The one thing that I think solidifies this replayability, it's choice. Contrary to what people may have said, Cyberpunk has always had a broad amount of choice; from things like when to take what jobs/gigs, to how to approach completing each task, to the builds your V decides to go with, and everything in between. There is plenty of freedom to be had, much of it leading to very interesting consequences.

Let's look at one such example. In the Phantom Liberty Expansion of the game, the main storyline revolves around a character named Songbird. Over the course of the chain of quests, you learn that Songbird is much like or V: someone that the people in power see as a tool more than human, and that they don't really have much time left. At the mid point of this sequence, you're given a choice: either you betray the party holding Songbird back, or you betray Songbird herself. This is met at a juncture where you are given minimal time to react, and once that choice is made, you either end the quest line quick but lock yourself out of potentially more interactions with the newly introduced cast, or have the opportunity to learn more about both parties and potentially save Songbird from her fate. Choices like these are scattered all throughout Night City, with each one giving you potential decision whiplash, and leaving you feeling either extremely positive or extremely empty. 

This also just underpins the amount of time you can spend just roaming the city streets. Since they implemented an auto-drive system for getting around the city,  I often find myself loading the game just so I can roam with that function enabled, leisurely driving around to spot another point of interest. And sometimes, you might even find another unique fixer gig to tackle.

Honestly, whatever you do in the game, you'll end up feeling like you need to come back and explore more. Maybe look through different neighborhoods, find the next scav fight with the NCPD. Maybe visit a different Ripperdoc to the one you usually haunt, see what they carry. Or maybe try gigs out differently, maybe with Mantis Blades instead of Gorilla Arms. Whatever the case, the experience always calls back to you; just hop back in choom, because you may just surprise yourself on how you approach the City next.

Your Lie in April begins with an scene that will always stand out to me: Kousei Arima, sitting at a piano in front of hundreds of people — and he is just frozen.

Not from stage fright. Not from forgetting the notes. He freezes because he literally cannot hear himself play. The sound disappears. And in that silence, all he can hear is his mother's voice telling him he's worthless.

That scene shouldn't work as well as it does. A boy who can't hear his own piano playing sounds like magical realism dressed up as drama. But the reason it lands — the reason this entire show lands — is that the music is just set dressing.

The piano, the competitions, the sheet music — they're just the shape grief decided to take.

What this show is actually about, is what happens when grief takes something from you so completely that you don't know who you are without it.

Kousei grew up being called the Human Metronome - a nickname that was technically intended to compliment, yet lands more like an insult. Technically flawless, emotionally absent, the kind of player who made judges nod and audiences feel nothing.

His mother, Saki, made him that way. She was sick, and afraid for Kousei's future after she was gone. As a result, she trained him the best way she knew how - with an iron discipline and almost no mercy. He obeyed, because he loved her, and because love at that age doesn't leave much room for conditions.

When she died, he expected grief. What he didn't expect was silence.

In this respect, the show is smart about how trauma works. It doesn't give Kousei a clean psychological explanation for why he can't hear himself play. It just shows you the result — a boy standing at the instrument that defined his entire childhood, completely cut off from it. His body made a decision his mind never consciously agreed to.

That's what real grief often looks like. Not dramatic collapse. Just a quiet, bewildering absence where something used to be.

Then Kaori Miyazono shows up — and she is, deliberately, everything Kousei is not.

She plays like the sheet music is more of a suggestion than a rulebook. She's loud, chaotic, physically expressive, even occasionally out of tune. A competition judge would, and funnily enough DOES, tear her apart. But the audience can't look away from her, because she's playing like it means something.

And this is where the show makes its central argument: technical perfection, divorced from feeling, is just noise. What makes music — what makes any art — matter is the human presence trying to reach you through it.

Kaori doesn't rehabilitate Kousei gently. She drags him back into the world by sheer force of personality. She's pushy, demanding, and admittedly not particularly fair about it. Yet the show is honest that this is sometimes what a person in that kind of withdrawal actually needs — not patience, but interruption.

Here's where the series gets philosophically interesting.

Kaori knows she's dying. We figure this out gradually. She, however, has known from the very beginning. But rather than retreating from life, she chooses the opposite — she runs head first into it. Every moment is played at full volume because she is keenly aware that the curtain is coming down.

This is a very specific Japanese aesthetic idea called mono no aware — roughly, the bittersweet beauty of impermanence. This is embodied in the cherry blossoms that appear throughout the show — they aren't just pretty background art. They're the whole thesis. They bloom explosively, last about two weeks, and then they're gone. And somehow their brevity is part of what makes them beautiful.

Kaori is a cherry blossom. The show knows this. She knows this. And the tragedy isn't that she's dying — it's that she is more alive than almost anyone around her, and she won't get to stay.

Your Lie in April is often called a romance, and it is — but it's a strange and melancholy one, and it's worth being precise about what the show wants to say about love.

Kaori doesn't heal Kousei. Not really, anyway. His trauma predates her and will outlast her. Instead, what she does is give him a reason to walk back toward the thing he abandoned — not because the pain has been lifted from his shoulders, but because now there's someone on the other side of it worth reaching.

That's a much more honest take on what love can and can't do. It doesn't erase wounds. It doesn't fix people. What it can do is make the distance between you and your own life feel worth crossing.

And then there's Tsubaki — who has loved Kousei quietly, in the background, for years. Her arc is the show's most overlooked tragedy. She realizes what she feels too late, or at least too slowly, and the show doesn't punish her for it, but it doesn't save her from it either. Not all love gets to be the story. Some of it just aches, left incomplete.

Now, if you haven't seen the finale, close this video now, or pause here and feel free to watch it yourself. The rest of this video will only makes sense if you know what's in Kaori's letter.

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At the end of the series, there is one more moment that truly stands out. After Kaori's funeral, when her parents thank Kousei for his presence, they hand him a letter from Kaori. And in that letter, she finally reveals the titular Lie in April — that the girl who claimed to like Watari was in fact, in love with Kousei. 

She loved him. Not Watari — Kousei. She loved him since she was a little girl, watching him play on stage. Watari was just the excuse to get close. And she never told him the truth. All because she was afraid — afraid that naming it would somehow make the loss heavier for both of them.

So the lie in April isn't really a betrayal. It's a form of protection. Or perhaps, it's a form of cowardice. The show doesn't entirely let her off the hook, and honestly, it shouldn't.

But what it does — and this is the devastating part — is reframe the entire narrative. Every scene between them now plays wholly and completely differently. Her urgency, her demands, her constant pushing — it all had a second layer you couldn't see. She wasn't just a free spirit dragging a broken boy back to life. She was a girl in love, running out of time, trying to leave something behind that would outlast her.

And it worked.

Your Lie in April ends in April. Kousei plays his final performance while Kaori, we understand, is dying in surgery. He plays as a message for her. He plays knowing she may never hear it.

And then the cherry blossoms fall.

What this show asks, underneath all of it, is something genuinely uncomfortable: what would it take to make you fully present in your own life? What would it take to play at full volume — knowing it ends, knowing the notes disappear, knowing the audience will eventually empty out?

Kaori's answer was: exactly this. Exactly now.

That's the lie she told. That's the life she lived. And somehow, even from the other side of a story, it's hard not to want to be a little more like her.

The Patent in question was originally approved in September of last year, and after two months, the Director of the Office John A Squires ordered that the patent be re-examined. An action like this — an unprompted request for patent re-examination — hasn't been seen since 2012.

According to an article from Games Fray, this re-examination has lead USPTO to reject all 26 of Nintendo's claims, effectively revoking the patent in its entirety. While looking at the provided paperwork, they claimed 35 USC § 103, which reads as follows: 

A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.

US Patent Law, 35 USC § 103

Note that this rejection isn't permanent and can be responded to within 60 days of submission. This is what Nintendo is expected to do, and can even be taken up with Federal Courts if both parties cannot come to an agreement.

It's also important to recognize that this patent was filed around the same time as Nintendo's suit against Palworld's developer Pocketpair. It was this exact patent that Nintendo used as the basis of their patent violation claims when the lawsuit first began. Now however, if after potential litigation with the US Government falls flat, they may struggle to have a case for patent infringement. That case is ongoing, so only time will tell what will happen moving forward.

So what is Marathon? Marathon is a game that was developed and published by Bungie. A continuation of sorts from their late 90s IP, it takes the Extraction Shooter approach, while you explore the long-abandoned colony of New Cascadia on the planet of Tau Ceti IV. While on this planet, you take control of a Runner, an artificial shell housing your consciousness, and are thrust into one of four different maps currently available on the planet, where you search for loot like health packs, consumable buffs, and weapons. At the same time, the map is littered with other players looking for the same, and it essentially turns into a "kill or be killed" battleground similar to competitors like Escape from Tarkov. The loop itself is satisfying, rewarding players who are resourceful and cunning.

Despite its positives, I have personally found a few things that can be pretty jarring. First is the contract system. With this system, players are given tasks to complete by the many factions while exploring each locale. Difficulty increases with each completion, which is to be expected. That said, it is also not the most consistent system, as some contracts require tasks to be done in a single run, while others can be done over the course of several. This makes for an inconsistent difficulty that is unnecessarily tedious, and can potentially leave you feeling "stuck" in a contract for a prolonged amount of time.

Another issue I have found is with the way your Vault works. In game, the Vault is your storage space where all your equipment and consumables are stored. The issue stems from initial size, as the expectation is for you to gather as much loot as possible, yet the starting amount of Vault space makes it difficult to keep everything you have gathered. Even with the most recent changes to how items stack in your Vault, Vault space being as limited as it is when you first start playing feels unnecessarily restrictive. To make it worse, upgrades to Vault space feel too spread out between faction levels, making people who prefer keeping a larger arsenal have to choose what to keep, which feels unsatisfying.

While the gameplay is well designed and fun to interact with,  getting to release was not without some bumps in the road. Before development was completed, issues began cropping up surrounding art theft . In May 2025, there were a number of articles released discussing Bungie's use of art strikingly similar to art originally made by AntiReal (@4nt1r34l on the site formerly known as Twitter) in Marathon's early builds (see an example of one such article, from Paul Tassi at Forbes, here). At the time, AntiReal expressed issues with similarities between their own art and in-game assets (see below):

Despite all that, the game that has been released has been nothing if not impressive. Gameplay is what we have come to expect with Bungie titles: solid movement mechanics, satisfying gunplay, and a rich lore heavy world for people to experience.

This sparked a lot of discussion surrounding the game's quality, as this wasn't the first time Bungie had faced similar allegations. Most notably, a lawsuit was settled in November 2025 for plagiarizing a storyline that was then used as the first story focused campaign in Destiny 2 (initial suit was filed in October 2024, as reported in this Gamespost article, and the settlement report in this Gamesindustry.Biz article). This, along with the apparent winding down of Destiny 2's PvP content, combined with the lack of quality narrative content that players were accustomed to, has left the community with a lot more skepticism about the studio's future direction.

Ultimately, despite the controversies that have plagued the studio, Bungie has managed to deliver an experience that both feels similar to current competition like Tarkov and ARC Raiders, while giving a unique and refreshing spin through their shell system and heavy focus on narrative. Marathon stands as a solid foundation from which Bungie can build something special. There is so much on the horizon, with their latest roadmap promising plenty of content worth getting excited about. And while the art and plagiarism allegations had given them some difficulty, it clearly didn't dampen their creativity when building this world. I look forward to the next update, as I myself will complete "one more run".

So if you have somehow lived under a rock for the last 3 decades roughly, the Pokemon series is a game about exploring a new area, catching the magical elemental creatures that fill the area, and using them to battle other people in the world. There are also multiplayer features such as trading and battling with your friends, with some Pokemon only evolving via trade to promote the multiplayer element as back in generation one some of those Pokemon were the best you could get as well as get some exclusives that are only available in 1 of the games. We have gone through many regions through out the main line and spin off games and 1025 different Pokemon with more to be released. So now lets talk about the games.

