Battleborn is Still A Blast to Play

Battleborn came out just over a year ago. I was immediately drawn to the game due to it's super slick, cartoony, hero-shooter style. Sadly, it came out the same time as that bigger hero-shooter, Overwatch, and dumb marketing pit the two games against each other, even though they play completely different from each other. Overwatch, as we know, is an objective based shooter, similar to Team Fortress 2. Battleborn, is more of a MOBA shooter, as its main PVP type modes, Incursion and Meltdown focus on battling through lanes with teams of 5, and escorting minions to key points, all the while fighting other players, and killing the opposing teams minions.

I enjoy Battleborn, a lot.

The PVP of the game is fairly deep, due to the gear system that Gearbox implemented, which is similar to other MOBAs. In other MOBAs, there's usually assorted gear or items, or what have you, that can be purchased as the game goes on, that affects your characters stats. This allows you to build heroes a certain way and play to your play style. This is how it is in Battleborn as well. As you play the game, you can get gear, which you can set up for your games, to be purchased and used in game. Things like, increasing reload speed, increasing healing or even reducing the cost to build things in game which can help your team out. I love this. I've been playing around with different builds on different characters, and load outs for one are different than setups for others.

The addition of an actually pretty cool main story, with 8 PVE missions helps a ton. Plus, the added DLC Ops missions have added even more lore and story to the game, although the Oscar Mike Ops is easily the weakest of the bunch. Even after replaying missions, i'm still picking up on things that I missed before, and it makes me want to delve further into the lore of the game. It honestly is a very cool world that has been created, and hopefully we see more of it in the future.

That being said, Battleborn definitely deserves more love.

Gearbox has at least started a free trial, and basically made the PVP free-to-play for all on PS4, Xbox One and PC. You can download it, jump in, and while having access to only 6 characters a week for free, you can pay to unlock others, or unlock private matches and such. If you like the game, then you can buy it and have access to all the PVE levels and get into Ops stuff as well. These are definitely the best way to go to get gear, which helps you out a ton in PVP.

It's nice to see that Gearbox keeps supporting the game, and that the community, while small, keeps working to keep the game alive as well. It's a fantastic shooter, that has a lot more depth than many other shooters that i've played. If anyone wants to play sometime let me know, as i'll be continuing to work on trophies and lore challenges for players. Seriously, this game deserves more love.

A Recap

Wow. I honestly can't believe how long it's been since I wrote on this little blog. It's not that I haven't been gaming much, I definitely still do, mostly it's just I have been writing for other sites and such. That being said, I should contribute to this a little bit more so I can write about, well whatever I feel like writing about.

Since it's been quite some time, I suppose I should say that since last writing the Wii U officially ended production, and the Switch has come out. We still play our Wii U however, and there are still plenty of great games left that I have not played. As for the Switch, well it's a fantastic little machine, and I love that you can play games at home and then bring the console on the go with you. My son definitely enjoys being able to play Mario Kart and Blaster Master on the go, and playing with the joy cons detached and the screen set up on a table, well it's great for long ferry rides. The newest Nintendo fighter, ARMS, is out today, so we will be getting our copy later.

As for PS4 gaming, still lots of games to play, though I mostly play Paragon or Battleborn as of late. I just enjoy the MOBA elements added to the action/shooter genres I guess. I've definitely played a ton of Destiny, and am looking forward to playing some Destiny 2 with my brothers and buddies once it drops in September. Also, Horizon: Zero Dawn and Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, both amazing games, and one of the two will most likely be game of the year.

Anyways, that's a recap, i'll try and write a bit more, more often and let everyone know what I am gaming. Cheers all!

Gearing up for the End of the Year Releases

September has come and gone and with it there were some pretty significant releases. Bungie released Destiny: the Taken King which essentially gave the game an overhaul and made a ton of great changes, and added an all new raid, new strikes, new PVP maps and new subclasses. Now that it's October there are even more AAA releases on their way and some that are pretty interesting.

The Uncharted Collection is coming out right away, and based on some hands on time with the demo it looks like they've really given the games just the right amount of polish. It seems like they will be quality games to dig into and prep for Uncharted 4 with, however I know I will hold off for a little while on the collection. Speaking of big franchises, both the new Assassin's Creed and Halo 5 are coming out this month. Honestly, I've heard a few people talking about Halo 5 and how excited they are but for the most part it seems like there is not a lot of fanfare for the release, and even less for the new Assassin's Creed.

Probably the release I am most excited for is Star Wars Battlefront. The beta launches in a few days and I'm excited to get some time in with the game, to see how it plays and looks, although so far it looks pretty phenomenal. Star Wars hype is building and I'm pretty sure that this will pay off for EA. I personally love the Battlefront games and am excited to have the series back.

What about Nintendo though? Well they have quite a few 3DS games on the way. Recently Animal Crossing Happy Home Designer came out, which isn't my cup of tea, decorating homes only, but i'm sure there is a market for it. Sadly the new Star Fox has been pushed back into the new year, to January, but i'm going to assume that it may get pushed back further. So for Christmas that leaves the Animal Crossing Amiibo Festival Party game, and Mario Tennis, which don't really seem like system sellers, but i'm sure that Nintendo will push Mario Maker for Christmas. The game i'm most excited about is Xenoblade Chronicles X, which is out in December. Ready to put a solid 100 hours into exploring that title.

That's what i'm looking forward to, what about you all?

How was Splatoon's first Splatfest?

This past weekend Nintendo's Splatoon had it's first community event, titled Splatfest. For this one day event you were to choose a side, either Cats or Dogs (it will change each time they run Splatfest) and you will be matched up with players of the same chosen side and face off against the other team. For 24 hours the focus was on who was better, Cats or Dogs, and not so surprisingly Dogs came out on top.

