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My Time at Sandrock
One of my oldest reviews was on the Indie Game My Time at Portia. As of now I have replayed the game on switch and many of my issues were addressed so I no longer see that review as what I think of the game. It was true at the time I played it for the first review, but after they ironed out some of the bugs it is actually much better. Today we are looking at the sequel. That said after covering the recent showcases I wanted to review a small game and while I have been playing Moonstone Island I still need to give that game more time before reviewing it.
Now, this game was at one point a DLC for My Time at Portia before being expanded on to its own game. The gameplay is also the same you gather resources and craft them into tools or machines. RPG mechanics with level up in three catagories Combat improving health, attack, and defensce, Social allowing the benefits of the towns much easier including buying and selling as well as commissions, and Gathering allowing the ease of getting better and better materials or getting more materials. This time though there is a lot of arbitrary rules. The game takes place in the desert so trees are rare, but you still have the need for wood to power your machines and craft, however, the citizens all lose relationship points for cutting trees down. For a game that has its inspiration from Harvest Moon and as a follow up to My Time at Portia your relationship is important in this game high friendship can lead to sales at the shops and the towns residents responses to you. This doesn’t need to exist other than to limit the player from the second major gameplay mechanic.
In conclusion play Portia as this is pretty much the same game with the same graphics and although it has a different story and characters. When everything new and added doesn’t feel new and what does is detrimental to the player or the game itself.
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Playstation Showcase
Playstation Showcase
I had to do a double take to make sure I had the right video this showcase was thirty minuets shorter than the other two. There were a lot of new Indie and AAA games announced, but only a handful of which look good.
CONCORD
A 5v5 shooter with one note characters and while the trailer seemed in engine my biggest question is is it going to be any better or worse than Team Fortress 2 and Overwatch 2. Can a Multiplayer game like this set itself apart? It is one of few new Ips we got so I hope it can expand as dull as the game looks. Though that could be because I’m not the biggest fan of shooters. Now it was clear this is the project Sony has the most confidence in. Not only was this the longest trailer with developers speaking about the game as well the whole segment was ten minuets long during a 30-40 minuet showcase.
God Of War Ragnorok PC version
This is one of those times when I need to say anyone who wanted to play this game probably already has. God of War has been exclusive to playstation for a long time and Ragnorok released on both PS4 and PS5. It is coming to PC as well and there isn’t much to say it is just a re release of a hack and slash a good game, but a re release nonetheless.
Dynasty Warriors Origins
The hack and slash series has a new game. Though one thing is clear I don’t think it will be fun without getting repetitive. Are these games flashy and have good gameplay. The answer is yes it does but you can only play these games so long before they kind of start to look the same. So this doesn’t come as a new game in a beloved series coming out it comes as another button masher that you can win with minimal effort and little challenge.
Infinity Nikki
I’ve never seen a game trying so many things look so boring. The game does look graphically good, but aside from just taking pictures and simple platforming with what seems like an easy boss fight we don’t see much. This wouldn’t be so bad if the game was going for a cinematic feel, but I don’t think that is it and I have a theory as to why. INFOLD the studio behind this game is relatively small and yet made 2 announcements for big games meaning their focus was on two different projects rather than one.
Ballad of Antaria
The second game by INFOLD. While this one does look better and more focused then the last one. It was still seeming to try and copy Eldin Ring and Dark Souls and with Eldin Rings newest DLC out I don’t understand why anyone would play this spend $20 on a new DLC for a game you own or $60 for a new game. Now it isn’t uncommon for studios to have more than one game announced, but Infold is best known for small mobile and assisting game development not a full AAA on its own let alone 2 of them.
Skydance’s Behemoth
This is a new VR title and it honestly looks a lot of fun. It does fall into the realm of debatable motion sickness if you aren’t used to it. I really think the game will have a more traditional release and that will be more my style.
Aliens Rouge Incursion
A VR Aliens game sounds amazing. Seeing the zenomorphs and attacking you as well as interacting with the Aliens universe should be both terrifying and intriguing. So long as this game plays more like a VR Aliens Isolation and not Colonial Marines it should be a good game.