Generation 1- Every series has a start and for Pokemon it was back on the Game Boy and the Game Boy Color with Pokemon Red, Green (japan only), Blue, and the Special Yellow edition that let you have a Pikachu as your first partner Pokemon. Pokemon Yellow also followed a story closer to the anime rather then the games. The generation 1 games have you travel through the Kanto region. The plot of almost every Pokemon main games follow is you are a new trainer just in the 10-16 year old range, depending on the region, you get your first Pokemon from that region's professor, then leave home to beat the 8 gyms of the region deal with the evil team of the area, then challenge the Elite 4 and their champion to take the title of best trainer for yourself. Then the post game tends to be just catching them all or training a team to play against your friends, with the post game changing from game to game. Generation 1 didn't have anything to do outside of catch them all and raise a team. Many people look at gen 1 and think its the best in the franchise but I disagree. We have gone back to Kanto so many times and I have had many chances to evaluate the region and I gotta say its one of my least favorite when I look back on it. Guards that will only let you into a town if you bribe them with team, glitchy game play, nearly nothing to do after you catch them all, poor level spread for wild Pokemon leading you to having to do a ridiculous amount of grinding between the final trainers and the Elite 4. Wild Pokemon even give less experience then their trained counterparts which feels so taxing to run around the final cave, Victory Road, and running back to the Pokemon center to heal up to repeat over and over until you team is strong enough to survive the final challenge 5 trainers in a row with the highest level Pokemon in the game with only the items you can carry as the way to heal. The evil team of Kanto is iconic, Team Rocket, which are basically the Mafia who catch Pokemon to use for extortion and stealing from others. You fight many of their grunts throughout the area and stop them from stealing from people and taking things that they will just use for their nefarious purposes. When all is said and done with the evil team in Kanto feels like a threat when they take over a town and keep you from being able to go to the gym as you storm a large office building to defeat the mafia who infects in. But otherwise their goals aren't clear unless you read the Pokemon Adventures manga. All the Pokemon manga follow the story of the games rather than the anime that is the story of Ash. Turns out Team Rocket created the strongest legendary Pokemon in the region Mewtwo, a human Pokemon hybrid with incredible psychic powers. In the games you get a bit of lore on Mewtwo in the burned mansion, a old destroyed lab that was created and funded by Team Rocket to make the most powerful Pokemon. When you defeat the leader of Team Rocket the final time he disbands the team. You get the opportunity to catch Mewtwo once you have beaten the Elite 4 but that is your last challenge. But with the end of generation 1 we move to the next games. 

Generation 2 - This was a big jump for Pokemon we get to go to a new region with a whole slew of new Pokemon to find and a whole new world we live in. This generation was made up by Gold, Silver, and Crystal version. Crystal being similar to Pokemon yellow with being a game released after the initial 2 and it adding new stuff to the story and cleaning up the games just a bit. Now gen 2 was a fantastic sequel but feels like it lingered too much in the leftovers of gen 1. So in this game you are now in the Jhoto region a new land that shares a border with Kanto. This region has all the same story beats as Kanto, new trainer, go battle the gyms, deal with the evil team and then go challenge the Elite 4. But this game takes place a few years after generation 1 story wise. You find that the remnants of Team Rocket are still active here in Jhoto. You beat the remaining admins of Team Rocket and get them to fully disband. You also have a different Legendary Pokemon to catch in each region Ho-oh for Gold, Lugia for Silver, and a whole new side story for one of the legendary trio Suicune in Crystal. The end game of Jhoto though is miles above Kanto. Once you have beaten the new Elite 4 and their champion you now get the chance to go back to Kanto see how its changed and fight all their gym leaders in their prime. Then once you do that you can climb Mount Silver the most dangerous area on the map, and at the peak you can find the main character from Generation 1 with an iconic team, sporting all the starters and some other powerful members for one of the harder battles throughout the whole series this game also has its issues of a poor leveling spread that feels like it stagnates a bit mid story as you get the chance to take on 3 gyms in any order you want which means they had to keep them all around the same level range so you don't feel like you go against any of them too early. You also had access to transferring Pokemon between Gen 1 and 2 via a time machine that lets you send Gen 1 Pokemon between both games but you can't send any new new Pokemon back to Kanto. Jhoto also added a feature that becomes a staple in the franchise and one of my favorite things Shiny Pokemon. Shiny Pokemon are just a color palate swap but its incredibly rare to run into with a 1 in 8192. So any shiny Pokemon you find is sure to be a status symbol. Is gen 2 perfect, still no but the series is gaining momentum and it feels like a definite step up that sadly lingers a bit too much in the story and success of generation 1 with the whole post game revolving around exploring Kanto again and finding and beating the player character from Gen 1. Next is one of the most controversial jumps in the series Gen 3. 

Generation 3 - These games are where I feel Pokemon starts to hit its stride and reach the pinnacle of its s game play to me, its not quite there yet but its close to that peak. These games are Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald. We also get 2 remake games where they took Red and Green and made Fire Red and Leaf Green, where we go back to generation 1 with generation 3 mechanics and graphics. Generation 3 is where Pokemon moved from the Game Boy to the Game Boy advance and with a big change in the coding and mechanics game one of the more controversial things in Pokemon, the break in transferring Pokemon up the generations. You could move your Pokemon from Generation 1 to Generation 2 with the time machine which means you can play with your favorite partners from your first story. Due to coding changes and huge overhauls in design change in the games Pokemon from Gen 2 couldn't get transferred into Gen 3. Which many people couldn't get past and caused Gen 3 to be many people's dropping point in the Pokemon series. So lets get into the new games. Ruby and Sapphire got released at the same time with the differences being the version exclusives and the evil teams being different in each game. Team Magma for Ruby and Team Aqua in Sapphire. The story is ultimately the same with the Pokemon used by the evil team being different and this is the start of the legendary Pokemon on the box being the goal of the evil team you fight. But this generation also had Emerald the first in what can be considered the combined or true story of the region, we get a few of these from the generations here on out. Emerald has both Evil Teams at different parts of the story and it is up to you to defeat both evil teams. Now lets talk about them since they are the biggest difference in the games and the only games to have 2 different evil teams, Team Magma are wanting to expand the land and Team Aqua the Sea, both are looking for the Legendary Pokemon that expanded the land and sea to complete their goals. Team Magma is themed by like devils while Team Aqua pirates. In Emerald you run into both in different parts each trying to complete their goals of Eco-terrorism with Emerald adding story for Rayquaza the large green dragon who lives a top a giant pillar and who embodies clear skies. Ruby and Sapphire added the end game of the battle facility of the Battle Tower which was a single battle arena where you climb a tower of elite trainers who's Pokemon are built for competitive battle. You have to keep battling till you beat 7 or you are defeated. This gets fully fleshed out in Emerald with the Battle Frontier which hosts 7 unique battle facilities to test your teams against. Now you can just go at them with your existing Pokemon but you are likely not to go far. But if you E.V. train and breed up a team then you have a chance at winning. Each facility has a different gimmick some you use your own Pokemon, one you use rental Pokemon, another you just chose your Pokemon and based on their nature they will battle on their own. You have to win 7 in a row 3 times on both the level 50 run and the level 100 run in order for you to complete and beat all the frontier brains. Its a very rewarding experience and probably a bit too difficult for some kids but going back and replaying Emerald and prepping for the battle frontier was a delight. This generation also added what becomes a staple in the rest of the games, Double Battles. Where you use 2 Pokemon on the field at one time, so some moves can get both targets or even damage your partner if you aren't careful. Finally this generation added secret bases where you could make your own little room and if you mixed records via the link cable with a friend they get your based in their world and you get theirs. Their trainer avatar will be there and you can battle them with whatever team they had equipped when you guys mixed records. Otherwise Ruby Sapphire and Emerald hit the same story beats that all the main line games do. 8 gyms yada yada I have said it twice before. Now to address the remakes, Fire Red and Leaf Green, they are faithful adaptions to Red and Green from generation 1 but with graphics and mechanics updated. I am going to sound like a bit of a broken record but this is now the 3rd time we have gone back to Kanto. Its nice to remember your roots but never leaving them and dragging everyone back to the old story over and over again can get a bit waning. But there is a new addition to these games via the Sevii Islands which you get to go to the first 3 after you beat the 7th gym and the rest as part of the post game. Finally gen 3 added one more final kinda questionable gimmick to the mix which we never see again. The E-Card Reader. This was a special expansion to the GBA that let you swipe cards to get special events unlocked in your game. Stuff like event legendaries in R/S/E and new islands to go to in FR/LG. The issue is is some cards you could only scan at participating locations which there is a chance that you were no where near one and you had to have the e-card reader to be able to even swipe the event card. Meaning if you don't emulate the games or use an action replay or game shark you are locked out of so much content for the game. We also see this issue in a few other games in the franchise where local events are a timed part of the game but the E-Cards just feel bad to me. Gen 3 to this day is my 2nd favorite generation despite all it does wrong though. Anyway it time to leave the tropic region of Hoenn and head to generation 4 in the cold mountains of Shinnoh. 

Vigilantes follows 3 people Koichi, Kazuho, and Iwao. Who take on the vigilante mantles of The Crawler, Pop ⚝ Step, and Knuckle Duster. Though Pop ⚝ Step isn't so much of a vigilante and more of a street performer. Koichi didn't start off as a vigilante either he just wore an All Might hoodie and a mask to clean up trash around his neighborhood and be the friendly neighborhood Nice Guy which was his name before The Crawler. He gets around with his quirk called Slide N Glide which lets him create friction-less fields he can use to slide long surfaces not just forward, backwards, and side to side but up and down walls too, but only as fast as a bike. Pop ⚝ Step's quirk is called Leap, she can super jump and land safely as long as she had a steady jump point. Finally Knuckle Duster, he is investigating into a drug problem in the area that has a side effect of turning people's tongues purple after using it. He is quirkless just a buff boxing brawler who uses brass knuckles as a weapon and he drags Koichi and Kazuho into his technically illegal hero work. As Japan has strict licensing laws on what heroes can use their quirks to fight villains and wear those costumes. As of right now the manga has been finished for a few years and the anime just got its season 2. So I am not going to say much here other than this series is something I am excited to see in action and to the people watching the anime and not wanting spoilers you have a great story to look forward to. This series is a prequel to MHA some fan favorite heroes make cameos through out the series but since this is prequel you know that they will be fine. I will say this series is going to be much shorter than MHA with Vigilantes only have 126 chapters so I can only see this series having 3ish seasons. But this story is much darker and much grittier with the story following a college kid and a very much adult man dealing with drugs and some implied sexual violence. Don't worry its all implied nothing shown or anything actually happens more of just threats. Nothing like Goblin Slayer. All I can say is buckle up anime watchers and get ready for a superhero ride that I only wish still existed in the American comics industry. 

