewatch</b>! Oh well, too late now. Maybe if I get through the first 10 I will play <b>Firewatch</b> as well as a bonus. That's a bit of a tall order though.<br />
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The plan is that as I finish each game on the list, I will capture my gameplay and create video reviews for each on YouTube. I also intend to continue this diary, probably with a brief update once a week summarising my progress. That way, the blog gets a much needed injection of new content as well as RMGB TV! See you again soon, in the meantime here's that YouTube video I put together...<br />
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<br />Wibblefishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12170885091117064057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308645.post-18566502518944624762017-12-13T10:43:00.006+00:002018-07-12T13:00:52.620+01:00Child of Eden | Last Gen Regen: Forgotten Favourites<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Ever since I played <b><i>Space Channel 5</i></b> on the Dreamcast for the very first time I have been a big fan of Tetsuya Mizuguchi, and particularly any games he makes with a musical component to them. <b><i>Space Channel 5</i></b> was funky, fun and fresh and I loved it. Then Mizuguchi released the game that absolutely cemented my faith in him and ensured I would follow his work with great interest. That game was <b><i>Rez</i></b>, the trippy on rails shooter that played a bit like <b><i>Panzer Dragoon</i></b> but looked like a bit like <b><i>Tron</i></b> and sounded like 90's rave. It was the unique combination of visuals, sound and vibration that made the game special. It doesn't matter to me that you can basically finish it in less than an hour, I have replayed it countless times over the years and will continue to do so. I think of it more of an interactive music album than a game, although that might suggest it's not that fun to play, which would be incorrect. Thanks to several re releases on the last few console generations, you can still get hold of a copy of <b><i>Rez</i></b> and find out what makes it so great for yourself, which I really recommend you do.</div>
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After this Mizuguchi released <b><i>Space Channel 5 Part 2</i></b> shortly before the unfortunate demise of the Dreamcast, which improved on the first game in every way. Then he went and founded a new company, Q Games, and made the fantastic PSP launch title <b><i>Lumines</i></b>, which melded music and puzzle game play together in a unique way. He did a similar thing with <b><i>Meteos</i></b> on the Nintendo DS, although the game play of this one never really clicked for me - I greatly preferred the chilled out, relaxed pace of <b><i>Lumines</i></b>, over the frantic, stressed out feeling to get when playing <b><i>Meteos</i></b>. We then shift forward in time a little bit to E3 of 2010, when Ubisoft unveiled a trailer that got me really excited. It was a new game by Mizuguchi, and everything about it just screamed Rez, from the visuals, the music used and the brief glimpses of game play. The name that was revealed at the end was Child of Eden though, probably because Sega held on to the <i><b>Rez</b></i> licence and so Miz couldn't use it. So this was to be a spiritual successor rather than a true sequel then. Interesting. It was also the first game for the Kinect that looked half way decent, although luckily you could also use a standard controller to play all of the game. I must have watched that trailer half a dozen times after that, and I really grew to love the tune that was used. After that though, all I could do was wait patiently for the game to be released, which is was it 2011. So let's get into why I think it's still worth playing today...</div>
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<b>Graphics: </b>9 out of 10<br />
The visuals of <b><i>Child of Eden</i></b> are fairly similar to those of <b><i>Rez</i></b>, being a trippy kaleidoscope of colour and light that reacts with your actions and with the music, but there with the exception of one particular stage everything has more of an organic feel to it. There is definitely a lot more going on visually than in the previous game, which can be detrimental to the game play at times because it can be hard to see the purple items that will hurt you. After a bit of practise you will grown accustomed to the design of each stage though and be able to anticipate where the danger is coming from. The Xbox 360 runs the game without any problems, and should you be playing <b><i>Child of Eden</i></b> via Xbox One backwards compatibility it looks even better thanks to the anti aliasing used by the emulator. It's still a very pretty game even today, though there will be definitely be those who this particular aesthetic won't appeal to.<br />
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<b>Sound & Music:</b> 8 out of 10<br />
Like the visual style, the music of <b><i>Child of Eden</i></b> definitely won't appeal to everyone and will probably be an acquired taste for a lot of people as well. Rather than the pure trance found it Rez, the <b><i>Child of Eden </i></b>soundtrack is a trance / J-Pop fusion, and the music is all by one artist rather than a bunch of different ones. The artist in question is Genki Rockets, a passion project created in part by Tetsuya Mizuguchi himself and featuring the vocal talents of Rachel Rhodes. I was familiar with one of their tunes because it there was an unlockable music video for it in the Wii version of <b><i>No More Heroes</i></b>, and the same tune is featured in <b><i>Child of Eden</i></b>. Personally I really like their stuff, it's very relaxing and I own both of their albums which I have listened to many times. I'm listening to "Heavenly Star" while I write this script actually, to help me keep the game in mind. I think I prefer the <b><i>Rez</i></b> soundtrack ever so slightly over the <b><i>Child of Eden</i></b> soundtrack, though I think both have their merits.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Child of Eden remains an extremely pretty game even today.</i></td></tr>
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<b>Game Mechanics:</b> 7 out of 10<br />
The game play of <b><i>Child of Eden</i></b> is incredibly similar to that of <b><i>Rez</i></b>, except the perspective has shifted to first person rather than third person due to the addition of the Kinect control method. You control a cross hair either with your hands and the Kinect camera, or with the left analogue stick, and "paint" targets by holding down the fire button as you move the reticule over the enemies. Upon release you will fire homing lasers at all the enemies you have locked on to. A lot of the enemies won't actually pose any threat to you, though there are those that shoot back purple bullets at you. With these you need to use the right trigger to shoot a matching purple beam that will eliminate them. There are also purple enemies that will need to be weakened with the right trigger before they can be shot normally with the A button. From time to time blue orbs will appear that will increase your life meter which is portrayed by a five petalled flower in the bottom right of the screen. There are also purple orbs that will allow you to fire a screen clearing super beam.<br />
