Missy's Game Shelf

  • Skull and Bones Already Set Up To Fail

    So Ubisoft is trying to sell their new game without acknowledging how bad it actually is. The biggest problems lie in the fact that it just looks like they tried to copy Sea Of Theives and their own pirate themed game, Assassins Creed: Black Flag. More than that like Sea of Thievies it’s a live service, but knowing Ubisoft it won’t be as easy to connect in fact, I would be shocked if this wasn’t a way to scam more money out of people by forcing them to buy a U-Play Account. Also gameplay looks barebones compared to others in this genre. Yes, it did take Sea of thieves a long time to get its reputation, but comparatively even in its early state Skull and Bones has less. We all know how this will go Ubisoft will ignore all warnings and release regardless, then after players realize how little it has compared to Assassins Creed, Sea of Thieves, or even Raft the game will inevitably die due to lack of updates and low content, all the while Ubisoft makes profit off new U-play accounts being made. Basically, Square and EA’s current business models without drowning in lawsuits. I’m giving the game a max of 2 months before server shutdown and poor apology written by some PR guy or ChatGPT possibly both. Even if this isn’t connected to U-play (which I doubt) the poor looking gameplay is obvious. If you need an explorative pirate themed game Sea of Thieves is amazing with friends and only requires a STEAM account and Assassins Creed: Black Flag is at least polished and somewhat credited to being one of few games that did ocean exploration correctly inspiring others. If you don’t care for pirates and want a crafting exploration game set on the ocean play Raft and if you want adventure in the sea The Legend of Zelda: The Windwaker is an amazing game. Several games already exist that look and play better.

    “Ubisoft. Skull and Bones | Gameplay Overview Trailer.” Youtube, uploaded by Ubisoft, Jul 7, 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgy4WZ9ta7E

  • TEMTEM Review (Switch)

    Happy Valentines Day Everyone in celebration of today I decided to talk about a game that everyone loved, but I personally hate. Anyone complaining about how Scarlet and Violet crash too often I challenge you to play this. Monster Crown at launch I am so sorry you were stable in comparison. This game has been out for almost three years and hasn’t really improved. If you ever look up monster taming games Temtem comes up as a game that is recommended and I can’t actually see why.

    Gameplay is you capture creatures and monsters to build your team and use them to fight. It uses a stamina mechanic similar to other games in the genre like Nexomon, but does everything wrong. You can use your moves if you don’t have enough stamina at the cost of health which is fine and unique, but the game has a lot of forced damage as moves themselves need to be ready before you can use them. This means while you could beat an opponent first turn often you have to wait 2-4 turns while taking damage and being careful about stamina, type effectiveness, and your own health so you don’t accidently take yourself out. The fast travel mechanic is a joke as well you don’t unlock it till the end of the game and it costs in game money to use as well as at that point you’ve already seen everything the game has to offer and the game would actually benefit from giving it to you early instead.

    The story has no real meaning as any point that could have some impact like a major and unlikeable characters death while it might be treated with some kind of respect is taken away by that character coming back. For the record Nexomon and Coromon have original stories and unlikeable characters don’t overstay their welcome. While you could argue this game is still darker than most a lot of those darker moments have their impact ruined later on making it just another monster taming game with nothing added. Monster Crown tells a darker story, Nexomon has better creature designs, and Coromon just had a story overhaul that improves both flow and pacing. Three indie games in the same genre better than this all available on the same device at half the price each.

    Temtems main marketing was it was released at a time when Pokemon was at a low, while it could compete with Pokemon so could others and it honestly fails when put up against other indie games. It’s only thing setting it apart is it is a MMO, but aside from the raids being annoying and all legendary monsters as prizes I didn’t see much value in it. Player vs. environment was just the main story and a battle frontier and the Player vs. Player was never used by me normally I at least try to capture all the monsters in these games, but with irritating combat, uninteresting creatures, and raids I refuse to do since I can’t use my own team in them it wouldn’t be worth it. To write this review I actively avoided comparing this game to Pokemon and see if it could stand on its own against other indie games, but it really can’t without the comparison it has poor gameplay, a terrible fast travel mechanic, and the game isn’t stable at all. Maybe the PC version is more stable or better but I really doubt it.