Story followed the main dude who wants to be a Marine biologist and study abroad in Mexico. He has 2 friends he works with a dude and a chick. He is going to college and working multiple jobs. The main girl Josee is paralyzed from the waist down and while out with her Grand Ma she goes down a steep hill out of control and the guy catches her saving her from injury. Josee is a bitch to him and Grand Ma offers him a meal and then a job as Josee's caretaker while Grand Ma is busy doing other things. During this time Josee is a major bitch and bratt to him but we find out while. Grand Ma has kept Josee in basically a gilded cage of spoiling and infantizing her. Shes not allowed out on her own even though shes an adult. Ever since Josee's parents died. Shes never had friends, and Grand Ma doesn't let her even get a job. So it becomes apparent Josee's bad behavior is a result of being coddled and sheltered away. Josee runs off to try and go to the beach because she wanted to know how ocean water tasted after she remembered one of the last converstations she had with her dad before he died. Grand Ma panics not knowing where Josee went and main dude finds her struggling to figure out how to get a ticket. He takes her to the beach and she has this child like wonder of never seeing a plane on being on a train before. Dude decides to take her to different places she has never gone before sneaking behind the Grand Ma's back. Which gets Josee to start opening up and gaining confidence and main dude finds out Josee is a decent artist and she loves the sea like him. During this the female friend gets jealous because she likes the main dude. Josee's Grand Ma dies and Josee has to fire the main dude but he keeps showing up cause he cares for her. Not love yet but as a friend. Female friend basically tells Josee to not hold the main guy from his dream of going to Mexico and he only takes care of her out of pity. Josee freaks out gets in a mood and tries to roll away to the beach without him. Dude tracks her down but while in the same mood she tries to roll off and he chases after her and gets hit by a careening car in the rain giving him a bad shin fracture and he loses his chance to go to Mexico since he is on the mend. He kinda takes it out on Josee and gets all mopey since he cant walk for a while (even tho all this stems to the female friend trying to crash the budding relationship between main dude and Josee) Josee draws up a story that is a thin analogy of her relationship with the main dude and how she knows he will be able to recover and "fly" again even if that means leaving Josee. He feels better and does his best in rehab and Josee rolls off again and goes missing, he chases after her in crushes and saves her from a snow hill crash and confesses. They start dating he finishes  healing up and they date long distance in the end her getting a real job and doing her art on the side as he studies abroad. That's where it ends.

So the story shows that people can grow and change and help each other. The girl was a brat but its because of her sheltered up bringing and paralyzed state where she couldn't really escape the cage her Grand Ma kept her in. He helps her grow up and gain confidence and find friends.
While he gets injured because of her and the female friend. When hes at his lowest she does her best to help cheer him up and cheer him on to the best of her limited abilities. Was it the best love story? No, but it was sweet and showed their imperfections rather well. I don't think the movie or the characters deserve the hate they got. Though if any characters deserve hate it's the female friend of the main character telling a cripple girl her first friend only cares for her out of pitty and the Grand Ma for basically keeping Josee under lock and key. For the guy the start it was just a job but he grew to care for the girl behind the layers of sheltered brat her Grand Ma kinda forced on her. He didn't take advantage of her or anything he was just the first one to let her be herself. But that's my opinion you guys will argue anything in the comments. Let me know if you want me to review anything else.

-PhoenixQuill

So you are now free to explore the land of Pharloom. Standard Metroidvania stuff of side scrolling platformer with enemies to face and hazards to avoid. Bosses were charming and fit the areas they were found in. Some enemies are passive but only deal damage on contact while others dive bomb you like missiles or stay out of needle range and taking well timed dive attacks or pot shots from the air. I loved learning how to deal with all the creatures I encountered in my journey, some bosses were definitely more difficult then others to learn and finally beating them was such a relief. But some normal chump enemies deal 2 damage out of no where, which is a problem when you only get a max of 9 masks in acts 1 and 2 and 10 max in act 3. This is balanced out by Hornet's heals doing 3 HP compared to the Knight's 1 HP. With bosses always having a standard of 2 damage. So in bosses or in areas with the 2 damage enemies or hazards cuts your HP total in half. It was frustrating but not anything that kept me from moving forward. But I would be lying if there wasn't a few bosses that walled me so hard my first play through that I had to get up and take a walk to my local game store to calm back down. Then I would sit down throw myself at the boss a few more times until I stopped being bad at it and finally started feeling like the demi-goddess batman that Hornet is supposed to play like. Which her tool belt is massive and the many ways to swing her needle change with the various crests you pick up along the way. 

Pharloom is full of characters Hornet can interact with and get the stories of and some stories are harder to get to the end then others. Some are part of the main story and the NPCs just do their thing as you do yours while others require Hornet's involvement for the story to go forward. You even get someone who feels like a rival named Lace, who ends up being the silk made daughter of Grandma silk, the final boss. The art style is just as charming if not better than Hollow Knight and the world is massive and expansive but not being too big to feel overwhelming. I do think that SilkSong is missing a lot of the normal back tracking that Metroidvanias are supposed to have but it still exists mostly to find hidden tools, mask shards (which are this games health), or spools (which are this games mana). But every time I got a new movement ability I would turn around find the nearest Bell Beast Station and call over my trusty steed so I could run the map all over again just checking to see where else I can go now. This game is very much about exploration and persistence. No matter how walled I would get I would know it was my fault for not being good enough and not the game being too hard. So I would just keep working to "get good" and finally see this game to the end. The first wall I hit was The last judge but I eventually made it through. The next wall embarrassingly was the dancers and they telegraph their attacks so obviously and it was my fault for being greedy on damage and not dodging, my final wall was the high halls gauntlet. Which was honestly harder then the "final" boss. Grandmother Silk. Once you beat her you get the credits and the first ending. But if you are awesome, saved all the fleas, did all the quests, bought yourself a house, and seen your local map mommy to find her master, then you can get a final quest that unlocks act 3. Getting here is where the real challenge begins. Grandma silk is trying to pull herself and her daughter out of the abyss you cast her into as part of the quest to get into act 3. Hornet now needs to find a way to survive the abyss and kill Grand mother silk to save all of Pharloom from her Abyss soaked threads. You go track down old leaders of the areas around Pharloom, enter dreams and fight dream variants of them at their peaks to get their hearts for a spell. You need 3 hearts but there are 4 bosses. So 1 gets to be a trophy in your house. Which ever 3 you choose to kill gives you their hearts and the ingredients to the spell to get the item you need to survive the abyss, 1 Boss is much easier than the others and in my personal opinion easiest to hardest was Nyleth > Green Prince > Khann > Karmelita. Though my first play though I killed Khann last because he has a big multi level gauntlet before you get to him. My issue is the long drawn out fights where my resources run thin. But as far as the actual boss fight he was a chump and Karmelita is a dancing singing badass. Finally you have your true descent into the abyss. Where you fight corrupted Lace and Grandmother silk is trying to maintain a protective cocoon in the abyss, you best Lace in her 3rd fight Grandma silk gives you the last of her strength so you can escape with her youngest daughter. With an ended that was so hype I was genuinely excited.

Over all this is my game of the decade not just my game of the year. Was it the perfect sequel to Hollow Knight? No but it was pretty damn close. As I said the random hazards and random fodder enemies that can deal 2 masks of damage are far too common but hey just teaches you those areas are supposed to be the toughest, but the way Hornet moves feels so much better than the Knight that going back to Hollow Knight honestly feels like a downgrade and I was missing the freedom of movement that Hornet has to her sibling. The 7 crests give such a unique way to play for her though one of them gets you back to playing like an upgraded version of the knight. All the various tools and upgrades just feel marvelous.

I would give this game a 9.5/10 and I have played through it on my Switch 1 so many times. If you have $15 to spare team cherry has made a game that is well worth the price and blows all current triple A game devs out of the water and shows them what gamers want and the experience they deserve with free DLCs already announced and the first one being claimed to release 2026. The 7 year wait was well worth it. Good Job Team Cherry and thank you for the experience. 

-Ignus PhoenixQuill

The most striking change lies in the sheer variety planets will now exhibit. New technology facilitates a vast spectrum of biomes, encompassing everything from frigid wastelands to verdant paradises and scorching deserts. Oceans receive a significant overhaul as well, boasting dynamic waves, realistic reflections, and a wider range of colors and environmental conditions. Underwater exploration is further enhanced by improved water physics and jetpack effects, while the ability to land directly on water opens entirely new avenues for discovery.

But the update goes far beyond aesthetics. A vibrant tapestry of new flora and fauna populates these transformed worlds. The developers hint at encountering nightmarish "biological horrors" and fascinating plant-animal hybrids alongside more familiar creatures. Adventurers will have a broader array of tools at their disposal, including the ability to craft new starships for deeper exploration, enhanced armor for tougher encounters, and even the chance to concoct new culinary delights to fuel their cosmic journeys.

Planetary environments now pulsate with life thanks to the implementation of dynamic weather effects. Wind patterns and intense storms create a truly immersive experience, with colossal waves reacting in real-time to the weather conditions raging above. Cloud formations are rendered in stunning detail thanks to new cloud technology, further enhancing the visual spectacle and accurately reflecting weather patterns."Worlds Part I" also introduces a brand new Expedition mode, offering a community-driven experience inspired by the classic sci-fi film Starship Troopers. This mode functions as a guided tour of the update's highlights, allowing players to experience the breadth of new content and gameplay possibilities offered by "Worlds Part I."

With this landmark update, No Man's Sky continues its remarkable evolution, presenting players with a universe reborn. Both veteran explorers and newcomers alike have a compelling reason to return and lose themselves in the limitless possibilities of this revitalized cosmos.

Find out more about the update at https://www.nomanssky.com/worlds-part-i-update/

or watch the Deep Dive:

Fans anxiously await confirmation on what this latest version will bring, as rumors and conjecture have been wild. The original Switch was released six years ago, and the OLED model debuted two years ago. It would be an understatement to say that Nintendo fans are eager for a new system, and this enthusiasm is primarily due to the nonstop rush of speculations regarding the Switch 2.

This article will cover everything, from the anticipated release date to the technical details that might push gaming to new heights. Come along as we discover the fascinating Nintendo Switch 2 universe and its implications for video game development in the future.

Nintendo Switch 2 Expected Release Date

We will know the exact release date of this game once the company makes an official launch date announcement. Nevertheless, current speculation suggests a likely fall 2024 release date, which coincides with our anticipated launch of the PS5 Pro.

Due to a mix of leaks from an Altec Lansing news statement and a leaker SoldierDelta, we can estimate the release date of Switch 2 as best we can. As part of a GameShark AI declaration, the press release mentioned September 2024 as the Nintendo Switch 2 release date. The latter arrived through Discord, where SoldierDelta revealed that September 24, 2024, is possible for the arrival of the Switch 2. A backup release is also rumored to be scheduled for November 2024 in case the September 24 date proves overly ambitious.

Some assumptions indicate an early 2024 release for the Switch 2. However, most speculations and informants agree that fall 2024 is the most probable release timeframe. A March or April 2024 release date seems believable, according to a TechInsights research study, while a MoneyDJ story from China indicates that the Switch successor's first-quarter 2024 arrival might enhance sales.

Analyst research published in January suggests that the Nintendo Switch 2 will be more accessible than previous console launches. At least 10 million devices will be produced in the first year of release. However, The same source implied that the anticipated Switch 2 Pro will not be released until 2025.

What is the Expected Price of the Nintendo Switch 2?

Price rumors for the Nintendo Switch 2 take a lot of work to come by. Nintendo may adhere to the initial launch pricing of the Nintendo Switch. The price is approximately $299.99 in the US and ¥29,980 in Japan. However, it is £279.99 and A$469.95 in the UK and Australia, respectively.

Although an OLED panel seems improbable, you may anticipate a $50–$100 price increase if the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 did come with one, similar to the subsequent model, the original Switch.

Dr. Serkan Toto, the CEO of Kantan Games, put his estimate and predicted that games would cost as much as $70 in an interview with GamesIndustry. He even proposed a $400 price range. He joyfully dropped leaks and said: “The time is finally here for a Switch successor, even though I can say a ‘Pro’ model actually did exist, and certain developers were already working with the dev kit. I believe the next hardware will drop for $400 [in 2024]. There is a high chance that games will cost more, too: $70.”

SoldierDelta also disclosed potential release prices. They claimed this next-generation console would come with a $449 standard model and a $400 (or, most likely, $399) digital version. If the report is accurate, Nintendo will make this next-generation system available only digitally, marking it as the first of its kind by the company.

With the selling price of the OLED model being $349 and the original switch being $299, this pricing prediction appears all that implausible. 