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When <b><i>Child of Eden</i></b> stays true to its <b><i>Rez</i></b> roots I find it to be just as enjoyable as that game, however when it diverges from what came before there are a few issues that hamper it a little bit. I've already mentioned that the game is a lot busier visually making it hard to see enemy bullets from time to time. The game also features a star system where you cannot progress to the next level until you've earned a set number of stars. This is probably in reaction to <b><i>Rez</i></b> being too short, but it means you will have to replay the same few levels over and over to earn more stars which is rather tiresome. It's not particularly challenging because you can earn more stars from levels that you've already completed, it's just annoying. Finally there are the Kinect controls. When I first got the game I did have a Kinect and I tried using it, but I found it much harder than using a normal controller and gave it up pretty fast. Not long after I traded the Kinect in while it was still worth something. I expect you can get good with it with practise but I didn't have the patience for that. It's not a major issue though because wisely Q Games haven't forced us to use Kinect controls.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The "Beauty" stage is quite possible my favourite.</i></td></tr>
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<b>Innovation & Cleverness: </b>5 out of 10<br />
<b><i>Rez</i></b> would score very highly in this category, having pioneered the game play also seen here. <b><i>Child of Eden</i></b> doesn't really bring all that much that's new to the table though. It does include some very nice level designs which I why it still earns a five here.<br />
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<b>Value & Replayability: </b>6 out of 10<br />
Much like <b><i>Rez</i></b>, <b><i>Child of Eden</i></b> is a very short experience. It does take slightly longer to beat due to the annoying star system to unlock the later stages that I mentioned earlier, but not that much longer. There is also a bunch of unlockables that will extend your time with the game a little bit, such as a higher difficulty, a 6th stage which is a challenge mode, and a bunch of different visual skins. I do come back and replay <b><i>Child of Eden</i></b> every so often, though not as much as <b><i>Rez</i></b>. If you would like to buy a physical copy of the game, the PS3 version is selling for about £5 these days and the Xbox 360 version is £10. You can claim a free copy of the digital version until December 15th if you subscribe to Xbox Live Gold though.<br />
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<b>Overall: </b>7 out of 10<br />
While <b><i>Child of Eden</i></b> doesn't live up to illustrious predecessor, it is still a lot of fun. The few problems with it hold it back a bit, but it's nothing too bad. I remain hopeful that we will see a true sequel to <b><i>Rez</i></b> in the future, especially with the recent release of <b><i>Rez Infinite</i></b> and the extra Area X that Q Games made just for it. In the meantime though, I think I shall replay <b><i>Child of Eden</i></b> one more time! That's the end of this review - however please feel free to stick around for a little while longer if you'd like to enjoy some more of the graphics and music from the game!<br />
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Wibblefishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12170885091117064057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308645.post-76920888673966895202017-07-06T14:00:00.000+01:002018-07-12T13:06:29.199+01:00Game Diary: Quite the Achievement!Hello everyone! I realise there has been a dearth of content for quite a while though. Hopefully this post will be just the start of a flurry of activity on the site, as I have a lot of things to write about. To begin with I want to let you know what I've been up to over the last month or so, and why both the blog and YouTube channel will benefit. So, somewhere around the end of May I noticed that my Xbox Live Gamerscore was about 12,000 points shy of 100,000, which is currently the highest VIP tier called Overlord. Those who are in the Xbox Rewards program who manage to reach this level get and increase in the amount of reward points they get back on purchases, which gets converted to cash every so often. I decided that I would make it my goal to try and reach the 100,000 points, and also go back to quite a few games that I had only partially completed in the past.<br />
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So far I've managed to finish <b><i>Far Cry 3</i></b> on the 360 as well as <b><i>Sleeping Dogs Definitive Edition</i></b> and <b><i>Assassin's Creed: Blag Flag</i></b>. These aren't the easiest achievements to get but they aren't too bad. I'm not trying earn every achievement in every game either, as that's not my idea of fun. I did finish most of the side content in these three games though. As well as these games there were also a number of Telltale games that I hadn't played yet - <b><i>Tales from the Borderlands</i></b>, <b><i>The Walking Dead</i></b> Seasons 2 and 3, as well as the <b><i>Michonne</i></b> mini series. These are all an easy 1000 points just for getting to the end, and I had been meaning to get around to them eventually anyway. In addition to all this I have also signed up for Xbox Game Pass and have been playing quite a few shorter games such as the Sega and Capcom retro collections for games like <b><i>Streets of Rage</i></b>, <b><i>Final Fight</i></b> and <b><i>Dungeons & Dragons</i></b>. I personally think the Game Pass is excellent because I never would have spent money on games like these when there are so many AAA titles just waiting to be picked up instead, yet I would still like to play them.<br />
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Just lately I have moved on to playing <b><i>Watch Dogs</i></b> and have gone back to <b><i>Forza Horizon 3</i></b> where I still have a lot left to do. The same is true for quite a few of the older <b><i>Forza</i></b> titles as well - there’s so much content in those games that I’m never finished by the time the next one comes out. Although I have already played <b><i>Watch Dogs</i></b> on the PS4, that was several years ago now and I did enjoy it. <b><i>Watch Dogs</i></b> was one of the Games with Gold in June so I haven't had to pay anything for it - in fact I took a bunch of older PS4 games that have since been in either Games with Gold or PS Plus to CeX and got £27 in trade in value, which I used to get <b><i>Ghost Recon: Wildlands</i></b>. I haven't really played much of it yet though.<br />