MARVEL Rivals
Well, that’s disappointing after the amazing failure that was Marvels the Avengers online game. They are going to try again. Thankfully Square Enix seems to not even be part of this game. Rather Netease Games is giving it a try. Somehow this makes me feel worse Netease have hundreds of unfinished online titles under their belt and mostly stick to mobile games and the not really free to play market. So we will either see a great online game with consistent updates or Avengers 2 Thanos snap this out of existence too.
Where Winds Meet
A cinematic trailer for a game that resembles something similar to Sekiro. We sadly don’t get more than that and some footage of boss fights. So other than what we can guess from the trailer which isn’t a lot it otherwise looks good.
After that we got an update to Path Of Exile 2 and remakes to Until Dawn and Silent Hill 2 which is good news for horror fans.
Monster Hunter Wilds
Monster Hunter is a series that whenever they make a trailer it seems to be a story driven game, but is actually not. Monster Hunters regular gameplay is fight a monster earning parts of it to get new armor and these aren’t easy fights often it boils down to spending time figuring out the best way to weaken the monster before taking it out.
Astro Bot
A platformer that seems to reference a lot of playstation games and Ips. As well as using the PS5 and its controller as a spaceship.
With that we have finally finished looking over the showcases and despite some things looking fun others look either bland or are just remakes of games we already have.
Gamespot. (May 30, 2024). PlayStation State Of Play Full Showcase | May 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geR0Ay9z5uM&t=1682s
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XBOX Showcase Part 2
Diablo IV Vessel Of Hatred
I am almost forcing myself not to make a joke over that title given this is the third time Activision Blizzard showed up. It is very fitting that is the name. Diablo IV has been announced several times at one point I think the mobile game got more attention when that was in production. It is no surprise this is here as the games been in production for years.
Fable
I am wondering if this is a reboot of the Fable series or a continuation. Fable was a series by Lionhead Studios, but they went out of business after the reputation of lying to their fans about their games and poor choices finally caught up with them. They were decent RPGs but had bad habits of putting a lot of buildup into the enemies and bosses with little payoff angering fans more. I hope this will be a fun game that does try to expand what the old games tried to do and fixing what didn’t work. Also reeling back lies might be a start.
Frag Punk
This new game seems to be a First Person Shooter with Card Game mechanics. The core of the game is normal First Person Shooting mechanics with cover based shooting while the Cards may grant certain good and bad bonuses. It seems an interesting game at least Card mechanics and Shooter are not something I was expecting but if they expand on the thought I can see this game at least with potential.
Winter Burrow
A survival game where you play as a mouse trying to craft things to live through a winter and snow environment sounds amazing also I like the art style they are going for here. While not the most complex game on the list it does have a charm to it and seems to have lighthearted and more serious moments to show off.
MIXTAPE
I don’t know much about this game and the upload Gamespot has is entirely muted for copyright reasons. Given the title I was thinking some rhythm game but honestly I don’t know after the flying cars and fireworks. It seems to have a story, but so far the trailer is just not telling anything.
After we got a new Microsoft Flight Sim and an update to The Elder Scrolls Online. I don’t really care about either of these so we can move on.
Life Is Strange Double Exposure
I’m guessing as someone who never really played any of the Life Is Strange Games it is nice for the fans to finally have a new game in the series. There have been multiple remakes of the first game and while a prequel was released and I think more games or DLC it is nice to see a fresh take on the series.
Indiana Jones The Great Circle
Bethesda, Machine games and Lucas Films Games are behind this game. I’m not really surprised to see Lucas Films and Machine games are known for being the ones behind the Wolfenstien revival. To be honest they are really hit or miss with their games. I think Bethesda is only on the list thanks to their and Machine Games being owned by Zenimax.
Mecha Break
This game looks like Star Fox and much like that game you fight in the skies with free movement attacking with lasers and tansfom into a mech for ground combat. So I guess if Nintendo doesn’t make a Star Fox game that doesn’t have control issues someone else will.
