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Kyoshi Frost Wolf

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  1. Kyoshi Frost Wolf
    So some of you may have seen the blog post I made recently. About Atari being greedy beyond comparison by crowdfunding a horrendous port of Rollercoaster Tycoon Touch, a terrible mobile game, for the Switch. If you have not seen that blog, check it out here first: https://mlpforums.com/blogs/entry/23099-rollercoaster-tycoon-on-switch-the-worst-thing-ever/
    Thing is, IT ACTUALLY GETS WORSE! Somehow. On their StartEngine campaign page, Atari recently updated it with a new 'Q&A' to answer people's questions. Of course they won't answer why Rollercoaster Tycoon World was not mentioned at all on their page but whatever. One of the questions ask about what happens if the overall goal of 1.7 millions dollars is not reached. Check out their AMAZING answer to this question:
    "As a publisher, Atari has started the development of the game and will release it no matter what the outcome of the campaign, because it has the resources to do it.  This is clearly set forth on Page 14 of the Offering Details:  “For the further avoidance of doubt, if we do not raise 100% of the funds, our majority stockholder intends to provide additional funding or credit in exchange for the balance of the Net Receipts not distributed to the Investors.”
    From a big picture perspective, bear in mind we have a portfolio of more than 200 games.  This Start Engine campaign is a test of alternative financing resources to see if this could be applicable to other games of our portfolio to accelerate our growth. For this test, we selected RollerCoaster Tycoon for the Nintendo Switch given the awareness of the brand and the growth of the Nintendo platform."
    Dear Celestia in whatever version of heaven they have. You didn't misread that. They straight up say that the game is already being developed and they have the money to make the game regardless of this crowdfunding campaign. The only reason they are doing this is to save even more cash. That's it. They just want to save even more money for their stockholders, which is gaming fail 101. They don't care about this product, they just care about their bottom line. This crowdfunding fail 101. You don't do a crowdfunding campaign and then say that you have the resources for the product regardless of the campaign. That means you DON'T NEED CROWDFUNDING!!!! HOLY SHIT. This is amazing. AMAZING. Like...what! How stupid, how dumb, how greedy, how bjbjbjjbkibkjsbdgfksdfkjsdkjfsdkjbfkjds can one company get?! Damn! I am legit furious and laughing my ass off at the same time. WOO!
    So yeah. I didn't think this whole situation could get any worse. I have presented to you, 'any worse'.
  2. Kyoshi Frost Wolf
    Quick Review: Splatoon 2 (Nintendo Switch)
    This is a game that doesn't earn its praise, nor does it deserve it. While the base gameplay concept is fine and dandy, that is shooting ink everywhere and all that jazz, the actual PvP experience here is dreadful. You might think this game's whole point is ink spreading, but because of the maps and overall design, you will run into others constantly and the actual shooting mechanics show their true colors (pun?) within this combat. Aiming is horrible and twitchy. Using the analog stick feels so imprecise that any battle feels like a battle of pure luck, Considering you die within half a second anyways, that's what it all is, luck. There are also many weapon imbalances. Some weapons are terrible, while others are extremely overpowered. Weapons like the splatterscopes are far too slow for the whole objective, while weapons like the brushes and sloshers are so broken that it is hilarious, such as how when you attack with these weapons, the person you are attacking can barely see because ink is being splashed all over the place. Any other weapons, mostly they feel the same. Many automatic weapons feel very similar to each other and the only major difference is with sub weapons and specials. Again, some of those suck, others are stupidly overdone.
    I wouldn't mind all of this garbage if the overall game didn't feel so irritating in its execution. Losing makes you lose points on your weapons freshness, so this means that no matter how well you do, which I frequently outperform my team on the ink spreading objective, if your team sucks, then you will be punished for it. What if your internet has a hiccup for no reason out of nowhere and you disconnect for a split second, leaving the match? You get punished, losing freshness points further. Hell, what if Nintendo's own servers commit suicide and disconnect you even before a match fully starts??? YOU. GET. PUNISHED. Had that happen once. A match was loading and right when it shows the map itself, I got disconnected out of nowhere and there were zero problems on my network, so it was clearly Nintendo's problem and I lost freshness points. Awesome. Yay.
    The only other diversions are the completely pointless single player campaign that offers no real reward for anything and Salmon Run, a hugely overrated horde mode that features a tiny map and bosses as far as the eye can see. It is challenge in the worst possible way, throwing so much at you that there is no way to deal with it.
    Above everything else, the game just feels like a chore. Want to level up for more weapons? Eventually, and by that I mean really friggin fast, it takes forever to level up even once. Which makes it all feel like a grind. How about abilities? Want to unlock those? A grind. What about ability chunks to get specific abilities that you actually want on a piece of gear that you like? A grind. What about taking chunks off of gear you don't like to use for others which costs 20,000 gold to do? Griiiiiiiiiiiiiiind. For some reason, nobody mentions this type of stuff because everyone thinks Nintendo is the beacon of perfection. They aren't and this game's glaring issues are a testament to that. Also, there is no voice chat at all or a proper party system, obviously. The only voice chat you can get is with Nintendo's terrible phone app and...screw that noise.
    All in all, I want to like this game. Seriously, I do. That makes me even more frustrated. This game has so many good ideas, but not good execution. Considering that this is a sequel, that makes it even more confusing.
    Final Score: 4/10
  3. Kyoshi Frost Wolf
    2017, what a year. Gaming was big, really big. New Nintendo console, amazing games, some corporate craziness that pizza'd off the gaming world...Which reminds me, I might be starting a new split up blog post purchase service, Blog Boxes. Sounds like a good idea no?
    Anywho, bad games. Those happened like they do every year. Games like Road Rage and Hello Neighbor were apparently really trashMcnasty, but I didn't play those. I actually didn't play a whole lot of bad games this year, not many I can think of. I have been pretty selective with my purchases this year. With my selection being so limited for this particular category, I actually did not pick a game that is absolutely horrible on a technical level. Not entirely. Instead, I have chosen something that is simply drenched with greed. A game that spewed garbage through its advertising, through its story, through its entire existence.
    I think you all might know what I am talking about here. I have played this game for a while and honestly, the it gets worse each time I boot it up. It becomes less and less fun, and it already was pretty boring to begin with.
    My worst game of 2017 is......wait for it.....waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiit........hey, chill out, woah why you bouncing around the room woah hey don't break that AHHHHHH
    Call of Duty World War 2