Nintendo Switch 2: Display And Other Specs

Rumors suggest that the Nintendo Switch 2 will feature an 8-inch screen with 1080p resolution and a magnetic Joy-Con design. They predict it will be backward compatible with accessories and support 8K resolution when paired with a next-generation dock.

Initial internal correspondence on the FTC v. Microsoft case revealed efficiency levels similar to those of the PS4 and Xbox One gaming systems. There are rumors that Switch 2 will come with specialized Nvidia T239 graphics chips. According to reports, Nintendo’s upcoming console may include a co-processor chip. This chip could increase efficiency and video performance. Especially when connected and linked to a 4K TV.

Furthermore, it is anticipated that Switch 2 will be backward and compatible with the available Switch games. It will be fascinating to see if the latest design can hold more cartridge data, supposing we anticipate the same layout.

The Switch and Switch OLED currently have 32GB and 64GB of internal storage, respectively. According to recent reports, the Switch 2 may contain 512GB of onboard storage.

Nintendo Switch 2: Features

There are a few speculations regarding potential Switch 2 features like design, battery life, speakers, or integrated sensors. Here is a conservative estimate of what we might see, though.

The Switch and the Switch OLED are estimated to have an average battery life of 4.5 to 9 hours. Even at the lowest display brightness, longer games, like Breath of the Wild, can frequently run for up to 4.5 hours on a one-time charge. We expect larger batteries with improved internals.

We would prefer to see a move from Wi-Fi 5 to Wi-Fi 6 for speedier gaming downloads or streaming. However, no reports have mentioned that. Comparably, the Switch models that are currently available support Bluetooth 4.1; a future-generation console might support Bluetooth 5.1.

Let’s explore Ubisoft’s innovative NEO NPC prototype, learning about its creation, functionalities, and possible effects on the gaming market. We’ll also discover how this revolutionary innovation promises to transform virtual world immersion, narratives, and player-NPC interactions.

What is Ubisoft’s New NEO NPC Prototype

Have you ever wished to converse with an in-game non-player character? An actual conversation carried out via unscripted action and response? To make this vision a reality, a small R&D team at Ubisoft’s Paris office has been working with generative AI. With the help of GenAI, their project, NEO NPC, pushes the boundaries of what a player can communicate with an NPC without undermining the authenticity of the scenario they find themselves in or the NPC’s character.

Ubisoft launched a Neo NPC prototype at the GDC. The prototype enables users to engage with NPCs that have unique personalities and experiences. These Neo NPCs include novel functions that give them the ability to react to players with spontaneous speech, contextual awareness, and real-time emotion and animation. With the use of advanced AI algorithms and machine learning techniques, NEO NPC technology gives virtual characters a higher degree of flexibility and autonomy.

NEO NPCs can create stronger bonds with players by using intricate speech systems, facial animations, and emotional responses. It can significantly increase player involvement and story engagement. 

Overall, the NEO NPC technology from Ubisoft is a big step in the direction of gaming that blurs the boundaries between virtual and real worlds. 

What Could NEO NPC Mean For Video Games?

The launch of NEO NPC technology from Ubisoft has a significant impact on the future of video games. An indication of what it might entail for the gaming industry:

Enhanced Immersion

Because NEO NPC technology creates more realistic and lifelike virtual worlds, it promises to greatly improve immersion. With NPCs showing actions and reactions that resemble those of actual people, players will get even more absorbed in the game world.

Dynamic Gameplay 

Games using NEO NPC technology have dynamic and unpredictable gameplay thanks to NPCs, which can respond to player actions in real time. It implies that gamers will have to deal with a virtual environment that is smarter and more sensitive.

Richer Storytelling

NEO NPCs’ advanced AI skills allow developers to create stories that are more intricate and detailed. Now, characters can have deep conversations, build intricate bonds with players, and make significant contributions to the story as it evolves.

Personalized Experiences

NEO NPC technology uses machine learning algorithms to customize gameplay to match each player’s preferences and play style. 

Increased Social Dynamics

Multiplayer and social gaming experiences are made possible by NEO NPC technology. Envision online environments where NPCs possess the ability to establish connections, rivalries, and bonds with both human players and other NPCs.

Of course, any new protocol will have some pros and cons:

Pros

• Players will feel more immersed owing to the NEO NPC prototype’s more realistic behaviors and interactions. 
• The game is more exciting and surprising when NEO NPCs can adjust to player actions thanks to their advanced AI skills. 
• Furthermore, by providing NPCs with more detailed personalities, motivations, and relationships, the prototype enables the telling of stories that are more intricate and subtle. 
• By offering more memorable and significant interactions, NEO NPCs can help players and characters develop deeper emotional bonds. 

Cons

• Developing advanced NPC behavior calls for a large investment of time and knowledge in development, which could result in longer development cycles and higher development expenses. 
• NEO NPCs’ greater complexity may put a burden on hardware resources, which could result in problems with performance or restrictions on gaming systems with lower processing power. 
• Moreover, the handling of virtual characters and the depiction of sensitive topics may become more ethically problematic as NPCs become more lifelike and autonomous. 
• It could take some time for players to become used to the intricacies of interacting with NEO NPCs. It could cause them to become frustrated or confused at first. 
• Older games or systems, may not support the advanced capabilities of NEO NPC. It makes it inaccessible to a portion of the user base. 

Possible Issues When It Comes to Voice Actors in Industry

When it comes to voice actors in this industry, several potential issues may arise. These may be…

Job Displacement

Traditional voice actors may worry about losing their jobs because of synthesized or procedurally generated voices as NEO NPC technology develops. It can result in opposition from advocacy organizations or voice actor unions, as well as job instability.

Quality Issues

Although NEO NPC technology might have amazing powers, it might be difficult to replicate the emotional richness and subtlety that come from using human voice actors. It could affect the complete gaming experience by making NPCs sound artificial or robotic.

Ethical Issues 

Using synthetic voices without obtaining the appropriate permission or paying voice performers may raise ethical questions. Ownership of synthetic voice data and intellectual property rights may come up.

Diversity & Representation

In video games, voice actors frequently have a major impact on how diverse characters are portrayed. There might be worries that diverse voice actors will not have as many possibilities because of NEO NPC technology.

Technical Difficulties

Effective NEO NPC technology implementation might need a large amount of technological know-how and funding. For voice synthesis algorithms to generate speech that sounds natural in a variety of languages, accents, and emotions, they must be continuously improved. 

Acceptance by Customers

When it comes to voice acting and NPC interactions, players may have different tastes. While some players could enjoy the novelty and ease of synthesized voices, others would value the familiarity and authenticity of human performances. For game producers, striking a balance between these preferences and preserving immersion and engagement may prove to be difficult.

Star Wars: Battlefront Only Launched With Three Servers

According to CultureCrave on X, the launch night of Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection saw over 10,000 players attempting to join the game. However, only three servers, each accommodating up to 64 players, were available, totaling just 192 spots. This limited capacity is reflective of 2004 standards. It did not live up to the expectations of contemporary gaming and Aspyr ought to have fixed it before release.

Fortunately, Aspyr resolved the server issue within an hour by adding more official servers and enabling community servers to appear in the browser. Similar server overload problems were seen with Helldivers 2 recently.

Despite multiplayer setbacks, the single-player modes of Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection remain unaffected and offer engaging experiences covering iconic moments from the original and prequel trilogies. Aspyr has already increased server capacity and fans hope for further upgrades to meet modern standards. 

The Classic Collection, priced at $34.99 and comprising the original two Star Wars: Battlefront games, debuted on March 14, with a ‘mostly negative” rating on Steam, garnering only 21% positive reviews. Many complaints, particularly centered on connectivity problems, have flooded in from Steam and social media users. One user stated, “Was only able to join one Heroes versus Villains match, and the Heroes’ side was completely broken. No one could join the Heroes team which resulted in no one to fight against. I figured this may have been just a Battlefront 2 issue so I hopped on over to play Battlefront 1 multiplayer. There's zero servers up for Battlefield 1. Wow.”

Impact of Server Issues on Gameplay

Early reports from users indicated that there were only three servers available for Battlefront 2 on PC. Each server was capable of accommodating 64 players, resulting in a total capacity of 192 players. With Steam reporting 9,232 players at a given moment, it suggests that hundreds, if not thousands, of players were unable to join servers due to the limited capacity.

Players on other platforms also experienced similar issues, including difficulties joining multiplayer matches or setting up their own servers. In addition to server problems, players encountered other bugs such as game crashes and missing cutscenes.

Within less than a day of its release on Steam, the reviews for the game were deemed “Mostly Negative,” with 1,972 reviews already submitted as of March 14.

This isn’t the first time that developer Aspyr has faced such issues. When releasing Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered, players on the Epic Games Store encountered a “development build with incomplete assets.” Aspyr also faced a class-action lawsuit after canceling the Restored Content DLC for Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2 on Switch.

The Star Wars gaming community has been facing challenges recently. The cancellation of a first-person shooter based on The Mandalorian also adds to the frustration.

A Mixed Collection

The primary reason for the overwhelmingly negative review status of the Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection on Steam is its problematic online play. Initially, only three servers were available, which was inadequate for such a highly anticipated release. Players also encountered poor connection issues, rendering a significant portion of the games nearly unplayable.

According to a message posted on Aspyr’s support site shortly after the collection’s release, critical errors with the network infrastructure led to high ping, matchmaking errors, crashes, and servers not appearing in the browser. Aspyr acknowledged these issues and stated that efforts were underway to stabilize the network infrastructure.

While some of the initial online play issues have been resolved a couple of days after release, users have noticed additional problems such as the inability to invert controls, poorly remastered or missing cutscenes, and limitations on local play to just two players. Given the $35 price tag, the abundance of issues makes it difficult to recommend the collection until it undergoes substantial patching and discounts.

However, there are still positive aspects to the collection. Having both Battlefront games bundled together in a single launcher is appreciated, as is their availability on Nintendo Switch and PlayStation platforms for the first time. Despite the setbacks, the core gameplay of both shooters remains appealing, and some players have enjoyed experiencing online multiplayer for the first time—when it functions properly. Nevertheless, many feel that Aspyr missed a significant opportunity to deliver a better experience with this revival

Aspyr Reply To ‘Overwhelmingly Negative’ Reviews

With the Steam user reviews now firmly in the “Overwhelmingly Negative” category, it's evident that the launch of the Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection has been a catastrophe. Described by players as “Probably one of the worst launches of all time” within hours of release, the collection has been a major setback for Aspyr following the recent well-received Tomb Raider remasters.

In response to the backlash, Aspyr has issued a notably brief statement acknowledging the issues. They express gratitude for the “overwhelming support and feedback” from the Battlefront community while admitting to "critical errors with our network infrastructure" resulting in various problems like high ping, matchmaking errors, crashes, and server visibility issues.

Interestingly, Aspyr suggests that the problem wasn’t necessarily the lack of servers but rather their visibility due to glitches or other issues. This aligns with players’ experiences of encountering only a few servers despite the high demand.

While Aspyr promises to address these issues and improve network stability, the statement may not be enough to satisfy disappointed players. Many complaints, such as audio glitches and poor controller support, remain unaddressed. Moreover, there's curiosity about the substantial increase in download size compared to the original games, without apparent graphical improvements.

There's hope that Aspyr can rectify the situation. The Battlefront community and the nostalgia for these classic games deserve a better experience, and it's still possible for Aspyr to salvage the situation.

Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection Review Bombing

Despite the current challenges faced by the Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection, there's reason for optimism. Reflecting on the launch of DICE's Star Wars Battlefront 2 in 2017, which initially faced controversy over microtransactions but has since seen a resurgence in players, there's hope for improvement. DICE's dedication to updates and improvements turned the situation around, offering a valuable lesson for Aspyr.

