#that would both solve the gameplay problem and avoid the difficulty of making controls for movable equipment

[dravidious]

YES YES YES

[ladala99]

Spyro Reignited Countdown - Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage

Like Spyro 1, I was obsessed with this game as a kid, to the point that I would grab the controller from guests to march into the Colossus “boss fight” because I found it hilarious. I specifically have a memory of that happening. Probably only happened once.

Anyway, onto the review!

Gameplay

I’m just going to go over the points as they differ from previous titles just to avoid repeating myself too much.

The basic controls are exactly the same as Spyro 1. The models have been updated, but it still essentially feels the same. I really can’t say much here.

As the game progresses, though, Spyro gains new abilities.

He first gets the power to swim underwater, which opens up an entirely different style of gameplay. Honestly, Spyro’s underwater controls are the best underwater controls I’ve had in any game. They just feel right, and the freedom of movement you get makes underwater-heavy levels my absolute favorite in the series. Like Aquaria Towers is my absolute favorite level. Ever. No contest. Just because you can swim anywhere.

Climbing lets you get higher. It doesn’t add much gameplay itself (but was used cleverly in Magma Cone), but allows there to be certain vertical surfaces you can move up without making an awkward staircase or whirlwind. Although really it doesn’t do much of anything a whirlwind doesn’t do other than block progress until you get it and the aforementioned Magma Cone. Kind of underwhelming.

And finally, Headbash. It’s a new move. That’s usable in very specific circumstances. And yet somehow has made it into every game, including The Legend of Spyro and Skylanders. It is super satisfying to Headbash into water (and use it for swimming-in-air glitches) but otherwise it’s not all that impressive.

The only real improvement is swimming, but hey, at least they gave Spyro new abilities. Not sure why you need to bribe a guy to tell you to hold onto a ladder, though.

Collectables

This game keeps the gems, gets rid of the eggs and dragons, and replaces them with orbs.

Orbs are gotten for completing challenges. They’re also scattered around a few homeworlds, but for the most part, NPCs will hand them to you once you complete challenges for them. These challenges have a star rating that shows their relative difficulty. I’d say those star ratings are fairly accurate, for the most part.

It makes it significantly different from dragons, since these challenges vary greatly, from using powerups to do various tasks, to defeating enemies within a time limit, to finding additional collectables around a level. There’s a lot of different challenges, and some are in fact a lot easier than others.

Gems have a new use as well: paying Moneybags to give you new abilities and in many cases let you progress. It’s not all that functionally different from the balloonists telling you that you need X number of whatever collectable to progress, but it does add flavor. And makes you hate that bear. Moneybags is the character Spyro fans love to hate.

Powerups

Superflame gets a huge upgrade from the previous game, becoming a giant fireball that shoots straight at whatever you aim at. You even get a helpful aiming receptacle when you have the powerup. It’s also usable underwater, unlike your regular flame breath, and it has this really cool spiraling star effect that somehow doesn’t affect your aim.

Supercharge is as great as ever, but isn’t nearly as necessary to complete a level. Now, however, almost all (maybe actually all?) of the Supercharge areas have a track you can infinitely circle if you so desire. It’s also used in Speedways in this game, a feature which I neglected to mention in my Spyro 1 review a couple of days ago.

Superjump is used a few times. Neatly animated, but it honestly doesn’t do anything a whirlwind or a ladder wouldn’t be able to do.

Superfreeze is a new powerup used in one level. You use it to freeze enemies in blocks of ice. Neat! It also has a huge range, but since the enemies unfreeze so quickly, it’s best to be right next to them, so that part’s kinda useless.

Superfly is now in a few levels, and it is super overpowered. The developers knew it, and made the timer run out really quickly when you exit the intended area. Much like swimming, though, it adds a great deal of exploration ability to the levels you can use it in. Flying freely is always satisfying.

Invincibility is used once, and it’s pretty neat - allowing you to walk on usually-dangerous terrain. Definitely feels very freeing.

And there’s a combo Superflame/Superfly powerup in one of the last few levels. It does exactly what it says it does, and it’s amazing.

There’s also rocks you can spit, for basically a ranged charge attack. This singlehandedly taught me about arcs in aiming. It wasn’t used too much, though.

And there’s some turret(?) guns in a few levels to blast some particularly strong enemies and break down walls. Again, it taught me a lot about arcs. The fact that it doesn’t show you were exactly it’ll land like most games would is both annoying and satisfying when you figure it out.

Speedways

Forgot about these last time. Speedways now have a hidden challenge involving Hunter, but otherwise they’re pretty similar to the Flights in the first game.

These levels are pretty polarizing because they’re fairly different: they’re free-flying levels where you have to destroy/go through various objects and enemies around the track under a certain time limit. I love them, because I love flying around them. I also really love Hunter’s challenges (even though the last one in this game is way too loud).

Bosses

There’s fewer bosses in this game than the last, but they’re all much improved from the last game. They definitely scale with difficulty, with Ripto being the hardest, and Ripto’s fight is by far the most impressive boss fight in the game, if not the entire series.

Crush is pretty straightforward and is somewhat similar to Spyro 1 bosses: you dodge his attacks, then flame him when you have the chance. The difference is that he attempts to attack you back and ends up harming himself.

Gulp is huge, has two attacks of his own, and also can use the weapons you gain to use against him. This is my favorite type of boss fight, and racing your opponent to the weapons is really fun.

Ripto takes Gulp up to eleven. First two phases you’re fighting him for the powered-up orbs, and then the last phase takes place in the air as you use a combination powerup orb to fly and shoot fireballs at him. No time limit. Great fight. Difficult fight, but great fight.

All in all, very effective bosses.

Levels

They’re well-designed and well-themed. They cover various cartoon locations and are varied and distinct. Unlike the first game, some do require backtracking once you gain new abilities, which is in some ways annoying, but in other ways makes the new abilities more fulfilling. When I was younger, I definitely preferred this method, since I didn’t like saying goodbye to a level forever, but nowadays I just want to get it all done with in one go. So, I’m a bit neutral towards this.

Levels now have NPCs in them that introduce the main task of the level (almost always just to get to the end) and other side-missions which give you orbs. As before, I’m neutral towards this, since I like the simplicity of the first game, but I also love the minigames in this game.

Minigames

This is the one Spyro game with minigames in which I like them all. They’re all integrated into the level, and use the game’s controls in unusual ways to provide more variety. And speaking of variety, they are all very different. From Idol Springs’ puzzle-solving to the dashing around a small cave racing Hunter to crystals in Magma Cone to Trouble With The Trolley(tm) to the trade quest in Mystic Marsh, there’s so many different things you do. You haven’t seen them all until you get to the end.

Story

Spyro wants to go on vacation from the rainy Dragon Realms (as someone also from a rainy city, I get you, Spyro). He decides to head to Dragon Shores for a vacation.

Meanwhile, the citizens of Avalar are altering a portal to hijack a dragon to solve their problems: there’s this guy called Ripto who hates dragons, and he’s decided to take over the place.

Spyro gets transported to Avalar and, at least since Ripto blasted the portal he came from, agrees to help them out. The citizens of Avalar promise to get him to Dragon Shores as soon as they’re able. Friendliest kidnapping ever.

Honestly a bit of an excuse plot just to get Spyro out and somewhere new. But the characters introduced show a lot of personality through both cutscenes and when you speak to them in gameplay.

Each level also has a mini-story mostly unrelated to the overarching story. It’s shown in cutscenes before and after the level, and of course in the level itself. Avalar has more problems than just Ripto, and it takes a fire-breathing dragon who helps the first person to talk to him to sort things out, for better or for worse. (Like seriously, you help thieves in Scorch. And help both sides of the Breeze Builder/Land Blubber war.)

The story isn’t going to make you rethink your life or write deep fanfiction, but it serves its purpose well and is entertaining. Perfect for the Spyro world, even if it gives off a very different feel from the first game.

Unique in the Series?

This game codifies the series. NPCs, powerup gates, minigames, and especially the cast all move on to other games.

The one thing I can think of that’s truly unique to this game is the Soul Particle system - where instead of giving you treasure, slain enemies power the powerup gates. Not a bad system, but definitely is forgettable.

And Elora. She’s in cutscenes in Spyro 3 and in a trading card in Spyro Orange, but this is her only full appearance in the series until the remakes. Which as someone who does not care for romance subplots, I’m fine with. She’s a neat character, but her crush on Spyro would have been her main trait if she stayed in the series, I’m sure.

Conclusion

Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage is tied with the first game as one of my favorite games of all time. It’s fun to play, and I have a huge amount of nostalgia for it. Definitely looking foward to seeing it again on my Switch, with all the graphical improvements.

[kaleidographia]

[Review] Tales of Vesperia: The Brightest Star in the Night Sky Doesn't Shine as Strongly as I'd Hoped

Warning: Contains allusive/thematic spoilers.

The day is finally here! Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition, containing content previously unseen outside of Japan, has finally been released, so that us English speakers and/or non-PS3 owners can experience the new storylines, characters and features for the first time! Alas, this isn’t a post about that, firstly because this post is going up day-of-release and I haven’t had a chance to play it yet, and secondly because I am writing this from outside of the country and won’t be united with my pre-ordered copy until I return next week, RIP.

Therefore, this post is written from the point of view of someone who has only played the Xbox 360 version. I will try to keep it brief for the sake of not spoiling newcomers to the game, and also hopefully not to complain about things that are fixed (or broken??) in the Definitive Edition.

Tales of Vesperia is a game in the long-running “Tales of” franchise from Bandai Namco, the first one in HD, originally released for the Xbox 360 in 2008, later receiving an updated PS3 version in 2009, exclusive to Japan. Like many older fans, my introduction to the Tales of series was with Tales of Symphonia for the Gamecube, and I fell in love hard; I was therefore extremely excited to play the next games, but unfortunately, I never owned the platforms for them until very recently. Along with Tales of the Abyss, Vesperia and Symphonia form the “holy trinity” of games in the series almost everyone loves; find a Tales fan and ask them their favourite game, and the answer will likely be one of those three (note: I’ve heard very good things about Graces and the two Xillia games, but unfortunately haven’t had a chance to judge them firsthand myself). The three games, while not directly related in terms of plot or setting, share a lot of things in common, as they had mostly the same creative team, often referred to as “Team Symphonia” (as opposed to “Team Destiny” which made most other games since then). One notable difference is the scenario writer, Takashi Hasegawa, while Symphonia and Abyss were written by Takumi Miyajima.

The Tales series is known for its reliance on anime and JRPG tropes, often used in a way that plays off cliché expectations only to then layer plot twists and character development and produce a much deeper experience than what would be expected from the get-go. When used effectively, these methods produce a story that is both fun and emotionally challenging. Tales of Vesperia is no different, offering a cast of archetypes that should be highly recognizable to those familiar with the genre, and yet this may be best set of characters in a Tales game. The party has impressively good banter, chemistry and dynamics and several scenes had me laughing out loud or yelling, and I never had a bad time watching their relationships unfold.

Unfortunately, the game spares little time fleshing out backstories or learning more about each individual character outside of the main plot. By the end, I was left wanting, as the cast was so endearing and vibrant, yet I knew next to nothing about them aside from what had been relevant to show onscreen. I longed for more information about where they had come from and how they had gotten where they were, but it is a testament to the strength of the character writing that their storylines reached a satisfying conclusion despite this relative sparse amount of information about them. “Backstory is not story”, Craig McCracken and Frank Angones were fond of saying to fans of Wander Over Yonder, but for a game with the size and scope of a 60-hour JRPG, not providing that window of information feels like a hole in the worldbuilding.

Mechanically, Vesperia builds on the model established by Symphonia and refined in Abyss, where combat takes place in a 3D arena and the player can run around, hit enemies and rack up combos fighting game style (the franchise calls this “Linear Motion Battle System”). While Symphonia was in 3D, it restricted the player to a single side-to-side corridor of action. Abyss added the ability to run around in 3D space by holding down a button, a feature Vesperia also has. This makes combat easier and more fun, as nothing is quite as satisfying as avoiding an attack and then running around and hitting the enemy from behind. And, as the game allows up to four players controlling different party members, and I have a player 2 (shoutout to my roommate Opal), Vesperia’s system is the most well-suited to multiplayer. If nothing else, I never felt lost while on the battlefield yelling for backup. The one major flaw is that boss fights come with massive difficulty spikes and I often had to grind and formulate careful battle plans with Opal just to not get continuously massacred by bosses.