How the event worked was instead of the usual modes that you would play, all were replaced with Splatfest, and unlike the usual 2 map, 4 hour rotation, these 3 maps stayed the entire day. I heard some people were a little tired of playing the same 3 maps for the whole day, but there were some other little changes that seemed to make it less painful for most. Most importantly you had the option of staying together with the team that you were matched with. If you had a stinker of a team, then you'd just get matched up with others if you liked following the games. However, if you and your teammates really clicked you could stick with them. No idea why it isn't like this in the regular modes, but i'm sure down the road that could change.

It also had a little ranking system similar to what Destiny uses in Iron Banner, where you got xp at the end of a match, whether you win or lose, and you rank up, from being a fanboy or fangirl to king or queen. As well though, you are awarded super sea snails which you can use to upgrade gear or reroll abilities on gear owned. The ranking and snails get players to keep on playing, and striving for the best gear and title. Also what should be noted is that the higher your rank, the more snails you will be awarded, so it's best to keep playing, rank up, and get even more snails.

The event seemed to go off rather smoothly, though I expected either of the last couple maps to finally be unlocked in this Splatfest; i'm sure however they'll pop up soon enough if not for the next one. Sadly I was only able to get a few games in, but they were very intense, fun, and different enough that it made the daylong event seem like something to get excited about when they announce the next one.

All in all, Splatoon continues to be one of the games that has lived up to what I had hoped it would be and something that I definitely need to spend a bit more time on. If you have a Wii U and don't have this game, well, rectify the situation.

My Top 3 Most Wanted Games

So now that E3 has come and gone, and we are excited once again about what is coming out in the near future, I just wanted to touch on what games I am most excited about. There are more than a couple that I can't wait for but I thought I would quickly recap the ones I am most excited for.

3) Horizon - PS4

Guerrilla Games is best known for their work on the Killzone franchise but they are finally breaking out of that bubble and working on a brand new IP and it looks stellar. Horizon is a post-post apocalyptic action RPG and from what i've seen and read so far, it should be pretty amazing. Graphically the game looks insane already, and it follows the main character as she journeys across the landscape taking on giant robot dinosaurs (that's basically what they are). It looks like it mixes things like the Witcher with Monster Hunter, and you can get pieces from the robots you take down and use them to craft new gear and such, like a MH game. Definitely can't wait for this to come out.

2) Last Guardian - PS4

This game originally was announced almost a decade ago, originally for the PS3, and it seemed to die, but thankfully Sony has brought it back. It is from what used to be known as Team Ico, a small team, and it's about a boy and his umm, bird cat monster thing, as you traverse desolate castles and build a bond between the two. You should just watch the video and then you'll know what i'm talking about. Ico and Shadow of the Colossus are two of my all time favourite games so I am very happy to see that this isn't dead.

1) Fire Emblem Fates - 3DS

I love the Fire Emblem series. I love strategy RPGs and this series has been at the top of my list for about a decade now, and thankfully since Fire Emblem Awakening did so good we are getting a new one. Apparently there are two versions that you can get, a White one and a Black one, with the White version being the traditional one starring characters like Marth and Lucina and so forth, and is a bit more straightforward. The other version, Black, is apparently a bit more of a challenge. Thing is you buy one of them, and if you want the second one you pay an extra $20 to unlock it. I am very excited for this game, even if I don't like how they're handling the versions. However, there is so much content to the game and things like online vs modes, so we will definitely get a solid bang for the buck. This is out in the spring and it will definitely give me something to do when i'm gaming on the go.

What is going on with Nintendo?

So I haven't talked about the Nintendo E3 press conference, or digital event, as it's been a couple crazy weeks since then, but thought I would share some thoughts on what's gone on.

Mostly, I was pretty disappointed.

If you read this blog at all then you'd know that I am a big Nintendo fan. I'm a dad and just want nothing more than to play Nintendo games with my kids as they grow up, as I grew up on the games and love them and love the new games. I look forward to E3 time and seeing what is coming up from Nintendo, but sadly, there's not a lot really, especially for Wii U.

I know that they have stated that they don't like to show off games in the far off future like Sony or Microsoft do, and that's also probably because they're making games for the new system, the NX, and are more focused on that. But when you don't even show off anything to tease with the new Zelda game that they have insisted is still coming out next year, well I was pretty bummed.

The new Star Fox looks pretty underwhelming in my opinion. I'm sure it'll be fun, but when it comes out in November I'll be playing Battlefront more than likely. At least Xenoblade Chronicles X is out in December just after my birthday, which I am excited for. They did show off Yoshi's Wooly World, which looks cute, and for some reason is out all over the world except for North America. Guessing they wanted to stagger the release so they had some bigger titles for the fall, plus to give them time to make Yoshi amiibo for us? There was a new Animal Crossing party game teased but mostly looks to once again make use of amiibo, and gameplay wise looks like a less skilled version of Mario Party (so even more so based on chance than regular Mario Party). There was a lot more for 3DS, but the "Metroid" game looks pretty bland, and the new Zelda 3DS game is also not that interesting to me.

Not sure what I was really hoping for, but it just seemed that a number of the games were made to sell me amiibo, or were just some generic titles with IP slapped on it. I know that they are aware of the general disappointment that was in the air following the digital event, and have said they will do better to communicate better and create better experiences, and I believe them, but still after that event i'm still bummed about release calendar for Nintendo games for the rest of this year.

Maybe next year will be better.

On Destiny

I just went back and looked at what I had written about Destiny, after having played the Alpha and the Beta. It's been about ten months since the game came out, and while I have also picked up a number of games here and there, really the bulk of my time still goes into Destiny.

It has definitely not quite lived up to my original hype, and has fallen quite short as far as the story goes. There's hints of greatness still in the game, stories that are waiting to be told, but for whatever reason it just hasn't happened yet. The original lead writer on the game left a little bit before the game came out, and many have hypothesized that the original story that Bungie wanted to tell had some ambiguous greys in it and wasn't strictly a black and white affair with guardians of light versus the Darkness. The theories do make some sense and I can see having had that story scrapped and moving eventually towards something else happen, and the patch job was a bunch of grimoire cards that were hastily written up and tossed on the website.

