Sunday Roundup: 6/5/16

It has been a busy couple of weeks! The end of May I went back home to watch my brother get married! It was amazing, of course, and it was the first time I was back home in Indiana in almost two years! The weekend immediately after was Fanime, an anime convention here in California that we’ve gone to for the past few years. We dressed up, we bought stuff, and we had a good time. Following that we had a friend move in with us until he can find a place of his own, and now Laura’s sister is back home for a couple weeks before her job starts! Phew! Thankfully though, a visit home means a ton of new video games I can’t get here in California! Let’s break it down!

 

Blizzard’s Overwatch is Looking to Fill the Team Based Shooting Gap in My Life

The open beta is over. Hopefully you were able to get in some quality time with Blizzard’s first person shooter/squad based action game Overwatch, coming out May 24th for PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. At first glance the game seems kind of like any other team based shooter, but once you get your hands on it and play around with the different characters and classes it becomes much more than a first person shooter. I had marginal interest in the game before the beta, misjudging it as another MOBA-esque game I wouldn’t care about, but after playing the beta almost nonstop the last couple of days I don’t know if I’ll anticipate a game more in 2016 than Overwatch!

 

Sunday Roundup: 4/10/16

Hakuoki: Memories of the Shinsengumi 3DS Release Date: September 19th, 2013 Purchased at: GameStop (Sunnyvale, CA – $18) Releasing a few years back, Hakuoki is as random a JRPG one can get on the 3DS. I decided to pick up this one for a couple reasons: I needed a game to fit into a Buy 2 Get 1 Free category to maximize the potential of the free game, and two it was released awhile ago and I likely won’t see too many more of it out there. The game isn’t particularly rare, and you can still find it on sites like Amazon, but it might be a game to keep in your collection. If for nothing else, it’s supposed to be a pretty decent strategy game.

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed Wii U Release Date: November 18th, 2012 Purchased at: GameStop (Sunnyvale, CA – $18) Way back in 2012 I reviewed this game for the 3DS and was impressed by its variety in levels, characters, and quality of the racing in general. I have heard good things from a lot of people about this Wii U version (which also happens to be a console launch title!), with some people going so far as to say it’s a superior game to Mario Kart. I don’t know if I’d go that far, but I’m all for games I can play with my friends on the couch! Unfortunately though this might just be a two player co-op game. Can anyone shed some extra light on this for me?

Darksiders II: Deathinitive Edition PlayStation 4 Release Date: October 27th, 2015 Purchased at: GameStop (Sunnyvale, CA – Free) The original Darksiders happened to be one of the very first games I ever reviewed for the now defunct Inside Gaming blog of the Machinima network. I thought it was pretty great back then, but not great enough to pickup the sequel until this “Deathinitive” re-release. Granted, I have had the game on Xbox 360 for awhile now, but this is in HD! Following Death as he fights in the war between the Angels and Demons, Darksiders II takes what made the first game memorable (the Legend of Zelda-esque exploration and gameplay) and makes it all better and pretty on the PS4!

Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars Wii Release Date: March 24th, 2009 Purchased at: GameStop (Cupertino, CA – $2) A port of an old point-and-click adventure game released on the PC way back in 1996, Broken Sword has gone down as one of the more influential games of the genre. Despite this, and the countless systems this game has come out for, I feel like the game has still gone unplayed by a lot of gamers, myself included! The game is a story driven adventure centering around the Knights Templar, a terrorist attack in Paris, France, and the mysteries around those involved. It’s interesting, don’t get me wrong, but I almost feel taken aback by how old the game is I don’t want to even try it. But we’ll see; maybe I’ll be surprised by it one day!

Laters,
Jsick

 

Fallout 4’s Automatron DLC is a Good Investment for Fallout 4 Fans

The first batch of Bethesda’s open-world post-apocalyptic garbage collection simulator otherwise known as Fallout 4 is finally out. Automatron is all about robots and a bad buy known as the Mechanist who is terrorizing the Commonwealth more than the Vault Dweller you’re playing. There’s a lot of nifty little morsels of content to chew on, and seeing as this is just the first, supposedly small’ish, piece of DLC for Fallout 4, I’m hopeful the rest of the upcoming content will be just as fun and expanding as Automatron!

