Earthbound and Dune 18.03.17

Night in the Woods distracted me momentarily from the launch of the Nintendo Switch a few weeks back and now I've had almost two weeks with this curious little console I thought I'd write my impressions. 

The good news is that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch) is as wonderful as all the impressions I'd read made it out to be. From the awakening scene where Link is presented with a sandbox of things to fight, climb, swim around and eat almost instantly the game then repeats this trick after about an hour of messing about and presents a much larger, almost overwhelming area to wander in. I've heard the go anywhere/do anything pitch numerous times attached to games and this is a rare occasion where it rings true and I did just this. The straightforward nature of the first task "Defeat Ganon" offered little direction but was a tantalising goal. There are a few conventional markers to follow but I was quick to get lost in the massive world. I walked the coastline for a good few hours, building ice stepping stones out to areas I was really underprepared for and quickly returning to the shore. Taking in all the time the amount of variety in the creatures, enemies and plants. When I decided to venture inland again I was in a lush jungle like place, as I ascended the cliff to enter this new world I heard the screams of a pair of truffle hunters being attacked by Moblins, the worlds intricate building feels lived in and almost unlike any other game i've played. There are things I'm seeing like a giant dragon looping the horizon at times which are mysterious and I can't wait to find out more about. The amazing thing being that I'm not being gated, I could just spent hours chasing beasts or sailing a makeshift raft. I did in the end follow the path I was being led down, which leads to the Zora domain, beforehand though there is a great approach which at first seemed to be too hard, the enemies swarming and much stronger than me. Through the language of the game though by the end of this section I was more understanding of the combat systems and weaponry in the game and much better at dealing with enemies. I've now completed the first traditional dungeon, which was a little underwhelming compared to other Zelda games. The blow of this softened by the fact the world is filled with shrines, which act as mini dungeons so it doesn't feel lacking. The main dungeon leads, as ever, to a boss fight which was great and once this was over I was given some cool new items then thrown into the world again.

It's a real wow factor of the new console being able to play a sprawling game like this on a train or at home. It wasn't until I played it on a commute that I really got what makes this machine so special. Somehow Breath of the Wild feels right in short bursts as well, aided by the fact I can save anywhere. Chalking off a dungeon in the 30minutes i'm on a train, or just getting a few steps closer to whatever goal I've set myself. I'm sure I'll be playing this game for a long time.

1-2 Switch acts as a demo of a lot of the new features of the controllers and while I like some of the mini games, like the Ball Count, Liar Dice and Safe Cracking (anything which utilises the HD Rumble really) others feel like an unwanted throwback to bad Wii mini games, a lot of blind waggling. Snipperclips is a much better demo of what the console can be and the accessibility of have a pair of controllers ready to snap off at any time and play multiplayer. Some of the puzzles are delightful, especially the variations on basketball.

Finally Super Bomberman R is a strange throwback to a game I really like. Multiplayer it adds nothing to the traditional Bomberman experience, and thats great. Again its a great proof of concept of a machine which allows multiplayer anywhere (I imagine when Mario Kart releases this crown will be taken). The single player campaign is a bit of a different story, It's got well acted cutscenes which are nicely put together but the actual game is a bit of a mess, its hard to see whats going on and when an enemy kills me (which happens a lot) there isn't too much of an impact, its all feels a bit airy. I might put some more time into it once I'm done with Zelda and I'm certainly pleased the game exists.

So thats about it really, I think the Switch is a curious little console. It looks nice, really quick to use and what I thought looked gimmicky about it, playing games on the screen and on the go and the tiny controllers which snap off, are actually great features. Its also really cool the rather small number of games out on it has been bulked up with a load of Neo Geo titles. Once there are more games in place and Nintendo announce whats going on with the Virtual Console I think that it could be a fantastic machine.