Regardless, Destiny has been a great social experience and that is why I have put hundreds and hundreds of hours into the game. I've gotten to play and stay in touch with my brothers back in Alberta, my former coworkers, game with new coworkers, but mostly meet a ton of new friends in the clans I have been a part of, whether it be Dads of Destiny or my favourite Christian chums in Below the Cross. I have done countless raids, done my weeklies every week, even participated in a couple Iron Banner events even though I'm terrible at pvp, but I still have fun because of the people I play with.

Lately there's been a lot of controversy over the pricing of the upcoming expansion the Taken King, and especially the pricing of the legendary versions that have some exclusive items attached. I'm kind of interested in the class items but not for the money, and after the uproar and lashing back against Bungie I'm glad they have at least put the items up for sale, even if the price point is pretty steep, I think anyways. A lot of people are saying they are done with the game, have moved on, but I'm pretty sure i'll pick it up. Because it's about the social experience for me and I still have fun with the game. Just hoping that they start to fulfill on the game I had originally gotten excited for and add a great story, because the opportunity is there, and hopefully Taken King gets it back on track.

Ocarina Adventures

I have been enjoying Ocarina of Time 3D a lot more than I did the last time around. I'm still at the beginning of the game but am finding it much more enjoyable than my first time playing it. Yes, I know it's blasphemous that I haven't beaten the game, let alone made it very far in at all really, but I never had an N64 back in the day.

After my time with the SNES I made the jump over to the Playstation, mostly thanks to Square and their development for Sony's fledgling system. I make it no secret that FFVI is my all-time favourite game and all i wanted was FFVII, more than anything pretty much. When Nintendo started showing off the N64 I remember being wowed by Mario 64, and really interested in Wave Race, but there wasn't a ton that I wanted. However, Sony had lined up a great number of publishers for their new system and I eventually got one with Beyond the Beyond (a terrible game btw, stay far away from it). My good friend had an N64 and I would play Ocarina with him and really liked it, but it was never enough for me to warrant purchasing one.

That reminds me, I need to buy an N64.

Anyways, I've been enjoying Ocarina 3D. I really enjoy the areas and my first time going through that monstrous field is still as impressive as the first time I played it. It still feels epic, even after playing newer RPGs like Dragon Age: Inquisition. Looking forward to playing it some more this week, and perhaps Link Between Worlds if I can snag it for cheap.

A Recap of What's Going On

Well it has been a while since I posted on here, and I have decided to get things back on track. I will be writing more frequently about whatever I am playing, as I have quite a bit on the go and more coming up.

Mostly I have taken a bit of a breather on Destiny. I have one character, my Warlock, at level 32, my Hunter is level 31 and then my lowly Titan is level 4 (he was made mostly to store items on as my vault is full). I have beaten Crota on hard once, and normal many times, I have SUROS, Gjallarhorn, multiple Icebreakers and more now, so there isn't much for me to do, other than pop on tuesday mornings to do nightfall with my buddies, or raid on the weekend with my brothers and friends. The new dlc isn't coming out until late April or probably May so i'll just take it easy until then.

I have gotten back into Dragon Age Inquisition though and it's been great. Such a fantastic game. Amazing world, crazy environments and very memorable characters. I am technically halfway through the game though I have only put about 20 hours into it. I have also really only been to 3 of the 10 areas so I have a long ways to go. Multiplayer on that is also fantastic, I highly recommend it.

As for what's next, well I am still trying to track down a copy of Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate. That game looks like so much fun and quite a few of my friends have been playing it. I however did just start Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and this time I am going to stick with it and actually get somewhere.

That's it for now, maybe i'll update on Zelda in a day or two. Cheers all!

Wrapping Up The End of The Year

Well the last couple of months have been pretty crazy for me. Me and my wife welcomed our second child into the world and thus life has been busy. I haven't had a ton of time to play, but when I have, well it's been Destiny. After almost 3 months and over 60 hours (which is a lot for me) I still come back to Destiny day after day. A lot of people have had issues with it and dropped it after weeks, but whenever I have friends online we are all over it, and if not then i'm just working on bounties and such. So i've been mostly playing Destiny, however I also picked up Dragon Age: Inquisition as well as Diablo 3 for the PS4 so I have quite a bit to play. I've been busy but I am going to start on my year end list pretty soon, just wanted to touch base on how life has been and what I have been enjoying.

Also, the Wii U has been out for 2 years now and I love it even more than when I first got it. I play Destiny a lot but as far as flat out fun games, and fun times when people are over, it's all about Nintendo and their system. If you don't have a Wii U, Mario Kart 8 and Smash Bros yet, well get on out there and pick one up. Trust me, you won't regret it. Best exclusive library and next year there are even more great titles coming out. Until next time, keep on gaming.

A Destiny repost from Reddit about missing content

I just saw this and after reading that the original post had been deleted, thought I would copy and save on here. Some interesting stuff about why Destiny is lacking in what was originally promised to the audience. I really like the game, but the story is so weak, thus this is pretty interesting. Original post is as follows:

"This thread is a collection of posts and my thoughts that show how Destiny's development changed DRASTICALLY within its last year.

It is the reason why the story is lacking, the missions are repetitive, and why there are grimoire cards. A lot of shady stuff went down during the end of 2013 and beginning of 2014.

Anyway, let's start off with what the Story was supposed to be like:

STORY: This reddit post from a deleted thread Here explains how Destiny's story was originally during E3 2013. Bungie.net user Diver2441 sums up all of this here:

(Key parts are BOLDED for the lazy)

So recently a Reddit thread came to light detailing what Destiny's narrative looked like in 2013, and it's very different from the ailing excuse for a story we're presented with today: the Traveler bringing the darkness, Crow, different progression through planets and even considerable cut areas. So it becomes apparent that between mid to late 2013 and launch, Bungie gutted the story. Now this is where it gets good, something else happened back in late 2013 before the story was gutted; Joe Staten, Bungie's former lead writer left. Some may think it coincidence, but I think not.

