My Year(s) in Video Games

Well lets deal with the obvious.  I haven't posted here in what feels like an age.  Last post I made was about how I was excited about the Notorious High Tier Assassin Sorscha was being made into a new Warcaster matching my Favourite Theme of Steam Powered Heavy Armour Soldiers.

Sadly I've kinda fallen out of love with Warmachine through my lack of play and interest, feeling very "back in my day, we had fun with our game" about it since I really began lurking and watching from the sidelines, and wishing I could play the Iron Kingdoms RPG instead, mostly because I got a Humble Bundle Deal that got me about 99% of the RPG books for a song.

From that I made a bunch of cool characters, all with little back stories and parties they've formed together, loose motives for their future so that any DM's have something to fuel their own narrative.  Yes I realise that means I should DM my own campaign, but I have every excuse in the book that puts me off of that.

I actually thought about doing a Play By Mail campaign with people, but I just get myself overwhelmed by trying to find some definitive answers from the internet.  I've gotten very Anti-internet for a while and now my Facebook feed is pretty much just a continuing roll of memes and tags.

So I fill in my own time with Video Games, and the last few years have been pretty hit and miss for video games.

Like Xcom 2: War of the Chosen, a fantastic expansion to the game.  It added a bunch of new stuff, like new classes and enemies, new gameplay options, new maps, even a whole new enemy type which is more hassle than they're really worth, but hey you can't get everything right.  Especially when it comes to getting a port fully working.

For ages though I've had a want to make an Xcom Campaign, something more focused on an individual party and having a bunch of encounters based on the different mission types you'd normally encounter in the Grand Strategy games, just more in depth with characters and strategy.

The more I think of it though, the cooler I think it would be as a proper video game taking inspirations from a bunch of games, starting with Xcom: Apocalypse which is focused around a singular Megacity, to Nier Automata, which seems like a far stretch but bear with me, the inspiration comes from the gameplay mechanics which changes style as you go.

For example, one minute you could be fighting in a 3D open arena with enemies coming from all around, to a classic 2D platformer style as you progress through to other map regions.  So from that, I would like to take inspiration from other turn based games and implement them into minor missions or encounters.

The more I think about it though the more I realise I kinda would use features of Mutant Year Zero, a game I really enjoyed, as short lived as it was.  If I were to nitpick it, the tedium of silent takeouts was a little grating, but still it was fun.  It could have been a little more than what it was.

When two world collide
and really support each other

Speaking of games that were more than what was expected: DOOM.  Jesus Christ that was a good game.  The speed, the fun, the exhilaration, the ripping and tearing.  The sequel is coming out in a months time and I'm excited for it even though it looks extremely arcade like in its play.  Lots of double jumping, swing bars, and wall climbing.  I saw a Youtube Card of someones review with the words "Best Mario Game Not Made By Nintendo", which feels conflicting, but hey I'm still keen.

Speaking of Nintendo, Jenny got me a Switch Lite.  It's more or less like a Playstation Portable but bigger and lighter.  I still want to get a grip case for it, maybe something that extends its battery life as well, but that has to wait until I get back to work again before I make any more.

In the meantime I have a handful of games that came with the Xmas present.  Jenny had asked around and got me The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Civilization VI, Sonic Team Racing, Mario and Sonic Olympics, and Nickelodeon Kart Racing.  The two biggest ones I wanted to play though were Breath of the Wild and Civ6.

Civilization is a game I haven't really played much in my life until this point.  I had Civ 2 or 3 when I was in high school, my mum got it as a group package with Sim City 2000 and The Settlers 2: Veni, Vidi, Vici.  I faffed around with it a lot, but never really sat down with it to understand the rules.  I gave Civ a fair crack of the whip, but on top of the rather awkward UI on the small screen I still don't really know what it is I'm accomplishing.  I do need to spend more time with it though.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is a very different kettle of fish.  I'm far from finished on it, having only accomplished one of the four mechanical beasts that help in the fight of Calamity Ganon and largely only explored the bottom half of the map between getting my arse served by a new high level monster that I happen to snag the attention of.  It's a good game, don't get me wrong, but I think once I get that grip case I will have a better time fighting thanks to more flexibility in my hands.