 

Sunday Roundup: 2/21/16

Street Fighter V PS4 Release Date: February 16th, 2016 Purchased at: Amazon (Online – $54) Several years after Street Fighter IV revitalized the community’s (and my own) interest in the fighting game genre, Capcom has officially released the next installment in the grondbreaking fighting series. Street Fighter V has been in Beta for quite some time, and that only makes me wonder why the game isn’t as polished as I had hoped. I’ve been met with frequent disconnects online, no penalty for rage quitting, and the overall lack of modes and a strange way to select your characters via online battle are holding this one back for me. Right out of the gate though, SFIV was solid but lacked a lot of content, and it took Capcom several years to get it looking perfect with Ultra. So maybe this game just needs some more time in the incubator to come out pristine!

Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright 3DS Release Date: February 19th, 2016 Purchased at: Amazon (Online – $34) Oh man, finally! The sequel to the 3DS’ excellent Fire Emblem: Awakening is here, and it comes in two packages! Birthright lets you follow the path of the Hoshido rather than the Nohr. So far from what I’ve played, it seems the Hoshido are more of the “good guys” if you could call them anything. It might be too early to decide, though. Also, I’ve hit a snag in one of the early chapters where it’s actually getting pretty tough to win! I’ll have to keep at it though. Even though I’ve lost, I’m still thinking of ways I want to try again to win, and that’s a definite good sign!

Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest 3DS Release Date: February 19th, 2016 Purchased at: Amazon (Online – $34) Since the special edition which contained both games in one cartridge sold out instantly, I decided to just pick up both copies separately. Sure, it won’t be as cool as owning that special edition, but it’ll look nice on a shelf right next to Birthright. This game has you follow the Nohr and is supposed to be a lot more difficult when compared to Birthright. Because of that I decided to wait for this one until I beat the other, but almost all outlets are saying you should definitely play both to enjoy the story fully.

Laters,
Jsick

 

The Games I’m Looking Forward to in 2016

We’re knee deep in 2016 and there are a ton of awesome games scheduled for release this year! Just like every year, I’m sure I won’t have enough time to get around to all of them, but with so many excellent choices I feel like 2016 will be another great year in video games. Gamers have been spoiled recently: there have been lots of great years of games lately. Not just a few good games here and there, but complete years of consistently great games to keep your systems hot. So let’s check out what’s coming in 2016! Here are some games I’m anticipating to play and thoroughly enjoy this year!

 

Virtual Reality Headsets and a Giant NES Controller at this year’s CES

A common trend while walking this year’s Consumer Electronics Show floor was, without a doubt, virtual reality. We largely have the success of Oculus to thank for the recent boom in VR tech, but I had to wonder what it meant for the video game industry seeing all those headsets at every booth. Alas, I was only able to demo one headset personally, but picked up some information about many others.

The one set I tried was by Razor, and it is called the Open Source Virtual Reality headset, or OSVR for short. Razor is doing something great with OSVR: instead of having a static headset with all the features already on it, the OSVR is modular. So if you want to customize the display with different eyeware or a different virtual reality hardware altogether you can do so, and the OSVR software will incorporate what you are using into the control of the game. Of course there’s some limitations on what you can do with the headset your using and the compatiable games, but it is nice having that freedom to not be tied down with one headset, like Oculus, when others are coming out and you might want to play their games too. Speaking of games, OSVR didn’t have a game to demo, but instead a 3D rendered cinema to watch with the OSVR headset. It was pretty amazing to be honest. The headset reacted well to movement, the sound was clear, and it really felt like I was slowly moving towards a city-destroying robot! Fun times!

Other VR options included headset mounts for your smartphone. These were neat in concept, but not as cool as a full blown headset for VR. Essentially, you could hook up your iPhone to the mount, place it really close to your face, put on some headphones, and use the gyroscopic sensors to simulate 3D tech movement. It’s a great approach to the VR scene, but didn’t look or feel as impressive as Oculus, Sony’s PlayStation VR, or the OSVR.

Another trend I saw was two screen VR and one screen VR. From what I experienced, having one screen was ideal for someone in my condition (I have a lazy eye, if you didn’t know, so I can’t see out of my left eye), as it most easily let me view the action on the headset. With two separate screens it was difficult for me to see the entire playing field because the headset would require both eyes to see the two screens, blend them together, and give you the 3D effect. I demoed a random booth using a headset (I forgot which one!) and played Xbox One’s Killer Instinct (my first time playing it, as well!). I couldn’t see the far right and far left of the screen because of that aforementioned issue. But if you have no eye issues, then having two screens will probably be fine for you.