Now the Reddit thread (which has mysteriously disappeared) outlined a story sprawling across a considerably larger solar system, and including a number of characters and factions who never so much as appear in the full game. The prime example of this is Crow, the character/faction who was set out to expose the Traveler and Speaker for in fact bringing the darkness along with the Traveler, and not the Golden Age. A specific reference to Crow can be found in the above video at 1:01, where a mission would have you assist Crow in looting the Archive on venus for details on the Vex Gatelord (which is in fact a mission we end up doing in the main game, but Crow is clearly not a part of it). The Gatelord was said to contain a way to access a pre-Collapse AI construct who had the ability to expose the Traveler, and we can see this in the form of the inaccessible Bunker RAS2.

Even in the PvP, we see a reference to "faction wars" at 1:20 in the video, so it appears that justification and explanation for the different factions in the tower was cut as well.

Destiny's current half assed story starts to make a little more sense when we apply the context that the entire narrative was gutted less than a year before launch, and remade without Bungie's lead writer. Why Joe left, and why Bungie felt the need to completely gut the story of the game and cut huge areas is beyond me, but it's abundantly obvious that there's a lot more going on than meets the eye.

WHAT THE STORY WAS RE-WRITTEN INTO: Grimoire Cards. I'm currently trying to find the post where I discovered this Check Edit2 for Source, but basically back in February 2014, a man was hired to write all the Grimoire Cards. This was clearly the solution to trying to incorporate as much story as possible with what little story was actually in the game. This also is most likely the reason why there is no Grimoire UI in-game, because it was far too close to release to actually incorporate such a thing.

UNUSED LOCATIONS AND FEATURES:

Continuing from Diver2441's post, he mentions:

If we look at an article from 2013 and the reveal ViDoc, it becomes very obvious that the game we have today is vastly different from what it was as little as around a year ago. For starters there are references to areas such as Old Chicago, the ghost fleet in the rings of Saturn, Charlemagne's Vault, and others that very clearly never made it into the full game, despite being fully made and playable around a year ago. Additionally, at 3:24 in the video above, we see an in game location in The Reef, and from 3:43 - 3:51 we see a pine forested area in game that never saw the light of day as well. Even in our own back yard of Old Russia in the retail games, we have locked off areas such as King's Watch, the Jovian Complex, and the Seraphim Vault, none of which are even mentioned in the retail game today.

CUT CONTENT BEING RESOLD AS DLC (POSSIBLY):

This video shows that the majority of the first two expansions of DLC is potentially already on the disc! Even in the beta, areas such as the King's Watch and Seripham Vault were accessible through glitches and yet are not available in the full game (Actually, these places aren't even mentioned in the DLC either!) More proof about these areas can be shown through the data dumps athttp://db.destinytracker.com

I want to note here that this doesn't mean the content is actually finished, but the idea that it could be is annoying and makes sense given the amount of content that had already been cut.

ANOTHER COINCIDENCE: Along with Bungie's Lead Writer departing for unknown reasons, we can't forget about Marty O'Donnell being fired too. We're all aware that the situation had to do with salary, but when Marty left, there was a clear bitterness between him and Bungie. Bungie had changed, and the lead writer had recognized it too. Was it Activision? Probably. But we're not being told the full story and I don't expect us to find out unfortunately.

WHAT BUNGIE SHOULD DO: There are a variety of options Bungie can do to fix these problems.

1. GIVE US THE HELD-BACK CONTENT FOR FREE: Unfortunately, this isn't very likely given Activision's greed and contracts already settled in to sell this content later. Some could also argue that it's a good thing this content is being held-back so that the game will stay alive for much longer, although I personally disagree given the lack of content available at launch.
2. GIVE US JUST THE STORY MISSIONS FOR FREE: This is a bit more reasonable and would solve the overall complaint with Destiny. We know there is a story being held back greatly, and we should not let them sell this to us as DLC.
3. GIVE US A SCHEDULE AND COMMUNICATE BETTER: This is my final plea to Bungie. The game is already out; we don't need to be left in the dark anymore. They need to tell us when content is being released and what we can expect so that we can voice our opinions better and prevent them from making more mistakes.

THOUGHTS? I know this thread is extremely long in details, but I think it needs to be seen. The Destiny today is not the Destiny we were promised or the one Bungie had even imagined. Locations, ship customization, a real story, and other deleted content were all things planned/created before last year and are all gone now. Something must be done.

(I will continue to edit this post as more info comes along).

EDIT1: Source to Diver2441's post: http://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/70651356/0/0

EDIT2: More details about the Grimoire cards and the fact that all of this "cutting out content" was very recent.

Posted by Reddit user /u/mrdabu:

...Moreover, basic game elements were removed - in the developer commentary for the gameplay reveal the bungie developer (Mike Zak, environment artist) says that the hunter could have gained his weapons and armor through trade with other players or a kind of gambling (8:12). this is not implemented in the release version. The video was released on july 8, 2013 on youtube. So the decision to cut these features out was made in the last year of a more than 5 year development period which is very uncommon.

Perhaps the story is so lame and such a mystery because of all the changes during the last year.

Then he talks about the grimoire cards which contain the story. in the forum of destiny.bungie.org a guy called general battuta says that the grimoire story was „mostly written and edited in one crazy spiny very close to launch“. (sept 14, 2014) On feb 13, 2014, he posted a thread in which he shared his excitement of being hired as a writer for bungie in seattle. this was 7 months before release.

EDIT3: Reddit user /u/PopeOwned gives a little bit more info about Bungie's Lead Writer, Joe Staten, leaving:http://www.reddit.com/r/DestinyTheGame/comments/2hk88o/spoiler_redditor_provides_insight_as_to_why/ckthwqk

EDIT4: Further proof that the story claimed by the reddit poster is TRUE: https://i.imgur.com/Xv02vmU.jpg (Thanks /u/martellus!)