While we are on the subject of Nintendo I've been watching a series called Game Makers Toolkit.  My mate Andy pointed me in Mark Browns direction while we were talking about certain games and their mechanics.  Mr Brown had covered the subject quite well and since then I have the occasional playthrough of all his available Youtube videos (Sorry Mark, I can't spare the dosh for your Patreon) while I play a game or sleep.  He's very soothing.

But the ones that really stood out were the series on Metroid.  I have never played a Metroid game in my life.  I think there was a period where I was using a Gameboy emulator and I may have tried to start off one of the Metroid games available but never stuck with it.  His retrospective series gave me a really good insight into the games and piqued my interest into Hollow Knight.

Hollow Knight is about a small Bug Soldier exploring an ancient kingdom called Hollownest.  You explore this hive of networked environments, meeting insects and grubs, defeating rabid bosses, and discovering secrets and history of this fascinating and magical world.  I'm 77% of the way through according to the little meter in the corner of my inventory screen so I have plenty more to find and achieve.

My favourite part of the Remaster

The style of the game has me fascinated though.  The closest I can say that I've played to this is Wonder Boy: The Dragons Trap, which has a beautiful Remaster that threw me back to my Master System days so easily that when I turned on the Retro Visuals I almost thought it was a gag.  That was the closest I came to a Metroidvania game though, and I kinda want to get into more of that style of game now that I've dabbled into it.

Speaking of Re-something games, there was Sonic Mania.  Everyone and their Mother knows that I love Sonic the Hedgehog.  He's my favourite.  I want to get a Tattoo of the Sonic and Knuckles logo on my shoulder because Sonic 3 and Knuckles is my favourite game of all time.  I wouldn't be able to tell you how many hours I've sunk into it, but I know I've deleted and restarted all of those save slots until they were all 100% several times over.

Sonic Mania was really fun though.  I wasn't a big fan of some of the newer Zones, some of them stuck out as being out of place, but its still a really fun game.  I haven't been able to sit myself down to max out everything yet but I want to get a Genesis Controller for my Playstation just so I can really get back into how I used to play, which weirdly had my right hand turned over so I'm using my digits instead of my thumb to jump.

My other favourite game that came out was Borderlands 3.  A good game overall, but sadly their antagonists weren't particularly encapsulating, especially when they were following one of the best arseholes to kill off at the end of his story, Handsome Jack.

I keep seeing people on Reddit going "Bring back Handsome Jack!" which is depressing because that's really just beating a dead horse.  I love Handsome Jack, he's a great bastard to hate, and there are a few references to him, particularly in one side mission that really brings to light how malicious he can be, but he's done.  He has died in all but a Gun that plays voice clips of him.

The new Antagonists are nowhere near as hard hitting.  I said in an old post, that I'm going to redo an elaborate on one day, that there was a turning point.  That you have him playing in your ear and you don't really take him seriously until you reach a real turning point, and suddenly you have it in your heart that you need to take him down.  You need to go after him and really kill him off.

You can't go wrong with a Robot Beast Tamer

That doesn't really happen in 3.  It could be because they stumbled upon playing the same card as they did with Handsome Jack in 2, or because they just aren't that impressive, there just isn't that turning point in the story where you're motivated to stop them.

Thankfully they still have DLC coming out.  The first was a fun tribute to Handsome Jack's Stunt Double and Moxxi where you raid a Casino.  Good value.  The next one is going to be really fun as well, but I have no idea what that'll be.

Another game that really changed things up is Gears of War 5.  Or Gears 5, as they are want to go with now.  Largely, the game is still the same.  Cover based shooting and encroaching against Mutants that emerge from the ground, occasionally with a Gigantic Monster to accompany them.  But what I liked about it was the change from just straight mission after mission to a semi-open world setting, travelling on a Kite Sled between notable locations and regions that lead into missions.  Something a bit more freeform in play.

Which can be bad, such as the case of Wolfenstein Youngblood.  That was not a good game.  A lot of ideas going for it, but just so poorly executed.  A lot of cool stuff for it, the levels are pretty, the combat is fun, the super powers are always a fun addition, but... god everything else was as shallow as a Kiddy Pool.

John Carmack, one of the big Doom Guys, said "Story in a game is like a story in a porn movie. It's expected to be there, but it's not that important."  Well that's all well and good, but if you really treat it like that you get this game, where you have so little direction for your players to go that you flounder what you want them to do and encounter.