Earthbound and Dune 08.03.17

NIght in the Woods (PS4) was a game I've been anticipating for a few years now. Images I'd seen of the game in development showed an art style which was right up my street and as gameplay footage started to come out I got more excited for it. I played a bit of Lost Constellation, a free demo of sorts which was a precursor to the game itself and this tempered my excitement a bit. It looked lovely but I wasn't blown away with the game itself. With my expectations lowered though I was absolutely blown away with what a strong game that Night in the Woods is. A bit of context straight off the bat, I tend to read books that deal with a lot of talking and the mundane nature of suburban America, authors like Jonathan Franzen and Paul Auster. This game takes on a lot of these issues and is brave enough to have a protagonist (Mae) who is honest in her creation. She's unlikeable a lot of the time, her actions seemingly selfish. Especially toward her parents, who like every character in the game perfectly balance humour and a serious tone. There was one scene between mother and daughter late on which was particularly harrowing when a few revelations came out. I stepped back from the game an realised than it had subtly building to this moment, as I'd been messing around hanging out with my old school friends and making mischief there was a bigger, sadder story being told and it was right in front of me. To go back to what the game is, it's a platformer with a lot of dialogue, interspersed with some choices but the bigger choice is what you do each day. Or more specifically who you hang out with each day out of the small group of characters Mae calls friends. This choice is all the harder as each of this small group again are written so wonderfully. I tried to balance things out between Gregg (a rebellious fox) Bea (a goth alligator) and less time with Angus (a quiet bear, who's also Gregg's boyfriend). The things done vary from smashing up lightbulbs, building robots and hacking water fountains. The game gates the story in such a way that I could only hang out with one character each day so the idea that another play-through would give me another bunch of dialogue and stuff to do is really enticing. Things move along toward a few key moments where the story reveals more, leading to a few set pieces I assume have to be completed, an embarrassing party and an alternative to Halloween. These moments reminded me how fragile all the characters are, I took such care picking the lines for the Halloween play, not because I wanted a high score or an achievement but because it actually seemed to mean something to Bea. Her story was the most harrowing to me, and the revelation of the life she's leading toward the end was especially painful but then in a moment of genius this is broken up with joyful little dancing mini game (along with even more charming dialogue).

 

The other element of the game is a lot of the nights, would at bedtime lead to a dream sequence which was a bit more surreal. This was when the game is most stylish, beautifully combining illustration, lighting an music. A few of these moments went on a bit too long for me but the issue I tended to have was that I wanted to return to the next day and see where the game would take me next (in the confines of a small town). The meaning of these sequences became apparent as the game wore on but weren't too forced. The games deal with a lot of big issues, death, cancer, suburban decay, depression, the economy, god and it never feels pretentious or preachy. The choice of designing the game like a Richard Scarry book gone wrong is key to this, had the game presented a lot of these subject matters through a more realistic eye it may well have fallen short. Everything builds toward a conclusion, a mystery runs throughout the game and I was concerned that it would suddenly be forced to the forefront of everything I was doing. The conclusion of it though was satisfying and had the slightest hint of The Wicker Man which is always going to be good in my book.

 

By the end of the game I knew everything I wanted to know about Mae and could understand every one of her decisions, however harsh they seemed. I was worried as I always am that it wouldn't nail the ending, that it would go on a beat too long and wrap up one issue that I felt should be left unspoken, possibly the biggest in the game. I needn't worry though because like everything in this game its timed to perfection and left me feeling like everything will be okay. Maybe.

Earthbound and Dune 27.02.17

The Order:1886 (PS4) I've played through the majority of this game this week. With a new Zelda game on the horizon I wanted something not too time consuming and simple enough to get into and it met both these requirements. It's very much like a Gears of War game, in gameplay and in terms of technical achievement, I remember the first time I played Gears of War and thinking that it really did look like a new generation of game, while this game isn't as great a leap it still uses some nifty tricks (like a slight letterbox to the picture and gating where I could go quite severely) to make it look very nice. The premise of the game is the knights of old have hung around to shoot werewolves in London, leading to some lovely looking environments. Such as lavish houses, old hospitals and underground stations. Traversing the environment is cool, and while I felt I was being pushed down corridors most of the time its still nice how the game ties together winding streets and old houses. Moments where I was jumping out of windows or climbing along walls were highlights. The game gets a bit more imaginative with its weaponry, instead of sticking to technology of the time guns are spruced up and a lot of fun to play around with. My personal favourite was the concrete gun (or whatever its called) which blasts a cloud of dust at enemies and then with the other trigger the dust is ignited to create an explosion. There are a couple of novel weapons like this, indeed I thought the game really hit its stride when I was introduced the "Q" type character at my headquarters. At times it uses other forgotten parts of the Playstation 4, like tapping out morse code on the touchpad which was a nice little gimmick. The plot is fairly basic but moves at such a pace that its kept me interested and after a pretty dull first boss battle, which involves repeating the same trick a few too many times the other encounters with werewolves are a lot more tense affairs which mix up the more basic QTE's with an element of skill. Overall I like the game quite a bit, by being a more refined and shorter experience it was perfect for what I was looking for.