    Congrats Activision and Sledgehammer Games! Sledgehammer Games is so appropriate of a name, since that's all they know what to do. Putting a Sledgehammer through games. CoD WW2 is a game I seriously wanted to like, I did. I liked this series at one point, it DID do some good things for multiplayer in general, but that was in the past. This series is now a dead cow that is still trying to be milked by Activision. Every single year, a $60 game, with a $50 season, on the same old rusty engine that looks like crap. That is no different here. This time though, it is even more special! This game had some of the worst marketing that I have ever seen. Constantly ramming it into our skulls that the game has 'boots on the ground'. "BOOTS ON THE GROUND FOLKS, BOOTS ON THE GROUND. YOU GET IT YET???? BUY OUR GAME!!!" Constantly saying 'boots on the ground' for a first person shooter, would be like if a developer made a platformer game and said "WE BROUGHT BACK JUMPING!" Not only that, but that is basically Activision yelling at the top of a mountain "HEY, WE WENT BACKWARDS GUYS! ISN'T IT AWESOME?"
    The campaign is boring, Michael Bay levels of stupid, with a WW2 skin. It rips off several famous WW2 movies, like Saving Private Ryan of course, has explosions everywhere, over the top garbage including an absolutely stupid looking train derailment scene, and it is nothing but America ego stroking! How? It only shows the war through an AMERICAN perspective. THAT'S IT. The largest war in human history, consisting of many, MANY nations, and they choose Murica as the sole one to focus on. Amazing. Absolutely incredible. Because America was the only country in the war, obviously. Wrap this all up with a story that tries to be emotional, but it just comes off as cliche. It is as basic as you can get for some American WW2 story, it really is.
    The multiplayer...Ugh. The multiplayer is the same shlock we have been playing for almost a decade. Not much is changed. The only additions are things that Activision of course hyped to hell and back, but they aren't anything that matters. A stupid headquarters to run around in, which only serves the purpose to show of your oh so amazing loot crates to people, and War mode. If you don't know what War mode is, take Battlefield 1, make it look incredibly shitty, make the play-field barebones and strict, and embarrassingly dumb cutscenes. Bam, you have War mode. It is horrible. Everything else you hate about the franchise is still here. The lack, the bad hit detection, the half a milisecond kill times, the same basic modes other than the aforementioned shitty War mode. The multiplayer is boring, shallow, and copy and paste as far as the eye can see. Nothing about it is unique. Nothing about it is special. You can pop in Modern Warfare 2 from 2009 and get the same overall experience. Shoot shoot bang bang kill people shoot boom bang shoot boom BOOM BANG SHOOT BOOM. Nothing else. The same old shit. THE. SAME. OLD. SHIT. EVERY. YEAR. $60 every year, every time. No innovation, no passion. It is all greed. Business. Money. MONEY. Oh yeah, and the graphics are shit, at least for a franchise of this size. Splatoon 2 on my Nintendo Switch looks better in 1080p, than CoD does in 4K.
    As for the zombies mode...I dunno. Haven't played it. Sick of the stupid generic zombies bullshit. Killing Floor 2 has become my go-to horde mode style game. It is super fun, except it is having crashing issues now for no reason. I would rather play a crashing game though than this new CoD shit.
    So yeah, that's it. Call of Duty sucks, you know that, I know that. I am just so stunned that the game is so bad despite being a so called passion project by the devs and being a 'return to form'. If the return to form was trying to be shit, then they succeeded amazingly.
  4. Kyoshi Frost Wolf
    Doom has recently been released for the Nintendo Switch. Reading reviews of the game, it seems to be hitting good notes overall, but there are some criticisms. Seeing these criticisms, and some of the limitations of the Switch made me think of something. Gamers these days love to compare their gaming preferences to each other, battling for some kind of superiority. That is human nature, really. We love to compete. It sadly takes a tone of negativity among gamers, it goes too far. People for years have been saying "This system is better than that system" "Oh yeah? My PC has a 666ghz megabun processer and rules all!" This has been even more apparent this console gen.
    Thing is, while some comparisons obviously happen. I feel many of them are not placed right. Take for example, the Switch version of Doom, while fairly competent, is obviously technically inferior to the other versions. The graphics are lesser, it is muddier looking, and the framerate is half that of the other versions, with dips below that as well. That is a downgrade for sure. Thing is, what I keep hearing is that we should not compare the Switch to the Xbox One or PS4 because unlike those two, the Switch is a handheld system. I actually agree with this. I do think comparing the Switch to the other consoles is not exactly valid as it a different type of gaming experience. Many probably agree with that as well.
    What I wish would happen though, is for people to use this same logic towards the other consoles, PS4 and Xbox One, in relation to PC's. Like comparing the Switch to its other console brethren, comparing those other systems to PC feels out of place and not accurate. Consoles and PC's offer a different gaming experience from each other. One is more customizable and technical (PC) while the other is more enclosed straight forward (Consoles). I prefer consoles myself, Xbox One in particular. It is works great for me as a gamer and I prefer its way providing me gaming content. PC has theirs and the Switch, basically in the handheld category, has its own way. I wish people would take a step back and remember the different preferences that these machines cater towards and one thing catering to one particular preference doesn't make it better than the others. 
    Comparisons will always happen, that will never end, but I want the gaming community to not be at each other's throats over what they prefer, because each thing is different in its own way and caters to different people. Unless we are talking about TIGER Electronics games. Those are just not so good. XD
  5. Kyoshi Frost Wolf
    I will say this right off the Flutterbat, the Xbox One X being smaller than S is very impressive. This definitely shows with how heavy the system is, which it is surprisingly somewhat heavy. Seems a lot was put into such a small unit to make it work and it seems to work wonders.
    From what I have seen thus far, the X is an impressive machine. Forza 7, a flagship title for the X, runs at a beautiful native 4K and 60fps, but another thing impressed me was the rearview mirrors. On the other systems, the mirrors did not match the framerate of the game itself, most likely due to having to render multiple very detailed things like that from different sources. On the X though, the reflections in the mirrors run at 60fps as well, which at first was jarring as hell, but it is friggin cool. It makes the racing experience even more immersive as cars at your bumper in the mirros will be moving at the same buttery smooth rate that the rest of the game does. Forza 7 is definitely a wonderful showcase for the power of the X.
    I then tested a few other 'Enhanced' games, firstly Call of Duty WW2. Honestly, I can't tell much of a different on this once, but that could be because the Call of Duty franchise has been behind on graphics for years. Then again I only tried the multiplayer portion and since I didn't start the campaign on the S, I won't have a major point of comparison.
    Next, Killer Instinct. First time I played this one in a while and damn does it look good. I am not sure how it compares to the S since I can't remember, but on the X the game looks incredibly crisp. Crisp and clear are good keywords for the X. It truly does make a difference. The particle effects in KI look better than ever.
    I also booted up Skate 3, an Xbox 360 title compatible on the Xbox One that has been enhanced for the X. This is one perfect example of the crisp and clear thing I mentioned. The jaggies from before seem to be completely gone on the X. The textures look better and HDR was added as well, making the colors more vibrant. This is one I was able to tell an immediate difference and if this is what we can expect for 360 games on the X, then I am very excited for more.
    Lastly, I tried a 360 game that is not specifically enhanced for the X, yet. Grand Theft Auto IV. What a classic. I played this online with my boyfriend for a couple of hours and the main thing I noticed, was the framerate. While it wasn't locked, I saw the game clearly jump to 60fps multiple times, sometimes for a little while. This is something that impressed me greatly because again, this game has not been specifically enhanced and it is a 360 title, which means it is being emulated, and there still was very noticeable improvements in performance. I hope the game gets fully enhanced at some point.
    So far, these are my initial impressions of the Xbox One X. From what I can see, this machine is beastly. It clearly shows its prowess in most of these games and Microsoft's goal of making a new powerhouse in the console market has succeeded with flying colors. I still need to try more games out to see any improvements, but so far, I am mostly impressed. I will say that while the X is impressing me, I am happy that Microsoft is pushing the Xbox One S very hard for the holidays. They are making amazing bundle deals that include things like 3 month of game pass and even 1 or 2 full games with it. That is immense. It is a very good deal for gamers.
  6. Kyoshi Frost Wolf
    I feel like starting a new blog series, one where I discuss games that I personally find to be very overrated. I will start that now!

