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Video Game Review – The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening

An all around amazing game that still holds up all these years later.

Amazon.com: Legend of Zelda Link's Awakening - Nintendo Switch : Nintendo of America: Everything Else — A modern remake of the classic Game Boy game.

I finished this game back in January 2022. Just catchin up on some of my game reviews.

I played this game on my Atomic purple Game Boy color way back in the day when it came out in 1993. I remember the game taking me a long time to complete and by the time I was done I had done everythhing there was to do in the game. I recently re played the game but this time I played the 2019 nintendo switch version. It was a great experience overall. The game didn’t take me as long to complete and some of the puzzles were burned into my memory but overall the game was enjoyable and as epic as I remember as a kid. I like taking trips down memory lane.

The game took me just under 20 hours to beat but I have played through it in it’s entirety before. Someone picking it up for the first time can probably expect to spend about 30 – 40 hours if they are familiar with the classic Legend of Zelda formula. The game is presented in a hybrid 2/3d style of overhead camera but the art looks more or less 3d and there is depth to everything. Overall absolutely gorgeous on the Nintendo Switch Console. Bright, colorful, and chipper soundtrack.

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening Download | GameFabrique

The Legend of Zelda: Links Awakening starts you off in rough seas as your boat is being thrashed. A bolt of lightning crashes and you wake up (famously) in a small village. A local girl named Marin found you washed up on the beach and brought you to her home, and from there your quest begins to figure out where you are and how to get home. As you journey through the game the story takes an unconventional twist that strait Fucked me up as a young teen. I won’t spoil anything here but anyone who has beaten this game knows what I’m talking about. It’s not bad or evil or out of the vain of Zelda lore but it’s a key twist that stayed with me for all these years.

The game is classic Legend of Zelda. You start off with basic equipment and as you conquer dungeons and explore the land you become stronger by finding hearts pieces and equipment. You gain access to previously inaccessible areas using the tools you find along the way and in dungeons. The game requires you to remember where obstacles are and you have to back track a little bit in your exploration to uncover all of the secrets and power-ups. It’s a pretty standard video game formula used through out times and in modern gaming. You can say “The Legend of Zelda” kind of pioneered the “open world” adventure action game.

Links awakening is a great game and retains all the features of the game boy color experience with some added levels and stuff to accomplish. The Nintendo Switch version has the color dungeon that was introduced in Links awakening DX for the Game Boy Color hand held game system. The switch version also includes a basic dungeon builder mode with some optional side quests attached to it to unlock an item. These optional side quests are not necessary to the story and game over all, but just an added tid bit new to this remade version of this game.

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (Nintendo Switch) Screenshots

The graphics in this game are crisp and colorful and the music is great as well. The soundtrack is redone from the original 8bit sound and sound fully performed and little Marin’s voice sounds like an actual voice singing instead of a little beeping tone. Hearing her balad of the wind fish for the first time after all of those years brought a lil tear to my eye. Same feeling and emotion as I felt when I heard Zelda speak for the first time ever in Breat of the Wild. The catchy tunes and memorable jingles are part of the reason people like The Legend of Zelda video games. They are familiar, yet challenging games that have a certain charm about them that most games lack.

Gamers who like actions, puzzles, and exploration would like Zelda games, and this game in particular. The Legend of Zelda is a classic series that most gamers will have at least heard about. Zelda games are exclusive to Nintendo, which may alienate many players from an otherwise great experience. Nintendo has always been seen as a console more geared toward a family and younger demographic. Hands down, Zelda games are difficult and are not necessarily kids games. They require a level of thinking and problem solving that most younger kids may find too difficult.

I’m biased because I love The Legend of Zelda video games but I definitely recommend giving them a try if you never have or ever wanted to. For modern gaming I would recommend Breath of the Wild as a good Zelda entry point. It’s more free flowing and let’s you choose your own path, while classic Zelda games are more structured and require you to take a set path. If you like playing retro games, and remakes then this is a top notch title that is very worth your time if you own a Nintendo Switch.

Finally they are releasing a new entry and sequel to Breath of the Wild. It is slated to release sometime in 2022 but no exact date has been confirmed. Super stoked for that. As always thank you for reading this review and feel free to comment or chime in if you have anyting to add or discuss.

More games to play and write about. Stay tuned and check back for more!

Peace!

Video Game Review – Assassins Creed: Valhalla

Assassin's Creed Valhalla lets you change Eivor's gender whenever you want | PC Gamer — Eivor the main character (Female) of Assassins Creed: Valhalla

To start I want to say i do not support the way Ubisoft treats it’s employees. I follow gaming news closely and I know about all the internal allegations and misconduct. I fully support the better treatment of workers. I choose to support the games and the franchises because I genuinely enjoy the world the developers and people on the ground create. I support the artists, voices, designers, engineers, musicians, testers, software developers etc etc who make these games come to life. It’s sad that such a collaborative art can be held tight in such a strangle hold of capitalist and dude bro toxicity. So I Support the workers who make these games come to life. I enjoy the games and the world they build for me to experience.

I have always found video games to be a release or escape. Like a good book, movie, or TV show, video games have always given me great stories, interesting puzzles, or downright memorable characters. Assassins Creed Games satisfy all the gaming itches that I feel. I completely understand the criticisms of the game for being overly bloated with side content, or being too long, or having convoluted stories and endings. Those reasons are why I LOVE AC games. Especially since AC Origins, when the series dove more into the RPG mechanics. To me that is when the series really started to shine. I’ve been into the AC series since it opened up a bit in part AC3 with Connor.

This game features a main voiced and acted character, Eivor. You can choose whether you want to play as a male or a female gendered character and the game even slyly justifies you being able to change midway through the game. The game implying that the DNA is so old that the Animus system is unable to determine gender (or something to that degree) It’s a non issue, just thought it was clever. I chose to play as a Female character “letting the animus decide”, it didn’t change for the whole game and I never messed with it again. I think if you make certain choices it may change your gender at some point in the story, but as I said the Animus decided I was a female Eivor for the whole game till conclusion. There is very little difference in dialogue options and story other than the voice of the Character.

