So, my catchy title basically means I'll be doing double duty in one post. I HAVE to talk about NXT Takeover from last week and I am going to cast my predictions for WWE's surprise pop-up event, which by the match card and for summer storylines, is a must see. NXT first!
NXT Takeover: Unstoppable was the best live special yet. There hasn't been a bad special but this is the only special where every match was either good, great or amazing. Itami was unfortunately injured so his big moment was lost. If Itami had wrestled, I'm sure he would have won. Balor won the #1 contendership at the last event and Breeze is heel, so there's no way they would build to Breeze/Owens. Itami was the only choice to win and I'm sure he would have done it in style. To make him seem like more of a threat to Owens, Itami would have hit the GTS finally after months and months of teasing it. He already did it to Breeze at a live event so it was only a matter of time before he did it on TV. The shoulder injury threw a wrench in this plan but Balor and Breeze still had a great, fast paced match with Balor again becoming #1 contender. Balor is my favorite male wrestler in NXT but Itami and Zayn's injuries probably means he'll have to stay in NXT for the rest of the year. It's sad but he's needed.
The women's tag match was solid, certainly not the piss breaks that the main roster buts on. I like all four involved in the match and did well with the time given. Rhyno/Corbin was the best match of Corbin's career so far. It was the hard hitting match that I wanted out of Bull/Corbin. Corbin got the win in the most surprisingly good match of the night. The tag match was solid. This is clearly NXT's weakest division as I have not yet been super impressed by any tag match on a live special yet. I'm sure they'll get it together but the match here wasn't bad. Bliss turning heel was shocking, especially after she kind of called out Sasha Banks last month, who is the Women's Champion. Bad girl Bliss isn't a bad thing, I just wonder how she'll fit into the title picture.
Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch stole the show in an amazing wrestling match. The match had a great video package, the hype music as they walked to the ring and a great amount of time to showcase why everyone needs to keep their eyes on the NXT Women's division. They had such amazing in-ring chemistry it was scary. Everything about this match was great and is truly the best match I've seen from NXT. It deserves a spot not only as the greatest women's match of the Reality Era but also a serious contender for match of the year. There was not a second wasted in this instant classic. I loved when Sasha flung Becky in the corner, only to hit her with a pair of brutal looking double knees. The ending was also amazing as well. After slamming Banks into the steel steps after being caught from a suicide dive, Becky went to the top, got caught with a vicious arm takedown and locked into the Bank Statement. She had no choice to tapout. Becky took her place as an elite NXT star with the loss. Charlotte is known for being Ric Flair's daughter and an amazing superstar in her own shoes. Bayley is the lovable loser of NXT but ranks as the most loved women in NXT. Sasha is the champ of the division and has been putting on the best women's matches I've seen in WWE. Becky now joins that class of ladies and they represent the change that's needed in the women's division. I talk a lot about the NXT 5, which is the line up of Sami Zayn, Adrian Neville, Kevin Owens, Finn Balor and Hideo Itami but don't take anything away from the Four Horsewomen of NXT. They're breaking barriers down there in Florida so watch out. We live in a time where Sasha and Charlotte were allowed to main event the 1st live event in Philadelphia. That is HUGE. I'm calling it now, there will be a women's match to main event a live special soon. Sasha/Charlotte is kind of played out to me now in NXT. I've seen them wrestle about 5 times already and even though they have great chemistry, I think the match that should main a special is Sasha/Bayley. It would be the Zayn R Evolution scene all over again. The girl who always loses finally wins the big one. It writes itself. Bayley as champion is best for NXT as she'll have plenty of challengers in Dana Brooke, Emma, Sasha and Bliss. A heel Banks as champion just isn't needed right now. As much as I love Sasha, unless she turns heel, there needs to be a face champion. So yeah, match of the year candidate from Banks/Lynch. Banks and Bayley should definitely main event the live special in August. Have Bayley win a tournament by last beating Charlotte and go from there. Bayley deserves a run with the belt anyway!
Zayn/Owens II started off much faster than their first affair. I knew the match wasn't going to be what it could've been due to Zayn's injury but it was still a good match. Obviously, the big news here is that SAMOA JOE IS IN NXT! And he's gunning for champ Kevin Owens, who is feuding with just about everyone right now. Joe's presence in NXT elevates the talent pool that much higher. Joe is a steal for NXT and his matches with Owens should be hard hitting affairs. Once he gets to the main roster, I can't wait to see Bryan and Joe renew their rivalry from ROH. I guess that's if Bryan comes back. I've said this in other posts but CM Punk left WAY too soon. The change he was looking for is here now and it's apparent that it's in NXT. Ah well...
NXT Unstoppable was awesome and continued the trend of NXT putting on fantastic live specials. NExt up, let's talk about WWE's next event!
In a surprise twist, WWE announced that Elimination Chamber would be returning but only on the WWE Network. Although a surprise pop-up event, it's shaping up to be something special.
For the first time ever, there will be a chamber match for the WWE Tag Team Titles. The New Day defends against Cesaro/Kidd, The Prime Time Players, Lucha Dragons, The Ascension and Los Matadores. I'm really looking forward to this match. Now granted, there are some irrelevant teams in here but there's a total of 12 men in this match. There should be some big spots and I'd love if The Ascension and Lucha Dragons started the match off as LD were the ones to end the long reign of The Ascension. After a LONG chamber match, I see The New Day retaining. They are the most over team in the match and I can't see Cesaro and Kidd winning the belts back. The PTP seems to be getting back over with the fans so a New Day/PTP feud would be nice following this event. New Day retains.
In a rematch of former NXT Champions, Bo Dallas will do battle with Neville. This feud has literally come out of nowhere but as NXT has proven, this could be a nice little match. I'm sure the fans won't want to see it but as a NXT fan, I'll give it a shot on the main roster. Neville needs some momentum as he'll most likely be in the MITB match come two weeks so he needs a win here. Bo will try to make a Bo-liver out of Neville but he won't. Neville wins.
I'm really looking forward to this Divas Title match. It could be that Banks/Lynch have me excited for more women's wrestling or the fact that Paige is involved, I'm not sure the reason. I'm not expecting a match of the night here but it could be good. Paige/Naomi could be a really good feud for the summer. It seems like Nikki is not even important in this feud but she is the Divas Champion. I say give Naomi the title and build towards a big PPV match between Paige and Naomi. Naomi wins.
Once again, WWE puts on a big multi man match for the IC Title. This time though, it's vacant. Rusev, Ryback, King Barrett, Sheamus, Ziggler and R-Truth will do battle for the title. R-Truth gets into ANOTHER IC Title match? How is this possible? How is Ryback in the match when Wyatt beat him at Payback? This match doesn't make sense! Anyway, reports say the Rusev injured his ankle and his status is up in the air for the match. It's not like he was going to win anyway but if he doesn't compete, Wyatt might get the nod to take his place. Either way, it should be a brutal Chamber match. The only person I want to hold the IC Title right now is Neville but he's nowhere to be seen in this match. Sheamus is the most likely star to be walking away the Chamber with the belt. I don't have a problem with that and he's the only real choice here anyway. Truth ain't winning it, Ziggler and Barrett have held it too many times in a short period, Rusev just dropped his title, and Ryback....well, he's Ryback. I could see them doing a Ryback/Sheamus feud for the belt afterwards though. If Wyatt gets into the match, I'd love to see him win it but how many times has a last minute addition ever won a match? Sheamus walks out as IC Champion after pinning Ziggler.
Now here's a surprise match up! NXT Champion Kevin Owens will battle United States Champion John Cena in a Champion VS Champion. Welcome to the big league Kevin Owens! This is Cena's 3rd match against a member of the NXT 5 in the last month. This has the making to being a fantastic match up. Owens has a great in ring style and Cena steps up his game whenever he faces someone who can wrestle well. The only bad thing about this match is that it has to end and the end will probably be the same with other Cena matches; Cena wins. Owens is the NXT Champion, meaning he's still apart of NXT. Not many of the WWE Universe know who he is so a win won't really hurt him. If he loses to Cena, he just goes back to NXT and comes back once he's done his time there. A loss for Cena would make him look weak and we all know that WWE can't do that ever. Cena lose to a guy that has gotten the upper hand on him two weeks in a row? Yeah, not going to happen buddy! Maybe they'll do a DQ finish or a Samoa Joe run in but I gotta believe that this is all leading to something. Why in the hell would you have a star like Owens just randomly have a match with Cena? There's got to be a bigger plan that hasn't been brought to fruition yet and I'm waiting to find that out. Is a NXT invasion angle happening soon? I guess we'll see. Regardless, John Cena will defeat Kevin Owens, making Owens victim #2 of the NXT 5.
Ambrose and Rollins will main event another PPV together. They had a Hell in A Cell match back in October that was actually the main event over Cena/Orton XIV. I think this will also be the first one on one WWE World Title Match between two NXT alumni that main events a PPV. Check me on the internet. Anyway, these two have great chemistry together and will definitely close the show out in style. The only question is: how? There are a lot of variables in this match. One, Kane and J&J Security. They will definitely interfere on behalf of Rollins. Two, Roman Reigns. The golden boy doesn't have a match on the WWE Network exclusive event. He's gotta be helping his boy Ambrose fend off the attacks of The Authority. Or does he? Does anyone else have a gut feeling that Reigns is going to turn on Ambrose? I just don't trust that he would be alright if Ambrose won the title before him. I could be crazy and this is all just leading to a Shield Triple Threat but the seeds are definitely planted. A Reigns heel turn would suck at first because the fans seem to be back on his bandwagon again. I would like to see Reigns' first title win be as a face as well. While I want Ambrose to walk out as champion, Kane, J&J and even Reigns will have something to say about it. Seth Rollins retains the title.
There you go! NXT and WWE events all in one post! Rooting hard for Ambrose come Sunday!
Friday, May 29, 2015
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
We Play Titan Souls!
If you didn't read the last post with the interview with Roland, you might be a little lost but basically, we had a plan in place to have Roland and Brandon play Titan Souls as a LP for his channel. We went through with the plan but the video recording system Roland was using crapped out on him TWICE so we basically lost a whole day's worth of work. While the world won't be able to see Roland and Brandon's amazing feats of triumph, I will talk about my point of view of the situation.
First, let me explain a bit about the game. Titan Souls is best described as Dark Souls meets Shadow of the Colossus with a 2D twist. It's all about killing these huge titans as there are no other bosses in the game. You are armed with one arrow from your bow, nothing else. You can only take one hit from bosses before dying but bosses can only take one hit from you in return. There are a total of 20 bosses in the game so the game can be beaten in a short amount of time. One trophy says 20 minutes but that sounds impossible. Anyway, now that you know what you're playing, I can talk about what happened in those 3 hours of lost footage.
Roland and Brandon did a great job of tackling the game's bosses. In the end, they collectively defeated 11 of the bosses in about 2 hours time without prior knowledge on how to beat them. The 2nd time around, Roland beat 13 of the bosses in an hour's time. Both runs were very impressive but the intial one is my favorite. The amount of struggle between the two of them was great. That sounds so bad I know but being on the other side after beating the game last month is so much more sweet. Seriously. They took turns going through each boss. The bosses that gave them the most trouble were the Yeti, Gol-Qayin, and Knight Elhanan. When they got to the Yeti, the atomsphere in the room became so heavy. The amount of defeats they both took were getting to them and it showed but when they finally prevailed, we all had a moment of joyous celebration. I wasn't even playing but I got so wrapped up in wanting to see them win that I had no other reaction but to shout, especially after seeing them get trampled by a boss over and over again. You obviously begin to root for them to finish it because you can relate to their struggles. I briefly talked about Titan Souls last month and the game is brutal at some points. Those were the shining moments of the time we spent recording the gameplay for Titan Souls but unfortunately, you'll never see it as the game capture software crashed, so moments like that were only seen by us and heard by my mom. Funny story time! My mom works from home, which is where we did the recording for said video. During one point, my mom was on the phone and apparently, Roland yelled, probably in joy of felling a boss. The person on the phone heard it and asked if everything was alright. My mom told them that the IT department was happy over finally fixing something. Classic mom, classic!
The video we did so was a quick one as we had already spent 3+ hours of playing through Titan Souls. Exhausted. Roland just let Brandon play through Bloodborne. The challenge was to see if Brandon could reach the first boss in under 10 minuntes, which then changed to see if he could beat it in under 20. I don't want to spoil the video, so here's the link so you can watch it.
It was a fun day, although we didn't get the video that we originally planned. I talked to the guys afterwards about doing more videos in the future, maybe like gaming altogether at once in older games, like Marvel Ultimate Alliance or even Diablo 3 or Sacred 3. Hopefully by doing this, Roland will get more viewers that he definitely deserves. Please check the video out and then, go look at the other things that he has done. He showed me a video that he has coming soon that I think you anime fans will really like.
This was a great first attempt at a collaboration piece with my blog and someone else. Coming up next, I'll be doing something with my friend Rick. Here's a link to a video he did on Mortal Kombat X.
I interviewed Rick for the blog and in turn, we're going to discuss video games and such very soon and he's going to put it to a video, which will be linked to my blog, Facebook and other social media platforms that I have. It should be a fun discussion between us so be on the lookout for it!
NXT Takeover reaction and Elimination Chamber predictions are coming this week!
First, let me explain a bit about the game. Titan Souls is best described as Dark Souls meets Shadow of the Colossus with a 2D twist. It's all about killing these huge titans as there are no other bosses in the game. You are armed with one arrow from your bow, nothing else. You can only take one hit from bosses before dying but bosses can only take one hit from you in return. There are a total of 20 bosses in the game so the game can be beaten in a short amount of time. One trophy says 20 minutes but that sounds impossible. Anyway, now that you know what you're playing, I can talk about what happened in those 3 hours of lost footage.