Storywise, Vesperia starts off very strongly, sort of peters out near the middle, and then the third act falls apart. At first the theme is anti-authority, with a protagonist who grew up in the slums, neglected by nobles, who became a knight and then quit out of disillusionment when it turned out all they did was squabble about politics, and the inciting incident and early driver of the plot is his quest to “fix the plumbing” as a popular Tumblr text post put it. It’s clear Yuri has all the reason in the world to not trust authority and he even goes full vigilante against unjust abuse of power, but while this thread seems like the most important theme in the story, after a while so many other elements come into play it ends up lost and doesn’t really make much of an appearance except to highlight the differences between Yuri and Flynn’s approaches to life and how they prefer to help people. On its own it’s a compelling idea, but it never gets the follow-through it deserves, and my expectations were certainly subverted—but in a bad way.

It’s hard to talk about the third act without spoilers so I will probably come back to it for a proper analysis at a later date, but its ultimate message was already kind of limp in 2008 and is even more laughable now. For a game whose initial premise was so strongly against authority, the ultimate resolution of the main conflict reads as incredibly daft in light of just about everything that is happening in politics at the moment. There’s a very strong environmental allegory and the comparisons to climate change are not subtle, but the writers probably bit off more than they could chew because realistically trying to solve this problem in the time the story allotted would have been next to impossible; I still would have hoped the implications of the given solution had been actually explored instead of settling for an “oh well, guess everything’s been fixed now”.

I’m being harsh about the plot because to me Vesperia has a lot of wasted potential. Don’t get me wrong: I do love this game. It is in fact up there with the holy trinity as far as my opinions of the series go, but it lands in third place out of the three because it just fails to live up to what its first half promises about the world it created. To put it bluntly, if the story had just ended at the conclusion of the second act, it would have been much stronger. That the game continues for another 20 hours on a completely different track with an unsatisfying, unrealistic conclusion is a huge shame because it brings down what could have been a real masterpiece of tropey anime JRPG narratives. I live for that stuff, there’s a reason I want to play every Tales game, but that’s what makes this letdown the most disappointing. At least the characters themselves get good conclusions; it is unfortunate I can’t say the same for the main plot.

Despite all this I think Vesperia is a worthwhile experience, and one of my favourite things about is its aesthetic sense. Every location is immersive, polished, and the pinnacle of what I want to see in a videogame, to the point I dream of Symphonia and Abyss remakes made in the same style (and every other game in the series, to be honest, but that seems unlikely with the direction it’s taken since then). I genuinely cared about the party and I wanted to see them succeed and I was ultimately happy that they did even if I did roll my eyes a lot. The combat was so satisfying and so fun to play with a player 2 it makes me twice as mad that Zestiria’s camera goes completely wild during multiplayer and prevents me from joining in. I should note that for someone who plays as many games as I do I am notoriously terrible at them so I heavily favour story over mechanics, but Vesperia is a game that reminds me that engaging gameplay can make a huge difference. Yeah, I suck, but at least I’m having fun while sucking. That’s more than I can say for a lot of games.

If you like JRPGs, games that let you run around and hit things, or fun and intriguing character dynamics, you’ll probably like Tales of Vesperia. If you’re looking for a coherent story from start to finish, you’ll probably disappointed, but there’s just enough there to keep you engrossed until the end. Overall, Vesperia is solid, and the parts it fumbles aren’t bad enough to ruin the whole thing, but hopefully the extra content in Definitive Edition helps to smooth it out; I’ll have to find that out for myself.

Aside from how it messes up the voice acting this time around. Oh, Bamco.

[annawitchcarnival]

Does Once Upon a Tower Facilitate Meaningful Play

Once Upon a Tower is a mobile game in the mould of an endless runner, that I’ve been playing on and off the last two weeks. It's got a fairly addictive loop and some interesting concepts regarding its core topic of princesses. My objective here is to discuss how this game facilitates meaningful play.

Core Loop

The core loop of once upon a tower comes down to planning the path you’re going to take, moving to execute that plan, and then dealing with the obstacles on that path.

Planning Your Path: The first aspect of the loop requires the player to observe her surroundings. Which blocks can I break? Where are the enemies? Are there any fireflies? The game is very deliberately laid out in a single flow path, where the character can only go down, which creates a linear force on the player, and doesn’t leave things as open ended as in a multi directional movement system. This makes planning your path essential, but also very simple and easy to follow for players.

Moving: Next the player has to attempt to execute her plan. Usually by moving into a potentially dangerous situation or taking an unknown leap of faith. Either way the player needs to start swiping and execute her course of action.

Solving Obstacles: While planning and moving are the bread and butter, once you encounter an orc or a fireball then you need to move from passive planning to dexterous action. You need to swing your hammer at the right time, or move out of the way fast enough. The difficulty of the game relies on the precise timing of this step in the loop.

Mechanics

The core mechanics of Once Upon a Tower are: Move, smash with hammer, gravity, a grid space, breakable and non-breakable platforms, and an obstacle. An interesting aspect of this game is its very simple control scheme. The player only needs to swipe in one of four directions for all of the interaction in the game, from moving, to hitting enemies, to buying items, it all relies on the direction you swipe. If you’re swiping toward an open space, you simply move. If next to an object, you hit it with your hammer.

Move: Moving is the most direct mechanic of them all. Merely move your character from one place, to the next place.

Smash: If the player swipes against an object, then that object is destroyed. There’s no health, or conditions. If you’re adjacent to it and you swipe it, it is removed (assuming it is an object that can be.)

Gravity: If the character has nothing underneath it, then she falls. She will keep falling until there is something underneath her.

Grid Space: Everything on the map is laid out in a grid. The map is only a certain amount of tiles wide, and every object takes up some amount of tiles (usually only one). The player’s movement is strictly tied to this tile setup, and will always have a position related to one of these spaces.

Platforms: The player needs to stand on something, and she needs to be able to change her environment somehow. If the player had no platforms, she’d fall forever. If the player only had invincible platforms, the player would merely be navigating a narrow path with no effect on the game in any discernible way.

Obstacles: The final ingredient is the challenge. The player needs something to actually test their skill. The game features several different obstacles, but it only really requires one. Be it a roaming orc, a crawling spider, or even the moving pistons.

Other Mechanics

I will create a quick table of all the additional mechanics I could think of, with a brief description of each and how they interact with the core mechanics.

There are more mechanics in the game, however this should give a wide range of the types of concepts that are introduced. Each additional mechanic feeds into the core loop and its core mechanics. The spikes and crabs make gravity more stressful, fireflies add a new way to approach formulating your plan, items add more ways to solve problems. Planning becomes more strategic and varied, moving becomes more dangerous and distinct, and obstacles become more difficult and unique.

Meanwhile there are a few mechanics that tie each run in the game together. The princess outfits create a reason to build up those fireflies. The high score gives players a reason to go as far as she can in each run and compare themselves to how she’s gotten better.

Dynamics

While I described some minor dynamics that arise from each of those added mechanics, there are larger scope dynamics that arise when all of these are put together and the most important one that informs most of the game is: what the player wants to accomplish with each run? This question gives rise to additional dynamics, but it will always come back to this question. The answers I found are: Wanting to get the most fireflies or wanting to get as far down as possible. Once the player has decided which she’s gonna prioritize for a run, then all further decisions come back to this idea.

Firefly Collection: If the player decides to collect as many fireflies as possible, either for a better high score or for more princess costumes, then there are several dynamics that arise from that goal.

First, when the player is acting on that first part of the core loop, she is probably going to plan her path toward as many fireflies as possible, and killing as many enemies as possible. The player's path should lead her as close to the danger as possible, because usually that’s where the points lay.

Furthering that, the player will end up playing a slower, more calculating game. She’s going to need to be close to the enemies anyway, so she’ll have to play it safe to survive and collect.

When it comes to items, she may tend not to buy anything because she only wants to collect as many fireflies as she can. Even if it might help her in the long run, it might seem better to hoard as much as possible.

Getting Further: The other option for the player is to ignore fireflies and focus on getting as far down as she can.

Instead of planning for fireflies, the player will plan for safety. Instead of risking anything, you’re going to avoid as many enemies and obstacles as possible. This dynamic I think is somewhat unfortunate, since it prioritizes avoiding fun.

Items in this player’s case are not something to be ignored. If you have fireflies, then you might as well spend them on boots to avoid those dastardly crabs. Or bombs to use for areas that might be too difficult to avoid.

Of course these two primary dynamic choices are not mutually exclusive. It should be noted that getting further down does increase your firefly count usually. And maybe a player is only going to risk it for some fireflies, the ones that are easier. Maybe the player will spend some money on boots because she thinks it will pay off in the long run more than anything else.

Aesthetics

The aesthetics of this game focus on a casual and friendly experience. The visuals evoke cartoons, the sounds are simple and the pace is tailored toward people with only a few minutes to spare at a time. The emotional draw is from passivity, the slightly engaging interaction from a simple world with simple themes and ideas.

Sensory: The game is pleasant enough to look at. Its characters are simple, low polygonal models of princesses and fantasy creatures. It features bright colours, which gives the game a sense of pop. This colour scheme was designed to ensure the player can always follow what is going on, what she needs to look for and what she needs to avoid. It's no accident that the most bright objects are the moving fireballs. Elements that would be the hardest to track.

Genre: The genre I think most accurately describes this is platformer. It is always progressing in a linear direction, there is a distinct lack of a “realistic” flow of the level design, and of course the character literally uses platforms throughout the game.

Emotional Response: This game primarily focuses on submission. Submission arises from a more simple experience. It is focused on a player base that does not have a lot of time or thought to be put into their games. Its goal is to induce a sense of repetition, which is enforced by repetitive gameplay, and a lack of complex decision making. This is usually the primary emotional response all mobile games tend to evoke.

Narrative and Themes: The game has a simple narrative. The player is a princess stuck in a tower, about to be rescued by a noble hero, before he is burned to a crisp. He drops his hammer into the princess's room and the princess decides to save herself for once. The game likes to advertise the last fact. Its central theme is promoted around this flipping of the traditional roles. It never delves into anything deeper with this rather distinctive feminist theme, but it is a feminist theme nonetheless.

Meaningful Play

The idea of meaningful play revolves around its two components. Are the actions in this game discernible and are they integrated. This game's actions are both easily discernible and adeptly integrated. However, I do not find it provides as much of a meaningful gameplay experience.

Discernible: As discussed Once Upon a Tower has a very simple interaction with the player. Swipe to move or smash. When the player swipes, you know exactly what is going to happen, cause there’s only two things that could happen. The player moves to a new tile or removes an obstacle from the game. When a player picks up an item, the character changes appearance slightly. When the player grabs a firefly, it flashes the top right corner and increases your count. All of the actions are easily discernible and remarkably identifiable.

Integrated: While the game is certainly discernible, the integration is harder to nail down. On a single run, it is integrated, you move down, enemies are removed from the game permanently, items stay with you until you use them, and failure means your game is over. Between the individual runs, the primary connecting tissue is your firefly score, and the princess costumes. Given a run that only lasts about five minutes, the integration is an aspect that feels weak. This isn’t anything new, most mobile games are designed with minimal integration for a grab and drop play session experience.

Why it isn’t meaningful (To me): I personally don’t find this game very meaningful. It has a certain lightness to it. A lack of depth, akin to watching sitcom reruns. The idea of integration to me should go beyond the scope of players actions impacting the game state. While it certainly reaches the mark for a game that can be mildly entertaining, I find it hard to find any investment in it, to actually derive meaning. I’ll address the target audience for this, because obviously, it doesn’t seem to be me.

This game never provoked any emotional response from me, never builds anything that made me strategize, nothing connected me to this world, nothing made me think or feel. If integration doesn’t include what a player takes away from a session, doesn’t rely on the thought or emotional response of the person interacting with it, then its integration is still meaningless.

Why it is meaningful (To other people): This game does provide meaningful play to some people. It’s audience was meant for people who only have spare minutes between their daily life. It was not created as high art meant to be thought about for years, and some people can find meaning in those simple pleasures. The integration is only important in those short moments, and building up to a high score or new costume can provide meaning to people who really enjoy those elements. What the game does well is create a short little adventure for somebody's favourite princess character, and that is certainly meaningful to somebody.

[aion-rsa]

The Hardest NES Games of All-Time

https://ift.tt/3qXMeyN

With the recently released Cyber Shadow, publisher Yacht Club Games (the studio behind the brilliant Shovel Knight) prove that they’re the masters of revitalizing those brutally difficult NES games that defined an era and haunt gamers to this day.