Wuchang: Fallen Feathers
Not much is known yet about this game I think it is going for a Dark Souls or Elden Ring gameplay in which your main purpose is to die repeatedly until you can figure out the best way to fight a boss then repeat as necessary. I do think the recent Elden Ring DLC would be enough to scratch that itch, but while Elden Ring is beautiful to look at as well something about this game isn’t. It looks good and animations are smooth, but I’m not sure what to think about it.
Avowed
I think this game is inspired by games like Skyrim and Dragon Age a large world to explore while making choices that can be good, bad, or neutral. While the plot seems similar to Greedfall I do hope this game can stand on its own rather than anything else especially with Dragon Age 4 on the way.
Atomfall
A game from Rebellion best known for Sniper Elite games. This looks like a game inspired by the Fallout series. Also the locations in the trailers seem to be British inspired areas to explore. Rebellion isn’t known for their Open World attempts so it will either be an empty world with little to do, but we still have very little idea as to what this game is.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows
While nice to get an update on this game and Japan is a beautiful country with a rich culture. The Assassins Creed games have a lot to offer for stealth based games and messing around in its world. I am curious whether this will be a more traditional Assassin’s Creed or be similar to Odessey
STALKER 2 Heart Of Chernobyl
Another first person shooter and surprisingly the most bland looking one on this list. Given it’s setting you would think there are mutant creatures or interesting enemies at least we saw some enemies but there wasn’t anything unique about them. As far as locations shown off all we saw was what I think is one small area dark corridors and a ruined town. Finally it gets to some unique enemies, but it doesn’t seem like anything interesting.
Gears of War E Day
A new Gears of War I only really played the first game, but I am sure fans have been waiting on the next game in the series and E Day may. The fast paced first person shooter from Epic games hasn’t had a major release since Fortnite started to take off. It also was a good way to end the showcase a new game that I can’t really say anyone was expecting.
All in all XBOX and Microsoft started off poor then had some highlights like Dragon Age and new Ips. They lost steam with me whenever Activision Blizzard was mentioned which was three times like pouring salt over an open wound repeatedly, but a nice blend of new and existing games. Next week time to see what Sony has been up to.
Microsoft. “Xbox Games Showcase 2024 Full Presentation.” YouTube, uploaded by Gamespot, 9 June 2024, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3z9R5_pT28&t=4161s
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XBOX Showcase Part 1
Call Of Duty Black Ops 6
Well that is a poor start neither Microsoft nor Activision really care about the hundreds of lay offs they caused and are choosing to do nothing to change. Do we really need a new Call of Duty this franchise releases near yearly with so little change you can just play Modern Warfare 2 and not the remake the original and still get the same experience. Further they are starting with a game by a company that shut down several studios and caused hundreds of layoffs when Microsoft purchased them. While that is more Microsoft’s fault then Activision’s it still is in poor taste.
DOOM The Dark Ages
I am glad that Doom is continuing with ID Software still open this game is set up to be another amazing First Person Shooter with good mechanics and more similar to older shooters with tons of weapons and no limitations. After both Doom Eternal and Doom 2016 there are a lot of expectations for this game.
State Of Decay 3
Another Zombie game and seems to be similar to the Left For Dead franchise. A four player co op shooter. Unfortunately, this makes this game already bland to a certain extent. Capcom’s Resident Evil at it’s best has some really good scares while Dead Rising has the day system and is fun for the ridiculous weapons you can craft. Here there really doesn’t seem anything that you can’t already do in other games like Left For Dead or even Project Zomboid.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard
I already talked about this trailer at length so just look at that. A short summary is I’m really not expecting anything from this game, but am going to try to keep my hopes up for this game.
Starfield Shattered Skies
Imagine making a sequel to a game no one cares about. I never actually played Starfield, but after watching a few reviews on the game I decided to skip this one. The game always looked kind of off to me. Bethesda also have a habit of a hundred things to do in a game and not actually testing any of it and while Starfield is another bugged filled mess the fact not even modders are touching it is sad. Mods have always been a lot of fun to add to the open world games yet now even they say the game is too boring.
