Night of Champions 2015 predictions

Another WWE event is coming. All titles are on the line and two grudge matches are on the card as well. Let's break it down.

Ziggler VS Rusev is pointless to me. I like both talents and they both deserve better than this. Hopefully, with Lana's injury, they will both go their separate ways after this. Ziggler gets the win.

The New Day face their biggest threat yet when they face the returning Dudley Boyz for the tag titles. I REALLY hope that The New Day didn't just win the titles just to lose them right away. The Dudleys in the tag division isn't a bad thing but at least let New Day get a victory over one of the most decorated tag teams in professional wrestling. I just don't see the Dudleys winning right off the back. If they're back then yes, a title reign is inevitable and much deserved but can't they wait until a little longer. You know what I want to see? The Dudleys VS Harper and Strowman in a TLC match at TLC in December. You want to talk about physical wars? That would be one! Anyway, until then, let New Day win the first match in the feud. It doesn't have to be clean, just let them win one. New Day retains, thanks to Dr. Woods.

With nothing better to do after feuding with Cena and Cesaro, Kevin Owens has been thrust right into a program with Ryback for his Intercontinental Championship. Ryback's reign has been horrible, which is not really his fault. He got injured awhile back, had to not defend it for a couple weeks and that made people forget all about the title. It didn't help that Cena was carrying the US Title around and making it the hottest title in the company, making everyone forget about the poor old IC Title. I know WWE is trying with Ryback. They see this big muscle guy they can profit off of and he's everything Vince wants in a superstar but it's clear he's not working. You know who is working? Kevin Owens. They tried to build up the US and IC Titles simultaneously. Cena did his part with the US Title but the IC Title just hasn't been blessed with the same fortune with both champions falling to injuries. I say this; how about having Owens go over Ryback at Night of Champions? Anything else would hurt Owens in the long run. Here's a guy who had three fantastic matches with Cena, had a fantastic SummerSlam debut and is now wondering around with nothing to do. Give Owens the Intercontinental Title now. Build the title up around this great star. He's got plenty of challengers in Ryback, Ziggler, Cesaro, Neville, Ambrose, etc. It could all lead to an amazing match with Daniel Bryan at Wrestlemania. I mean, can you ask for a better Wrestlemania match than that? Kevin Owens wins the IC Title, joins other great Canadians who've also won the title and finally starts to build the title back up to its rightful status. And hey, all those other Canadians who've won the title (Bret Hart, Edge, Jericho, Christian, etc) all won the IC Title FIRST before winning the WWE Title. Just saying...

Nikki Bella is the longest reigning Divas Champion in history. Yay. Thanks to John Cena, AJ's record of 295 days was recently broken. It's not surprising really. The company is very petty in records like that but it doesn't matter now. Nikki still has the giant task on Sunday of defending the title against Charlotte. Charlotte is the leader of the Four Horsewomen in my mind as she has the pedigree to back up her natural good skills. Now that the record is broken and WWE is happy, isn't it time that an actual fighting champion is crowned? Nikki broke the record without having to defend the title for two months. I want to see Divas Title matches on a regular basis. They have enough Divas to do it so make it happen. I'd give Charlotte the title and start the build to Sasha VS Charlotte at either Survivor Series or Royal Rumble. It's kind of a dream to see them face off at Wrestlemania but if they do it right, it could very well happen but it starts with this crucial win. Charlotte dethrones Nikki Bella for the title. I hope this little faction war collapses soon. It was fun at first, but there's one championship and 9 Divas. It's time for every Diva for themselves.