The absurd difficulty of the average NES game can be attributed to a variety of factors, but the fact remains that there’s a reason the term “NES Hard” exists in the gaming lexicon. The hardest NES games weren’t just difficult: they were nightmarish excursions into another world where demands for perfect inputs met fundamentally unforgiving (and sometimes simply terrible) game design.

Those are the games we’re going to look at today. Some are good, some are bad, but for one reason or another, these are the absolute hardest NES games ever made.

15. Punch-Out!!

The problem with Punch-Out!! is that every new set of fighters essentially bumps up the game’s difficulty setting by a couple of levels. That makes it nearly impossible for anyone to really learn the game at a reasonable pace.

To make matters worse, this game basically treats your accomplishments with a level of spite typically only seen in house cats. By the time you reach the Mike Tyson fight, it assumes that you must be a literally perfect player.

However, there’s no way to practice for Tyson’s punching pattern the first time around, and reaching him again makes you navigate such extreme levels of difficulty that “lesser” fighters can actually make you worse. It’s an absolutely devious piece of game design that leads you to believe the game is fairer than it really is.

14. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Konami eventually got Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles right (which is a statement that really ages this era of gaming), but their debut effort is the reason many people don’t trust licensed games to this day.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a fundamentally poorly designed game. However, it uses excellent graphics, good music, and the strength of its developer’s name to cover its nearly impossible jumps, terrible resource system, and crippling framerate issues.

By the time most of us reached the infamous swimming level that required you to be accurate and fast in a game designed to offer neither of those concepts, we realized we’d been had. The rest of us never made it past the Technodrome.

13. Gauntlet

NES gamers eventually realized that most NES ports of arcade games were going to be a shell of their former selves that typically only retained the crushing difficulty, but Gauntlet abuses the privilege of forgiveness typically afforded to these titles.

As one of the first NES games developed in the United States, Gauntlet does its best to justify the old “Made in America” manufacturing jokes with its shoddy combat system and terrible visuals. Yet, Gauntlet truly earns its place on this list by virtue of its maze-like levels, unintuitive puzzles, and the fact your health is constantly dropping. That means you’re solving those levels and puzzles while battling a soft time limit.

There’s just no reason to play this punishing game, which is really a shame considering the other versions of this arcade classic are actually quite good.

12. Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom

The debate over which Ninja Gaiden game is the toughest will undoubtedly continue, but Ninja Gaiden 3 earns its spot on this list by virtue of how punishing it is in comparison to its predecessors.

Ninja Gaiden 3’s limited continue system, overwhelming number of constantly respawning enemies, and floaty jump controls essentially take away everything that you could have used in previous Ninja Gaiden games to gradually make your way through them.

Sadly, the fact that Ninja Gaiden 3 offers so few illusions that you can eventually beat it makes it the least enjoyable entry in the original series for everyone but expert players.

11. Ikari Warriors

Yes, Contra was hard, but it was also a well-designed game that is rightfully remembered as an action classic. We were lucky to have Contra in our NES libraries. Some kids had to settle for Ikari Warriors.

Like Contra, Ikari Warriors fills the screen with deadly projectiles ready to end your limited life pool in an instant. Unlike Contra, Ikari Warriors’ awful controls, worse graphics, and hidden threats mean that you’re never really sure why you’re dying.

Incredibly, Ikari Warrior’s version of Contra’s cheat code doesn’t guarantee that you’ll be able to beat the game even if you somehow possess the patience and motivation to do so.

10. Final Fantasy

The thing you have to remember about Final Fantasy is that it helped kick off a genre (and a legendary franchise) that wouldn’t be refined for years to come.

As such, the original Final Fantasy embodies the worst elements of JRPG design as well as the most challenging. Do you hate grinding in JRPGs? Final Fantasy demands it to make simple progress. Do you hate random battles? Both the appearance and difficulty of Final Fantasy’s enemies are truly random. Because there’s no way to mechanically master Final Fantasy, some of these random fights are either nearly impossible or (at times) legitimately impossible.

Even if you suffer through the basic gameplay, Final Fantasy’s confusing world navigation and ambiguous puzzles will leave you wondering whether it’s better to find an online guide or just leave the memory alone.

9. The Adventures of Bayou Billy

The diversity of the NES library is exemplified in the difference between Final Fantasy and The Adventures of Bayou Billy. Whereas Final Fantasy makes you suffer through repetition, The Adventures of Bayou Billy pulls off the impressive feat of making you suffer through variety.

Bayou Billy’s side-scrolling levels are already among the genre’s most challenging, but this game’s driving levels hold the unique distinction of being some of the most difficult driving levels on a console infamous for them. On top of that, you’ve got incredibly challenging light gun levels that are nearly impossible to overcome even if you do have a working NES zapper.

Having said that, I have to give Konami credit for making a game called The Adventures of Bayou Billy so difficult that we’re still talking about it over 30 years later alongside games like Mega Man, Castlevania, and Ninja Gaiden.

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Games

25 Underrated NES Games

By Chris Freiberg

Games

Nintendo Reveals How Many NES Classic Editions They Sold

By Matthew Byrd

8. Paperboy

There’s a legitimate argument to be made that Paperboy is the most famous NES game that few players beat and fewer players actually enjoy.

Despite being one of those NES games that you can beat in 15 minutes if you’re good enough, Paperboy’s unforgiving controls and avalanche of oncoming obstacles offered quite a bit of value the hard way to a generation of gamers who were forced to play such titles over and over again.

Honestly, why is a game about being a Paperboy so hard? Were American parents of the ‘50s constantly encouraging their kids to get paper routes so that they’d be able to quietly get rid of them and enjoy a life of reasonable real estate prices, afternoon cocktails, and social oppression?

7. Ghosts and Goblins

Ghosts and Goblins has been synonymous with difficulty for so long that it’s easy to forget why the game is so challenging in the first place.

However, even a few minutes with this infamous action/adventure title will quickly reveal that Ghosts and Goblins‘ biggest hurdle is the game’s enemies. From the infamous red devils that kill most players in a few minutes to wandering foes placed in the absolute worst positions, Ghosts and Goblins’ basic enemies could easily be minibosses in lesser games.

To make matters worse, there’s really only one viable weapon in Ghosts and Goblins and the game only allows you to take two hits before dying. It’s not the “cheapest” game on this list, but it is one of the most mechanically frustrating.

6. The Immortal

We’ve talked about The Immortal before, but it would be irresponsible to talk about the hardest NES games without giving this devil its due.

The Immortal is a practical joke disguised as a game. Its carnival of traps and hidden dangers means that the only ways through this nightmare involve cheating and dying over and over again until you find out the literal pixels that you can and cannot interact with.

Shout out to The Immortal for accurately recreating the feeling of being thrown into the deepest pit of the most dangerous dungeon, but it turns out that there’s little pleasure to be found in a game where the biggest reward is no longer having to play it.

5. Battletoads

Yes, we all know that Battletoads legendary speed bike level is the shining single example of NES difficulty and one of those pieces of shared misery that make this era in difficult gaming so special. However, I really want to talk about Battletoads’ co-op mode.

At a time when siblings were often forced to share time with the NES, Battletoads co-op mode felt like one of the best ways to play a game together. That’s why it’s that much crueler that the co-op mode is designed to make you hate whoever you’re playing with.

From melee friendly fire that’s nearly impossible to avoid to a shared life total that ends your run when one player dies, managing to beat Battletoads with another human rightfully ranks among retro gaming’s most impressive achievements.

4. Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse

The biggest case I can make for Castlevania 3’s pot on this list is that the game is so difficult that many people retroactively consider the original Castlevania to be fair by comparison.

Castlevania 3 is rightfully (if painfully) remembered for its stairs. Several levels in the game require you to climb stairs while dodging enemies and projectiles. The problem is that the stairs limit your movement to such a degree that avoiding everything requires you to move at a glacial pace, except for the times when you actually need to move quickly to have a chance to survive. It’s cheap in a way that other games in the series often avoid.

In general, Castlevania 3 is a collection of platforming death traps capped off by a stunningly difficult three-stage boss fight that requires you to start the level over if you die at any point during it. What a beautiful nightmare of a game.

3. Mega Man

The game that is sometimes credited for ushering in a new era of NES difficulty impressively manages to remain one of the hardest NES games ever despite years of worthy challengers.

The original Mega Man is difficult for the same reasons every other retro Mega Man game is difficult (tricky platforming, tough bosses, and durable enemies), but this historic gem elevates itself above the rest of the franchise by virtue of the things it lacks.

No energy tanks, no passwords, and unrefined controls make the original Mega Man harder than many of its successors, despite the fact that the pure content in a game like Mega Man 3 is arguably designed to be more challenging.

2. Fester’s Quest

To this day, my mind wants to rebel against the idea that a game based on the ‘60s Addams Family series could rank cleanly amongst the hardest NES titles of all-time, but the years have proven it is worthy of that position for all the wrong reasons.

Most of the challenge of Fester’s Quest comes from the game’s controls. Fester moves like he’s as excited to play this game as you are, yet you’re expected to navigate the often tight areas loaded with constantly respawning enemies that don’t offer a moment to breathe. You are able to defend yourself, but unless you have a turbo controller, be prepared to constantly mash the attack button just to have a chance to inch your way forward.

Even if you resolved all of those problems, you’d still have the game’s unintuitive puzzles and bizarre first-person segments that were ahead of their time in the worst way possible. Fester’s Quest is both legitimately challenging and challenging because of historically awful game design.

1. Silver Surfer

By their design, these flight style side-scrolling action games are intended to be hard. That’s why NES games like Gradius and Life Force offer some of the console’s most memorable challenges.

However, Silver Surfer takes that concept to a whole new level. This game would be hard enough if it only featured the bullet hell death maze patterns that it already requires you to navigate, but the experience is made historically memorable by virtue of truly bad visual design that can make it nearly impossible to reasonably guess what is a projectile and what’s part of the environment.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

If nothing else, Silver Surfer remains “Exhibit A” in the case of why only truly talented developers should attempt to make genuinely challenging games.

The post The Hardest NES Games of All-Time appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[thechcoman]

WIBP (What I’ve Been Playing): A Hat in Time; Hollow Knight

One of the most recent trends in most entertainment and media (for better or for worse) is how everything is usually a remake, sequel, or reboot. Usually this is done as a result of wanting to appeal to people’s inner nostalgia; to a time when their lives were less difficult and money was more valuable than time. That’s not to say originality is dead (because that would be an incredibly ignorant statement to make), but among big-name companies and long-running franchises, we see constant attempts to appeal to one’s inner nostalgia. The game I’ve recently played over this last weekend however, is a bit different in this regard…at least in the entertainment world at large. It’s supposed to invoke nostalgia, yet has no previously existing IP to fall back on, instead relying on people’s nostalgia for a genre that’s been dead for years now. Like I hinted at earlier however, this is a phenomenon that seems to be exclusive to video games, rather than industries such as the TV industry or film industry. I bring this up because the game I played this weekend manages to not only faithfully recreate and innovate the genre of old 3D collect-a-thon platformers, but is also potentially better than those older games (though the older games I will always consider to be more important due to the impact and general important that those games still have).

This game is known as “A Hat in Time” developed by the indie developer known as “Gears for Breakfast”; and I consider it to be one of the greatest success stories to come out of Kickstarter. The game works on so many levels, however I feel as though the presentation and gameplay are the best aspects of the game.

For me, the most important thing in any platformer is that the jumping and movement mechanics need to feel fluid and keep your momentum, or at least give you multiple options for how to initiate a jump and try to stay in the air as well. This is why I enjoy games such as the 3D Mario platformers (Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, etc.) and the latest 2D Rayman platformers (such as Rayman Origins and Rayman Legends). If the jumping and movement mechanics aren’t about constantly keeping momentum and flow, then it needs to be about patience and precise jumps, and being meticulous and careful, while also being reactive much like in the original NES Super Mario Bros or Banjo-Kazooie.

This constant flow and motion while jumping and maintaining momentum is something that “A Hat in Time” does expertly. When you jump in the air, you have the option to then double jump, and then you have the option of doing a dive mid-air to get extra distance of the jump. Out of this dive, you can then press the jump button again to cancel it mid-air and be given more control over where you’ll land. This allows for precise platforming while also maintaining momentum. Furthermore, if you land on the ground after doing a dive, you can press the jump button almost immediately after you touch the ground in order to get a small hop forward that increases your speed for a moment. This is another layer to the platforming that makes the movement and jumping mechanics maintain momentum and make you constantly moving. This is brilliant, as the game rewards you for going the extra mile and timing your button presses by letting you maintain movement and momentum, and by doing so letting you complete objectives more smoothly.