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Looking to the future, I’ll be moving onto trying to polish off <b><i>Mad Max</i></b> and <b><i>Mafia III</i></b>. I have tons of other open world games to get to – <b><i>Assassin's Creed Liberation HD</i></b>, <b><i>Unity</i></b> and <b><i>Syndicate</i></b>, <b><i>Saints Row IV Reelected</i></b>, <b><i>Sunset Overdrive</i></b>, <b><i>Re:Core</i></b> – tons!!! Right now I still need to earn just under 5000 Gamerscore to reach 100,000, so I've still got quite a bit of gaming to go. Of course, as a result of this very Xbox centric time my PS4 and Switch are getting a little bit neglected. I'll make up for that after I'm done though, especially as I really want to spend more time with <b><i>Wipeout Omega Collection</i></b> and dive in to <b><i>Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age</i></b> which is out very soon. Even the 3DS is getting some love right now with the awesome looking <b><i>Ever Oasis</i></b>, a full on remake of <b><i>Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga</i></b> and <b><i>Metroid: Return of Samus</i></b>!<br />
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Anyway, as I've been playing through these games I've also been capturing quite a bit of footage from them, and I do intend to write reviews and create videos for them as well. I've been putting it off for a while because I wanted to write this very article that you're reading now, so now I've got this out of the way I shall start knocking out those reviews. I'm also in the middle of PS2 Tuesdays Season 4 as well, so I do have to spend some of my time playing and reviewing some PS2 classics. Speaking of which, the next one of those will be <b><i>The Red Star</i></b>, a great and overlooked arcade style shooting and fighting hybrid. Once I've got that made and uploaded I shall then try and find a spare hour or so to write the <b><i>Sleeping Dogs</i></b> review, and so on with the other games. You should see quite a bit of productivity if I manage to stick to the plan! If you have any recommendations of Xbox One or Xbox 360 games that I could play through then be sure to leave a comment. I have recently picked up copies of <b><i>Bionic Commando</i></b> (the 3D one), <b><i>Wet</i></b> and <i><b>Kane & Lynch: Dead Men</b></i> for £1 each - are any of them worth trying? What about the <b><i>Lost Planet</i></b> trilogy? I've been thinking of getting those too as they are so cheap. Any advice would be appreciated!<br />
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Wibblefishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12170885091117064057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308645.post-87122239410304786032016-11-22T12:00:00.000+00:002018-07-12T12:58:48.355+01:00Split Second | Last Gen Regen: Forgotten Favourites<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Welcome to the second edition of Last Gen Regen: Forgotten Favourites! Today I'm going to shift things up a gear by taking a look at an overlooked arcade racer by the name of <b><i>Split Second</i></b>. The game was developed by the Brighton based team Black Rock Studios, who had previously released the much loved ATV game, <b><i>Pure</i></b> (though that one was made by a different team). Black Rock Studios were known as Climax Racing in their previous incarnation, before Disney Interactive acquired them. It was Disney that published both <b><i>Pure</i></b> and <b><i>Split Second</i></b>, before shutting down the studio shortly afterwards. The game was released in May of 2010, just one week before rival racing game <b><i>Blur</i></b> was released. This fact means that neither game performed as well as it might have done unfortunately. I'm going to cover <b><i>Blur</i></b> at another time, as I think both games deserve their own episode.<br />
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The premise of <i><b>Split Second</b></i> is that at an undisclosed time in the near future, a reality TV series has taken the world by storm where contestants race around a condemned city that is rigged with all manner of explosive devices and traps. As you build up a power meter by drifting around corners, drafting behind opponents, narrowly missing danger and by exceuting big jumps, you can execute what the game calls "Power Plays", that let you trigger these devices around the track in an attempt to wreck your rivals. They could be racing near a gas station for example, so you can detonate the entire place, or there might be a crane by the track that you can set swinging dangerously into the path of the race. These examples are both fairly mild, level one Power Plays though. By banking enough power so that your meter fills up into the red zone, you can release level two Power Plays that have the potential to completely reshape the path of a race. See that control tower by the side of the airport track? Not any more you don't, it's just been vaporised, forcing everying down a different path for the rest of the race! While these Power Plays do have the potential to feel a little gimmicky once the novelty has worn off, and the campaign can start to feel just a bit repetitive during the later stages, for the most part they add a lot of excitement to the game and are just dynamic enough to remain interesting. So that's the basic set up, but how does the rest of the game fare? Let's break it down in more depth shall we?<br />
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<b>Graphics: 8 out of 10</b><br />
Almost all of the events take place either at midday or at sunset with just a few set a night, so there's a lot of bright sunlight flooding the screen. It reminds me of a Michael Bay film back before he started making nothing but crap, such as Bad Boys or The Rock. I love the way that the game has been designed with almost no HUD at all - your speed, power meter, and lap counter are all cleverly place on a readout situated on the back of the car itself. This lack of screen clutter allows you to focus on the race and soak in the impressive explosions that are constantly popping off. For the most part the game performs adequately but there is the occasional frame rate dip when something major is happening such as an entire building collapsing on 4 or 5 cars at the same time. It doens't really effect the game play too adversely but it is there so I have dock a point for that I'm afraid. Other than that though, <b><i>Split Second</i></b> looks very nice indeed and still holds up pretty well today.<br />
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<b>Sound: 9 out of 10</b><br />
The sound design in <b><i>Split Second</i></b> is absolutely glorious, from the way the explosions totally envelop you and the shrapnel flying mere inches away from your car cuts through the air, to the dynamic music. Special mention has to go to the music in this game, in particular the tune that plays during the Elite Races that cap every "episode" of the show. It sounds incredibly cinematic, and as you claw your way up the field into the top three (which is the requirement to proceed) another layer of instrumentation is added with more bass coming in and some very funky guitar work. It really helps build the tension and excitement in these events, which after all are supposed to be the highlight of each episode of the fictional show. There is not much voice over work in the game, but what's there is very well done as well, with an announcer telling you what's coming up in today's episode and also giving you a sneak peak of the next one. Great stuff all round!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Wiping out five rivals with an exploding power plant is actually quite satisfying - who knew?</i></td></tr>