Roland and Brandon did a great job of tackling the game's bosses. In the end, they collectively defeated 11 of the bosses in about 2 hours time without prior knowledge on how to beat them. The 2nd time around, Roland beat 13 of the bosses in an hour's time. Both runs were very impressive but the intial one is my favorite. The amount of struggle between the two of them was great. That sounds so bad I know but being on the other side after beating the game last month is so much more sweet. Seriously. They took turns going through each boss. The bosses that gave them the most trouble were the Yeti, Gol-Qayin, and Knight Elhanan. When they got to the Yeti, the atomsphere in the room became so heavy. The amount of defeats they both took were getting to them and it showed but when they finally prevailed, we all had a moment of joyous celebration. I wasn't even playing but I got so wrapped up in wanting to see them win that I had no other reaction but to shout, especially after seeing them get trampled by a boss over and over again. You obviously begin to root for them to finish it because you can relate to their struggles. I briefly talked about Titan Souls last month and the game is brutal at some points. Those were the shining moments of the time we spent recording the gameplay for Titan Souls but unfortunately, you'll never see it as the game capture software crashed, so moments like that were only seen by us and heard by my mom. Funny story time! My mom works from home, which is where we did the recording for said video. During one point, my mom was on the phone and apparently, Roland yelled, probably in joy of felling a boss. The person on the phone heard it and asked if everything was alright. My mom told them that the IT department was happy over finally fixing something. Classic mom, classic!
The video we did so was a quick one as we had already spent 3+ hours of playing through Titan Souls. Exhausted. Roland just let Brandon play through Bloodborne. The challenge was to see if Brandon could reach the first boss in under 10 minuntes, which then changed to see if he could beat it in under 20. I don't want to spoil the video, so here's the link so you can watch it.
It was a fun day, although we didn't get the video that we originally planned. I talked to the guys afterwards about doing more videos in the future, maybe like gaming altogether at once in older games, like Marvel Ultimate Alliance or even Diablo 3 or Sacred 3. Hopefully by doing this, Roland will get more viewers that he definitely deserves. Please check the video out and then, go look at the other things that he has done. He showed me a video that he has coming soon that I think you anime fans will really like.
This was a great first attempt at a collaboration piece with my blog and someone else. Coming up next, I'll be doing something with my friend Rick. Here's a link to a video he did on Mortal Kombat X.
I interviewed Rick for the blog and in turn, we're going to discuss video games and such very soon and he's going to put it to a video, which will be linked to my blog, Facebook and other social media platforms that I have. It should be a fun discussion between us so be on the lookout for it!
NXT Takeover reaction and Elimination Chamber predictions are coming this week!
Monday, May 25, 2015
Chatting with the Fatman Ultra Mega EX Plus Alpha Edition: Roland
Did you enjoy the title? No? Ah well! Welcome to a very special edition of Chatting with the Fatman. This is the first of what I hope to be many collaborations on this blog. Today, I'm talking to an old high school friend about games, anime, etc. Not only will you guys get to read this post, you'll also get to see a video on Roland's Youtube channel in the near future of Roland, Brandon (the same one I interviewed last year) and I playing through Titan Souls. Well, THEM playing through Titan Souls while I give tips and we talk. It should be a great time hanging out all together for the first time while also providing a fun viewing experience for his viewers and my readers. I'll be posting the link to the video on a different post once it's uploaded.
Here's the link to his page in the meanwhile!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB6jwbm1qd2zsDU_mq4p3eg
Alright, here we go! Roland and I met in high school. We had a psychology class together where I don't remember anything that was taught at all. I do remember Roland and I sharing plenty of gaming stories together and talking about the big game at that time, Resident Evil 5. Roland and I haven't really talked since I graduated but I saw his channel and I loved the video he did with our friend Brandon. Not only that video, but I love his humor style in general. I thought it would be good to get some exposure for both his channel and my blog and have a fun time doing so as well. So, without further ado, here's part 1 of my collaboration with Roland AKA 0takuZaku!
1. Who are you and what do you do for a living?
(A) My name is barthomew von dunkleberg and I am the hero this city needs. Seriously, my name is Roland Johnson III and the thing I do for a living is go to school for my degree, go to work to earn some money on the side, and save the world with my humor.
2. What was the driving force for you to start your own Youtube channel?
(A) Honestly, I was very bored one day. Everyone was busy around me and I needed something to do to pass the time. I used to do little skits for my other youtube channel but I lost the access to that one. I made another one and I wanted to focus on Let’s Plays and see if I can get something going with it. To sum it up, I made it to entertain people and because it’s a great way to pass the time.
3. Where do you see your channel going in the future?
(A) To be honest, I don’t know exactly. I mean I have plans to go back to making skits one day, as well as make Let’s Plays, and more Anime Reviews. I don’t want to just be known as Roland that does skits or Roland that does reviews. I want to cover the entire basis so that my vision of humor can entertain everyone.
4. What was the first game that made you realize that you were going to be a gamer for a long time?
(A) OH my goodness, so the first game I ever played was Mortal Kombat. Yes I know, Parents of the year for letting a 4-year old play Mortal Kombat, with the blood. It was something that brought the family together because we would all play and work together to beat the tower. I believe that’s when I really like playing because it was the time when people would enjoy the company of others and beat the snot out of each other, rather than real life violence.
5. What’s your favorite video game of all time?
(A) It’s really tough for me to have a favorite game. Typically, I would say a franchise rather than a specific game. However, I must say only one of the many I enjoyed. I’m going to use the copout and say Pokemon Silver for the Game Boy Color. It was the First pokemon game that had a fire type that could learn thunderpunch. It was the first pokemon game that allowed you to travel back to the Kanto Region to fight everyone from the past pokemon game. It was the first to have an in-game clock for a day and night cycle. It was the first pokemon game that had in-game events, like the bug catcher contest. Lastly, it was the ONLY pokemon game that allowed you to fight the protagonist from the previous pokemon game, or so I believe. If anyone wants to verify that for me, you can.
6. What’s your least favorite?
(A) Call of Duty Advanced Warfare leads the pack on the ever growing games I dislike list. It just beat of Call of Duty Ghost. The “Innovation” of adding jet packs in games is getting annoying. I didn’t like them in Halo Reach, I didn’t like them in Advanced Warfare, and I’m sure I’m not going to like them in Black Ops 3. Futuristic Shooters is not that way to handle this franchise. I feel that they need to take a step back and focus on modern day, not 50 years into the future. Also, maybe throw in what if scenarios, like North Korea vs Brazil. I don’t know if that will work but hey it’s a start.
7. What company do you enjoy games from the most?
(A) Namco Bandai Games/Namco Bandai Studios wins that award. They help publish games like Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Games, All my Tales Games, and all the Dragon Ball Z Fighting Games. It’s an anime nerd dream to play as the characters they watch in the series and they do a very good job to provide us with great quality for each game.
8. If you could only play ONE system for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
(A) Currently, I play the xbox one religiously over my PS4. I chose the xbox 360 over the ps3 prior to the newer gens being released. However, I started off as a sony kid when I was younger when I had the play station one and I never upgraded to get the Playstation 2. I would choose the PS2 as the game console to play forever, if I had too. It dominated for an entire decade and covered games of all variety on it. Plus, I can go back and beat games I could never play because my parents bought me the gamecube instead. Also, importing Japanese games would be fun and I can still play ps1 games. Seems like a win in my book.
9. What do you do in your spare time, away from gaming and editing videos?
(A) Nothing next question…..But seriously, I have a life outside of this and priorities that I have to handle like every other adult. I spend time with close friends and family. I go out every once in a while and I sleep a lot. I just take each day one step at a time and when something hits me, like a video idea, I act on it.
10. What’s your most anticipated game?
(A) Half-Life 3 and Left 4 Dead 3…(whispers in ear that Valve can’t count to three)….Oh those games aren’t going to be made you say. Well darn, I guess I would change my answer to Fallout 4 because the gaming world needs another Fallout game that is on the next gen console. I like the creature designs and the feel of being by yourself with only your wits and a gun. Plus, it’s an RPG and I enjoy me some good ol’ RPG gaming.
11. What are the main games you want to Let's Play?
(A) I want to stay on a genre that people don’t play as much, ie: Horror Games/Survival Games/Family Fun Games/etc. For example: Ask anyone you know if they play Call of Duty. I bet you will get a yes, but ask them if they played the story mode and they will look dumbfounded that it has a story as well. So I am to play games that provide me information to talk about while I entertain people.
12. Outside of Pokemon, what's your favorite RPG of all time?
(A) Ouch, another tough one. Favorite RPG has to go with Tales Of Vesperia for this one. I remember playing it in 2010 and it is still fresh in my mind. I enjoy all Tales of series but I never officially finished any of them. I clocked in with 70+ hours of gameplay to finally complete the game. It took me forever but I was on edge for the entire experience.
13. I haven't watched an anime since Shuffle back in 2010/2011. Recommend an anime for me that you think I would enjoy. (Harems are my jam)
(A) Okay let’s see if I can work my mojo. I can be more detailed but I’ll stick to Harem anime. I would recommend Wagnaria!! It has two seasons and its about random events at a restaurant with the occasional love interest. Great with its light hearted jokes but makes you feel for the characters and their pursuit of love.
14. Which Tales game is your favorite? (If this isn't a different answer than question 12, don't answer)
(A) I enjoy all of them. But It’s a tie between Tales of Symphonia/Tales Of the Abyss/Tales of Vesperia. I still need to finish the other two but I have always enjoyed all of them.
15. What's your favorite anime series of all time?
(A) Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood. FUN FACT: I have a homunculus tattoo on my chest. Fullmetal Alchemist (The first released anime) was great for its time, the ending wasn’t what I was expecting but overall it was still okay. However, Brotherhood follows the manga to the teeth, so I hear, and I loved everything about it. Seven Deadly sins is my guilty pleasure and the way they kill of characters, it’s so heart wrenching. Must watch if anyone still haven’t seen this.
16. What company has been better with their consoles; Sony or Microsoft?
(A) Both are liars in my opinion. They promised things that I’m still waiting for. I’m going to give it to Sony because they have a working crunchyroll app that doesn’t bug out, they allow the ability to let someone else play the game you own, and the free games/deals they provide for their fan base is simply better, for example: They gave Plus members full fledge games like Injustice….For free. You know what games I got on Xbox….Pinball….Whoot *sarcasm*
17. How do you feel about the increasingly amount of remastered games from the last generation coming to this generation? Are you a fan of it?
(A) Yes and No. I enjoy living in the past and it’s a great way to give other people a chance to relive the greatest hits. However, I do not enjoy the pricing it cost to remaster these games. For Example: They remastered Resident Evil again for the current generation, it’s priced at 20 dollars, less if you catch it on sale. However, remastered Tomb Raider or remastered Grand Theft Auto, which is a generation old, charges you 60 dollars for the exact same game. That’s not good for your fan base, shows your greedy.
18. Cliche question, but it's the zombie apocalypse. Name three video game characters you want in your party and why.
(A) Geralt of Rivia because he fights these types of monsters on a daily basis, Kirby because he can suck them up into another dimension if they out number us, and of course I need scorpion because it’s scorpion and he is cool.
19. What game has surprised you the most? From what you expected to what you got basically.
(A) Currently, The witcher 3: Wild Hunt. I expected open world and an interesting story. I got that and more, the explorations, the secret places, and the gameplay are all perfect. The game has so much for you to do and not including the future 30+ hour DLC that will be released sometime later. I already put in over 4 days of gameplay. I think the creators sprinkled drugs on it. For more sales.
20. Now that we're in the 8th generation of gaming, where do games go from here?
(A) Games should take the art of the past and the present and aim to perfect them. Don’t make every game super realistic, don’t make every game a shooter, and don’t make every game serious. The fun of games is to bring people together and to enjoy them. Companies are starting to realize that gamers want variety. This is why indie game is becoming more popular than Triple A titles. Gamers are tired of the same thing. Games should just take notes of the games of say the 2000s and perfect them, especially since everyone is Pro-Indie.
And there you have it! My interview with Roland AKA 0takuZaku. Please, go show his channel some love and be on the lookout for our video coming soon and continue to read this blog! I'll have my thoughts on NXT Takeover and my predictions for Elimination Chamber coming later this week! Fight Owens Fight!
BIG thanks to Roland for participating and being interviewed for the blog. I had a lot of fun just laughing at your answers and getting some topics together for the video to come. I hope this is the start of a great partnership with us.
Here's the link to his page in the meanwhile!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB6jwbm1qd2zsDU_mq4p3eg
Alright, here we go! Roland and I met in high school. We had a psychology class together where I don't remember anything that was taught at all. I do remember Roland and I sharing plenty of gaming stories together and talking about the big game at that time, Resident Evil 5. Roland and I haven't really talked since I graduated but I saw his channel and I loved the video he did with our friend Brandon. Not only that video, but I love his humor style in general. I thought it would be good to get some exposure for both his channel and my blog and have a fun time doing so as well. So, without further ado, here's part 1 of my collaboration with Roland AKA 0takuZaku!
1. Who are you and what do you do for a living?
(A) My name is barthomew von dunkleberg and I am the hero this city needs. Seriously, my name is Roland Johnson III and the thing I do for a living is go to school for my degree, go to work to earn some money on the side, and save the world with my humor.