Since “A Hat in Time” is meant to callback to classic 3D platformers such as Super Mario 64, Banjo-Kazooie and Donkey Kong 64, the main goal of the game is similar to that of these older games; that being to collect and collect and collect. The main form of progression in these sort of games and in “A Hat in Time” is to usually go into some sort of world and then complete some sort of unique mission. Upon completion of said mission, you will be granted one of the main collectables in the game that you need to get in order to progress (which in this game is known as Time Pieces). However, in my opinion, one of the reasons why the genre began to die out and became boring in the first place was because the missions that were done in order to obtain the main collectables became increasingly less interesting and more boring with each subsequent game. They were usually “Collect X number of collectible item”, “Get to the end of this platforming section”, “Complete a minigame” or “Do a quick fetch quest.” One of the games that I felt suffered heavily from this problem was Jak and Daxter, which while mechanically was a fun game, the missions to obtain the main collectable were just uninteresting and boring. The only games that managed to keep it fresh was the Mario Galaxy games, and even then at times it felt like those games were being lazy.

I say all this because “A Hat in Time” manages to not only avoid this problem completely, but in fact I think that it’s creativity of the missions you complete is one its strongest aspects. There are two reasons for this, so let me go through both of them.

First and foremost, the game is short. At first, this seemed to be a criticism I had for the game, as I managed to obtain one hundred percent completion after only 13 hours and three days or playing. But after doing some thinking I realized that that the short length of the game helped with the creativity. Because there was less game to make, they could spend more time on each and every individual mission and Time Piece all in part of an effort to make the missions memorable and fun. Furthermore, because the game is short, each Time Piece sticks out in my mind. After only one playthrough, I can recite to you nearly every single mission I did in order to obtain one hundred percent completion.

This leads me into my second point about the creativity of the missions; the variety. There are four worlds in the game, and each world feels distinct from one another in terms of themes and overall aesthetic. One moment, you could be taking down the mafia, another you’re exploring a haunted mansion with a restless ghost haunting it and the game becomes something more akin to a horror game. Another moment you can be shooting a murder mystery movie and trying to solve a crime, and in another you can be exploring a city above the clouds. It’s the creativity and variety of each situation that helps to make each and every mission stand out in my mind.

Furthermore, the game has an excellent presentation. While the graphically fidelity isn’t all that high (it IS an indie game after all), I would still say the game is beautiful thanks to a very strong and colorful art style. Every stage’s colors pop vibrantly and each of them are designed with enough flavor and difference between each other to make them all feel distinct. This is something that is once again, helped by the short length of the game. The main protagonist, named Hat Girl, is one of the best protagonists in a 3D platformer. While she is a mostly silent protagonist, she still has a strong personality simply through her facial expression and the small amount of dialogue she has. In fact, most of the characters in the game have memorable designs and hilarious dialogue that adds to the charm and memorability of everything within the game.

“A Hat in Time” is one of the most memorable gaming experiences I’ve had in a long time, and I really highly recommend it. Along with it, we’ve been seeing a resurgence in this genre with games such as Yooka-Laylee and Super Mario Odyssey, and I’m happy to see what I once thought was a dead genre have a revival. I also look forward to future games from Gears for Breakfast.

Now then, as for games I’m currently playing through; I went from one throwback indie platformer…to another throwback indie platformer, though of a different ilk then that of “A Hat in Time”. This other game is a Metroidvania 2D platformer known as Hollow Knight. This is a game that my brother had actually played quite a bit of and recommended to me due to his knowledge of my love for games such as Metroid and Dark Souls.

As of right now, I’m enjoying Hollow Knight. It has the difficulty and recovering lost items mechanic from Dark Souls, with the exploration and progression of a Metroid game, and RPG mechanics similar to that of Paper Mario; all three of which are games that I enjoy greatly.

One of the things that stands out to me most about Hollow Knight is how great the presentation is. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if the game was completely hand-drawn, and while I haven’t really noticed the music much as it’s mostly ambient, the sound design is fantastic. The various different grunts that NPCs make give off a lot of personality, and even if they didn’t have any dialogue I could probably still tell you what they’d probably be thinking based on their animation and noises that they make. The sound design is also great when exploring as well, as each enemy has distinct sounds they make as they patrol around, letting you know what’s in store for you.

One thing I’m still trying to get used to however is platforming and combat. That’s not to say that the combat and platforming is bad, or that it’s even difficult to get the hang of, but rather after finishing A Hat In Time, wires are getting crossed in brain, as I keep attempting to double jump or do some sort of homing attack. Furthermore, the combat has this thing where every time you attack an enemy, there’s a little bit of pushback from attacking the enemy, and if you want to hit an enemy multiple times, you need to time your swings and move forward a little bit each time. This was something that threw me off initially, but it’s also something that I very quickly adapted to.

Something else that Hollow Knight is doing well, at least based on my first impressions anyways, is the Metroidvania aspects of it. There are multiple paths to explore, usually that have something at the end of them and many of the paths also wind around, all maze-like and eventually lead back into itself. However I need more time with the game before I can definitively say how well it handles this aspect.

I also unfortunately don’t have much to say about the Dark Souls and Paper Mario influences yet, as I haven’t played the game enough yet to make a decision about either of those yet.

Anyways, thanks for reading! I’ll be back next week with another post.

PS: If this post felt a little bit, Video Game Review-ish, that’s because this is the first post of the blog, and I needed something more to talk about than just Hollow Knight, which I didn’t have much to talk about yet. So I talked about the last game I finished, which was A Hat In Time, which I had so much to say that it basically became a review. Future blog posts will be more about my experiences with the game and my general impressions.

Also, a question. I play Street Fighter V a lot. Would anybody be curious about reading my experiences with my weekly Street Fighter V session as well? Let me know!

[gamingtipsandtrickshacks]

God of War Review -- The Best God of War Ever

The brand new chapter of the God of War saga is finally here, but if you expect it to have much in common with Kratos’ tribulations from the past, you’ll probably be disappointed, or at least extremely surprised. It’s time to clear our mind of all preconceptions and embark into a brand new adventure.

The most obvious difference is the setting: gone is Greece, replaced by the cold North. Kratos is still going to meet and fight gods, but this time around it’s Norse mythology to form the base for the story, and it does so for the better. The good folks at Sony Santa Monica didn’t just adopt Scandinavian myths and legends but forged them into one of the most vibrant and interesting fantasy settings I have seen in a long time.

The story begins with Kratos and his son Atreus as they burn the body of the boy’s mother. Her last wish dictates that the two scatter her ashes from the highest peak in the realms. Before they can depart, a strange tattooed man appears at the door of Kratos’ hut, seemingly aware of his divine nature.

Our short-tempered hero doesn’t like to be questioned, so a titanic battle ensues. After finally dispatching the rather resilient opponent, Kratos and Atreus depart for their adventure, which will definitely be a lot more complicated than expected.

The change in setting is just the tip of the iceberg, as Kratos himself is quite far from the consistently raging character that we left at the end of the previous game. While he still struggles to keep calm and collected, his newfound role as a father gives him new responsibilities, forcing him to hold his nature at bay or to find a new one within himself.

Of course, being the son of the God of War isn’t exactly easy, especially if said god isn’t willing to tell you squat about his own nature and yours. This is the conundrum that Atreus will have to face, as the two men, old and young, struggle to get closer to each other possibly without this resulting in too many bruises. The generational gap is the least of the problems that Kratos and Atreus will have to face, and the way they grow together as characters is probably one of the most charming aspects of this game.

This is probably the biggest innovation brought to the table by God of War. The previous games of the series were fun despite their characters. Exhilarating action gameplay and fantastic graphics (for the time) were the main attraction, while the story was pretty much an accessory. It’s a bit difficult to have compelling and nuanced storytelling when your main character has two states of mind, angry and angrier.

On the other hand, the new title comes with a cast that is rich in charm and depth. Kratos himself has grown into an extremely compelling character with plenty of emotional depth and his share of vulerabilities. His guff manners should not deceive, as there is definitely a lot to discover beneath the thick hide of this veteran father-warrior. As a matter of fact, in some aspects, he has turned into the geometric opposite of who he was. His abrupt speech patterns and unfriendly mannerism used to make him annoying. Now, thanks to the exceptional writing and the presence of Atreus as a perfect counterpart, they have become endearing traits, and definitely enjoyable.

Atreus himself is a great co-protagonist. Kratos’ son is depicted as flawed and immature. Yet, that’s done in a way that masterfully avoids turning him into a nuisance and indeed encourages the player to grow attached to this fledgling would-be warrior who struggles to live up to his super-stern father’s expectations, while dealing with his own mysterious and often uncomfortable nature.

The rest of the cast is equally well written and designed, and I can honestly say that for the first time I truly enjoyed the story of a God of War game. Until a couple of years ago, I would have never, ever, thought this possible.  The God of War series is all grown-up now, and I say this with the most positive sentiment possible.

For the first time in the story of the franchise, the strong narration and writing spark a wide range of feelings, going from deeply moving movements to absolutely hilarious skits, and the best part is that it all feels perfectly natural.

The story and characters are supported by absolutely superb voice acting, and the continuous dialogue between Kratos and Atreus is interesting and enjoyable all the way through the game.

Speaking of audio, every single aspect of the production is top-notch, from the sound design that perfectly sets the atmosphere of the imperious Norse landscape, to the score by Bear McCreary, which is hands-down one of the best soundtracks I have heard in a game of this genre in a long time.

One of the few aspects sticking to the tradition of the series is the graphics. I tested the game on PS4 Pro, and I have to say that the game looks truly spectacular. I am always amazed by the visual results that Sony’s top first-party studios manage to achieve on a console, and this is no exception.

Those playing on PS4 Pro like I did will have the chance to choose between a “favor resolution” mode that renders the game at 2160p checkerboard or a “favor performance” mode that renders at 1080p, with better frame rate.  The game is a true joy for the eyes in both modes, but it’s certainly good to have options (you can check out the difference in our dedicated article).

It’s actually difficult to judge which element looks better between the rich environments and the beautifully detailed character models. The world is brought to life masterfully, even thanks to advanced lighting and effects.

Amazing texture work is probably the best aspect of the characters, and rarely I have seen gameplay models so close to cutscene quality. They’re super-detailed, expressive, and fantastically animated.

Speaking of animation, it feels extremely visceral thanks to the combination with proficient camera work and the awesome sound design I mentioned above. You will “feel” every impact of Kratos’ axe directly in your stomach, and even something as simple as opening a chest has an “oomph” that is rarely seen in games.

Of course, the true king of the God of War franchise has always been gameplay, and that still holds true with this new game. Yet, this is not to say that it’s similar. As a matter of fact, it really isn’t. The new God of War is closer to an extremely stylish action-RPG than to a pure hack-and-slash.

The development team adopted a rather deep system involving plenty of loot, equipment and upgrades, alongside multiple skill trees, and this works as a very solid base for the new battle mechanics.

Combat itself has plenty of depth and nuance, discouraging button mashing even at the normal difficulty setting, and spurring the player to learn his “tools of the trade” in the forms of combos, blocks, dodges, and magical abilities. It’s definitely more tactical and complex than what God of War fans are used to, without losing one bit of its exhilarating nature.

The game presents the player with a good variety of enemies, each of which requires a different approach to be fought effectively, keeping you on your toes and ensuring that battle never gets old all the way throughout the adventure.

Things are made even more interesting by the fact that you don’t fight alone. Atreus acts as an adventuring companion and as the perfect distraction to allow you to unleash that devastating and extremely satisfying combo. Like his father, he can be customized (even if to a lesser extent) in order to further adapt him to your favorite playstyle or to the situation. His presence adds another layer of depth to the already engaging battle system.

The true star, at least for me, is Kratos’ new axe. It’s powerful and visceral, turning combat into a brutal and immersive activity. Upgrading and customizing it is satisfying and rewarding, and it comes with an extremely cool feature: not only it can be thrown with various effects depending on your skills and customization, but it can also be recalled by pressing triangle. When you do that, it won’t just reappear in Kratos’ hand, but it will actually fly back to it, hitting unsuspecting enemies in the back. It’s actually difficult to describe how cool this feels before you try it yourself.

Once mastered, God of War’s combat is one of the most rewarding I have tried in a long time. Kratos becomes a hurricane of death and destruction, blocking, shield bashing, slicing, dicing, spinning around and throwing his axe at an enemy further away, while pummeling closer monsters with punches and kicks, and then recalling the weapon to catch two more draugr in the back, before going in for one of the several spectacular finishers. It’s fast, complex, addictive, and exhilarating, but I never once felt like I wasn’t in control.