  • Fantasy Life 3DS Review

    FANTASY LIFE 3DS

    I thought I’d never get a chance to talk about this game. An amazing and charming game on the 3DS and easily one of my favorites, Fantasy Life released at possibly a pretty bad time in 2014. Given that several new releases and sequels came out so peoples attention was elsewhere. Despite this game not really getting the attention it deserves I still love it to this day and play it whenever I can. It did have a game for a short while on mobile devices that shut down and after no announcement of any kind of switch port or sequel for the longest time I felt that the series was just ending. Then while trying to find a similar game a forum post informed me that a sequel was in the future. I didn’t actually believe it and searched LEVEL 5’s and Nintendo’s Youtube channels finding the trailer posted to both.

    Gameplay

    The game is heavily centered on specific roles called lives. There are twelve in total split into three categories, Combat, Crafting, and Gathering. Each Life has specific challenges for the life chosen Woodcutters have different quests than Carpenters. That doesn’t mean you can’t cut down trees as another life, but you’re encouraged not to. Some quests specifically have certain buffs and abilities that can help in certain lives and roles and you also lose some experience points. Fortunately, Fast Travel is easy and you can switch the role at any point and the world resets when you sleep. Combat has four lives Paladin and Mercenary which focus on light and heavy attacks and Wizard and Hunter which focus on ranged attacks. The Gathering is focused on getting certain materials Miners get ore and gems, Woodcutters get wood, and Anglers get fish. Finally Crafting is where you can use all the materials you find during the other lives. It gets you stronger equipment, healing items, and better gear. Cook and Alchemist get food and medicine that can provide buffs, Carpenter is used for better weapons and furniture, Smithing is used for better armor and other weapons, and Tailor is used to make clothes and furniture like rugs and curtains, but in reality is the easiest way to make money since armor is more useful.

    Conclusion

    Despite this being a great game I feel like even now the developers are repeating mistakes. This year alone there are several sequels and well-established IP are releasing. So if this does release there is a chance that once again it will be overlooked in favor of other releases this year, but I will definitely be looking forward to it possibly more than other upcoming RPGs this year. Is it a perfect game? No, but it’s charming and enjoyable enough and has enough in it to make up for it’s faults.


    Nintendo of America “FANTASY LIFE i: The Girl Who Steals Time – Nintendo Direct 2.8.2023.” YouTube, uploaded by Nintendo of America, Feb 9, 2023, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iewOAF-MO8c&t=3s

    LEVEL5ch【公式】. ” FANTASY LIFE i: The Girl Who Steals Time – 1st Trailer.” YouTube, uploaded by LEVEL5ch【公式】, Sep 16, 2023, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBNvg-1MC4E&t=13s

  • Mochi Mayhem and Predictions On Pokemon’s Next Game

    Mochi Mayhem is the epilogue for the Treasures of Area Zero DLC content for Pokemon. It also allows the player to invite the last three coaches to Blueberry Academy for more difficult battles. It also has the worst way of access to the content. First you need to connect to Mystery Gift, get the Mythical Pecha Berry, and fly to Kitakami where a plush has been added to Peachy’s store a cutscene will play and start the final quest in the game. There is no real indication you need to do this. As for the epilogue content much like Daybreak from Legends Arceus it only acts as the last chapter so not much added. Just the addition of the new Legendary Pokemon, Pecharunt. I think it will be a unique Pokemon to add to teams that use status conditions especially since if a Pokemon is poisoned its ability, Poison Puppeteer, adds confusion.

    So given how short this review was I thought it would be fun to try and guess what Pokemon’s next game would be. Pokemon is known for easter eggs pointing to their next game and at the moment there are two very strong contenders for the next remake. These are the generation 5 games, Pokemon Black and White and their sequels set in Unova, or the generation 2 games, Pokemon Gold, Silver, and Crystal set in Jhoto. While there is a lot pointing to one or the other I honestly think it will probably be both. I think a game with capture mechanics and gameplay similar to Legends Arceus or the Let’s Go games will release for the Jhoto region, while a more traditional remake will release for the Unova region. It wouldn’t make sense to promote both in the Indigo Disk DLC then do nothing with that. At this point it is only speculation with the Sports Ball making a return from the Jhoto region and the Blueberry Academy taking place in Unova it really could be one or the other, but it should be noted that Pokemon Go and Pokemon Masters have had recent events for Generation 5. So more than likely it will be a remake of the Unova games first as that will likely take less time given most of the plot is already written along with some way to get to areas in the sequel and be made on the same engine for Scarlet and Violet similar to how Pokemon regularly handles remakes. While a game focusing on capture will release for the Jhoto Region with its own mechanics will release later. I could be wrong, but at this point we just need to wait and see what else can come out. Shouldn’t be long February is next month and Pokemon has a trend of announcing new content and games every year around the 27th and 28th of February so news could come soon.