The controls are a bit looser than the past entries. I don’t know how to explain it. The blocking and parrying is a bit delayed it felt, compared to AC Odyssey. I very quickly got used to it and it was a non issue after the first hour of play. Just something I noticed. It may be tightened up now a year and some months after release. All the other functions worked well. There are a lot of systems in this game. But as in any game that is part of the fun of learning and becomes second nature

AC Valhalla is a tale of brotherhood, and loyalty. A story or triumph and a touch of AC’s famous mystical, metaphysical, sci-fi, computer shit. It follows you leaving your clan to attain your own glory and status in the world. Tired of the old ways Eivor and her brother Sigurd, whose family adopted Eivor, decide to leave their clan in the icy north for the shores of what would be medieval England. From there you establish a settlement village by going on viking style raids up and down rivers and the coasts of the beautifully crafted world map. this all gets more complicated when you meet up with your brother and he is obsessed with these strange visions and beliefs. You slowly conquer your way through the land helping replace thrones and otherwise help people along the way. This game loop was fun for me. The characters are well written and voiced well.

I genuinely liked being a Viking and learning about their culture through the games lore and my own curiosity. Assassins Creed games genuinely interest me because they inspire me to learn more about the time setting and see what may or may not have been actual history and what was completely AC Fiction. Regardless it inspires me to do light research into history to further personify the character I’m spending dozens of hours with.

I liked the raiding aspect and the overall RPG elements felt good. The world they crafted is absolutely beautiful and the Music is solid. The settlement you build feels alive and subtle audio details enrich the visuals, like wind in trees and the sounds of animals and people chatting and singing. The music is enchanting, and I never got tired of stopping at my home settlement just to play some dice, rest, upgrade, or plan my next series of event for the main story. The winter festival was absolutely wonderful and decked out he whole settlement in decorations and let me take part in dorky drinking games and drunken boxing matches. Great little touches like that is why I still admire AC games and the people who make and design them. (NOT shitty CEOs or Shareholders)

The game play loop of conquering areas of the map, raiding monasteries, and upgrading the settlement in pursuit of keeping your brother happy felt mostly balanced to me. I enjoy the combat in these games because I change it up regularly. I don’t repeat the same tactics because then the action would get boring. there are so many ways to take out enemies that the game should only ever really get bored if you let yourself get bored with it. Usually by that time in a game I’m more than powerful enough to just finish the main story at least. There were some good mind****s in proper AC fashion. The ending is bat-shit crazy and begs to be discussed. I implore you, Finish your games.. so we can talk about them. 🙂

Some things that may be seen as negative. Assassins Creed is long. I don’t mind this as much but I also make time to play video games. Someone with less time may not enjoy the sheer amount of playtime it would take to explore and see and keep up with the story. There are tons of side content that distracts you from the main story or conflict. I am used to these games and I have two different play styles. I alternate my time playing side content, collection, and exploration, then the next session I am usually strong enough to power through a larger chunk of the main story or complete a full quest line. instead of constantly distracting myself in-between major story missions. It helps me keep track of where the story is, I’ll get to a good stopping point, and then switch to exploration and side quests.

People who get bugged easily by glitches may be annoyed sometimes. It was never game breaking but during the larger sequences, A LOT is going on on the screen at once. Sometimes I would see some pretty funny glitches. Bodies flying and glitching out in silly ways, NPC’s not helping me bash down doors, and other minor sound and visual anomaly. The one that bugged me the most was the audio being absent in dialogue sequences. The subtitles worked so it wasn’t game breaking but would require me to save and restart from the main menu. Again nothing terrible. I bought it on launch day and in my 100+ hours in the game it only ever fully crashed maybe 2 or 3 times playing on old ps4 hardware. i’m sure it’s a much tighter experience by this time a year on.

Assassin's Creed Valhalla Review | Scholarly Gamers

This game was great to me. A wonderful way to spend the coldest parts of the year. A good story where your choices have some impact on the final scenes. Some of the music still rings in my head from time to time. Eivor was a solid character and some of the philosophies they spoke were relatable and thought provoking. I try to go into every game pretending like it’s a new experience. I know games can be cheesy and ultimately fall flat for some people. That’s completely OK. I would definitely recommend this game to anyone who enjoys a long story in a beautifully crafted world. As a player it felt up to me whether I was playing the story or whether I was engaged in side content and collection.
who would enjoy this game.

All in all I highly recommend this game. It’s a long, epic game, but should be experienced by anyone who loves rich colorful worlds, walks through historical settings, or fairly consistent action or exploration. RPG lovers may take to the modern formula of Assassins Creed games as well. This series may have gotten stale for some, but the games have gotten better since Black Flag in my opinion. I finished this game around February of 2021, so it’s been a minute. Just catching up. Thanks for reading, hope this review was helpful or informative.

Pax

Video Game Review – Battlefield 2042

As a long time fan there isn’t much to be said that hasn’t been already. The game has had a piss poor launch and long time fans of the series are rightfully ticked off. The game feels bare bones and ultimately not complete. There are dozens of things missing for me that kind of ruin the core Battlefield experience, and should be a no brained. Battlefield 2042 feels like it went backward in it’s progression. That being said, I do have fun with the game somtimes and it really shines when you play with friends, yet even that aspect has a weird design flaw because there is no way to communicate within the game?!? Overall I have a hard time recommending this game in it’s current state. Even though Battlefield is one of my favorite shooter games for the past decade or more.

The game is trying to be something that it is not. It’s leaning heavy into the hero shooter mechanics of special abilities and goofy “specialist” characters, instead of the nameless soldier classes that encouraged teamwork and a rock-paper-scissors style of strategy. In Battlefield 2042 It’s just a mess of the exact same model of characters, all of which can revive and also carry a rocket launcher, with a light machine gun that lacks recoil, or a sniper rifle. The game just feels very “meta”ish. Now everyone runs around with the most effective gear and that’s about what you see. The action is so spread out it often just feels like chaos with no sense of holding points or strategized movement and flanking.