2. What was the driving force for you to start your own Youtube channel?
(A) Honestly, I was very bored one day. Everyone was busy around me and I needed something to do to pass the time. I used to do little skits for my other youtube channel but I lost the access to that one. I made another one and I wanted to focus on Let’s Plays and see if I can get something going with it. To sum it up, I made it to entertain people and because it’s a great way to pass the time.
3. Where do you see your channel going in the future?
(A) To be honest, I don’t know exactly. I mean I have plans to go back to making skits one day, as well as make Let’s Plays, and more Anime Reviews. I don’t want to just be known as Roland that does skits or Roland that does reviews. I want to cover the entire basis so that my vision of humor can entertain everyone.
4. What was the first game that made you realize that you were going to be a gamer for a long time?
(A) OH my goodness, so the first game I ever played was Mortal Kombat. Yes I know, Parents of the year for letting a 4-year old play Mortal Kombat, with the blood. It was something that brought the family together because we would all play and work together to beat the tower. I believe that’s when I really like playing because it was the time when people would enjoy the company of others and beat the snot out of each other, rather than real life violence.
5. What’s your favorite video game of all time?
(A) It’s really tough for me to have a favorite game. Typically, I would say a franchise rather than a specific game. However, I must say only one of the many I enjoyed. I’m going to use the copout and say Pokemon Silver for the Game Boy Color. It was the First pokemon game that had a fire type that could learn thunderpunch. It was the first pokemon game that allowed you to travel back to the Kanto Region to fight everyone from the past pokemon game. It was the first to have an in-game clock for a day and night cycle. It was the first pokemon game that had in-game events, like the bug catcher contest. Lastly, it was the ONLY pokemon game that allowed you to fight the protagonist from the previous pokemon game, or so I believe. If anyone wants to verify that for me, you can.
6. What’s your least favorite?
(A) Call of Duty Advanced Warfare leads the pack on the ever growing games I dislike list. It just beat of Call of Duty Ghost. The “Innovation” of adding jet packs in games is getting annoying. I didn’t like them in Halo Reach, I didn’t like them in Advanced Warfare, and I’m sure I’m not going to like them in Black Ops 3. Futuristic Shooters is not that way to handle this franchise. I feel that they need to take a step back and focus on modern day, not 50 years into the future. Also, maybe throw in what if scenarios, like North Korea vs Brazil. I don’t know if that will work but hey it’s a start.
7. What company do you enjoy games from the most?
(A) Namco Bandai Games/Namco Bandai Studios wins that award. They help publish games like Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Games, All my Tales Games, and all the Dragon Ball Z Fighting Games. It’s an anime nerd dream to play as the characters they watch in the series and they do a very good job to provide us with great quality for each game.
8. If you could only play ONE system for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
(A) Currently, I play the xbox one religiously over my PS4. I chose the xbox 360 over the ps3 prior to the newer gens being released. However, I started off as a sony kid when I was younger when I had the play station one and I never upgraded to get the Playstation 2. I would choose the PS2 as the game console to play forever, if I had too. It dominated for an entire decade and covered games of all variety on it. Plus, I can go back and beat games I could never play because my parents bought me the gamecube instead. Also, importing Japanese games would be fun and I can still play ps1 games. Seems like a win in my book.
9. What do you do in your spare time, away from gaming and editing videos?
(A) Nothing next question…..But seriously, I have a life outside of this and priorities that I have to handle like every other adult. I spend time with close friends and family. I go out every once in a while and I sleep a lot. I just take each day one step at a time and when something hits me, like a video idea, I act on it.
10. What’s your most anticipated game?
(A) Half-Life 3 and Left 4 Dead 3…(whispers in ear that Valve can’t count to three)….Oh those games aren’t going to be made you say. Well darn, I guess I would change my answer to Fallout 4 because the gaming world needs another Fallout game that is on the next gen console. I like the creature designs and the feel of being by yourself with only your wits and a gun. Plus, it’s an RPG and I enjoy me some good ol’ RPG gaming.
11. What are the main games you want to Let's Play?
(A) I want to stay on a genre that people don’t play as much, ie: Horror Games/Survival Games/Family Fun Games/etc. For example: Ask anyone you know if they play Call of Duty. I bet you will get a yes, but ask them if they played the story mode and they will look dumbfounded that it has a story as well. So I am to play games that provide me information to talk about while I entertain people.
12. Outside of Pokemon, what's your favorite RPG of all time?
(A) Ouch, another tough one. Favorite RPG has to go with Tales Of Vesperia for this one. I remember playing it in 2010 and it is still fresh in my mind. I enjoy all Tales of series but I never officially finished any of them. I clocked in with 70+ hours of gameplay to finally complete the game. It took me forever but I was on edge for the entire experience.
13. I haven't watched an anime since Shuffle back in 2010/2011. Recommend an anime for me that you think I would enjoy. (Harems are my jam)
(A) Okay let’s see if I can work my mojo. I can be more detailed but I’ll stick to Harem anime. I would recommend Wagnaria!! It has two seasons and its about random events at a restaurant with the occasional love interest. Great with its light hearted jokes but makes you feel for the characters and their pursuit of love.
14. Which Tales game is your favorite? (If this isn't a different answer than question 12, don't answer)
(A) I enjoy all of them. But It’s a tie between Tales of Symphonia/Tales Of the Abyss/Tales of Vesperia. I still need to finish the other two but I have always enjoyed all of them.
15. What's your favorite anime series of all time?
(A) Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood. FUN FACT: I have a homunculus tattoo on my chest. Fullmetal Alchemist (The first released anime) was great for its time, the ending wasn’t what I was expecting but overall it was still okay. However, Brotherhood follows the manga to the teeth, so I hear, and I loved everything about it. Seven Deadly sins is my guilty pleasure and the way they kill of characters, it’s so heart wrenching. Must watch if anyone still haven’t seen this.
16. What company has been better with their consoles; Sony or Microsoft?
(A) Both are liars in my opinion. They promised things that I’m still waiting for. I’m going to give it to Sony because they have a working crunchyroll app that doesn’t bug out, they allow the ability to let someone else play the game you own, and the free games/deals they provide for their fan base is simply better, for example: They gave Plus members full fledge games like Injustice….For free. You know what games I got on Xbox….Pinball….Whoot *sarcasm*
17. How do you feel about the increasingly amount of remastered games from the last generation coming to this generation? Are you a fan of it?
(A) Yes and No. I enjoy living in the past and it’s a great way to give other people a chance to relive the greatest hits. However, I do not enjoy the pricing it cost to remaster these games. For Example: They remastered Resident Evil again for the current generation, it’s priced at 20 dollars, less if you catch it on sale. However, remastered Tomb Raider or remastered Grand Theft Auto, which is a generation old, charges you 60 dollars for the exact same game. That’s not good for your fan base, shows your greedy.
18. Cliche question, but it's the zombie apocalypse. Name three video game characters you want in your party and why.
(A) Geralt of Rivia because he fights these types of monsters on a daily basis, Kirby because he can suck them up into another dimension if they out number us, and of course I need scorpion because it’s scorpion and he is cool.
19. What game has surprised you the most? From what you expected to what you got basically.
(A) Currently, The witcher 3: Wild Hunt. I expected open world and an interesting story. I got that and more, the explorations, the secret places, and the gameplay are all perfect. The game has so much for you to do and not including the future 30+ hour DLC that will be released sometime later. I already put in over 4 days of gameplay. I think the creators sprinkled drugs on it. For more sales.
20. Now that we're in the 8th generation of gaming, where do games go from here?
(A) Games should take the art of the past and the present and aim to perfect them. Don’t make every game super realistic, don’t make every game a shooter, and don’t make every game serious. The fun of games is to bring people together and to enjoy them. Companies are starting to realize that gamers want variety. This is why indie game is becoming more popular than Triple A titles. Gamers are tired of the same thing. Games should just take notes of the games of say the 2000s and perfect them, especially since everyone is Pro-Indie.
And there you have it! My interview with Roland AKA 0takuZaku. Please, go show his channel some love and be on the lookout for our video coming soon and continue to read this blog! I'll have my thoughts on NXT Takeover and my predictions for Elimination Chamber coming later this week! Fight Owens Fight!
BIG thanks to Roland for participating and being interviewed for the blog. I had a lot of fun just laughing at your answers and getting some topics together for the video to come. I hope this is the start of a great partnership with us.
Saturday, May 16, 2015
Payback 2015 talk
Like I did with my Extreme Rules 2015 post, I'm not going to do a full blown predictions post because I really don't care too much for the show. Let's go into it.
So, there's 7 matches on the main card. Cena and Rusev will have their last match in a Cena Wins match. Cena will win obviously. We need the US Open to keep happening. He's been doing his thing, putting on great matches each week with several different talents. Ryback and Wyatt do battle in a different type of match. I'm a huge Wyatt fan so I'm pulling for him but I feel like this is WWE's way to push Ryback again. I think Ryback gets the nod. Sheamus/Ziggler and Neville/Barrett are both rematches from ER so I think the heels, who both loss, will get the wins this time. We also get a pointless Divas Tag match. I hate that Nikki won't be defending her title on the event. Like, why are you champion? One of the best matches on the show will definitely be the confrontation between Cesaro/Kidd and The New Day. It's a rematch but this time, it's 2/3 Falls. It should a great contest as their ER match was pretty awesome. The main event though is the the match I will have all eyes on.
Seth Rollins won the title thanks to his MITB briefcase. If you know the history of the briefcase winners, you'll know that many of those who cashed in and won the title, usually don't hold onto the belts for long. Ziggler, Punk and Bryan didn't have long reigns. Rollins is coming up on 2 months with the belt, which means, it's just about time for him to lose the belt. I can see WWE doing a quick title change with them having a surprise WWE Network PPV in 2 weeks. Who would get the title though? Ambrose is super over right now and him being added to the match at the last minute, strange. It could all be leading to Ambrose winning his first World Title. It would then mean Ambrose/Rollins at EC and eventually, a triple threat with Reigns in the summer. I'm all for either member of The Shield walking out victorious. I've been onboard with a Reigns title run for awhile now. He's been looking hot ever since his lost to at Mania. He puts on an absolute star performance at Extreme Rules and it could finally get him the title he should have won at Wrestlemania. Fatal Four Way are always interesting when you don't know what's coming next so it's going to be exciting to see which way WWE is going to go.
Payback is obviously a filler PPV, one that could potentially be a good show. We shall see
So, there's 7 matches on the main card. Cena and Rusev will have their last match in a Cena Wins match. Cena will win obviously. We need the US Open to keep happening. He's been doing his thing, putting on great matches each week with several different talents. Ryback and Wyatt do battle in a different type of match. I'm a huge Wyatt fan so I'm pulling for him but I feel like this is WWE's way to push Ryback again. I think Ryback gets the nod. Sheamus/Ziggler and Neville/Barrett are both rematches from ER so I think the heels, who both loss, will get the wins this time. We also get a pointless Divas Tag match. I hate that Nikki won't be defending her title on the event. Like, why are you champion? One of the best matches on the show will definitely be the confrontation between Cesaro/Kidd and The New Day. It's a rematch but this time, it's 2/3 Falls. It should a great contest as their ER match was pretty awesome. The main event though is the the match I will have all eyes on.
Seth Rollins won the title thanks to his MITB briefcase. If you know the history of the briefcase winners, you'll know that many of those who cashed in and won the title, usually don't hold onto the belts for long. Ziggler, Punk and Bryan didn't have long reigns. Rollins is coming up on 2 months with the belt, which means, it's just about time for him to lose the belt. I can see WWE doing a quick title change with them having a surprise WWE Network PPV in 2 weeks. Who would get the title though? Ambrose is super over right now and him being added to the match at the last minute, strange. It could all be leading to Ambrose winning his first World Title. It would then mean Ambrose/Rollins at EC and eventually, a triple threat with Reigns in the summer. I'm all for either member of The Shield walking out victorious. I've been onboard with a Reigns title run for awhile now. He's been looking hot ever since his lost to at Mania. He puts on an absolute star performance at Extreme Rules and it could finally get him the title he should have won at Wrestlemania. Fatal Four Way are always interesting when you don't know what's coming next so it's going to be exciting to see which way WWE is going to go.
Payback is obviously a filler PPV, one that could potentially be a good show. We shall see
Sunday, May 10, 2015
Top Ten Playstation 1 Games
After playing so much PS4 lately, I've been thinking about all the amazing games and such that I've played in my Playstation career. And with me being bored senseless working this overnight shift, I thought I would recall my favorite games from all the Sony systems, starting with the original Playstation.
I give Sega Genesis the credit for being the system that truly introduced to me what gaming was. The Playstation gets the credit as the system that hooked me on gaming. The original Playstation had such a vast variety of games on it. Many fabled gaming series had some of their most popular entries on the system while many got their start during this era. This was an era where gaming was finally going into the 3rd dimension and Playstation, although going up against heavyhitters in Sega's Saturn and Nintendo's N64, held its own and to many, including myself, outshined them. If you frequently read my blog, it should come to no surprise what the top three or four games are as I have gushed over them plenty of times throughout the years. If you don't well, you're in for a good long read!
Honorable Mentions
Lunar: Silver Star Story
Wild Arms 2
Xenogears
Final Fantasy VIII
Top Ten PS1 Games
10. The Legend of Dragoon - Legend of Dragoon was called the American Final Fantasy and for good reason. It follows a lot of what made Final Fantasy VII successful on the PS1.
In LOD, you take control of Dart, who is on a journey to kill a creature that's called The Black Monster. The Black Monster killed Dart's parents and basically destroyed the town where Dart was born. As Dart is returning to his hometown, he finds out that his childhood friend Shana has been kidnapped so he sets off to find her. The game takes many twists and turns from there and eventually Dart finds out who exactly the Black Monster is. It's an enjoyable if not cliche romp.