EDIT5: I want to note that the demands listed are just things Bungie COULD do to fix all of this turmoil. I am not saying that we deserve anything from them, although it would be in their favor to at least communicate better with us on Destiny's future."

An Open Letter to Bungie

Dear Bungie,

I have been playing games for about two and a half decades, ever since our family got our first computer, a Commodore 64. I have put more hours than I can probably count into games and it's my favourite medium in regards to entertainment, enjoyment and engagement in storytelling. It's how games tell stories that really makes me love them more than almost anything else. I love a good RPG and really anything that has a solid story behind it. Generally I have no interest in shooters, CoD has ruined that for me probably. The stories always seem kind of tacked on and it's merely there to prep you for playing online. Not a lot of interest for this guy.

Then came something called Destiny.

Truth be told I only ever beat one of your Halo games, and that was Reach as I took it out of the library and plowed through the campaign in a few days. However, I loved the story, the characters, and the tragedy that was unfolding around me. Master Chief has always seemed too distant and I could never relate to him. However, this squad made me care about them and what was going to happen to them. That was when I really started to care about the games you guys make.

Back to Destiny.

I remember first hearing about it as the new IP that you were working on, and as more details started to surface I thought it looked pretty cool. I was down with the shoot and loot style of gameplay that has made Borderlands so popular, and the idea of MMO influences in a semi-open world shooter seemed pretty great. But once I started to read about the worlds, about the Traveller and the tragedy surrounding humanity I wanted to know more.

Then I played the Alpha, and Beta.

I was hooked.

I had so much fun playing with my family and friends, the game even convinced my one brother who had an Xbox One to sell it and get a PS4 to play with the rest of us. We even have a clan all set up for next week. This all comes down to right now, the game is a mere week away and I am so incredibly excited. I play a lot of games and get excited for some, but I have not been this excited since anticipating the end of Commander Shepard's journey in Mass Effect 3.

I'm excited to see the worlds, to explore other maps, to join up with my family members, friends and even new friends I have made in the burgeoning Destiny online community. I want to take on new Strikes, I want to get new gear, and most of all I want to take on the first Raid and see how me and my crew fare.

I love games, but this anticipation has grown greater than most other games that I have looked forward too. I highly doubt that this will let us down and I just wanted to say ahead of time thanks for the memories. I look forward to them.

Sincerely

PS4 Guardian- Virtute1979

Destiny Is Almost Here

Destiny releases on September 9th and I can't think of a title in recent memory that I have been more excited for. I have held off on watching too many of the newer trailers or seeing any new posts because I don't want the game to be too spoiled for me outside of what I played in the Alpha and Beta, but honestly the wait for the next 2 weeks is going to be too much I feel.

Destiny ad campaign at Times Square is impressive to say the least.

I am not a big fan of first person shooters, generally I am not too good at them but on occasion I like to play some FPS titles. Destiny has been one that I have really gotten a high level of interest into, partially because of the same kind of shoot and loot style of playing and rewarding that made me like the Borderlands games so much, but also for the world that Bungie has carefully been crafting for the last number of years. I am excited to get the game and start playing with my brothers and friends, in both the Story mode and also in Explore; just roaming around those gorgeous maps is something that I really can't wait for. As far as Crucible, well I am sure on occasion i'll try my hand at some versus but it's not my bag. I am in this for the story and co-op so I am pretty sure I will stay away from that mode.

The Warlock is going to be my go-to character class.

I'm excited to dig into the game but with a new baby on the way am not too sure how often I will play. However, I do recall many nights with my son where I would be up with him in the middle of the night and could not sleep so i would cradle him in my arms and then still hold a controller and play some Mass Effect or something of the sort. I'm sure it'll happen on occasion.

I can't wait to explore Destiny and while I may not have as much time to sink into it as others, it's going to be a title that I treasure for quite some time, I can feel it.

Hands-On Time with PS Now

Now that school has wrapped up for me and I am back from my time working the Squamish Valley Music Festival, I figured it was time to game a little. Imagine my surprise when I realized that PS Now is up and running for PS4 in Canada. I took a poke around at the titles that were available and the pricing for the service.

For those unaware PS Now is the game streaming service that Sony is leveraging for the PS4 utilizing the game streaming capabilities they got access to with the acquiring of Gaikai a couple of years back. For right now they have a few dozen PS3 titles available but I am sure that more will be released down the road and hopefully PS One and PS2 titles will be available. The games are available to rent based on a number of timing options; 4 hours, 1 week, 30 days or 90 days. The prices are still a little so-so I think but overall I think it's not too bad. Before you can even stream or do anything really you can run a check to see if your internet connection is good enough for streaming games, which is great.

Deus Ex Human Revolution was my first go at PS Now

So I ran the check and it said that I was able to stream games, which shocked me as our router is two floors up from us, and I tried to figure out what I wanted to play. I enjoyed Deus Ex Human Revolution on the 360 so I figured I would give that a try. Rented it for the 4 hour option just to see how well it worked and off we went. So the game loaded up and started just as if the disc was in the system. The game started up and off we went. I played the first hour or so of the game, including cut scenes and the great stealth and shooting action that the game is known for and there were no issues whatsoever. I was greatly impressed by how well the streaming worked, and another great thing is that trophies you get in the game can be synced to your trophy list and added to your overall trophy score. Pretty awesome if you ask me.

No one messes with Alpha Protocol

I was impressed by how well Now worked and am pretty sure I will go back and dig into some of the great games they have on there, like Darksiders 1 and 2 and some not-so-great games that I like anyways, like Alpha Protocol. Definitely give PS Now a go and see if it works on your system, and it'll be interesting to see if it works as well on the other devices that it's supposed to come too also.