If they can condense this duel screen nonsense to a single screen

for the Switch i'll be there day one.

I also indulged in a farewell of sorts to my 3DS, with the Switch inbound hopefully that will be my handheld console for commuting so I played a bit of Super Mario Land, I say a bit I completed it three times. The virtual console has presented me with the shocking revelation that Super Mario Land is a very short and very odd Mario game. Few enemies are familiar and even the ones that are now blow up instead of abandoning they're shells. Beyond the Goomba's and Koopa's that are now explosive, theres weird flying mice, easter island heads and zombie humans that jump about. The setting or location of this land is hard to pin down, it could be earth I guess. Theres certainly more elements of our planet I recognise than the Mushroom Kingdom. Its such a brief little game that i've got no issue at all playing it a couple of times in a day, I can get it done in about the fifty minutes or so it takes me to get home. Finally I think I like the 1-1 theme music more than the standard Mario tune. I also returned to my stable of poorly named horses to play a bit of Pocket Card Jockey once more. Time has been kind to this game, it's still exceptional, time had also been kind to my young horse Red Rum 2. Such a fine young filly that she got me to bits of the game I didn't know existed, I now have a rival who was pretty impressed with my ride, and flew a few insults at me. Basically this horse wouldn't stop winning races, incredibly lucky and was winning me so much money I could be frivolous in the shop, buying gloves and carrots to keep the winning run going. It all came crashing down though when she went into mature mode. Once she'd passed her peak of three years old she was pretty much useless. I might put her out to stud now or whatever you do with a really good horse. I really, really hope that games like this find there way onto the Switch eventually, its such a fun and unexpected game. 

Earthbound and Dune 21.02.17

This is my life again. For now.

I knew, like with any addiction it wouldn't take much to get me using again, and the introduction of over 80 new Pokemon in Pokemon Go (iOs) made me feel dirty, used and not as satisfied as the first time I experienced the game. There was a initial hit when I woke up and saw shadows of four new creatures all within walking distance and my first encounter was with the utterly adorable Hoothoot (yep, pretty much just an Owl). What I soon found was that the most consistent thing about this update is how much nicer generation two of Pokemon look compared to the first batch. Some are lazy, the aforementioned Hoothoot or Ledyba (a ladybird) aren't he most original but they all look so much nicer. If I was being cynical I'd suggest that by the time this batch of creatures came out the Pokemon Company may have realised the millions to be made out of soft toys and keychains but for now its nice to have a variation on the Raata's and Pidgey's that still litter the world. My biggest regret beyond the fact i'm playing this game still, I never got the Hitmonlee or Tangela to complete my generation one and that looks less likely with all the new monsters popping up. There are things I really didn't miss about playing this game also, like looking like a moron standing outside Cannon Street Station at 6am trying to catch a Noctowl before I jump on the tube or the fact my battery is depleted after a 90 minute commute. Changes for the better have happened to the game, it now doesn't dim the audio of music or podcasts while playing, so the game can take its place as a secondary task once again, there are more ways to customise my avatars look and not all cost real world money which is nice. Also new items from Pokestops such as purple bananas and rarer items to evolve Pokemon have been added and refreshingly it continues to avoid the trappings of a free to play game and there is no option just to flat out buy these items.