As a matter of fact, I have never felt so much in control in a God of War game, and the sensation this gives is fantastic.

The axe is also used extensively to solve quite a few puzzles scattered across the landscape. One particular kind requires you to strike some bells in order to unlock a chest. It may sound banal, but it often isn’t, and fluidly hitting your targets while calling your weapon back will feel definitely satisfying the first time you manage to pull the stunt.

Another extremely pleasing aspect of God of War is just how much content it packs. It’s not an open-world game, but there is a lot of real estate to visit, and plenty of room for exploration and for hunting secrets on top of the long and meaty story. Every realm that you visit looks and feels very different, and it’s really amazing that Sony Santa Monica managed to include this much gameplay while keeping the overall level of quality so consistently high. There is even an enormous amount of lore that can be collected to immerse yourself deeper into the setting.

Ultimately, God of War is the perfect example of how it’s possible to revolutionize a beloved series while improving it massively, in a way that does not feel unnatural. Mechanical improvements add up on top of a compelling story and impressively solid and likable characters.

Cory Barlog and his team managed to reinvent the wheel, and while they added more pieces, it rolls smoother than ever before, providing the best God of War experience of the history of the franchise.

[gamebrocorey-blog]

Mulaka(Switch) Review

   Are you a fan of action-adventure games the remind you of a certain elf in a green tunic and a princess? Do you like light puzzle solving paired with good platforming that change from level to level? Do you like returning to areas you’ve previously visited to find new goodies to help you get stronger? Do you like COLORS??? Than look no further than Mulaka, a newly released action-adventure game for Xbox One, PS4, Steam, and Switch! I learned about this game from a Nintendo sizzle real and I was hooked straight from the get-go. The beautiful art-style paired with the Zelda-like gameplay were the hooks in my jaw. Not only does this game please visually, but the story kept me longing to return and progress. Mulaka has a great mix of action and exploration, put in interesting bite sized levels perfect for the Switch. Each level is packed full of new enemies, set-pieces, and secrets that I spent plenty of time wandering in search of every last one. Mulaka is Lienzo Studios second game released and it deserves heavy praise for the story, the combat, and the art style!

   Mulaka begins with a story from the Tarahumara lore, explaining that the world is created and ended in periods by the gods, to end the evils that men are guilty of and restart life fresh for a new beginning. Mulaka is tasked with the mission to meet with the demi-gods and persuade them to stop this from happening once again. You start out awoken in the Samalayuca Desert, and must begin by passing through the desert to meet the first demi-god. Something really cool about this game is the fact that the story is based on actual places and lore in the Tarahumara lore. All of the games locations are real world locations too like the Samalayuca Desert and Lake Arareko. You will also find tools and trinkets that were used by the Tarahumara people in the form of secrets. Each of these give you a small description of what they are and what they were used for and they are actually pretty informative. The basic formula of each level is to find 3 rock keys to open a massive door to fight a boss. To get these keys, you will have to complete puzzles, enemy arenas, or side quests. Once the boss is defeated, you will meet with a demi-god and he will tell you about the boss you defeated, explain where you must go next and give you their power. The powers at hand are transformations of each of the demi-gods that allow you to progress through levels. These progressions include a pecking-bird that allows you to fly a short distant and a bear that allows you to crush red boulders. Unlocking these abilities really persuaded me to revisit past areas to find more chests and secrets I couldn’t have accessed prior. 

   As you continue though the starting area, you a greeted with these deer pillars, telling you the basic controls of the game. These statues are nice and simply, just a command and a prompt. Good to go! As you explore each of the levels, you will find many different plants, enemies and secrets. You can view secret locations and your main quest with the All-Seeing Eye. By pressing one of the shoulder buttons, a blue filter covers the screen, giving you a slightly confusing heads-up display(HUD) showing you the different icons. At first, I didn’t really understand what each icon meant, but as you play, it becomes easier to distinguish the secrets from the story. Like I stated earlier, the secrets can be either a trinket or tool used by the Tarahumara people or spirits of previously living warriors/villagers, and both are usually pretty interesting. The enemies have an okay variety of different and challenging as you progress. Most of the enemies you encounter are tougher versions of previous versions, with some exceptions of new tougher enemies. Speaking of the enemies, I ADORE the bosses in this game. The bosses remind me of a good mix of Zelda and Dark Souls bosses. Some of them require environmental items to be used to weaken them, while others have patterns you will have to perfectly dodge to land a perfect barrage of attacks. As you search the various lands, you will find different types of plants to craft health potions, explosives, and buffs. I really like the idea of this, the crafting is simple, just pick up three to four plants and you get a potion. Whenever you use a potion or buff, you are forced to perform a dance as a force of balancing. You must time your potion use wisely or else you might get attacked by an enemy, canceling the dance and losing a potion. I really like the gameplay flow here, it’s a nice simply combo of fighting enemies, using potions, hunting for stones, secrets, and plants, than progressing to the end of the level. 

   The combat is honestly my least favorite part of the game. Mulaka is equipped with a spear, and it does have good range and decent damage. The problem with the combat is it just feels too spammy to me. I feel like it was also hard to stay on target, the game has a slight lock-on feature but it’s not great. It also seems like this is the only weapon in the game, but I’m ok with this. Instead of thinking of the spear as a weapon, think of it as the attack. As much as I would like a variety of weapons in the game, I never did get tired of using the spear. I do however like the inclusion of light and heavy attacks, they provide some nice variety. After connecting enough hits, you also get a super move that creates a whirlwind around you, damaging all nearby enemies. This attack is SUPER useful when there are too many enemies to deal with as well as dealing massive damage to bosses. To avoid attacks, Mulaka can either jump out of the way, run away, or dodge. Jumping is mostly situational, you’ll mainly be dodging and running, which feel good. I have to give shoutouts to the goofy run in this game. I’m not sure if the Tarahumara tribe ran like this, and if they did please forgive me, but it just cracks me up every time I see Mulaka to this cartoonish sprint. Speaking of cartoons, I LOVE the look of this game!

   Besides the action-adventure style game-play, the visuals of this game were a huge factor to me for checking it out. This art-style reminds me of many games, including The Legend of Zelda, Journey, and even The Witness. I love the simplistic style mixed with a vast color scheme. The game visually reminds me of a better looking Nintendo 64 game, and when I say better, I mean BETTER! The set-pieces and terrain are modeled detailed and intricate, while the npcs, enemies and Mulaka himself are modeled simple and blocky. I like the transition between the two, they meld together to form a nice piece of art, almost with a paper mache look. I also have to point out the beautifully done, hand-drawn  cutscenes in the game! They are presented after beating bosses and during load screens and every time they were on the screen, I couldn’t help but admire them! The different areas in the game also vary in style and colors. It was nice to progress from the bright and sunny deserts into a dark, rich and lush forest environment, filled with fireflies. I couldn’t help but look around each environment not for secrets, but just to appreciate the detail the devs put into the game. Art comes in many shapes and forms, and I should talk about the music in the game. The music mostly adds ambiance, most of the time I didn’t really pay attention to the music but when I noticed it, it was pretty good! The most memorable sounds in the game come from the item use and item collection sounds. Remind me of the quick, short jingles played in Zelda. I’ve been comparing this game a lot to Zelda, and you know what, that’s a good thing right?! If you like the general format or playstyle of Zelda, you’ll probably like this game!

    The art-style alone is a good reason to check out this game, but the inclusion of fun gameplay and interesting story makes this a must play. This game seems to be about eight to ten hours long, which is a good amount for all types of gamers. And the difficulty is fair, it’s not too hard, you just will need to be smart with your dodges and potion uses. I for one am glad I encountered this game, and really learned a lot about the Tarahumara tribe and the wilderness of Northern Mexico. Although I didn’t enjoy the combat too much, the gameplay and visuals kept me chugging through. This game is like a modern N64 game, it has spectacular environments, decent combat, and interesting transformation abilities! I recommend this game to anyone looking for a Zelda-light experience. I give Mulaka on the Switch an eight out of ten! ( 8 / 10 ) Now if you excuse me, I’ll be taking a trip to to Mexico to find me some demi-gods. I always wanted to be a bird, plus I won’t have to pay from my flight back! Until next time, tweet tweet everyone! 

[arronmolyneuxfutureworks-blog]

L4 Abstract Game Assignment: Design Document

We had some difficulty finding an initial starting point for our Abstract game. The main issue was finding something that was unique, rather than a copy or variation of the popular games like Chess or Draughts. After discussing our ideas between ourselves and talking to or Tutor Anna, a member of our group (Josh) pitched an idea revolving around a dynamic game board, with the main goal to create a path across the board and get your pieces to the other side.

This is an image of Josh’s original Board design. The player would create a path using the different shapes in order to move their piece across (Represented by a Chess King piece for testing). Josh’s original ideas also consisted of a middle ground that could have traps, and a another piece which acted as a defence piece.

 In the first play tests, it was found that the idea works well, but in terms of actually game play, the first version was a bit dull. It would either come down to whoever could make the path the fastest, offering no real strategy or counters that players could use. Or it would grind to a stubborn stalemate, as both players would repeatedly move the same pieces so that neither could advance. It was also easy to win as the pieces had no movement restrictions originally, and could move half the board in one turn if a path was created, meaning that a player could easily win by only moving the end tiles of each row, and moving across the entire row in a few turns.

  Wanting to keep the core element of a dynamic board into the game, we started looking at possible solutions. We tried implementing rules such as not being able to move a tile that had been moved on the previous turn, and whilst this solved the issues of stalemates, it made it even easier to create a path as players could not alter paths once they were made, allowing the player to move all the way down it on their next turn. Our group decided that a rework of the board as necessary, with the improvements to movement that we wanted to add in mind, in order to make the game play flow better.

 As Josh had taken a step back on development of this game in order to work on our other assignments, I took over and tried to mix my own ideas with Josh’s original vision. One of the main issues of the first version was the movement of the pieces. We implemented an ‘Action Point’ system which limited the player to three moves per turn, which included creating a path. We also moved away from individual tiles that could be swapped and moved and chose for an arrow system, were the player would rotate arrows and they could only move in the direction the arrow was facing, still keeping the dynamic board mechanic.

The image above is the second version of our Abstract game. It looks very different to the first board but the same core elements are still there. The pieces needed to be moved across the board are marked with numbers, and this version had three pieces to be moved, in order to try and make the games last longer, and try and create more challenging gameplay as the players attention could not be focused on just one piece at a time. The middle section (which we referred to as “No Man’s Land”) has been implemented in order to break apart paths so that issues with creating paths in the first version such as repetitive tile moving or easy routes was minimised. A new piece, originally called the block, represented by the coloured Hexagons, was also added. These new pieces could be placed at the beginning of the game in No Man’s Land by each player, to try and restrict movement as a form of counter.

Whilst improving and solving the problems that the first version had, the second version created problems of its own. One major issue was trying to come up with a method of getting the arrows to rotate when we made a physical prototype of the game, and during lectures, we learned that magnets and lots of small pieces should be avoided when making a board game. Another problem was that, once a piece had been moved successfully to the second set of arrows on the opposite side, there was nothing to stop them from moving to the end goal. Making it again turn into a race for the fastest path, or a stubborn stalemate as the single tile on the last row was repeatedly changed. The blocks became an issue as well, as the original rules stated that once the blocks had been placed, they couldn’t be moved (to try and prevent a player just moving the block every turn to block paths). This resulted in only a small area of the board being playable, and the same route being taken every time during a game.

The image above is the final version of our Abstract Board. This version has successfully implemented all our original ideas into the game along with a working rule set and game mechanics. No Man’s land has been improved by also containing arrows that can be controlled and moved, so that there is more paths the player can create. Blocks, now known as Blockades, have been improved by allowing the players to remove and place down again during their turn at the cost of Action Points. A new piece called the Interceptor has also been implemented so that there is another challenge for players once reaching their opponents side of the board, making the game more difficult that previous versions. Rules have also been implemented in relation to who can move which areas of the board at what time, to reduce the amount of back and forth tile switching from previous versions. Arrows can also only be rotated clockwise to also help reduce this.

In terms of making the physical version the solution we came up with was to use Paper joiners, so that the arrows are still able to rotate, but are also attached to the board. We also laminated all pieces in an effort to make them last longer.

A final play test and feedback session with our Tutor Anna revealed that, whilst the game worked and was enjoyable, there was not a strong competitive feeling, due to being able to see each other’s moves and the amount of pieces in play. To try and fix this we removed a Blockade piece from the standard rule set, so that less of the board can be blocked, and players would have to focus more. Other improvements we thought up were making the board bigger, and adding more Runner and Interceptor pieces to match the new board size, however, we did not have time to be able to implement these improvements as testing and re-balancing to find the right size and amount of pieces would’ve taken too long and our deadline was close. In spite of this, we are very happy with how the game plays and its overall aesthetic.