What I've Been Up To

So I haven't written in here in almost a month it seems. School got crazy, life got crazy, however I've still fit some time in for some gaming. Primarily, the biggest standout would have to be playing the Destiny Alpha. Me and my brothers got some quality time in, adventuring and doing Strikes, and let me tell you, that game is awesome. I can't remember the last time I had that much fun with a shooter and I'm anxiously anticipating the release of the beta here in a couple of weeks.

Well, and the full release in September.

Yes, it's that good.

I've also gotten quite a bit of time in with Mario Kart 8, and while I am not the best kart racer in the world, I still have a lot of fun. My son loves Mario and anything with Mario in it, but his favourite character is easily Bowser. Any time I am playing now I pretty much have to choose Bowser, but I'm ok with that. I also have played a bit of Pikmin 3 which has been a fun title as well, and I'm glad that I'm finally getting around to playing it. There's still even more gaming to get to but with my semester quickly ramping up I'm not sure how much I will play but soon I'll have a ton of free time.

Time to hit up that backlog that has been building up.

Nintendo at E3

I feel like I write more about Nintendo than anyone other gaming company on my blog, and with good reason. I love the Big N and love their games, and have for decades now. I've stated before here that I purchased a Wii U so that I could ultimately play Nintendo games with my children as they become old enough to game, though that doesn't keep me from enjoying them right now. As we head into E3 there are a lot of questions on peoples minds including my own so I wanted to speculate a bit and write about what I hope to see come out of E3.

Wii U

Only a few days to go.

I have been enjoying my Wii U since launch and even though third-party support has pretty much turned into no support at all, minus some Ubisoft and Activision games, there is still a bit of hope. Nintendo is a firm believer in the idea that software sells hardware and if they provide great games then systems will sell. We know that Mario Kart 8 is coming out this week and Nintendo has already started a strong marketing push for the game, and as well is offering free digital downloads for those that get the game and register on Club Nintendo. Smash Bros as well is going to be out by the end of the year, and I still stand by the prediction that it'll be out the week before Black Friday, though some are guessing December. I think November is still the better choice and it will help move systems through the biggest selling week of the year, though this will be the third Black Friday the Wii U will be on sale so hopefully things go a bit better this time around. But what comes between Mario Kart 8 and Smash Bros?

Bayonetta 2. Any new Platinum game is reason to celebrate.

Well the titles that should be coming out before long that we know about are fairly varied and should offer a little of something for a variety of gaming groups. Platinum's much anticipated Bayonetta 2 is expected to be out this summer and I would guess that we will see it in July at the latest. Also out this summer is Hyrule Warriors, or whatever it ends up being called, and the marriage of Zelda and Dynasty Warriors looks intriguing, but again this seems something up the alley of the more dedicated gamer. I feel this one will be slotted for September in the west, though it could be as early as August. With these 2 games Nintendo could lure away even more hardcore gamers and if not, when Smash Bros comes out look for these titles to be picked up alongside them. 

Yarn Yoshi looks straight up adorable.

Yarn Yoshi is another title probably heading out this summer or into the fall and offers up something for the families alongside getting Mario Kart 8. I'm surprised that this is the only family friendly title that we know of so expect to see something like a new Kirby or even a Mario sports title to show up.  But what else is there, what else is going to show up at E3? Hopefully we get some more word on X and on Shin Megami Tensai x Fire Emblem, again more for the hardcore, but I am certain that Nintendo will show off their new Zelda. While many feel that it will look similar to the teaser from a couple years back, through interviews with Aonuma I think it will actually have a similar aesthetic to Skyward Sword, and I am totally fine with that.

I think Nintendo will have a great deal of Wii U titles to show and with Mario Kart 8 and Smash Bros plus the other supporting titles they can start to turn around the system. However, if these titles don't do it then I think support for the system will really start to tail off as they push more towards their Quality of Life project.

3DS

The 3DS is in an interesting spot as it's still continuing to sell a great deal of hardware and software but little is known as to what is coming out soon for the system. That does include Smash Bros and really, everyone and their dogs is going to get Smash Bros to play on their 3DS so I don't blame Nintendo for holding much back, everyone will be too busy battling on the go and collecting StreetPasses to bother with much of anything else. At least Tomodachi Life comes out in a couple weeks and there seems to be quite a bit of buzz regarding that from people that I wouldn't expect to hear talking about the game. Looks like their ads are working, which sometimes makes me a little crazy that Nintendo has marketed the 3DS pretty well but still has done so poorly with the Wii U.

Smash Bros on the go, who doesn't want that?

Down the road though there are the remakes of Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire that will be coming out, and again people seem to be very excited for them. I have always had a rough time with the Pokemon games as their stories offer very little and I haven't ever quite gotten into the battle system. Regardless, those games will sell a great deal and those will be a lock for Christmas sales. What else is coming? Well Nintendo has confirmed that at E3 there will be a lengthy press-only event for an unannounced title and I have heard all sorts of rumours, such as a new Metroid. Whatever it is it'll be a meaty title that will end up on many a radar thanks to the showcase Nintendo is giving it, so I look forward to that. As for anything else, well we will have to see.

Assorted

I feel like Nintendo will probably have a good showing of some of their upcoming indie titles at E3, focusing on things like Shovel Knight and other titles that they really want to highlight. I think there will also be some more information given on the DS titles available for the Wii U which I am looking forward to as there are a few games that I would love to play on my tv using the system, especially the Zelda titles, and even Advance Wars.

Advance Wars for 3DS is what I really want.

Speaking of, what do I really want to see? I want an Advance Wars 3DS announced by Intelligent Systems probably more than anything. They have stated that they want to keep making the games and I feel after how big Fire Emblem: Awakening was they probably have the freedom to go and make a new Advance Wars. I would definitely be a happy camper if that showed up at the show. I also think it is still too early to talk about the Quality of Life concept in detail, but it could get a mention. Also, I feel that with the success of Wind Waker HD we may see some other Gamecube games given the HD treatment, and think that Super Mario Sunshine HD could come by the end of the year. Just a guess but I feel like it's going to happen.