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<b><br />Game Mechanics: 9 out of 10</b></div>
I've already described how the basic races function in the intro, but there's a bit more to <b><i>Split Second</i></b> than that. The main campaign mode is broken down into 12 episodes, which represent an entire season of the show. Each episode has 6 events within it, with four being unlocked initially. The 5th event is always a bonus event which is unlocked by wrecking a certain number of opponents within that chapter. Normally you will have wrecked enough cars by that point to unlock it, but occasionally you may have to replay an event or two to get enough wrecks. Event six is always the Elite Race, and is unlocked by earn a certain amount of points in earlier races. These don't have to be from within the same episode though so say you get to the end of episode 12 and you are a little short of points to be able to take on the Elite Race (which probably will happen) - simple, just go back to a previous episode and find an event that you didn't do as well in as you could have done. Perform better and earn some more points towards your goal. Every event in the game has the potential to award your 50 points if you manage to get first place, then 40 for second, 30 for third, etc. While progress was fairly rapid in the first half of the campaign, by the end of it I was having to go back to earlier races for more points.<br />
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There are also a few more modes besides the standard races that I've already described. There is also an Elimination mode much like those seen in other games, except with the added complication of the Power Plays, and a time trial mode called Detonator where you are given a fixed car for the event. So far, so standard. Things get more interesting after this though with the addition of some modes that are unique to <b><i>Split Second</i></b>. First up we have Air Attack. In this, a fully armed and operational attack helicopter will be firing rockets at you, denoted by red targets on the track surface. You have to avoid taking a direct hit or suffering too much splash damage which will eventually cause your car to explode. Get wiped out three times and your race is over. As you clear more and more waves without losing a life, you will build up a score multiplier, and if you don't take any damage at all whilst still maintaining a decent speed you will earn a perfect wave bonus - this is the secret to earning a high score. Later on in the campaign there is also the addition of an Air Revenge mode, where the attack helicopter returns. This time, by building up your power play meter, you can then send the missiles back at the helicopter and eventually take it down. Level one power plays just take one pip off the helicopters health bar, whereas saving up a full meter and releasing a level two power play takes off four pips, so ultimately it's faster to wait until your meter is full.<br />
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Finally, for the main game at least, there is Survival mode. In this, giant big rig trucks are constantly doing laps around the track, all the while dropping red and blue explosive barrels. The blue barrels will damage you, and the red barrels will wreck you instantly. You don't have a fixed amount of lives, in this mode you can be wrecked many times. Instead, you are up against a tight time limit which is increased by passing the trucks. As you keep passing trucks unscathed, once again you build up a score multiplier. There are also other cars on the track that are there to get in your way. The first time you play this mode it takes place in a storm drain of the type featured in the famous chase sequence from Terminator 2, which is really awesome!<br />
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So that's the structure of the game, but how does it actually play? Really well! The handling feels spot on, with each car having a different weight and drift style to it (new cars are earned by meeting certain point thresholds, by the way). The drifting feels really good, with you really able to throw the cars around the corners with extreme precision after just a few goes to get a feel for it. The rumble in this game is also very well implemented, adding to the immersion immensely. It's not something I would normal notice or comment on unless it is truly exceptional, as it is in this game. With <b><i>Split Second</i></b>, Black Rock have crafted an arcade racer that rivals the true great of the genre such as <b><i>Ridge Racer</i></b>, <b><i>Sega Rally</i></b>, and <b><i>Burnout</i></b> - it's a tragedy that it isn't as well known as it deserves to be. Those who do know of it do love it for the most part, though.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>This is the Survival mode - watch out for those barrels or say bye bye to your chassis!</i></td></tr>
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<b>Innovation & Cleverness: 7 out of 10</b><br />
I'm going to give <b><i>Split Second</i></b> a fairly high score here (at least, higher than I usually give) because the combination of triggered explosions with the TV show format is quite unique, especially to the racing genre. The closest thing I can think of is <b><i>MotorStorm Apocalypse</i></b> but that came along quite a long time afterwards and you don't actually have any control over the destruction in that game. It isn't nearly as dynamic either. Nope, there isn't really anything else quite like <b><i>Split Second</i></b> out there. We may well have received a sequel, but Disney in their infinite wisdom pulled the plug on Black Rock, and the team went their separate ways. Some of them continued to work on racing games alongside veterans from Bizarre Creations, Eden Studios and Codemasters, to form the <b><i>Forza Horizon</i></b> developers Playground Games. Others moved on to making mobile games at companies like Shortround Games. So luckily, it wasn't truly game over for most of these guys!<br />
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<b>Value & Replayability: 7 out of 10</b><br />
The main campaign mode in <b><i>Split Second</i></b> is actually fairly short, lasting roughly 10-12 hours. You can add on a bit more if you are a completionist and want to try and get first place in every single event. Also, it may be just because I was trying to play through the whole game in a fairly short space of time, but I was starting to tire of the power play mechanic just a little bit by the end of the whole thing. I love the Air Attack mode though, so it's a shame that it's totally replaced by the Air Revenge mode about half way through the campaign and never comes back. <br />