The game plays decently on the Playstation5 console and luckily I haven’t experienced the game breaking bugs that a lot of people complain about. The game runs fairly smoothly for me. Only occasionally will it freeze or not load me into a match. The visuals are OK but nothing dazzling and atmospheric like the past two entries. This game just has a generic samey feel that I can’t quite put my finger on. I joke and call the game Battle of Apex Duty Field: present day fight game. The gun play is good and tight for me and the sound is decent but it all lacks some of the chunk and boom and umph of the past titles.

I like the setting and the time period, but like so many others I was hoping more for an updated BF4 style and feel. I really like calling in vehicles and equipment even if they Ranger drone is kinda worthless I can imagine the future with all kinds of other equipment that you can call in. Playing with friends is definitely the highlight for me. Unfortunately for a team focused game, it completely lacks any formal communication system within the game. This had me scratching my head as it renders one of the featured game modes pretty much unplayable. The maps are good in my opinion but I will be honest, compared to the past 2 titles the maps in this game feel very sterile and empty, even soul less. There is no gun emplacements, or blown up wreckage, there is no trash in the big cities except for a plastic bag blowing around every now and then.. For such massive and gorgeous maps they lack any atmosphere whatsoever.

Of course by now you can tell that there are plenty of things that I am not happy with. I don’t like the fact that there is no in game voice chat. This ruins any sense of team play and coordination. Aside from there being no way to communicate outside of discord, the game doesn’t reward the player for doing team related stuff. There are no bonuses for following the leaders orders, there are no real assist bonuses for spotting and killing enemies or sticking with your squad. There are no squad bonuses at all except for small ones for spawning on squad mates and marking enemies. This is a drag as it just promotes a solo playstyle where everyone just kinda plays for themselves. Medics don’t revive, Everyone can be carry a Sniper rifle AND have rocket launchers, and now characters can literally squirrel suit and zip their way to you with spring grappling hooks.. One of my biggest gripes is that there is no scoreboard or out of match stats. One of the things I geeked out on as a long time player was seeing how many kills I got with each piece of equipment or in total over the countless hours i would spend with the game. There is none of that lasting appeal in this game. I don’t care about dorky skins and stupid cosmetics. I just want a Battlefield game that feels finished. The game needs balancing as well yada yada yada, I could literally write a full post on what I think could be balanced for a better experience, alas I am no developer or game designer..

Honest recommendation as a long time fan. If you know what you are buying and think you will enjoy it, you probably will. If you are expecting too much or were hoping for an actual Battlefield game, I regret to say.. this isn’t it. Not yet.. This isn’t to say I don’t have hope. It took BF1 and BFV about a year to fully start fleshing out and being dialed in. I am confident that the game will get better as time passes.

The past couple Battlefield games have left a bad taste in my mouth because they took a bunch of my money at full price and then slashed the price of the game less than a couple months after release. That is shitty. I should have known better and waited honestly. I feel slightly cheated. But I think I finally learned my lesson because this wasn’t the only title I purchased in the past several years that were not worth the full price.

I wish I hadn’t have pre-ordered and waited for more content or for a discounted price. Because at this point the game is not worth the full price. I give the game a 2.5 out of 5 stars. I hope it will be more complete in 6 months to a year, but that is a sad statement considering Battlefield used to be one of my go to video games.

Video Game Review – Far Cry 6

Before I begin I am fully aware of the current situation with Ubisoft and how the company treats employees. I hate that the CEO and Executives of these companies treat their employees poorly. It’s sad that an industry I love so much is marred by such a terrible work culture. In short I buy Ubisoft titles because I genuinely enjoy the work that countless talented people create. I support the artists, writers, programmers, musicians, testers, actors, designers, engineers, etc that make these games come to life. I stand in solidarity and support of all of Ubisoft employees, I want them to be proud of their games and work. They should be.

Just finished the game earlier today Nov. 6th. Very happy with the experience overall. I enjoy the chiseled gun play and entertaining characters of Far Cry games. The villains are some of the best in Gaming and media in general, Far Cry 6 featuring A-list actor Giancarlo Esposito, who famously played bad guy Gus Fring on the hit TV series Breaking Bad. He plays a very well written and perfectly acted Dictator. I had hoped him and the player had more verbal and physical interaction like in past Far Cry games, but every scene he is in has Gravity and cements why he is a Feared Dictator. Also notable is the beautiful world maps they create and let us subsequently destroy. I especially enjoyed the music in this game, set in Cuba. The Island scenery is lush and beautiful with active day night cycles and weather effects and lots of different local wildlife

I spent about 60 hours on the Main story and doing other side activities. I’m close to a Platinum trophy on PS5 and will probably go ahead and get it. Only a few super grindy requirements to get the Platinum, otherwise most of them can be gained simply by being thorough and playing the game normally. For for strenuous “collect all of …” trophies I will use YouTube sometimes, no shame. I just don’t have time in my life to search every little location on a map and so I miss some of the more random collectibles on my own.

Buy Far Cry 6 Season Pass Xbox ONE Series X|S Microsoft Store

The pacing of the game isn’t bad there are some parts that kinda drag. The mission structure is tried and true and sometimes a bit repetitive. I like mixing up my weapons and I alternate between stealthy and Rambo play styles to mix it up a bit in combat. In Far Cry games you can pretty much be way overpowered very quickly in the story. It’s up to the player to use the different mechanics and weapons to keep things fresh. It feels great clearing out a whole enemy base without alerting a single guard, however, If you go in with a silenced pistol every time and don’t spice up the action things will get stale quick. Use the companions, and gadgets, and sometimes let the guard hit that Alarm to call in reinforcements. The game is an absolute playground of destruction!