This additional content is essential for this seven month old game to continue to be played and relevant, I'm not too sure how long I'll play it now I've returned, almost certainly it won't be as long as those balmy days of generation one. While I'm also a massive fan of this new batch of monsters, i'm not sure its going to be the sweeping success it was this time round, most people would be able to identify a Pikachu or Charizard and I can't see the Piloswines and Woopers of the world appealing to the masses, however cute they are. The sad truth is though I'm still an addict and once the shine of these 80 new creatures wears off all it will take for me to bounce back in is the offer of a couple of new monsters, which for the time being they have plenty of.

Continuing on the seedy theme I played a bit more of Yakuza 0 (PS4) as well. After finishing up on The Last Guardian last week I wasn't looking for too much story stuff so instead I wandered the streets for a good while, enjoying the random fights an tasks that pop up at a regular pace. The fighting continues to be great fun, balancing its ernest tone with stupidity, whacking people with Pachinko signs never grows old. I've gone down the path of upgrading and got a flying kick which fails to connect more often than not, but the animation of failing to hit the target is also really amusing. Side activities are really varied in both content and quality, I can't see myself returning to the toy car racing any time soon and the watch a girl in a bikini take a bath videos are a real low point of the game, it really doesn't need to lower itself to the BMXXX audience and even taking it for what it is, its not erotic. Other side activities are wonderful, I happened upon a nightclub in the middle of the day, and upon speaking to the DJ a dancing mini game starts, which is as much fun as the Karaoke game I played earlier, again this lack of seriousness is where the game shines. Along with this just the density of what to do in the streets is great, attempting to track down a students girlfriend (who he is accusing of prostitution with little evidence) I stumbled across baseball batting cages which again had a fun little mini game inside. I've yet to find the students girlfriend, i'm in no hurry as I don't think she's in any danger and he struck me as a bit of an idiot.

 

Earthbound and Dune 16.02.17

Not a Hero (PS4) Played quite a bit of this fun little 2D shooter this week. From the makers of Olli Olli (and its sequel) its quite a drastic departure in terms of subject but in terms of look and gameplay in places theres similarities. The setup from the game is to aide a character called BunnyLord rise to political power through shooting, stealing and turning on billboards. The levels are small and set up a main objective at the start with bonuses for completing other things, such as getting to the end of the level without being shot a number of times or completing it under a set time. There is where the challenge tends to lie, and I found it fun to attempt these, especially when they were more obscure things like stealing a hidden item or meeting with some news reporters before a timer ran out. It took me a bit of time to get to grips with the controls, even though they are fairly simplistic. Ducking behind cover is essential to succeeding in the game as most of the enemies do the same and reloading isn't automatic which has taken me some time to get to grips with, using cover or breaks in the frantic shootouts to do this is really important and health regenerates in this downtime too. It's a very British affair, the first two characters unlocked have been Scottish and Welsh and played a bit to these stereotypes, hopefully as I unlock more there will be a bit more depth to the humour. Beyond a new accent I've not really seen the appeal of playing as the new characters i've unlocked, the cockney dude I've started as is balanced enough that he seems the easiest way to get through the game. Broforce is a game that springs to mind when I'm playing this mostly aesthetically, I don't think this comparison is helping at the moment as in Broforce I loved the anticipation of a new character unlocking as well as the humour. Not a Hero seems like it might be the better game though and i'm looking forward to playing more of it.