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As usual in these reviews, I am basing this score on what the game would cost you today, and not what it was originally selling for. So, you should be able to find a copy of <b><i>Split Second</i></b> for a fiver or less fairly easily, which is a very good price for the amount of fun on offer. I did hop online to see if anyone was still playing the multiplayer mode, and was surprised to get into a full lobby on my first try. This was just in the race mode though - the other modes were pretty empty.<br />
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Finally, there are some DLC packs available which add a couple of new modes, some extra tracks and cars into the game. I thought these tracks were really good, so it's a shame they are only in the free play mode and not incorpated into an extra episode or two of the campaign. There was potential for them to do a "Christmas Special" or something and give the DLC a bit more structure. As it is I can't really see myself playing them that much.<br />
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<b><i>Overall: 9 out of 10</i></b><br />
If you haven't played <b><i>Split Second</i></b> already and you still have your PS3 or Xbox 360 then you should definitely acquire a copy and play through the campaign, it's a ton of fun. The game may also be available through the PS Now service, though I'm not sure about that. Hopefully one day it will also be made backwards compatible on the Xbox One, though I doubt that will happen as Disney don't seem terribly interested in the game industry these days. Nevertheless, for a short time they were putting out some solid titles with the help of developers like Black Rock and Avalanche. Perhaps we will get a spiritual successor to <b><i>Split Second</i></b> one day, in the meantime we still have the original, which I think holds up fantastically well today. That's all I have for this time - next time I will probably be playing <b><i>Enslaved: Odyssey to the West</i></b>, so see you then! In the meantime, take care!<br />
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<br />Wibblefishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12170885091117064057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308645.post-2657109699195158622016-10-11T12:00:00.000+01:002018-07-12T12:58:48.133+01:00Darksiders | Last Gen Regen: Forgotten Favourites<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Welcome to the first article in a new, semi regular series entitled Last Gen Regen. There were tons of games released for the last generation of consoles that didn't perform as well as I think think they deserved, either crtically or financially, and I think they deserve a bit more love. Titles that fall under this category include <b><i>Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning</i></b>, the <b><i>de Blob</i></b> games and <b><i>Binary Domain</i></b>, just for starters. The reason that I'm not committing to a regular schedule is that most of these games take quite a while to complete, so I will just be releasing them as and when they are ready. This series also serves as an excuse to replay some of my favourite titles, so I will be savouring my time with them!<br />
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We begin with <b><i>Darksiders</i></b> - which was developed by Vigil Entertainment in the year 2010 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. This team was assembled by legendary comic book artist Joe Madureira, whose unique art style is stamped all over the game. While beloved by the majority of those who have played the game, there are still tons of people who have never given it a second glance. With a remastered version on the horizon, and copies of the original version selling for just a few quid, now is the perfect time for you to pick it up for yourself if you have yet to do so. Now it's time for me to spend roughly ten minutes explaining why.<br />
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<b>Plot and Character:</b> 8 out of 10<br />
The action of <b><i>Darksiders </i></b>revolves around the four horsemen of the apocalypse, or more specifically, War. As the game begins, War is standing in the streets of what looks like New York city, doing battle with demons. As you progress further into the prologue, angels will arrive on the scene as well. Rather than the classical winged creatures that you're familiar with, angels in the <b><i>Darksiders</i></b> series make use of technology such as jet packs and guns. Their halo is also a part of the armour that they wear. War is on earth because he believes the seventh seal has been broken and the riders have been called, but he was deceived by a powerful demon called The Destroyer and his minions. After falling in battle against Straga, one of the Destroyer's lieutenants, War finds himself in front of the Charred Council, entities which act as the balance keepers between the forces of Heaven and Hell. Displeased with Wars actions on Earth, they strip him of most of his power, before permitting him to set off on a quest for revenge against The Destroyer. As a condition of his release, War is tethered to The Watcher, brilliantly voiced by Mark Hamill. From there, it's up to you to restore War to his former glory, slaughter your way through The Destroyer's forces, and set things right.<br />
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While I am more than aware that there are plenty of people out there who hate fantasy nonsense like this, I absolutely love this kind of thing. While the game takes itself a bit too seriously sometimes and comes across as cheesy, for the most part it is really cool, and metal as fuck! War himself is built like a brick shithouse, with huge chunky limbs and a giant sword that you can do some serious damage with. So while it's definitely not for everyone, I really enjoyed the premise of <b><i>Darksiders</i></b> and the ride that it took me on during its 20 or so hour long campaign. Of course the game play had a lot to do with that as well, but I will get there all in due course!<br />
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<b>Graphics:</b> 8 out of 10<br />
The chunky, American Football player proportions of War also apply to a lof of the other characters in <b><i>Darksiders</i></b>, from the Angels like Abaddon, to side characters like Ulthane, who belongs to a race called The Makers. These guys heavily resemble the Norse gods like Thor, and wield mighty hammers like him as well. While there were a few instances where the was some screen tearing and a drop in frame rate, for the most part <b><i>Darksiders</i></b> ran really smoothly and the environments look really nice. At one point the mixture of hack and slash combat and puzzle solving is punctured by a rather lengthy flying sequence on the back of a Pegasus, which is just one of many visually spectacular parts. The huge golems that guard the various areas of the map are also impressive, and a sight to behold as they lumber away, shaking both the screen and your gamepad.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>While there aren't that many in the game, the horsey bits in <b>Darksiders</b> are good fun.</i></td></tr>