Aspyr can learn from DICE’s experience and prioritize addressing the ongoing issues with the Classic Collection. While the future remains uncertain, there's potential for the game to meet players' expectations with the right efforts and resources. With recent disappointing news about the cancellation of Respawn's Star Wars FPS, fans are eager for positive developments within the franchise. Hopefully, Aspyr remains committed to improving the Classic Collection and unlocking its full potential.

Following the plot from Soldak Entertainment's previous titles Zombasite and Din's Curse (both of which are not necessary for following the plot of Din's Legacy), the lands have been afflicted with zombism causing a schism in the Orc population and creating the Mutated. You are a Mutated under the service of the God Din tasked with unifying the lands and quelling the madness. 
Sound simple enough? Well, with the inclusion of many varying gameplay factors as well as a plethora of difficulty adjustments, your quest may come to an abrupt end sooner than you may think. You know your game experience will be difficult when the lowest difficulty is Normal and the highest difficulty is four tiers up at Ultimate.

If you're the kind of person that enjoys making life needlessly more difficult, then Din's Legacy has you covered. There are player difficulty modifiers that can make your experience all the more challenging.
Hardcore, which implements permanent death on your character. Semi-Hardcore, which causes your base health to be lowered upon death - not unlike Dark Souls II. 
Then there are difficulty modifiers for each game world you generate. 
Exploration, which features less monsters for more exploration of the world. Dangerous Monsters, which also features less monsters, but boosts their health and damage points. Overrun, for those who felt their weren't enough monsters in the world. Raging Hordes, which also includes more monsters than usual, but their health and damage points are lower than normal. And less stress, where harder quests are no longer offered to you, but you will earn less experience points overall.
All of these options are amazing to have, but a novice player will still have a difficult learning curve to overcome in order to progress and enjoy Din's Legacy. To them I give this most welcoming set up: Normal difficulty with the Exploration modifier enabled. While still not perfect for those new to action RPG's, that set up should be enough to keep you from throwing your keyboard through your monitor in frustration. 

Soldak Entertainment are no strangers to sophisticated leveling and role-playing mechanics, and Din's Legacy is no different. Din's Legacy features 39 playable classes with 8 of those classes playable from the get-go and the rest unlocked through certain conditions and/or challenge completions. These classes range from what's to be expected from any RPG to classes that are unique solely to Din's Legacy such as Reaper, Black Guard, Minstrel, and many, many more. With each class comes with base passive abilities, special attacks and the type of armor you can wear. This is where we enter mutations.
As you progress and complete certain actions your character will unlock mutations; be it positive or negative. These mutations can either boost already unlocked abilities or grant all new ones. For example: early into the life of my second character, I unlocked Extra Lungs which gave a permanent 15% boost to movement speed. That may not sound like much, but Din's Legacy can be much harder without positive mutations to give you a boost in battle. So here's another tip for the action RPG novices out there:
Pick the Necromancer class for your first playthrough. Once you've gathered up enough experience, unlock the Blight ability and use it as liberally as possible. Couple this with an NPC companion and you will be nigh unstoppable on your quest for Din. 

Just as your own character, enemies can also possess varied passive and status mutations and abilities that could even possibly match your own, and these aren't just bosses. Even regular enemy types can possess these abilities and kill you relentlessly until you've leveled up your own abilities to surpass them. Admittedly, this does sound frustrating on paper, but in practice it's actually a genius concept that's even better executed. Having standard enemy types that are genuinely on par with you in terms of abilities and combat prowess creates a natural difficulty curve that encourages the player to continue playing and leveling up in order to progress to the next area. 

Once you've created your character, you will be prompted to generate your world. Again, don't let this scare you. Din's Legacy does feature procedural generated worlds, yes, but each world you create is almost indistinguishable from a handcrafted world. There you can adjust pretty much everything to your liking including the world's pacing. Want a slower, more layed back paced game? No problem. Just set the pacing to Very Slow, but you will earn less experience points as a trade off. Are you awake at 3 in the morning on your sixth bottle of 5-Hour Energy and want a fast paced game? No problem. Just set the pacing to Very Fast, and you'll even earn more experience than you would on Normal Pacing. 

Many other developers boast about having a dynamic game world influenced by the player's actions, but so far Din's Legacy is one of the few games to actually live up to this promise. Each region you generate comes with unique win/loss conditions, typically being to keep your town safe and to push back the enemy, and your foes are plotting against you just as you are against them. Quests sometimes have certain parameter that must be met in order to complete them. Should you fail to, for example, kill an enemy boss, that boss' army could grow in numbers and make it much more difficult for you to defend your town and continue on your ultimate quest. From fortifying their defenses to initiating raids on your town, your enemies are just as cold and calculating as you are. 
War and Diplomacy are crucial to your success. If you are unable to strike up an uneasy cease fire with the enemy through quests, you may quickly find your town burned to the ground from an inevitable raid. Of course, every time one of these events are triggered, you will be notified and given the chance to defend your town, so you aren't completely blindsided when you return home and find only a single NPC left alive. 
Your character's world can quickly escalate from bad to very bad in a matter of moments with just how dynamic enemies and quests are. Should the enemies feel like it, they very well could commence a raid on your town the second you spawn into your world while you helplessly try to defend yourself and your town as an under-powered level 1 nobody. While uncommon, this certainly can happen. 

While Din's Legacy provides everything I, and many others, want out of an action RPG experience, there are some issues. Namely the difficulty and quest system. With the difficulty, some people will have a hard time getting deep enough in Din's Legacy to become hooked. As someone that played Diablo II to death years ago, even I had issues with constantly dying, failing quests, and ultimately watching my town burn to the ground and the game ending. I had to figure out which class, weapons, and abilities were over powered enough to get me through the difficult starting areas and eventually play the game as intended. While I do not mind a challenge, I can foresee this being an issue for some potential players.
This leads into the quest system. With a procedurally generated world, there are bound to be a few quirks. During my time with my first character, I was handed two quests to complete that were, unbeknownst to me, bugged. I was tasked with the killing of two mini-bosses, but once I arrived where these bosses were located, I realized they had spawned out of bounds and there was no way to get to them or bring them to me. Just to make sure, I scoured the surrounding lands to makes sure I wasn't in the wrong area, but to no avail. Sadly these were the only two quests I could take even with the entire map searched, and with no way to progress, I had to abandon this character and create another. I hope this was an isolated incident, but be wary should you choose to venture into Din's Legacy. 

Through the good and the bad, Din's Legacy is absolutely worthy of your time and money. Truly the most unique action RPG in over a decade? Yes, I would say so. Din's Legacy is just another example of just how great a game can turn out when it is made from the love and passion of a dedicated developer rather than for the corporate obligation of a AAA studio. There are certainly issues present, but the good far exceeds the bad in Din's Legacy's case. From the incredibly in depth role-playing mechanics to a truly dynamic world, Din's Legacy is unmatched in pure content for an indie game. The most heinous crime surrounding Din's Legacy is just how underrated it is. Do yourself a favor and check this one out. 

I remember I had Mortal Kombat II on my Gameboy. I played it when we went to my grandparents every weekend. It was one of my favorite games of all time. I even bought the midway collection on my PSP Go just so I could have Mortal Kombat I-III. Now here we are in 2019 with 40+ fighting games on the Switch (though most of those are Neo Geo arcade classics) this is the first time we've seen Mortal Kombat on the system. I was stoked to play this new version of the game. I had played Mortal Kombat XL at my local arcade bar The Cidercade on a Japanese arcade machine that runs on Steam. I just fought the CPU or another person.

With the reveal of Mortal Kombat 11 I was happy to see it come to the Switch. Though this is not the Mortal Kombat of my adolescence. This is something different, this is something that at times triggers my anxiety and makes me very angry. That is what I want to talk about in this review/article. Mortal Kombat use to be a fun escape. Even if I lost I never really got mad. I lost that was it, just retry and move on.

Though with Mortal Kombat 11 there are reasons to win besides moving up the tower.  Now we have daily challenges like I've seen in the Mortal Kombat mobile game. If you complete these daily challenges you earn Kombat Koins that you use in what is called the Krypt. A Shaolin monk temple set up where you open chests for a chance to earn different outfits, soul stones, other kustomizable items, and concept art from the game just to name a few things. YouTuber Boogie2988 made a point about the how a company like Nintendo has stayed away from this microtransactions platform. (Yes there is a fighters pass for Smash Bros Ultimate, though it's only $25 compared to Mortal Kombat's $40 fighters pass.)

I waited to see how this port panned out seeing we didn't get any news on it till PAX East. The game had its downfalls, though it was nothing like we saw with Anthem or Fallout 76. Switch owners had to wait til the 1.0.4 patch to sync to their Mortal Kombat Mobile account. Did the NetherRealm team not do any quality control with Shiver Entertainment?

Even though there are moments of frustration with these non consumer friendly tactics, I love talking my Switch with me and play Mortal Kombat with other people in public. Win or lose I'm having a fun time. Though when I am playing online with other people and seeing how many times they've won and what my percentage is of winning the match I'm not having fun. I'm anxious and if I lose, I get upset, yelling obscenities to a person that can't hear me. I become very frustrated. I don't even get this upset losing at my weekly local Smash Bros tournament. There is something about the way things are set up that cause me to be overwhelmed and frustrated.

I'm not the only one that Mortal Kombat 11 has caused emotional stress either. An developer that was on the cinematic team told Joshua Riviera at Kotaku:  

“I’d have these extremely graphic dreams, very violent,” they told Kotaku in a call. “I kind of just stopped wanting to go to sleep, so I’d just keep myself awake for days at a time, to avoid sleeping.”

Eventually, the developer says they saw a therapist who diagnosed them with PTSD. They attribute this to their work on MK11—not just the content of the game and having to process and discuss its violent cinematics frame by frame, but also being surrounded by the reference materials artists used for research.”

Now with video game addiction being a mental disorder. There are talks about how these live service games are part of the problem. I have to agree the grind in these games are more than most RPGs I play. Though with public outcry NetherRealm has been coming out with 10+ GB patches for the game to make this grind not as taxing as it was at launch. Though PC players are one ones who are getting the updates first seeing it's the easiest platform to update. There are no approval process to go through like there are with the consoles.

I wonder if this digital age has made developers lazy in creating full gaming experiences. With gaming before consoles had a dedicated internet connection games had to be perfect. for the most part they were. Mortal Kombat 1-3 were complete games to me as an adolescent young man. Though I've read that some arcade MK2 and MK3 were sent out "unfinished", and ROM chips were sent out to machine owners to upgrade the games over time. Though were the arcades just as buggy as this new game? Is this standard practice of the NetherRealm team? What I do know is that Mortal Kombat has slowly become inaccessible for me as an abled gamer.

I entered my first Mortal Kombat 11 tournament at Dreamhack Dallas, and what I found out is that the button layouts are not universal. I thought I would do good seeing I could press in the left joystick for block. Though the PS4 version of the game you don't have that option. So I spent hours relearning the controls after I've had muscle memory started to sit in playing the game on the Switch. Though I had some help from Houston Esports pro Handy Savage showing me some new tricks with tournament layouts, seeing I've been playing with casual player layouts.

There is also no option to hold the back button to block like you can in Injustice 2 either. Though I understand there are different game mechanics between the two games, but it would be nice. My hope is that NetherRealm with make a patch where I can hold either joystick down for block or hold back. Though the sad truth is that accessibility for abled gamers are not a high priority for NetherRealm. I'll just have to relearn how to play this game that is a rollercoaster of emotions.

Acclaim also acquired an Austin Texas developer Iguana Entertainment. With the growing popularity of the first person shooter genre, Acclaim gave the team at Iguana a chance to turn Valiant's dinosaur Hunter into an FPS for Nintendo's upcoming home console the Nintendo 64. With a few months of delays Turok: Dinosaur Hunter was released to the North American market on March 4, 1997. The game paved the way for the FPS genre on the newest home console, selling 1.5 million copies and boosted sales of the N64.