[builtinadaygames]

Games on itch: what I played this month

Hi, my name is Kevin Beissel.  I make game projects under the name ‘builtinaday’ and lurk on Twitter @builtinadayKB.

The purpose of this post is to cover some of the free games on itch.io, from a developer and fan perspective.  I'd like to make it a recurring series, maybe a monthly breakdown but who knows.  Like Douglas Adams said, the best part of deadlines is the great WHOOSHING sound they make while flying by.

Before we get to the games, I just want to clarify why I'm doing this and what I hope it accomplishes.  So here's the what, why and how:

The WHAT

Discuss free games available on itch.io

I've got a list of profiles to check out, but please send along any recommendations.

There are no restrictions on genres.  The whole point of this is to be curious and ask questions.  So no dumb rules like "No walking sims" or "No puzzle platformers", which would prolly eliminate half of the available games anyways.

The WHY

I want to become a better developer and playing experimental/small/art/trash games could help.

Getting an audience is hard and getting constructive feedback is even harder.  I can't help the devs covered in these posts with the former but maybe I can with the latter.

The HOW

There is no rating system.

There is no alter ego here, these are not 'angry' reviews.

These aren't even really reviews.

The goal is to focus on the design choices that were made and discuss the reasoning behind them.

I don't really care about being right, I don't really care about sounding smart ("Yeah, no shit" the reader grumbles), I don't really care about agreeing with you. I'm more interested in looking at the hierarchy of ideas (to borrow a phrase) that form game design.  By working at the ends and working in the middle we can find out more about it, right?

Enough with the formalities, let's get started.

Profile: Steven Miller (@stevenjmiller37, steven-miller.itch.io, 30 projects available)

Game: Calor

Genre/Style: Strategy, base building and combat modes

Strategy games are tall orders, especially as jam submissions, but Calor has plenty of good things going on.  The visuals are charming, the two game modes are fun, and it has some of that 'one more turn' gameplay you want in a good strategy game.

It sort of reminds me of FTL and X-Com, except it's also nothing like those games.  I still caught echoes of them, like an eerie trumpet call over a lost battlefield.  Except there's no sound in space, or so I've heard.

Hey, what spins faster: the planet in Calor or Hunter Thompson in his grave after I just mangled his 'eerie trumpet' line?

The base building mode revolves around placing resources (farms, solar panels, factories) on sections of a planet.  Every turn the planet rotates, and the direction can be changed with wind turbines.  Part of the planet has sunlight and resource tiles produce plus-1 per turn in sunlight.  Sun spots pop up every 7 or 8 turns and will destroy any resource on a tile or damage the player, but a warning message pops up when the sun spot is three turns away.

Enemies can't damage tiles but can attack the player.  It's better to move onto the enemy's tile and initiate combat, especially if the tile contains a resource.  Letting the enemy move onto your tile has a combat penalty.

The combat mode has two parts to consider: a top section with three bars that contain the enemy's attack and shield points and a bottom section laid out like a hex-style grid.  The grid has three starting nodes on the left and three ending nodes on the right with bonus nodes in the middle.  You can choose whether to use a shield node or an attack node during your turn, but not both.

If the top section has a shield in any bar, connecting to the corresponding ending node reduces your attack points.  So you have to plan paths that pick up as many bonus nodes as possible and avoid ending on a penalized node.

Both modes are good and it would be cool to see them expanded on.  There's a few things I'm curious about though, like the attack only/shield only choice you have to make in combat.

If you start a fight with low health, the enemy will prolly wipe you out with one attack.  So I suppose the design incentivizes you to keep moving away from the enemy until your health is refilled during the base building mode, then turn around and engage.  I just wish there was away to use both a shield node and an attack node on the same turn.  I know upgrade systems can be tricky and usually avoid them in my projects, but this ability would be a great addition.

Forgive me if there is this ability, but I'm pretty sure there isn't.

And I gotta ask: if you can't combine the abilities, then what's the point of including a shield option at all?  If you're low on health to start, using the shield just creates an endless loop of defensive turns.  Does health regenerate between turns in combat or only outside of combat?  Could I block the enemy's attack enough times until I'm healed and then switch to attack nodes?  What am I missing here?

I know that sounds negative, but I swear it's just curiosity.  Calor is fun to play and also gave me some challenging design questions to consider.  There are plenty of games that fail to do either of those things.

Game: Capture Horizon

Genre/Style: Puzzle platformer, side-scroller

This is a puzzle platformer that requires you to manipulate the level by taking photos of it and arranging them to form a path to the exit.  I played Camera Obscura on Steam, which uses a simiilar idea, and it's a cool concept.  I like that it relies on spatial design/reasoning skills, instead of using oblique hints to solve unfair challenges based on muddy logic/lazy rulesets.

The photo taking/placing mechanic is easy to understand.  You can't take a new photo while on an existing one and you can have up to three at a time.  It seems simple but I quickly became stumped, especially on levels five and six.

The platforming is OK, but it leads to many cheap deaths.  Most levels have two sections you need to reach; the first is relatively easy and the second is much harder.  The harder section requires a lot of trial and error, due to both photo placement and jumping issues, which means you have to redo the easy section a lot of times which is tedious.

Traditional difficulty progression states that a level should have an ascending scale of difficulty, not a descending scale.  But for short, self-contained levels like this, inverting that formula might have worked well.

And since we are here to inquire within about everything and not here to disparage, let's consider some alternative solutions to this problem:

New speed setting:  I hate when people suggest new settings for traversal speeds in my own work, because there is usually a bunch of connected factors to consider/change that they aren't aware of.  What sounds like a small tweak is actually a much larger change.

So, even tho I hate being THAT GUY, I too often found myself running right off of a platform or, even worse, jumping way too early to compensate for the fast movement.  A walk/run control setup might have fit nicely.

Change the jump mechanic:  Something like the style of jumping used in Gunpoint would have made the platforming simpler, but much more satisfying.  For those who don't know, the Gunpoint-style allows the player to activate a jumping stance, adjust the height/distance of the jump and then confirm or cancel the jump.

This style would eliminate most of the frustrating trial and error sections.  You could place a photo and test whether your jump could reach it, instead of placing a photo and jumping one pixel short and having to retry the whole level.

What helpful advice, huh?  "Ripoff a more popular game to make your own work seem better" is just about the most lazy advice you could give an artist.  And yet here I am, handing out shopworn cliches faster than Michiko Kakutani.  So where the hell is my goddamn Pulitzer?

Game: Entropy

Genre/Style: Roguelike, 8-bit isometric view

Lately I've been seeking out games that put a strong emphasis on combat, like "Superhot" or "Deadbolt".  Roguelikes usually have a heavy emphasis on combat and Entropy certainly does.

You have a fast-moving, low-damage ranged shot that repeats quickly but you can charge up a power shot.  The charged shot literally turns you into a bullet, and can be used offesnsively or defensively.  You could knock out a powerful enemy or escape from a crowd by firing to a safe spot.  You can also use the charge shot for traversal, usually shooting across gaps filled with spikes.

If I could transform into anything, I'd transform into a machine that could make ANYTHING.  I would make anything then transform back into myself and enjoy whatever (or whoever) I just made.  That might seem like an awfully large loophole, a loophole so large you could drive a Pagani Zonda thru it.  A carbon-fiber supercar loaded with guns, cash, and women (or MEN) you made in your ANYTHING machine.

But what are you?  A lawyer?  I don't remember making any of those in that ANYTHING machine.

Or you could turn into a bullet.  That is also a pretty cool thing to do.

The character movement speeds are nicely balanced.  Strafing a lone enemy is fun and juggling large crowds is intuitive.  Some enemies felt like bullet sponges, but I wasn't using the charge shot enough.  Moving around till I had space and time to get it off made those enemies easier to deal with.  The enemy design is good too, with variations in size/speed/strength that feel balanced.  They have a nice spectral, eerie look to them.

The game also opens with a short cutscene.  My favorite part was the "standing" animations.  All the characters constantly bounce up and down, which is fun to watch.  I love this choice.  Animations more sophisticated than this aren't really the point of LD jams and if they stood still that would be boring, so it's a nicely off beat decision.

The one minor problem I had was the reticle color.  It's green, which would be fine except some levels have patches of grass that make it hard to track the reticle.  Otherwise, the game has the color palette nicely split up between player, enemy and enviromental assets.

Remember:  Split up the colors, but don't split up your pants!  Why do people breath in when trying to squeeze into jeans?  If you breath out you get thinner, or at least that's what my bitchy mother-in-law keeps telling me.  I get it, Joan!  Also, get Entropy and shoot stuff.

Profile: Tooth and Claw (Dan McGrath, @daninfiction, toothandclaw.itch.io, 24 projects available)

Game: Valley of the Moon

Genre/Style: Walking sim, puzzle

You are supposed to collect four relics to reactivate your ship and leave the planet.  Despite the walking sim label, there's a couple of nice platforming sections too.  But the real point of this type of game is to create a distinct atmosphere, a space worth getting lost in.

Of all the games in this post, this is the one that gave me the purest moment, or at least the type of moment you can really only get with a videogame.  The game starts up and I see a nearby building with a large door.  Since its a puzzle game and I've just started, I assumed the door was locked.  But I went over anyways, intent on asking one of the fundamental questions videogames can offer: "Can I do that?"

Turns out, I could do that.  The door popped open, and I got a little thrill out of it.  Seems silly maybe, that something so simple could feel that rewarding, but it did.

Inside the building is one of the relics and another nicely put together moment.  You climb the final step and see a platform with a relic on it, and a giant orange moon lined up right above it.  The symmetry of the relic and moon is really nice and its a striking visual moment.

The only question I would ask is about the ending:  Why not try something wild or unexpected, something totally abstract or bizarre?

I don't mean this as a criticism, because it's quite good and I'm glad I played it, it's just a question.

If you've played other walking sims all the way through, like "Dear Esther" for example, then you know how a surprising and offbeat ending can really resonate with the right type of players.  I happen to really like the way that "Esther" ends, and can more strongly recall that odd, poetic moment better than I can recall some of the other supposedly famous moments in recent games.

A unique and challenging ending can make a lasting impression on the player and, whether they loved or hated it, that player will remember your work.

So, in the case of this game, why not do something more eccentric?  Like when you take off and leave this peaceful planet behind you end up crashing onto an uninhabitable, hostile planet?  Or you take off and safely land on a new planet, only to find out its exactly like the one you left?  Is that too 'Twilight Zone' for you?

Or maybe you take off and turn into a freaking Star Child?  Then the Star Child grows up and becomes Galactus?

Anyways, that's what happens when you leave the audience hanging.  They start out reasonable enough and end up arguing about Galactus and his big, dumb headgear.

The point being: not every game needs a meaningful or profound or abstract ending, but some do.

Game: Zealot

Genre/Style: FPS, looks like a 90s shareware game

Other Info: made in 3 days

This is a dope throwback to shareware-era FPS games.  Zealot is like a resurrected title from this era, with glorious visuals and punishing combat.

There was a wider range of titles than most people remember, mainly because the iconic titles of the time (DOOM, HEXEN) loom so large.  I was flipping thru an old PC game magazine (prolly circa 1995) and there was pages and pages of ads for obscure shareware titles, some looking totally generic and others beyond bizarre.  I prolly spent more time looking at those ads recently than I did when those games came out.  Sorry, marketing geniuses!

There was also an article about how advanced stats would become important in sports.  Something about how coaches, players, fans, journalists and gamblers would be interested in new ways to analyze performance and predict outcomes.  Who would have thought?  You know besides Paul Allen and his 300-foot yact and his investment stake in STATS LLC.  Also, fuck Paul Allen, fuck his yact, fuck his Dorsia reservations, and fuck me while we're at it.

But don't fuck Zealot!  Do play Zealot, it's quite fun.  You run and jump around on a floating platform blowing up various types of demons.  You play until you die.  My best time was 74.67176 seconds.  It was much more fun once I realized I could hold down the attack button to autofire, which seems obvious but hey, if you're so smart how about you come over and unclog this drain?  I've tried nothing man, and I'm all out of ideas.

Thankfully Dan McGrath isn't out of ideas, tho!  And Zealot is a pretty good idea.  I've never had a bad idea.  I've had great ideas that turned out horribly wrong, but never any BAD ideas.  I've also stolen ideas/entire jokes from 30 Rock, but Dan McGrath hasn't yet!