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<b>Sound and Music: </b>8 out of 10<br />
The audible portion of the presentation is equally as solid as the visual component, with some great noises while you're in combat and when you make use of your abilities. The music is well composed, but not particularly memorable after some time away from the game. It certainly doesn't measure up to the epic soundtrack of <b><i>Darksiders II</i></b> that was composed by <b><i>Assassin's Creed</i></b> veteran Jesper Kyd, but that is a matter for another time. The voice work in the game is generally well done again, though the dialogue that these guys have to read is incredibly melodramatic and can come across as a tad on the cheesy side at times. Still, it suits the subject matter.<br />
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<b>Game Mechanics:</b> 8 out of 10<br />
<b><i>Darksiders</i></b> plays out like a mash up of <b><i>God of War</i></b> and one of the 3D <b><i>Legend of Zelda</i></b> games, and that is no bad thing, believe me! As your basic abilities are doled out during the opening hours of the game, you will find yourself locked inside various combat challenges where you have to kill a certain number of demons within a strict time limit and while using a certain ability or weapon. Just as was starting to tire of this, roughly nine of so challenges in, they stop, never to return throughout the rest of the adventure. The majority of the game is spent exploring huge dungeons, solving relatively mild puzzles, hacking up demons (and the occaisional angel) and obtaining new equipment or powers that allow access to further sections of the overworld. While the world of <b><i>Darksiders</i></b> is fairly extensive and interconnected, with few noticeable load times, it is still fairly linear for the most part, with just a brief quest towards the end of the campaign giving you free reign to travel back to the various zones in any order you choose.<br />
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For most of the game the difficulty level is pitched just about right, with combat keeping you on your toes but never becoming frustrating. You may die once or twice, but the penalty is very benign, with you just going back brief way to the nearest checkpoint. There is one dungeon close the finale that I did find really frustrating to beat, though - or rather, one puzzle within it that involved warping boxes through portals in order to raise and lower huge chandelier style platforms. I got quite annoyed by that one, but it's not even close to being as annoying as the Water Temple in <b><i>Ocarina of Time</i></b>, ultimately.<br />
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As you hack apart your enemies, souls will fly out of them and these can be drawn into you. They can also be found inside chests that are liberally scattered around world, and in inanimate objects like cars, dustbins, and street lights. These souls act your main currency in the game, and can be used to unlock new abilties and weapons, or power up those that you already have. Speaking of weaponry, War mainly wields a huge sword, though you do also get access to a sythe, pistols, and a deadly disc launching thing. You won't have enough souls to level everything up, so it's best to focus on whichever suits your particular play style and focus on them. You can also find <b><i>Zelda</i></b> style upgrades to your health bar and rage meter hidden away all over the place, which will often be inaccessible the first time you find them. You know what that means - come back later when you have the right ability.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>This is Ulthane, one of the Makers - you will learn much more about these guys in <b>Darksiders II</b>.</i></td></tr>
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<b>Innovation and Cleverness:</b> 6 out of 10<br />
Ultimately, it's the solid game play combined with the setting that makes <b><i>Darksiders</i></b> such a great game, in my opinion. It's not particularly innovative, being an amalgam of several different genres, but that doesn't really matter to me. <b><i>Zelda</i></b> style puzzling and exploration will always be fun, and brutal hack and slash combat adds that extra spice to make it interesting. Layer on the truly fantastic character designs and fleshed out game world, and you have something rather special on your hands.<br />
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<b>Value and Replability:</b> 7 out of 10<br />
You will probably only want to play through <b><i>Darksiders</i></b> the one time, or maybe twice after enough time has passed by. But that play through will last somewhere around the 25 hour range, even more if you try and hunt down every single health upgrade and the best armour in the game, which is scattered across the lands. I never felt that the game was dragging on at all, which is something that very few games get right. The original release will probably only set you back a fiver or less, which is a real bargain. I am not sure how much THQ Nordic is going to be asking for the HD remaster - I would guess somewhere around th £30 mark. That's still not bad considering how much quality gameplay is on offer. UPDATE: Since writing this article I have learned that the price of the HD remaster will be £15, which is an absolute bargain!<br />
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<b>Overall:</b> 8 out of 10<br />
Xbox 360 and PS3 owners were not short of quality games to play, but there weren't many experiences that compared to the <b><i>Zelda</i></b> games (<b><i>Okami</i></b> being a notable exception). <i><b>Darksiders</b></i> takes the blueprint that Nintendo established, adds in a liberal dose of visceral combat, and makes the whole thing much more dark, gothic, and cool. If the game somehow passed you by the first time it was released, then either pick up a nice and cheap copy and play it on your older system, or grab the upcoming "Warmastered" version.<br />
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<b><i>Darksiders II</i></b> will most definitely be getting its time in the sun at some point in the future as well, but I haven't played all the way through it yet. Before then though, now that <b><i>Lost Odyssey</i></b> can be enjoyed on the Xbox One through the magic of backwards playability, I think it's time to revisit it. It will take a while for me to finish it though, as it's absolutely massive. To tide us over, I will try and find something a little shorter to talk about next. I was thinking a racing game would make a nice change of pace, but which one? There's <b><i>Blur</i></b> from Bizarre Creations, or <i><b>Split Second</b></i> from Black Rock Studios. Let me know in the comments if you have a preference, and in the meantime, take care!