    Telltale's The Walking Dead was released to extremely high critical acclaim back in 2012. It one several awards, including the prestigious Game of the Year award. Even I enjoyed it back then and I cried at the ending of season 1. Looking back, however, when I think of this entire series in retrospect, I feel a much different tone towards it. That being that the series is actually pretty bad and incredibly overrated.
    Let me explain. The Walking Dead has a decent premise, but one that isn't wholly unique. You control a single character, go through events, make decisions that 'alter' the story and that is basically it. Simple enough. Sound familiar? Yeah, Heavy Rain did this first. And while Heavy Rain has a lot of problems, I feel it did its concept far better than TWD did.
    While the writing itself isn't great (Many characters are one note) and the game engine has all sorts of issues despite this barely being a game at all, I will go ahead and delve into the game's most massive problem and why I don't like Telltale games at all anymore. Spoilers ahead from here, so you are warned.
    Your choices don't matter.
    They simply don't. YES, they can make other characters treat you differently in a moment-to-moment basis, as well as making your character into more of an asshole or a nice guy, but none of this does what the game advertises at the start of every episode: Alter the story. Every major decision you make will always be thrown out the window in one form or another.
    Take this for example: When you are on Hershel's farm near the beginning of episode 1 of the entire series, you are given the first major choice in the entire game: Do you save Duck, who is the son of Kenny or do you save Shawn, the son of Hershel? Oh shit! The stakes are high! How can I possibly make such a hugely polarizing decision-OH WAIT, it doesn't matter who you pick, because Shawn ALWAYS dies no matter what. The only difference is that if you 'save' Shawn, Hershel shows some respect to you and Kenny is angry with you. Awesome. So I got the respect of a character I will never see again and now the character I will be stuck with for most of the time hates me. Why was I even given a choice?! Keep in mind that if you don't do everything good for Kenny, then he will hate you. Yay, awesome. I love the illusion of choice. /s
    Here is another example: Near the end of episode 1 in season 1, you come to yet another choice of 'saving' someone. This time though, it actually isn't flat out lying to you! If you save one person, the other one does die. Okay, you have my attention. I look forward to developing a deeper friendship with this important character that I personally decided to save-OOOOOOOH WAIT AGAIN! It doesn't matter who you save. In episode 3, no matter what you do, the character you saved is shot and killed by another character. There is no choice, no decision to be made, they are simply killed off without a moment's notice regardless of what you do. I know that the argument could be made that this matches the overall theme of the Walking Dead, you never know who could die, but considering this is a game that straight up thrusts in your face 'Your choices alter the story', it comes across as moronic and cheap.
    To top all of this off, at the end of season 1, Lee, the character you play as and have made all of these oh so important decisions with, dies. Yes, he dies. This actually is a very emotional moment that I do give some credit for, but after I wipe the tears away and think about it, I realize, this invalidates EVERYTHING in season 1. The only things that carry over are how some characters talk about you in season 2, that's it. You play as a totally different character in season 2 and season 2 suffers from the EXACT same problems as season 1. Hell, you can actually get multiple endings in season 2, which is so surprising to me, but then season 3 jumps in time by like 5 years so once again, everything is invalidated. There are many other examples of characters that you can either let live or die, but it doesn't matter because they die anyways eventually no matter what.
    The Walking Dead by Telltale is already barely a video game as it is. The stakes are never really high, it is extremely linear and there isn't much to do except go through the motions to get the story. So when Telltale constantly advertises that your choices truly alter how the story plays out and it actually doesn't, at all, I find that incredibly insulting. Once you take that away, you are left with a bare minimum 'video game'. Even Heavy Rain has 16 different endings you can get! 16!!! And this 'game', you basically only get 1, except in season 2, where you can get like, 5, but all of them are invalidated anyways. This same problem plagues every single Telltale title too, so there is no escaping it. If they want to make a story like this, then make it into an animated Netflix series or something, not this cookie-cutter point and click game with fake choices.
    That is why I think The Walking Dead by Telltale is overrated. It didn't deserve to win Game of the Year for 2012, especially when it is barely a game to begin with.
  7. Kyoshi Frost Wolf
    The main E3 conference for Xbox has ended. You know what? I thought it was good. Damn good. It started off with the now named Xbox One X, and it seems like a cool machine, might pick it up. It apparently is quite small for a system of its type and that is impressive. Then, what was most of the show? Games. Game after game after game, it was awesome. Seeing all of these new titles was a treat and many of them looked so interesting. 
    The Ori sequel trailer for example, was beautiful and emotional, and there were some other reveals that were great like Forza 7 and and some games where the names escape me currently. I am tired so give me a break. XD 
    So what is not to love? We saw a gaming company clearly show the focus of its brand. Many games on display and a great direction going forward. 
    The thing is, were any of these Xbox One exclusive? Technically no, they all are for Windows 10 as well. The thing also is, I don't care. I prefer consoles, that's my thing and if PC gamers get to experience these games too, why the hell would I complain about it? My preferred platform is getting the game too, so it doesn't matter to me. People are getting so fucking obsessed with 'exclusivity' that they don't even talk about the great games shown. It is sad. The main thing of the industry, ignored because of some weird obsession. 
    I don't think the show was 100% perfect, Assassin's Creed should have been for Ubisoft's show I feel, but whatever. As a gamer, there was a lot for me to love. Not once did I think 'this better be Xbox One exclusive', because i don't give a shit about that.
    There's my rambling take on the show. I thought it was great. If you didn't, fine, all is opinion anyways. 
  8. Kyoshi Frost Wolf
    Rocket League



    Platform: Xbox One, PS4, PC


     

    Genre: Driving/Sport


     

    Publisher/Developer: SNK


     




     

    Rocket League was welcomed with praise and gamer love when it first launched for PS4 and PC. It took YouTube by storm and became one of the most popular games ever in its genre, even winning Best Sports/Driving game at the 2015 Game Awards. Now the game makes its way to Xbox One so Xbox gamers can now see if the hype and praise is justified for the title. I can simple say; Yes, yes it is.


     




     

    Rocket League is a deceptively simple game on the surface. It is a game where you drive RC-like turbo charged cars, collecting boost and trying to hit a soccer ball into the opposing team's goal. So essentially, it is soccer. With super-charged RC cars. You can play 4 different modes online, these are all just player amount variants. 1v1 duels, 2v2, 3v3 and the ultra crazy 4v4. Each of these have their own sort of feel and I think that 3v3 and 4v4 are the most fun of these. Then you have splitscreen online offerings and up to 4 player splitscreen locally, as well as exhibition games with AI and players and a single player season. All of this revolves around the same premise: Crazy RC cars, playing soccer. Does this sound like it can feel samey and repetitive? Well, it doesn't.


     
     
     

    The best phrase I can use to describe Rocket League is this: Simplistic Perfection. While the game is simple at the surface, what makes it work so well is how perfectly it is crafted. The cars feel incredibly fun to drive, being able to boost and jump around and hit the ball at extreme speeds never gets old. It might take a while to get used to the physics and how they work here, but they soon become second nature. There are tons of things to unlock, the sheer amount of items available will keep you unlocking things for hours and hours on end and all of these things are unlocked as you play, so there is no focus on trying to get them, you will eventually either way. The rewards are also handed out randomly so nobody unlocks the same things at the same rate. So you and someone else at the same rank will not get the same exact item at the same time. The sheer amount of content to unlock and use is incredibly impressive for a $20 title. There are a bunch of new car bodies, tires, paint jobs, paint types and even boost visuals that you can get, and there are also tons of different things from other games here too. These are a treat to see and I would love to see even more come to the game in future DLC.


     




     

    The balance here is also so beautifully done that it pains me to see so many military shooters nowadays that have balance as an afterthought. Here, everyone is on an even playing field. The skill gap is relatively small compared to most games and this allows many players, casual or not, to jump right in. There also is not much skill that is needed to play the game well. While one can learn the ins and outs of the angles needed to make some really good shots, the extreme chaos of the gameplay makes it to where skill becomes an afterthought and it becomes pure madness and fun. Seeing all of the players boost towards the ball and slamming into it and crashing into each other in such a frantic pace makes me think of a bunch of five year olds that have just received an immense sugar rush and here, that works!


     
     
     

    Even the matchmaking works incredibly well. It does not take long to get into a game and if the game is taking a bit to find a certain player, it will just replace him/her with an AI car that is there until a player joins to replace it. This completely eliminates any team balancing issues and the AI, while kinda dumb at times, knows how to make some great saves and defend the goal. I did have a couple of instances where, for some reason, the AI pushed the ball towards our own goal, resulting in the other team getting an advantage, but this happened very rarely. Speaking of happenings that are rare, I have rarely experienced any lag issues in the game, save for a few moments and I have experienced absolutely no disconnections whatsoever. With huge shooter franchises like Call of Duty that charge you $60 for the game AND an additional $50 upfront for DLC, it is insane that this $20 game experiences less network problems than that franchise.


     




     

    Honestly, I find myself enjoying this game more and more the more I play it and it is difficult to find any major flaws. I suppose the A.I. can be finicky at times, but this is very few and far between. I suppose another slight gripe is the lack of play-field variation. While there are a lot of environments in the game, each one is built upon the exact same field, with no changes in elevation or overall style. This could be to help the balance out though and thus, it doesn't bother me much. I am just too busy having fun and going crazy in the game to care. I do highly recommend that if you can play it with a friend, take that opportunity, as playing with a friend was some of the most fun I have ever had in a video game. Also, I have experienced a couple of crashes in the game, but only while playing splitscreen online.