The progression system is kinda flat in my honest opinion. The game starts you off with a full tool box and kinda lets you create your own action. You can equip silencers and armor piercing ammo almost from the very start of the game in your first couple upgrades. And you can customize and fully kit out every single weapon except for special named weapons which come with predetermined perks and buffs. Once you get the (very basic) stealth mechanics you are pretty much A one man super Army. The stealth is satisfying and super useful to get through areas easily but sometimes there is more fun to be had in going in guns blazing. The star of Far Cry games (other than the characters and world) is the guns and gun play. FC6 doesn’t disappoint in the slightest. The guns look and feel amazing. They sound good and feel powerful when fully upgraded.

Player stats and perks and special abilities are gained by switching to different types of armor. There are 5 kinds in a “set” each set of armor together helps with a certain defense or skill set. For instance, The hazmat set helps against poison and gives you boosts against poisoned enemies. The “Fuego” armor set gives you defense and buffs against/with fire and explosions. Parkour Armor set helps you move around faster and quieter, etc, etc. There are a ton of different sets and you can mix and match the 5 different pieces of gear; head, torso, hands, legs, and shoes for basically customizing a play style or load out type. My one gripe is that you have to open the menu every time you want to switch gear or guns or any other equipment. Some sort of quick swap, at least for armor and worn gear, would have been super nice and require less time in the menus.

One of the newer features of combat is this multi-function backpack Called a “Supremo”. It can do things like shoot missiles, create EMP blasts to disable machinery, or other cool abilities. This back pack is how you equip “Gadgets” such as grenades, health kits, and C4. Each one can be customized for a different load out and you can switch between them on the fly during combat. I will admit I underused this ability in battle mainly because I was having fun and forgot about it. Honestly the powers are nothing super amazing. They are fun to use but not a game changer usually. Just another tool in your arsenal that helps you destroy or take down enemies.

The graphics are top tier, and on the ps5 the game ran perfectly and I had no issues with freezes or other major glitches. Occasional in game glitches but they are just kinda funny and not terribly inconvenient. The game ran smoothly for me over the course of 60+ hours. The enemy AI is decent when you are engaged, but pretty basic if you are playing stealth. It’s not the hardest game and is fairly liberal with health and player durability.

Far Cry 6 PC review: familiar messy fun | Rock Paper Shotgun — Gorgeous scenery and world.

Overall I highly recommend Far Cry 6 if you like shooter games in general. This is a top notch shooter! Great open world, entertaining characters and a Good story. Nothing revolutionary (pun intended) but a solid video game worth a play through, and not to miss if you already enjoy the Far Cry formula of games. As always, thank you for reading and I hope this was informative without spoiling anything.

Video Game Review – Ghost of Tsushima

By far one of my favorite games of 2020 for sure and winner of several “best of” awards throughout the gaming industry. The style and authentic feeling story was a joy to behold and the tight sword play stay entertaining throughout. The story follows Jin Sakai through what amounts to a classic tale of revenge and family drama. It is an open world master piece that is made by a lesser known studio called Sucker Punch. What they did with the subject material and the visual aesthetic is simply brilliant.

Long story short, I devoured this game. I have always connected deeply with the ancient far east culture. I took a traditional form of martial arts as a kid and I got a lot out of it. I have taken the teachings of my karate training and fascination with the Japanese culture with me throughout my life. Not that this has any to do with the game but I connected deeply with the feel and vision of the game. This game let me live out my fantasies of being a samurai warrior. I don’t know why this time and setting is usually skipped in modern gaming unless it’s strategy games or the Dynasty Warriors series. There was Tenchu Stealth Assassins back in the day.. and Bushido Blade.. we’re talking old school PlayStation 1 here. like 1995. There may be some other great samurai subject games out there but those are some of the ones that come to mind and they aren’t even necessarily “Samurai” games like Ghost of Tsushima stake out to be. This game is literally a Japanese Samurai / Samurai movie simulator.

The main character is Jin Sakai. He is an honorable samurai from a noble clan who is forced to do less than honorable things to keep his homeland and his people safe. The games art style is where it really shines. This game is absolutely beautiful and it really shines in the aesthetic department. Sucker Punch used super rich contrast and color pallets so all of the scenes look like they could be a painting or out of a graphics demo. I am playing on the OG PS4 which at this point is like a 7 year old system but i was surprised how the massive world and depth of colors played well together. The game ran smoothly and loading screens were fairly short from what you would expect from a game of this sheer size.

Everything about the game was superbly Samurai. While I don’t know how historically accurate or true some of the conflict is, I did enjoy the various romps through the world and the side characters you meet tell interesting mini stories within the main narrative. I spent easily over a hundred hours in the game and I completed pretty much everything I am fairly close to a Platinum trophy.

The game has some repetitive elements toward the end stretch. If you are seeking trophies or achievements you will be doing the same things over and over. Luckily this game is absolutely beautiful so going to random locations and the far ends of the map are fairly entertaining in their own right. This is pretty standard in many large and long open world type games. There is always the first part where you feel overwhelmed and then you get side tracked from the main story and over level yourself then once you are bored of all of that you are like, “oh yeah there is still a whole main story arch to finish” That’s more or less what happened with me and this game. Some of the larger games of recent memory (coughs AC Odyssey coughs) have definitely dragged on. Like they could have been 20 less hours and still been phenomenal games.

Ghost of Tsushima drags a little bit for sure but it’s not as bad as some of the other games out there. It’s definitely worth seeing to it’s conclusion though. there are some memorable parts at least for me there were.

Once you beat the game, sucker punch released a free update that let’s you team up with other human players and fight gauntlets of demons. The art style is a bit different and the expansion kinda delves into the myths and demons of Japanese culture. At least it seemed like it to me. The art definitely looked darker. I haven’t played the expansion except for a couple of matches but I plan to once I get back into the game to get that Platinum trophy.

Overall this game is excellent and worthy of your money and time if yo like the open world style of game. It doesn’t do anything super new in terms of innovation on the formula but what they do with the world and the colors and the stories is absolutely superb. Not to mention a full multiplayer mode added on after the fact, Ghost of Tsushima is a no brainer and a must play if you enjoy anything Samurai or ancient Japan.