2/3 of the Shield VS The Wyatt Family makes me happy for two reasons. One, the feud continues through Night of Champions, which means it will probably end at the next PPV, which is Hell in a Cell, which means WWE actually has a feud WORTHY of the match type. They could either do another 6 man tag or just have Reigns/Wyatt inside the structure. I'm more for the latter but whatever, here's a feud deserving of the HIAC. The other reason being, remember when these teams last met on PPV? It was match of the year. Rollins and Harper aren't apart of it but still, it's got a chance to be something very special. The thing is though, who is Reigns and Ambrose going to team with? Orton is the likely suspect but the attack on Raw last week may mean they were just writing him off TV for awhile, hopefully to feud with Wyatt on return. Cesaro isn't doing anything and would match the hard hitting style of the Wyatts. Then, we Jericho, who hasn't been around for awhile but is still working for WWE. Kane could make a babyface comeback. Maybe Daniel Bryan has been cleared to wrestle again? There's a lot of different guys who it could be. I'm totally stumped but I'd really like it to be Cesaro. Depending on who it is will determine who wins. If Bryan or Jericho are on the team, then the good guys wins. If it's Cesaro or someone else, then The Wyatt Family wins. Regardless, I'm going with Reigns, Ambrose and their partner to win. It's gotta be a big face with all of these teasing. Don't drop the ball WWE.

Seth Rollins has to face two of the most decorated names in wrestling Sunday while worrying if Sheamus will cash in Money in the Bank. Rollins defends the US Title against John Cena and defends his WWE Title against Sting. I don't think one man should hold both titles. Cena was doing big things with the US Title. Yes, he was beating everyone as usual but he was giving guys shots and exposure. Would Owens even be on the main roster yet if Cena wasn't US Champion? Hmmmmm. If Rollins is only going to keep one title, let it be the WWE Title. He doesn't really need the US Title. If Cena does win it, I don't know who he'll feud with next. There isn't really anyone left. He's beaten mostly everyone. Rollins other challenger Sting has NEVER competed for the WWE Title. EVER. There's no way in hell he'll beat Rollins....Right?!? Rollins is really having a stellar year and I just don't see him losing both titles in one night but can he really beat BOTH John Cena and Sting in one night? Will Rollins get the Jericho bragging rights? If they do go that route, they should definitely build towards a Rollins/Jericho match in the future. Anyway, Rollins is chasing history on Sunday and I'm going with this bold prediction;

Seth Rollins, no matter how dirty his victories are, will walk out with BOTH the United States and WWE World Heavyweight Championships. No cash in attempts at Night of Champions.

I'm probably going to be SOOOO wrong but hey, let's just see how it all plays out. It's a very interesting story here as well.

There you have it, Night of Champions predictions! Will Owens start his journey to validating the IC Title? Will The New Day make the Dudley Boyz respect tables? Will 2/3 of The Shield find a partner capable of helping them stop The Wyatt Family? Will Rollins do the impossible and beat both Sting and John Cena in one night? It's going to be an interesting show alright...

Fatman's Corner Schedule

OK, so it's been a full week since starting Fatman's Corner and it's been a fun time recording some PS2 gameplay. FC will definitely be PS2 heavy right now, especially seeing how I've purchased over 30 games for the console. It's certainly not a bad thing as Sony's PS2 is one of the greatest consoles of all time but it's something I wanted everyone to be aware of. I've played four games for the channel so far, which includes T.R.A.G., Onimusha, Headhunter and Shining Force EXA. I also recorded an episode of Dead to Rights but haven't had a chance to post it yet. The video and sound is a little buggy so I'll release it once I fix it up a bit. I'll probably have to do post commentary but at this point, it doesn't really bother me.

For now, although I have many other titles that are begging to be played, I'm going to stick to these 5 games, beat these and keep it moving. I have the sequels for Headhunter, Onimusha, and Dead to Rights but I think I'll hold off on those and go to a different series after that. Shining Force is going to take awhile to get through so that's in its own category. I have a list of all the games I have and based off of that, here's how I want to break down what I'm playing for the channel for the next 6 months to a year.

Excluding Shining Force, there are four categories I'm putting the games in. It's basically an order in which game will get updated more frequently in comparison to the rest of them.

RPGs are in a separate category because of the time they consume so updates on those will happen when I have time. Those episodes will usually run long due to story elements and battles.