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<br />Wibblefishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12170885091117064057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308645.post-52911990806771894802016-10-07T13:28:00.003+01:002018-07-12T13:06:14.715+01:00Game Diary: Autumn UpdateIt's been quite some time since I last had an update, or any type of post at all for that matter, so I thought I would bring you up to speed with what's been going on lately and my plans for both this blog and the YouTube channel.<br />
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Those of you who are subscribed on YouTube will be aware that the second season of Covertape Chaos ended a little while ago. I am taking a well-earned break from making those for a while; though I am still really busy creating other content. I recently started taking a look at some of the games in my Steam collection - so far I have videos for <b><i>Ember</i></b>, <b><i>Chronology</i></b> and <b><i>Glorkian Warrior</i></b>. These initial glances will become full reviews just as soon as I have had time to complete each of them!<br />
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Next, I have been planning a new series that will take a look at some of the more overlooked games of the prior generation for quite some time, and I am nearly ready to post the first episode and article. That one will take a look at <b><i>Darksiders</i></b>, the <b><i>Zelda</i></b> style action adventure from Vigil Entertainment. Other episodes in the series will cover <b><i>Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning</i></b>, <b><i>de Blob 2</i></b>, <b><i>Lost Odyssey</i></b>, <b><i>Blue Dragon</i></b>, <b><i>Blur</i></b>, <b><i>Split Second</i></b> and more besides. I am not going to commit to a regular schedule for these because I want to take my time playing or replaying each game, so new episodes will appear sporadically. The <b><i>Darksiders</i></b> episode will be up next Tuesday though.<br />
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Also coming soon will be another pickups video. Over the last few months I have acquired a nice pile of games, both brand new and older, so it's about time I went through them all with you. Then after that I will be bringing back PS2 Tuesday for another season. So far I know that <b><i>Shadow Hearts</i></b> will definitely be part of it - I am currently in the back half of the game and just need to crack on and finish it. I don't think I will bother going for the good ending this time, I have done so twice before already and it's not canon anyway - the sequel disregards everything that happens in it! I also have quite a few other PS2 titles that I would like to be part of season 4: <b><i>Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 2</i></b>, <b><i>Lumines Plus</i></b>, <b><i>Motorstorm: Artic Edge</i></b> and much more besides. Hopefully I can get the ball rolling on the new season by the start of November, but don't hold me to that!<br />
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Sprinkled in and around all of these will be other stuff like the odd episode of RetroGrade when I feel the need to play some of the classics, and maybe the occasional review of a new game as well. Silly season is well upon us already, with games like <b><i>Forza Horizon 3</i></b>, <b><i>X-COM 2</i></b>, <b><i>Mafia 3</i></b>, <b><i>Gears of War 4</i></b> and <b><i>Dragon Quest Builders</i></b> either out already or just around the corner. That's just for starters as well. 2016 is set to be remembered as another great one in the annals of video gaming! Covertape Chaos will also be back, but not until 2017. You can rest assured that I am 100% committed to getting through all 64 Power Packs though!<br />
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Thanks for letting me witter on for a bit and listening to my plans for this rather modest blog and RMGB TV, its YouTube spin off. I'll see you again next Tuesday for that <b><i>Darksiders</i></b> article - in the meantime take care!<br />
<br />Wibblefishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12170885091117064057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308645.post-7946551955959396002016-05-03T09:04:00.000+01:002016-05-03T09:04:11.326+01:00Game Diary: A Mini UpdateIt's been a few weeks since I last posted an update, so I just wanted to pop on and bring you all up to date with what's going on with the blog and RMGB TV. Firstly, the second season of Covertape Chaos is now in full swing, with the third episode dropping today! A new one will be going live every fortnight, up until we get to episode 24, when it will go on another break. The tapes I've played for this season so far have been a lot of fun, with some really smart games like <b><i>Hacker II</i></b> and <b><i>Terror of the Deep</i></b> to enjoy.<br />
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I've also recently been doing a few mini unboxing videos, because 365games.co.uk have had an offer where you can buy 10 random unboxed DVD's of a given certificate for £10. I've got some decent (and not so decent) movies this way, and now I'm in the process of watching some of them. I have on occaision posted some film reviews here on the blog in the past, but I didn't want to overdo it as it is a gaming site first and foremost, after all. Maybe I will wait until I have watched around half a dozen movies and then do one big post with mini reviews of each. I have a few more unboxings coming up, for the Zbox Gamer Edition and a Mystery Zbox that was given away free as part of an offer Zavvi were doing. If they ever turn up, that is. Then there's my pick ups video - I have quite a large pile of games that I've acquired since Christmas, so I would like to show you all what I've got. This might go up next Tuesday.<br />
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Next up, I played and completed <b><i>Quantum Break</i></b> in its entirety, and do intend to review it very soon. That might not be up this week - we'll see how things go. I am also playing through the back half of <b><i>The Division</i></b>, attempting to get to level 30 and to the end game content. I have really enjoyed <b><i>The Division</i></b> - it's quite surprising how much fun it has been, actually. In the handheld arena, I am about 10 hours in to <b><i>Bravely Second: End Layer </i></b>on the 3DS and I am loving it. I loved the original game as well, for the most part - until the notorious stretch of repetitive gameplay towards the end of the story. Apparently Square Enix have rectified this for the sequel, so I am looking forward to gradually making my way through the game.<br />
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Lastly, I have several new series in the works for the YouTube Channel - the first episode of Advance Warning, which will be GBA reviews, has already been uploaded, and I have more on the way. Besides that, I also want to start a series that highlights what I consider to be classics from the previous generation that everybody should play. To that effect, I am about 8 hours into <b><i>Darksiders</i></b> on the Xbox 360. Other games that will most likely be part of season one of this series include <b><i>Mass Effect</i></b>, <b><i>Assassin's Creed II</i></b>, <b><i>Gears of War</i></b>, <b><i>Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning</i></b>, <b><i>Enslaved: Journey to the West</i></b> and <b><i>Red Dead Redemption</i></b>. Not sure when the series will start yet - probably when I've got three episodes ready to go. As for PS2 Tuesdays, that will be back as well although I don't know exactly when yet. It's hard to find the time to play all of these different games! Thanks for reading this mini update, and for sticking with the blog. There will be another video next Tuesday, and hopefully another post fairly soon as well. In the meantime, take care!Wibblefishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12170885091117064057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308645.post-26083773382604883922016-03-28T17:47:00.002+01:002016-03-28T17:47:57.170+01:00Advance Warning #1: Racing Gears Advance<div style="text-align: center;">
