Christmas Wish-list

With a ton of great games already slated for 2017 – games like Horizon: New Dawn, Red Dead Redemption 2 and of course the Nintendo Switch – and with that being said this list is not about that.

What I want to get into today is to talk about the things I would love to see (at least announced) in the next year.

1)  Resident Evil 7 to be a solid game: I played the demo and I admit I’m impressed. The game looks great and it plays in such a different way than the last few that I played. I can only hope that this is a return to the glory that Capcom once was known for.

2) A new Darksiders game: This series has been something that I have loved for a long time. I bought Darksiders for Xbox 360, then again for PS3 and of course the collector’s edition of Darksiders 2 and both remasters on PS4…With Nordic games taking over the franchise – and then subsequently re-branding themselves as THQ Nordic – one can only hope that their re-masters are just a first step towards furthering the IP. I know everyone else who loves this series is waiting for the same thing – a four player co-op with the last two Horsemen.

3) A story expansion to Overwatch: Arguably the games only real failing is the lack of a some kind of campaign mode. The game is amazing and Blizzard is doing a great job at supporting it. And yes, we have gotten some insight from the character videos, but nothing on the level of really showing us what is going. Blizzard has shown the ability to create some PvE content – so if we can get Junkenstein’s Revenge and the Mei Snowball Fight – then we can get some classic battles from the early days of Overwatch. Let’s see the Omnic Crisis, etc. If Injustice can do it – surely the Game of the Year from Blizzard can accomplish something better.

4) A release date for Kingdom Hearts 3: Final Fantasy XV is finally out. And the team who had been working on that project are now free. So how about letting us know when to expect KH3 Square Enix? I know that 2.8 is due out very soon after the new year, so hopefully that means an announcement is likely to follow soon thereafter. But I’ve had this game pre-ordered since 2013 – so I’m eagerly anticipating this game coming out.

5) More Marvel: So we’re getting an Insomniac Spider-Man. That’s a huge step for the Marvel Universe. It’s the first (hopefully) of many towards having a series that’s equivalent to the Rocksteady Batman games. But now we need to expand it. Iron Man, Dr. Strange, Daredevil – there are a ton of great characters to choose from who would adapt themselves well to video games. And there are a ton of great developers who could make them: Insomniac is a great start. How about Sucker Punch, Bethesda or Gearbox? Sucker Punch already showed they have the chops with the amazing Infamous: Second Son. And, while we’re at it…

6) How about another Infamous game: Second Son was so amazing. And frankly – it has been one of the flagship titles of the PS4. They proved with Second Son that they could put in a completely new protagonist, take it out of the game world already created (to an extent) and placed it in the real world (again, to an extent) and still produced a successful game in every way. So, with that in mind – where are we at?

7) World of Warcraft for consoles: I know this one is a huge stretch. But a lot less than it ever would have been. Blizzard has taken IPs like Diablo 3 from the purely PC world and put them on consoles. And no one ever thought it would work, but it did. Some would even argue that it’s better on console.

Well that’s my list. Tell me yours in the comments or hit me up on Twitter or Facebook. Till next week my faithful readers.

– The Ego

Rebuttle

Ok, so this post is a response to the following article I read on IGN last week (PSX and GOTY took precedence over me writing this counter-argument). I recommend reading it before reading this.

Here’s the link.

First off, in case this hasn’t become abundantly clear through my use of u’s in my words, I am Canadian. So I won’t be addressing the American Dream/American conflict aspects of the article. I am, however, going to break down the three aspects of the argument where I think the piece falls apart.

Guns sell/Sex Sells

Yes, of course this is true. People love to be excited and titillated. And, just like sex in games and movies, if it’s just shoe-horned in there for no other reason than because ‘who doesn’t like a bunch of violence and some fucking?’ – then I agree it’s stupid and it’s hindering the game. I’m no prude or violence abolitionist – but when something is there for no reason but to serve itself (like 90% of the sex in shows like True Blood) – it annoys me. And in those cases, I would agree that it is just a hindrance. It won’t further serve the art form, and it won’t lead to more great games being made. But one could easily make that argument for a number of things that hold the medium back. Once again – there is no one thing that is stopping the progression of games from getting better.