Here are all the games RIGHT NOW that are going to be in each category. More will be added as I buy them and will be shifted around from time to time depending on how I feel.

EDIT: 09/19/2015; I got some new games recently so I'm changing things around. I've also bumped some things out and added a couple of new categories. I'm not putting restraints on when I'll upload a certain section over another one but games are still lumped together by what the section's title is.

Section 1 - Most Wanted

Headhunter

Spy Fiction

Rygar

Headhunter Redemption

Maximo: Ghost to Glory

Section 2 - Hack n Slash

Onimusha

Seven Samurai 20XX

The Mark of Kri

Alter Echo

Onimusha 2
Nano Breaker
Musashi: Samurai Legend

Section 3 - Survival Horror

Extermination
The Thing
Cold Fear
Ghosthunter

Section 4 - Beat em Ups

Urban Reign
EOE
Rise to Honor
Viewtiful Joe
Final Fight: Streetwise*
Crimson Sea 2*
Crimson Tears*

Section 5 - Shooters
Dead to Rights
Bond 007: Everything or Nothing
Kill.Switch
Black
True Crime
Dead to Rights 2

Section 6 - Adventure
Kya: Dark Legacy
Haven
The Getaway

The Hobbit
Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy*

RPGs

Shining Force EXA

Shadow Madness

Parasite Eve

Steambot Chronicles

MS Saga

*: Don't have yet

This list is incomplete as there are many games not even featured in a category just yet. They include:

Ultimate Spider-Man (don't know if this will be solely for Fatman's Corner or Fatman & Robyn)
X-Men: Legends (again, probably Fatman and Robyn game)
Rise of the Kasai
Spider-Man (Fatman & Robyn)
Nicktoons Unite (F&R)
Nicktoons: Battle for Volcano Island (F&R)
Matrix: Path of Neo

There's a lot of games to tackle so the channel will be brimming with content. Eventually, there will be different consoles represented but for now, PS2 will be king. Blame GameStop. They had an amazing sale and restocked many of their PS2 games online so I got about 25 games for $30. Freaking steal. Continue to keep your eyes on the channel as videos will be popping up a lot this week.

Fatman & Robyn will be updated today with a NEW game. It's another beat em up based on a popular series. It will be up late tonight!

Full List of Fatman's Corner Games

Alright, now that I have somewhat of a handle on how to record videos and such, I can officially start my Let's Plays on my channel! I've been wanting to do this for years and now that I finally can, I'm not holding back. I've already bought plenty of old PS2 games to prepare and I have a great library of games for your guys to see me play.Now, I'm going to try to do my best to not play too many generic titles, like Sonic, Mario, Final Fantasy etc. I will play them one day I'm sure but I want to focus on other games that I didn't get around to playing when I was younger or games that you don't see a lot of Let's Plays from either because the game isn't too popular or that the game wasn't as well received. So, without further ado, here's the COMPLETE list of games I have and plan to play for my Let's Play series Fatman's Corner.

T.R.A.G 

Shadow Madness

Winback 1 & 2

Headhunter 1 & 2

Seven Samurai 20XX

Onimusha

Dead to Rights 1 & 2

Shining Force EXA

That's what I want to start out with as I've purchased all of those games for the sole means of me playing through them so you guys can watch. The good thing is that it didn't break my wallet either. Thanks to Amazon, I probably only payed about $5-$8 per game, some lower (Winback) some higher (Shining Force). Point being, money isn't an issue with all of this. The major issue I face is time. I work a lot and have my church duties as well so I don't have a lot of time to dedicate to playing old games. The time I do have I'd like to use to play some of the newer releases, like Mad Max, which I've only played once since I bought it last week. This list isn't complete either as these are games I've just bought for the channel. I still have other games I'd like to play through including, of course, Steambot Chronicles. YOU WILL see that game get played through. It's too amazing not to be played.