What will happen at E3? Only time will tell but it's only a couple of weeks away so soon enough we will know what Nintendo has in store and though some still say the company is doomed, I think their future is bright and full of games that I'll enjoy, and that my kids will enjoy someday as well.

Transistor Review

When Transistor was first revealed last year I was enthralled. Bastion is one of my all-time favourite Xbox 360 games and when I found out what Supergiant Games was working on I had to have it. Well the wait is over and Transistor is finally out and after sinking a great deal of time into it I am happy to say that it has lived up to expectations and in some ways outdoes Bastion.

Red and Transistor. Image belongs to Supergiant Games.

Transistor is an isometric action game with some light RPG elements. I would say that sums it up best and is comparable gameplay-wise to Bastion in many of these aspects. The focus on the game is Red, a popular musician in the futuristic city of Cloudbank, which is part cyberpunk and part art deco. At the beginning of the game you are introduced to Red and the Transistor, which is a giant sword plunged into a mystery man that Red retrieves. However, it is not merely a sword but one that is imbued with intelligence and a voice. It's Transistor that provides the game with the bulk of the narration, guiding Red through the streets and rooftops of Cloudbank as she battles the Process, a type of robot legion, and searches for the Camerata who originally ordered her dead.

The story is very intriguing and I kept playing and searching through regions of the city to find little hints of story as they are strewn everywhere. Studious scavenging will reveal you with a great deal of backstory and even simple activities like voting at computer terminals gives you some insight into the world that has been created. The story and narration are key here, as is the beautiful world that you are presented with, but it is the use of music that really stands out in this game. Red is a musician so it goes without saying that music is a key to this game, and whether it is from her songs to the electro-infused jazz pieces that make up the games score, this game is an aural treat. With this soundtrack coming right after the outstanding Child of Light soundtrack, it's been a great year for music in games without a doubt.

The city of Cloudbank. Image belongs to Supergiant Games.

Combat however is the meat and potatoes of this game as you will be doing a lot of it, and guess what, it doesn't disappoint. At the start of the game you have a mere two combat actions, a basic close-range attack and a projectile attack. As the game progresses you gain access to more functions, which are the skills you can either equip as prime actions or you can set as support actions to increase the power of your main functions. This allows for a fair amount of customization and the ability to change your loadout, as it were, and whenever I got a new function I was always keen to see what it could do or how it could affect the others.

Red and Transistor and a stranger? Image belongs to Supergiant Games.

When in actual combat however you can opt to play it a couple of ways. You can maneuver the combat areas in real-time and use your attacks instantaneously without repercussion to how many actions you can take. The other way is to initiate a Turn which pauses the combat and lets Red move freely and use her actions. However each one takes away from her Turn bar and after you un-pause the game and let loose with your attacks, you will be left open for a time while your Turn bar refills. This leads to many decisions to be made in combat and quite a bit of risk-reward which I really enjoyed. As well, if you are to die in combat (which does happen) you will be revived but will be missing one of your functions. As long as you have functions left you can keep fighting but you will be hindered by the absence of needed abilities. It's never the end of the world and you get them refilled at the end of combat, but I enjoyed it as it added extra complexities to an already engaging battle system.

Red taking on a Jerk. Image belongs to Supergiant Games.

All in all, I enjoyed my time in Cloudbank. The world and characters have a great amount of depth to them, and the Transistor himself and his narration offer a great deal to the experience that Supergiant has created. With a great combat system, and a new-game plus mode to offer some additional replay value, Transistor is a game that should be added to your PS4 collection.

Score A-

The Value of Games

First off I would like to say that I really liked inFAMOUS: Second Son. I love what Sucker Punch did  with the game and their interpretation of Seattle. I quite liked Delsin and his brother Reggie and their war against Augustine and am still hoping for more instead of moving on to another Conduit.
However, it got me thinking, thanks to the recent hikes in price for newer games inFAMOUS cost just about $80 CDN with taxes.

I'm not one to complain really, I've been gaming for quite a long time and I remember paying $110 for Chrono Trigger on Super Nintendo. What it did get me thinking about is the great downloadable games I have picked up this year and the crazy value that these games are offering and a fraction of what a game like Mario Kart 8 will cost me. Let's have a look shall we.

Earthbound - Wii U ($10)

The legendary heroes of Earthbound. Image belongs to Nintendo.

I suppose that this was a game that when it first came out also cost the same amount as Chrono Trigger, and has actually steadily rose in value over the years. I remember renting it and playing it quite often, enjoying the characters and the world and the combat which could be unforgiving. If you have wanted to play it though over the last decade you pretty much either had to pay a large sum or download a ROM, the latter of which I have no interest in doing. So the fact that Nintendo announced last year that Earthbound was coming out on the Wii U Virtual Console was great news. The game still looks great and sounds great and having off-tv play has also been a boon. This is an adventure definitely worth checking out if you haven't had the pleasure.

Fez - PS3/PS4/PS Vita ($10)

The beautiful world of Fez. Image belongs to Polytron.

The first time I caught wind of this game I had little to no idea who Phil Fish was, I just thought this game looked neat. I tried it on the Xbox 360 and had fun but didn't get to spend the time I wanted with it. When it showed up on PS4 with cross-save with the Vita I knew I had to finally pick up Mr Fish's darling baby and see what all the praise has been about. This has been a welcome addition to my Vita on the go, and I love that I can start right where I left off when I get home. The puzzles are great but really it's the adorable graphics and the aesthetics of each little world I can't get enough of.

TowerFall Ascension - PS4 ($15)

TowerFall Ascension. Image belongs to Matt Makes Games.

The Ouya definitely has its fan base and I have had a little interest in the system, but the game that really impressed me was TowerFall. Therefore, I was ecstatic when it was announced that it would be coming out on the PS4 and it hasn't failed to impress. This has become our go-to party game, with easy to pickup controls but ones that are also difficult to master. I'm pretty certain that only when Smash Bros comes out at the end of this year will this game be dethroned, but until then we will continue to enjoy the best multiplayer game thus far, hands down.