Profile: Trasevol Dog (@TRASEVOL_DOG, trasevol-dog.itch.io, 24 projects available)

Game: Blast Flock

Genre/Style: similar to Luftrausers, but more colorful

This is the profile to check out if you like games with bright color palettes and visuals that really pop off the screen.  It helps that the gameplay is excellent, too.

And hey, people who care soooo much about what engine a dev uses: this game wasn't made with Unity, so try to find something else to complain about.

Blast Flock is a variation on Luftrausers, which is an OK game.  I really wanted to like Luftrausers, but whenever I play it I'm always left with the same two questions:  Where is the rest of the game and how come it isn't more fun?

Luftrausers felt like it was all about keeping your multiplier at 20 which feels like a chore, like an uncreative grind.  I was more interested in finding fun and interesting ways to attack enemies, especially since it had such great body/weapon/engine variety.  It felt like they incentivized creative approaches, but instead only rewarded you for following a narrow path.

Well, Blast Flock doesn't have more content, but it certainly is more fun.  The controls are intuitive and allow for a lot of experimentation.  Your group of ships always flies towards the reticle, with fire and boost mapped to lmb/rmb.  You can shoot down enemies and save them as they fall, expanding your group.

Building your squadron up and tearing thru a huge group of enemies at top speed with guns blazing feels so great.  Whipping the mouse around the screen and creating total chaos also feels great, like orchestrating your own bullet hell symphony.

Or you could conduct a symphony of the night.  But how the hell am I supposed to read music in the dark?  My conductor baton glows in the dark, but I don't want people to know that.  It only does that in case I drop it during a performance and have to find it on the ground real quick.  Symphony of the night?  How about a 'symphony of the comfortable recliner' instead?  Or ‘symphony of the better jokes’?

Thanks for reading!  If you liked this then maybe check out my itch profile, too.

[gamehackercheats-blog]

Clash Royale hack no root

Clash Royale hack gems 2017

Clash Royale Hack no human verification or survey or download

Are There Any Clash Royale Hacks That Work

You have probably heard of Gaming with Molt, Nickatnyte and ChiefPat and their famous YouTube channels. They are recording the screen as they play. That way, they are showing you various tactics and gameplay styles. This actually makes it pretty fun to watch. If you ever wondered how they do it, or if you want to do it yourself, we ve created a step-by-step tutorial for it.

Players sԛuare off against live competition on small maps dotted by six structures; three for every player. The purpose of the game is to eliminate the other player s castle while defending your own. You ll do this by deploying units from a hand of cards wherever within an permissible area on the field. With simple features such showing your progress through several arenas as you ascent the ranks to the top, this new game by SuperCell has created is assured of getting you reaping all the advantages of stunning fun the first game rewarded you with. Destroying the main tower determine an automatic victory, but your troops can t be controlled once they re in combat, just like Clash of Clans, so fights tend to concentrate on destroying crown towers until attacking the king.

The How to Get 500 Gems Free is one of the most shared tutorials that we provide. It really helps, boosting you with a nice start. And the best thing is, it works perfectly well with both Android and iOS. On top of all, you don t have to pay anything to obtain those gems.

The very first thing that you need to know about this free gem generator tool is that it provides you instant solution for your gaming needs. All that you need to do is visit the official website of hack tool developers and post your request over there. Ensure that you are visiting right and secure terminal. Now follow these steps:

Like Clash of Clans Hack, the hard currency in Clash Royale is Gems, while the Gold is the soft currency. Gold can be used to buy a small choice of specific cards from the store, and are necessary when you want to upgrade your troops and spells. Hard currency is used to buy treasure chests from the store, and can speed up the unlocking method of chests. These chests are your reward for winning a fight, and they can last from 15 minutes to eight hours to unlock. If you spend a few Gems added with Clash Royale Hack, you can unlock chests right away and skip the waiting time.

Using our hack is really fast and simple. All you need to do is run our generator, input your username and select desired amount of gems! It s as simple as that; Clash Royale hacks has never been easier. Clash Rolayle Hack Tool: http://crhack.download

While in the Clash Royale ios that is downloadable, the user is reԛuired to download it first and follow a couple of steps thereon, the online one allows the user to use it in no time. Moreover, downloading maybe hindered by certain circumstances such as internet speed among others. Not to mention, it also reԛuires installation, which may be very technical for some.

There is no doubt to say that Clash Royale game is very exciting and full of adventure. You will find several small and big challenges on the way but if you don t know the real tricks to meet your targets then it will destroy your adventure. So it is right time to use professional cheats while gaining access to unlimited coins online. This all in one hack tool will provide you everything on single platform and all for free. No need to spend your real money on any other resource generator and you don t even need to download virus containing files on your device. Just an online tool is powerful enough to manage all your needs and it will provide you all solutions instantly. These advanced cheats can help you meet your objectives within very less time and soon you will find yourself powerful enough to beat your opponents.

Clash Royale Hack With Root

CR gamers come here and looking for a good CR cheats Mod that give them real gems. We have developing this online cr hack system that work on all device like iOS iPhone/ Android/ Mac/ PC to solve most of cR players problem. If you are a CR player who wants to enjoy playing this game and search for cheats or hack gems without the difficulty then you are in correct place! Our online based system is safe and very effective, it will give you unlimited amount of gold, elixir, even real gems. You just enter your username of CR and put the amount of gems you want then it all set.

Clash Royale Hack Without Verification

There are so many impressive things to explore inside Clash Royale platform but when you don t have enough currency in your stores then it is quite difficult to move ahead. This problem is well considered by clash royale experts and that is why they have worked for designing an online gem generator. Clash Royale is a mobile friendly game so definitely you don t want to clutter your small memory space by downloading any additional software. Not even a hack tool is good choice for download! Experts know that and this is the main reason behind development of online cloud based hack tool that works perfectly on Android as well as iOS devices. No matter which smartphone you are using for your gaming needs, there is always a cloud based resource generator that you can access anytime from anywhere. It will help clash royale lovers to enjoy unlimited gaming hours without feeling scarcity of resources and the best part is that your characters and tools will always stay updated to beat enemies. Yeah! When you have easy access to unlimited numbers of coins, gems, gold and elixir then definitely you can play powerfully. You will be able to control your characters in much better manner and play all battles potentially while winning lots of crows at every level. Your mission Clash Royale King will be soon fulfilled with this online gem generator.

Being the game premium resource, gems are the ultimate weapon for gaining trophies and advancing further into higher arenas. They are needed for purchasing gold, so you can upgrade your cards. Or you can speed the chests unlocking process as well, speeding your game progress overall. Gems are mainly obtained through in-app purchases and cost really a lot. There are some strategies how to obtain free gems. Even the use of Clash Royale hack. Some of them highly more effective than others though.

The other game resource is gold. It s really hard to obtain both resources through play. Plus, it gets tougher to upgrade your cards as you progress along. You really need to dedicate into the game so you won t feel its insufficiency. Or even better, you can cheat a little. Everyone needs a help from time to time, ain t that so?

Before we answer let me tell you a bit more about the game. Clash Royale is a multiplayer focused tower defense game, where the games last as little as 3 minutes per round. Instead of your typical tower defense, where you must place towers in strategic locations, you are in fact going on the offensive. It is your job as the player to spawn in ongoing troops to take over the enemy towers and prove yourself the best around when it comes to PVP. Graphically the game is incredibly similar to Clash of Clans, and when you consider just how popular that graphics style has been for Supercell in the past, it comes as no surprise that they would stick to that style. So Clash Royale is essentially free to play, but that s only until you hit a wall and that s when you will need gems which are not free(hence this hack for Clash Royale).

Free Gold. The other Clash Royale resource within the game. You get gold with each battle you win and with each chest you open. Needed for upgrading units only. Gold can be obtained by purchasing it with gems too. Which makes gems even more desirable as well.

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This clash royale cheats and hack tool not only provides easy access to in game currencies rather at the same time it also offers great cheats from professionals. Most of you might have joined clash royale game recently and will not be much familiar with the tricks that work on it. But it doesn t mean that you will stay behind powerful players. It is time to access cheats from professionals and apply them to your gaming platform, soon you will be able to prove yourself as best clash royale player.

The How to Get 500 Gems Free is one of the most shared tutorials that we provide. It really helps, boosting you with a nice start. And the best thing is, it works perfectly well with both Android and iOS. On top of all, you don t have to pay anything to obtain those gems.

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The good news is that this tool works well with any Android phone, iPad, PC, iPhone. What is even better is the fact that this tool is free to use to any gamers who wants to take full advantage of its features. This is hack tool that can be used in generating Clash Royale gems easily and for free. This will serve its purpose safely should you desire to use it. Just sit back and relax while you continue to keep on generating free gems.

Clash Royale Hack For Real

7. When searching clan, try to find one with many members (over 45) and with the greatest possible number of weekly donations. This will give you more opportunities to donate cards and letters that your requests are met quickly. Look at the composition of the clan before joining to avoid ending up in a clan with many inactive members.

[gamingtipsandtrickshacks]

God of War Review -- The Best God of War Ever

The brand new chapter of the God of War saga is finally here, but if you expect it to have much in common with Kratos’ tribulations from the past, you’ll probably be disappointed, or at least extremely surprised. It’s time to clear our mind of all preconceptions and embark into a brand new adventure.

The most obvious difference is the setting: gone is Greece, replaced by the cold North. Kratos is still going to meet and fight gods, but this time around it’s Norse mythology to form the base for the story, and it does so for the better. The good folks at Sony Santa Monica didn’t just adopt Scandinavian myths and legends but forged them into one of the most vibrant and interesting fantasy settings I have seen in a long time.

The story begins with Kratos and his son Atreus as they burn the body of the boy’s mother. Her last wish dictates that the two scatter her ashes from the highest peak in the realms. Before they can depart, a strange tattooed man appears at the door of Kratos’ hut, seemingly aware of his divine nature.

Our short-tempered hero doesn’t like to be questioned, so a titanic battle ensues. After finally dispatching the rather resilient opponent, Kratos and Atreus depart for their adventure, which will definitely be a lot more complicated than expected.

The change in setting is just the tip of the iceberg, as Kratos himself is quite far from the consistently raging character that we left at the end of the previous game. While he still struggles to keep calm and collected, his newfound role as a father gives him new responsibilities, forcing him to hold his nature at bay or to find a new one within himself.

Of course, being the son of the God of War isn’t exactly easy, especially if said god isn’t willing to tell you squat about his own nature and yours. This is the conundrum that Atreus will have to face, as the two men, old and young, struggle to get closer to each other possibly without this resulting in too many bruises. The generational gap is the least of the problems that Kratos and Atreus will have to face, and the way they grow together as characters is probably one of the most charming aspects of this game.

This is probably the biggest innovation brought to the table by God of War. The previous games of the series were fun despite their characters. Exhilarating action gameplay and fantastic graphics (for the time) were the main attraction, while the story was pretty much an accessory. It’s a bit difficult to have compelling and nuanced storytelling when your main character has two states of mind, angry and angrier.

On the other hand, the new title comes with a cast that is rich in charm and depth. Kratos himself has grown into an extremely compelling character with plenty of emotional depth and his share of vulerabilities. His guff manners should not deceive, as there is definitely a lot to discover beneath the thick hide of this veteran father-warrior. As a matter of fact, in some aspects, he has turned into the geometric opposite of who he was. His abrupt speech patterns and unfriendly mannerism used to make him annoying. Now, thanks to the exceptional writing and the presence of Atreus as a perfect counterpart, they have become endearing traits, and definitely enjoyable.

Atreus himself is a great co-protagonist. Kratos’ son is depicted as flawed and immature. Yet, that’s done in a way that masterfully avoids turning him into a nuisance and indeed encourages the player to grow attached to this fledgling would-be warrior who struggles to live up to his super-stern father’s expectations, while dealing with his own mysterious and often uncomfortable nature.

The rest of the cast is equally well written and designed, and I can honestly say that for the first time I truly enjoyed the story of a God of War game. Until a couple of years ago, I would have never, ever, thought this possible.  The God of War series is all grown-up now, and I say this with the most positive sentiment possible.

For the first time in the story of the franchise, the strong narration and writing spark a wide range of feelings, going from deeply moving movements to absolutely hilarious skits, and the best part is that it all feels perfectly natural.

The story and characters are supported by absolutely superb voice acting, and the continuous dialogue between Kratos and Atreus is interesting and enjoyable all the way through the game.