Video Game Review – The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

I played the Witcher 3 several years ago on my Xbox One. I never finished the main story but I absolutely fell in love with the story and lore of the game itself. Without a doubt one of the best modern RPGs I’ve ever played. I found the Witcher after I played through several hundred hours of Skyrim. I was craving more of that open world, exploration, discovery, and lore. I quickly realized that the Witcher is much more traditional role playing game in the sense that the main character has history and lore. It wasn’t till later on, that I discovered that “The Witcher” is a series of books that began back in the 1980’s by Andrzej Sapkowski. Obviously there were other games if this was The Witcher 3, but I had never even heard of them.

I highly recommend this game to anyone who likes high fantasy or Gothic / medieval fantasy lore. Geralt is a gruff and stoic character but definitely has a charm about him. Coming off of Skyrim it took me a fat minute to begin to appreciate the raw role-playing element that this game offers. You are Geralt of Rivia. People know who he is and he has a storied past. Much of which you can uncover and learn tid bits of throughout your journey.

This is a massive game. The first time I played I petered out around the 70 to 80 hour mark when I realized there was an entire different continent to explore and do missions in. This time I easily spend over 100 hours. I took my time and played lots of side missions except for the gwent card game side quests. I found the mini game to be incredibly random and kinda unfair. Either that or I just suck at the game and never put enough time into it to learn the intricacies. The Gwent card game was so popular that it spawned it’s own spin off card game.

Completing the game felt great. The ending was one of the better build ups and subsequent climaxes of any video game I have ever played. The game is 5 years old mind you and the amount of dialogue and original non repeated speech is worthy of accolades. It’s like playing through a movie in it’s writing, voicing, and depth of choice during interactions.

Admittedly the game can become a bit of a slog, during the middle part of the game when you are on the main quest line. Simply, this world is sooooo big and there are sooooo many locations to seek and side missions to do, it is very easy to get distracted. You could probably mash through most of the story in about 40- 60 hours. If you take your time and explore and do a bunch of the side missions and extra contracts you will easily tack on another 20-40 hours. Which was not a bad thing at all. I just had two distinct play modes when I turned on the game I would either be aiming to explore and do side quests, or I would just play story missions which were generally more involved and took a bit longer to complete. Using this method I was able to complete the game in bite sized chunks, while keeping up with the sprawling story.

Bottom line, I spent so much time with these characters that I actually grew to admire them and gave a shit about thier conflict. I wanted to see it to the conclusion that I never got when I had first played through it.

There were plenty of twists and turns in the story mostly basic fare but some pretty unexpected turnouts based on your choices in dialogue and physical actions against other characters. This was one of the things that impressed me most about this game, choices mattered. There were decisions made early on in the game that had an impact on the conclusion and subsequent build up to the ending. I have never played a game that took such care to include the consequences of whatever choices were made. This was special to me and definitely made the game stand out. Even during my second play through I made some different choices during a main mission that lead to a tragically different outcome than my first play though. It just made me feel all the more that my choices actually carried weight in this world and were permanent.

Another interesting thing about this game is that it keeps the character logs in real time. As you complete and finish or fail to finish missions the game updates the character bios which are told through the words of a Bard named Dandelion who is a friend of the main character. The bestiary acts in much the same way updating and adding information about the various enemies as you defeat them and encounter new weaknesses. Little things like this just add to the atmosphere which is the Witcher world.

There honestly wasn’t much I didn’t like about this game. The RPG style of game is my favorite and it’s easy for me to get absorbed by or into a character. The characters were storied and well written. Not many parts felt cheesy beyond what you may expect from a video game. The music was adequate there were some over world themes that were pretty good, not Skyrim good, but good enough that I didn’t get annoyed after playing for over a hundred hours. This is a long game and I am genuinely curious how many people see it to it’s completion. There are parts of the game that drag on a bit and if you aren’t thorough during the main chunk of the game then the ending gets held up by a bunch of missions that tie up all of the loose ends. I didn’t have to deal with much of that and I enjoyed the ending missions without much difficulty having leveled up and acquired good gear. If you like the high fantasy genre this is definitely a great RPG, probably one of the best I have ever played. Top 5 for sure.

What really inspired my 2nd play though was the Netflix show by the same name. I ultimately wanted to read the books before I watched the show but I figured the game would give me a good time in between. I randomly found the first book in hardback at the mall. I picked it up but have yet to read it. I will definitely write a review as soon as I do.

Definitely recommend this game for anyone craving a great immersive RPG experience with great lore and characters.

As always thanks for reading and I hope this was helpful. Feel free to comment. I’ll catch you on the flip sizzle.

Video game review – Doom Eternal

The newest entry in the classic Doom franchise. The god father of the first person shooter.

To be put simply, the game is about one thing, slaughtering demons. But This newest game takes the art of slaying demons and elevates it to an art form. A ballet of death, It is fast and brutal. The graphics are sharp and clean and every stage has a very different aesthetic so nothing really looks the same from level to level. There is no reload buttons or aiming down the sights. This game encourages and even rewards aggression. If you try to hide or take pot shots at enemies you will get over run by charging monsters.

I fondly remember playing Doom 2 on original PlayStation and Doom 64 on the N64. These were the more classic doom format with the pixelated demons and 2D sprites. Those games were dark, and filled with puzzles that tasked the player with finding colored keys and using switches and platforms to get through the levels. That basic structure is still here but This new game is much more detailed and has more modern movement options like a quick dodge and jumping. The basic mechanics of just laying on the trigger are still present and battles usually don’t stop till everything in the room has been defeated. Some enemies pop up through out the level but certain areas are literal death zones where enemies just spawn till you wipe them all out. The games music ramps up with heavy metal guitars and industrial drums gaining intensity. Once this starts you will die quickly if you don’t keep moving.