Child of Light - Wii U ($15)

Child of Light. Image belongs to Ubisoft.

While this game is available on every system under the sun (and on the Vita in the next month or so) I wanted it for the Wii U as it seemed like playing with the gamepad controller would be the way to go. I have been in love with the visuals of this game and it never ceases to impress with the amount of colours and refreshing takes on standard RPG world design. The music as well is some of my favourite, as Coeur de Pirate hit it out of the park with the score and it was the first of two soundtracks that I needed to have this year. If you are looking for a beautiful adventure game with an interesting take on combat in the vein of Grandia or old Final Fantasy definitely give this one a chance.

Transistor - PS4 ($20)

Red and Transistor. Image belongs to Supergiant Games.

Another favourite of mine on the Xbox 360 was Bastion as I adored what Supergiant games did with storytelling in that game, having the narrator tell the story of the boy as you travelled through the worlds. Suffice it to say, I have been waiting for a good year it seems for Transistor to finally come out and while I have only spent an hour or so with it so far, I have loved it. Their new lead Red, an interesting female character uses a giant sword to defend herself in the neo-futuristic city of Cloudbank. This is another one game with phenomenal music and it looks like i'll be picking up the soundtrack for this as well.


There you have it, for seventy dollars you can have all of the above games and still be a bit under what it is going to cost you for Mario Kart 8. Not that there is anything wrong with the big, AAA-titles but it just goes to show that indie or smaller developed titles are definitely proving their worth and are titles that you should be adding to your collection. I know I am definitely happy with all of the above purchases. Anyone else been enjoying these?

It's Almost E3 Time

So I just realized that in a little over a month E3 will be upon us again. There's been a little talk here and there about what to expect but I think it will be completely crazy this year. I've heard that Microsoft is really going to be showing off even more games, which is nuts as they already have a number of holdovers from last year that still haven't come out so it'll be interesting to see where they are at. Sony will definitely provide more insight into Morpheus (the VR for PS4) as well as after last weeks "accidental" unlocking of most PSX and PSP games for the Vita many have rumoured that they will announce Vita TV for the West, for 99.99 and have all the games available for it that haven't been thus far. Also, hopefully they will announce some new games and at least have some new footage for some exclusives. Not that exclusives are the be all and end all, but Microsoft definitely has been showing what they did with their billion dollars they paid for exclusives. Hopefully Sony will have much to show.

As for Nintendo, well of course this is going to be the most interesting. After last years decidedly meagre showing and the fact that there is still not much known in regards to what is coming out later in the year, hopefully Nintendo will do a presentation and have a big showing there. Tomodachi Life comes out just before E3, and then Smash Bros for 3DS comes out this summer, outside of that, not much is known for the 3DS. For the Wii U, well Mario Kart comes out just before E3, and Smash Bros won't be out until November (which is my prediction). Otherwise there is Bayonetta 2, Yarn Yoshi, Hyrule Warriors more than likely coming this year, with X maybe this year and Fire Emblem X Shin Megami Tensai still not coming till maybe next year.

The incredibly hilarious Mega64 video showcasing Nintendo's E3 plans.

They just announced as well that they will be doing an online presentation again much like last year, which is somewhat troublesome, but again is how Nintendo is choosing to do things. Hopefully they will still get journalists to cover it as much as the other big press conferences, but really, we all just want to see what Zelda U is going to look like. It's a little over a month away and I seriously can't wait, best time of the year.

Nintendo's Ups and Downs

I write a lot about Nintendo on here, because, well I am a huge fan. I have been playing Nintendo games for a quarter of a century so there is a lot of history here. I have made it known that I love my Wii U and wish there was more support for it. Lately I have been playing my PS4 a bit more, but that has been mainly thanks to school eating up most of my time and only having time here or there to spend on games like inFAMOUS Second Son and Resogun.

Mario Kart 8.

However that has been changing. I have been embracing the indies on the Wii U more and more and have been enjoying some of the titles on the system. I finally got my hands on DuckTales which brings me back of course to the old NES days. I also picked up Unepic which is a more rpg heavy Castlevania type game that uses the gamepad in really interesting and smart ways, and is super tough. Plus, Child of Light comes out next week, and while it will be on most systems I am planning on getting it for Wii U, just because I love playing on the Gamepad.

Child of Light from Ubisoft.

There are even more games coming, slowly but surely. Mario Kart 8 is out in just over a month. Bayonetta 2 is probably going to be out this summer, as well as potentially X, Yarn Yoshi, Hyrule Warriors and of course Super Smash Bros, which will be out in November (that's my guess anyways). There are also over 50 more indie games on the way thanks to the Wii U and it's support for Unity, which is also good news, and some interesting things like Shovel Knight are coming.

Tomodachi Life from Nintendo.

The 3DS of course is still killing it, and I really don't need to say more than the Pokemon games selling over 12 million units, and price cuts on the key 5 Mario games due to them selling as much as the Pokemon games. Also, Tomodachi Life has been confirmed for the 3DS and is coming in June as well, and man that game looks amazing and ridiculous. There are also a ton of great smaller titles for the 3DS and Nintendo's first attempts at free-to-play are also of note. The 3DS is continuing to exert dominance in the handheld space even with the rise of mobile gaming.

Mario Kart 8 footage from Nintendo.

So what is going to happen next for Nintendo? Well, I feel that once Mario Kart is closer to launch there will be a huge marketing push and hopefully new interest in the system. Hopefully Nintendo starts doing a better job at explaining what it is and what it can do. Also, later on in the year there will be a big push with Smash Bros coming and hopefully the official announcement of the new Legend of Zelda and perhaps another big title. There is also however the Quality of Life "system" that they are working on and the next handheld, which I am sure will be shown later this year as well. I think that the Wii U will still do better than the Gamecube but probably not by much. I love the system and hopefully some support starts to show up soon though.