Removing VR tech altogether, there wasn’t much else I saw in terms of gaming. Sony was there, and I was actually able to play the Street Fighter V beta for the first time. I picked up a controller and naturally selected Ken, but was surprised to see how different he played! Aside from the new design, his Hurricane Kick with fierce kick is redone, his reach seems different, and in general he just plays differently from his Street Fighter IV days. Regardless, I’m even more excited to pick up the game when it releases. There was a line behind me to play, so I couldn’t get around to playing anybody else. I want to try out Necali and Laura, two new characters for the series!

Sony also had the new Ratchet & Clank on display. I didn’t get a chance to play it personally, but watching the game in action was gorgeous. I really love a game with tons of color and an imaginative world, and though Ratchet & Clank can be dark and brooding, it still looks great. With an upcoming April release date I’m hoping the game is a worthy entry in the series and not just a movie tie-in cash-in.

Not at the Sony booth but still using a PS4, I demoed PS Now once again. The entire concept of PS Now is great, but I just don’t like the pricing. I played Street Fighter IV on PS Now and didn’t see any lag at all. The show’s Wi-Fi could (and probably was) have been outstanding and that affected the gameplay lag, so I took that with some hesitation. And that price point, ugh!

Lastly, I stopped by a booth that really just sells video gaming cables, controllers, and swag, and they happened to have a gigantic NES controller running the original Super Mario Bros on a big screen. Naturally I jumped right in, took the warp pipe in World 1-2, warped to World 4, got to level 4-2 before dying, all before turning around and seeing a sizable crowd of jolly nerds watching me! It was like the good ol’ days of the arcade, only in a convention center with a console game and a comically large controller! It’s like the same thing!

This year’s CES was great, but I felt a sort of familiarity with everything present. Virtual reality, at this point, is nothing new, neither is streaming games, huge TVs, or novelty video game controllers. That being said CES is hardly a video game convention. It’s a tech convention, and video games happen to be featured in one small corner of a one big hall, and part of an even bigger convention. Still though, with each new CES I’ll be sure to check out the video game tech. Who knows, perhaps next year there will be something even more amazing!

Happy New Year,
Jsick

 

Top Ten Games of 2015

The year that was 2015 is coming to an end, and as we tend to do as a community, let’s take a look back at the games that made the year memorable. There were some awesome indie releases, some great first party titles, and even some out of nowhere hits for just about every console out there. Instead of counting down the highest rated games across the board, here at SlickGaming I’m only looking at the games I actually played in 2015. Sorry Xbox One fans, you won’t see anything on this list. That being said, there were actually a great many awesome games released this year, and it was pretty challenging to narrow it down to just ten! Let’s get this grand spectacle started!

 

Some Thoughts on Fallout 4

As the entire gaming world knows, Fallout 4 released this week. And I, like the entire gaming world, am currently engrossed in the wasteland that is the Boson Commonwealth. As a die hard Fallout fan (and I mean diehard, I’ve played every Fallout game, including Tactics and Brotherhood of Steel) I had high expectations for this newest installment. While my first handful of hours with the game have been immensely entertaining, there are some differences and changes between Fallout 3 and Fallout 4, some good and some bad. Here’s a quick rundown of my thoughts on the game so far.

Perks are redone and the game is way better because of it

In past Fallouts, leveling up meant you could spend a few skill points to increase skills like lockpicking, small gun efficiency, and sneaking. Every few levels you would also get a new perk, which were like abilities in other RPGs. Perks were character enhancements like permanent increases to weapon damage, the ability to drink irradiated water and not suffer as negative an effect, and so on. In Fallout 4 however, this system has been redone completely. As you level up, you get 1 point to assign to a perk to unlock it or increase its rank. Perks include the old ones like Iron Stomach and Bloody Mess in their classic form, but there are also new perks that take place of the old skills. For example, if you want to hack a computer you need to take the hacking perk, and if you want to hack advanced or expert consoles, you’ll need to take the advanced or expert hacking rank as well. It means you don’t get bogged down with spending skill points as well as perk points, and instead can totally shape your character as you see fit. It’s limiting at first, but you’ll love the freedom later. Also, there’s no level cap, so you won’t have to worry about spending your last precious point on something you might not want! You can have it all!