The core loop of Doom: Eternal operates on a pattern of shooting enemies to kill them, using the chainsaw to make enemies spurt a shower of ammo, burning enemies to replenish armor, and performing “glory kills” which reward you with a bit of health. The frantic pace of the battles means alternating between these functions at your will, or in some type of pattern. Most enemies have weak points that you can exploit as well. This makes each battlle a literal puzzle of deciding which enemies to take out first and with what weaponry, whilst keeping track of your health and armor and ammo. You find pickups for all of the above but the best method for keeping stocked and staying alive is by using all of the various killing techniques at your disposal. All of this culminates into a delectable dance of death and mutilation. shooting, stomping, tearing, smashing, burning, slicing, and otherwise annihilating anything that moves other than yourself. The speed and grace with which Doomguy decapitates lesser demons fits his persona. He doesn’t take his time and it often times is just a show of brute strength. After you fell all of the enemies in an area you have a sense that everything was just trying to rip and claw it’s way to you and you moved through them like a hot knife through butter.

I liked the care that went into this new game, for it describes the setting and how thing got the way they were. You can find pages of lore that explain why demons attacked earth and they give a bit of backstory to the Doom guy and kinda personify him. It’s not the clearest plot line or narrative but definitely interesting to read and explore. The main character of Doom has always just been a marine in a green suit but this game gives the silent protagonist a bit of backstory. There are tons of easter-eggs from previous games and other action titles as well. There are lots of collectibles which include models of the enemies and music tracks from other popular games made by the developer, ID software. Any fan of action games or doom specifically will definitely catch them during a playthgouth.

Between slaying demons there are some light platforming puzzles and some hidden items that you actually have to explore to find. Nothing was super difficult to get through and kept the pace nicely. There were no parts of the game (other than one particular enemy) that really get you stuck. The auto map pretty much shows you everything you need to see as well as any secrets. you just have to uncover the paths to uncover them. I thought the puzzles were thoughtful and didn’t detract from the flow of the game. Also the game gives you a fast travel function at the end of any level so you can teleport around and collect stuff that you may have missed during a chaotic fight or difficult area. Definite re-playability .

There is a multiplayer online mode called “Battle mode” which pits human players against each other in a 2 v 1 style match up. one player takes the role of the Doomguy and the other two players assume the roles of Demons who can summon other lesser demons and must work together to defeat doomguy in an arena type setting. These matches are fast and chaotic. I haven’t quite gotten the gist of this mode yet, or I haven’t practiced enough to really tell if I’m doing well or not, or even helping my team mate if we are the demons. I’ve lost an equal number of rounds as I’ve won simply because one of the players probably didn’t know what was going on quite yet. Still fun regardless and I will be eager to play this mode more or see if it progresses at all. Either way the battle mode keeps the same feel and frantic pace as the campaign action. It’s a nice break from the single player level type campaign.

This game has a lot of satanic and demonic imagery. People who are sensitive to this stuff may not like the environments and enemies, or even subject matter. However Doom is an unflinching action game from beginning to end. I highly recommend it to anyone who fancies a trip to hell to slaughter the minions of evil. A great game to mash through during quarantine. A classic game design in a modern format. A definite must play if you consider yourself even a casual gamer or fan of first person shooters.

Video Game Review – Apex Legends

This is the first Battle Royal mode I have ultimately enjoyed. I played about 20 hours or so in Fortnite and genuinely found that game play is boring and repetitive. I watched a bunch of game play for the Player Unknown’s Battle Ground, and got the same feeling from that game. Just campy and ultimately too little action for me.

Enter Apex Legends. Made by Respawn entertainment, the company behind the Titanfall franchise. Immediately when I tried it I felt somehow familiar. The movement was fluid and the combat is mostly first person view. At first I sucked and admittedly didn’t like the game because of the time it took to see any action. Then I started to play enough to rack up some kills and really dive into the deeper mechanics of the game and the awesome characters with unique abilities.

I quickly found some favorite character abilities that allow me to feel useful without getting too many kills, but this let me learn how to survive well. One aspect I really like about Apex Legends is that it is automatically played in groups of three. This increases the survivability by great lengths. When I, or a teammate, goes down there is a good chance of being healed and brought back into the fight. Even if totally eliminated there is a secondary way to respawn a team mate so overall, right of the bat, I felt that I was getting more play time per match, thus more experience and practice playing the game.

The fact that everyone is placed in a team adds a factor or camaraderie, I want to do better for my team mates so I try to learn how to get better and when to be patient. Generally people are pretty nice and play together well. I have only had a few instances of shitty people but alas that is the internet age.. bound to meet a few here and there online.

The gun play is solid and the weapons behave consistently so you can really learn and get good using certain ones. Learning the different characters and how to use their abilities is also a lot more fun than the stale base characters of any other BR game mode currently out there.

Overall it is a solid game and I can see why it is popular. It is free to download, and you can buy micro transactions to unlock more cosmetic items.

There isn’t much I don’t like about the game for what it is. Therein lies the fault. I will not go as far as to say it is a full game. It feels like a game mode, forever more. The matches are too short and there is not enough depth to keep me playing for more than a handful of matches. Playing with friends and chatting makes it more fun for a bit longer but in the end it is a game mode and not a full game.

There is only one map. The maps in these BR modes are large and separated into different biomes or areas that contain different set pieces, architecture, and geography. They are basically a bunch of mini arenas within a large map. This gets boring after a while just like any single map, once you have seen all the locations and fought in different areas they all start to look the same in this game. There isn’t much variety in the map department. This is standard in most BR modes.

Now that this game is nearing several months old, the entry level skill gap is pretty high at this point. I often get melted by more experienced players right off the bat just because I am not fast enough or don’t know what to pick up first. The game is pretty unrelenting to newcomers. The game is entirely PVP there is no “single player” experience or story. So after a couple rounds and eventual wins … that’s pretty much all there is too it. Nothing grand happens when you win, you don’t get any wicked bonuses or anything… you just play another match.

So far critics have said that the skins and cosmetic items are underwhelming but i don’t really notice or care for cosmetic items. I will say that the season pass that they charged 10 bucks for is ultimately not worth it. The pass nets you a few cool skins and cosmetics but only after a grueling grind through 100 levels of crap rewards. I doubt I will be able to get anywhere near the end considering the levels for the season pass take more Exp than normal game levels. haha.. but hey you can purchase any levels you miss if you really want the rewards.