The Bioshock Paradox

So, the “ludonarrative dissonance” mentioned as the main issue with the series is mistaken, flat out. The whole thing about Bioshock is it’s a morality tale in story and in play. Put a man in a chaotic situation and make him fend for his life – and survival instincts are going to kick in. But where the “dissonance” fails to rear its head is in the choices you make – slaughter the Little Sisters for power and become a monster. Save them, and be a hero. And this choice has nothing to do with guns. The Last of Us is a perfect game to go hand-in-hand with Bioshock on this point. Is there combat? Yes, but it’s presence is not the aspect of the game anyone is (necessarily) praising it for. The guns in this game are simply a vehicle. A mechanic to push the story forward in order to get the story out of it. Could you do it without the guns? Definitely. And it would make a great movie. Does the action/inclusion of guns as a medium hinder the actual story or the message that Ken Levine is trying to get across? Not in the least. If anything, I would argue that the gameplay, in this case, is the most minor part of the series.

Playing it Safe

Is there laziness in the gaming industry? Fuck yes. Like any industry. Sometimes it’s just easier to make another game where you just shoot a bunch of dudes and forget about it. Where the story is just a reason to shoot more people. I get that. The same way the music industry pawns off derivative clones of pop music stars whose albums are nigh-indistinguishable. And there are times where the guns are there for no other reason than people like shooting people in games. I do agree, in a sense, that FPS games like Doom, CoD, etc are safe AAA games to make. They have a following, and they don’t require much in the way of “creativity” to an extent. But the genre of gun-heavy games compared to the rest of the industry is a relatively small number. For every CoD there is a Portal, Skyrim, Diablo, Final Fantasy, Heavy Rain and the list goes on.

So, thesis statement: Are guns holding the medium back? No. Are there numerous games with heavy-handed (gun) violence shoe-horned in to create appeal? Definitely. But the medium, as stated, is in its infancy and it is already proving that it is more than a one trick pony.

– The Ego

First Final Fantasy Foray

In an uncharacteristic show of competence, Canada Post delivered my copy of World of Final Fantasy first thing in the morning Thursday. Granted – it was two days late – but that was Amazon’s fault. I digress.

I know I don’t traditionally do reviews (they’ve reared their heads a few times) but I was pretty excited to check this game out – it was the outlier in all of my pre-orders for the next year or so. I’m only about 10 hours in, but I think I’ve got a good grasp on it.

Pros:

So this game plays extremely well. It’s a combination of the standard Final Fantasy trope and Pokemon. Basically you need to be constantly hunting down, capturing and leveling creatures called Mirages (basically Final Fantasy Pokemon).

The mechanics are solid, once you get used to them. The whole concept surrounds catching different typical FF monsters and recruiting them to your party and then creating stacks with your own characters. Once you dig into the way the whole thing works, you can come up with some pretty cool combinations. The only problem is that there are too many cool mirages to pick from! The battle system works somewhere in between some of the more recent Final Fantasy games (like FF13) and classic FF and it’s all turn based. I mean, you can use their new battle commands where you can short cut everything, or you can change it back to the old menu – which is what I’m obviously using. The other really cool thing worth mentioning is the appearance of tons of classic FF characters. Cloud, Squall, Sephiroth – just to name a few show up as “champions” which function as one of the summons in the game.

The music, for any old school fans, is something worth paying attention to as well. If you listen closely, you’ll hear a lot of classic tunes remixed for the game.

And so far – the story is pretty solid. There’s enough intrigue to keep me hooked, and the characters are interesting and believable…with a few exceptions. I mean, this isn’t Shakespeare, but it’s classic FF. Classic JRPG.

Cons:

I only have three complaints:

1. Graphics. Well, not the graphics persay, but the choice of art style. For some reason Square decided to go with a Nenodroid style of character for pretty much everyone in the world – including the PCs (except that you can also grow big to a normal looking character as well). Otherwise, the game is bright and colourful and looks great.
2. For whatever reason (I’m assuming for comedic purposes) they made the male lead (Lann) a total idiot whose reactions to things are long past hamming it up. I mean, Shatner would shake his head at this guy on his worst day. Now, I guess it’s good that they didn’t just automatically make the sister (Reynn) dumb by default, but I think they could have skipped making either of them stupid in some poor attempt to make them “funny”.
3. Finally: Tama. The dialogue coming out of this things mouth makes me wonder what Square was thinking? It’s so bad, it makes me wonder who I hate more. Tama or Navi.
   
   If I were a religious man, I’d wonder if the devil created Tama to test my willingness to murder. Basically: Tama puts the word “the” needlessly in front of words that just don’t make a lick of fucking sense. As a writer, it baffles me endlessly. As a gamer, I want to see bad things happen to whoever thought it was a good idea.

 

Would I buy it at full price? Yes. The mixture of the two tropes works. Square was smart to capitalise on the Pokemon gameplay and the classic FF aspects just work. It’s a colourful and fun to play game that boasts a 50+ hour campaign. Despite what IGN said – I don’t find the battle system wears over time. All I can say is: If you weren’t prepared to grind – you’re in the wrong game IGN.