The battle system is what sets LOD apart and you'll see, a lot of the RPGs that will be on the list, spoiler alert, have different battle systems than what is the norm. In LOD, you attack using skills called Additions. In battle, you select the main addition you want and try to do it correctly and you do this by pressing the X button at the time the two squares line up. As you get more and more Additions, they get more hits and become harder to do. This makes every battle that you do fun and makes you not commonplace with battles by just mashing one button. Later in the game, you get to transform into Dragoons, which is basically the strongest attacks you'll have to dispatch bosses late in game. They act the same way as Additions, you have to press X in the sequence. LOD has a great battle system that keeps you wanting more.
The production qualities scream big series but unfortunately, this is just a one off game, despite Dart being considered for Playstation All-Stars. Everything screams a huge series but it just didn't get a sequel, remake or no kind of love outside this first game. It's really such a shame because this is just a great game with plenty of potential but for whatever reason, it didn't get the support needed. Maybe one day.
9. Ape Escape - Ape Escape is a simple idea done great. There are monkeys that are loose. You have to capture said monkeys. THAT'S THE GAME.
There's more to it than that actually. So, Spencer, a white monkey, decides to put on an experimental helmet and when he does, it makes his intelligence increase and turns him evil. Spencer then puts the helmets on many different apes and they are now loose. They're somehow making a time machine now and they send the main character, Spike, back into time. Armed with a net and various gadgets, Spike sets out to capture the monkeys through various points of time.
This is the first game to fully use the Dualshock controller. The now commonplace controller was a new thing in 1999 and this game FULLY used both analog sticks. One was used for movement and the other controlled the gadgets Spike gets. He can use his net to capture apes, a stun baton, a RC Car, etc. It was all new at the time and felt very unique. The level design is unique and capturing an ape always feels rewarding and worth the trouble to get the ape in the first place.
There's not much to say about this game. It's a great game to get introduced to the world of dual analog gaming. This is one series that all the games are on the same level. 2 and 3 are more of the same great platforming presented in the first, just not unique as when the first one was released. Regardless, it's still an amazing game.
8. Parasite Eve - Parasite Eve is such an interesting mash-up of genres. It's horror, action and RPG all in one. Square Enix did a fantastic job with presenting this game. This game and the next game on this list were the start of me playing more mature games in my life. I would always play cutesy JRPGs or platformers but nothing on the level of Parasite Eve or my #7 pick.
In PE, you play as Aya Brea, a rookie for the NYPD. One night, while out on a date to see a play, a tragic event occurs, which sees almost everyone in the theater spontaneously combust, except for Aya and one of the girls onstage acting in the play. Aya confronts her and she start talking about cells in the body and such and eventually transforms into a being named Eve. Aya finds out that Eve's goal is to become pregnant and give birth to what she calls The Ultimate Being so the game is about you trying to stop that from happening. There's a lot of details I left out but I don't want to spoil to much because the game's story is one of its biggest strengths.
Parasite Eve looks great, at least for 1998. The game takes place in New York, so you'll see a lot of New York attractions, such as Carnegie Hall, Central Park, The Statue of Liberty and if you play the game again after beating it, The Chrysler Building. Games really don't take you through actual places so the fact that this one does is pretty unique. The game also uses a lot of FMVs which usually depict the most disgusting scenes in the game. You'll see a rat and a dog transform into nasty creatures, all the combustion is shown and the nastiest scene in the game is shown like this as well. You come into a theater and all the people in there start to transform into this huge orange slimy blob. It was frightening as a child. I would close my eyes on cutscenes like this when my brother played it but they are some of the most amazing things about the game and showed just what the Playstation could do graphically.
Parasite Eve has one of my favorite battle systems in RPG history. I love the mix of action and turn based combat. Although this is a Square Soft game, you don't use the usual suspects found in those games, that being swords and sorcery. Well, there is some sorcery. Aya is a police officer so she uses guns and billy clubs as her main arsenal. You can upgrade the guns for improved ammo capacity, attack and range. Battles are random and will take place right in the area that you encounter them in. You attack based on the AT gauge, basic Square Soft mechanic. You can then attack. When you select attack, you'll stop and get a range that you're gun has. If the enemy is out of your range, you're free to move closer as you can move in the entire area where the battle is taking place. Once you lock onto your target, you can select how many times you want to shoot or attack it and do so. When the enemy uses big attacks, like beams or what have you, you are able to dodge them, like you would in an action game. This sets the game apart from others in the genre and always keeps you on your toes. The game has a lot of eerie music in it as well. It's some of my favorite music from the Playstation era. Just the walking around music is creepy and addictive.
Parasite Eve is an interesting combination of survival horror, action and RPG elements. And it works perfectly. While there are two other games in this series, they don't reach the original's combination of all three elements. 2 plays more like Resident Evil and 3 is just....not what I wanted at all. PE is a dead series but I will never forget the feeling of being so terrified in my youth. If they would reboot this series for the next gen, I would be eternally grateful.
7. Dino Crisis - I didn't really play Resident Evil growing up. I always saw it being played but it was too scary for 8-10 year old Marcus. My survival horror fix came from this game. Dinosaurs are less scary than zombies right? Wrong. You play as Regina, who along with her team of special ops agents, go on a mission to investigate a mysterious island facility. Things are never as they seem and the team finds out there are dinosaurs of the island. Yes, real life deadly dinosaurs. The team then try to find out what exactly is wrong with the island.
Dino Crisis is Resident Evil with dinosaurs so if you played Resident Evil, Dino Crisis should feel very familiar. The voice acting, graphics and core gameplay are all the same. That being said, you can expect the wonky camera angles as well. They were bad then and they're bad now. While dinosaurs are much more vicious than zombies, this game is still survival horror. You get the same amount of ammo and are expected to survive. The sequels are more like action romps but this one is mechanically a Resident Evil spin-off. The puzzles are difficult to grasp, you have to recover life the same way, everything about this screams Resident Evil. It's not a bad thing though.
As a person who never played Resident Evil before, this was a fresh experience different from what I was getting from other games.It featured a mature story and content I wasn't used to seeing in video games. This, along with the previous entry Parasite Eve, were my first mature games. This continued my trend of playing more mature games and my look on video games in general. This game opened my eyes to different genres and themes in gaming, even though I was only 9-10 when I played it. Dino Crisis is definitely Resident Evil meets Jurassic Park but to the young Marcus, it was his first mature game that he played through, thus earning its spot on the list.
6. Tomba! - Ah Tomba. Many games of this list are ones that I hold dear to my childhood and are responsible for why I'm the gamer I am today. I remember playing the original demo for Tomba like 50 times. I loved the first area and it was awhile before I got the main game in my hands but once I did, I tore into the game. Tomba is a fun experience that fans of 2D platformers will sure to enjoy.
In Tomba, you play AS Tomba, who is on a quest to retrieve his Grandpa's bracelet, which was stolen from him by evil Pigs. Tomba himself is a caveman like creature who doesn't talk. Instead, he jumps on people and BITES them. I can't make this up. Tomba eventually finds out that there is a gang of Evil Pigs who are stealing various items from people. Tomba decides to end the evil pigs' reign of terror by capturing them. The only way to capture them is to put them into their corresponding pig bags. Once again, can't make this up. Tomba is a lighthearted story that doesn't take itself too seriously.
Tomba is made up of events, which consists of main quests and side quests in the games. Whenever there is something that you have to do, an event pops up with a title. Upon completion of said event, you're treated to a nice little jingle and AP, which stands for ability points and are used for certain abilities and boxes you can open in the game. There are a total of 130 events but not all of them need to be completed to finish the game. The events range from finding missing people or items, completing races or just talking to people. They're all very different and add to the overall experience. The downside is that you don't get ANYTHING for doing all 130 events except the satisfaction that you did everything. The sequel changed that but in this one, nothing.
Tomba is basically a Metroidvania-esque game. In the beginning of the game, there's a body of water that you can't pass because Tomba is not able to swim. This opens up the 'I Can't Swim" event, which isn't completed until you have someone teach you how to swim later in the game. You have to remember that so you can progress further in the story. There's also various treasure chests in the game that can't be opened right away, due to Tomba not having the keys for said chests. There's 4 different types of chests with four different keys corresponding to each chest. You may see a chest early in the game that you don't have a key for just yet but there's an item in that chest that you'll need later in the game. Any time games do this, I call it Metroidvania-esque because the key to those games are getting new abilities and backtracking through the game. These are fine examples of it but aren't the only time you'll be revisiting areas.
This is a 2D platformer, with the emphasis being on jumping, running and attacking. Tomba can learn the Animal Dash in the first half hour in the game, which makes him go much faster than his normal walk. You'll be swinging from poles, climbing platforms and jumping A LOT in this game. The platforming is great in some points but horrible in others. There's one area in particular that's absolutely horrible when it comes to this and will frustrate many gamers, including myself. Be prepared for it because it's an area filled with chests and items. Tomba's main form of attack is jumping on his enemies but not in the Mario like way. Tomba will jump on them, latch onto them and has the ability to THROW them. This is his basic attack. The more you throw them each type of enemy, the more Tomba learns about each enemy, which is displayed on a gauge each time you jump on them. This becomes important during different events late in the game. He also gets different types of weapons, including a flail, a boomerang and a grapple, which is mainly used for platforming, especially in the difficult area I mentioned earlier. There's even a flail/grapple combo weapon to get but that's through an optional event.
Tomba is a fantastic, fun and colorful platformer adventure that's ONLY on Sony's Playstation. It's a throwback to the NES/Genesis/SNES platformer days. It has a lot of things to do although there is no real game reward for doing all the events. The events get harder as you progress, with the hardest being a race event that you have to get a specific time for. It's infuriating and not getting anything for it is insane. Regardless of this fact, Tomba is still an amazing adventure that shouldn't be missed. This game has a great sequel and it's fully in 3D but it doesn't capture the same feeling of the original. Both are great games that can be played on your PS3 or Vita for low prices. If you're a fan of these types of crazy platformers, I would definitely give it a try.
5. Mega Man Legends - Man, I love this game. I wasn't the hardcore fan of Mega Man that I am now but this game got me interested in the series when it released for Playstation. I love everything about this game. The graphics, the exploration, the boss fights, being able to turn Mega Man black, everything! This game is awesome!
You play as Mega Man Volnutt who along side Roll and her grandfather, are explorers who go digging in various runes for large refractors. While searching, they end up crash landing on Kattlelox Island. The game goes from there but Mega Man eventually ends up fighting pirates and discovers some of the island's secrets and even the origin of himself. It's a really solid story with some laughable voice acting. I guess it was go in 98.
Anyway, just like other Mega Man games, shooting is life in this game. In the originals, Mega Man was limited to his 2D plane but not in Legends. This is the first 3D Mega Man game as many developers were transitioning their franchises to 3D. It worked in my opinion. Mega Man can do plenty of things his 2D version couldn't. He can strafe, lock on, etc. This is essentially a 3rd person shooter and nothing is wrong with that. This version of Mega Man doesn't take his powers from fallen robot master, mainly because there are NO robot masters. His main enemies are the Reaverbots and they don't have real powers to steal. Instead, Legends has a different take on how to power up Mega Man. The game allows you to upgrade your regular buster. You can upgrade its power, range, energy and rate of fire. He can also equip side weapons, which range from cannons, blades and mines. They're all unique and have a limited supply, displayed by a gauge. To get the sub-weapons, you must explore the world and find random parts so Roll can make them. It's a pretty cool system.
Mega Man Legends is a fun side adventure for the tried and true Mega Man series. It's not too long, probably 8 hours, and it's fun playing with Mega Man in a 3D world. The production quality hasn't aged too well but the game still holds up gameplay wise. The camera will also mess you in up in the many dungeons you will explore but if you can overlook all of this, you will have a fantastic experience with Legends. It's really a shame that they cancelled 3. It was one of my sole reasons for buying a 3DS. This is another game so close to my childhood and playing this game always takes me back so I was really looking forward to a new experience basically a decade later. Legends will always be my favorite Mega Man game, simply due to the memories it provided to me as a youth. In my youth days, this was was amazing and while it may not live up to today's standards of gaming, I still love it nonetheless.
4. Final Fantasy Tactics - When it comes to genres, I'm the most picky about strategy RPGs. They just don't all click for me, for whatever reason. Shining Force clicked with me, even though I was very young. Something about how the game was go me hooked and I play it whenever I get an opportunity on my Genesis collection. Final Fantasy Tactics instantly clicked with me. Whether it was from the name Final Fantasy or the fast paced combat, I just adored this game as a youth.
The story is a political one and to this day, I still don't know the details 100%. It's a shame really, as I've played through this game and have seen it played through over a dozen times. You think I would pick some details up about it. Nope, it was way too confusing for me back in 98, it's still confusing in 2015. Some things never change. That should tell you how much I love this game. For me, story is pretty important in RPGs. It tells the reason why you're doing what you're doing. In FFT, I don't really care what I'm shooting for story wise as I'm too busy trying to play around with my party and have an absolute bomb squad.
Final Fantasy Tactics uses a job system, similar to ones found in the main entry games. Unlike those though, you don't have to progress the story and find any crystals to unlock more classes. You can get classes by leveling up the ones you have. You start with the basic of the basic. Knight, Black Mage, White Mag etc. Eventually, after leveling those up and the ones that follow, the choices get a lot of variety. You can have a Bard, a Dragoon, a Ninja etc. If you spend a lot of time leveling and grinding, you could have any class you want before the end of the first chapter. I love having the ability to class the characters my way, even if I have to grind a bit to get it. It's worth it to see my main character Ramza, equipping two swords so he can attack twice a turn but with the increased strength of a Knight, not a Ninja. It's a great system that make all battles, even the random ones, mean something. I love all the music in the game as well. The tracks really tell what kind of battle it is. If it's a serious battle or a no chance at first battle, FFT has the music for it.