  • Hogwarts Legacy (Switch Edition)

    Hogwarts Legacy is one of the best Open World games I’ve played in awhile. Now to be fair I am certain there is ton of easter eggs and references to the Harry Potter franchise, but for the most part you can go in blind and still see almost everything the game has to offer. I never watched any of the movies or read any of the books, but still enjoyed the game. The Switch does have graphical limitations, but compared to other open world games on the system looks passable. There were quests and side activities that were far harder than they needed to be, but still doable. There are hundreds of collectibles and activities my least favorite was Summoners Court Questline not because it’s hard, but because of the lack of perception making it incredibly difficult for no reason. There are five parts in that questline and minigame and at first it is used as a tutorial level to teach the player how to bring faraway objects and enemies closer. After that it just becomes a nuisance. While it is a small part of the larger game that makes it stand out more other questlines that have multiple parts either are part of the main story or are more fun to do. While the exploration can feel limited at first as you explore the world the harder the challenges and since you can pretty much go anywhere without consequence it is more a matter of whether or not you are ready for harder fights or difficult quests. Another thing that seemed pointless was the limited gear slots. You can unlock more through the completion of Merlin Trials, but after awhile it becomes obvious that there are more Trials than slots to unlock thus making the vast majority of them just there for experience points. Gear can be upgraded and the various beasts can be cared for giving you materials. Another thing that seemed odd was you can only sell gear and beasts to the trader. You gain materials by rescuing beasts and caring for them and while a unique and fun concept. Aside from the novelty of interacting with these creatures especially with how much of the story is focused on the local poachers is wasted in its reward. I ended up having tons of materials that while yes, I could use them to upgrade serve no real purpose outside of being in my inventory.

    I had fun with this game and I do think it is a legitimately great time when it does something right it pulls it off amazingly, but the flaws and annoyances stand out more. I still like and recommend this game especially if you like the world of Hogwarts and its universe.

  • Pokemon Nuzlocke and Clone Challenge Explained

    Happy New Year Everyone I wanted to start this year talking about something I enjoy. Pokemon and a challenging game, I can honestly say I have attempted both of these Challenges and tried to see how far I would get. A Nuzlocke is a challenge where you can only capture the first Pokemon per area and route and you nickname all of them. While none of that is that hard the next part is difficult if a Pokemon faints it is considered dead and needs to be released. This is particularly hard if Pokemon are high level hatred over grinding as you need to consistently swap your team and sometimes protect members of your team in exchange for others. I managed to do well in a Nuzlocke, but experienced a full team wipe in Brilliant Diamond’s Victory Road when mixed with being tired and some bad luck ended that run.

    The next Challenge I tried was a Clone Challenge where someone picks a Pokemon and sees if they can beat the game with a team of them. This forces the player to decide move-set and weaknesses as there are eighteen types you need to get through and you are limited to one or two. When I did my Clone Challenge I picked Pikachu and limited it to just 2 of them. While I did struggle I still had fun with it and managed to get better luck and beat all of base Violet with just remembering moves, TM usage, and over leveling. For Star Road levels I added a Pokemon that was low-level or would lose almost instantly as those require a third party member.

    A lot of people may ban healing items, ban over leveling, or only allow one Pokemon. Honestly, I like these challenges because with Nintendo’s focus on family friendly content there is so little challenge so by making a few self-imposed rules to make things harder brings some difficulty that was missing that I feel other RPGs have.

  • Pokemon Treasures of Area Zero The Teal Mask and Indigo Disk DLC Review

    I already made a review of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet and for the record I don’t even know if the DLC’s are finished yet. I will start with the Kitakami’s DLC revolving around Ogerpon it adds more story and pretty much exists as setup for the Indigo Disk. It focuses on lore and more Pokemon to capture introducing the new rivals Kieran and Carmine as well as bringing in some older Pokemon and more story. It can actually be accessed as soon as you start the Treasure Hunt in Scarlet and Violet. All Pokemon will be level 15-20 if you go there that early, however if you already beat base Scarlet and Violet the levels boost to 60-65. This is similar to how Sword and Shield handled its base DLC the Isle of Armor so I’m not surprised to see a similar system.