– The Ego

 

We built this city

No, not on rock and roll, but on a mountain of backlogged games. No, I’m not going to drone on for 600 words about how I’m backlogged to all Hell and how life is busy, etc. No, today I think I’m going to talk about what I am playing. I’d like to know what other people are playing. Are you staying current? I know I’m not. And frankly, till someone starts paying me to do this, I don’t foresee myself catching up. So here’s where I’m at:

Overwatch: Yup, I’m still playing this. I had taken some time off of it after the first competitive season – which kind of broke me. I just don’t understand why people who are terrible play competitive. Well, I do. There’s an exclusive item involved. Part of the problem with Blizzard games is that they’re grindy. You see a guy with a crazy high level and your normal reaction is to think “phew, someone who knows how to play” but really all you’re seeing (with exceptions, of course) is someone who dumped (likely) hundreds of hours into the game – win or lose.

Rant aside – it’s still a really fun game. I like putting myself to the test in games like that. And I like that there are over 20 characters for me to choose from. And I’ve taken to the most unlikely character too – Zarya. She’s a challenge to play well. Ever since I read the article about the Korean girl who ended the career of two pros, the character intrigued me. I even picked up this awesome print from Johnni Kok at a comic con:

If you like that, you can find his page here.

All in all, it’s one of Blizzards best games. Definitely crushed poor Gearbox’s Battleborn. Like Blue Rodeo said – just bad timing I guess.

GTA V Online – I played a bit of this when the game first came out. Played more when I upgraded to the PS4 version. But since they released the Bikers update – I’ve been all over this game. Like many, I’m a huge Sons of Anarchy fan. And I’ve always had a soft spot for bikes. Runs in the family and I’m just waiting for the day I can buy my own and ride it across the country. I liked the Heists update. They are REALLY fun – at least the actual final missions anyway. The lead-ups are pretty tedious. Well, most anyway. But the Bikers expansion finally let me dress and ride like I have been trying to for the length time I’ve been playing this game in the first place. Plus the buying and running of the illicit businesses hearkens back to the good old days of Vice City. Now, they businesses aren’t as clandestine, or as “fun”, because you just straight up own a weed farm or coke lock-up, but it’s a fun addition nonetheless.

Lastly, I’ll drop a demo in here:

World of Final Fantasy: Played through the whole demo, and I spent some time just running around Grimoire trying to check out all of the monsters. At first – I didn’t get it. The whole stacking thing threw me off. But in the end – I loved it. It’s one new game that I’ll push my backlog back for. I’m a sucker for a good Final Fantasy game. Admittedly, it’s a bit too cutesy for me. But the core game and the mechanics are solid. I watched the IGN “review” just for giggles. I don’t disagree with everything – but their reviews are generally pretty bad. At least with the video version, I didn’t have to suffer through the typos…

Now – if only Amazon had the foresight to, I don’t know, ship my game ahead of time instead of making me wait till the end of the week. If I had it in hand, I’d be writing a review of it, instead of the demo. So, I guess once I sink a few hours into it, I’ll give you something more in-depth.

– The Ego

A good deal is a good deal…

I feel like this is part of the blog where I have to admit that I have a problem. Yes, I’m a game addict. The fact that I write this blog, keep myself up to date on basically all of the comings and goings of the industry – regardless of the fact that I only really play on one console – more than proves that.

However, when a good deal comes up, I’d be crazy not to grab it, wouldn’t I? Wouldn’t I?!

Well, either way, I buy when something catches my eye.

To be frank, I think the times cry out for us to be savvy shoppers. Between the incessant amount of marketing we’re subject to as gamers (read: consumers) and the hype machine surrounding some games and the proliferation of games in general, watching for a good price on a good game is paramount. Would I like to be able to purchase every game new on release day? Absolutely. Unfortunately, I’m finding more and more that that is not a realistic goal.

I know, I know. I keep rounding this bend incessantly. No time and no money make me go something something.

In the last five days I’ve picked up three games: Farcry 4, Kingdom Hearts 2.5 and the Handsome collection. None of those games are going to be quick plays. But at the prices I got them? Steals. The whole lot of them. I felt a bit like that Ikea commercial the lady runs to her car.

This might actually be Hell. I feel a bit like Tantalus. Except that the controller is always just out of reach, but the deals on games just keep piling up in front of me. It’s a race against my credit card.