So that's what I mean by hit and miss.  There's been really good games and there have been really bad games.  I'm keen on what 2020 has to offer for games, but there's still the matter of all the games i"m yet to play.  Like Prey, Outer Worlds, and Dishonoured: Death of the Outsider.  And I haven't even finished talking about all the games I've played, really, but hey, I gotta stop this at some point.

Insert Token Self Deprecating Meme

Winter is coming

Sorscha Kratikoff, the Heart of Ice. She was the selling point for me getting into Warmachine, that amazing photo of her, Juggernaut and Destroyer standing together simply drew me in and never left me.

Did I was to play her though? No, I didn't. While I had a healthy respect for her, her ability was overwhelming and, quite frankly, easy.

Her feat combined with a spell that not only gave her a free move but improved her defence was too strong a combo to accept. I wanted the long game, to grind both our armies into nothing before gambling our lynchpins, usually ending with me failing spectacularly on bad dice rolls.

That didnt mean I disliked her. Her character was fierce, unrelenting, and remorseless. Her hammer, Frostfang, a symbol of the coming storm. Her mere presence still causes shivers down peoples spines.

It was too much power, Too easy to strike with, and I wanted little to do with it as possible, no matter the temptation.

Times change people. And so does Kommander Kratikoff, her next incarnation a polar deviation from her traditional style.

The Man-O-War steam powered armour, steel casing for khardic warriors too arrogant to fear being boiled alive, brings dread as the walking wall advances across the field; their annihilator blades cleaving enemies as they wash against their shield cannons; hammers striking warjacks into submission or destruction; grenades hailing down with their Destroyer companions.

She is the perfect soldier for the Man-O-War ranks, leading her comrades into battle with Khadors Winter at their side and their hearts.

Returning from hell never to be the same again

The Face of

The nights I've spent playing Doom have driven me into a deep, subconscious madness. Every time I hear that growl, that strange guttural snore, of the inactive Imp, my skin crawls and beads of sweat begin to form, my heart races and I'm thrown straight back to those long nights wasting ammunition and time scouring levels for that last secret area because I can't stand that little voice laughing at me, scoffing at my mistakes, mocking me and my futility.

I had simple reasons for pushing through, crawling through the labyrinthine hellscape to reach the demon at the end of the game, and prove that I am a god amongst evil.

Come my birthday and the sweats started again. I peeled off the wrapping paper and looked over the cover, those foreboding, jagged letters burning past my eyes and into my soul. The laughing was starting again.

I knew what was ahead of me, a weekend of playing with the devil again. And again I was going to enjoy every last moment of it.

From waking up in that stone sarcophagus, crushing skulls of those poor souls lost to the power of hell, to actually going to hell and ripping and tearing my way through those monsters again and again, even with no end in sight, redefining the term serpentine as their fireballs and energy waves flew past me by mere inches as I closed in with with whatever barking iron I had in hand.

Again I heard those laughs, those cthulian incantations rising in my mind to pummel me into submission. Their hymns only drove me harder to kill, until I had nothing more ahead of me.

Time came when the final demon fell and the exhilaration and adrenaline had come to a close, and I fell back in my bed and relaxed, proud of my accomplishment. But I needed more.

Doom was not the only prize I received that day.

When Final Fantasy Meets Science Fiction

Time was that I played a game called Halo, a story of a super soldier gifted with powered armour fending off aliens and viral monstrosities, and now leading into a cybernetic society hellbent killing our stalwart hero and his demigod girlfriend.

Guardians continues that story, splitting it between Master Chief and his rag tag team of Spartan allies as they chase down said demigod, and Spartan Locke who has been tasked with bringing Chief back into line, the romantic killjoy that he is.

Regardless of his intent, the game opens with a wonderful scene of badassery, freefalling out of an aircraft onto the slope of a mountain while shooting, stabbing and generally parkouring their way through Covenant and Prometheans, soldiers and vehicles alike.

Then the game begins. I make the first move and my first thought is... "Are we under water?"

These super soldiers trudged their way through snow, cement in their shoes, arthritis apparent in all joints, rust ruining the joints of their suits. I wonder to myself "Has it always been this way? Have Halo games always been this slow grind amongst firefights? Have my years of frantic commotions been seemingly immobile?"