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Way back in the early days of my YouTube channel, I made a short lived series called Nintendo Night, where I would talk about some of my favourite games for the various Nintendo platforms. Back then I was making my videos by shooting the screen with an iPhone 3GS, and basically making it up as I went along. These videos are rather embarrassing to watch nowadays, so I have decided to remake some of them, starting with the one I did about a rather overlooked GBA title called <i><b>Racing Gears Advance</b></i>. I don't have a huge collection of GBA cartridges - around two dozen or so - but I am going to cover more games for the system later on so I have started this new series called Advance Warning. With the help of my Retron 5, I will be able to bring you some nice clear footage of the games I'm covering. So let's get on with taking another look at <i><b>Racing Gears Advance</b></i>!<br />
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I remember reading about this game in one of the magazines that I used to buy around the time of its release, and thinking it looked really cool from the screen shots. I love top down racers like <i><b>Championship Sprint</b></i>, <i><b>Micro Machines</b></i> and <i><b>Circuit Breakers</b></i>, so one look at the little cars racing around nicely detailed tracks planted the game firmly on my radar and taking a bit of a gamble, I pre ordered a copy. I remember it was fairly late in the life of the GBA, The Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap had been released not too long before it, and my imported Japanese DS fat had recently turned up from Lik-Sang, so I ended up playing most of those two games on the superior screen of the DS compared to the dingy old screen on my GBA SP AGS-001 model that I owned at the time. From the moment I put the game in and fired it up for the first time I was not disappointed - the game felt immediately responsive and intuitive to control with a nice little powerslide that could perform lifting off the acceleration button and then hammering back on to it as you turned into a corner.<br />
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The graphics are nice and bright, and compared to most games on the GBA, they are very nicely detailed indeed. Little things like the way the trees move in the breeze and the way your cars suspension reacts when going over cobblestones or a wooden bridge are great little touches that help to set <i><b>Racing Gears Advance</b></i> apart from the average crapware that was sadly so common on the system. The tracks are pretty diverse in their nature, and consist of scenic rural areas like vineyards, treacherous snowy mountain tracks, shipyards, and even an active volcano! Backing up the graphics is some very strong audio as well - particularly the music. Again, music of this quality is fairly rare on the GBA, and the actual tunes remind me of SID music from the C64. It is most definitely of a retro chiptune style, and even features some voice samples in tunes such as the catchy People Mover. Sound effects are decent enough as well, but are a bit overshadowed by the music. There's a variety of skidding effects, explosions and the like, which all add to the overall quality of the game.<br />
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So that's the presentation addressed, but let's now focus on the game play. Initially, the game is a lot of fun indeed as you bomb around the circuits, building up money reserves from both pickups on the track itself and from winnings after placing in the races. Each cup, of which there are five, consists of five races, so there's a very decent 25 tracks in total in the game. At the end of a championship, the points are tallied and the final placing revealed. If you come first, then you get to move on to the next championship, anything less and you will have to try again. You are never actually faced with a game over screen, which is quite nice. Before each race, you can take a look at the map, see roughly how difficult the track is, check surface type and the weather. These last two things are important, because if you were go race on snow with your slicks equipped, or if you had dry tires on when it was raining, you would really struggle to control your car and also maintain a decent speed in the race. So as you earn cash in the events, you should be buying new types of tire. That's not all though, your car itself is also upgradeable - you can level up the engine, the turbo, the armour, the brakes and finally, the weapon cells. As you progress through the different cups you will discover that it is absolutely necessary to upgrade your car in order to be competitive.<br />
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You can also take damage as well, which can get pretty expensive to fix. Finally, there are many different weapons to buy in the game. At first you just get access to nitrous and basic missiles, but with each new cup that's unlocked you will be allowed to buy more and more types of weapon. Later types include mines that do a significant amount of damage to anyone unlucky to drive over them, and heat seeking missiles. In addition to weaponry, each character has their own innate special ability as well. One of them can steal cash by bumping into other cars, another one can mess up your steering temporarily, which can be infuriating. That brings to my one major problem with the game. By the time you get to around the third championship, the majority of the weapons will have been unlocked, and the computer AI starts acting like a complete bastard. Within the first few seconds of a race it's quite likely that you will have been shot, spun out, run into level mines, and bashed into for good measure. A decent race can easily be ruined by the overaggressive opponents, and it can become infuriating. You can go back to previous championships, grind for money and gradually level your cars so that you can then easily win the current championship, so at least you won't get stuck, but this does make the game feel like a bit of a grind at times.<br />
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Despite these few problems though, <i><b>Racing Gears Advance</b></i> still stands out as one of the best third party games released for the GBA, yet it's one that I never ever hear anyone talking about. When I checked the price for this review, I was surprised to find that there were copies available on Amazon.co.uk for around £28. That's not an insignificant amount by any means, but I was thinking it would be worth £50 at the absolute minimum. If you get the opportunity, you really should check this game out, either through emulation or by spending a bit of a genuine copy. Despite the frustrating game play in the latter stages on the championship mode it remains a lot of fun to play and is a title that I still return to frequently today. I'll be back with another edition of Advance Warning in the not too distant future, as well as bringing all the other videos that I've been promising for a while. In the meantime, take care!
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