     
     
     

    Final Verdict:


     




  9. Kyoshi Frost Wolf
    We got a lot of questions answered at the Switch presentation, but most of these answers do nothing to make me excited for the system. We have a price tag, $300, which is okay. That is the highest I would ever go with it though so it is a thin line. The hardware seems incredibly Wii U-esque, Nothing impressive. The overall presentation focused a lot on gimmicks rather than games. Yay, motion controls are back once again. Something tells me that this thing will once again be a third party disaster. The battery life is...okay, but that is only okay on the high end, 6 hours. Less than that and I think the system has problems. Sure, the thing has HD RUMBLE (ugh), but that doesn't mean shit if you don't have games to show why it will be great. Speaking of that...
     
    We also seen nothing on backwards compatibility. Nothing about it being able to play Wii U games at all, not even digitally. Even worse, the launch lineup is insanely slim with what, 3 major titles and that's it? Sure, one of them is Zelda, but I am now convinced they delayed Zelda on the Wii U just so it would not interfere with the Switch. Dick move Nintendo. I know the Wii U was a failure, but a lot of people bought the damn thing for this one game and you screw them over. Nice. Also, there was nothing on how external storage would work. With such a limited lineup, I see no reason to just rush out and pre-order.
     
    Then we have a new paid online service, which was announced in probably the most confusing way possible. So we are going to have a free online service until near the end of the year, where it will be paid. I really hope they know what they are doing with that, because Nintendo has never been strong with online services and if they are going the paid route, I want to see substantial improvements.
     
    So in the end, I am just not impressed by this thing at all. I wanted to like it, I really did, but so far, I am seeing literally the Wii U all over again, with some features even missing from that. The new Mario game looks nice, as well as some other announced titles, but almost none of them are launch titles and so far look like nothing that could not be done on the Wii U. I have been immensely disappointed with Nintendo consoles for two gens in a row now, so I cannot help but to be disappointed by this approach. The system seems to lack focus, like all Nintendo consoles now. I love my 3DS, that is such a nice system, but even that will most likely be phased out soon in favor of this...thing.
  10. Kyoshi Frost Wolf
    Now that this shitshow of an election is over with and America has sealed its fate, it is time for me to show more music! A particular song that I think perfectly matches the mood now. A song about absolute annihilation.


     

    Here is Puritania by Dimmu Borgir.






  11. Kyoshi Frost Wolf
    I have a sort of a love/hate relationship with the FNAF series. While I think the story concept is cool and the games have some very creepy imagery, I find the gameplay to be immensely boring and repetitive and the story has no real flow to it and seems be determined by what garbage Game Theory spews out. Not to mention, the only real sense of horror that real happens is BOO JUMPSCARES, AKA the cheapest form of scaring someone of all time. This series, to me is insanely overrated and it was ironically made popular by the equally overrated and ungodly annoying, Markiplier, among other money hungry, awful let's players like him.
     
    So I have been watching ProJared play the latest installment, Sister Location. ProJared is one of the few YouTubers who plays these games without screaming at the top of their lungs and having fake reactions to everything, so he is definitely one to watch for these games as you can actually get a critical view of them, rather them someone that plays them purely to make money from their popularity.
     
    Watching Jared play this particular entry though, it is boring the hell out of me. Why? Because the game is awful. Seriously, the game is absolute shit. While I appreciate that Scott tried something a bit different here, the overall result is something that is actually somehow worse than all the other games while being even more boring and contrived. The gameplay is now even more simplified, though it tries to make you think you are doing something more substantial. It goes for a more adventure game feel, but in the end it actually makes the setting even more confusing and the game constantly tries to throw new little gameplay mechanics at you, but absolutely none of them are exciting or fun.
     
    This game also has a shitload of dialogue, far more than the previous games and clearly Scott was trying to go for a Portal vibe, but fails. The dialogue is not skippable so if you die and have to listen to dialogue again, you are forced to listen. The dialogue also does a piss poor job explaining things, as the game is clearly made as vague as possible to invoke 'spookiness' but ends up actually being frustrating. Instead of concentrating on perhaps a few key mechanics and making them good, instead Scott goes for quantity and made a bunch of mechanics that all are atrocious.
     
    Take for example, there is a part of the game where you are having to hold the button on these spring lock things to wind them up. There are multiple and you have to keep them going. However, there are also puppets climbing on you for no reason. Firstly, you have to wiggle them off, the ones on the sides. There is no conveyance whatsoever on that, it is just up for you to die several times and guess. Then there are ones climbing on you in the middle. What do you do about those? No fucking idea! So you are stuck doing this insanely unfun and boring exercise of winding some knobs and then you just die, thanks to really bad looking jumpscare that looks laughable.
     
    Even those are not good in this! The jumpscares once again are the only thing Scott can come up with to scare people and here, they are possibly the worst in the series, at least tied with the 3rd game. The quality of the models is drastically lower than the 4th game and it all looks silly now, rather than fear inducing. The fact that Scott is still relying on such a blatantly cheap way of scaring people shows he has zero new ideas that are actually good.
     
    Seriously, this series has already hit its peak. The series was never good, it was only passable with the second game in my book but even then it still had tons of problems, NONE of which are solved with this horrendous release. The story is bullshit, the dialogue is irritating and pointless, the gameplay is even worse somehow and the jumpscares are so lazy and poor that I do not see how ANYONE can be scared by this garbage.
     
    Sadly, this series will never die. With people money hungry morons like Markiplier and Game Theory around, these games will still be made and will never improve in quality. Why should they? These terrible Let's Players never criticize the games, they just pretend to be scared and overreact to every little thing, while nothing of worth actually happens. So, thanks for that terrible let's play community. Gotta rake in the YouTube money for doing nothing, I guess. I am so fucking sick of these money hungry, terrible let's players like Markiplier, PewDiePie, Jecksepticeye and whatever else is out there giving these gmaes sales and attention that they do not deserve.
     
    Congratulations Scott for making nothing about your series better and actually making it worse. I didn't even think it could get worse so that is a feat.
  12. Kyoshi Frost Wolf
    The Call of Duty series is something I actually once loved. A lot. Call of Duty 2 was a huge deal at the start of that console gen, Call of Duty 4 revolutionized multiplayer gaming and Black Ops 2 is a game that I played for hours and hours on end, I couldn't get enough of it. Sure, the series has had some blunders here and there around that time, but despite being annual, the series was able to stay consistently decent.
     
    Those days are gone though. Activision, the mother of all greedy companies in gaming, is now determined to f*ck this franchise into the ground. Ghosts was mediocre, Advanced Warfare was only okay, and Black Ops 3 was a pile of sh*t and that was the last straw for me. Now we have the almighty Infinite Warfare, with a name that bland we know the cash cow has gone dry. This game looks to be as generic as they come, but it all gets worse.
     
    You want Modern Warfare remastered? Sorry, you have to buy the $80 version of Infinite Warfare to get it. Oh and you won't get all of the content that was in the original game either. You want the Terminal map that everyone loved in Modern warfare 2? Well, you need to PREORDER Infinite Warfare! The game's setting also does not look appealing at all. We are going to other planets now? Um, yay? Ooooh, we can fly in space ships and fight other ships! In what will most likely be a very linear and pointless sequence that looks awesome in the trailers, but is actually a gimmick in the game. And despite all of the extreme backlash and having the 2nd most disliked video of all time on its belt, Activision STILL will not back down from its horrid bullshit. We still won;t get MW remastered on its own and we still have to pre-order to get Terminal. The new zombies mode also looks like utter trash, as it looks like it is just tacked on, out of place garbage. Will we only get one map this time just like Black Ops 3? Oh please let it be so Activision, I want you to take all of my money.
     