Final Fantasy Tactics means a lot to my childhood. It's a game that I love replaying once in a while just so I can experiment with my party members. While I STILL don't understand everything that happened in the story, FFT is a great SRPG that Final Fantasy fans shouldn't miss. I mean, you can play as Cloud in the original and Balthier in the PSP version.
3. Breath of Fire III - Turn based JRPGs were very successful on the SNES and the Playstation continued where SNES left off. Breath of Fire was a series that started on the SNES being published by Square Soft in North America while being developed by Capcom. The 2nd entry was handled entirely by Capcom and the 3 made the jump over to the Playstation. This was an age where many RPGs followed the exact same formula and didn't try to reinvent the wheel so to speak. It's not a bad thing but for people who may play this game in the year 2015, BOF3 is VERY BASIC.
You play as Ryu in BOF3, a child who awakens in a forest with no clothes and no memories to how he got there. He is found by local trouble makers Rei and Teepo, who take him in and make him one of their own. The kids go on various missions for certain people in the village, including killing a rampaging monster to helping rob a rich man for the good of the village. That doesn't sit well with the rich man so he sends unicorns to burn down the house where they live. UNICORNS. I can't make this up. Did I forget to mention that Rei is some type of tiger cat creature? Sorry, probably should have said that. Anyway, Ryu gets separated from his friends and goes on a journey of his own, one that involves him protecting his love interest Nina and finding out about his true origins. It's a pretty generic story but it gets the job done.
IF you have ever played a turn based RPG, there will be no surprises when you play BOF3. You walk around, an exclamation point will appear over the lead character's head and you'll do turn based battle. Ryu and a couple other party members can transform. Ryu's later transformations can take the other two members as well. Ryu can morph into various forms of dragons, from a small little guy that you play as in the beginning to a huge behemoth of a creature. You cam also learn skills from enemies as they used them on you. For example, you face these acorn nut soldiers that hit you with double blow, an attack that does regular damage twice. If you examine the enemy while they use the attack on the character who used examine, you have a chance to learn that skill. Other than those unique features, it's all pretty basic. The character that is the fastest, acts first and it goes from there. BOF3 is never super difficult but it does feature some crazy tedious moments.
There are two particular moments in the game that make me fear replaying it from time to time. One, there's a part in the game where you have to train this nerdy kid so he can defeat a bully and win the love of a girl. There's something story related to it and it's something you have to do. It's a very gimmicky thing to do in game and the battle itself can be frustrating. This is one of the only times where you're going to have to grind as the nerd, Boyd, only gets stronger through fighting him. The other tedious part requires you to catch a fish for something you have to make late in the game. This forces you to learn HOW TO FISH, which up to this point in the game, is optional. They are very minor gripes to an overall fantastic game but they're still there. There are some later dungeons that have some hard puzzles as well and will also force you to play with the camera to see certain things, so be prepared to get somewhat upset during your 30-50 hour playthrough.
While not breaking much new ground, Breath of Fire 3 is amazing, simply because it nows it's roots. It doesn't venture too far from the norm but sometimes, that's alright. The game feature lovable characters, basic but sometimes challenging combat and some jazzy tunes. BOF3 holds such a special place in my heart as the first RPG I remember playing by myself. This was the gateway to all the various RPGs I would play in the future, like Final Fantasy X, Persona 4 and Xenoblade Chronicles. Without first falling in love with the misadventures of Ryu and his friends, I wouldn't have had the amazing times I did in Inaba. For that alone, it's my #3 favorite PS1 game.
2. Alundra - I love Legend of Zelda, which is why I love Alundra so much because it's a more darker and difficult version of the 2D top down platformer. One of my favorite things about the game is the story, which puts you in control of Alundra, a likeable boy who washes ashore to the village of Inoa, where, upon arrival, crazy things begin to happen and Alundra is thrown into the center of it all. You eventually learn that Alundra has powers to enter people's dreams, which is something that the people of Inoa have been suffering from. The story takes plenty of twists and turns from there and gets darker and darker the further you get into it. By the end, you'll basically be facing a dark god who has been plaguing the village. It's really kind of creepy how a game like this, which at the time, looked like it could be for kids ala Legend of Zelda, takes all of these crazy turns. It's welcomed but definitely watch out if you're not looking for a dark story.
The gameplay is inspired by the Zelda series and the game which is considered to be the spiritual sequel to, LandStalker. LandStalker is a great Genesis gem that features hard puzzles and the old not holding your hand flavor. Alundra is actually like that. Alundra is an adventurer and can use plenty of items in his quest. His main weapon of attack is a knife which turns to a sword. He also gets flails, bows and magic rods. Magic comes into play later in the game. Like Zelda, there are side items in the game as well such as the traditional bomb that must be used to break things! All in all, if you know what Zelda plays like, you know what Alundra plays like. The thing that sets the two series apart is the difficulty. The game is pretty easy for the first few hours but once you get further in, it's hard to conquer. Puzzles get harder and harder and then they throw the dreaded pushes ice blocks puzzle at you. This is a hardcore gamer type of game so be warned. Alundra will piss you off, it's inevitable. The dungeons get downright unfair late in the game. This is why I turned out to like Dark Souls so much in my young adult years. Alundra was killing me way before Dark Souls had the chance to.
Alundra is a fantastic game with a killer soundtrack, tight and challenging gameplay and dark story. I can't stress enough how dark the story for this game is. IT'S DARK. There's a graveyard in the game near Inoa Village. At the beginning of the game, there's 8 empty graves I believe. By the end of your journey, all of them are filled with the bodies of the villagers. One of the villagers in a little girl who gets her neck snapped by a sick priest. I can't make this stuff up people. It's twisted, no pun intended. This game made me hate sleep for awhile because people were having nightmares, having demons possess them and dying in their sleep. This was the first game that scared and still scares be a bit to this day. Alundra's gameplay is fantastic but it's the dark and twisted story that hooked me in my youth.
1. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - Were you expecting something else? Seriously, were you? I've already talked about how much I love this game. Its effect on me as a child and teenage gamer is massive and is one of the games I truly fell in love with. While Metroid essentially started this whole 2D gameplay style, I believe SOTN perfected this formula of exploration in video games. This is the start of the rise to the term Metroidvania as most every Castlevania released after this took on this style of gameplay. While Castlevania 2 tried to do this, it wasn't successful as the later entries went back to how the original was played. Metroidvania games are about one thing; exploration. In these types of games, the world is usually fully open for you to explore, that is until you get to a certain spot that you can't progress past because you don't have a certain ability. In most Castlevanias' it's the double jump ability. Actually, in MOST of these games, it's the double jump that truly opens up the game for you. These games are all about filling out maps and finding areas where you can use your acquired abilities. Got it? Good! SOTN does this formula perfectly.
When you first get control of Alucard, Dracula's son, he's super powerful. The first monster you meet is this huge werewolf, who Alucard destroys easily with one hit. As you progress, you lose your powers thanks to one of Dracula's hencemen Death. Now, you explore your father's castle all while trying to get your powers back. In these types of games, exploration is key and SOTN doesn't disappoint. While the location is one big castle, it's split up into many different areas. The areas are all different from each other. One moment you'll be exploring a haunted library then you'll be in a clock tower. All the levels look amazing. The overall gameplay is basic but fun and easy to master. You run, jump and fight your way through the castle. This game implentments RPG tactics so by killing more and more enemies, Alucard will level up, increasing his HP count and stats. There are plenty of drops in the game as well. Alucard isn't limited to just his sword, as he'll get guns, hammers and spears in the adventure. You'll be doing all this to an amazing soundtrack filled with best songs from the era. Smooth jazz in Japanese games seemed to be the thing to do in this era. Anyway, all the elements click to make for a fun adventure.
The game isn't super long, especially if you know what you're doing but there are plenty of different endings and secrets in the game. I tell this famous story all the time but when I first played SOTN, I was a child, near 8-10 years old. I went through the game, beat the last boss Ricther and stopped playing because I figured I had beaten it. Nope. Little old me didn't even know the secret to get to the 2nd castle and to get the real ending. It wasn't until I was 18 that I finally did that. It was like playing a completely different game. It may sound lazy but all they did was flip the castle upside down but it makes for double the game as there are plenty more bosses and secrets in the second castle. SOTN is a game I try to beat every year if I have time with my best time of finishing the game coming in at 3 and a half hours back in 2011 I believe. Basically, the game has a lot of replability. Also, you can play as Ricther through the ENTIRE game after you beat it so it's like old school Castlevania in a new school setting. It's pretty cool actually.
Symphony of the Night is the best game Playstation has to offer. It was the great gameplay, graphics, world and soundtrack to back it up. This is the game to start the change of 2D Castlevanias becoming action RPGs and it's not hard to see why as SOTN is an amazing game. Why not continue to do the basic formula that the game presents? It's gaming at its finest and I have plenty of good reasons to keep coming back over and over again. SOTN is one of the only games that I can do that with 18 years later. In short, it's a masterpiece that has a special place in my heart as not only my favorite PS1 game of all time but my favorite video game of all time as well.
Playstation 1 is done! Next up, Playstation 2! Be ready to read about Persona, Rogue Galaxy and MANY others. Coming soon!
I give Sega Genesis the credit for being the system that truly introduced to me what gaming was. The Playstation gets the credit as the system that hooked me on gaming. The original Playstation had such a vast variety of games on it. Many fabled gaming series had some of their most popular entries on the system while many got their start during this era. This was an era where gaming was finally going into the 3rd dimension and Playstation, although going up against heavyhitters in Sega's Saturn and Nintendo's N64, held its own and to many, including myself, outshined them. If you frequently read my blog, it should come to no surprise what the top three or four games are as I have gushed over them plenty of times throughout the years. If you don't well, you're in for a good long read!
Honorable Mentions
Lunar: Silver Star Story
Wild Arms 2
Xenogears
Final Fantasy VIII
Top Ten PS1 Games
10. The Legend of Dragoon - Legend of Dragoon was called the American Final Fantasy and for good reason. It follows a lot of what made Final Fantasy VII successful on the PS1.
In LOD, you take control of Dart, who is on a journey to kill a creature that's called The Black Monster. The Black Monster killed Dart's parents and basically destroyed the town where Dart was born. As Dart is returning to his hometown, he finds out that his childhood friend Shana has been kidnapped so he sets off to find her. The game takes many twists and turns from there and eventually Dart finds out who exactly the Black Monster is. It's an enjoyable if not cliche romp.
The battle system is what sets LOD apart and you'll see, a lot of the RPGs that will be on the list, spoiler alert, have different battle systems than what is the norm. In LOD, you attack using skills called Additions. In battle, you select the main addition you want and try to do it correctly and you do this by pressing the X button at the time the two squares line up. As you get more and more Additions, they get more hits and become harder to do. This makes every battle that you do fun and makes you not commonplace with battles by just mashing one button. Later in the game, you get to transform into Dragoons, which is basically the strongest attacks you'll have to dispatch bosses late in game. They act the same way as Additions, you have to press X in the sequence. LOD has a great battle system that keeps you wanting more.
The production qualities scream big series but unfortunately, this is just a one off game, despite Dart being considered for Playstation All-Stars. Everything screams a huge series but it just didn't get a sequel, remake or no kind of love outside this first game. It's really such a shame because this is just a great game with plenty of potential but for whatever reason, it didn't get the support needed. Maybe one day.
9. Ape Escape - Ape Escape is a simple idea done great. There are monkeys that are loose. You have to capture said monkeys. THAT'S THE GAME.
There's more to it than that actually. So, Spencer, a white monkey, decides to put on an experimental helmet and when he does, it makes his intelligence increase and turns him evil. Spencer then puts the helmets on many different apes and they are now loose. They're somehow making a time machine now and they send the main character, Spike, back into time. Armed with a net and various gadgets, Spike sets out to capture the monkeys through various points of time.
This is the first game to fully use the Dualshock controller. The now commonplace controller was a new thing in 1999 and this game FULLY used both analog sticks. One was used for movement and the other controlled the gadgets Spike gets. He can use his net to capture apes, a stun baton, a RC Car, etc. It was all new at the time and felt very unique. The level design is unique and capturing an ape always feels rewarding and worth the trouble to get the ape in the first place.
There's not much to say about this game. It's a great game to get introduced to the world of dual analog gaming. This is one series that all the games are on the same level. 2 and 3 are more of the same great platforming presented in the first, just not unique as when the first one was released. Regardless, it's still an amazing game.
8. Parasite Eve - Parasite Eve is such an interesting mash-up of genres. It's horror, action and RPG all in one. Square Enix did a fantastic job with presenting this game. This game and the next game on this list were the start of me playing more mature games in my life. I would always play cutesy JRPGs or platformers but nothing on the level of Parasite Eve or my #7 pick.
In PE, you play as Aya Brea, a rookie for the NYPD. One night, while out on a date to see a play, a tragic event occurs, which sees almost everyone in the theater spontaneously combust, except for Aya and one of the girls onstage acting in the play. Aya confronts her and she start talking about cells in the body and such and eventually transforms into a being named Eve. Aya finds out that Eve's goal is to become pregnant and give birth to what she calls The Ultimate Being so the game is about you trying to stop that from happening. There's a lot of details I left out but I don't want to spoil to much because the game's story is one of its biggest strengths.