I'll find a way though. I didn't buy all of these games for nothing. I'm going to try and do three different titles at once. The three titles I want to be different genres so I can reach different audiences at once. That being said, here's the first three titles I want to tackle:

T.R.A.G.

Headhunter

Shining Force EXA

T.R.A.G has that Resident Evil bad camera old school type feel, Headhunter is an action adventure romp while SFE is the action/RPG hybrid. Typically, episodes will last 30 minutes, probably longer for the intro episodes for each game. Games like SFE and Shadow Madness will get longer episodes, simply because they are RPGs and will take longer to complete as opposed to Winback and Dead to Rights you know? 

Here's the channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/FatmanStephens

I'll provide an update schedule once I get one in place. I'd like to update once a day though once I get good. 

Oh, here's a list of games planned to be played during Fatman & Robyn. I might have to change the name of it to something else since Fatman & Robyn is taken it seems:

Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu (co-op)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (co-op)

Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks (co-op)

Spider-Man (PS1)

Raw Danger

You'll see there aren't too many games for that just yet as my wife's schedule isn't as open as mine so I don't want to fully commit to that just yet.

Continue to follow the Youtube page, my blog and my Twitter for all updates regarding the progress of all my Youtube videos.: https://twitter.com/fatmanstephens

Thanks for reading and watching! Fatman's Corner videos coming soon!

YouTube Channel

Well, it was only a matter of time. I'm proud to announce the start of my Let's Play series! I'm going to call it Fatman's Corner. On the channel, I'm going to be going through some of my favorite games and also games that I've always wanted to play but never got around to it. I hope I can clear a bit of my backlog by doing this as well. I've been buying a couple of games to get started but I'm still not 100% sure what will be the first official game that I'll start. Here's a little of games that's up for contention:

Steambot Chronicles - a PS2 action/RPG that's one of the most fun experiences I had on the system.

Seven Samurai 20XX - A hack n slash on PS2 that I never got around to playing when first released

Winback - The PS2 upgrade of the N64 original

Shadow Madness - A PS1 RPG that apparently tried to cash in on the FF7 craze.

T.R.A.G - A PS1 action/adventure in the same gameplay style of Capcom hits Resident Evil and Dino Crisis.

Of the 5, T.R.A.G is most likely going to be first, simply because it's the one I want to play through most. All but Steambot Chronicles would be blind play throughs and even SC would be partly blind as I don't really remember most of it. That's not the only series I'll be starting though...

The other series would be titled Fatman & Robyn and would feature my wife playing through various games to completion. We would also play through various titles together. The first game on the list for her is Spider-Man on PlayStation 1. These will follow:

Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu (co-op)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the FoxBox based beat em up. (co-op)

Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks (co-op)

Raw Danger because it's amazing.

I'm also thinking about having her try Blue Dragon on 360. I think that's a great introductory RPG and I'd be helping her so that's a thought.

So yeah, both Fatman's Corner and Fatman & Robyn are coming soon. FC will definitely have more updates at first simply because I can do that by myself. My wife's schedule is kind of hectic with work and school so F&R will be done whenever she has free time. The first video will DEFINITELY be done this month. I want to get the first one done before the mass amount of games are released in October.

I'll be posting the links on my Facebook and Twitter accounts. The Facebook page will be made shortly while my Twitter name is FatmanStephens. Be sure to follow this blog and my social media accounts for updates on the first videos!

Thanks for reading and thanks in advance for watching the videos! My main goal is to follow my dreams, which include making my wife a gamer like her husband and to just showcase my love of video games for the world to see. I hope you enjoy the videos to come

UPDATE: Here's the preview episode!