Hell. The realisation hits me. The Demons have persisted in my mind. Their gift of agility haunts me, frustrating me as I try to defeat this handicap, all while wondering if I will have the same problem in other games, to be forced into a quagmire that doesn't exist.

These are the demons that will now forever haunt me, as I reminisce on my time returning to hell, never to be the same again.

Heh.  Cute.

Re-something or other

You know how most generations of console have a direct mascot that everyone thinks of? Sega has Sonic; Nintendo has Mario; Xbox has Master Chief. But I can't think of just one mascot for PlayStation.

Over the Generations there have been a wonderful plethora of characters that would be considered their Iconic Mascot, from Crash Bandicoot, to Jak and Daxter, to Sackboy/girl/person.

One that rips a new one into my heart is Ratchet and Clank, which is why I bought the 2016 reboot over Doom (4).

I've seen all manner of Re-descriptives over the last generation and now and I go into it with cautious skepticism since my first venture, Splinter Cell, which came out with some smooth polygonal edges and higher resolution textures, but coupled with controls that were not improved and the same FMVs from the original game, stretched out and very poor quality from even the time it came from.

A few years have passed since then and I have retained that cautious eye as I loaded the disc, thinking back fondly on the 10 playthroughs I made just to earn the R.Y.N.O.

Then I was thrown straight back into that world again, dodging enemy lasers, slamming the Omniwrench on mutant critters, firing off all manner of quirky weapons into the fray. I was having a fantastic time, until I had a sudden realisation.

It's exactly the same. Every level, every secret, every enemy, every weapon... Exactly the same, but prettier.

This was my fault. I came into this hearing the word reboot and made an arse out of me and me by assuming that meant things were going to be different, that while it would have its similarities, I would be playing different levels and a new twist would occur somewhere in the game that would have me storing away cash for the (surely) coming sequel that would give them the creative rights to make their own original sequel.

Now I exaggerate (such is my want) on that the game is exactly the same. It certainly isn't, it is a product of refinement. They took notes from all the previous games and applied what worked while keeping it simple.

Like the weapon leveling system, whereby you collect Raritanium to give your weapons increased abilities, from Ammo Capacity to higher rate of fire, all of which are laid out on a pattern made of hexagons. And if certain hexes were surrounded, you were provided with a more unique feature to the weapon, such as mini predator rockets that track more targets. Then once you have maxed out their level, it turns into a better gun with another new and unique aspect.

But small changes do not make a new game. A new character here, a new level there, it isn't enough to call it a new game but will be enough to change the future of Ratchet and Clank. Those changes do make enough for the future, but the now is where I am disappointed. Sure keep the locations the same, give the general plot a roll in the same direction, but I would have liked new maps to roam around in and explore, not the same places I visited almost 15 years ago.

The game broke its own Knees

"Introducing your new best friend, the Kneecapper Classic!"

Tell me something. Whats your best weapon in Fallout 4? Take your time.

Oh, Overseers Guardian? Yeah, thats pretty good. Two shots for one, thats double damage every time. Great for sniping until you can get Old Reliable.

Splattercannon? It goes alright. Keep your aim good and youll be copping it sweet as your damage overloads the big bastard's health bar.

Big Boy? Fkn oath thats good. Just the other day I was joking about using that to clear out some bumpkin blokes yard, using the MIRV Mod for added effect.

Well youre all wrong. The correct answer is my Legendary Kneecapper Pipe Rifle.

This little beauty unloads the drum barrel in... well if I said seconds, then I'm implying I spend less time reloading.

Every time I unleash this firehose of .38 Rounds, everyone kneels before me like I'm exposing a cock as heavy as gods own.

Seriously, 20% on every fucking shot might break the legs of whatever dried scrotum has a go at me? Its outrageous! It hits like a slightly moist napkin, but that's not the point here.

I've had ghouls in dresses, Raiders with Shishkebabs, Supermutants with Floorboards that still have the bathroom sink attached, and "I'm a big fucker with a fancy hat" Swan all have a crack at me and everything went A over T for them.

And here I am, a year later, level 102, and I am still rocking that sweet arsehole of a rifle and I will never look back.