Overall a great Battle Royal mode. Nothing more, nothing less. I am sad that such a fad of a game mode has made it to become a major fixture of modern gaming. Just feels cheap. I like the bigger game modes and larger teams! Battle Royal game mode has infected some of the best shooter franchises, turning them into husks of their former selves,

In the end it is free, and I would recommend it to anyone who likes intense player vs. player action, or anyone who enjoys BR modes in general.

Video Game Review – Battlefield 5

I waited awhile to review this game because it had a rocky start. After three and a half months the game finally feels polished and patched up to where it should have been when first released (a sad trend in modern gaming).

I don’t know what it is but Battlefield 5 seems like the shallowest BF release I have experienced. I’ll say strait away that the game is great fun and I’ve already put over 120 hours into it and play fairly regularly. I’ve played pretty much every Battlefield that has come out on Console since Bad Company. I am definitely more of a Battlefielder than I am a Caller of Duty .. I like both games for their different mechanics and styles. I’ll discuss some things I like and don’t like about Battlefield 5 as it stands .

Battlefield 5 is military shooter with an emphasis on large open maps complete with tanks, trucks, jeeps, and even planes. The BF series has different class roles which each play differently and have different equipment to help out on the battlefield. Assault class carries explosives and anti tank weaponry, the Medic class can quickly revive fallen team mates and restore health and bandages. The support class is great for defense and can restore ammo and equipment to team mates as well as build fortifications twice as fast. Lastly the Recon class is best used for spotting enemies with their spotting scope or as counter infantry at any distance. A good BF player will learn each class and be able to switch if the situation calls for it.

To begin the game plays really good now. I have had no severe instances of freezing or being booted from servers. Battlefield 5 definitely captures the intensity of warfare better than any other Military Based Shooter. I know it’s not a “simulator” by any means but there are some truly epic moments in BF games that I have never experienced in any other shooter. This is the main reason why I keep coming back to this series. You feel like you are part of a small army running across a field with other human players, while shells rip into tanks several yards from you. Having to dive in a fresh crater to avoid gun fire and popping smoke so your squad can advance on a target never gets old to me.

The sound in BF games has always been a sheer cut above the rest in terms of oomph and quality. I play on a small surround sound system and most of the guns have a distinct punch and boom when you fire them, not to mention the wonderful echo effects in open areas versus the muffled bangs when firing indoors. The sound design in general is pretty stellar to me. Hearing the roar of gunfire and artillery grow steadily louder as you run towards it is a reminder, to me, of how terrifying it must have been for soldiers throughout the world who had to live through it.

I really enjoy the WW2 setting. World War 2 has been an object of fascination for every generation that came after. I’ve read about extensively.. Today we are only reminded by video games and movies that show heroic characters doing epic things.. I appreciate how BF5, and BF1 before it, captured the more somber and hopeless sides of war. After all it was primarily young men who lost their lives in those savage wars. BF1 definitely took itself a bit more seriously in terms of feel and emotion but I don’t mind too much because after all it is just a video game.

I enjoy what they added to the gameplay mechanics. Every class being able to revive is a blessing. I have been on teams where it seemed like myself and a good squad turned the whole tide of battle, because we had someone playing each class well and supporting each other. It took DICE a minute to get the medic class balanced but now I feel all the classes are fairly useful each to their own and have their own play styles. The emphasis on team play is strong and goes a long way toward winning matches or having more fun in general.

The smoke in BF5 is actually pretty great. The medic class automatically comes equipped with two smoke grenades, which are used with great success in this game. I use the smoke both to safely revive fallen soldiers and also practically as a smoke screen to block the view of snipers, tanks, or when advancing on objectives. To me it adds a small sense of realism to the game that feels genuine. Smoke and cover fire are huge parts of war fare and I feel the small addition of a functional smoke grenade is awesome. I know the smoke nades are in the other BF games as well but I believe this is the first time they are issued as a base gadget. For some reason this helped me notice them and it’s the first time I have ever found them really useful in game.

Although the game plays well now there are still some things that I don’t like or that put a bad taste in my mouth.

Among various bugs and glitches the game felt very empty on launch. There was a huge lack of maps, gadgets, vehicles, and game modes. Many gamers expressed their displeasure with this aspect. Without the 50 dollar premium pass, Dice and EA are hoping that micro transactions will provide enough money to continue development. However the past couple years and other popular titles have shown that this ultimately leads to a weak trickle of content that doesn’t have much of an impact (think star wars Battlefront 2?). Battlefield fans are skeptical if BF5 will ever become the game that it deserves to be and I share in their skepticism.

Another big turn off came after the game launched. There was a problem with the in game currency that allows you to unlock cosmetic items and specializations. The glitch prevented anyone at the already low level cap of 50 from getting the company coins needed to progress.. This left me with a “why the hell even play then?”, attitude as this made it very difficult to advance and specialize my weapons. Worst of is the fact that this bug persisted for over 2 months..

I feel there is a problem with balancing the teams. Often times it’s either mashing or getting mashed. I’ve been in very few matches where it comes down to the wire and the points stay close the whole time. Those matches definitely happen, maybe I just wish there were more of them.

Lastly, customization for your weapons are purely cosmetic beyond what type of optic you use. To me this feels kinda cheap.. I get that it is probably going to be one of their only extra sources of income at this point.. One of my favorite BF games was BF3 because the customizations that you unlocked actually effected the way the gun behaved. You unlocked barrels, grips, stocks, extra attachments, and sights that niched out the weapon. I guess they have “specializations” that you can unlock for specific weapons to better customize a play style. I don’t know.. I just don’t care to have my WW2 guns painted in chrome and gold plating or with bright green and blue colors.

My overall opinions and thoughts vary pretty greatly on this game. I love the gameplay overall. Now as it is, the game sounds great, looks great, and has exhilirating combat. The maps are large open and for the most part pretty balanced (except Hamada, just make it normal conquest?)..