    Infinite Warfare is also a rare species this holiday season. It will be the only major FPS that will have a season pass I believe. That is kinda nuts. Its two main competition, Titanfall 2 and Battlefield 1, are doing away with season passes and instead going the Overwatch route of free updates with micro-transactions most likely. Infinite Warfare will, if Black Ops 3 is any indication, have micro-transactions, a $50 season pass AND still no dedicated servers, once again trailing FAR behind all of its competition. The campaign will also probably be incoherent nonsense. The greed deployed by Activision is absolutely insane. Come on Activision, give us even less for our money, we all love it! This game will also have content locked behind its season pass despite being finished, that is obvious. This series is the epitome of EVERYTHING that is wrong in gaming now.
     
    Why do people still buy this shit? It is absolutely clear that Activision doesn't care. They just view you as a walking wallet and the way they are treating gamers and fans of this franchise is horrid. I hope, for the sake of gaming, that this game will fail, hard. I want to see it absolutely flop in sales numbers, I want it to mark the end of this already dead franchise. It is worthless now and Activision is using it as a tool to fuck us over and I for one am sick of it.
     
    Knowing the odds though it will still sell millions. Somehow people are not sick of the same old shit every single year. There are a lot of people that just do not care.It will still be a huge success and we will see Advanced Warfare 2 next year and whatever shit Treyarch is making. The cycle will continue, every single year. And if that happens, my hope in gaming will dwindle even further. I want this franchise to die.
     
    Rambling over. Wanted to get that off my chest.
  14. Kyoshi Frost Wolf
    E3 is coming ot a close, and after Microsoft's stage conference, there has been soooo much damn negativity surging the internet. Microsoft revealed the new Xbox One S, which is an amazing deal for what you get, but so many people are saying Microsoft's vision has already killed the S with the Project Scorpio reveal, as well as concentrating entirely on both consoles AND PC. Micorosft wants to 'bridge the generations gap' and many people aren't on board with this.
     
    You know what? I am a huge fan of the Xbox One, it is my favorite game console of all time and as a huge fan, I am not worried, at all. What Microsoft showed actually excites me. Why? Because it shows Microsoft has an immense focus on gaming and gamers. For them, it doesn't matter if you game on a console or PC, we both will be getting all of those new games and in some cases,we can play together! Now what about the S and the Scorpio? That is simple. The S model is a very nice deal. For those wanting to get a fantastic video game console and a great media machine, this is a truly good deal, especially with 4K support. The Scorpio will be costly, we all know this. If the specs are true, it will cost easily several hundred dollars, so I don't know why people think the Scorpio is a direct competitor to the S. Not everyone wil l have the budget to spare for the Scorpio. Not everyone will be interested in the Scorpio at that time, so now, they will have a much cheaper alternative to play the same exact games.
     
    And this 'bridging the gaps thing', my theory is this: The Scorpio will be the next Xbox console, but still under the Xbox One name. I believe that after another 4 to 5 years, games will start becoming exclusive to the Scorpio, which will then start phasing out the old system. Everyone expects this anyways, so this seems like a smart way to go about it. On top of this, the Scorpio will have %100 compatibility with all Xbox One games, so that could be a smart move too. I could be entirely wrong about all of that but that is a theory. So many people are obsessed with the specs and what the system will mean, but for now, all we know is that all Xbox One games will work on it and other Xbox One units, of course, so that keeps me perfectly happy.
     
    In short, I am not worried about the future of Xbox. It seems Microsoft wants to focus less on exclusives and more on gaming as a whole. I don't care if a game is coming out on both Xbox one and PC, I will still be able to play the game on my Xbox One, so I really don't care where else it goes. Some are saying 'But this gives nobody a reason to buy an Xbox One!' Which that is entirely false, as people who are going ot buy an Xbox One are going to buy one anyways. 'Exclusives' are not the only reason to get a console. To me, Microsoft has a clear vision for what they want in the future of Xbox, bring console and PC gamers together in a huge community, rather than splitting them apart for whatever reason.
     
    On top of all of this though, I just want to be positive about gaming in general. Seeing Nintendo fumble as much as they are in my eyes really makes me want to be positive about gaming, so this is an attempt for that. Friggin N4G.com is doing nothing but negativity, so I suggest not going there.
     
    Anywho, there is that.
  15. Kyoshi Frost Wolf
    Want just a quick summary? Head to the Final Verdict for that and my rating!



    Super Mario 64 DS



    Platform: Nintendo DS



    Genre: 3D Platformer



    Publisher/Developer: Nintendo






    Super Mario 64. A game that is legendary in the world of gaming for revolutionizing 3D games as whole. This game has an immense legacy and is cemented into the minds of many gamers. Then, nearly 10 years later, in 2005, Nintendo decided to remake the classic title for their new Nintendo DS system. What?! I was definitely surprised by this but I picked it up immediately. How well did that go?


     

    Super Mario 64 DS, is, of course, a remake of the original game on the 64. You run, jump, collect coins and stars to fight Bowser among other bosses to ultimately save Princess Peach and her castle. You all probably know this by now and for the most part, that is unchanged here, though there are many new additions that make this feel like a remake rather than a port.






    First off, the controls. Arguably the most important part to any platformer. The controls are not exactly how they were on the 64, potentially to the dismay of some fans. Instead of adjusting your movement speed with precise tilts of an analog stick, here, you have to use the D-pad and without the precise controls, how can you control your speed? Well, here is what they did: When you move normally, you just walk or jog, to run in a full sprint, you must hold down the Y button, sort of like the original Mario titles. At first, this does feel awkward and it takes some time to get accustomed to such a drastic change and at times, it can be really finicky and cumbersome. Once you get used to it, it does indeed work fairly well, but even then, it still feels like the accuracy from the 64 original was lost in transition to the D-pad. It just is not as smooth.






    One thing that does make a better transition though, are the graphics. The graphics here have been given somewhat of an overhaul. The graphical look of the original is intact, but it has been cleaned up quite a bit here. The textures now look more solid and less grainy and many enemies and characters have been completely redone and no longer have a jagged or blocky look to them, It makes the entire game look far more clean and appealing as a result and it is incredibly well done in that aspect and I commend Nintendo for pulling this off. The game looks really good for a handheld system at the time and it blew me away. Even all of the characters that you play as look wonderful. Speaking of...






    Another huge addition to this release are the new characters. Instead of just playing as Mario, you now can play as Yoshi, Luigi and Wario as well! You don't even start as Mario but rather Yoshi, you rescue Mario a bit later, as well as the other characters. These characters have their own special abilities and certain stars have to be obtained with these characters because of their abilities. This addition is something I really like, though there are some problems. While there are Caps lying around that will let you become a character of the hat that is there, having to switch characters to get certain stars can be a bit annoying. Also, some characters are just not as useful as Mario. Mario is the only one that can properly wall jump and that is one of the most useful abilities in the game. Without it, the other characters are not as agile. Luigi can float in the air for a bit, but that is just not too useful. On top of that, the ability caps are now replaced by Flowers. These flowers contain certain abilities for each character, such as the invisibility for Luigi or the Metal power for Wario, instead of Mario being able to do all of the abilities himself. This to me just seems unnecessary as it now adds another whole step to getting stars that we could normally get in the original game. Overall though, I do like the addition of the characters as they add even more variety to the overall gameplay.


     

    On top of all of this, there are now 40 additional stars to collect and now mini-games to play, which you acquire these buy collecting keys that the rabbits have. The rabbits are back and instead now hold keys which give you these mini-games, each character has a specific overall theme. These games make use of the touch screen fairly well and are a lovely addition. It just adds more and more content to this great package.


     


    Final Verdict:






     

    Thank you for reading! ^___^ This is a very fun release and it is a game I have recently started playing again.


  16. Kyoshi Frost Wolf

    Achoo

    By Kyoshi Frost Wolf,

    *sniffle* Sorry, been all sniffly and sneezy today. Oh hey, a new banner. IT SUCKS. Wait, I made it. IT SUCKS.
     