Parasite Eve looks great, at least for 1998. The game takes place in New York, so you'll see a lot of New York attractions, such as Carnegie Hall, Central Park, The Statue of Liberty and if you play the game again after beating it, The Chrysler Building. Games really don't take you through actual places so the fact that this one does is pretty unique. The game also uses a lot of FMVs which usually depict the most disgusting scenes in the game. You'll see a rat and a dog transform into nasty creatures, all the combustion is shown and the nastiest scene in the game is shown like this as well. You come into a theater and all the people in there start to transform into this huge orange slimy blob. It was frightening as a child. I would close my eyes on cutscenes like this when my brother played it but they are some of the most amazing things about the game and showed just what the Playstation could do graphically.
Parasite Eve has one of my favorite battle systems in RPG history. I love the mix of action and turn based combat. Although this is a Square Soft game, you don't use the usual suspects found in those games, that being swords and sorcery. Well, there is some sorcery. Aya is a police officer so she uses guns and billy clubs as her main arsenal. You can upgrade the guns for improved ammo capacity, attack and range. Battles are random and will take place right in the area that you encounter them in. You attack based on the AT gauge, basic Square Soft mechanic. You can then attack. When you select attack, you'll stop and get a range that you're gun has. If the enemy is out of your range, you're free to move closer as you can move in the entire area where the battle is taking place. Once you lock onto your target, you can select how many times you want to shoot or attack it and do so. When the enemy uses big attacks, like beams or what have you, you are able to dodge them, like you would in an action game. This sets the game apart from others in the genre and always keeps you on your toes. The game has a lot of eerie music in it as well. It's some of my favorite music from the Playstation era. Just the walking around music is creepy and addictive.
Parasite Eve is an interesting combination of survival horror, action and RPG elements. And it works perfectly. While there are two other games in this series, they don't reach the original's combination of all three elements. 2 plays more like Resident Evil and 3 is just....not what I wanted at all. PE is a dead series but I will never forget the feeling of being so terrified in my youth. If they would reboot this series for the next gen, I would be eternally grateful.
7. Dino Crisis - I didn't really play Resident Evil growing up. I always saw it being played but it was too scary for 8-10 year old Marcus. My survival horror fix came from this game. Dinosaurs are less scary than zombies right? Wrong. You play as Regina, who along with her team of special ops agents, go on a mission to investigate a mysterious island facility. Things are never as they seem and the team finds out there are dinosaurs of the island. Yes, real life deadly dinosaurs. The team then try to find out what exactly is wrong with the island.
Dino Crisis is Resident Evil with dinosaurs so if you played Resident Evil, Dino Crisis should feel very familiar. The voice acting, graphics and core gameplay are all the same. That being said, you can expect the wonky camera angles as well. They were bad then and they're bad now. While dinosaurs are much more vicious than zombies, this game is still survival horror. You get the same amount of ammo and are expected to survive. The sequels are more like action romps but this one is mechanically a Resident Evil spin-off. The puzzles are difficult to grasp, you have to recover life the same way, everything about this screams Resident Evil. It's not a bad thing though.
As a person who never played Resident Evil before, this was a fresh experience different from what I was getting from other games.It featured a mature story and content I wasn't used to seeing in video games. This, along with the previous entry Parasite Eve, were my first mature games. This continued my trend of playing more mature games and my look on video games in general. This game opened my eyes to different genres and themes in gaming, even though I was only 9-10 when I played it. Dino Crisis is definitely Resident Evil meets Jurassic Park but to the young Marcus, it was his first mature game that he played through, thus earning its spot on the list.
6. Tomba! - Ah Tomba. Many games of this list are ones that I hold dear to my childhood and are responsible for why I'm the gamer I am today. I remember playing the original demo for Tomba like 50 times. I loved the first area and it was awhile before I got the main game in my hands but once I did, I tore into the game. Tomba is a fun experience that fans of 2D platformers will sure to enjoy.
In Tomba, you play AS Tomba, who is on a quest to retrieve his Grandpa's bracelet, which was stolen from him by evil Pigs. Tomba himself is a caveman like creature who doesn't talk. Instead, he jumps on people and BITES them. I can't make this up. Tomba eventually finds out that there is a gang of Evil Pigs who are stealing various items from people. Tomba decides to end the evil pigs' reign of terror by capturing them. The only way to capture them is to put them into their corresponding pig bags. Once again, can't make this up. Tomba is a lighthearted story that doesn't take itself too seriously.
Tomba is made up of events, which consists of main quests and side quests in the games. Whenever there is something that you have to do, an event pops up with a title. Upon completion of said event, you're treated to a nice little jingle and AP, which stands for ability points and are used for certain abilities and boxes you can open in the game. There are a total of 130 events but not all of them need to be completed to finish the game. The events range from finding missing people or items, completing races or just talking to people. They're all very different and add to the overall experience. The downside is that you don't get ANYTHING for doing all 130 events except the satisfaction that you did everything. The sequel changed that but in this one, nothing.
Tomba is basically a Metroidvania-esque game. In the beginning of the game, there's a body of water that you can't pass because Tomba is not able to swim. This opens up the 'I Can't Swim" event, which isn't completed until you have someone teach you how to swim later in the game. You have to remember that so you can progress further in the story. There's also various treasure chests in the game that can't be opened right away, due to Tomba not having the keys for said chests. There's 4 different types of chests with four different keys corresponding to each chest. You may see a chest early in the game that you don't have a key for just yet but there's an item in that chest that you'll need later in the game. Any time games do this, I call it Metroidvania-esque because the key to those games are getting new abilities and backtracking through the game. These are fine examples of it but aren't the only time you'll be revisiting areas.
This is a 2D platformer, with the emphasis being on jumping, running and attacking. Tomba can learn the Animal Dash in the first half hour in the game, which makes him go much faster than his normal walk. You'll be swinging from poles, climbing platforms and jumping A LOT in this game. The platforming is great in some points but horrible in others. There's one area in particular that's absolutely horrible when it comes to this and will frustrate many gamers, including myself. Be prepared for it because it's an area filled with chests and items. Tomba's main form of attack is jumping on his enemies but not in the Mario like way. Tomba will jump on them, latch onto them and has the ability to THROW them. This is his basic attack. The more you throw them each type of enemy, the more Tomba learns about each enemy, which is displayed on a gauge each time you jump on them. This becomes important during different events late in the game. He also gets different types of weapons, including a flail, a boomerang and a grapple, which is mainly used for platforming, especially in the difficult area I mentioned earlier. There's even a flail/grapple combo weapon to get but that's through an optional event.
Tomba is a fantastic, fun and colorful platformer adventure that's ONLY on Sony's Playstation. It's a throwback to the NES/Genesis/SNES platformer days. It has a lot of things to do although there is no real game reward for doing all the events. The events get harder as you progress, with the hardest being a race event that you have to get a specific time for. It's infuriating and not getting anything for it is insane. Regardless of this fact, Tomba is still an amazing adventure that shouldn't be missed. This game has a great sequel and it's fully in 3D but it doesn't capture the same feeling of the original. Both are great games that can be played on your PS3 or Vita for low prices. If you're a fan of these types of crazy platformers, I would definitely give it a try.
5. Mega Man Legends - Man, I love this game. I wasn't the hardcore fan of Mega Man that I am now but this game got me interested in the series when it released for Playstation. I love everything about this game. The graphics, the exploration, the boss fights, being able to turn Mega Man black, everything! This game is awesome!
You play as Mega Man Volnutt who along side Roll and her grandfather, are explorers who go digging in various runes for large refractors. While searching, they end up crash landing on Kattlelox Island. The game goes from there but Mega Man eventually ends up fighting pirates and discovers some of the island's secrets and even the origin of himself. It's a really solid story with some laughable voice acting. I guess it was go in 98.
Anyway, just like other Mega Man games, shooting is life in this game. In the originals, Mega Man was limited to his 2D plane but not in Legends. This is the first 3D Mega Man game as many developers were transitioning their franchises to 3D. It worked in my opinion. Mega Man can do plenty of things his 2D version couldn't. He can strafe, lock on, etc. This is essentially a 3rd person shooter and nothing is wrong with that. This version of Mega Man doesn't take his powers from fallen robot master, mainly because there are NO robot masters. His main enemies are the Reaverbots and they don't have real powers to steal. Instead, Legends has a different take on how to power up Mega Man. The game allows you to upgrade your regular buster. You can upgrade its power, range, energy and rate of fire. He can also equip side weapons, which range from cannons, blades and mines. They're all unique and have a limited supply, displayed by a gauge. To get the sub-weapons, you must explore the world and find random parts so Roll can make them. It's a pretty cool system.
Mega Man Legends is a fun side adventure for the tried and true Mega Man series. It's not too long, probably 8 hours, and it's fun playing with Mega Man in a 3D world. The production quality hasn't aged too well but the game still holds up gameplay wise. The camera will also mess you in up in the many dungeons you will explore but if you can overlook all of this, you will have a fantastic experience with Legends. It's really a shame that they cancelled 3. It was one of my sole reasons for buying a 3DS. This is another game so close to my childhood and playing this game always takes me back so I was really looking forward to a new experience basically a decade later. Legends will always be my favorite Mega Man game, simply due to the memories it provided to me as a youth. In my youth days, this was was amazing and while it may not live up to today's standards of gaming, I still love it nonetheless.
4. Final Fantasy Tactics - When it comes to genres, I'm the most picky about strategy RPGs. They just don't all click for me, for whatever reason. Shining Force clicked with me, even though I was very young. Something about how the game was go me hooked and I play it whenever I get an opportunity on my Genesis collection. Final Fantasy Tactics instantly clicked with me. Whether it was from the name Final Fantasy or the fast paced combat, I just adored this game as a youth.
The story is a political one and to this day, I still don't know the details 100%. It's a shame really, as I've played through this game and have seen it played through over a dozen times. You think I would pick some details up about it. Nope, it was way too confusing for me back in 98, it's still confusing in 2015. Some things never change. That should tell you how much I love this game. For me, story is pretty important in RPGs. It tells the reason why you're doing what you're doing. In FFT, I don't really care what I'm shooting for story wise as I'm too busy trying to play around with my party and have an absolute bomb squad.
Final Fantasy Tactics uses a job system, similar to ones found in the main entry games. Unlike those though, you don't have to progress the story and find any crystals to unlock more classes. You can get classes by leveling up the ones you have. You start with the basic of the basic. Knight, Black Mage, White Mag etc. Eventually, after leveling those up and the ones that follow, the choices get a lot of variety. You can have a Bard, a Dragoon, a Ninja etc. If you spend a lot of time leveling and grinding, you could have any class you want before the end of the first chapter. I love having the ability to class the characters my way, even if I have to grind a bit to get it. It's worth it to see my main character Ramza, equipping two swords so he can attack twice a turn but with the increased strength of a Knight, not a Ninja. It's a great system that make all battles, even the random ones, mean something. I love all the music in the game as well. The tracks really tell what kind of battle it is. If it's a serious battle or a no chance at first battle, FFT has the music for it.
Final Fantasy Tactics means a lot to my childhood. It's a game that I love replaying once in a while just so I can experiment with my party members. While I STILL don't understand everything that happened in the story, FFT is a great SRPG that Final Fantasy fans shouldn't miss. I mean, you can play as Cloud in the original and Balthier in the PSP version.
3. Breath of Fire III - Turn based JRPGs were very successful on the SNES and the Playstation continued where SNES left off. Breath of Fire was a series that started on the SNES being published by Square Soft in North America while being developed by Capcom. The 2nd entry was handled entirely by Capcom and the 3 made the jump over to the Playstation. This was an age where many RPGs followed the exact same formula and didn't try to reinvent the wheel so to speak. It's not a bad thing but for people who may play this game in the year 2015, BOF3 is VERY BASIC.
You play as Ryu in BOF3, a child who awakens in a forest with no clothes and no memories to how he got there. He is found by local trouble makers Rei and Teepo, who take him in and make him one of their own. The kids go on various missions for certain people in the village, including killing a rampaging monster to helping rob a rich man for the good of the village. That doesn't sit well with the rich man so he sends unicorns to burn down the house where they live. UNICORNS. I can't make this up. Did I forget to mention that Rei is some type of tiger cat creature? Sorry, probably should have said that. Anyway, Ryu gets separated from his friends and goes on a journey of his own, one that involves him protecting his love interest Nina and finding out about his true origins. It's a pretty generic story but it gets the job done.
IF you have ever played a turn based RPG, there will be no surprises when you play BOF3. You walk around, an exclamation point will appear over the lead character's head and you'll do turn based battle. Ryu and a couple other party members can transform. Ryu's later transformations can take the other two members as well. Ryu can morph into various forms of dragons, from a small little guy that you play as in the beginning to a huge behemoth of a creature. You cam also learn skills from enemies as they used them on you. For example, you face these acorn nut soldiers that hit you with double blow, an attack that does regular damage twice. If you examine the enemy while they use the attack on the character who used examine, you have a chance to learn that skill. Other than those unique features, it's all pretty basic. The character that is the fastest, acts first and it goes from there. BOF3 is never super difficult but it does feature some crazy tedious moments.
There are two particular moments in the game that make me fear replaying it from time to time. One, there's a part in the game where you have to train this nerdy kid so he can defeat a bully and win the love of a girl. There's something story related to it and it's something you have to do. It's a very gimmicky thing to do in game and the battle itself can be frustrating. This is one of the only times where you're going to have to grind as the nerd, Boyd, only gets stronger through fighting him. The other tedious part requires you to catch a fish for something you have to make late in the game. This forces you to learn HOW TO FISH, which up to this point in the game, is optional. They are very minor gripes to an overall fantastic game but they're still there. There are some later dungeons that have some hard puzzles as well and will also force you to play with the camera to see certain things, so be prepared to get somewhat upset during your 30-50 hour playthrough.