Adventure/Visual Novel Games

So, I've recently been playing through Lost Dimension on my Vita and it's definitely my type of game. The mix of gameplay styles, fusing a tactical RPG with a visual novel choice system makes for one of the more unique experiences in 2015. In LD, you play as Sho who along with 10 other gifted individuals, have to climb this tower to defeat The End, an entity that wants to destroy the world in a couple of days. You pick a party of 6, Sho plus 5 and do tactical RPG battles through the various fields. It's kind of like Valkyria Chronicles and Operation Darkness in that regard. To ascend to the top of the tower though, you need to kill off or excuse me, ERASE, one of your team mates to move on. This is where Lost Dimension truly shines. Aside from the first floor on your first playthrough (more on that later) every traitor is RANDOMIZED. They're never the same. The only way to figure who the traitor is is by completing main missions and getting vision points. Sho's gift is that of premonition so he can dive into the inner psyche of his team mates to determine who isn't being honest. It's pretty simple actually. After battle, you'll hear voices and any that are suspicious will stand out by red text. It's then your job to determine who exactly is the traitor. The game is fair, with there only being a maximum of three suspects per floor. If you find all three suspects on your party, you can then begin to narrow down who the traitor is from there. Like I said, it's all randomized and the party members who you like most can die out before you get to the final battle. If you don't find out who the traitor is, then you'll regret it when The End has additional backup. Now, I've beaten the game, finding all the traitors in the process, only to find out that you have to strengthen your bonds with all your characters to get the real ending, which is IMPOSSIBLE the first playthrough because the first traitor, George, is ALWAYS the traitor at first. And even then, you have to get to the fourth floor to do the character missions and get the final conversation and trophy that confirms that you have officially strengthen the bond. It's a little annoying, especially seeing how the traitors are randomized so just because you need Toya, Mana and George to survive until you get to the 4th floor so you can finish their bonds doesn't necessarily mean that the game WILL have them survive. I got lucky and was able to get to the 3rd floor with Agito, Marco and Nagi (for the 2nd playthrough) being traitors. I don't like the system for the 2nd playthrough but I want to see this ending badly. I'm pretty invested in the story and to see if The End is really the hero in all of this and how it will all come to a close. This lengthy opening is to introduce my next topic on this blog; visual novel games.

Visual novel games or adventure games have become my favorite genre during my adult years. These type of games make you feel for their characters more than any action romp can dream of. For me, I think my start into my love for this genre started with Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney. I'm the type of gamer to try anything. I read a lot of reviews on Phoenix Wright before I decided to rent it but I figured I had nothing to lose. If I didn't like it, at least I just rented it. This turned out to become my favorite series on the DS or any Nintendo portable console. Phoenix Wright is just this bumbling attorney who keeps getting these wild cases and keeps winning. The cases usually deal with murder and the last cases of each game usually tie together to the other cases in the game. My favorite case is definitely the last case in the 2nd game as it really tests Phoenix's moral choices as a lawyer. SPOILERS! So, your client does a 180 and turns into this evil villain.


Just look at that animation!

It's a great twist and really questions where Phoenix stands with the justice system. The series is amazing and was my first successful foray into the adventure/visual novel genre.

Indigo Prophecy was an amazing experience. IP or Fahrenheit as it's called internationally, was released during the PS2/Xbox/GC era. It's not really a visual novel game but more of a movie/interactive drama game. There's no hacking and slashing, no gun battles, all the gameplay is done by exploring and QTEs. It's not a bad thing as the story is very interesting. The story can take many different angles as the game is based on the player choice. You're thrown right into the decisions as the main character you control, Lucas Kane, KILLS a man in the bathroom of the diner you're eating at. It's your job to cover up the murder that you just unknowingly committed. You can mop up the blood, wash your hands or just climb out the window. Obviously, watch what you do as it will affect you in the long run. If you just leave the diner, if someone saw you sitting at the table and then you randomly disappear, well, they'll probably realize that maybe you might be the prime suspect. The game takes a very sci-fi turn deep into the game and the story does become a bit jumbled but it's a fantastic game and one of my favorite from the genre.