    Nah, I'm kidding. Seriously though, thank you all so much for the compliments on it. What makes me happiest about it is seeing those that find joy in it, that makes me smile. I still cannot make any statuses, nor can I respond to statuses or posts on my profile, so that is why I have been unable to respond to the posts on my profile, so that is why I couldn't respond right away. Well, technically I cannot respond at all right now, BUT, I can fully acknowledge you right here. :3 So to Chip Circuit, FlutterstepHD, Little Flyer, Shadow Dash, Ziggy, Bojo and of course my wonderful boyfriend NothingIsEverything (<3), thank you so much for the post and thank you to anyone else that might post after the posting of this blog. It really makes me feel all sorts of joy seeing the joy you all have.
     
    So yeah, I still cannot do the status thing, bummer. Trying to get something worked out but it is currently a waiting game. So in the meantime, I have been.....being me, I guess. Playing games, listening to music, playing more games, you all know me by now. Posting around, which I am gonna try to get back to my levels of activity that I had before. With that I have also set my profile back to mostly how it was with some exceptions. Being reminded of what makes us feel joy is something that is always good, so I want to keep that theme. You all remind of this.
     
    Anywho, I am sorta rambling I suppose, wanted to let you all know what's up. Late night rambling from Kyoshi? ABSURD!! HURBURBURBUR! Yup. Also, Elite Dangerous Horizons: KYOSHI WANT.
  17. Kyoshi Frost Wolf
    Thought I would be asleep by now but I am still up for some reason. Probably thinking which creates anxiety which creates not sleeping..ness. I wrote a new game review so um....yay? Beyond that it has been thinking of random things, and because I am tired depression has sorta set in as well, but only in the way of thinking I am useless. Like asking the question 'Do I really provide anything to the world at all?' It seems most often I would say no but it seems many would disagree so there is that. I want to look at each day with excitement but with many things it is difficult to do now, anxiety really is what makes is difficult to the extreme. I remember back in the day, when I would stay up late and of course I had no internet, I would get extremely lonely. To the point of not being able to sleep, but then I would stay up until I could see sunlight and it would make me think, it is a new day. I can be excited about that. Over the years though that has been getting so hard to do, for reasons I am sure many of you know by now. I talk about it all too much really, but I guess rambling about it is better than...being saddened by it? That kinda happens anyway but rambling does help. I often yearn for that feeling of my childhood, I want that feeling for many things in my life these days.It is just rough.
     
    This is just me rambling in a tired stupor. I think I should lay down, try to relax and go to sleep, so I may attempt that.
  18. Kyoshi Frost Wolf
    If you have read a certain blog post I made a couple of days ago, you may think I was leaving entirely. Well, I'm not, I have decided against it, but to be honest, it is ONLY because of my friends here. I have no other reason to be here anymore. So it is because of my friends that I have changed my mind, which that is worth it alone, even if there are many, many things I have problems with on this site.
     
    Just to give a heads up, my status stuff is still disabled, and who knows when they will decide to put that back on, but whatever. I will probably post around for a little bit, but I will try to think of my friends, as it is the only positive I can think of here.
     
    I am also dropping my Ponysona for a little while, as I would rather not be reminded of myself.
  19. Kyoshi Frost Wolf
    The Division is shit. There, that is the simple version. Anything else? how about Ubisoft model the game a bit after Destiny, one of the biggest pieces of shit in gaming? Fucking brilliant. A game about running around, shooting guys, then running around some more, shooting guys, OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER. That's it. Yay. Woo. Soooo awesome. The Division lets us see the excitement of missions being reused constantly, the same shitty voice overs all the fucking time and bullet sponge enemies that can take multiple shots to the skull. Oh, you are level 26 and almost to level 27? Well, regardless of any of that 'gear' that you spent hours playing to get, that one level 27 guy will fucking destroy you. So all of that loot that you got that you thought would help you in firefights? Nope, sorry, it means absolutely nothing. Time to go grind for 50 more hours in the hopes of getting better yet still worthless loot to supplement your pathetic life. FUN. SO FUN. Oh, but if you play with friends, you can do the exact same shit that you were doing before, but now it is easier because you have numbers, so be sure to tell your friends to buy this game and give the companies more money! Then you will truly enjoy the game! Oh and buy the season pass too, because you haven't wasted enough money yet. So then you can experience the thrills of glitches, online only gameplay, enemies that only know how to rush your position because they apparently know they can take multiple shotgun blasts to the face, and so much more! Terrible story? Check. Terrible voice acting? Check. You can also create your very own character with such few options that games from over 10 years ago have had better! Seriously, could you ask for anything better? Can't wait for that DLC and endless amount of sequels!!!!!!
     
    Gaming is fucked.
  20. Kyoshi Frost Wolf
    Pokemon Yellow



    Platform: Gameboy, 3DS via Virtual Console



    Genre: RPG



    Publisher/Developer: Nintendo/ GameFreak



    ESRB: E



    Price: $10 USD






    Pokemon is a phenomenon in gaming today. It has grown into a gargantuan franchise selling millions up on millions of copies with each release and it has grown a fanbase that is so dedicated to their love for this series and rightfully so. Pokemon is a series that feels timeless even with some flaws. This started with Pokemon Red and Blue and later, these games were updated a bit with Pokemon Yellow; Pikachu Edition.


     

    Pokemon, overall, is a pretty simple concept that many of you may know by now. You play as a character that you can name yourself, going on an adventure to catch Pokemon, train them, defeat trainers and gym leaders, in hopes that you can become the Pokemon master. It is a simple concept that still works even to this day.






    The overall gameplay is straight forward. You move around, encountering random battles depending on where you are moving. These random battles are Pokemon that you can fight, defeating them nets whatever Pokemon that was used in that battle experience points to level up and become stronger. You can also, of course, catch these Pokemon to add to your team, you can name all of them to your liking as well. You will also be running into other trainers, who are nameless in this early iterations, besides their generic titles. Defeating them nets you money and these are usually required to defeat to progress in many areas.






    What makes this gameplay work so incredibly well is the ease of access yet possible depth. Catching Pokemon, leveling them up, it is a rather simple affair. Players of most ages will be able to grasp the concept right away and going through with no strategy can still work, but there is also many possibilities to be strategic. Using the right moves, knowing the stats of your Pokemon, know what could be weak or strong against certain Pokemon and their stats, it actually is really fun to see your Pokemon wipe the floor thanks to you knowing what kind of stats to expect and proper move allocation. While the newer games fair far better in this aspect, it is still in these early titles and it is still a treat.






    The graphics are also wonderful, especially for an 8-bit handheld system of that age. The game has a simplistic overworld style that is basic but charming beyond belief for me. The in battle sprites look fantastic on most of the trainers and Pokemon, far improved from the Red and Blue versions. The sprites here are the first time we have seen many Pokemon be show accurate. Some sprites are still a bit odd (Onix looks weird to me honestly) and the sprites from behind on your side don't look anywhere near as good, but this is an 8-bit handheld system. The sound and music are also wonderful, with many catchy tunes and sound effects that are minimalistic but work so very well here.






    Another awesome aspect that you can do in these games, is multipalyer. Connecting to another playing via a link cable on Gameboy or wirelessly with the 3DS, connecting with friends and trading, battling, is another huge aspect to this series. It is fun to take your assembled team and using the aforementioned strategies for a huge battle. It can be intense and something I highly recommend trying out.


     

    Really, I cannot think of too many flaws that this game has, despite some obvious shortcomings. This game, like the entire series, can be relatively easy in retrospect. Endlessly grinding can make battles be super easy if you put the time necessary to do it, but this is a thing with nearly every RPG of this caliber. Losing all of your Pokemon in a battle has you being put at the nearest Pokemon center so there really is no error for losing here, other than having to walk back. Some other minor things include inventory space being incredibly limited, with plot crucial items taking up spaces. Also, the story here is pretty much nonexistent, though story has never been a series strong point, either in the games or the show. Your rival is also the most generic thing ever, but these things still don't detract from the overall playing experience.


     

    Final Verdict:






     

    Thank you for reading my 30th Turbo Review! ^____^ Can't believe I even have this many.


  21. Kyoshi Frost Wolf
    Hazah! The Kyo family has a couple of new members in my room. Went to an exot pet store over the weekend and made a purchase that I am really happy for.


     

    Behold, the latest and greatest in Kyo-petness!






     

    This is Stabby and Fwoomp! They are Zebra Finches and they are absolutely lovely. :3 This is the first time ever that I have owned a bird of any kind and already, I am so happy I did this. Their meeps are wonderful and they just seem to have so much personality about them.


     




     

    So what do you think of the birdies? :3 Do you have any birdies?


  22. Kyoshi Frost Wolf
    World Heroes Perfect



    Platform: Neo-Geo Arcade and AES



    Genre: Fighting



    Publisher/Developer: SNK






    The fighting genre exploded in popularity in the early through mid 90's, mostly thanks to Street Fighter II becoming an instant hit in both the arcades and on home consoles. As a result, many fighting games that attempted to emulate its style came about and while some managed to rise above what they were trying to be, there were some that just failed in almost every way. One of those games, was World Heroes Perfect, an oddly ironic named fighter that just couldn't hit the mark.






    World Heroes Perfect was a Neo-Geo arcade fighting game released in 1995. Upon initial examination, it looks like a pretty typical 2D fighter at the time. You have many characters to choose from, everything is a sprite and you have all of the typical fireball moves and such to pull off. The problem is when you start experiencing the game, you will want to immediately play something else.


     

    First off, the game's visual style. While it seems like a pretty typical knock off of Street Fighter 2 in visuals, I find them to be rather unappealing. A lot of the colors, while there are a lot, seem to mend together thanks to the sporadic design of the stages. The characters themselves look decent but very uninspired. This also goes with the stages. While they all actually look okay, their overall design leaves a lot to be desired and often, the visuals just look cluttered and unjustified. Clearly, the devs tried to go with style over substance here but failed. The graphics are not bad, but they scream bare minimum for what they are trying to be. even the health bars and images of the characters next to those bars are so very ugly and could have used a bunch of refinement.






    Then there is the sound design. The sound design is even worse. While the music in some stages is okay, like the graphics, much of it is unappealing but there are also some really bad and repetitive tracks here. One stage in particular, which takes place in feudal japan, has a track that just irritated me while playing. Then there are the sounds of the characters. Oh, wow. These are bad. The characters that you play as have their own assortment of grunts and yells like other fighting games do, but here, they happen FAR TOO OFTEN. The grunts and yells here are incredibly repetitive as there aren't that many for each character, but they repeat at a near constant rate. This will annoy you so fast that you will want to mute the game in less than a minute most likely. While I can see why they tried to give each character a personality that is distinct, the sound design here is mostly an epic fail, even if some of the impact sounds are well done. Also, each character here is incredibly generic, from your typical Ryu rip off, to a wrestler, to some demon American football player. Yeah, what?






    Now, we can talk about the control, the most important part to any fighter. While everything else screams sub par, the controls here are actually okay, for the most part. Each fighter controls in a pretty typical manner, but the game just feels clunky. Movement can sometimes be sporadic with how inconsistent the movement speed can be. Double tapping a direction will make your character sort of dash in that direction but this is unreliable and most often results in you being hit. The special moves are also a pain to pull off. Add this up with biased hit detection and lousy movesets for each character and you have a game that just becomes tedious. Most of the A.I. fighters resort to spamming certain moves thanks to the unpolished gameplay and I find that spamming is actually far more effective than any other strategy, which is a huge no-no in a fighting game like this. There is barely any strategy to be had and the amount of damage that each hit does is rather inconsistent as well, some characters do an insane amount of damage with some hits for no apparent reason and this makes the A.I. fights challenging, but in an unfair way.


     

    Final Verdict:






  23. Kyoshi Frost Wolf
    Want just a quick summary? Head to the Final Verdict for that and my rating!



    Nintendo Badge Arcade



    Platform: Nintendo 3DS



    Genre: Arcade



    Publisher/Developer: Nintendo






    2015 was an odd year for Nintendo. While we received greatness like Bayonetta 2, Nintendo decided to experiment with much greedier concepts. One of these was Amiibo Festival. The other, was Nintendo Badge Arcade. An awesome looking concept on paper that is foiled by greed.


     

    Nintendo badge arcade is a simple premise that sounds like a winner. You play on various claw machines to get numerous types of badges from several games and these badges can be used to decorate your home screen. That sounds cool! While doing this, you have a pink rabbit that is your assistant as you do this. He likes to make all sorts of puns and tell you about stuff going on in Nintendo. Like new games and even past games. Sounds good, right?


     

    Quickly, you will see how this concept falls apart. Early on, you are given some free plays to maybe get some badges, but the first problem arises: The control. While the control is simple, the claw machine physics feel incredibly biased against the player, making for a lot of cheap moments when the claw doesn't want to properly grip onto a badge or just randomly stops because it came in contact with the wall slightly. On top of that, the badges love to slip right out of the claw and it makes for a very luck oriented experience. While this might actually be very accurate to real claw machines, this makes for a very frustrating and pointless gameplay experience.






    On top of this, the plays cost $1 for 5 of them. Essentially 20 cents a play. While that may not seem too bad on the surface, the game here is mostly luck and there are many plays where you may get nothing at all. Thus, this is a case where you are paying for potentially nothing at all and that is terrible for a video game. The game is free to download, but since you rarely will get free plays, one a day if you are lucky, the game essentially costs money to do anything. All for simple badges that do look nice, but are not worth such an investment, especially at the chance of not getting them at all. Along with this, there are also many machines that have badges in places where it will take more than one play to get them, mostly for popular characters that Nintendo knows that people want. Clever, but also, a dick move.






    Then, there is the rabbit. This pink assistant at first seems like a friendly little guy to help you learn the game and give you some tips. While this seems true at first, it quickly becomes apparent that this characters exists for one purpose: To trick the kids. His personality is clearly fine tuned to make children get excited about these badges and talk them into spending money off of their parent's credit card. Every single time you use up your free plays, which happens very, very often, he will ask you if you want to switch to 'paid play' and of course, the selection marker is on 'Yes' by default. This tactic, while blatantly transparent, feels rather shameless and something I never quite expected from Nintendo.





     

    Final Verdict:






     

    And there you have it. One of the worst 3DS games of last year and of all time. Thanks Nintendo, I guess.


  24. Kyoshi Frost Wolf
    Want just a quick summary? Head to the Final Verdict for that and my rating!


     

    Call of Duty Black Ops 3


     

    Platform: Xbox One, PS4, PC, PS3, Xbox 360 (*Note: The Xbox 360 and PS3 versions differ from the other versions)


     

    Genre: First Person Shooter


     

    Publisher/Developer: Activision/Treyarch


     




     

    Oh Call of Duty. The FPS cash cow that is being pumped out yearly by Activision to make more and more profits. It seems the series has been on a steady decline over the years, with Ghosts and Advanced Warfare not winning many people over. Many were hoping that Treyarch, the renowned maker of WaW and The Black Ops games, could bring the series back to greatness with Black Ops 3. Well, did they? Gonna be honest here: No, no they did not.


     
     
     

    You all know what Call of Duty is at this point. It is a game where you run, you shoot, and that is the general emphasis of the gameplay. The gameplay here is hardly changed, with the only real additions being some of the equipment, scorestreaks and slight changes to movement. Now you have a small boost after you jump! How creative. While the gameplay remains the same, some guns actually do feel like they have some kick and recoil to them, something that has been lost in the past couple of years. Still, if you are tired of the COD formula of gameplay, then you will not be reinvigorated here. The gameplay here is fairly copy and paste. There are new specialists here instead of any kind of character creator. You unlock customization pieces for these characters that hardly make a difference and each character has their own special abilities, but none of these really feel like a drastic addition. I respect Treyarch's decision to try something different, but these characters have one-note personalities and have some of the most generic lines I have ever heard in a video game. It just doesn't add much to the game.


     
     
     




    Trust me, the game rarely ever gets this exciting



    The game also seems to fumble in the graphics department. Nothing in particular here stands out and in some ways, the game actually looks WORSE than Advanced Warfare, with often muddy looking textures and obviously inferior looking character models. Not a single aspect here looks drastically different than what we have seen before. Even little details, such as your character leaving footprints in snow as they walk, are completely absent, giving a sense of cheapness to the overall experience. The sound quality is overall decent though, with the guns having a nice punch to their sounds, though explosions still sound incredibly weak. Even after 3 years to do it, Treyarch has somehow managed to make a game that, in many ways, looks no better than Black Ops 2 on the Xbox 360, 3 years ago. The game also features tons of reused animations that we seen 6 years ago. Shocking.


     
     
     



     

    The graphics feel like a step down from last year's game


     

    The game offers 3 made modes of play: Campaign, Multiplayer and zombies, pretty standard fare for Treyarch at this point. The campaign here, is abysmal. While Advanced Warfare had a campaign with a predictable story but pretty decent gameplay and set-pieces, this game has an absolutely laughable story with a plot that makes absolutely no sense and gameplay that gets insanely repetitive very quick. The story here makes little to no sense. Characters are established in about 20-30 seconds time and we apparently are suppose to care about these characters when they die, despite me not even being able to remember their names. There is even a boss fight with a character that I literally had no idea who she was, then I remembered that she was a character in the beginning of the game that got maybe, 25 seconds of screentime before disappearing. Well, she is apparently important to the story now, I guess. The plot even unravels itself towards the end and the last 2-3 hours of the game are nothing but padding and endless shooting, just constant shooting. The campaign and story here are absolutely pathetic and it is a shame that Treyarch clearly has no idea how to write a coherent story. There are some positives to the capmaign, such as being able to customize your loadouts as you please and use weapons of your choosing, but this was in Black Ops 2. The only other majorly worthwhile addition is character ranking, but this feature does not make much of a difference, but I am glad it is here at least. Overall, the campaign here is terrible and it is one of the worst single player campaigns that I have ever played, bar none.


     
     
     



     
     
     

    Then there is the zombies mode. That should be awesome right? Zombies was always fun even if it got convoluted at times, right? Well, sadly, zombies is the most disappointing aspect to the entire game. Instead of maybe giving us a few maps to play with or maybe even include some classic maps since they are already made and whatnot, here, we get only one zombies map. That is right, ONE ZOMBIES MAP. To give perspective, Black Ops 1 had TWO zombies maps out of the box and Treyarch had an entire extra year to make this particular game, yet they include less zombie content than Black Ops 1. Fantastic. Now I know some might say "but there are actually two maps, the Giant Zombies map!" Well, no, it is locked behind the $50 season pass so it doesn't count. We only get one map here. Well, is it at least fun?


     
     
     

    Sadly, no. This map is a huge disappointment. It's setting is confusing as hell and the game focuses far more on objectives than, you know, killing the ZOMBIES? Whereas past games had some objectives that you had to complete mainly to unlock new areas, this game has you running all over the place, having to pick up this, take it to there, bring this here, do this do that, and soon, killing the zombies becomes a secondary objective and you will find yourself just training a single zombie constantly to complete these pointless objectives. It gets old and tedious and none of the new characters stand out. The zombies here also are very brutal and can kill you with a flurry of hits very quickly, which feels really weird considering the past games. There is a ranking system here as well, but honestly, I got so bored with this mode that I gave up after a while. Now, most of my time in the game is spent on the multiplayer.


     
     
     

    So that leaves us with the multipalyer. The multiplayer here, is standard COD fare. You run, you shoot, you die, repeat. As I said before, there are specialists here for the multiplayer, each with their own boring personalities, dialogs and special abilities, but most of these special abilities are boring, non-team focused and if you die right after activating it, you have to let it recharge. None of the maps here stand out either, with no special events that happen or any major advancements there, the maps feel incredibly static, even with an emphasis on multi-layered terrain. Of course there are tons of challenges to complete, tons of levels in the game and a bunch of weapons, but this is all standard fare if you played any of the recent COD titles. You know what you are getting and honestly, it is getting very boring. There are plenty of weapons to use here and that can provide some variety at least, but that is if you are not already bored of the gameplay, which is still mostly the same.


     
     
     



     
     
     

    One new feature that is not very new at all, are the supply drops making their way from Advanced Warfare. Here you spend Cryptokeys earned while playing to unlock Supply drops and earn new camos, character animations, player cards and more. while unlocking these things is kinda cool at first, you realize that is makes customization feel fairly meaningless and based on random chance. Not to mention, earning these keys is tedious and slow and just paves the way for the micro-transactions .Yes, this $60 yearly title has both a $50 season pass and micro-transactions. Fantastic, thanks Activision. Even with all of this, there are still no dedicated servers to speak of, resulting in lag and glitches online.


     
     
     

    Final Verdict:


     




     
     
     

    And there you have it, one of the biggest disappointments of 2015 for me. Honestly, I am not seeing why some people are praising this game. They say it is better than Ghosts and AW, which in some ways, it is, but that doesn't make it a good game. In any case, thank you all for reading! It is great to be back doing these! ^____^


  25. Kyoshi Frost Wolf
    Oooooh 2015. What a year for gaming eh? Wait, I already said that. Well, it was quite the year, both for great games and also...for bad games. There were some really bad games this year and some even killed their own respective franchises. Some were cash grabs, some were lazy and slapped together, others were just plain awful. Now, you might be thinking, what was Kyoshi's worst game of 2015? Well, let's reveal that now!


     

    Kyoshi's Worst Game of 2015:



    Project Root






    Oooooooh boy. I ended up playing this little 'gem' late in the year and while I was not expecting a whole lot, I was at least expecting something competent. How wrong I was. Project Root, as it name will not imply at all, is a classic style Shoot 'em Up game with a sort of isometric feel to it. You fly around in a 3D space, shooting enemies, completing objectives


     

    Sounds all fine and dandy right! RIGHT?! Nope. Wrong. All wrong. Bleeeh. This game, is awful. From the get go, the menus and music are incredibly generic and have nothing to them that makes them seem like anyone care`d. It all looks plain and serves to let you know that you just made a purchase mistake. After you select your mission, you are greeted to the 'story', where still images with text are shown, featuring our characters with some horrendous looking artwork. There are no voices here. Just still images with text and the same images are recycled over and over again. It gets worse. Controlling your ship is floaty. You never feel like you are truly in control. Shooting works, but with how the AI ships move makes precisely hitting them a chore. There are enemies in the air and on the ground which both require there own type of shot to be taken down, but it adds little to no variety to the gameplay.


     

    Each stage is ungodly long taking upwards to 10 to even 50 minutes! All while shooting mindless enemies that get stuck on walls, can go THROUGH certain walls thanks to bad coding and while you are doing this, generic, tasteless music drones over you and the horrendous story is told through little dialog boxes that are so minuscule that you won't even pay attention to them. The terribleness with this game just doesn't stop.


     

    You earn upgrades through a painstakingly slow level up system and this is REQUIRED if you ever hope to survive the later missions, basically forcing you to grind through the games horrendous missions over and over. There is even a typo in one of the achievements in the game! WHAT?


     

    If I had to say one positive, one single thing that is not a negative, it is that the game actually seems to function. The game never crashed on me and considering how horrendous the rest of the game is, I am surprised the developers even got that far.


     

    Honorable Mentions:



    Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5



    Animal Crossing Amiibo Festival



    Call of Duty Black Ops 3



    Knight Squad


     

    And there it is! The worst game of 2015 for me has been dealt with! Bleh. That game leaves a bad taste in my ears. Wait, what? I don't know. This game sucks. Thank you all so much for reading! ^__^ I hope you enjoyed reading it! What do you all think? What was the worst games for you this past year? I made a thread for that in the media discussion section so have at it!


     

    This is Kyoshi, pony of a million stuffs, signing off! :3


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