While not breaking much new ground, Breath of Fire 3 is amazing, simply because it nows it's roots. It doesn't venture too far from the norm but sometimes, that's alright. The game feature lovable characters, basic but sometimes challenging combat and some jazzy tunes. BOF3 holds such a special place in my heart as the first RPG I remember playing by myself. This was the gateway to all the various RPGs I would play in the future, like Final Fantasy X, Persona 4 and Xenoblade Chronicles. Without first falling in love with the misadventures of Ryu and his friends, I wouldn't have had the amazing times I did in Inaba. For that alone, it's my #3 favorite PS1 game.
2. Alundra - I love Legend of Zelda, which is why I love Alundra so much because it's a more darker and difficult version of the 2D top down platformer. One of my favorite things about the game is the story, which puts you in control of Alundra, a likeable boy who washes ashore to the village of Inoa, where, upon arrival, crazy things begin to happen and Alundra is thrown into the center of it all. You eventually learn that Alundra has powers to enter people's dreams, which is something that the people of Inoa have been suffering from. The story takes plenty of twists and turns from there and gets darker and darker the further you get into it. By the end, you'll basically be facing a dark god who has been plaguing the village. It's really kind of creepy how a game like this, which at the time, looked like it could be for kids ala Legend of Zelda, takes all of these crazy turns. It's welcomed but definitely watch out if you're not looking for a dark story.
The gameplay is inspired by the Zelda series and the game which is considered to be the spiritual sequel to, LandStalker. LandStalker is a great Genesis gem that features hard puzzles and the old not holding your hand flavor. Alundra is actually like that. Alundra is an adventurer and can use plenty of items in his quest. His main weapon of attack is a knife which turns to a sword. He also gets flails, bows and magic rods. Magic comes into play later in the game. Like Zelda, there are side items in the game as well such as the traditional bomb that must be used to break things! All in all, if you know what Zelda plays like, you know what Alundra plays like. The thing that sets the two series apart is the difficulty. The game is pretty easy for the first few hours but once you get further in, it's hard to conquer. Puzzles get harder and harder and then they throw the dreaded pushes ice blocks puzzle at you. This is a hardcore gamer type of game so be warned. Alundra will piss you off, it's inevitable. The dungeons get downright unfair late in the game. This is why I turned out to like Dark Souls so much in my young adult years. Alundra was killing me way before Dark Souls had the chance to.
Alundra is a fantastic game with a killer soundtrack, tight and challenging gameplay and dark story. I can't stress enough how dark the story for this game is. IT'S DARK. There's a graveyard in the game near Inoa Village. At the beginning of the game, there's 8 empty graves I believe. By the end of your journey, all of them are filled with the bodies of the villagers. One of the villagers in a little girl who gets her neck snapped by a sick priest. I can't make this stuff up people. It's twisted, no pun intended. This game made me hate sleep for awhile because people were having nightmares, having demons possess them and dying in their sleep. This was the first game that scared and still scares be a bit to this day. Alundra's gameplay is fantastic but it's the dark and twisted story that hooked me in my youth.
1. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - Were you expecting something else? Seriously, were you? I've already talked about how much I love this game. Its effect on me as a child and teenage gamer is massive and is one of the games I truly fell in love with. While Metroid essentially started this whole 2D gameplay style, I believe SOTN perfected this formula of exploration in video games. This is the start of the rise to the term Metroidvania as most every Castlevania released after this took on this style of gameplay. While Castlevania 2 tried to do this, it wasn't successful as the later entries went back to how the original was played. Metroidvania games are about one thing; exploration. In these types of games, the world is usually fully open for you to explore, that is until you get to a certain spot that you can't progress past because you don't have a certain ability. In most Castlevanias' it's the double jump ability. Actually, in MOST of these games, it's the double jump that truly opens up the game for you. These games are all about filling out maps and finding areas where you can use your acquired abilities. Got it? Good! SOTN does this formula perfectly.
When you first get control of Alucard, Dracula's son, he's super powerful. The first monster you meet is this huge werewolf, who Alucard destroys easily with one hit. As you progress, you lose your powers thanks to one of Dracula's hencemen Death. Now, you explore your father's castle all while trying to get your powers back. In these types of games, exploration is key and SOTN doesn't disappoint. While the location is one big castle, it's split up into many different areas. The areas are all different from each other. One moment you'll be exploring a haunted library then you'll be in a clock tower. All the levels look amazing. The overall gameplay is basic but fun and easy to master. You run, jump and fight your way through the castle. This game implentments RPG tactics so by killing more and more enemies, Alucard will level up, increasing his HP count and stats. There are plenty of drops in the game as well. Alucard isn't limited to just his sword, as he'll get guns, hammers and spears in the adventure. You'll be doing all this to an amazing soundtrack filled with best songs from the era. Smooth jazz in Japanese games seemed to be the thing to do in this era. Anyway, all the elements click to make for a fun adventure.
The game isn't super long, especially if you know what you're doing but there are plenty of different endings and secrets in the game. I tell this famous story all the time but when I first played SOTN, I was a child, near 8-10 years old. I went through the game, beat the last boss Ricther and stopped playing because I figured I had beaten it. Nope. Little old me didn't even know the secret to get to the 2nd castle and to get the real ending. It wasn't until I was 18 that I finally did that. It was like playing a completely different game. It may sound lazy but all they did was flip the castle upside down but it makes for double the game as there are plenty more bosses and secrets in the second castle. SOTN is a game I try to beat every year if I have time with my best time of finishing the game coming in at 3 and a half hours back in 2011 I believe. Basically, the game has a lot of replability. Also, you can play as Ricther through the ENTIRE game after you beat it so it's like old school Castlevania in a new school setting. It's pretty cool actually.
Symphony of the Night is the best game Playstation has to offer. It was the great gameplay, graphics, world and soundtrack to back it up. This is the game to start the change of 2D Castlevanias becoming action RPGs and it's not hard to see why as SOTN is an amazing game. Why not continue to do the basic formula that the game presents? It's gaming at its finest and I have plenty of good reasons to keep coming back over and over again. SOTN is one of the only games that I can do that with 18 years later. In short, it's a masterpiece that has a special place in my heart as not only my favorite PS1 game of all time but my favorite video game of all time as well.
Playstation 1 is done! Next up, Playstation 2! Be ready to read about Persona, Rogue Galaxy and MANY others. Coming soon!
Monday, May 4, 2015
Upcoming Blog Venture
Alright, so we got something special coming to the blog. For one post only, I'm bringing back Chatting with the Fatman! The highest rated posts that I have all come from CWTF and I'm bringing it back for a special post. The interviewee will be Rick Curci, a friend from my schooling days. Rick Curci has a channel over on Youtube where he posts videos on his impressions of the video games of today. The guy is funny and his videos are well done. He has a passion for editing and production work, which I clearly remember from our high school days. The plan is this; I'm going to interview him all about video games and such and then we'll also be doing some type of video for his channel, obviously gaming related. I want all my viewers to support Rick because he's doing what he loves on Youtube and you can clearly see that. I don't have exact dates for you guys JUST yet but it's in the works.
Here's his channel in the meantime: https://www.youtube.com/user/RickCurciCSB
Show the guy some love! He truly deserves it.
Be on the lookout guys!
Here's his channel in the meantime: https://www.youtube.com/user/RickCurciCSB
Show the guy some love! He truly deserves it.
Be on the lookout guys!
Saturday, May 2, 2015
PS4 is Life
So, it's been a solid month since I purchased a PS4 and I'm pleasantly surprised. Like I said in my Bloodborne post, I only intended to buy the system at the time for that game alone but I've found plenty of other reasons to keep playing my PS4. I've been playing mainly PS4 the whole month of April. It's so bad that I haven't even touched FF Type-0 on XBO or finally enjoy Child of Light, which was free in April for Xbox Live members. The only real time I spent with my XBO this quarter has been with Murdered Soul Suspect surprisingly. I rented it from GameFly as I originally purchased it for the 360 but never finished it. It was a short game but the story was compelling and I couldn't put it down once it had its hooks in me. Besides that though, PS4 took over during the first month of the 2nd quarter. Here's why.
Bloodborne. I've already given my thoughts on the Gothic action RPG from developed From Software. It's fantastic, it's brutal, it's the best game I've played this year. I still haven't beaten it yet but it's an amazing title filled to the brim with content. I also have other exclusives on the console in Killzone, Infamous, The Order and I rented Knack from GameFly. None have been given the time of day when it comes to Bloodborne though. It's such an amazing experience that any PS4 owner has to try.
The best thing about PS4 as a whole though has been the PSN games. There are SO MANY great gems that I've already spent well over $100 on games from the store. Games like Axiom Verge, Titan Souls, Helldivers, Velocity 2X, Jamestown+, Trine 1 and 2, and Mercenary Kings have all put a hurting on my wallet. They've all been worth it.
Titan Souls has the honor of being the first PS4 game that I finished. It's a 3 hour game people! I beat it the first day I played it as I could NOT stop playing it. It mixed the awesome boss battles of Shadow of the Colossus with the brutal difficulty of Dark Souls, all in a 2D world. The hero you play as only has one weapon, one single arrow. All the bosses in the game die from one hit, as do you so it's a race to see who will win first. Most of the time, it will be them as you have to learn each boss's patterns to beat them. Some of the bosses are easy, some are downright infuriatingly difficult. That dang bomb blob! Titan Souls only downfall is its short length. Like I said, I finished it in about 3 hours with the true ending after defeating EVERY boss. There's actually a Trophy for beating the game in under 20 minutes so this is really a game that is meant for replaying over and over again. At $15, I think it's worth the price of admission if you like tough games that demand exploration and thinking outside of the box. IF that's not you, don't play Titan Souls. Also, if you have a bad temper, stay away as well.
Jamestown+ is a scrolling shooter that has been on Steam since 2011 but it just released on PS4 in March. I haven't played a shooter like this in a LONG time. I forgot how much I truly enjoy them. In Jamestown, you go through each stage on your ship and shoot enemies. There are a variety of different ships and difficulties that you can play on. If you're a fan of those bullet hell types of games, Jamestown's higher difficulties are for you. The game forces you to get better though as you can't complete it without turning the difficulty up a notch. The last stage will test you and prepare you for what's to come if you decide to do the other challenges and such. Jamestown has a gauntlet mode, which makes you go through all the stages on 3 credits and to get the last ship, you have to do all 7 stages in a row. IN A ROW. I've gotten to level 3 each time before dying. It's tough. This is another game not meant to be played to completion and then stopped. It will take most people 2-3 hours to get to the ending but experienced bullet hell players will definitely stick around to beat the game on the highest difficulty setting, JUDGMENT. No thank you! Jamestown+ is a great old school gem that definitely feels like it belongs in the SNES era of video games. The graphics and difficulty make it seem like an old game but it's a fun and challenging experience. And it's cheap too, only setting you back $11.99 without the $2 DLC ships. It's worth it.
Axiom Verge is a Sony Metroid. I don't say that to lessen how great the game is but the inspiration of the game is very clear as soon as you start playing. AV is a Metroidvania 2D platformer. If you have ever played Metroid or the newer Castlevania games, this is for you. It has everything that makes those games so appealing and awesome. Multiple weapons, areas that can't be accessed until you get a new ability, tough boss fights, the list goes on. Out of all the PS4 games that came out for the Spring Fever sale, sans Shovel Knight, Axiom Verge is the head of the class. Like Jamestown+, it's a game that feels like it belongs to a different era and in an era that's filled with rehashed first person shooters and annualized series, it's refreshing to remember a simpler time when these types of games were king. Axiom Verge is $20, which seems to be the trend nowadays for these next gen digital only games. It's worth every penny. I haven't finished the game yet, (BLOODBORNE) but I love this game. Between this and Ori and the Blind Forest, I don't know which game did the Metroidvania style better.
The Order: 1886. Oh boy. When they first started to show the game off, I wasn't 100% on board. Yeah, the game looked fantastic but I didn't think I would be a big fan of it. I picked it up from Gamestop as it was on sale and so far, I like the experience. A lot of people have complained that the game feels on rails a lot of the time, that it gives you an amazing world to look at but doesn't exactly let you explore said world. That's very true yes but it's high production values and QTEs have won me over. I love visual novel type games. I've already talked about my love for Phoenix Wright, the Zero Escape series and Danganronpa, but this game is more on par with games like Indigo Prophecy, Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls. On par in terms of how much I enjoy the QTEs. In those games, they are basically all the game is. The Order, while also having basic cover based shooter mechanics, doesn't just rely on the QTEs. I did a sequence with one of the Lycans and the whole battle was a QTE. I quite enjoyed it because I'm so used to seeing action scenes in games played out like that. Heavy Rain is one of my favorite games from the past generation and all of the major moments in the game have you doing QTEs. Needless to say, I enjoy them so a game filled with more of them isn't a problem for me. The Order does have repetitive shooting, so much so that I find myself looking forward to the next QTE that's going to pop up because they are more exciting than the core gameplay. I think that's the problem most have with the game. For $30 though, I don't have too much to complain about. I have only played it for about 2 hours before being sucked back into Hunter's Dream but so far so good.