However there aren’t many maps yet and worse yet only 1 new map slated for release by the time four were releasing for BF1. This is an ominous sign of what is to come as far as map content.

I highly recommend this game if you like more in depth online shooters. There is more depth and strategy at play due to vehicles and and different classes. Like I said it is one of the only video games that regularly gives me those “holy sh!t” moments of epic gameplay. There were some issues in the beginning but most of them have been corrected or patched up. I am eager to see what becomes of this game, for it will be telling of the overall trend in gaming as a whole as more and more games move to a “games as as service” model. I’ve already written about my disdain for this in another article.

Hope this article was a little bit useful if you were on the fence about the game.. If you are interested in Battlefield 5 I would highly recommend it now. You can purchase the game for under 40 dollars. I play regularly so feel free to join a game or add me on PSN if you ever want a great squad mate! , my id is: SL_Blank

As always thanks for reading.

Video Game Review – Super Smash Bros: Ultimate

Being a long time Nintendo fan it is no doubt I have played the hell out of the Newest Super Smash Brothers. Super Smash Brothers has a super long lineage going back to the N64. It is a fighting game that pits long time and lesser known Nintendo characters into one roster. An impressive roster at that. Smash Brothers has always been one of my favorite games on Nintendo and probably my most played game on my N64 besides Goldeneye. Spent a lot of time playing Melee for GameCube as well and owned the one for the Wii U.

The game is a stylized fighter / brawler where every character has the exact same move sets controller wise, but the corresponding moves are drastically different for each character. Some characters have similarities usually if they are from the same game franchise or the same story line. Instead of life bars in SB, hits you land increase Damage% and as this rises you or characters you hit are thrown farther from the impact. Eventually after enough Dmg% is accumulated even the smallest move will send a character flying off stage which knocks a point off their score or finishes the match. Basically weaken your opponent enough to Smash them off the stage. These basic mechanics make Smash Bros easy to pick up and learn but a challenge to master. There is a lot of depth to this game, coupled with a HUGE roster of characters, there is a lot to chew on.

Diving right in to the new Super Smash Brothers Ultimate for Nintendo Switch.

The list of characters starts off small and you unloce new characters just by playing the game. I think it took me several weeks to get all of them. There are 76 characters in the game at present, each with different powers and abiliteis. This may seem daunting but the game rewards you well jsut for playing and experimenting with the different modes and functionis. There are many different playstyles among the characters including fighter types, sword types, shooter types, and various other types based off of the games where the character comes from. I’ve put around 40 hours into the game and I still have far from seen everything.

I like this game because there is a littele something for everyone. There is definite action. The graphics are more cartoony and very colorful, so kids can enjoy it. The game has tons of customization and handicap settings so, again, kids can have a good time as well as more seasoned players. I’m not even particularly good at SB but it is always a riot to play with multiple people who know what they are doing, even if they don’t, matches are crazy and mostly enjoyable. You can easily make it easier if you are having trouble in most spots, except for the new Adventure mode.

I enjoy the new Adventure mode, speaking of. It adds the slightest story and strategy element to the game instead of it being just a brawler. After a cutscene you must travel a world map and fight enemies in battles with set parameters and hazards. Doing this gains you spirits which come in two forms. Main and support. These spirits are from any Nintendo property you could ever imagine even some super obscure ones that I have never seen before. Spirits serve as a cool and functional collection item that allow your character to become immune to various stage hazards, move types, or start you off with various weapons. They add very basic form of strategy that is easy to get the hang of. This is a one player portion of the game, but the spirits can be used on any other part of the game, and it lets you choose whether you want them on or off.

The rest is all here including the Classic mode which slowly gets more difficult if you do well, and ends with a battle with master hand or a franchise boss fight depending on which characters you are using. There are also some other great modes including the Century Smash where you fight a hoard of 100 bots, or challenging last man standing type battles. Normal Smash mode has a fully customizable set up and you can save your favorite match types so you don’t have to deal with the menus unless you want to tweak something about the match. You can change pretty much anything about the match including game rules, certain items, handicaps, CPU difficulty, and anything else you could imagine. Ultimate playability (I don’t think that’s a word..)!

There are tons of unlockable items in this game. Literally a thousand plus spirits and thousand plus different pieces of music in the soundtrack. Countless pieces of armor and costumes for your Mii character.. It’s truly impressive the amount of stuff they can fit on those tiny little Switch cartridges. There are literally 100 different stages or battle arenas!!! This game is simply massive.

There isn’t much bad to say about it honestly.

The game is a lot faster than I remember.. Sometimes the hardest part of the match is literally trying to keep track of your character. The stages move and swoosh around and are a potential hazard in themselves. I often find myself losing track of my character after a large explosion or other dazzling event, thus I die needlessly fairly often. You do get used to this but it was something I noticed. I may be getting old or it may have been a long time since I played a SSB game. Honestly this adds to the chaos of the game and mostly ends up being funny in large multiplayer matches. When playing solo it is much easier to see what your character is doing and what your moves do. It took me a lot of time playing solo before I got the hang of the larger more intense multiplayer matches.

The online mode kinda sucks. Or maybe I just suck at SSB because I rarely win and when the lag isn’t messing up my experience people tend to be try-hards or just spam the same bullshit moves over and over. Needless to say the servers aren’t very stable and I’m sure they will be updated eventually but I generally don’t play much online. It picks a random match and random team mates for you unless you are playing co-op with a friend. I probably just need more practice.

With all the games I played this past holiday season I’d say this one was one of the only two that felt worth it, Red Dead Redemption 2 Being the other. I have discussed the ongoing trend of developers selling shoddy and incomplete games. I’m happy to say this game felt worth my money.

I’d highly recommend this game to anyone who likes fighting or beat em ups. The action is intensely smooth and fast paced but the simple controls let pretty much anyone figure it out pretty quick. Definitely a no-brainer for anyone who loves Nintendo and owns a Switch.