Speaking of audio, every single aspect of the production is top-notch, from the sound design that perfectly sets the atmosphere of the imperious Norse landscape, to the score by Bear McCreary, which is hands-down one of the best soundtracks I have heard in a game of this genre in a long time.

One of the few aspects sticking to the tradition of the series is the graphics. I tested the game on PS4 Pro, and I have to say that the game looks truly spectacular. I am always amazed by the visual results that Sony’s top first-party studios manage to achieve on a console, and this is no exception.

Those playing on PS4 Pro like I did will have the chance to choose between a “favor resolution” mode that renders the game at 2160p checkerboard or a “favor performance” mode that renders at 1080p, with better frame rate.  The game is a true joy for the eyes in both modes, but it’s certainly good to have options (you can check out the difference in our dedicated article).

It’s actually difficult to judge which element looks better between the rich environments and the beautifully detailed character models. The world is brought to life masterfully, even thanks to advanced lighting and effects.

Amazing texture work is probably the best aspect of the characters, and rarely I have seen gameplay models so close to cutscene quality. They’re super-detailed, expressive, and fantastically animated.

Speaking of animation, it feels extremely visceral thanks to the combination with proficient camera work and the awesome sound design I mentioned above. You will “feel” every impact of Kratos’ axe directly in your stomach, and even something as simple as opening a chest has an “oomph” that is rarely seen in games.

Of course, the true king of the God of War franchise has always been gameplay, and that still holds true with this new game. Yet, this is not to say that it’s similar. As a matter of fact, it really isn’t. The new God of War is closer to an extremely stylish action-RPG than to a pure hack-and-slash.

The development team adopted a rather deep system involving plenty of loot, equipment and upgrades, alongside multiple skill trees, and this works as a very solid base for the new battle mechanics.

Combat itself has plenty of depth and nuance, discouraging button mashing even at the normal difficulty setting, and spurring the player to learn his “tools of the trade” in the forms of combos, blocks, dodges, and magical abilities. It’s definitely more tactical and complex than what God of War fans are used to, without losing one bit of its exhilarating nature.

The game presents the player with a good variety of enemies, each of which requires a different approach to be fought effectively, keeping you on your toes and ensuring that battle never gets old all the way throughout the adventure.

Things are made even more interesting by the fact that you don’t fight alone. Atreus acts as an adventuring companion and as the perfect distraction to allow you to unleash that devastating and extremely satisfying combo. Like his father, he can be customized (even if to a lesser extent) in order to further adapt him to your favorite playstyle or to the situation. His presence adds another layer of depth to the already engaging battle system.

The true star, at least for me, is Kratos’ new axe. It’s powerful and visceral, turning combat into a brutal and immersive activity. Upgrading and customizing it is satisfying and rewarding, and it comes with an extremely cool feature: not only it can be thrown with various effects depending on your skills and customization, but it can also be recalled by pressing triangle. When you do that, it won’t just reappear in Kratos’ hand, but it will actually fly back to it, hitting unsuspecting enemies in the back. It’s actually difficult to describe how cool this feels before you try it yourself.

Once mastered, God of War’s combat is one of the most rewarding I have tried in a long time. Kratos becomes a hurricane of death and destruction, blocking, shield bashing, slicing, dicing, spinning around and throwing his axe at an enemy further away, while pummeling closer monsters with punches and kicks, and then recalling the weapon to catch two more draugr in the back, before going in for one of the several spectacular finishers. It’s fast, complex, addictive, and exhilarating, but I never once felt like I wasn’t in control.

As a matter of fact, I have never felt so much in control in a God of War game, and the sensation this gives is fantastic.

The axe is also used extensively to solve quite a few puzzles scattered across the landscape. One particular kind requires you to strike some bells in order to unlock a chest. It may sound banal, but it often isn’t, and fluidly hitting your targets while calling your weapon back will feel definitely satisfying the first time you manage to pull the stunt.

Another extremely pleasing aspect of God of War is just how much content it packs. It’s not an open-world game, but there is a lot of real estate to visit, and plenty of room for exploration and for hunting secrets on top of the long and meaty story. Every realm that you visit looks and feels very different, and it’s really amazing that Sony Santa Monica managed to include this much gameplay while keeping the overall level of quality so consistently high. There is even an enormous amount of lore that can be collected to immerse yourself deeper into the setting.

Ultimately, God of War is the perfect example of how it’s possible to revolutionize a beloved series while improving it massively, in a way that does not feel unnatural. Mechanical improvements add up on top of a compelling story and impressively solid and likable characters.

Cory Barlog and his team managed to reinvent the wheel, and while they added more pieces, it rolls smoother than ever before, providing the best God of War experience of the history of the franchise.

[gamingtipsandtrickshacks]

God of War Review -- The Best God of War Ever

The brand new chapter of the God of War saga is finally here, but if you expect it to have much in common with Kratos’ tribulations from the past, you’ll probably be disappointed, or at least extremely surprised. It’s time to clear our mind of all preconceptions and embark into a brand new adventure.

The most obvious difference is the setting: gone is Greece, replaced by the cold North. Kratos is still going to meet and fight gods, but this time around it’s Norse mythology to form the base for the story, and it does so for the better. The good folks at Sony Santa Monica didn’t just adopt Scandinavian myths and legends but forged them into one of the most vibrant and interesting fantasy settings I have seen in a long time.

The story begins with Kratos and his son Atreus as they burn the body of the boy’s mother. Her last wish dictates that the two scatter her ashes from the highest peak in the realms. Before they can depart, a strange tattooed man appears at the door of Kratos’ hut, seemingly aware of his divine nature.

Our short-tempered hero doesn’t like to be questioned, so a titanic battle ensues. After finally dispatching the rather resilient opponent, Kratos and Atreus depart for their adventure, which will definitely be a lot more complicated than expected.

The change in setting is just the tip of the iceberg, as Kratos himself is quite far from the consistently raging character that we left at the end of the previous game. While he still struggles to keep calm and collected, his newfound role as a father gives him new responsibilities, forcing him to hold his nature at bay or to find a new one within himself.

Of course, being the son of the God of War isn’t exactly easy, especially if said god isn’t willing to tell you squat about his own nature and yours. This is the conundrum that Atreus will have to face, as the two men, old and young, struggle to get closer to each other possibly without this resulting in too many bruises. The generational gap is the least of the problems that Kratos and Atreus will have to face, and the way they grow together as characters is probably one of the most charming aspects of this game.

This is probably the biggest innovation brought to the table by God of War. The previous games of the series were fun despite their characters. Exhilarating action gameplay and fantastic graphics (for the time) were the main attraction, while the story was pretty much an accessory. It’s a bit difficult to have compelling and nuanced storytelling when your main character has two states of mind, angry and angrier.

On the other hand, the new title comes with a cast that is rich in charm and depth. Kratos himself has grown into an extremely compelling character with plenty of emotional depth and his share of vulerabilities. His guff manners should not deceive, as there is definitely a lot to discover beneath the thick hide of this veteran father-warrior. As a matter of fact, in some aspects, he has turned into the geometric opposite of who he was. His abrupt speech patterns and unfriendly mannerism used to make him annoying. Now, thanks to the exceptional writing and the presence of Atreus as a perfect counterpart, they have become endearing traits, and definitely enjoyable.

Atreus himself is a great co-protagonist. Kratos’ son is depicted as flawed and immature. Yet, that’s done in a way that masterfully avoids turning him into a nuisance and indeed encourages the player to grow attached to this fledgling would-be warrior who struggles to live up to his super-stern father’s expectations, while dealing with his own mysterious and often uncomfortable nature.

The rest of the cast is equally well written and designed, and I can honestly say that for the first time I truly enjoyed the story of a God of War game. Until a couple of years ago, I would have never, ever, thought this possible.  The God of War series is all grown-up now, and I say this with the most positive sentiment possible.

For the first time in the story of the franchise, the strong narration and writing spark a wide range of feelings, going from deeply moving movements to absolutely hilarious skits, and the best part is that it all feels perfectly natural.

The story and characters are supported by absolutely superb voice acting, and the continuous dialogue between Kratos and Atreus is interesting and enjoyable all the way through the game.

Speaking of audio, every single aspect of the production is top-notch, from the sound design that perfectly sets the atmosphere of the imperious Norse landscape, to the score by Bear McCreary, which is hands-down one of the best soundtracks I have heard in a game of this genre in a long time.

One of the few aspects sticking to the tradition of the series is the graphics. I tested the game on PS4 Pro, and I have to say that the game looks truly spectacular. I am always amazed by the visual results that Sony’s top first-party studios manage to achieve on a console, and this is no exception.

Those playing on PS4 Pro like I did will have the chance to choose between a “favor resolution” mode that renders the game at 2160p checkerboard or a “favor performance” mode that renders at 1080p, with better frame rate.  The game is a true joy for the eyes in both modes, but it’s certainly good to have options (you can check out the difference in our dedicated article).

It’s actually difficult to judge which element looks better between the rich environments and the beautifully detailed character models. The world is brought to life masterfully, even thanks to advanced lighting and effects.

Amazing texture work is probably the best aspect of the characters, and rarely I have seen gameplay models so close to cutscene quality. They’re super-detailed, expressive, and fantastically animated.

Speaking of animation, it feels extremely visceral thanks to the combination with proficient camera work and the awesome sound design I mentioned above. You will “feel” every impact of Kratos’ axe directly in your stomach, and even something as simple as opening a chest has an “oomph” that is rarely seen in games.

Of course, the true king of the God of War franchise has always been gameplay, and that still holds true with this new game. Yet, this is not to say that it’s similar. As a matter of fact, it really isn’t. The new God of War is closer to an extremely stylish action-RPG than to a pure hack-and-slash.

The development team adopted a rather deep system involving plenty of loot, equipment and upgrades, alongside multiple skill trees, and this works as a very solid base for the new battle mechanics.

Combat itself has plenty of depth and nuance, discouraging button mashing even at the normal difficulty setting, and spurring the player to learn his “tools of the trade” in the forms of combos, blocks, dodges, and magical abilities. It’s definitely more tactical and complex than what God of War fans are used to, without losing one bit of its exhilarating nature.

The game presents the player with a good variety of enemies, each of which requires a different approach to be fought effectively, keeping you on your toes and ensuring that battle never gets old all the way throughout the adventure.

Things are made even more interesting by the fact that you don’t fight alone. Atreus acts as an adventuring companion and as the perfect distraction to allow you to unleash that devastating and extremely satisfying combo. Like his father, he can be customized (even if to a lesser extent) in order to further adapt him to your favorite playstyle or to the situation. His presence adds another layer of depth to the already engaging battle system.

The true star, at least for me, is Kratos’ new axe. It’s powerful and visceral, turning combat into a brutal and immersive activity. Upgrading and customizing it is satisfying and rewarding, and it comes with an extremely cool feature: not only it can be thrown with various effects depending on your skills and customization, but it can also be recalled by pressing triangle. When you do that, it won’t just reappear in Kratos’ hand, but it will actually fly back to it, hitting unsuspecting enemies in the back. It’s actually difficult to describe how cool this feels before you try it yourself.

Once mastered, God of War’s combat is one of the most rewarding I have tried in a long time. Kratos becomes a hurricane of death and destruction, blocking, shield bashing, slicing, dicing, spinning around and throwing his axe at an enemy further away, while pummeling closer monsters with punches and kicks, and then recalling the weapon to catch two more draugr in the back, before going in for one of the several spectacular finishers. It’s fast, complex, addictive, and exhilarating, but I never once felt like I wasn’t in control.

As a matter of fact, I have never felt so much in control in a God of War game, and the sensation this gives is fantastic.

The axe is also used extensively to solve quite a few puzzles scattered across the landscape. One particular kind requires you to strike some bells in order to unlock a chest. It may sound banal, but it often isn’t, and fluidly hitting your targets while calling your weapon back will feel definitely satisfying the first time you manage to pull the stunt.

Another extremely pleasing aspect of God of War is just how much content it packs. It’s not an open-world game, but there is a lot of real estate to visit, and plenty of room for exploration and for hunting secrets on top of the long and meaty story. Every realm that you visit looks and feels very different, and it’s really amazing that Sony Santa Monica managed to include this much gameplay while keeping the overall level of quality so consistently high. There is even an enormous amount of lore that can be collected to immerse yourself deeper into the setting.

Ultimately, God of War is the perfect example of how it’s possible to revolutionize a beloved series while improving it massively, in a way that does not feel unnatural. Mechanical improvements add up on top of a compelling story and impressively solid and likable characters.

Cory Barlog and his team managed to reinvent the wheel, and while they added more pieces, it rolls smoother than ever before, providing the best God of War experience of the history of the franchise.