Xcom 2? More like Se- Oh maybe I won't make that joke

I remember the final moments of XCOM.  I was on a roll, slowly moving forward through the temple ship, entrenching myself positively before bombarding something like a Sectopod with anything and everything I have.

And when I reached that final room, the last thing that went through the Uber Ethereals head was enough plasma to power Australia for fifteen years.  And that's only from a couple of shots from my Sniper.

Anyway, my Volunteer did what any semi-omnipotent Psion would:  He saved the Fuckin Day.  Everyone watched the Temple Ship rise up from it's place, floating up out of the Atmosphere, and loudly implode.

Lets move 20 years ahead.  All that I described above?  It never happened.  Humans didn't win the war.  Hell, they didn't win the battle.  Aliens descended and we were overrun by Technology and Numbers.  Seems the more likely outcome, no?  But hey, at least it's nice to know what could have been.

Now we walk the perfectly paved streets of Alien Megacities, stalking the shadows before ambushing the alien forces policing their new home, before stealing back to their new mobile headquarters, dubbed the moniker "Avenger".

I am super excited for Xcom 2, especially since Ive been playing Fallout 4.  Weird comparison I realise, but the reason is because Fallout feels like a Turn Based game.  Every time I trigger V.A.T.S. adjacent to an enemy, I usually have a 95 percentile to hit, and usually the game rolls the 5% needed to miss.  Immediately I'm reminded of a grinning meme saying "THATS XCOM BABY".

That was when I stumbled across the Lets Play Videos that were recently released, and began to salivate all over again, wishing I could satiate my thirst on the death of various and numerous aliens.  I comtinue to watch long into the morning, yearning to be behind the controls of the demonstration the video reviewers are posting, while debating on trying to accomplish Impossible Ironman on my own console, along with purposely ramping the difficulty by refusing to create the powerhouses known as MECs.

The Videos were incredibly enlightening, showing us a handful of the secrets allowed by the developers and company, focusing on Soldiers, Combat, and some Strategy Layer features.  It is noteworthy the information provided from soldier profiles, informing not only of their Health, Aim and Will, but also Movement, Armour, Dodge and Hack scores.

But what I'm really happy about is how the combat hasn't changed, it has Improved.  Rather than throw the magic of their first reboot out the window and starting afresh, or reusing everything and just chinging a few names and locales, they just tacked on new features that I wish were in XCOM Enemy Unknown/Within.

Weapon Modifications, Grenade Launchers, Computer Hacking...  So many improvements that I cannot wait for.  But have to as I am going to get a console port if and when that happens.

The more things stay the same

Master Rahool would look good in a Hawaiian Shirt

Some people think Video Games have come a long way over the few decades they've been around, and its irrefutable, games have gotten more imaginative and clever as time has come and gone. Some things, though, simply remain the same and you don't notice it until you look a bit deeper.

Take Battle Hunter. Its an extremely simple game, literally a board game for your console with a handful of plot points to serve as motivators.  It was fun, if a little tedious and dished out a poor serving of ass whooping unless you were particularly levelled and equipped, but fun none the less.  The gameplay was straight forward, bringing player from Battlefield to Hub and back again for no more reason than to find better gear and earn some dosh along the way.

Doesn't that sound familiar to a Space Shooter that was released about a year ago?  Funny that.

So here I am looking at it and wondering what the bloody difference there is between Destiny and some of the games of the '90s and early '00s and I'm finding it difficult to nail it down aside from the obvious things of "It's 3D and HD."

Frankly, Destiny could easily be recreated as an Indie game.  Get some Pixel Art in there and make it a side-scrolling shooter.  Keep all the same aspects to it and let the players go hogwild.  Then just add Flavour to taste and you're good as gold.

You can keep the Tower, just drop it down to a series of Menu options.  Frankly, it'd make the game more personable, making you feel like you actually have some sort of relationship with the NPCs of the Tower.  Because right now, Zavala is the Head of the FBI from Fringe, Cayde and Ikora are Captain and First Mate of the Firefly Serenity, and Banshee was great in Gears of War and Adventure Time.

To be fair, the DLC's have taken steps in that direction.  Cayde is still... well Nathan Fillon, but hey, I like him.  I'll keep him.

Destiny however, is getting pretty stale.  The marketing is, and probably always will be, a flagrant method of extortion, while the game may expand out and up it still comes back to being a repetitive grind for new gear in the end.