Fallout 76 Skyline Valley
An update to the online Fallout 76 I think this is still considered the worst MMORPG so the only ones who would care are the larger fans of Fallout and the dwindling fanbase.
Expedition 33
A new Turnbased RPG that seems reaction based after selecting an attack it looks like you can deal extra damage by pressing the right button at the right time. It at least looks like a game similar to the Bioshock series as well. We don’t know much about this game yet but it does seem interesting.
South Of Midnight
We don’t know much of this game as half the trailer was showing off basic platforming and exploration similar to Uncharted and the other half was the main character talking with a giant fish. I hope more information comes out about it so that we get a better idea of combat and gameplay.
World of Warcraft The War Within
Hello again Activision Blizzard if you want my thoughts on you please refer to the first game listed of the showcase. I am so glad that $70,000 is going to anything other than Dishonored, Hi Fi Rush, and the many others this acquisition shut down.
After we got some remakes to Metal Gear Solid 3 and Age of Mythology. The newest season to Sea of Thieves was also announced adding more updates to that.
Perfect Dark
If you looked at that title and immediately got confused about what this game is given Perfect Dark was a popular Nintendo 64 title and is coming to Nintendo Online don’t worry. This seems to be a separate game entirely also former Rare still own the rights and have been doing nothing other than rereleases with it. Now that Crystal Dynamics are involved and given what they were able to do with Tomb Raider I’m excited to know what this game could be.
And that is where we will stop for today my final thoughts and opinions will be in part 2 of this.
Microsoft. “Xbox Games Showcase 2024 Full Presentation.” YouTube, uploaded by Gamespot, 9 June 2024, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3z9R5_pT28&t=4161s
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Nintendo Showcase Part 2
Metal Slug Reloaded
I don’t know anything about this franchise, but I honestly think it looks like some auto battle afk game that there are about a million of for free on the apple store. I am almost definitely wrong about that, but that was the first impression I got off it.
Darkest Dungeon 2
Darkest Dungeon was a unique RPG rouge-like and game I am glad that a sequel is in the works and am glad they are keeping its art style as that was a large draw for that game.
After that we got updates surrounding the Nintendo Switch Online with online capabilities to play A Link To The Past Four Swords Adventure, Metroid Zero Mission, Turok Dinosaur Hunter, and Perfect Dark.
Phantom Brave The Lost Hero
A game about the players using phantoms to fight and manipulate the world around them. A good art style similar to The Legend of Zelda Windwaker and Fantasy Life. So I expect a fun adventure game with cel shaded cartoon graphics and a light tone and good mechanics.
Marvel VS Capcom Fighting Collection
A collection of the arcade style 2D fighting game series Marvel Vs Capcom. I don’t play a lot of fighters, but the idea of Megaman going up against Iron Man is something that always seems exciting and I honestly don’t expect high writing from Capcom or a fighter so this is a good fit and if you’re a fan of both I recommend it. I may not like fighting games, but I do understand the appeal.
Super Mario Party Jamboree
Another Mario Party game may seem nice, but Super Mario Party Jamboree really isn’t bringing much. Super already had a lot of the best and worst minigames that came out over the years. Jamboree may add some minigames as well as bring back others, but the maps they added were also added to the Nintendo Switch pass when the original and Mario Party 2 were put into the Online. It reminds me way too much of the situation with Mario 3D All Stars where that game should have succeeded, but Nintendo took it down for almost no reason other than money.
The Legend Of Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom
Probably the one I am most excited for on the showcase. It has been awhile since we could play as Zelda. Aside from Hyrule Warriors the last time was Spirit Tracks. With the Links Awakening art style I think it will be more traditional over Breath of the Wilds and Tears of the Kingdom. To me Tears of the Kingdom was just more Breath of the Wilds so I’m glad that this is happening and with its focus on puzzles over combat and how the player solves them it’s set to be an amazing game.