After three sequels, one reboot, and three Gameboy games Nightdive Studios acquired the rights to the game and put out a remastered port of the N64 version on PC in 2015, then last year the studio ported the game to Xbox, now in 2019 Turok made its way back home to the Nintendo, and all I have to say is I want more N64.

Growing up my next door neighbor Ryan had the latest consoles so when he got the latest thing from Nintendo I was over at his house play the N64 after school, weekend and all summer long. I played Mario 64, Wave Racer and when Goldeneye 007 came out I tried to play it, though being disabled with only one good hand to use I couldn't due to the control layout itself and the mapping in the game. I wasn't able to play an FPS until I got a PlayStation.

So this is my first time playing a classic console FPS. Even though the game has retro graphics, primitive controls, and game play, I have been able to enjoy the game. I've enjoyed it so much I'd love to see more classics like Turok 2, Doom 64, and Quake on the Switch.

If you have never played Turok you play as a native American named Tal'Set, who is the protector of the barrier between Earth and the Lost Land. The Lost Land is a primitive world where time has no meaning, it's inhabited by a variety of creatures, from dinosaurs to aliens. Along with weapons from bows n arrows to staffs that shoot a lasers. 

The game is everything I'd want from an N64 port, mappable controls, cheat codes and a way to do away with the things like fog people complained about when the game was first released. Though we have to wait for the second game to get everyone's beloved multiplayer feature. Besides that, and no true save state to start the game where you left off, this is a great first N64 FPS port for the Switch. 

With this new budding relationship with Microsoft and Nintendo, we may be able to see a Perfect Dark port from Rare. Though Nightdive is the leader of the pack and they are not stopping with just one. I hope to see as many classic games they can get to bring back to life for us retro gaming fans. For $20 this is worth the price for this classic FPS. Pick it on the eShop or right here online.

The game evolved with every opening of a chest. From getting basic functions as being able to move to the graphics, colors, layers, and sound design updating in real time. I was so surprised this game was on my phone. Though it took me a while to beat it due to phones being stolen or broke. I finally beat the game.

While doing some research for this review I found out that Evoland was made during the Ludum Dare game jam, an online contest where developers attempt to build a game around a particular theme in just 48 hours. Ludum Dare 24’s theme was evolution. "Instead of doing a game where players can make things evolve, we thought that having the game itself evolve as you played would be a far more original approach," Shiro Games CEO Sebastien Vidal stated to The Verge back in 2013 about the idea behind the game that came from Shiro Games co-founder Nicolas Cannasse.

Evoland Classic ended up winning the competition (out of 1400 games) and quickly gathered a very dedicated and enthusiastic fan base, reaching over 300,000 players in the first few months after its release as a flash game. The success led the Shiro team to make a full game which doubled their dev team and took four months to finish something they could be proud of.

It was a true love letter to the RPG genre. Though it's short, 4-6 hours of gameplay. It made us fans want more, and in 2015 we got Evoland 2: A Slight Case of Spacetime Continuum Disorder. Then last year we finally got it for mobile in 2018. (I'm not sure why it took a whole year to get the game to the Nintendo Switch. I would have figured they would have just ported the PC/OS X version over to the Switch for their birthday last year.) The game promises over 20 hours of gameplay I have put in just over 12 hours and am on level 20. This time around the game does a tutorial in Game Boy green then goes into a Game Boy Color. The game’s story starts out in a similar storyline to The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening. Where you are found by a villager in the woods and woken up by his daughter with no memory of who you are.

The story is an extension of the Evoland humans versus demons. In our second story we find that there has been a great war between the two. You find yourself saving the villager's daughter in the forest where you were found. After you save the daughter she joins you on your journey to find out who you are. This gives you a special ability where she uses her super sword move.

As you journey through the forest you stumble across three demons who are trying to activate an ancient artifact called the Magilith. The only way to activate the Magilith is to summon the forest guardian and harness it's Magi energy. Though the demons find out the guardian is more power than they thought, so it's up to you to defeat it before it makes its way to the village. Though after your victory the Magilith activates and sends you back time during the great war. This leads you on a whole other adventure of trying to get back to your original time. Though as you find out the Magilith always just sends you to another time. In each timeline you become friends with someone new that gives you a new special move. Even though this is a review I don't want to give away the plot to the whole story. I'll tell you this, you become friends with next to the demon thrown and an archaeologist who helps you along the way.

With each timeline comes a different graphics style. The time you start your adventure in is a classic 16-bits over the top layout, the past is an 8-bits over the top layout, and the future is 128-bits (PS 2) angled down layout. As the game goes on it becomes more then a love letter to RPGs. To get from a mountain top to the top of a pyramid the game becomes a top down airplane shooter. Once you get to the pyramid the boss fight is a tribute to Street Fighter II where you have the same moves as Ryu or Ken. In one level you have to play classic Atari games such as Space Invaders, Pac-Man, and Snake to name a few that opens the doors to the next room.

The controls are simple. There are only three buttons: action, jump, and special character swap. The physical buttons are way more intuitive than the touch screen ones. Though you can't remap them, but it still works play with one hand. The layout feel natural and I got through game faster by dying less.

If you can't wait for Link's Awakening and Dragon Quest XI S, or you just want something different in your RPG, give Evoland a try. It just might be the game that holds you over till the one you're waiting for comes out later this year.

Along with watching movies, I found myself playing video games in the same vein. I was introduced to them by my buddy Dylan who had become a YouTube gaming content creator. One of the games he made a series on was Layers of Fear from an indie studio called Bloober Team out of Poland.

If you didn't know the gaming industry is really big in Poland. So big in fact that the Prime Minister gave President Obama a copy of The Witcher II as a gift. Some of my favorite indie games like Layer of Fear, GoNNer, and Butcher have been ported to the Nintendo Switch are from Polish developers.

Bloober Team solidified themselves as a studio who could sit at the adult table with Layers of Fear. Now with Observer, there are talks that Bloober Team could be one of the studios to remake Silent Hill. That's only if Konami wants to follow the trend set by Capcom with the Resident Evil 2 remake.

Observer takes the theme of a futuristic Poland where cybernetic enhancements are a common medical practice after the last world war. You play as Observer detective Daniel Lazarski (voiced by Rutger Hauer of Blade Runner) who gets a strange call from his estranged son Adam. Like in most horror games taking place in one place. You find that Adam has been living in a rundown tenement building (which is a real building that one of the developers live) where drug and hologram addicts live.

(Screenshot taken from Nintendo Life's video on making the Observer)

You get yourself in Adam’s apartment, which has been ransacked. You find a body with its head cut off, which triggers a security shutdown to the building. Without being able to get a positive ID on the body Dan has to find a way to get out of  Adam’s apartment to find the killer. This starts the more core mechanics of the game. Opening and scanning everything you can, searching for clues, and hacking into keypads. Once you override the security system to the apartment you roam the halls trying to find a way out. Along the way, you have the opportunity to interview the other tenants.

With clues leading you to other dead bodies, you use your title as Observer to link into their memories to find out who and where the killer might be. Though linking up doesn't just give you access to the victims past, your past with Adam as a boy mixes in with those memories. The way these memories play out is where the horror and puzzle aspects of the game shines. With winding hallways, and puzzles where if you take the wrong turn you are back at where you started. Observer builds on what Bloop Team learned with Layers of Fear and ramped it to 11. This time around you have villains, the murderer and this rag doll monster that looks like something out of the movie 9 that you have to sneak by while trying to find an exit.

The story is well thought out. You have multiple people this time telling their side of how they either fought against Chiron (the mega-corporation that took over Poland and started the Fifth Polish Republic) or those who were apart their cybernetic experiments and the people who are addicted to drugs and/or holographic stimuli. If Layers of Fear deals in psychological horrors of a painter in the 1920s, Observer deals with the psychological choices made in a future where we can be anyone and have anything, though it may cost us our life.

That is the real horror about this game. That this fantasy could someday be our reality. This game may have been overlooked, but this game is just as brilliant as Detroit Become Human, and if you just own a Nintendo Switch longing for an immersive thought-provoking game, Observer is that game. This is already a cult classic, why not let us make it a critical success.

The latest in the Super Mario Bros series is New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe. The game is both New Super Mario Bros U and New Super Luigi U from Nintendo's Wii U system, now combined for the Nintendo Switch. I haven't played a platform Mario game since Super Mario Land 2 and Super Mario Run. That is what NSMBU Deluxe reminds me of the best and worst Super Mario Bros games put together to make an Ok game. It's not game changing like Mario Bros games from the past. Super Mario Bros 1 helped popularized the platforming genre. Super Mario 3 gave us a way to reply levels and a new structure of gameplay. Super Mario 64 gave us our first open world to the universe that led to some of the best sandbox games we have ever played. The mod community forced Nintendo to create the best Mario game of them all, Super Mario Maker.

Though we are not here to talk about that amazing game, we are talking about a port of a Super Mario Bros game from one of Nintendo's most disappointing console next to the Virtual Boy. NSMBU Deluxe may be easy, this is the first time I've seen an option for an easy mode since Super Mario Land 2. A lot of people have talked about the controls and I couldn't agree more, unlike Super Smash Bros you can not remap these to your preference. Playing with one hand using the pro controller I found it kinda of hard to do things like getting a boost with the flying squirrel power. It was also tricky to do a butt breaker first try.

I know we are in 2019, though it is sad when retro looking indie games look better than a triple-A title like NSMBU Deluxe. I wish they gave us a downgrade option in the graphics to give it more of that classic look. To me, it just feels like Super Mario Run meets Super Mario Bros 2 for NES. The reason why I compare this to Super Mario Bros 2 for many reasons. It's the first time you have the option between different characters since Super Mario Bros 2. There are aspects of the game people love about it, along with dislikes. Though even if there is a love/hate relationship with Super Mario Bros 2, which I found out a few years ago was originally Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic (translated as Dream Factory: Heart-Pounding Panic and usually referred to as Doki Doki Panic) in Japan, and remade into Super Mario Bros 2. You'll always be pleasing the hardcore Mario fans. If you're really good at platformers this is a short experience with story mode.

(History of Super Mario Bros 2 by the Gaming Historian)

There is some ok level design in both Super Mario Bros 2 and NSMBU Deluxe. I feel NSMBU Deluxe will have the same fate as Super Mario Bros 2. It seems like RND took the worst parts of the Famicom Super Mario Bros 2 controls and tweaked them to be even worse for NSMBU Deluxe. Though there are some fun aspects to NSMBU Deluxe. The challenge mode is actually quite fun. It's a great break from the story mode. Though I don't know if it is enough to keep people playing. Like I said there are some great indie platformers that have a great balance and are expanding on the genre for a third of the cost of NSMBU Deluxe. You could get four or five indie titles for the same price as NSMBU Deluxe. Though if you are a lover of Super Mario, this game may be for you. For me, I'll play this off and on throughout the year, though I'm holding out for SNES ports to finally make their way to the Switch.

Like I said in the beginning, I have not played a platformer Super Mario game in a long time. I wanted to see what I was missing seeing I never owned a Wii U because I thought it was a waste of money for me because I could never play the gamepad with one hand. So Nintendo graciously sent me a copy to play. I just hope we see some really good stuff seeing January was not so good with first-party titles and delaying Metroid Prime 4 for a few more years. We believe in you Nintendo, you can do it!

Atari Flashback Classics for the Nintendo Switch is a compilation of all three volumes previously released for XBox One and PlayStation 4 over the past couple of years. Individually they each had 50 games; roughly 10 arcade titles and a handful of home games, most of which from the Atari 2600, to pad out the total. As such the Switch version has all 150 games without the need to swap volumes. This is a very nice convenience especially since the Switch version is $20USD cheaper than buying each volume separately.