There is a silver lining here though. For a change, I’m not just airing a grievance with some aspect of the industry, or combating real life. The silver lining, as it were, is that I’m getting myself primed and pumped for some up-coming, and likely-to-be awesome titles. Like Kingdom Hearts 3!

I remember when I was still at university, and I was on my PS2 (dating myself again), I had gotten a game as a gift from my girlfriend at the time. Just to show you how long ago this was, EB Games was still a good company that was easy to deal with and really cared about making gamers happy. So, I’d gotten Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain 2. I was very excited, and I dove into it. Unfortunately, the copy I ended up with was a dud. After a week of playing it, I couldn’t progress past a certain part. So, we went back to EB to see what they’d be willing to do, and at the time (decent, but in the distant past) they had a promotion where you could buy a game, play it for two weeks, and trade it in for a new game of equal value. Take a second, I don’t want anyone falling off of their chairs on my account.

The whole point of the last paragraph: I took a chance on what could have been a potentially awful game. I mean, Disney + Final Fantasy = fun? I had a hard time buying into the concept. But the guy working there urged me to it. Plus, I had two weeks to change my mind. Anyway, I did it. And now it’s one of the most anticipated games of this generation for me.

Long story short: I bought a bunch of games, but now I get to do a whole KH marathon before the new one comes out. Nostalgia a plenty for this gamer.

I guess the long and the short of my single-malt diatribe is: Sometimes it’s worth taking a chance on a game, even if that means burying yourself under a whole mountain of un-played games. And frankly, if I can juggle keeping this blog up, real life and a job with my gaming, then you surely can do me one better.

– The Ego

If I say please?

Sorry for the delayed posting. I’ve been out of commission for the last three days. I tried to write something, but it ended up somewhere between a grocery list and a Thompson-esque flashback.

I’m not going to lie here gamers:

I’d probably pillage a village for Square-Enix to make another Final Fantasy Tactics. Hell, I’d settle for an HD remaster/remake.

I think that Tactics is one of the closest games to a Shakespearian epic as any game will ever get. And don’t get me wrong –  there are better written games out there. But that game has everything. If Machiavelli and Shakes used fusion or had a thought baby, that’d be FFT. The game has everything:

Politics
Murder
Family betrayals
War
Religion
Magic
Dragons

What more could one ask?

You know, as I’m writing this, I think I’ve re-bought that game at least four times…I used to rent it a couple times a month too, you know, in the 90’s when people still rented games. Man, I’m dating myself again. But yea. I bought it on PS1 used, it broke. Then I bought it again on PS1 to replace it. Again on the PSN and on mobile. I don’t think I’ve ever bought the same game that many times before (and yea, that includes the latest influx of re-releases and remasters).

I don’t think there’s been a game that’s impacted me as much as that game did. I remember finishing it for the first time and for those of you who haven’t had the pleasure, stop reading now. Seriously.

*SPOILERS*

Ok, you’ve seen it then. When they’re all standing around the grave of Ramza and Alma and everyone is sad, man. I won’t lie, I shed a few manly tears. And then they go by! Oh boy. That’s an ending. And if you were patient, and you saw Delita’s finale. That’s the good stuff there.

Try and watch this without flinching.

*SPOILERS OVER*

It’s so refreshing to be able to look back at some of those influential games. I think that’s something that the gaming industry needs to do from time to time. I find that the indie developers that hearken back to the good ‘ole days are the people who are able to take that perspective and work with it.

The big guys only seem to be able to see the big sellers from the last generation. Which, don’t get me wrong, is great in it’s own special way. Like when your dog brings you a dirty stick, but looks so happy doing it, you can’t help but smile and take it from him.

There are some games I’m glad they’re remastering. Like Darksiders 2. I think THQ was too far into closing that they couldn’t work out all of the problems that game had. And, given the state of affairs, I wasn’t dropping extra moolah on DLC. No sir. But now that it’s in the hands of a company that has the drive and support to potentially push the franchise further, I’ll slide a few bills in their collective g-string.

I’m going to take a break and say: One thing I would want, more than just a remake, is someone to fix the awful localization. There are just too many grammar and word choice errors in it. It makes my brain hurt.

That aside – just tell me what I have to do to get the game done over, and I’ll do it. Make a Kickstarter, I’ll fund it. Base it on pre-orders, everyone I know is getting it as a stocking stuffer. Just please, make the little boy in me (that looks as weird written as it sounds aloud) happy once again and give me the chance to make a Monk/Ninja and a Black Wizard/Summoner with some badass looking graphics in 4K!

I’ve been good this year. I helped a lot of old ladies carry their groceries and acted extra nice to people I didn’t need to. Give me Tactics.

– The Ego