Quantic Dream did an even better job on the PS3 with Heavy Rain, which I've called my 3rd favorite game from the generation. They took everything with Indigo Prophecy and took it to a further level. The story is really what got me; it's an emotionally charged narrative to find a serial killer through the view points of 4 different characters. Unlike IP, it doesn't take a trip down crazy sci-fi lane so the result is an experience that's more realistic and genuine to actual human emotions. Although there's four characters, Ethan is the main character. You start with him and his happy life with his wife and two sons. On a trip to the mall, he loses in son Jason in the crowd and eventually, he winds up in traffic. Ethan dives into traffic to save him but it didn't help as Jason passes away. You then see Ethan's life after some time has passed, separated from his wife, sharing custody of his remaining son Shaun. Life is pretty bad for Ethan and gets even worse when Ethan has a blackout at a park and find Shaun is gone and have been kidnapped by the Origami Killer. Ethan's story is about the risks he's willing to take to get his son back. He goes through various trials to prove that he's a worthy father, like driving through oncoming traffic, crawling through a pipe filled with glass, going through a live electrical field, etc. I don't want to spoil the last couple but my favorite one is when you're tasked with cutting off his finger. In that moment, I fully put myself into Ethan's shoes, like I was the one whose finger was going to be cut off. It was the most tense moment I ever experienced in a game to that point and is still my favorite moment from the game. Heavy Rain is completely interactive and character's lives depend solely on the actions of the player. You could find out who the killer is and save your son or you may not find him at all. That's why I love games of this genre as many of them rely on your choices. While they are go through the same stages, the narrative of these games is center stage. I think Heavy Rain has perfected this formula for 3D based interactive games. Quantic Dream tried again on PS3 with Beyond: Two Souls but it wasn't nearly as interactive as Heavy Rain was and it left me a bit disappointed. Still, I'm eagerly awaiting on their PS4 title, whenever it releases. Heavy Rain will go down as one of my favorite titles, simply because it made me feel and forget about the world I was living in and made me live in the world they were trying to portray. I got sucked into the universe of Heavy Rain deeply and the game had a long lasting effect on me and how I judge any game like it. Seriously one of the greatest games available on the Playstation 3.

As I've said earlier, the DS is home to some fantastic adventure/visual novel esque games, like Phoenix Wright, Hotel Dusk, Trace Memory and Time Hollow but there's one on the system that stands head and shoulders over the rest. It's called 999: 9 Hours, 9 Persons 9 Doors. THIS GAME!!! I had no idea what I was getting into when I first rented this title. I just remember reading a review of the game on IGN and they gave it amazingly high marks, especially seeing how it wasn't a major AAA title. Once I started playing it, I COULD NOT put it down. It forced me to stay up and play only it. The game was that deep. I couldn't even explain the story if I could to be honest. You play as Junpei who along with 8 other people are trapped on an ocean liner and forced to play a life or death game. While 999 is mostly text, the gameplay parts come in from of the rooms you explore, which are like those popular escape the room type games online. The puzzles are never too hard but the later ones can leave you stumped if you're not fully paying attention. The narrative in this game, like most games in this genre, is the real strength and thing to behold here. 999 has a total of 6 different endings, which vary based upon what doors you enter with certain people and what decisions you've made along the way. If you want to see the best ending 999 has to offer, you actually have to get one of the bad endings first. It sounds weird but the game wraps in up SO well once you take the path to getting the true ending the 2nd playthrough. 999 is like Lost Dimension in this aspect, except 999 isn't random. I spent about 20 hours with 999, all worth it. The adventure unlike anything I'd ever experienced on the DS and is definitely a mature game just about anyone could enjoy. The game got a sequel, titled Virtue's Last Reward, which continues all the craziness and madness the first game started. Since everyone playing VLR already played 999 (probably) you would know the big plot device that 999 uses. VLR uses this for EVERYTHING. VLR has almost TOO many branching pathways, it's scary and a bit overwhelming to be honest. For reference, here's the chart of all the possible routes you can go in VLR. Spoilers if you haven't played it yet



LOOK HOW MUCH SPACE THIS THING TAKES! You can take all of these paths in your playthrough, only thing is is that you have to jump around quite a bit because there are some things you just aren't able to do on certain paths until you go onto another path to get the required item or password or whatever. The story is deep like 999 but takes it a step further than 999 did. It took me 33 hours to fully complete VLR and my mind was completely obliterated after I did. There's so many different revelations that happen throughout those 30+ hours, so much jumping from different path to different path and just story galore. It has the same escape the room puzzles that 999 did as well but once again, the story is the main focus here. There's one more sequel on the way for this fantastic series and I don't know what to expect but best believe that I will be playing through this series to the very end. I might even have to replay VLR just to refresh my memory on what is exactly going on.