Visually, the games in the collection vary in terms of quality. Some look stunning even to this day, but many others look like a steaming pile of digital feces. This is also reflected while the game is undocked as many of the Atari 2600 games that had sprite flicker don't show up very well on the Switch's screen. That doesn't always reflect how the game plays though. There are a small handful of games in the collection that look like crap, but are some of the most fun games of the bunch. If you can just stomach past their looks and have a friend that will play with you, online or otherwise, I'm betting you'll have a grand time.

Now considering that most of the arcade titles on this collection, and some of the Atari 5200 games, used special controls like a trackball or dial, they can't be emulated perfectly. That being said, Code Mystics did a decent job with what they had. While the left stick controls are WAY too sensitive even on the lowest setting, they ingeniously managed to incorporate the Switch's touchscreen for controlling many of the games that had those unique controls. It's just a shame that those controls are only available when the system is undocked.

Overall while this collection is miles above the plug-n-plays that AtGames has been producing, it is not for the average gamer. It is for collectors, and for those who grew up with these games. Like I said at the beginning of this review most of the games on this compilation did not age well, but there still glimmers a shining light within those crusty visuals. The addition of achievements and the inclusion of the manuals for the 2600 and 5200 games is very nice and I love the fact that they also included the SwordQuest comics from back in the 80's. It's little touches like that that really make collections like this stand out, even if they only stand out an extra inch or two amongst the crowd.

AUDIO

CHALLENGE

CONTROL

VISUALS

ORIGINALITY

EXECUTION

PROS:

• Lots of games
• Cheaper than buying each volume separately
• Online play
• Achievements
• Touchscreen support
• Small download size

CONS:

• Quantity over quality
• Stick sensitivity is too high even on lowest setting
• Online leaderboards only work with paid service
• Visuals degrade when console is undocked
• Some games are duplicates for different Atari systems

Though I did get a few borderline indie/triple-A games like Payday 2. I also bought Street Fighter II’ Ultra. Besides that most of the games I played was indie games. The first game that comes to mind is InnerSpace from Aspyer who put out the Layer of Fear port for mobile VR. It was great to see them getting in the Switch market though they only put out one other game besides this 360 sphere glider game.

I played it for a good month and I couldn't get past the second or third level. The controls are simple though kind of hard to line up to for opening places. Being 360 it was hard for me to know if I was right side up or upside down at some points. So without trying to get to many headaches, I had to put this game aside. Though if this is your type of game InnerSpace is the game for you.

I remember the first time I played a Nintendo 64 at my next door neighbor's. My favorite game was Wave Racer 64, so getting one of my favorite mobile games Riptide GP Renegade ported to the Switch, I was super excited. It is the best Jet Ski on the Switch with so many tracks, crazy customization to yourself and your wave racer. I really love this game and play it once a month or so. The controls have a learning curve to them but once you get the hang of them you will be a first place champion.

As you remember, one of my favorite games from last year was Layers of Fear. This winter I got a special surprise with the Legacy edition which has only game out for the Switch. The game is the original PC game along with the Inheritance DLC. This game is a great game to play on trips or under your covers when it is cold outside. The controls are very smooth and translate well from what I would think a PC setup would be. Sadly this is one of the few horror games I played though I think it's one of the top 5 ones you should check out beside the Outlast series (which I still have yet to play) and Bendy (which I reviewed a few weeks ago).

One of my favorite YouTube content creators is The Video Game Historian. One day his mini-documentary on Tetris popped up on my home page and I after I watched it I watched everything he ever put out. I learned a lot about Nintendo. Things I didn't realize as a kid, like how Nintendo versions of violent games were censored, unlike the Sega Genesis versions. So when I saw that games like South Park: Fractured But Whole and Payday 2 were coming to this year-old handheld console I was shocked. I couldn't believe I could play online with someone to rob a bank or escape from the cops. Though the one thing that blew my mind was not the bloody violence. It was the mission where I was making meth. I was freaking Breaking Bad on a Nintendo. I'm sorry South Park, as much fun I had playing this great RPG game and being a White Hispanic trans goth male with time traveling farts. Making meth is the craziest thing I've ever seen Nintendo let happen. That and the mini-game controls are near to impossible to do with one hand.

After getting my mind blown with mature rated Triple-A titles I wanted to just relax with a nice story adventure game. I found that escape with Night in the Woods. I game that now that I think of it was another horror game hidden in a great story about finding yourself, while facing your fears and reconnecting to the community you thought once abandoned you. This game is yet another Kickstarter success story, and I'm so thankful for Finji porting this great game that takes you into a very adult Busy World of Richard Scarry story to the Switch. I loved the interactions with the people in the town along with the cute hack n slash dungeon crawler mini-game you could lose yourself in. Along with the bass hero mini-game I could never master, but loved anyway. I played this off and on for months till I finally beat it. This is one of those games that feels like an interactive story, which it really is just that. Another game like this OxenFree, I am super stoked for Afterparty this year. These are my two picks for story based games.

Top-down shooters have been a staple in video games ever since Asteroids. Flowing the game mechanics of the classics, publisher 10tons brings us the follow up to their smash hit Time Recoil with Tesla vs Lovecraft. You play as one of the founders of the modern age Nikola Tesla defending his city against H.P Lovecraft’s monsters. After beating Hotline Miami I thought I had the hang of the genre. Well I was wrong you have hoards of monsters you have to kill to move on and with a fixed control scheme, it is hard to try and get to the next level. Though the game is fun and has a great fantasy ravelry storyline, I'm not very good at the game. This is a great rage game too, just don't break anything.

Speaking of games I'm not good at that I thought I would be, Is one of many love letters to Yero Miyamoto and his beloved Legend of Zelda. The game Hyper Light Drifter, a beautiful pixel art game where you are the drifter, with a sword in one hand and a gun in the other. Along with a teleport action that sometimes goes in the wrong way, or maybe I just am not good at this game. Yeah, I'm not good at it. I've had the game for 4 months and i still can't beat the first boss. This and The Messenger have been showing me that I'm not good at certain video games.

2018 was the year we started seeing mobile games such as Chameleon Run, Fallout Shelter, and Friday The 13th: Killer Puzzles. We also saw a game like Death Road to Canada adding the Switch to its console domination. One part Oregon Trail to one part zombie survival game. I've only play this on my phone so it was nice to use a controller. I think it is a great fit to the Switch along with Don't Starve. It was packed with both Reign of Giants and Shipwrecked DLC content. Though the one thing I was bummed out about was Keli not putting out Don't Starve: Together. My guess is they kinda knew the online service from Nintendo was going to be trash.

The one redeeming thing Keli did to make it up for not putting that out was Mark of the Ninja: Remastered. I love stealth games and I super love Mark of the Ninja. It's up there with my love of Dishonored. I freaked out when i saw this in the Direct. It was the only game i cared about. It is amazing, so amazing that it was used in a holiday Nindies commercial Nintendo made. It was a great surprise just like Drinkbox Studios dropping Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition in the same fashion Eminem did with Kamikaze.

There are so many hidden gems in the eShop you could just miss a 1 or 100. One I missed out on was Horizon Chase Turbo, a homage to classic 16-bit racers that defined a generation of high-speed and frenetic arcade fun like Out Run and Top Gear. This game is super fun though it does have some downfalls. The first thing that takes away from the experience is that every time you play the game you have to re-input your preferred control settings. The second is some of the cars are worse the than the ones you already have. If you're wondering why the game looks like a mobile game, it’s because it’s Horizon Chase - World Tour, a mobile race game from 2015. Though the game handles better with a controller. The touch screen controls is very primitive. After playing the mobile version for 10 mins or so, I do like what they did with the console version. Though it just still has some small issues that could be fixed with patch. We’ll see what’s on the horizon in 2019.

There has been a few classic PC games that have made their way to the best selling console of the year. We got Another World and Flashback. Both games that were genre changing games for their time. I played Flashback and had a lot of fun. It's great seeing these games on the Switch. I hope there are some long time gamers showing these young gamers how great a great adventure platformer can be. Another game that I really fell in love with was Desert Child. It was not made back in the 90s, though it sure feels like could of been on put out by U.S. Gold for the Amiga home computer. You play as a hover bike racer trying to make your way to the big race on Mars. Once you've won enough races to pay for your ticket to the red planet you find yourself doing odd jobs as a pizza delivery boy, kango wrangler, and bounty hunter. You also get involved doing some shady things including throwing races, hacking banks, and breaking public property. The game is really fun with keeping you occupied with making sure you're making the money for the entry fee to the big race. Along with being fed, and keeping up bike maintenance, you also have to watch out for the cops. Yeah if you steal to many bike parts to help you when races, the cops will be on your back. I never out ran them, though I heard you could. Just make sure your money is in the bank, if not you'll lose whatever you have on you. It took a few run-ins for me to start putting money in the back after becoming an ODB. The more clean cuts you are you’re labeled as such, going from Kenny G, LL Cool J to ODB. I beat the game in a few days. Though with getting stuck with one gun the whole game and a new baseball jersey with every new playthrough, the game has great replay value. It's way more fun than Fallout 76, but a lot of games for $15 are. With a great feel and homage to Cowboy Bebop, Desert Child ends 2018 right.

I did buy Smash Bros Ultimate. It took me a week to open all the characters. This is the first Smash Bros. game I ever got. Even though I did buy Brawlout earlier this year. The one thing I don't like about Smash is for me I have a hard time turning around. I have to press left or right three or four times. So I feel like I don't have the best experience I could have fighting sometimes. I am pretty good with a few people and can beat some beginners. Though I don't know if I'll ever master the fighting game. 

With being a new Switch owner and not been on the Nintendo bandwagon since the Wii and 3DS. I needed guidance, and I found it with a few YouTube content creators that have a love for this new hybrid system called the Nintendo Switch. My all-time favorite is Arlo, a muppet who is a casual Nintendo fan like myself. I really like his point on games. The games he was really excited about are the games I spent full price on. Even though I should have waited for the holiday sale. I really enjoyed Alex over at NintendoLife. They have some great content on their channel. The Screen junkies of video games is Spawn Wave. With some great gaming news, sales numbers, and showing the inner workings of gaming hardware is something I came to really enjoy this year. As always my favorite all around YouTube gaming content creator is my dude Dyan R. aka Yub. He does a lot of game play videos, did a ton of Splatoon 2 live streams on Twitch, along with keeping meme culture alive with the internet's favorite show Check'n The Yub Reddit. Yub gained over 100,000 followers this year despite 2 major threats to his channel two weeks after making YouTube his full time job.

The publisher of the year goes to Raw Fury. Putting out such games as Dandara, Bad North, and Kingdom Two Crowns. They may not have the most indie ports this year, though we know quality over quantity is the best way to go. I'm really excited for Night Call later this year.

I want to thank Novogamer for letting me have this platform to talk about video games. I also want to thank all the devs and publishers who gave me key and codes to play these games. Thank you to the readers for reading my articles. If you have a Switch always check out eShop for great games and sales.

The NES Classic Edition is a miniature replica of the Nintendo Entertainment System that was released in the mid 1980's. While it can't play any of the cartridges that were released for the console, it does have 30 games selected and pre-loaded onto it which are listed below:

1. Balloon Fight
2. Bubble Bobble
3. Castlevania
4. Castlevania II: Simon's Quest
5. Donkey Kong
6. Donkey Kong Jr.
7. Double Dragon II: The Revenge
8. Dr. Mario
9. Excitebike
10. Final Fantasy
11. Galaga
12. Ghosts 'n Goblins
13. Gradius
14. Ice Climber
15. Kid Icarus
16. Kirby's Adventure
17. The Legend of Zelda

    

18. Mario Bros.
19. Mega Man 2
20. Metroid
21. Ninja Gaiden
22. Pac-Man
23. Punch-Out!! Featuring Mr. Dream
24. StarTropics
25. Super Contra
26. Super Mario Bros.
27. Super Mario Bros. 2
28. Super Mario Bros. 3
29. Tecmo Bowl
30. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

Not a bad list if I do say so myself. In addition to that, every game has 4 save states that can be saved at any time when you press reset on the system. Very helpful for some of those games that use a password system.