Customization is crazy and changes everything

There’s also been customization in Fallout games, but in Fallout 4 it’s pretty much the main aspect. You can upgrade and customize your weapons, armor, and even the settlements you discover. The amount of modifications is kind of overwhelming, and not making it any better are the resources you need to do so. You remember all those useless coffee mugs and screwdrivers in Fallout 3? Well, they’re not so useless anymore as they provide you with the necessary components to build and craft those mods. I found myself picking up all kinds of random shit because I needed it to build a new stock for my gun. It’s a lot to get used to right off the bat, but using the game’s tag feature will help you find what you really need and weed through the junk.

Ammo is scarce but enemies are squishy(-ish)

Ammunition is harder to come by it seems, and even after taking the scavenger perk I still seem to have a hard time getting a comfortable amount of the ammo I really want. This might change as I continue exploring, but it does seem ammo isn’t as plentiful as in Fallout 3 and New Vegas. That being said, enemies are relatively easy to take down. A well placed sneak attack or close-range shotgun blast has been my savior for many a fight. Also, melee weapons are incredibly fun and useful again. I’m just sad I haven’t come across a Power Fist yet. Here’s hoping it’ll be soon!

The story doesn’t have the same appeal as Fallout 1, 2, 3

With the exception of New Vegas, which I thought was an alright story but not incredible, the Fallout franchise has always had a strong story element. The first Fallout gave us a great story driven RPG with a lot of humor and dark themes, and the more recent Fallout 3 laid it on thick with your disappearing dad and teenage bullies right off the bat. But in Fallout 4 it just seems like I’m looking for my wife’s executioner and kidnapper of my son. Sure, those are as cliche as cliche can get, but they are good starting points for something better. I just haven’t seen it yet. I feel like I’m this careless father who’s just running around killing people and taking drugs. Hmm, maybe it’s better I never find them then…

I’m glad Power Armor has been reworked

A staple of the series, Power Armor has always (and still remains) the best armor you can wear in the game. But instead of making it so once you find a set you never wear anything else, unless you find a more unique version of said Power Armor, you can only use Power Armor for a limited time. This is accomplished by the introduction of fusion cores: they are the power supply for your Power Armor. There’s a limited number of them in the game, but so far they’ve been uncommon and not rare. But, this means you’re not going to just run around in your Power Armor and instead you’ll need a viable suit of “regular” armor to get through your exploration. It’s nice, and it really makes the visually creative and exciting armors in the game way more appealing and likely to be used. Good on you, Bethesda, for fixing something I didn’t know I wanted fixed!

This is still a Fallout game despite the changes

No matter how you slice it, Fallout 4 is still a great Fallout game. I think some changes have been for the worse, but time will tell if that’s just my initial love for the old, or if it’s actually a turn for the worse. But the good outweighs the bad. And if you’re a Fallout fan you’ll love Fallout 4. I think the game doesn’t lose what it means to be a game: you can carry absurd amounts of items, you can stop combat just to look at your equipment and even drop some, you can pretty much do whatever you want, and there is no repercussion for just wandering around and exploring (in fact, it’s usually rewarded!). That’s always why I’ve loved the Fallout games: you can do crazy things the game doesn’t expect you to do, but totally allows you to do. Want to lockpick a door and bypass the entire section and get the rewards? Sure, you can do that. What about equipping a dress and a pool cue and wrecking havoc on the next raider group you see? Why not? And you can do it all however you want, at your own pace, and without fear of the game yelling at you for doing it.

Fallout 4, you’ve been great so far, and I hope you can keep it up while I explore the rest of the Wasteland!

Laters,
Jsick

 

Skylanders Trap Team is the Best Way to Play with Toys in Video Games

By now the formula for a Skylanders game shouldn’t surprise anyone: you purchase/use toys in the real world to use the digital version in the game world. Gameplay is your standard action RPG blend of combat, level progression, light puzzles, and boss battles capping off each stage and world. I was pretty happy with the very first game, but thought after Giants came out the following year that the fad was done. Surprisingly, Swap Force released and it was somehow the best game in the series. Well surely after three games Activision and Toys For Bob have put all they could into the game and couldn’t possibly make it any better, right? Hmmm…