Buying a Playstation 4 has been the best decision I've made all year, gaming wise. Buying tickets to see NXT at the Tower Theater, which is about 5 minutes from my house was an even better decision. Anyway, the system doesn't have a lot of triple AAA exclusives but if you enjoy platformers, old school top down shooters, or games that are awesome, you owe yourself to get the system. I didn't even talk about the amazingness of Velocity 2X or Helldivers, mainly because I haven't played them but I digress. The first month of the 2nd quarter was dominated by PS4 gaming and it looks like that trend will continue. Once Life is Strange episode 3 releases, I'll go back to my Xbox but for now, PS4 is life. Also, Tales of Zestiria was listed on PS4 by a Dutch retailer!!! Is it a mistake or will I be able to play the newest Tales game on PS4 eventually?!? They announced it's coming out in the fall but you think they would announce it's coming to the PS4 by now. Maybe next month at E3? We'll see.
As E3 is next month, I'm hoping to hear about Persona 5 or more realistically, Xenoblade Chronicles X. It just released in Japan so hopefully, we should be getting it soon. Also, I'm looking for more details on the new Crackdown and whatever new IP Microsfot has planned. And Scalebound. Alright, that's it for me this time!
Bloodborne. I've already given my thoughts on the Gothic action RPG from developed From Software. It's fantastic, it's brutal, it's the best game I've played this year. I still haven't beaten it yet but it's an amazing title filled to the brim with content. I also have other exclusives on the console in Killzone, Infamous, The Order and I rented Knack from GameFly. None have been given the time of day when it comes to Bloodborne though. It's such an amazing experience that any PS4 owner has to try.
The best thing about PS4 as a whole though has been the PSN games. There are SO MANY great gems that I've already spent well over $100 on games from the store. Games like Axiom Verge, Titan Souls, Helldivers, Velocity 2X, Jamestown+, Trine 1 and 2, and Mercenary Kings have all put a hurting on my wallet. They've all been worth it.
Titan Souls has the honor of being the first PS4 game that I finished. It's a 3 hour game people! I beat it the first day I played it as I could NOT stop playing it. It mixed the awesome boss battles of Shadow of the Colossus with the brutal difficulty of Dark Souls, all in a 2D world. The hero you play as only has one weapon, one single arrow. All the bosses in the game die from one hit, as do you so it's a race to see who will win first. Most of the time, it will be them as you have to learn each boss's patterns to beat them. Some of the bosses are easy, some are downright infuriatingly difficult. That dang bomb blob! Titan Souls only downfall is its short length. Like I said, I finished it in about 3 hours with the true ending after defeating EVERY boss. There's actually a Trophy for beating the game in under 20 minutes so this is really a game that is meant for replaying over and over again. At $15, I think it's worth the price of admission if you like tough games that demand exploration and thinking outside of the box. IF that's not you, don't play Titan Souls. Also, if you have a bad temper, stay away as well.
Jamestown+ is a scrolling shooter that has been on Steam since 2011 but it just released on PS4 in March. I haven't played a shooter like this in a LONG time. I forgot how much I truly enjoy them. In Jamestown, you go through each stage on your ship and shoot enemies. There are a variety of different ships and difficulties that you can play on. If you're a fan of those bullet hell types of games, Jamestown's higher difficulties are for you. The game forces you to get better though as you can't complete it without turning the difficulty up a notch. The last stage will test you and prepare you for what's to come if you decide to do the other challenges and such. Jamestown has a gauntlet mode, which makes you go through all the stages on 3 credits and to get the last ship, you have to do all 7 stages in a row. IN A ROW. I've gotten to level 3 each time before dying. It's tough. This is another game not meant to be played to completion and then stopped. It will take most people 2-3 hours to get to the ending but experienced bullet hell players will definitely stick around to beat the game on the highest difficulty setting, JUDGMENT. No thank you! Jamestown+ is a great old school gem that definitely feels like it belongs in the SNES era of video games. The graphics and difficulty make it seem like an old game but it's a fun and challenging experience. And it's cheap too, only setting you back $11.99 without the $2 DLC ships. It's worth it.
Axiom Verge is a Sony Metroid. I don't say that to lessen how great the game is but the inspiration of the game is very clear as soon as you start playing. AV is a Metroidvania 2D platformer. If you have ever played Metroid or the newer Castlevania games, this is for you. It has everything that makes those games so appealing and awesome. Multiple weapons, areas that can't be accessed until you get a new ability, tough boss fights, the list goes on. Out of all the PS4 games that came out for the Spring Fever sale, sans Shovel Knight, Axiom Verge is the head of the class. Like Jamestown+, it's a game that feels like it belongs to a different era and in an era that's filled with rehashed first person shooters and annualized series, it's refreshing to remember a simpler time when these types of games were king. Axiom Verge is $20, which seems to be the trend nowadays for these next gen digital only games. It's worth every penny. I haven't finished the game yet, (BLOODBORNE) but I love this game. Between this and Ori and the Blind Forest, I don't know which game did the Metroidvania style better.
The Order: 1886. Oh boy. When they first started to show the game off, I wasn't 100% on board. Yeah, the game looked fantastic but I didn't think I would be a big fan of it. I picked it up from Gamestop as it was on sale and so far, I like the experience. A lot of people have complained that the game feels on rails a lot of the time, that it gives you an amazing world to look at but doesn't exactly let you explore said world. That's very true yes but it's high production values and QTEs have won me over. I love visual novel type games. I've already talked about my love for Phoenix Wright, the Zero Escape series and Danganronpa, but this game is more on par with games like Indigo Prophecy, Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls. On par in terms of how much I enjoy the QTEs. In those games, they are basically all the game is. The Order, while also having basic cover based shooter mechanics, doesn't just rely on the QTEs. I did a sequence with one of the Lycans and the whole battle was a QTE. I quite enjoyed it because I'm so used to seeing action scenes in games played out like that. Heavy Rain is one of my favorite games from the past generation and all of the major moments in the game have you doing QTEs. Needless to say, I enjoy them so a game filled with more of them isn't a problem for me. The Order does have repetitive shooting, so much so that I find myself looking forward to the next QTE that's going to pop up because they are more exciting than the core gameplay. I think that's the problem most have with the game. For $30 though, I don't have too much to complain about. I have only played it for about 2 hours before being sucked back into Hunter's Dream but so far so good.
Buying a Playstation 4 has been the best decision I've made all year, gaming wise. Buying tickets to see NXT at the Tower Theater, which is about 5 minutes from my house was an even better decision. Anyway, the system doesn't have a lot of triple AAA exclusives but if you enjoy platformers, old school top down shooters, or games that are awesome, you owe yourself to get the system. I didn't even talk about the amazingness of Velocity 2X or Helldivers, mainly because I haven't played them but I digress. The first month of the 2nd quarter was dominated by PS4 gaming and it looks like that trend will continue. Once Life is Strange episode 3 releases, I'll go back to my Xbox but for now, PS4 is life. Also, Tales of Zestiria was listed on PS4 by a Dutch retailer!!! Is it a mistake or will I be able to play the newest Tales game on PS4 eventually?!? They announced it's coming out in the fall but you think they would announce it's coming to the PS4 by now. Maybe next month at E3? We'll see.
As E3 is next month, I'm hoping to hear about Persona 5 or more realistically, Xenoblade Chronicles X. It just released in Japan so hopefully, we should be getting it soon. Also, I'm looking for more details on the new Crackdown and whatever new IP Microsfot has planned. And Scalebound. Alright, that's it for me this time!
Payback build
Now that Extreme Rules is done, we look ahead to the next filler PPV, Payback! ER and Raw set up a couple of matches for the show. We have the main event, which sees Seth Rollins defending his championship against Randy Orton and a red hot Roman Reigns. Reigns looked like a beast against the Big Show at Extreme Rules and even the usually hostile Chicago crowd had to respect the man. I think it's finally time to give him the championship and before you all cry that Rollins just won it, remember that MITB winners usually don't hold the title for long. Edge, Punk, Swagger, Del Rio and more had short reigns, with Kane and The Miz as the only two who had reigns lasting 5 months or more. I could be wrong but I have a feeling that Reigns will get the championship he should have won at Wrestlemania and Rollins and Reigns can continue their feud during the summer, somehow get Ambrose involved and have the all Shield triple threat at SummerSlam. Cena and Rusev will close out their feud with an I Quit match or better yet, a Cena Wins match. He's undefeated, beating JBL, Miz, Batista and Orton in the match. He's 4-0 in the match type. He'll be 5-0. What's life after Cena for Rusev? Does he move onto the main event scene? He'll probably enter the MITB match and he has to be one of the favorites to win it. Ziggler and Sheamus will most likely have a rematch at Payback, with ZIggler's promo on Raw even going as far as mentioning the PPV name in the promo. They have great chemistry so I'm onboard. Wyatt attacked Ryback on Raw, setting up for their feud. This is a serious downgrade for Wyatt, who I hope will make short work of Ryback and win the MITB in June. The only other big time face he hasn't feuded with is Randy Orton so hopefully a SummerSlam match between the two is in the works.
WWE has so much potential for their main event and mid card scenes. It's the most packed in recent memory. You have Rollins, Reigns, Orton and Cena all hovering around the main event. You have guys like Bryan (whenever he gets healthy), Rusev, Ambrose, Harper, King Bad News Barrett, Sheamus, Ziggler, and Neville all in the mid card. You can really start to mix and match, especially in the main event. If Reigns is champion, you have guys like Sheamus and Barrett, who have yet to face this version on Reigns on the big stage. After feuding with Cena, Rusev deserves a spot in the main title picture as well. He has the look and the record to prove to be quite a problem for Reigns, so a main event match between the two should be coming. Reigns needs to start being built up again as the man so his eventual clash with John Cena will be booked as the present vs the future. If Bryan can get back to full health, a summer feud with Neville would be spectacular. The fans are invested in Neville. He opened a lot of eyes this week, from beating Barrett at ER to getting to the finals of the KOTR tournament, he's been making his NXT brethren proud. A man who hasn't being proving that NXT works has been Bray Wyatt as of late. Wyatt is still the best at his crazy and message filled promos but he's not getting the backing from creative. He looked absolutely in the Royal Rumble this year and had the penultimate match at Wrestlemania 31 with The Undertaker before they decided to have him barely compete for the rest of the month and for him to start doing cryptic promos on a new superstar, which was Ryback. A feud between those two really only benefits Ryback who WWE is trying to push again it seems. Wyatt has already had feuds with some of the best the company has to offer so Ryback is a downgrade for him. For Ryback, Wyatt is the scapegoat he needs to push himself higher in the card. It's sad really. Like I said, I'd hold off my complete give up of Wyatt until after MITB. If he doesn't win it, I might have to look elsewhere for a favorite wrestler. I'm obviously being super dramatic but I hope he catches a break soon and not end up like Barrett, who had to wait 5 years to start to make a comeback to the main event. I hope this King of the Ring win elevates him back to the main event picture.
I'm going to the first NXT show in Philadelphia!!!!! I'm too pumped. I wish I was going back to back days but it's fine. I'm cool with just making the first ever show. I'm hoping for some alumni to stop by. I remember Cesaro facing Balor at one of the live events last month. I'll take that every day of the freaking week. Maybe Neville will come back down and grace us with his presence as well? I'm also looking forward to seeing some guys that don't usually appear on television, like some of the guys from Shoot Nation, Devin Taylor etc. It should be a fun show!
Payback is May 17th. I'll do a post similar to my Extreme Rules 2015 post when the time comes around. Until then!
WWE has so much potential for their main event and mid card scenes. It's the most packed in recent memory. You have Rollins, Reigns, Orton and Cena all hovering around the main event. You have guys like Bryan (whenever he gets healthy), Rusev, Ambrose, Harper, King Bad News Barrett, Sheamus, Ziggler, and Neville all in the mid card. You can really start to mix and match, especially in the main event. If Reigns is champion, you have guys like Sheamus and Barrett, who have yet to face this version on Reigns on the big stage. After feuding with Cena, Rusev deserves a spot in the main title picture as well. He has the look and the record to prove to be quite a problem for Reigns, so a main event match between the two should be coming. Reigns needs to start being built up again as the man so his eventual clash with John Cena will be booked as the present vs the future. If Bryan can get back to full health, a summer feud with Neville would be spectacular. The fans are invested in Neville. He opened a lot of eyes this week, from beating Barrett at ER to getting to the finals of the KOTR tournament, he's been making his NXT brethren proud. A man who hasn't being proving that NXT works has been Bray Wyatt as of late. Wyatt is still the best at his crazy and message filled promos but he's not getting the backing from creative. He looked absolutely in the Royal Rumble this year and had the penultimate match at Wrestlemania 31 with The Undertaker before they decided to have him barely compete for the rest of the month and for him to start doing cryptic promos on a new superstar, which was Ryback. A feud between those two really only benefits Ryback who WWE is trying to push again it seems. Wyatt has already had feuds with some of the best the company has to offer so Ryback is a downgrade for him. For Ryback, Wyatt is the scapegoat he needs to push himself higher in the card. It's sad really. Like I said, I'd hold off my complete give up of Wyatt until after MITB. If he doesn't win it, I might have to look elsewhere for a favorite wrestler. I'm obviously being super dramatic but I hope he catches a break soon and not end up like Barrett, who had to wait 5 years to start to make a comeback to the main event. I hope this King of the Ring win elevates him back to the main event picture.
I'm going to the first NXT show in Philadelphia!!!!! I'm too pumped. I wish I was going back to back days but it's fine. I'm cool with just making the first ever show. I'm hoping for some alumni to stop by. I remember Cesaro facing Balor at one of the live events last month. I'll take that every day of the freaking week. Maybe Neville will come back down and grace us with his presence as well? I'm also looking forward to seeing some guys that don't usually appear on television, like some of the guys from Shoot Nation, Devin Taylor etc. It should be a fun show!
Payback is May 17th. I'll do a post similar to my Extreme Rules 2015 post when the time comes around. Until then!
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