    The Indigo Disk is the other pack to access it you need to clear the story modes of both Scarlet and Violet base game and Part One of Treasures of Area Zero. Here Wild Pokemon easily reach later levels, but you can also catch all of the starters and get revisits from Alolan Pokemon and Galarian Slowpoke. Boss Battles are the hardest as Pokemon reach early 80s and even the Academy Ace Tournament gets high level. I said before that it doesn’t seem finished this is because it seems no one has figured out how to unlock the last three coaches and it is believed that there will be an epilogue chapter and those three will be released then. This all makes the Indigo Disk similar to Galarian Star which had its focus on battles and capture. You can capture the starters and the increase in battles makes this a fun time though the quests called BBQ’s can be boring and repetitive but worth it if you just want the starters in this game. Espicially if you consider this is the first time some have been on switch. So is the plot concluded with Teropagus’ capture and the end of Kieran as Champion. I don’t know the last three trainers are rumored to be Arven, Penny, and Nemona so we need to wait for the ending. Fortunately, while writing this Pokemon released a new trailer showing an epilogue chapter set for January 11 so we only need to wait a little while for the ending. Now this news actually isn’t posted anywhere on the website as far as I can tell, but instead on the official Youtube channel for Pokemon.

    I overall enjoyed these as they don’t fix Scarlet and Violets many issues and some of those glitches are actually funny if you don’t mind one or two visual chaos. It has been awhile since I’ve seen some of these starters. And seeing some starters like Snivy and Tepig was a good thing as those two haven’t been featured since the 3DS games through transfer or Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire while Oshawott was present in Legends. I already said Scarlet and Violet were disappointing and needed more things to do, but at least the game is slightly more playable. Not good, but slightly better than it was.

    Sources:

    “A new adventure in the Land of Kitakami awaits!” YouTube, uploaded by The Official Pokémon YouTube channel, Dec 20, 2023, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_T9u6T9eOg

  • The Day Before Actually Released?

    I covered a likely scam game that I believed would never release at the time it was Steams most wish listed game. So the things I covered was the trailer was mostly made of copied content such as font from The Last Of Us and certain shots similar to The Division or Call of Duty. I think this is the fastest I had ever heard of a game releasing to closure of the studio. Fantastic had closed within days of their launch for the record they announced closure less than a week after launch. Now I do want to correct something I had said the whole deal with the trademark dispute was shady while given track record of shady practices from the studio was what led me to this, this was possibly the only thing true. It hardly helps them and a part of me believes that this would have been better if this game never released as from certain Steam reviews as well as this being the only game I know of for IGN to give a 1/10 to be entirely unplayable. For the record that is the lowest I have ever seen one of their scores. I only have pity for Gabriel Moss the writer for IGN who had to write that review as he was playing an early build for the game and who knows what changes or fixes were made if any. If you are wondering servers for the Day Before and Propnight are up, though who knows or for that matter cares, for how long. I think I was rough on this game for the lack of originality as well as the studio’s habit of advertising one thing to seemingly bring in audiences then show another game of much lower scale. Now I strangely believe I wasn’t rough enough. The only thing people will have difficulty with when deciding the worst game of the year is the order. This year alone we got games like Kong Skull Island, The Lord Of The Rings Gollum, Red Faction, and now The Day Before. If only this game waited a month it could have been added to next years lists.