I got a PS Vita for a couple of reasons. One, Persona 4 Golden. Two, the other JRPGs that I wanted to play. Three, Danganronpa. This was another game that I didn't know anything about but got crazy good reviews from everyone. Any time a smaller game gets a bigger score that I'm not expecting, I have to do my gamer's duty and check it out. Everyone was saying that it was a mix between Phoenix Wright and 999 so instantly, I knew i had to play it. And play it I did! You play as Makoto Naegi, who has been chosen to attend Hope's Peak Academy after winning a lottery and being deemed the Ultimate Lucky Student. Only the best of the best attend the school, like the Ultimate Gymnast, Ultimate Pop Sensation etc. Once Makoto gets there though, he begins to get dizzy and eventually passes out and is now in a room with the other 14 students who have been selected to go to the school as well. They find a demented little bear named Monokuma, who is holding them there against their wills and threatens death to any that break the school rules. He offers a way out; if they are able to kill another classmate and get away with it, they will graduate and be able to leave the academy. Monokuma begins to plant motives for people to start killing each once it doesn't happen right away and the game goes from there. You spend your time talking to other characters and learning about them and when a murder happens, you spend your time investigating and looking for clues for what is called a class trial; where everyone tries to figure out who did the deed of murder. The class trial is where the real meat of the gameplay comes from as you'll be taking an active role in listening and going through the affairs of the case at hand. When given the opportunity, you'll take control and have this things called 'truth bullets' which you then fire at anything that's contradictory to the statement you fired. There's a lot of different gameplay options during a trial but they all end with Makoto filling out this comic book looking thing that shows the events of the entire murder and cover-up. The trials are the best part of the game and I found myself rushing through the dialogue to reach the trials. The game is amazing and the narrative and characters are fantastic. The only thing is don't get attached too much to ANY characters as it's very likely they will wind up dead pretty soon. The sequel does more of the same and it's a series that Vita owners need to play. Next to the Zero Escape series, these are my favorite visual novel games as I made the joint of them my game of the year last year. You need to play this if you have a Vita. hands down.

2015 has been a great year for the genre, with the reintroduction of King's Quest, which was a pioneer for adventure games in the 80s. There's also a couple other great titles that were released as well.

Life is Strange is an episodic adventure game that has released four of its five parts so far in 2015. It tells the story of Max and her life attending a private academy. Max, for whatever reason, has the ability of time manipulation. She can rewind time and even travel BACK in time. These mechanics are used for gameplay options. Like many other adventure games, you travel from area to area basically just examining anything the game allows you to. Max's power comes into play when having to make decisions. Will you pull a prank on the mean girl who's been tormenting you or will you just let her be? Be careful, any decisions you make will carry throughout the ENTIRE adventure. It's similar to the way decisions affect the gameplay of the classic games that have come out of Telltale. I haven't talked about them but The Walking Dead Season 1 and 2 and The Wolf Among Us are both amazing tales and do the genre justice. Anyway, if you make one choice and didn't like the outcome, you can rewind time and make the other choice and see its outcome. You don't have an unlimited time to keep doing this though. Once you leave the area of the choice, you choice is locked in for the rest of the play through. Some tough choices include the one I've mentioned previously, snitching on the local bully who you saw carrying a gun with him in school and whether or not to pull the trigger of a local thug. One of the most nerve racking moments of this game comes from Episode 2, where Max, with her powers temporarily disabled, must talk a fellow classmate from committing suicide. This is a task that you can actually control. The game will continue no matter what happens. The only way to get her down is by investigating her life when you have the chance. Find out about her loved ones, etc. Like I said though, even if she does end up killing herself, the game will continue to trek on. The story hasn't been completed since I finished this post but the game is already one of my favorites of the year within the first four episodes. It's a caring narrative with realistic characters and well thought and meaningful choices. If you like adventure games even a little bit, I would highly recommend giving Life is Strange a try.