What has been more of a chore though has been finishing the last few hours of The Last Guardian (PS4). I don't think I've ever played a game that can be so varied in quality, and this is consistent throughout. After an impressive and tense boss fight near the end and helping Trico recover with one of the more interesting collecting barrels bits of the game the game then moved me across impressive vistas atop of Trico, it was almost a highlights reel of the game so far, jumping up buildings and darting up staircases as we ascended to the top of the games world. I forgave Trico's lack of compliance to my orders and waited it out as he saw where to go and when to take run ups for his leaps. When we reached our goal, a gleaming white tower which has been on the horizon for the entire game, it then descended to everything thats bad about this game. Waves of enemies attacked us, and combat is at best easy and at worst completely random in this game. Trico will pretty much trash any enemy with ease, so its more a case of waiting it out on his back until an enemy type he cant do anything about appear and then either attempting to shoot them with the shield. A pretty much fruitless task when your on his back because the button prompt to shoot is the same as to stroke Trico, so instead of laying waste to the bad guys I tended to give Trico a reassuring pat on the back. Using the sheild as a weapon on the ground is pointless 9 times out of 10 as it takes way to long to charge and I got picked up by an enemy, which then becomes a frustrating button mash to escape they're grip. The best tactic therefore I found to be rolling into this last wave of enemy type and rely on chance, a small window of time before they pick up the weapon Trico hates so much again where Trico can stamp on them. Once getting through this I was presented with a coliseum like room, daunting because it seemed like the place where waves of enemies would attack me but surely so soon after completing a section which does just this it wouldn't repeat the trick (especially as its the least fun thing the game does) but nope, waves of enemies attacked me an Trico, I waited until the last wave and repeated my rolling trick to finish them off. Its just not fun. Then the game did something completely unexpected, it found a task even less fun, removing Trico from a combat section, where I ran around in circles escaping the grip of enemies (by button mashing) pressing a stupid amount of buttons. Once I got through these tasks the game reached its conclusion, the final sequence is fantastic. A genuinely fun puzzle, followed by some harrowing moments and a satisfying finale while also presenting a glorious reminder of the hours i've put into the game. 

Throughout the game there is an emphasis on stubborn mechanics, whether it be a creature that barely responds to me, combat which is complete luck or puzzles which are roadblocked by chance. I do really like the game and am really pleased to have played through it but its certainly something which I'd rather have been removed from the gameplay more often. 

Stockton never really pulled his weight in this game. In fact I

blame him for the result.

I played a truely heartbreaking but epic game of NBA Jam (Megadrive) in my shed this week. It played out like this, the first quarter was the standard see-saw of points as I got used to playing the game again and what the buttons are, it seemed a bit odd that the turbo button is mapped to the B button, but once I got round this I managed to end the first quarter level with my opponents.  My computer AI teammate was offering no support, and as I started to build up a lead in the second half all he seemed to be doing was holding me back with his misplaced passes and ambitious shots. I was on fire and he was blasting water at me. Half time came around and the reason for our slender lead was my partners input, we led 18-17 and he'd supplied a paltry 2points to our score. The half time show was underwhelming and the third quarter saw me build up a more healthy lead. I gave up on passing the ball and by the end of the third I was 12 points ahead 33-21. I don't know if fatigue is factored into the game, but the weight of carrying our duo for three quarters of a match strained and came tumbling down as the game reached its conclusion. I could only watch as my opponents caught my lead and then ran of into the distance with the game, basketball on fire. They won the match 47-35 and I was cursing AI.

I finally got round to playing something more contemporary this week, a game set in the 1980s and part of a 12 year old series, Yakuza 0 (PS4). New to the series though I was immediately into the aesthetic and tone, which balances overly serious gangster stuff with stupidity really well. One moment theres a serious story about real estate going on the next I'm bashing skulls with bins. The initial appeal of the game to me was the idea of playing old Sega titles in the arcades and messing about in the world, now I'm (albeit not far) getting into the game the combat is the most fun element. Its a slight button mashing affair, being able to switch between a strong or speedy style on the fly but all the combat feels weighty and fun. Whenever a goon is taken down theres a satisfying chuck of money thrown at the screen emphasised by an even more satisfying sound effect. The few actual missions I've done have been nice little detours into buildings where I fight through waves of enemies, not allowing progress until the floor or room is cleared. To me it feels like the natural progression of Streets of Rage and thats not a bad thing. Side quests and activities open to me are almost overwhelming. Introduced with a bit of Karaoke in a dive bar, after selecting one of a few songs its then onto short rhythm game which defines how well the song is sung. I returned to this mini game later and instead found myself singing along and clapping to a young lady as she sang a song, I'm struggling to decide on which version of the mini game I preferred, they both had there merits and ultimately were as silly as each other. Other things to do, such as darts and pool are cool options. I'm not sure about leering over women in the gentlemen's clubs, in something i've not partaken in yet and don't imagine I will unless the story forces me to. I've tried a couple of claw games to win toys to now avail and found Space Harrier and Outrun in arcades, which are pretty decent ports of the arcade games and a cool addition. Beyond all of these activities side quests pop up regularly, normally involving beating up some people extorting money. Theres one dude I've bumped into though who's f**king massive and strong to boot. He beat me up with ease, which was refreshing because at this early point most people are pretty easy to take down. Once he did beat me up though he offered the challenge of fighting up again if I see him about to retake the money he's stolen from me, this is a cool little task which I'll take up when I feel more prepared.  