Just Dance 2025
I have played a few Just Dace games and while fun for a short time they don’t really hold my attention so I don’t have much to say other than another Just Dance game is releasing.
Lego Horizon Adventures
Lego is often releasing something based on whatever licence they have and this time it is the Horizon series of games. So were getting a game based on a game series known for its open world mechanics. While the enemy designs look good I can’t help but think that Lego games often are marketed to kids and Horizon isn’t really a kids game. While you could argue the same for things like Star Wars and Indiana Jones Lego does do its best to cover up some of the more violent things. This makes me ask who is this game for? While cool in concept execution may fumble some and best wait and see what this game turns into which is probably going to be best described as a introduction to Horizon before jumping into the actual game.
Stray Switch Release
Stray the critically and commercially acclaimed game is finally coming to Switch. Similar to other titles both Indie and AAA it takes a few years to develop and optimize for the Switch. This is a game that was stated to be coming to multiple platforms, but Switch owners usually have to wait. I actually have yet to play this game and do plan on comparing it to Little Kitty Big City both being indie games centered around cats.
Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings Game
After the last Lord of the Rings game I doubt anyone was expecting this considering Gollum exists as one of the worst games of all time. While I can admit many Lord of the Rings games like Shadow of Mordor and surprisingly the Lego games are good and the movies still hold up despite the time. They really need a great game here otherwise it will be two games in a row that insult that franchise and its fans.
Ace Attorney Investigations Collections
The Ace Attorney games spinoff series starring Edgeworth is getting an HD remake similar to how the trilogy got the same treatment. While I did play all of the main series games I never played Investigations and am looking forward to this game.
The Hundred Line Last Defense Academy
A game from the Daganrampa devs and honestly looking over the trailer again I am not surprised. The game seems to be a tower defense, but that was all I could really tell from the limited gameplay. Seems some characters do die in this game similar to the Danganrampa series.
Romancing Saga 2: Revenge of the Seven
A RPG by Square Enix where you seem to govern a land and fight monsters rather than turnbased combat that Square is known for it seems to be a time based system where each character has a turn and depending on what they do can be either right away or later that they get a turn.
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond
The last thing on the Showcase and the most welcome. Metroid fans have been asking for the latest in the Prime series. An explorative First Person Shooter isn’t common and the continuation of this series is always a good thing. While it isn’t coming out till next year it is good to know something for Metroid fans is on its way.
Final Thoughts
I was actually disappointed at this showcase. Fantasy Life I The Girl Who Steals Time didn’t make an appearance and while I wasn’t expecting it. That game is releasing later this year and it would have been nice to see an update. Also a majority of the games listed are remakes or don’t interest me like I thought they would. I guess Mario and Luigi: Brothership, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, Ace Atterney Investigations Collection, and Stray are highlights for me and I will be playing them, but that’s it I don’t like shooters or fighters so the other big announcements did nothing for me
Nintendo of America “Nintendo Direct 6.18.2024 – Nintendo Switch.” YouTube, June 18, 2024 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kX3BkD5PVUM&t=1149s
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Nintendo Showcase Part 1 Thoughts and Opinions
Nintendo Showcase for the Year Thoughts and Opinions Part 1
I have to split this into parts there is a lot to go over and I’m only posting about half the showcase now and the other half later.
Mario and Luigi: Brothership
I am glad the Mario and Luigi RPG series is continuing after the studio who made the games shut down. While the game does look fun and I do want to keep an open mind we don’t know if this will be as good as previous entries and whether it will be as good as the previous games or not.
Nintendo World Champions NES Edition
A game based on timed challenges and how quick you can do them based on games that released on the Nintendo Entertainment System of games. I feel like this game would be fun for not just casual gamers who want to see how fast they can do something, but for the Speedrunning community as well. It could potentially introduce people to Speedrunning the older games and I like to see the fans of that get attention.