Until Dawn is one of the reasons I wanted a PS4. An interactive horror game where your choices and actions can cause the characters involved to live or die? Yes please! Until Dawn is still very fresh on my mind and is one of the finest experiences of 2015. Oh, SPOILERS!!!

You play as 8 friends who are coming together at a mountain lodge in remembrance of the two friends they loss the year previous. Once up at the lodge, strange things begin to happen and it becomes unclear if the friends will be able to survive the night. all of the characters are archetypes of slasher movie characters. Sam is the Final Girl type, as evident by who she's played by and the fact that she can't die until the very end of the game. Mike is the typical big man on campus, Emily the vicious queen bee, Jess the easy one, Chris the comic relief, etc. The characters are one of the shining points of Until Dawn and they all play their roles very well. Like Life is Strange, this game is all about choices, which Until Dawn uses as the Butterfly Effect. Everything you do could have an effect on what happens later. In one scene, Sam and Josh are trying to get the hot water on for the lodge. There's a bat down in the basement that Sam can pick up and move, which she can then use later when she's being chased by the Psycho. It's little things like that that make the game stand out. What also stands out is the fact that your actions will determine if all 8 friends either live or die or something in between. In my first attempt, I had 5 of the 8 friends surviving. The good, and maybe the bad, thing about UD is that it's pretty short so going back to fix a mistake that got a friend killed doesn't take too long. The game's tone is a bit unbalanced like the horror movies it's inspired by. The game starts off very campy, with all the friends being happy about spending time together after what happened the year before but after the chaos starts, it turns into a common horror romp. That's not a big issue, I just thought it was important to note as this was a problem many people seemed to have with the game. It's a horror movie, what did they expect? I love this game, simply because of the Butterfly Effect. I experienced death with 3 of the characters because of it. For example, while playing as Matt, Emily, his girlfriend, wants to go to the fire tower and call for help. If you AGREE, you can potentially mess yourself up. Once at the fire tower, you play as Emily. You get to the top and can take a flare gun, which if you give to Matt, he'll use instantly. Once the tower falls, if you're like me, you'll try to save Emily and when you realize you can't, you'll be dragged by a Wendigo and since you already fired the bullet from the flare gun, you'll have no defense from the monster slamming your head on a hook. This, is what I call, a cheap use of the Butterfly Effect. I guess I shouldn't have tried to save Emily, because if you don't, the attack doesn't even happen. Ashley died because of my own stupidity. I heard a sound and decided to investigate. I got what was coming to me. I fully deserved to die for failing at one of the common horror movie rules; never go exploring by yourself. Josh died because I failed to find a journal of his sister Hannah that tells of what exactly happened to her. Although Josh is technically saved if you find it, he himself turns into a Wendigo so what fate is really best for him; death or transformation into a monster? I've since saved all 8 friends and now look to have NO ONE survive the night. I love the fact that you can control that. Until Dawn is an amazing interactive experience that must be experienced. It fills the void on Playstation 4 that a Quantic Dream game usually fills.

I just bought Stein;Gates the other day but I haven't experience enough of it to render judgment. It seems visual novels, interactive drams, adventure game, whatever you want to call them, are making a case on why they are some of the best experiences a gamer can have. While you won't spend hours upon hours shooting down countless enemies, you will spend time with thought-provoking narratives, relate to realistic characters and in many of them, make tough decisions that can change the games entirely. If you aren't a fan of these types of games, it's time to hop on the bandwagon.