The game suffers a bit from feeling dated with some of its UI, saving is restricted to phone boxes for starters and autosaving is restricted to the conclusion of story chapters (I think). This was a bit frustrating after the lengthy opening of the game which doesn't have a save prompt, I was cautious to check that it had saved after about an hour of playing it and was surprised to find it hadn't. The game itself takes no time at all to load and feels smooth moving between areas, so maybe theres some benefit there. I'm really liking what I've played to far, the sheer amount of things to do is a bit overwhelming but I'll keep dropping in when I can. 

I also indulged in the happy chime of a Gamecube being booted up to play a bit of Donkey Konga (Gamecube). The clumsy controls of a lot of the Wii games Nintendo published (such as Wii Music) made me forget how good it feels to play a really well constructed Nintendo rhythm game with a solid piece of hardware in the controller. Even navigating the menus feels good. The song selecting is really strong, from Nintendo classics such as the Mario Theme to my personal favourite 99 Red Balloons, tapping and clapping away at the bongos is just a lot of fun. Not much more to say about this game, except i'm now trawling through auctions to find its sequel at a good price. 

Earthbound and Dune 30.01.17

Bird Week, despite its breezy artwork its actually a harsh and unforgiving

game.

I continued to brave a cold shed for the greater good of playing through some old games this week. Starting off with Bird Week (NES/Famicom) a fairly low key import title in which the goal is to collect butterflies to feed to your chicks so they can get big and strong and fly the nest. In the way are bigger birds, who presumably want to take me (the smaller bird) to feed to they're chicks. The game doesn't get much more varied than that, once the first set of chicks have fledged the nest it moves onto a new season, my tree is a vibrant pink blossom but the world no less brutal. New enemies are thrown into the mix, strange hopping creatures, like rabbits without ears. Anyway they want to eat me too, again presumably to feed they're young. It's a pretty nasty game, with the playable character sitting slap bang in the middle of the food chain. At its harshest I found myself dying after killing a butterfly and leaving my own young to starve with my corpse at the base of the tree they nest in. Gameplay wise its well ahead of its time, Flappy Bird owes a lot to this title, the controls are strikingly similar, if only that titular bird had a family to fend for I may have been more invested in that title. Graphics and sound aren't really much to write home about, especially as to play this import title i'm forced to play it on a 7" screen. The music is catchy though.

I then moved onto Shadows of the Empire (N64) challenging myself to start after its impressive Battle of Hoth opening (and probably the only bit of the game most people remember. What comes after this level is some FPS platforming, which isn't as bad as I recalled, It can be quite brutal with its failed jumps leading to falling into a foggy abyss but with a bit of switching of the camera it works. It's an odd choice not to have a gun on the screen with a FPS, gunfire instead reduced to a big red line emitting from around where my hand is. It makes some of the boss fights a bit harder than they should be. The boss fights themselves range from pretty cool iconic Star Wars baddies to the more obscure, a fight against a "loader droid" who's only power is to flail his long arms about felt almost cruel. Sections of the game fell completely flat, the battle in the gun turret early on was almost impossible to see anything and the speeder bike chase was as bad to look at as it was to control. On top of this it went on for an eternity of me bashing into walls chasing after countless bounty hunters who were thankfully going about there buisness about as quickly as I was. I did play a lot more of the game than I intended though. A mixture of nostagia from when I bought the game (it was the game I got with my N64 around its launch) and trying to convince myself it was a good game and it actually not being that bad, its ambitious with a lot of its scope, the music is especially strong. It falls flat on a few things that because of its early release it may well have done better but on the whole the game it more than not that bad, its quite good.