Fairy Tail 2
I unfortunately have no history with the Fairy Tail franchise I’ve never seen the anime and the most I know about the series is not enough to judge the games based on it fairly. If it looks fun to you or not is something I myself cannot judge at this time.
Fantasian Neo Dimension
Fantasian is a game that is being made by people who have worked on the Final Fantasy series of games. It definitely does its best to show that experience a unique turn based RPG system and world very remincent of Final Fantasy an interesting game at the very least.
Nintendo Switch Sports
Basketball is coming to Nintendo Switch Sports. This doesn’t really mean anything to me. I own a Wii and thus own Wii Sports so already have that game, but I also own Wii Sports Resort where the basketball game originates and while one of the better games on that collection I don’t really need either of these though I can recommend them if you never played them before.
MIO: Memories In Orbit
A 2D platformer similar to Celeste focusing on precision and precise movement making a very difficult, but overall satisfying and fun game. Much like Celeste it isn’t difficult to understand the game, but it is hard to master both the controls and movements. It looks fun and if you like games like that then this will probably interest you.
After we got a few more licenced games including an update to Disney’s Illusion Island, a Looney Toons Basketball Game, and some Hello Kitty game. I have little to no interest in any of these so we’ll just move on. We then got an update to Amung Us adding 2 classes to both Crewmates and Imposters.
The next game announced was Farmigia a mix genre game. It seems to be between monster taming games and farming. It seems to be you will be raising a large amount of monsters on your farm then taking them to battle. It at least seems interesting and looks fun to at least play.
After that we got three remakes Donkey Kong Country Returns, Dragon Quest 3, and Luigi’s Mansion 2 are all getting HD remakes. Also somewhere in there was some Funko Pop and a Denpa Man game I had no interest in.
The next half of the Showcase analysis will come next week as well as closing thoughts on it thank you all for your patience.
Nintendo of America “Nintendo Direct 6.18.2024 – Nintendo Switch.” YouTube, June 18, 2024 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kX3BkD5PVUM&t=1149s
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Dragon Age: Veilgard Worries Me
If you’ve been reading my last few posts you know I am a huge fan of RPGs and my favorites come from Bioware. To the point that Mass Effect 2 is my favorite game and the remake of that trilogy is something I enjoy going back to. Now the recent announcement of yet another name change for the forth Dragon Age game doesn’t worry me what does though is the announcement itself. This game is releasing later this year in the fall timeframe and it would be nice to see some progress. There have been several cinematic trailers for this game and not a single gameplay trailer to show mechanics and the game itself I don’t know why they made a trailer to announce both the release and the gameplay premiere on July 11 when they could have just given us a gameplay trailer then the release date. Also I don’t think anyone is expecting this game to be as good as Dragon Age games prior. Casey Hudson the original writer and several others left the studio a few years ago, but I was hoping for a more simplified game in the same spirit of Dragon Age. The recent trailer does show off the Companions that will show up and while I was happy for some news not seeing gameplay this late into development and with a fall release date is a red flag that maybe this game isn’t going to be good. I don’t mind showing the companions in a trailer for the game Inquisition did the same thing, but where Inquisition shined in this is you were able to see the various abilities and each Companion was given more than a few seconds to show what they could do. Here Varric returns as a voice over and each one is given a sentence before you can figure out what is really going on. Everything feels rushed with this trailer and the worst part is we still don’t know anything about the game.
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Are Mascot Horror Games Overly Exposed? (Edited Version)
This is my opinion, but after Five Nights at Freddy’s it feels like every indie game I’ve seen recently has to be Mascot Horror. Five Nights at Freddy’s is successful, but with the release of Indigo Park Chapter One it feels like there is a certain over saturation of these. I understand there are titles that do the formula right and I do enjoy games like Poppy Playtime and Garten of BanBan is fun for its meme potential and just being weird, but for every game like those there are tons flooding the market.