    Moss, Gabriel. “The Day Before Early Access Review.” IGN, Posted 11 Dec. 2023 Updated 12 Dec. 2023 https://www.ign.com/articles/the-day-before-review Accessed 25, Dec. 2023

  • Fears Around Open Hand Grow May Cause Backlash To Charity Streams

    Let me state that several Youtubers and Streamers run Charity Streams to send money to good causes or raise awareness.  MatPat from Game Theory has streams yearly for raising money for St. Jude. RTGame has run multiple charity runs among others. Let me state I doubt any of these have malicious intent. However, due to events with Open Hand people may be reluctant to help with fears the money never makes it to its desired cause. I think if you are that cautious you should donate directly and if you still want to watch the stream go for it. I don’t think any of them will be offended about someone doing that especially given recent events. My biggest fear is they will stop doing these events lets face it Youtubers and Streamers can reach audiences across the world they can raise a lot of money for good causes. There are some who will be reluctant to donate to any cause and you can’t blame them for that, but I sincerely hope that they continue to try and reach out to their fans and help those who need it. No one can be blamed for reluctance to any of their intentions, but I doubt a number of these have bad intentions or anything shady. The only thing people can do is wait and see. I want Charity Streams to continue as they are great ways to get money to people who need it. I need to say this again donate directly if you are that cautious. No one can complain that all of this has left people less likely to donate, but that is bad for companies that rely on donations for research and in the end no one wins. I don’t want people to quit donating to St. Jude or other research centers because of one bad apple, but I also won’t be surprised if they do. The best thing we can do is donate directly to these organizations and try helping that way. Way to go Jirard not only did you personally disrespect your own mother, you cast shade and disrespected friends and colleges as well as those who try to do any kind of good in their lives. I am certain that was never the intent but you can’t deny that now for Christmas some less fortunate will have empty stockings and people who needed that money to get through winters heavier months I pray for as now they may never get the help they so desperately needed. No matter how you look at it someone will suffer either the Creators who run these events will have to try to get money to these as best they can knowing full well it will be an uphill battle and work hard to genuinely gather money or the people suffering from anything as they may not get the help they need. And that is what makes me the angriest and possibly the most scared of in this situation the lack of trust will cause a lot of people who can help but won’t or the people who need the help and due to someone else being malious and incompetent may never recieve it. For an opinion piece this was long and I wanted to write what I felt the biggest issue was. The fact that even if this was caught sooner the ripple effect won’t just go away. (While editing I found out Defunctland did a Charity Stream for Give Kids the World Village. I wish them the best and hope the best intentions going forward. I do hope that they were able to get the money for children with illnesses and are able to help. If all goes well maybe we can face the New Year with a smile rather than fear of what’s to come.)

  • The Completionist Charity Scam

    I want it stated here that I am neither a lawyer or financial expert so I can’t give any kind of advice or thoughts on that and can only look at the evidence presented and form my own opinion. Ten years ago the youtuber Jirad the Completionist started the Open Hand foundation to collect money for the Alziemers Association and other Dementia help organizations. Or that was the idea, Karl Jobst and Mutahar from SomeOrdinaryGamers two other youtubers started investigating the ‘charity’ and by checking IRS tax forms discovered that they never moved money from Open Hand to anywhere. Karl and Mutahar later called him out on the filings and Jirard finally donated the money due to public pressure. Now Jirard was credited with giving a lot of lesser known Youtubers their start and boost in the community. Caddicarus, The Game Theroists, Peanut Butter Gamer, Projared, among others are at least familiar or directly tied to him. Now being fair I don’t know if they were aware of the situation entirely and I would hope they look into it with an open mind before saying anything. What is more is Indieland was amazing for lessor known developers to show off their game and gain attention to their projects that they rightly deserved. Jirard is well liked in the community and for some it is hard to imagine malicious intent, alternatively that opens up the most incompetently run business then. Jirard states he didn’t want the money going to a CEO or used for something other than research. That is fair, but why did it take ten years for one donation he stated he wanted a restricted donation then just have it set as a restricted donation tons of places have settings that allow donations to be restricted including the Alziemers Association. Why would that be so difficult? And why did it take ten years? There is no doubt that he did a lot for the community, but there is also the possibility that 600,000 dollars of other peoples money given under false pretenses also exists. Whether you want to judge malice or incompetence is irrelevant due to the fact Karl Jobst and Mutahar both provide evidence in their videos and the Completionist sadly doesn’t. He plays the sympathy card multiple times even trying to use an autopsy report as evidence, but that is just disrespectful and trying to use his late mother as a shield for his own mistakes. One thing you keep reading is that people keep saying he is so nice he has no reason to scam people. I think this is the same thing people were saying about Sam Bankman Fried and he is currently on trial for Fraud so can we stop with that excuse clearly it doesn’t matter how kind someone is outright if they can they will still steal money.

    Sources: