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ozzdog12 · 5 years ago

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2019- Top 7 (And 1)

Another year has come to an end and thus the hotly anticipated Top 7 (And 1) from your ‘average at best’ Ozzdog12 is here for you to feast your eyes upon. 2019 was an extremely odd year for me, gaming wise. As parenthood has taken the full brunt of my time, my gaming time and the choices of what games I decided to play, have changed. I played several games this year that, under any previous year I may have stuck with longer or tried again, but as time for gaming has become more and more thin, I now have less ‘patience’ to stick with a BIG RPG (Disco Elysium, one day I’ll get to you). Now I’m going to contradict my previous sentence with this next sentence. I was unemployed for a stretch of 5 weeks and in between looking for jobs I also found myself with a decent amount of time to play some games. What I did with that time is played 2 games that ultimately made the list, for two very different reasons. I also cleared out a chunk of backlog games (Finally beating Diablo 3 for one, thank you Switch) and played several, shorter smaller games in the process. If interested in my previous Top 7 (And 1) 2017 & 2018.

And now on to the And 1 this year

Favorite game that came out in 2019 that actually came out 20+ years ago: Legend of Zelda: Links Awakening (Switch)

This one was actually a hard one to decide as Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition also released this year. AOE2 is the one game I may have put the most time into ever, cumulatively. But I’m giving the nod to Link’s Awakening simply because its BRAND NEW to me. I did not play the original release and this has been an absolute joy to play and is by far, the best Zelda available on Switch. The updated graphics are gorgeous and the art style is great. I haven’t completed the game yet, but I’m slowly chipping away at it at night. It feels and plays like a Zelda game but updated properly to a modern console to make it feel like a brand new game released in 2019 and not just a reskin/up-resed re-release. The game is also structured in a way that appeals to me more than Breath of the Wild was (see 2017 And One for reference). The world feels big, but is contained in a clever way to make it FEEL bigger than it actually is.

Number 7: Rage 2 (PS4)

Rage 2 is a very weird game. I don’t mean it’s weird in the sense that nothing clicks or that its bad. In fact, it’s a joy to play (especially is you love iD shooters). It’s weird because outside of the gameplay mechanics, it’s fairly barren (intentional or not). And I mean that in terms of both story, things to do and the world itself. Having very little to do with the previous Rage (which I really enjoyed on the 360), Rage 2 starts off quick and with a bang. You choose which version of the character you want to be, learn the mechanics and then are eventually sent to a town. There are a total of 6 ‘story’ missions that are stretched out by requiring you to complete tasks for one of the 3 town leaders who you’ve enlisted for help to take down the General. Once you do this, you fight the General and that’s kind’ve it. Now along the way, you will kill a bunch of mutants and humans alike. There are 3 factions (4 if you count the Ghosts in the DLC) that are in an ever engaging gauntlet to the death and you get to play janitor by spilling more guts and blood, but none of it really matters, the Factions I mean. There are a few Crusher Mutants (BIG MUTANTS) to also fight, but they are essentially extra heavy bullet sponges. Now, I know I haven’t really sold you on it, but here’s the thing. I REALLY enjoyed RAGE 2. It was the perfect game to play during the summer. Due to a personal situation I was dealing with (the looming unemployment) it was nice to just sit down at night, turned my brain off and just kill things. It reminded me of a simpler time in my youth playing games like Doom. Same vibe honestly. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve become more of a story and narrative driven player, but Rage 2 scratched a nostalgia itch for me at the perfect time.

Number 6: Concrete Genie (PS4)

Concrete Genie is a game that is honestly out of left field for me these days. Not that I don’t like these types of games, it’s just as previous stated, time is somewhat of a precious commodity and had Concrete Genie come out in any other year, I probably would’ve skipped it entirely. However, it didn’t and I’m glad I picked this up for $20. It also scratched a nostalgia itch and reminded me very much of the PS2 era of games like Sly Cooper and Jax and Daxter. You play a kid who is bullied (something I am familiar with first hand, sadly) for being a loner and an artist. His creature drawings come to life with the help of a magic paint brush and your objective to put color back into an abandon town and bring it back to life. There is a VR component I wasn’t able to play because I don’t have a PSVR. The game is fairly simply and doesn’t deviate far from that formula. There is very little combat and just enough variety in the monster’s you can make to keep you going. It’s also fairly short. I was able to complete and collect everything in around 7-8 hours. Having a complete game in a bite size package is something I long for these days.

Number 5: The Outer Worlds (PS4)

This game should be higher on the list but I put it here simply because while I have played it a fair amount, I haven’t played it enough to warrant it being higher. I’m maybe halfway through? I love Bethesda Fallouts (And Obsidian’s New Vegas) and this is an improved New Vegas in space with a more cheeky approach. The Outer Worlds never takes itself too seriously and revels in its sarcasm. The companions are all mostly likeable enough and each planet has felt distinctive enough to entice me to keep exploring. The mechanics are improved and the overall gameplay is better than New Vegas. Its structured just like a Fallout game, so there is a lot of comfort there. However, just like any open world RPG, sitting down for less than an hour and trying to accomplish anything is hard. The Outer Worlds is best played in big chunks. It’s at the top of my list to finish in 2020.

Number 4: A Plague Tale (PS4)

A Plague Tale was THAT game that was on everyone’s ‘Hidden Gems’ list. I had seen a trailer around E3 and it intrigued me enough to check it out. I completed it over a whole weekend, a rarity. The game isn’t perfect, but everything is serviceable enough to work within the confines of what it’s trying to accomplish. It has some technical flaws and the occasional hiccup, but I’m a sucker for 3rd person action adventure games. The game is mostly centered around stealth with combat as a mostly secondary option. The game takes place in France in 1348 during the rat plague. You play as the daughter of an alchemist and your brother has been sick since birth. Once your village has been raided by the Inquisition, you are cast out to find help. The plague has taken over the majority of the country, but it isn’t until later in the game where the game takes a turn into the fantasy in a major way. You meet up with some really likeable characters with different personality traits along the way that really kept the story moving in an interesting way. The story was really grim at times, but honestly kept me hooked until the final chapter. The boss battle was extremely frustrating. With a sequel being announced, I am extremely interested in where they take the next chapter.

Number 3: Katana ZERO (Switch)

Katana ZERO rules. There is a fine line where a game is challenging and when a game is unfair. I like a challenge, but I don’t want to work (games like Dark Souls are work). KZ is very similar in style, gameplay, tone, and even music to Hotline Miami. The difference being KZ is a side scroller instead of top down. You play a samurai in a quasi-dystopian future after a war. You are programmed killing machine…or are you? The story is fairly heavy and can bring up some tough subjects. KZ is pretty challenging, especially later in the game, but never once did I feel the game was cheap or unfair. Every time I died (MANY, MANY TIMES) it was always my fault. Either I didn’t plan my attack correctly, I hit the wrong button, took the wrong path, or didn’t time it right. The game has a nifty way of dealing with ‘deaths’ in the game using a neat rewind feature. When you complete a level, it shows you a replay in ‘real time’ giving you a nice recap of your work. Every time I completed a level, I felt a sense of accomplishment. My Switch says I put around 5 hours or more into it once I completed the final level, but it honestly felt longer than that, in a good way. KZ is an absolute blast to play and you should go play it right now!

Number 2: Gears 5 (Xbox One)

I’m a fan of the Gears of War series. The first Gears of War still being my favorite of the series. As time has passed, I’ve become less interested in the series as a whole but still interested enough to play every entry. I thought Gears 4 was the Force Awakens of the series. Essentially a retelling of the same story, with a new coat of paint and new characters with the old ones sprinkled in. Gears 4 was ultimately, fine. So I was actually excited for Gears 5 was going to go and to see how they built upon 4 with a focus on Kait instead of a Fenix. Halfway through the story, the group is divided and it starts to take a different tone. Gears 5 experiments with a first of the series, a semi-open world. I thought it broke up the monotony of wall hug, shoot, reload, repeat. I finished the story in a few days and had a good time with it, though once again, the ending being kind’ve abrupt. The series has a knack for being sort’ve slow, then suddenly turning it to 11, then ending. I wished the campaign was longer, but it’s still solid. Gears 5 introduced a new mode called Escape, where you and two other players plant a bomb and try to escape a level with limited ammo. There is weekly a revolving door of new levels, which is nice, but each level is just reusing assets. I suspect with time and each new Operation (Season) that will be expanded. Horde mode is back and the character classes are fun. New characters have been added and will continue to be added, but they are an absolute grind to unlock (But you can always pay for them!) The reason Gears 5 is this high is mostly due to the amount of time I spent playing multiplayer. As stated, I loved the original Gears of War and put an insane amount of time into the multiplayer. That was in 2007 and the older I’ve gotten, my desire to invest into multiplayer has waned, almost completely. Once again though, right time, right place. I spent almost the entire month of October, logging on every night, completing challenging and playing online. Something I haven’t done since I was a freshman in college. I had an absolute blast. While I don’t delve into online as feverishly as I did in October, I still occasionally dabble when I get the chance.

Number 1: Mortal Kombat 11 (PS4)

As if this was going to be anything else. I’m a Mortal Kombat mark, plain and simple. I’ve loved the series my entire life. I love the lore, I love how ridiculously violent it is, how goofy and bat shit insane the story has evolved. I love it all. But its not all gore and lore, Mortal Kombat is a supreme fighting game. It’s not a nuanced as the likes of Street Fighter, but its infinitely deeper than a game like Smash Bros. Mortal Kombat is in a good sweet spot for both casuals and hardcore fighting fans. MK11 has maybe the greatest in-depth tutorial that has ever been made in any fighting game. It not only teaches you how to play, it teaches you the terminology. The story picks up right after MKX, with Raiden upset with everyone and taking matters into his own hands by torturing Shinnok. Liu Kang and Kitana rule the Netherrealm. Raiden plans an attack where he is essentially the Trojan Horse. All goes according to plan, until Kronika, The Time Keeper, decides she doesn’t like this anymore and eventually brings back some old friends to help her change time (again) and finally eliminate Raiden from existence. In doing this, Kronika has made all those mirror matches from previous games cannon. The production level and story mode in Netherealm games are on another level compared to other fighting games and they continue that trend in MK11. They implement the gear system from Injustice 2 into MK11 and its fine. The Krypt is amazing and is full of secrets. The Living Towers have returned, this time in the form of the ever changing “Towers of Time”. The roster, which is what everyone really cares about isn’t the worst but isn’t the best. None of the new characters are all that fun (Cetrion, Geras, & Kollector) and the returning roster was missing some notable characters. The DLC thus far has been fairly underwhelming compared to MKX. It was nice to see Shang Tsung, Nightwolf, & Sindel return (all 3 should’ve been in the main roster) but Terminator is lame. MKX had the likes of Tremor, Tanya, & Predator. MK11 seems to break what was a fun tradition in DLC having new, MK characters (Skarlett and Tremor, respectively). While I do think there is another set coming after Spawn, if the leak is true, then it seems underwhelming. I played MK11 pretty religiously for almost 2 months and still play at least once or twice a week. I love MK!

#mortalkombat #mk11 #gears of war #gears 5 #katana zero #a plague tale #rage 2 #legend of zelda #links awakening #concrete genie #ps4 #switch #nintendo switch #sony playstation #xboxone #videogames #gaming #games #2019

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pandoramsbox · 6 years ago

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Game for Gaming: Lost Sphear

Game: Lost Sphear (Tokyo RPG Factory and Square-Enix; Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows; 2018)

System: Nintendo Switch

Why this game?

Were I to make a list of my all time favorite video games, Square Enix, or as it was previously know Square or Squaresoft, turn based, Japanese role playing games (JRPGs) from the SNES era would factor heavily; namely, “Final Fantasy VI” (or III, in its original US SNES release), “Chrono Trigger,” and “Secret of Mana.” Not surprisingly, when I saw a trailer for the 2017 Switch release of Tokyo RPG Factory and Square-Enix’s homage to this era of gaming, “I Am Setsuna”, I wanted to play it.

Nostalgia definitely clouds my comparison of “I Am Setsuna” to “Chrono Trigger,” the game it most closely resembles in terms of battle and equipment system. Beautiful graphics and music, interesting story and engaging gameplay make “I Am Setsuna” a fine turn based JRPG in the mold of the games that inspired it. "I Am Setsuna” is not one of my favorite games ever, but I enjoyed playing it, would play it again, and do recommend it. As soon as I finished it, or neared finishing it, I wondered if Tokyo RPG Factory was going to come out with a follow up, and as fate would have it they did, and it was about to come out: “Lost Sphear.”

When “Lost Sphear” was released in North American in January of last year though, I didn’t rush out to get it or play it. The reason was two fold: my (still relatively new at the time) job was extremely busy and gaming wise I was completely transfixed by “Fire Emblem Warriors.” “Why spend money on a game I wasn’t going to sit down and play?” I figured. Then come November, and a sale, it made sense to buy it so I had it when I was ready to play it... Then I promptly became obsessed with “Tetris Effect.”

Like many working adults, I have found that finding time to play story heavy games is hard. As a result, I am more apt to favor games that are more action, less talking.

So my first game in this series was a game that I had never given a fair play to, thus I decided to follow it up with a game I wanted to play, but had wound up forgotten in my backlog.

My playtime: approximately 5 hours:

With RPGs, or any games that were cut scene or tutorial heavy, I knew I would need to give the game at least 3 hours. I got into “Lost Sphear” to the point where I gave it closer to 5.

The game opens with a cut scene/plot battle in the ancient past, which turns out to be the reoccurring dream of the protagonist, Kanata. From there, in the grand tradition of most RPGs and fantasy stories, you round up the characters that will make up your starting adventuring party. Sword using Kanata is joined by pugilist Lumina and sniper Locke. The 3 teenage friends are orphans being raised by the village elder, and part of their chores includes defending the town from encroaching monsters and fishing.

After some expository dialogue, getting the sense of the town, and getting a combat tutorial, the party leaves the village on its first mini mission, to go catch a fish. However, when they return, they discover a white void has absorbed and erased their home, along with anyone who was there.

As they attempt to make sense of what happened, they are joined by a mysterious, Goth guy in a long coat whom goes by “Van,” and fights with beam shooting knives. Together they go find shelter for the night at a cabin in the mountains, and while they sleep Kanata has an info dump dream that breaks down the core plot of the game: to recapture what has been “lost” with the power of memories.

Thus the party has to go around and collect memories, which Kanata has the power to manifest into stones/compacted mass/crystals and use to recover the places, people and things that have been lost to the white void.

After saving the village and getting recruited by a representative from the empire to help combat this phenomenon, which is causing havoc throughout the world, Kanata and comrades discover additional nuances to his powers, including the ability to create new things that give boosts in combat.

I played far enough to discover that the game mechanics of collecting ingredients to make food, which also give combat boosts, and magic/special abilities being contingent upon equipping items called spritnite, were carried over from “I Am Setsuna.”

So “Lost Sphear” had a limited learning curve for me, and I was able to spend more time enjoying than mastering new game mechanics. Even if I had not played “I Am Setsuna,” like most games of recent generation, the game is good about succinctly providing tutorials on game mechanics. However, at the point I stopped playing, before writing this post, I had only barely unlocked, thus barely begun to understand, the magical, steam punky vector suits, which are unique to this game.

Conclusions:

Obviously, I like “Lost Sphear,” and will be playing more of it, if I put in more time than what I deemed the minimum requirement to write a post on it. However, as engaged and pleased as I am with it, in the time I played it, I cannot see it overtaking “I Am Setsuna,” or the 1990s SquareSoft SNES games, in my esteem in terms of dialogue, and possibly characters, for me.

The dialogue is simplistic and repetitive. Even keeping in mind that the reading level should be written so as to be accessible to a wide audience, and the fact that it was translated to English from Japanese, the dialogue still comes across as weak relative to other JRPGs I’ve played, including “I Am Setsuna.” It is not simplistically bad in the fun way, like the famous “spoony bard” line from the first English translation of “Final Fantasy IV” (or II, in its original US SNES release). However, the game gives you the option of rewinding or fast forwarding dialogue, which is pretty useful and something that would have been really handy in the preceding games that inspired this one.

Still, slogging through the info dumps on what the game defines as memories and what they do is both tedious and simiotically draining.

In terms of the characters, they’re stock archetypes, and that’s not necessarily bad. Kanata is the pure hearted hero. Lumina is the, at times temperamental, big sister. Locke is the precocious kid who shoots his mouth off, and hates being called out on his inexperience and shortcomings. Van is the blunt expert with a secret. The personality dynamic in the group is good, actually. I am not overly attached to any of the characters though. In fact, I am mostly just offended that the character who is the source of the most repetitive dialogue, and is basically a bratty little kid, shares a name with the romantic thief, I mean “treasure hunter,” from “Final Fantasy VI.”

Really though, the use of archetypical characters in genre and pulp narratives is something I can readily forgive. Sometimes the narrative goes in ways that subvert the archetypes, and sometimes the characters get fleshed out enough to render them into a more unique personality. Only 5 hours of gameplay in, it’s hard to fully assess what may become of the characters in “Lost Sphear.”

In terms of more positive aspects of “Lost Sphear,” it did improve on “I Am Setsuna” in terms of game mechanics. Unlike its spiritual predecessor, inns are available to heal the party. This standard of JRPGs was absent from “I Am Setsuna” and it was extremely inconvenient. Money is no longer as hard or convoluted to come by in “Lost Sphear,” which likely goes hand in hand with inns being part of the game.

In combat, since the combatants move around the battlefield, it is possible to hit more than one party member or monster. In “I Am Setsuna” this mechanic was incidental and could be optimized for maximum impact with practice. In “Lost Sphear,” they introduce the mechanic early on, and let the player see what monsters are being targeted.

This multiple target mechanic warms my tactical and strategy loving heart! And kudos for the listing the button functions at the bottom of the screen; you can either ignore them, or refer to them if you need a refresher.

While the active combat style requires full attention while playing (as it should), I found exploring the different locations and world map peaceful and relaxing. The color palate is warm and the score perfectly accents the scenes. I genuinely like this gaming environment.

For fans of SquareSoft JRPGs from the 1990s, Tokyo RPG Factory games will appeal to your genre sensibilities. It soothes and panders rather than challenges, but sometimes that is exactly the kind of media you want and need, and that’s okay. Frankly, I think it’s cool that the styles and aesthetics of these games can be retranslated with new technology to reach new audiences, while attracting longtime or lapsed fans. It’s something mainstream Hollywood cinema has done for decades, and enables more texts for genre and narrative studies. Plus, you know, it’s just fun.

#game for gaming #video games #videogames #lost sphear

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m-azing · 7 years ago

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Hades and Persephone on a date in Let Me Call It By Name AND/OR Emergency Voltron Team Meeting from BPR

WELL OF COURSE I CHOSE “AND”

Let Me Call It By Name (Parts IX and X)

So I’m going to combine parts IX and X to do the entire date!! IX begins with Persephone essentially fretting herself to death that she is going to be stood up by her own husband. My take on their relationship is that prior to this moment, there has not been a lot of Asking in this relationship, but an awful lot of Telling from both sides. After her conversation with Artemis in VIII, Persephone has been alerted to this fact and now, as her last resort, wants to see if she can change the game.

Her reasoning behind choosing a bar both are unfamiliar with is to put them on equal ground (and also to hide this event from Demeter, who has been implying has been sending Strong Weather Signals to Persephone to get her butt home, thinking the marriage has finally run its course). I wanted the bar to evoke the NYTW physical theatre a little: high ceilings studded with lights, other patrons out on the town. The line about being “unable to feel drunk” is my little wink at the blurred lines between Hadestown’s fantasy and reality; if Persephone is really a goddess, of course she could make her drunk or sober instantly as she pleased. At this point she’s only drinking for something to occupy herself with, but even that isn’t distracting now, ergo she doesn’t have enough presence of mind to force the alcohol to work with her powers.

“A hush falls over the room as the door swings open and a god walks in.” is maybe the best line I have ever written, in anything, in my entire life.

Persephone is first to apologize not because her behavior is any better or worse than Hades’, but because she has always been the one in the relationship making the first move (see II). She plays her cards first in the hopes that this will set Hades more at ease, giving him the space to join her in finally actually talking about her feelings. Persephone is incredibly emotional in Hadestown, but rarely does she discuss WHY: why she is upset with changes to the underworld, why she also is upset with the status quo remaining as it is. She still has not reconciled her role as the go-between goddess; this is why she at last calms down when Hades reaches back and agrees to step out on the limb with her. Persephone is volatile, but Hades is stable–this is his strength he brings to the relationship, assuring Persephone just by showing up that he is still trying. At last, they can actually have a real conversation instead of a yelling match.

THE DANCING. Look. When ‘Lovers’ Desire” turned out to be not an Orpheus/Eurydice moment as I had imagined from 2012-2016 but in fact a weird tango/blues/freeform mashup between Patrick and Amber, I literally could not stop my arms from briefly rising, prayer-like, in the air. It was important to evoke this stage dance, but not copy it. They’re not having a moment of passion here; they’re having a moment of reconciliation. Making idle flirtatious conversation like your parents at a wedding. Letting themselves come to the terms with the fact that they ARE an old couple now, and they can do old couple things, and bring up nostalgia without having it hurt.

But there is still a little hurt. Hades has spent too long thinking it’s destiny that Persephone will leave him. Persephone has spent too long thinking it’s destiny that she’ll never feel like she’s home. Now finally those fears are plain, and they’re understandable. They at last realize they are still more alike than they are different, and in a moment of clarity, a moment of comfort, they reach out and connect. And they finally can move forward.

By Prudence Ruled (Chapter 2)

In writing the Paladins, the most important thing for me was to make them still feel like themselves, but more older, comfortable versions of themselves. They still bicker and tease but no one worries about pushing any buttons anymore. They are still huge goofballs and Coran is still definitely their weird uncle.

Yet though the OG Castle team is much closer and more relaxed with each other, Allura is still someone more distant. She’s never mentioned her mother because it never occurred to her that the Paladins would be interested or care to hear about her. She is still at all times focused on living in the present moment only; thinking too far back or too far forward is a vulnerability for her. I based Lady Vassa’s appearance on Danai Gurira and her history on what I think would be inspiring for Allura: someone fierce in battle, committed to duty, and ultimately a hero for sacrificing herself for someone else. Allura looks up to her father as a politician, but to her mother as a soldier.

The test (dun dun dunnnn) is based largely on my own Thing For Swords but also how Alteans are all a bunch of meathead jocks who literally gave toddlers harder martial arts training than human teens. As a ritual for the coronation, it represents the characteristics of Altean loyalty that Shiro has been tasked to embody: willingly giving your life for the sovereign so that the Crown will continue above all else. Yet it also places a lot of responsibility on the sovereign’s soldiers. I can imagine in Ye Olde Times there may have been many nobles a new monarch would’ve been tempted to kil, but the ritual challenges you to be controlled, trusting, and most of all merciful.

So how do the kids do? Well, they’re all over 20 now and battle-hardened pilots, but they’ve never had to recite lines at 4 am before while Coran is trying to whack them upside the head with a rolling pin he pinched from the kitchen, and they are SUPPOSED to let him almost hit them instead of everything they have ever been taught about dealing with aliens wielding blunt objects??? Keith of course is the fastest to handle the physical intimidation part, and Hunk’s memory is too good for him to mess up the words. Pidge, slippery beast that she is, is too used to finding the best way to use her height to her advantage. Lance just wants to add some pizzazz to this stuffy ritual.

Shiro? Shiro spent a year being attacked by people with swords with the intent to kill him, and this year will not leave him. Shiro, no matter than he knows Coran and knows this is fake and knows it’s part of a ceremony, cannot overpower his instinct that Not Fighting Means You Will Die. In fact, all of Shiro’s insecurities about having this bodyguard role revolve in some way around his trauma from the gladiator days: reluctance to perform; being in large, noisy crowds; being separated from someone familiar; not being able to protect his friends; and making himself purposefully defenseless and passive.

Shiro’s failure of Coran’s test confirms parts of his fear that he will let Allura down, and that letting her down will result somehow in her death. It is very much a trigger for his spiral in the next section, and as with all of his previous spirals he spins them out by working himself too hard as a coping mechanism instead of actually confronting his fears.

#fic by me #aquamirage #cat fingers anime #by prudence ruled

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wristic · 7 years ago

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Between Earth and Hades (Part 6)

Pairing: Erik X Reader Word Count: 2000 Warning: ( ˘ ³˘)♥

-Part 1- -Part 2- -Part 3- -Part 4- -Part 5- -Part 6-

@breakdaylight @multifandom-slytherin @dulce-sarcasmo @city-of-spooks @kimskew @badbitsh13 @whenimaunicorn @bookswillfindyouaway

Taking a deep breath, you held a hand over your spinning stomach, trying to quell the beating low in your belly, thrumming hard as you realized what you were about to do. It had been a good week of not sleeping. Of babbling on and on to your team who were more ecstatic over going back in the field than your new ability or your dilemma.

You wanted to come forward to Erik now that you had caught a glimpse of just how much he saw in you, that the feelings were in fact returned and not everyone’s imagining or toying with knowing what you felt. All that was left was to get all this tension over with and move toward to… something. And that something was terrifying.

Yet when you stood outside the door to his classroom, a room you once had to sit in to learn history, you fiddled with the buttons of your shirt, asking yourself if you were really going to do this, would he really respond to you, even if he wanted to?

When the door suddenly opened you startled, teens flooding out, some nodding a familiar hello to you. Catching your breath, you peeked in. It hadn’t changed so much, sending a wave of nostalgia to see the rows of desks and his large one always cluttered in the back where he called out kids passing notes.

The windows had always spilled the perfect lighting to ogle him as he talked away and you’d barely listen. It always gave you an excuse to stay late after class, getting lectured if you wanted to be an X-men you’d need to get better grades. The nostalgia lead you in, skirting quietly around the edge with a small smile even as the memories brought about apprehension, some fear you were about to ruin something dear.

The student chatting with him about extra credit caught you, the redhead growing a mischievous smirk before politely dismissing herself. Watching her go lead Erik to you, him grinning wide to find you, yet you startling again when the door shut.

It didn’t bother Erik any, swiveling in his chair to give you his full attention, looking so relaxed and ready to tease you. It had been quite a long while since you two had met in the classroom.

“Um.” you started, fiddling a little, you kept telling yourself you should go. But it would look so strange now if you did. But would confessing really be worth it if he wasn’t ready, how could he be ready if he didn’t know-

A warm hand fell on your shoulder, bringing you back. Standing before you was Erik’s reassuring smile, a hint of playful concern in his eyes as you looked up at him in a small terror, again simply stuttering, “U-um…” and then looking down whispering, “Okay, okay...” and a finally snapped up your head up and a proclaiming louder than necessary, “WANNA SPARE?”

Scoffing, Erik asked, “What?”

A bit calmer you tried to stumble over your own crappy save, “Would you like to spare? I-I feel like I should with my new ability a-and I’d like to try it against you.”

Erik was so confused, obviously and understandably. You gulped under his interrogative stare before he retracted his hand into a defensive cross of the arms. “You think just because you can see me at a different angle you’ll kick my ass this round?”

Feeling loads better by not admitting your affection, you found your pride, even if he didn’t know it was kicked across the floor into the dust. “There’s only one way to find out.”

Chuckling, he moved around you, “Alright, Scott was being a pain in the ass with his shameless flirting anyway, I could use a decent fight.”

Sighing in both disappointment and relief, you followed him out, letting him start a small conversation involving your friends excitement. Across the hall, the redhead was standing, looking cross with you as soon as you exited.

Really?

Your mouth dropped offended and you screamed in your head, I’m doing my best!

With a smirk she rolled her eyes at you, I have a bet going so do better.

You were thinking more to yourself when you asked, Does everyone in the mansion know?

Yes.

You glared at her until Erik brought you out with a question, having no idea what was going on in your head and your heart. Hell, you didn’t even know what was going on. For some reason your pulse jumped when you entered the locker room to suit up. You kept wracking your brain over and over, what were you doing here, how were you suppose to tell him, why did your brain jump to this instead of a date? What was wrong with you?

He felt the same you reminded yourself, this shouldn’t be that hard.

Stepping out into the large steel room, you didn’t see him, adjusting your glove before the door shut on it’s own. Turning back Erik was leaning against the wall, looking positively devious. He was going to win, he always won.

It was hard not to mirror the attitude, swinging your hip to one side as he walked to you, measuring you up as he closed the distance, “I hope you uncovered something else in that forest, otherwise you’re just asking for a free beating. Maybe I’ll let you get something out of it, place a bet against yourself for a 20?”

“I’ll accept my defeat with a little dignity thank you.” the black spilled from you as you stepped back, slowly creeping out the lights above but not encompassing him. You found in the past putting him in a dome lessened his chances to find you, Hank almost told you why until Erik covered his mouth and explained it would be ‘funnier’ this way.

You took your steps, light as a feather as you rounded in the layer of shadow, closing your eyes and forcing your mind to separate, apparite in the shade of the crow and fly faster around, reaching behind him where you felt him shift. Your moving consciousness seemed to leave its own reverberations, distracting him.

Erik leapt into the shadows, forcing you to move, opening pockets to lose him and summoning the crow on top of you, splitting it so he didn’t know which direction you were taking.

He didn’t fall for the bait, lunging at you, spinning your back to his chest, panting behind you, “So soon? And here I thought you’d put up a fight-”

In a hop, you flipped him over your back, Erik landing with a hard thud. Slipping away through the blacked out maze you giggled, “Fight? I just gotta out last you old man.”

“Old man?” he grunted, rolling back to his feet, “with age comes wisdom.”

Like ghosts, you felt things, shrapnel shifting through the shadows, too quickly for your senses to really process. You felt him moving too but it was clouded, only able to focus for short periods enough to change your direction. The metal littered around you, shifting like a radar to point him in the right direction.

In a breath you stopped running, separating again, but this time you kept it just above you. From there you tried to split it again but it only grew, at the very least encompassing your body and a little more, masking your unmoved position.

You heard his footsteps slow, his breathing catch as his makeshift map was disrupting around an orb much larger than a person or a bird. “Hm. Clever.”

Erik walked into the barrier, your senses were impossibly heightened to the point the air was knocked out of you. It wasn’t just a disturbance, you felt every shift and fiber of his suit, heard his heart beating in your ears and saw the sweat on his skin. Feeling every step touch the ground and twitch of his fingers, the softness of his hair sent shivers through you, his exhale felt down your neck.

It was too overwhelming, gasping and retracting, all of it. The shadows dispersed from the whole room as you shook your woozy head.

“You alright?” blinking rapidly you came back to Erik, him smirking with a hand out in case you started tipping.

“Yeah it just,” you shook your head again, stumbling until a pair of hands held you up, “whoa that felt weird.”

You both chuckled as you steadied on your feet, feeling oddly cold and numb. When you lifted your still swimming head you were greeted by his gentle smile, his hands still holding you feeling so warm and strong.

“You ready to keep going?”

You thought about it, thought about backing away from his touch, from going to bed knowing the next day would be the same as all the others. Your facade crumbled and your frustrations fell bare, “I-I can’t do this anymore.”

But you couldn’t do this while facing him directly. The shadows engulfed you both, Erik looking around lost before your hands came up to cup his face, bringing him to you.

While your adrenaline had been pretty thick in your veins, it spiked painfully in all your doubt and fear, in the touch of his lips on yours like you imagined thousands and thousands of times, but this was real and so tantalizing to just rest in this moment forever.

Erik was stiff against you, his grip on your arms solid, not pushing you away. As your lips slipped away from his, they tightened more, unsure to keep you, but terrified of you leaving. His sigh shook against your skin, pulling you back into him as the darkness held, blocking everyone and everything from the knowledge of what he wanted to take.

Feeling him take you, kiss you of his own volition sent you dizzy, caving your body against his. You gave a small moan as his hand cupped your neck, tilting his head and deepening the kiss. Your hands ran up and down his side, pulling on his hips, not shying away from all your fantasies not measuring up in the least and taking all the affection he offered, no matter how hesitance drifted to taking you aggressively.

The lights started to sprinkle through as you couldn’t think enough to keep the barrier, and as it hit his eyelids Erik tore himself back.

He was as breathless as you were, running his fingers along his damp lips as he looked anywhere but you.

“Erik…” he turned away but you enveloped him in darkness again, “Please, I’ve been holding onto this for what seems like forever. I know you feel the same way-”

“It’s inappropriate.” he gulped, running a hand up his face. “Even if you are an adult now, you were my student once, it’s the principal of the thing.”

Taking a cautious step to him you tried to reassure him as you’ve always reassured yourself, “Well I happen to know a couple of telepath’s who don’t feel that way.”

He scoffed, “That’s because they’re telepaths, they don’t always see things on the outside.”

Your hand fell on his wrist, so desperate to hold him. “I know.” At the least he turned to you, rigid as he was to respond. “We can take things however you need to. I just needed you to know, I need for us to react on this in someway, anyway.” Breathing out the pain you added, his kiss and hands still tingling you and swimming in your memory, “You can say we need to drop it entirely if that’s what you want, all I need is to know how you feel.”

Gently his hand came to entwine in your fingers, relaxing in your grip as he turned a little more. You sighed as his other came to grip your chin, hovering so close to your lips you nearly caved to temptation and took the distance. But it needed to be his choice, and the longer he waited, breathing so subtly you thought he might be holding his breath, you felt him retract. “I...” his hands released you, stepping back as he mumbled. “I need to think about this.”

Licking your dry lips you nodded, “Alright.” dispersing the shadows as he walked away.

#Erik Lehnsherr #erik lensherr x reader #erik lensherr imagine #magneto #magneto imagine #magneto x reader #x-men imagine #my stuff #between earth and hades #You're thinking about it too hard Erik!

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operationrainfall · 6 years ago

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Title Castlevania Anniversary Collection Developer Konami Publisher Konami Release Date May 16th, 2019 Genre Adventure, Platformer Platform Steam, Nintendo Switch, PS4, XBox One Age Rating T for Teen – Blood, Fantasy Violence, Partial Nudity Official Website

I wasn’t originally planning on reviewing the Castlevania Anniversary Collection. After all, I didn’t receive a review copy, and mostly bought it to satisfy my own nostalgia. But the more I played it, enjoying both reliving and experiencing anew highlights in this storied franchise, I decided I might as well write something. After all, I was already taking dozens upon dozens of screenshots. And despite only being a nominal fan of the Castlevania series, I felt I had some things to share. I say nominal because I only really got into the series when Symphony of the Night revolutionized the entire thing, and you’d be accurate in saying there’s a big difference between the original games and those which came after SOTN. Hell, before this I hadn’t even beaten any of the original NES games other than Dracula’s Curse, nor had I touched upon the Gameboy or Genesis entries. So I actually had a lot of work to do in order to write this review. The question is, did I come out of it with my fandom gloriously inflamed by the Collection? Or was it just a miserable pile of remakes?

I’m going to start out by explaining how this review is going to go, since it’s not often I review 8 games at once. This review will devote a few paragraphs to each game in the order I played them, along with plenty of pretty pictures. At the very end, I’ll touch upon the visual and audio presentation plus anything extra, and finish it up with my summarized thoughts. With that out of the way, let’s start my first foray into the Belmonts’ Gameboy mayhem with Castlevania The Adventure.

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It’s easy to think of portable iterations of any popular series as quick cash grabs, and I admit I didn’t expect much of anything from Castlevania the Adventure. Luckily, I couldn’t have been more wrong. Because while the classic Gameboy wasn’t capable of the visual feats of the NES, Konami seemed to take that as a challenge to pack as much awesome into this tiny adventure as possible. Though it only includes 4 levels, no doubt due to the limitations of said platform, they are each multi-tiered and full of challenging platforming and nasty beasts. There’s everything from Punaguchi (Bone Pillars) to Mudmen to what I assume must be the ancestors of Fleamen. While falling into bottomless pits was frustrating, it was made less so with the advent of save states. I actually stumbled upon that feature, discovering it was available for all the games in this Collection. I quickly grew to love its inclusion, since you can press ZL at any time to freeze the game, and then either save or load your progress. You might think that made things too easy, but you couldn’t be more wrong. Saving at the wrong time, such as when at low health or equipped with a bad sub-weapon, made things much harder, so I grew to time my saves carefully. They were a necessity, especially when facing challenges like instant death spike walls chasing me through levels. You’re welcome to play without any saves, but that should only be reserved for the most hardcore of fans.

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The bosses in this game were also surprisingly impressive. Though simplistic, they offered a robust challenge, especially the room full of Goblins (they’re really Fleamen) jumping out of holes. As for Dracula himself, being on the Gameboy didn’t sap any of his challenge. He managed to teleport all about hurling waves of fire at me, and as if that wasn’t enough, transformed into a giant, deadly bat for the final confrontation. I was really quite impressed by Castlevania the Adventure, but felt I needed a break from Gameboy graphics afterwards. And so, I decided next to try a game that just now officially made its stateside debut…

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I had actually heard a lot about Kid Dracula over the years, but there’s a big difference between hearing secondhand and playing firsthand. What I never could have guessed was how truly weird and innovative the game was. First off, while most Castlevania games are dark and brooding, this side story is light and cheery. You play the titular Kid Drac (not clear if he’s supposed to be a young Dracula or Alucard, but that’s not really important) on his quest to oust a pretender to his monster throne. That’s about as serious as things get, and I quickly was met with how absurd this game was.

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For one thing, every monster in this game is a cutesy and cartoony one. There are adorable little witches, goofy skeletons, cheerful bats and much more. But don’t let that fool you, this game is far from easy. If I had felt any guilt about using save states in Castlevania the Adventure, that completely left me here. Kid Dracula doesn’t really believe in checkpoints, so often if you get killed, it’s back to the very beginning of a stage. That’s made more difficult by the fact many of the bosses here are large threats who like to cheat. The most mellow is a happy ghost who looks creepily similar to a Klansman, and even he killed me a couple of times. Pretty much the only boss who won’t pose a challenge is the Statue of Liberty (no, you didn’t hear that wrong), since you just need to beat her quiz show to win the “battle”.

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What makes this game a treat though are all the weird combat conventions. Each time you beat one of the 9 stages, Kid Drac gets a new power which he can scroll through at will. If that sounds like Mega Man, just you wait. He can also charge all of his attacks by holding the attack button, though some of his fully charged powers double as new ways to traverse your environment, such as transforming into a bat or flipping onto the ceiling. Which is my way of saying that there’s a lot of complexity to the game, and no shortage of challenge. Turning into a bat didn’t keep me from dying dozens of times, and in a game with this many stages, you’d better be ready to die. The only thing at your disposal to earn more lives are the totally random minigames, such as guessing the color of dancing girl’s panties, stabbing a skeleton or various games of chance. If nothing else, Kid Dracula is worth playing just to see how full of deliciously crazy Japanese flavor it was. After beating it, I needed something a bit more grounded, so let’s return to the years of the Gameboy.

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Everything that impressed me about the original Gameboy outing was enhanced in Castlevania II: Belmont’s Revenge. It continues the story of Christopher Belmont, who was victorious, defeating Dracula in Castlevania The Adventure. But you can’t keep a good vampire down, and this story has the ghastly spirit of the Count take possession of Christopher’s son, Soleil Belmont. Symphony of the Night flashbacks aside, I was not expecting this much lore in the game. After all, the first one was pretty basic, but there’s some intense father / son drama in the game, not to mention the first true boss fight against a human in the series, serving as a progenitor for fights against the likes of Juste, Richter and Maxim later on.

One of the reasons I enjoyed Belmont’s Revenge was that it took all the things that were good about the first outing, and smoothed over the rough edges. Sure you can and still will die, but you have a bit more breathing room. And the bosses were wildly creative, in my opinion. You have an elemental wizard, a fight against two living statues, an armored demon, a creepy wall monster, a super difficult bone dragon, Dracula himself and even your son, Soleil. What gives you a fighting chance, unlike in Castlevania The Adventure, here you have access to a couple of sub-weapons – the axe and holy water. Being accustomed to the later games, I thought the water was the way to go, but to my great surprise, the axe was my go-to weapon of choice. Being able to hit things at odd angles was a constant life saver.

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As much as I loved most things about this game, there was one sticking point – the final bosses. The fight against Soleil was incredibly difficult, but not as tough as Dracula. Mostly because the good Count fired rotating balls of death, and finding a safe place to avoid them required much patience on my part. The only upside is this time there was only one phase to the Dracula fight, so it wasn’t impossible. Overall though, this was the better of the portable entries included in the Collection. Next up, we’ll go back to where it all started on the NES.

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There’s a reason I took my time getting to the original Castlevania, and that reason is simple – fear. I worried I wouldn’t be up to the task of tackling the game that started it all without the modern conventions I’ve grown accustomed to. You can’t level up and you’re totally reliant on timing and having the right sub-weapon equipped. I also was concerned the platforming would be too much for me. Thankfully, those fears were mostly unfounded. Sure, the original game is hard, but it also has some sections that are surprisingly easy. Furthermore, most of the bosses in the game are a cakewalk, with the notable exceptions of Death and Dracula, who are both unrelenting bastards.

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I learned a lot of lessons after playing the first Castlevania. First off, I learned Dracula’s design has changed wildly over the years. I always thought of him as the dapper caped gentleman with long hair, but here he looks far more ghastly and demonic (and that’s before he transforms). I also learned that the bad writing for the plot isn’t a bug, but a series feature. And that Fleamen are horrible in any game, but doubly so when you have limited evasive movement. And lastly I discovered that some of the most iconic bosses, such as Medusa and the Mummy, start out as pushovers. There are also weird discrepancies, such as Dracula’s fireballs having homing capability. That said, I had a lot more fun with the first game than I expected. But after all that retro, I wanted something a bit more updated, so I moved on with Super Castlevania IV.

Head to the SNES on Page 2 ->

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Some games transitioned to the SNES with flair, and Super Castlevania IV is certainly one of those games. They took everything that made the series iconic and seasoned it with a bunch more spice. This was the first game in the series where you could whip in multiple directions, as well as fling your whip around to block projectiles. You could also swing across gaps with it, a feature I think should have shown up in more games. But what I loved most about this entry was how huge it was. They jam packed content into this, and when I thought I was almost done, I was barely at the halfway mark.

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The experimental nature of the game was fantastic, and I loved how it really took chances with different ideas. They used Mode 7 graphics for crazy rotations and things like giant chandeliers you could stand upon. They also made it really feel like a Castlevania with lots of opportunities for a cheap death. That happened a ton in the Clock Tower, and I died several times fighting against the Mummy atop giant clock hands. They even took foes I thought of as weak in later entries like SOTN and made them a true threat. Namely, the ghostly dancers are a force to be reckoned with here. When they turned invisible and started attacking me, I nearly lost my composure. And as weak as Slogra and Gaibon were later, they were an impressive challenge here.

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Perhaps the best part of this game was the final path to Dracula. While the fight against Dracula himself isn’t my favorite in the series, it’s plenty challenging. And considering you have to brave a gauntlet of foes like Death and others to get there, it feels suitably epic. I already liked Super Castlevania IV from playing it years back on my Wii U, but after finally beating it here, it’s easily become one of my favorite entries in the long running series. So of course, my next game was one that has gotten a ton of praise as well.

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Dracula’s Curse is iconic in the Castlevania fandom, and it’s not hard to understand why. Not only did it introduce multiple characters and branching paths, it also had tight gameplay and the challenge fans have come to expect. Hell, the recently released Netflix series was heavily influenced by this game, and that wowed us fans. I had played a little of Dracula’s Curse on my 3DS, but I got frustrated by some of the bosses and hadn’t picked it up afterwards. So I figured now was as good a time as any to try again.

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Whereas the original Castlevania featured Simon Belmont, this one took place several hundred years earlier. As such, it made sense to focus on his ancestor Trevor. The curveball were the 3 other characters – Sypha, Grant and Alucard. All three have totally unique play styles and offer interesting ways to explore. That goes triple for Grant, who can hop around like a heroic Fleaman. I daresay that Symphony of the Night wouldn’t have existed without this game, and for that, I love it even more. That said, there is one thing about this game that really irritated me. Sometimes when you kill an enemy, they will drop a random sub-weapon, which I think is a feature exclusive to this game. Sounds great, except it often happens in the heat of the moment and usually gives you a sub-weapon you really don’t want. I can’t count the number of times I reloaded my save to avoid getting a shitty weapon.

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The bosses in Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse are pretty tough, and the fact that you can take a variety of paths through the game makes things interesting. While they toned down some bosses, there are plenty that will cause you grief. One is the recurring Cyclops boss, another is a fight against an evil spirit who possesses multiple monsters to kill you. Even though they mellowed out Death from the first game, he also has a second, horrific form. And while I wasn’t a huge fan of the Dracula fight in Super Castlevania IV, the one here is fantastic. I can’t say I understand why he turns from a Count into a monstrous amalgamation of brains and then an angry bird statue, but the creativity and challenge impressed the hell out of me. Frankly, we’re lucky we got this game, since the one that preceded it was highly controversial. And that one’s up next.

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I’m gonna be perfectly frank, I considered skipping Simon’s Quest. While you hear nothing but good things about Castlevania III, II is the polar opposite. It’s confusing, awkwardly written and somewhat psychotic. And yet, the more I played it, the more I found weird little charming features. For one thing, the music in this game is still amazing, no matter how much of a mess everything else is. For another, aspects like leveling up and equipping items got introduced here, and without those, I never would have gotten my first Metroidvania. They introduced Churches to fully heal you here. Also, the day / night cycle was actually really cleverly used, and it made sense Dracula’s minions were more powerful at night. So much so that I kind of wish it had made it into other games, not counting the stupid N64 entries.

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With all those nice things out of the way, let’s move onto the messy bits. First and foremost, you really can’t beat this game without a guide. Or you can, but it takes blind luck and infinite patience. I am not a fan of either, so I found a guide and got playing. There’s so much that would have been improved with just a bit more clarity in this game such as what equipped items do, clear hints on where to go next etc. And this may sound like an odd critique, but I wanted more bosses in this game. There’s a total of three, including the big bat himself. That is starkly less than any other game in the series, even the Gameboy adventures.

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They also complicated things with tons of hidden items and invisible platforms. I cannot count how many times I fell through the floor, but it was definitely more than a dozen. The game seemed to delight in pulling the rug out from under us players. Especially with regard to things like kneeling to make tornadoes appear or water levels recede. It’s bonkers this game didn’t kill the entire series, charming quirks notwithstanding. But I am glad I finally got through it, doubly so cause it let me save the best for last – Castlevania Bloodlines!

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Not to immediately contradict myself, but Bloodlines wasn’t quite my favorite game in this Collection. It did come damned close though. With just a few improvements, it would have easily claimed that title. See, I grew up playing video games, but I never owned a Sega Genesis. I had a Game Gear, but that wasn’t the same thing. So I missed out on games like this when they originally released. Which is a shame, since Bloodlines had heart and creativity to spare. Not only did it expand the Castlevania universe in big ways with two playable characters, it also took the series into modern times. That’s quite cool, and part of the reason I was so impressed by this entry. Another reason was the gameplay.

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This might sound odd, but in many ways Bloodlines almost doesn’t remind me of a Castlevania game. For one thing, it’s significantly faster than the other games. Both you and your foes react quicker and have less wind-up time, which in part caused me to get burned alive by Bone Pillars on many occasions until I acclimated. For another, it is far less focused on platforming hell than other entries. And while there is the usual gothic influence here, it just feels different. In a weird way, this almost reminded me more of a Contra game. But that’s far from a bad thing, and some of the unusual foes caught my attention, such as Minotaurs and swinging plant monsters.

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As you span the globe in Bloodlines, going from Greece to France, you’ll face some really eclectic bosses and even mini-bosses. One of the weirdest ones is a pile of living gears that attacks you in Germany. An especially interesting one is a floating, ethereal maiden who transforms into a hideous moth. And the fight against Death himself is especially clever, involving Tarot cards that force you into fighting older bosses a second time. Sadly, the fight against Countess Bartley herself is a bit underwhelming, and so is the fight against Dracula. But all in all, there’s a lot more great stuff than bad stuff here. Plus, with two playable characters, you have an excuse to play through more than once to enjoy all the sights and sounds. My only real complaint about the game is how short it is, sitting at only 6 stages.

It wouldn’t be fair to talk about any collection without discussing the controls. Thankfully, I found all the controls tight and responsive. Once you get them down, you’ll be ready for each subsequent game, other than Bloodlines. That efficiency also applies to the aforementioned options. It’s handy and quick to save and load the game, as well as check the controls at any time. I didn’t really play with the other visual filters, but there’s plenty if you’re interested.

While I won’t cover the aesthetics for each of the 8 included games, I will discuss the art for the series on the whole. It’s my opinion that Castlevania started out great and only got better with age. You’d think the NES games would look ugly and blocky now, but the game has always had tons of personality and conveyed dark themes well. That’s in large part due to the color palette, which has lots of browns, reds, blacks and other dark colors, such as dark blue and forest green. Whenever they had more to work with, they managed to improve things dramatically, such as the huge character sprites in Super Castlevania IV or the complex visual effects such as bleeding fountains in Bloodlines. And perhaps one of the things I love most about the series are all the great monsters. Ranging from bone tossing skeletons to hulking Axe Knights to floating Medusa heads, there’s a ton of diversity on display. Some of the more eye catching visual effects were swinging from your whip, rotating chambers, shifting towers and even a cool mirrored effect at the end of Bloodlines. Hell, even the Gameboy games were visually appealing, and they only had two colors to work with. If I wasn’t already impressed with the art in the series, I certainly am after playing through all 8 of these games.

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Musically, this series is even more impressive. Even when they only had a few tones to work with, they managed to orchestrate complex melodies. The tunes range from hard rocking to gothic songs, and everything else in between. While there are the more iconic tracks like Bloody Tears, Theme of Simon, Vampire Killer and Wicked Child, I also liked some of the lesser known stuff. From the Gameboy games, I was fond of New Messiah and Revenge. From NES, I enjoyed Mad Forest and Silence of Daylight. From SNES, I really was impressed by both The Library and Treasury, while from Genesis, Iron-Blue Intention and The Discolored Wall stuck with me. As for Kid Dracula, the music there was totally unlike everything else, being cheerful and upbeat. A good example of which is Hop and Step Above the Clouds.

As much as I enjoyed the Castlevania Anniversary Collection, there were a couple glitches and one letdown. One glitch occurred when I exited from Simon’s Quest. When I returned to the game select screen, there was a loud static sound that muted all the music. Thankfully, restarting my game seemed to fix that. Another happened during the original Castlevania in the underground grotto level. It was a loud, recurring ding sound not unlike the ticking of a clock. Once I got past that level, it never returned, but it is worth noting. The more serious concern I had was that this collection inexplicably doesn’t have a music select which seems odd, for a couple reasons. For one, Castlevania is known for the tremendous music. For another, there is a companion called Book of the Crescent Moon, full of interviews, strange secrets and behind the scenes looks into the development process, as well as some great sketch art. While you can certainly hear all the wonderful songs while you play the game, this game absolutely deserved a way to listen to them at your leisure.

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Honestly for $19.99, it’s hard to go wrong with the Castlevania Anniversary Collection. It’s packed with great retro gaming, easily 10+ hours worth, and tons of lore about the series. It should put a smile on the faces of many fans. I definitely feel like more of a true fan after playing it, and gained new appreciation for what Konami accomplished back in their glory days. Unfortunately, due to the aforementioned glitches and frankly inexcusable lack of a music select, I couldn’t give this a perfect score like I wanted. But if you’re a fan, old or new, of Castlevania and want a handy collection on any current console, you have plenty to sink your teeth into with this.

[easyreview cat1title=”Overall” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”4″]

Review Copy Purchased by Author

REVIEW: Castlevania Anniversary Collection Title Castlevania Anniversary Collection

#Belmont #Castlevania #Castlevania Anniversary Collection #eShop #Konami #oprainfall #Switch

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ntrending · 6 years ago

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Sony's PlayStation Classic brings us closer to video game nostalgia saturation

New Post has been published on https://nexcraft.co/sonys-playstation-classic-brings-us-closer-to-video-game-nostalgia-saturation/

Sony's PlayStation Classic brings us closer to video game nostalgia saturation

Retro video games are fun, but until last year, they were tricky to give as a gift. You can load up a gift card for virtual console games on modern consoles, but the selection is sporadic and gift cards aren’t fun to unwrap. You can also go the vintage hardware route, but buying old game stuff from a trustworthy store can get pricey, and those old heaps of plastic and silicon degrade over time, no matter how well they’re cared for and restored. Or, you could buy one of those unlicensed consoles loaded with bootleg versions of your favorite games. I once got one for $30 from a flea market. It was fun, but the controller only had eight of its nine buttons and Mario was blue for some reason.

The Sony PlayStation Classic is the latest in a small parade of officially licensed self-contained retro consoles. It rolls up 20 old-school PlayStation games—Tekken 3 and Rayman—with a pair of controllers, and a mini version of the original, iconic gray console that debuted in 1995.

It even comes in a box that has the feel of an old console box. While I typically think packaging design is a somewhat overrated feature in the gadget world, I like the box the PlayStation Classic comes in. It’s the kind of package that’s fun to see when you rip off the colorful wrapping paper. It takes you back to getting a console for Christmas if you were lucky enough to experience that, or helps make up for the console you never got.

Is it fun to play?

There are 20 games on the PlayStation classic and while some of them are hits, others are slightly perplexing. Cool Boarders 2 is an obvious classic (I’m not being sarcastic) and Final Fantasy VII is the kind of game that can eat up hundreds of hours before you realize how addicting it is. Tekken 3 is still incredibly fun, and Metal Gear Solid is the so good you don’t even really need to rely on nostalgia to enjoy it.

Some titles, though, like Intelligent Qube, don’t have the same iconic status. This was an awkward phase for games as they transitioned into more 3D worlds. Without the novelty of newness, the awkward movements and camera wackiness can be more distracting than exciting. It would have been awesome to see some other truly iconiPlayStationon titles, like the original Tony Hawk Pro Skater or Tomb Raider, which was one of the quintessential PlayStation titles. But, licensing is hard. Crash Bandicoot, for instance, would have been amazing on a machine like this, but the franchise just got a total remaster for the Nintendo Switch, which obviously took priority over a retro console.

Are the controllers any good?

The controllers are one of the best elements of the PlayStation Classic. They aren’t flimsy and you get a pair of them in the box. If Sony really wanted to nail the old PlayStation feeling, they should have included one really good controller and another off-brand controller that was slightly broken so you could make your brother, neighbor, cousin, or whoever else was unlucky enough to be player two have to use it.

Seriously, though, the controllers are great. They don’t have the DualShock joysticks for easier 3D movement, but the original Playstation pads didn’t either and none of them games really require them. Each controller plugs into the console via USB, so you can plug them into a PC if you want as well, which is nice added value.

Do you get any extra features?

With other retro consoles like the Nintendo SNES Classic, you get a few extra bells and whistles to go with the gameplay experience, like the ability to rewind during a game if you screw up and don’t want to have to endure playing a dreaded game over again. The PlayStation Classic, however, offers a mostly stock experience. You can only save one game per title to pick up where you left off. You can’t have multiple saves. And the menu system is fine, but it’s not quite as polished as the Nintendo machines.

Careful buying it for your kids

I have two children who are almost the same age as I was when I got the original PlayStation back in the neon-filled days of the mid-90s. And while they enjoyed playing with the PlayStation Classic, they didn’t seem to understand why I thought it was so fun to try and pull somewhat lame snowboard tricks with a jaggy character in a game that could clearly never compete with the UHD 4K Xbox One and Playstation 4 graphics they’re used to.

They played each of the games a little and then bailed to see what else they could play. That wasn’t an option when I was a kid. When I got a $60 game, that was my entertainment for the foreseeable future. So, the obvious choice was to spend hours grinding away random encounters to level up my Final Fantasy characters or trying to unlock all the hidden characters in Cool Boarders 2. That’s not the case anymore, so building those obsessive relationships with classic games is a lot harder to do.

Should you buy it?

If you’re a rational consumer, then your buying decision should be a simple matter of looking at the list of games. If any of them send you careening down memory lane like a driver who had too much wassail at the office holiday party, then this product is meant for you. If you’re just looking for some classic games to play and you don’t have specific affinity for any of these, then something like the Sega Genesis Classics collection, which gets you 53 games for $30 (and that’s retail without any holiday discounts, which are abundant this time of year) might be a better bet.

If you’re buying it for a gift, though, it’s hard to beat something like this. Sure, it would be a lot more attractive at $80, but the fact that it comes with two controllers makes it a gift that’s immediately fun. You open it and want to hook it up right away. And now that you’re an adult, you can play it until 3 AM without having to sit next to the system with the TV on silent so you can quickly turn it off if you hear your parents coming out to the kitchen for some water.

Written By Stan Horaczek

#Technology

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fmservers · 6 years ago

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Sony announces the PlayStation Classic, its own mini retro console

If you’re the kind of person who has two beers and regularly launches into the same 20 minute-long ode to the original PlayStation for playing a seminal role in the maturation of gaming as an art form, well, do we have some news for you. Sony just announced its intentions to give the PS1 the (winning) Nintendo Classic treatment with teeny to-scale PlayStation Classic consoles. They’re scheduled to hit shelves on December 3 for $99.99.

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Like Nintendo’s wildly popular SNES and NES Classics that paved the way, Sony’s PlayStation Classic will come pre-loaded with a cache of well-loved games. The PlayStation Classic’s lineup will feature 20 classic games, including Final Fantasy VII [editor’s note: hell yeah], Jumping Flash, Ridge Racer Type 4, Tekken 3, and Wild Arms.

“Almost 25 years ago, the original PlayStation was introduced to the world. Developed by Sony Computer Entertainment, it was the first home console in video game history to ship 100 million units worldwide, offering consumers a chance to play games with real-time 3D rendered graphics in their homes for the first time,” Sony said, waxing nostalgic in a blog post announcing the console. We’re here for it.

“Long-time fans will appreciate the nostalgia that comes with rediscovering the games they know and love, while gamers who might be new to the platform can enjoy the groundbreaking PlayStation console experience that started it all.”

According to Sony, the new mini PlayStation will be 45% smaller than a real PlayStation, complete with smaller controllers that also mimic their forebears. Each unit will ship with an HDMI and USB cable and two controllers for couch multiplayer. The consoles will be available to pre-order at some retailers in Canada and the U.S and more details (including the 15 other games) so keep an eye out — Sony will be sharing more details “in the coming months.”

Most of us can agree that this particular nostalgia baiting tactic is awesome, take our money, but have you seen this thing? It’s extra cute. Maybe it’s because the PS1 had those iconic circular buttons that echoed its game discs and round things are cute like Kirby is cute (Toad, on the other hand, is over).

I can still remember exactly how much give the original PlayStation’s buttons had when you pushed them, how the disc hood opened gracefully, almost suspensefully… sure I gave five years of my actual life to this thing — what’s a few months more?

Via Taylor Hatmaker https://techcrunch.com

#TechCrunch

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maggievolkart · 7 years ago

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NUA Game Design Test (unfinished)

Since I’m not doing Indie Dev I just decided to do this task out of pure interest to research and getting one more reason to discuss my favourite games.

List of my 20 favourite Games:

Transistor, Undertale, Oxenfree, The Letter(Horror Visual Novel), Persona 5, Danganronpa, Nier:Automata, Detention, Hunie Cam Studio, Bastion, Monument Valley, Bioshock Series, Mystic Messenger, Sonic Adventure, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Pacman- Adventures in Time, Cuphead, Resident Evil 7, Little Nightmare, Life is Strange

A. From one of the gmes on your list, pick a system from that game, that you consider an example of excellence in game design. Describe the playerinteraction, the mechanics and the value the system brings to the game.

Persona 5

Persona 5 is a game that starts out well, and follows the first person life of the main Charecter, Akira or as he is referred to in the game ‘Joker.’ The game eases you in slowly, meaning that you dont expect too much at first. However, later in the game you find yourself emersed in the world of the subconscious. where you can explore peoples minds and enter their palaces. These are a reflection of their complex’s that they have in real life. What starts out as a fairly simple, charecter based anime game, suddenly transforms into a unique fantasy adventure. Leaving the player both completely unaware of what will happen next and interested in learning more about the other players and their inner, twisted desires.

There are 2 major parts to it’s mechanics. In the world of the subconscience, you are Joker. A masked intruder and leader of the Phantom Thieves. You find yourself crawling through dungeons, fighting and beating monsters, knights and boss’s. While the other ‘real’ world that we know. He is simply living the life of a student trying to raise your relationship and character stats with people who may benefit you in certain ways. This system makes it feel as if you are living your second life- a true way of how rpg’s should work. This makes the games feel tangable to the player. As on the one hand, they might identify with the regular world ‘Akira’. Struggling to get by in class, struggling to make friends, and generally having to deal with all the issues that growing up causes. On the other hand, the player will identify with wanting a break from this monotonous reality. The idea that Akira can make it to this other world, defeat monsters, and be the leader of a powerful mind infiltration squad is something that we in this world can only dream of, I found that in playing Persona 5, this dream could be at least in some way, acted out.

B. Pick a game that you consider having deeply satisfying long term goals for player, the longer the better. Describe the mechanics in detail and provide an analysis of why it is engaging to players.

Horizon Zero Dawn

C. Pick a game that you consider good but has balance problems.Desribe and analyze a balance problem from the game and provide a solution.

Cuphead

A lot of people were very excited by the game Cuphead. The game had a very fresh, original idea of recreating old styled 2D, arcade games but made for the 21st century gamer, with better graphics and harder levels. In my opinion, it is good to be able to experience this level difficulty of the game, as it makes the game more enjoyable and satisfying when you do complete a level. However, in the same time, this requires the player to already be a high level gamer to be able to complete the levels due to the hard difficulty to proceed, would deter your regular gamer away. Moreover, there are no checkpoints within the levels, meaning if you were just about to kill the final boss after half an hour of button mashing, sweat inducing, heart pounding boss fighting, and get killed. You have to relive the entire traumatic experience over again, which even for your well seasoned gamer will be enough to permanately rage quit.

Moreover, there is a more slight issue with the charecter designs. As when you play 2 player, both players look very similar. This can be very distracting for both players and could compound to your likely rage quitting of the game.

Despite this; many enjoyed the games old fashioned, 1930′s styled aesthetic, and the inclusion of boss battles harkened back to the ‘golden age of videogames’ where for many of the older players, was a sense of nostalgia in going to the arcade to play games with their friends.

Q2. In game development it is important to try to find different ways of using game systems and assets to create different experiences for the player without needing new underlying mechanics or assets. In an action adventure game, outline several different ways to reuse a given level to provide different gameplay experiences without changing the level’s core geometry.

The earlier mentioned game persona 5 has unchangeble core geometry eversince you pass your first Palace (Dungeon). The battle consists of turn-based battle (a similar, more popular example of this would be Pokemon). Battle actions provided by physical attacks using short and long weapons, magical attacks, ablity to use an items, guard. Most of your Enemies in the beginning of the game have their strong and weak point. If you attack your enemy with a power they are strong to, they have the power to resist. On the other hand if you hit their weakness, you will greatly damage their HP, which will knock them off and give you a +1 turn. This system works on characters in the game as well giving your enemies another chance to strike so beware of your weaknesses.

This kind of system has lots of different ways to defeat an enemy, making it hard to be easily bored, even when the majority of the core within the levels is the same.

(I reapeat I just did this test for fun) I did Concept Art Tests. Unanswered questions:

Q3. Imagine a simpla RTS game where you have 5 possible unit types, and 4 statistics that can be attached to them.

Q4.You are working on an onine open-world survival RPG and you’ve been tasked with designing the envoronmental hazzards the players must overcome. You’ve been given the following guidelines.

The game must encourage players to rely on each without guaranteeing anyone’s integrity.

The paticipatory experiences that emerge between players when interacting with your PvE systems should be the defining aspect of the game

Provide a design draft of the PvE system.

Sourses:

Persona 5 image : https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Qt2Cz9R5_j8/maxresdefault.jpg

P-Studio (2016) Persona 5 [Videogame] JP: AtlusNA: Atlus USAPAL: Deep Silver

StudioMDHR (2017) Cuphead [Videogame] StudioMDHR

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operationrainfall · 7 years ago

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Title EARTHLOCK Developer Snowcastle Games Publisher Snowcastle Games Release Date March 8th, 2018 Genre RPG Platform PC, Mac, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, XBox One Age Rating E for Everyone – Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood Official Website

EARTHLOCK might seem like a strange choice after my last RPG review. After all, it was also crowdfunded and developed by a small indie group, so it might seem as though I was stepping into a trap once more. But I’m nothing if not an optimist, so I decided to give EARTHLOCK a shot. It’s actually been on my radar for a while, ever since I saw it listed on Steam and Wii U as Earthlock: Festival of Magic. Turns out it’s a good thing I waited, since this is the most complete version of the game. The question is, was this indie RPG worth the wait? Or should I have left it on my wishlist?

It’s quite evident early on that EARTHLOCK was inspired by RPGs of yore. Several of the typical tropes can quickly be checked off. Mysterious energy source providing magical creatures? Check. Sinister forces at play trying to take over or destroy the world? Check. Band of merry miscreants brought together in common cause? Double check. Honestly the plot is the least interesting thing about the game, despite dropping you into a compelling and rich world. But that’s not to say it’s necessarily a bad thing. Much like Legrand Legacy, EARTHLOCK is more of a loving tribute to the games of our past than just trying to cash in on our nostalgia.

If only you were playable, sweet Frogboy…

One of the things I like most about the game is how well streamlined many aspects of it are. Ranging from the combat, the exploration, the side quests and the crafting, every major part of the game is easy to implement and typically easy to understand. Take crafting, for example. So long as you have a recipe and the right ingredients, you can turn them into new weapons, items and other goodies. Most important are Harvesting seeds, which your lovable bookish Hogbunny Gnart specializes in. By watering plants grown on Plumpet Island or in pots found in cities, you will have more than enough raw ingredients to craft the majority of your healing items, which has the upside of you rarely needing to spend money in stores.

Side quests are as simple as talking to someone to generate them, satisfying their request and then reporting back. While many of them are simple fetch quests and hunting trips, they still provide good experience and other rewards. Best of all, the game makes use of mysterious froggy Onurasi statues to offer a way to warp back to the HUB area of Plumpet Island. It flows like delicately interconnected clockwork, and the upside is that you’ll always know what you’re supposed to be doing, though you are given leeway to wander about.

You can grow nearly all the ingredients you need from your beautiful garden.

Like many classic RPGs, there is a varied cast of characters, and for the most part the tone of the game is whimsical and somewhat laid back. You’ll eventually recruit a group of six very different characters, all with their own personality quirks and distinct combat utility. While part of me does feel there was a missed opportunity not allowing characters to change into different classes and thus offer more replay value, the variety here is still appreciated. That is especially true because each character has two different stances they can alternate between in battle, which provide very dynamic combat options. For example, your thief Amon can steal and poison or switch to a gun-toting stance, which allows him to hit high-flying foes. Another example is Taika, your loyal stormdog who can use elemental breath attacks in one stance and protect the entire team from the elements in another. You can probably tell there’s a lot of nuance in combat, and that’s one of the things I most enjoyed about the game.

Much as I liked the combat, this boss was a giant pain in the ass until I found the Cloak Talents.

One thing the game does differently is the use of Bonds between characters. You can go into battle with two pairs of characters. As they fight together, their Bond will increase, unlocking passive perks (such as immunity from poison or increased critical attack chances) as well as additional Talent Points (more on that later). Each pairing provides different benefits, so it’s in your best interest to constantly change up your teams, since you’ll never know what the next battle may require, especially the boss battles. That Bond is also used for your Super moves, which are essentially powered up versions of their regular attacks that hit multiple targets. While I may have been a bit underwhelmed by the Supers lack of visual and audio flair, they were nevertheless vital in battle.

Additionally, the higher your Bond, the more times you can use the Supers, which is why you never want to go into battle with a pair of units at anything other than max Bond. The only thing that detracted from my desire to max out the Bonds with every character was when I discovered the max level cap for all characters is level 20. While not every game needs to max out at 99, the moment I reached that precipice I lost a lot of interest in casual combat, since doing so only provided a minor amount of Daler (currency in the game) and occasional items for crafting. It didn’t ruin the game for me, but I do hope that Snowcastle Games has designs to implement DLC for EARTHLOCK later on that increases the level cap and gives more areas to explore.

Though I enjoy the battles in the game, I do have to admit they lost their luster in the latter part of the adventure. This is because I had maxed out my levels about 20 hours before I beat the game, which turned the last third of the game into a grindfest. Not for levels, but to get items for crafting and especially for Talents. By using the Talent Board, you can equip your character with Stats, Abilities and Perks. Stat Talents are pretty basic increases to things like Armor (boosting your DEF and Magical DEF) and a variety of others. Ability Talents open up new attacks, but are pretty much character specific, so don’t get too excited about crazy combinations. Perk Talents meanwhile are passive bonuses that help you in combat, such as allowing you to auto revive or providing an extra turn when you dodge an attack. The only catch is having Talents to equip on the Board and having enough TP to equip them, since each placement requires one TP. Luckily, each time you level up or increase your Bond to a certain point, you’ll get more TP. The only thing I didn’t much like about the Talent Board was that you couldn’t remove Talents, only swap them with different ones in your inventory. I would have loved an option to clear my Boards and reapply Talents, but that’s sadly not possible. Overall though, I felt the Talent Board opened up your options in a positive way.

The Talent Board was reminiscent of similar systems in some Final Fantasy games, and opened up some nice options.

Visually, EARTHLOCK is a delight. There’s a certain handcrafted charm to the design, as is evident in the well drawn portraits that show up when the game loads or in the distinct feeling of each area of the game’s world. While the character models are a little more primitive, I still thought they did a good job of exhibiting distinct personality just in their visual style. Though the music in the game is fine, I found it to be really quiet when playing the Switch portably. Anything less than turning it up all the way left the game sounding muted. Even when dialed all the way up, the sound effects lacked the distinct punch or memorable tunes I associate with many classic RPGs. Still, what’s here is obviously lovingly made, so I am not saying this to be cruel, but just to offer my honest appraisal of the art. It’s a bit of a mixed bag, but there’s a lot more good than bad.

This handsome gentleman will assist you with all your warping needs.

While I enjoyed my 70 something hours playing EARTHLOCK, I do feel the need to summarize some of my irritations with the game that kept it from a perfect score. Even though overall the game runs fine, I’ve encountered some odd quirks. Perhaps the most perplexing is how one tutorial says to use the X button to activate abilities on the world map, when Y is what actually activates them. This was a bit problematic early on, since you need some of those abilities, such as Gnart eating berries or Amon excavating scrap, to satisfy side quests. More serious was in a couple of dungeons I was exploring and managed to loop to the beginning of one area from its own exit. Visually, the game has a few oddities as well. The Mirror enemies would knock themselves backward with their own attacks, often pushing them off the screen, meaning I couldn’t see their health meter or tell when I was targeting them. Also, the way icons are stacked over character’s heads during battle to indicate buffs or debuffs is very hard to translate in a coherent way, especially when there a bunch of them.

It’s a pretty wide world to discover.

While I do like the crafting aspects of the game, it’s sometimes hard to know where to go to get the right items for recipes. Many are only found in quests or by hunting monsters, which was exacerbated since the bestiary doesn’t show you what their drops are. Also, since you mostly craft all your items, I wish there was an option to split a crafted item into its component parts to use to them in crafting higher tier items (Spud Blast and Spud Blast+, for example). Lastly, I wish you didn’t have to return to the HUB area of Plumpet Island to warp to other Onurasi statues. In a game so well streamlined, it would have made more sense if you could jump from any statue to another one.

The camera mostly behaved on the world map, though occasionally I encountered issues like this.

All in all, I’m glad I finally got the opportunity to take this game off my wishlist. I did enjoy my time with EARTHLOCK, and felt I got a really solid little RPG for $29.90. Though there are some quirks that prevented this from a perfect score, there’s a lot more to enjoy, from the crafting to the combat to the characters. While I do wish the plot was a bit more elegantly crafted, since it mostly felt like a haphazard rollercoaster ride, what’s here is a worthy effort. If you are nostalgic for the RPGs of yore and want to play one on the go, you need to pick up EARTHLOCK on your Switch.

Never forget, Gnart is the very best Hogbunny!

[easyreview cat1title=”Overall” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”3.5″]

Review Copy Provided By Publisher

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REVIEW: EARTHLOCK Title EARTHLOCK

#classic rpg #Earthlock #nintendo switch #SnowCastle Games

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