It reminds me of when after Mario first became popular every
game needed to be a platformer. Some like Sonic the Hedgehog, Spyro the Dragon, and Crash Bandicoot have been remembered and had recent releases, but others like Banjo Kazooie and Conkers Bad Fur Day get one or two releases on the XBOX store or someone makes a game similar to it.Similarly, when Halo became popular near every game after
needed shooting mechanics. Some did well like Call of Duty, but Resident Evil
started trying to copy the formula to an extent and from that we got Resident
Evil 6 which was less horror and just a bland shooter. We can still see games
try to incorporate shooting and while some like Mass Effect and Palworld do it
well due to their own mechanics others do it terribly.This isn’t limited to just Indie games and some AAA games. After
the release of The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wilds every game has been open world in some way. Pokemon Legends Arceus and Gension Impact did the system well, but at the same time from this we got Pokemon Scarlet and Violet and Sonic Frontiers.While I understand getting inspiration or trying to profit
off a trend it can lead to a lack of creativity or variety in content people
want. While to an extent each game mentioned is different in some regard and
fun, there is a problem with the amount of similarities and genre. -
Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door Switch Remake
Much like Super Mario RPG prior to this I never really played Paper Mario. I always heard good things about it just never got around to picking it up and playing it. So when the remake was announced I was happy to give the game a chance. Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door is an RPG and much like other Mario games in this genre it is more a game that isn’t too hard for beginners to learn the mechanics, but harder to actually master. Mario games have always had that trend easy to pick up and beat the game, but hard to master the controls and mechanics for the harder or optional challenges.
The game differs from other RPGs being more reaction based over stat based. Much like the Mario and Luigi RPG series you can dodge and counterattack called the Superguard. The timing on this is hard to get and due to that I never used it preferring to guard and use healing items or recovery moves. One huge difference is the audience watching the combat as their appeal and the crowd rises you can gain access to special more powerful moves or they can throw useful items to you, but they also can throw rocks and cans doing damage. Certain moves and members can effect the stage in different ways making the backdrop fall, the smoke freezing you or your enemies, or lights to fall. All of the bosses also affect this either by scaring the audience off or attacking them so they can’t help the player gain appeal as easily. Appeal rises mostly by pulling off moves and defeating enemies. The more members of the crowd the more appeal. There are ways to get more appeal either by performing a stylish move by pressing A at the right time or showing off to the audience.
The story is the normal Princess Peach got kidnapped you need to find her and find the Crystal Stars to open a door. Most Mario RPGs actually don’t have Bowser as a main villain sometimes he helps as much as attacks you. He is involved in the main story just not as the main antagonist and didn’t kidnap her. Each chapter has its own theme and storyline all contributing to the main story. Each NPC and main character has their own charm making the story and writing more enjoyable.
The graphics looking like everything is made out of paper crafts and cardboard showcasing a world completely made out of paper is nice to look at adding a level of charm to it. The gameplay is fun and is a thoroughly enjoyable experience I’d recommend it if you haven’t played this game yet.
Score: 9/10
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Helldivers 2 Future And Takedown in 180 Countries Due To Sony Playstation Decisions
Helldivers 2 was a very successful game up until a few weeks ago in an ongoing situation. Helldivers 2 was always available through Steam with no issue up until Sony decided to destroy any good publicity and reputation this game has. Sony decided to force players to link their accounts to play the game. For some this isn’t a big deal, but the issue comes in when there are several countries where even getting a PSN account is difficult. As a result Steam has taken the game down in various countries. This wouldn’t be so bad but after everyone started protesting the game Sony outright lied and said they reconsidered the option to force account links, but just didn’t. It should be noted the developers and creators of Helldivers 2 are not happy over this change as well as the loss of thousands of players. They weren’t to blame for this.
Now Sony doing this is no surprise to anyone they have infamously failed in the past with cross play. Call of Duty used to be limited to just other Playstation players. While we had similar situations there was few times when the situation resulted in a loss of revenue this large. Sony has been toxic to players before, but rarely has that had an effect this large to the point people who own the game can’t access it or people can’t play it. All of this has caused the future of this game to look dim, but if Sony does actually come through and allow this game a chance it could be one of the best games this year.
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Missy's Game Shelf 