The pricing isn't too bad; at $59.99USD it could be much worse, but when you consider the fact that the second controller is sold separately for an additional $9.99USD, that can make or break a deal in some cases.

The emulation is top notch; the colors are nice and crisp and the audio is just as I remember it, plus I love that it has the option for a scan-line screen filter, but then again what would you expect from an emulator that was made by Nintendo themselves?

As far as originality goes, plug-n-play systems are nothing new, however the execution is what sells it. High quality games though HDMI output, nice and sturdy hardware and fantastic emulation that rivals the original console from which it is based. If you're a parent that wants your kids to experience your childhood with you, or are even just an enthusiast like me who lacks self control, this is a great gift that won't break the bank. Plus if you're a more daring individual the system can be easily modded so you can add more games, but you won't get any of that knowledge from me. Just be careful when shopping for one online; bootlegs of the console do exist and look just like the real thing at first glance. Be sure to do your research and buy from a trusted seller.

AUDIO

CHALLENGE

CONTROL

VISUALS

ORIGINALITY

EXECUTION

PROS:

• Good game variety
• Sturdy construction
• Not too expensive
• Easy to mod
• Controllers are compatible with Wii/Wii U Virtual Console

CONS:

• Second controller sold separately
• Low availability
• Can't play the original NES cartridges

To me, the game feels like Borderlands textures meet the cartoon styles of Fleischer (Inkwell) and Disney Animation Studios. While the game has puzzle mechanics where you have to flip levers and switches to find items and the next open door reminding me a bit of the puzzle you would find in Portal. There is a lot of backtracking in the first few chapters that started to get old quick though was easy enough to breeze right through. I did get lost a few times trying to find a few switches and when I watched an old walkthrough I found out how much the game had changed from the earlier releases. 

One thing that I found out that some of the gameplay was different for me then it was when I finally found a walkthrough for the Nintendo Switch. I don't know if it was a bug or the game was made that way, but I really enjoyed the unique experience. The game still has some bugs to work out. Though it's way less buggy than Fallout 76, I found that I either had to restart or die to get the game to progress. Rooster Teeth sent me an email saying they are fixing known bugs, so there should be a patch sent out soon after they stop playing Super Smash Bros Ultimate.

You play as Henry Stein, a retired animator who used to work at Joey Drew Studios who returns after an invitation from his old friend and employer Joey Drew. To me, Joey seems to be a Walt Disney type visionary, and Henry is Walt’s old friend and partner Ub Iwerks. As you look around you find something called the Titular Ink Machine. While looking for items to turn the machine on you find a real-life Boris (Goofy type). Not knowing why Joey did this, you find tape recordings of Joey and the employees have been partaking in occult practices.

Though why bring these characters to life at all? You later find out that Joey’s investors were not happy with the studio and a new theme park. To bring something new to the amusement park landscape Joey wants to bring their mascot, Bendy, the dancing demon, and all of his friends to life with a brand new invention called Titular Ink Machine from the Gent Corp. Thomas Connor of Gent tells Joey that these creatures are soulless. Joey replies that he has thousands of souls to occupy the bodies. One of these people is desperate voice actress Susie Campbell. Joey tells her she will bring Alice Angle back to life once again after she takes part in Joeys "small project".

To me, this sounds like how Disney really runs things. Finding young talent promising the world, then, in the end, you’ll sell your soul and become something ugly you don't even recognize. I don't know if theMeatly and Mike Mood had the parallels in mind for the story. Though they really know how to bring my nightmares to life.

I really like some of the Easter eggs they have in the game. Benny's eyes are Pac-Man, there are times where Joey reminds me of Cave Johnson the CEO of Aperture Science in the Portal series. 

"Ok, let's stop it right there. I can only do so many takes of this trash a day. And tell the guys in writing I want more use of the word dreaming in every message. Keep railing on that, get it? Dreaming! Dreaming! Dreaming! People just eat up that kind of slop. Hmm What? It's still on? Well, turn it off, damn it!". - Joey Drew

Wally the janitor finds a big chocolate cake sitting in a chair. Yet another Portal node. I bet there's more that I didn't realize, so comment below on more. Another cool Easter egg is the posters you see on the walls are fan art that they put in the game, along with music created by fans. This is a first for me to see such community involvement in a game outside of it being crowd funded.

This was definitely one of the better first person games I played this year. If you're looking for something different to play this holiday season, Bendy is a good 6-10 hours of gameplay with new tools and a bonus level to play after the first go around. I have it for my Nintendo Switch. So it's great for those night time road trips. 

First of all, if you're still here reading my articles despite my absence, you have my undying gratitude. I wouldn't still be writing articles for this site if not for you all. Second, I am personally writing this to inform everyone that is still around that I will be making some major changes to how any of my future articles will be written. This has actually be a long time coming.

The first thing that should be noted is that I will no longer be writing any sort of news articles or recaps of major announcements unless I find something interesting about it in which I can give my two cents on the matter. Keeping up with the constant stream of news is not something I am capable of doing because I have another job and my family that I need to attend to first. Plus the pressure on getting a time-sensitive article out in a quick and orderly fashion is starting to grate on my mental health.

Second, I am going to start writing short stories, poetry and essays every now and then so as to break up the monotony between my reviews and top-10 lists. I know that too much of one thing can get awfully stale and I want to try and avoid that in any of my future articles. Also if possible, I would like to try and up the frequency I've been writing to at least one article a week. I can't make any promises on that front, but I can sure as hell try.

Finally, I am going to be making some major overhauls to how I write my reviews. From now on I will be analyzing the reviewed game in chunks and reviewing each of said chunks separately. As such, I will no longer be giving a game a possible score out of 5 and instead be giving it a maximum overall score of 30, with a possible 5 total points being given to each of the following categories being "music & sfx," "difficulty," "control," "graphics," "originality," and "execution." Also, at the very end of each future review will be a "pros & cons" list that reflect my personal opinion of any other aspects that the game might have. Take what you will from that with a grain of salt.

Once again, I want to thank you all again for sticking with me for this long. I'm sorry for the lack of updates and I'm sorry for the decline in the number of articles I've been writing. I can't promise that I can keep up with the new schedule that I have set for myself, but I can certainly try because I won't be going anywhere any time soon. So until then, I'll be seeing you.

Going through the game you switch between realms to keep moving forward sometimes you need a spirit snake, who is a rock in the physical realm to follow you, so you can use that rock as a little hill to get to the level above you. So many spirit animals help you along your journey. When I saw this game I thought it was going to be more like Never Alone. Another platform game with an ancient tale of survival using the the spirit realm to move through the icy tundra of Alaska.

Though the two have some similarities, there are some big differences. In The Mooseman you can't jump. You just rely on your spirit animals to help you get from one end to the other. In Never Alone there is no switching between realms to get help from your spirit friends, and you have the ability to jump. The Mooseman is a game of isolation, where in Never Alone you have a white fox as your companion and protector.

The visuals of the game are taken from the roots in Perm Animal Style. Perm Animal Style is a unique metal plastic form, an animal style that existed till the XIIth century A.D. Which gives the game a very cool ancient looking feel to the levels, it's like cave drawings are coming alive in front of your very eyes. You don't see this from many games and it's very refreshing.

As I said in the beginning of this review this game has no fighting mechanic, because there is nothing to fight. Not everyone is good at fighting games, or even walking around in a 3D environment. Some people can't even handle the mechanics of Super Mario Brothers on the NES. Though games that are as simplistic as Mooseman gives those people a reason to pick up a Nintendo Switch and spend a hours trying to find all the hidden gems in the game. That's why I think this game and games like it are so important to the gaming community. So everyone can escape into a world unknown, to find peace and tranquility.

In USBB you have more range than up and down. You have full 360 degree movement along with the classic fighting power move. I'm not going to say this game is easy, though the more I played the game the more I felt like Esports master.

The game has ten characters to choose from, all with different stats and abilities. Just like Street Fighter, every character has a backstory on why they are at USBB which gives the player that desire to win to see the outcome of each character. You will not get bored trying to master your favorite few, or the whole roster.

I've seen USBB on sale a few times over the summer, so you might want to put this on your wish list for that next time you are looking for a fun game to play that may become the next Mario Tennis Aces killer.

After getting hit with negative game reviews, outrage over buying and then closing smaller game studios, and general poor feedback, Electronic Arts is looking at it's first unanimously great PR move in years. Unfortunately, it may be lessened considerably due to a supposed editing error. which has since been fixed, that censored former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick's name out of "Big Bank" by YG, a song off of Madden 19's soundtrack.

So, setting politics aside, is Madden 19 worth being a part of your gaming budget?

If you are a fan of the NFL that plays exclusively on PC, absolutely snatch this up. Madden 19 improves on everything its predecessor created, except Longshot. This time around it plays more like a JRPG with long, unskippable cutscenes combined with short moments of gameplay. There is only one choice in the entire game mode, what quarterback Devin Wade admires, be careful though, your selection determines what style he becomes later on and as a player in MUT. It is rather short as well, leaving you feeling like nothing really happened, unlike in the first iteration of the mode.

What it lacks in Longshot, it makes up for in MUT. The levels and challenges have been beefed up and rewards are more frequent. The chemistry system is a lot easier to see and you can now change the chemistry of players. It is still a little lacking compared to FIFA's chemistry system but definitely improved in Madden 19. EA did include the amazing squad battle feature from FIFA and removed the horrendous, coin draining, contracts that worked well in FIFA, but never quite translated to Madden. Both of those changes combined means an influx of coins will be coming your way. After only a few hours, the coins earned were more than sufficient to form a decent high silver team.

Graphically, Madden 19 is an upgrade in every way. Some of the faces of lesser players, like kickers and punters get a scary treatment and the fans look like they were copy and pasted from the last Madden PC game but besides those small issues, the game is absolutely beautiful.

Waiting until E3 to announce the expansion to PC, EA could be using Madden 19 as a test run for future Madden games on the platform, as well as a potential NHL comeback. Back in 2008 when it was announced that Madden 09 was not coming back to PC, EA stated that, "The PC presents some very serious business challenges to us in the sports category..." and when they pulled NHL off the PC in 2009, EA cited a "...continuing decline in the sports PC market." With the launching of EA's own Competitive Gaming Division in 2015, and earlier this year, an eSport league in conjunction with their FIFA franchise and Major League Soccer titled eMLS, EA seems to be both putting more value on competitive sports gaming and expanding their existing IPs. Those actions by Electronic Arts, when looked at with their quotes from years ago, suggest that they have seen an increase in the sports PC market worthy enough to bring back Madden.

Madden 19's success could very well change the fate of the franchise and the potential of an authentic NHL game hitting Origin by 2020.


Madden 19 for PC can be found on EA's Origin client with two versions available for purchase: the standard edition for $59.99 and the Hall of Fame edition for $79.99

Cyberpunk 2077

I love me some good old-fashioned Sci-Fi, but if there is one thing that I need in order to get REALLY invested in it, it is aesthetic. Cue Cyberpunk 2077 by CD Projekt Red; when I first saw the game, I was not expecting an 80's punk rock style RPG mixed in with shooting elements. But in all honesty, I didn't know what to expect since this is my first experience with this game. If the immense praise that The Witcher 3 got is any indication of this game's quality, then I'm sure to pick this game up on day one, assuming I have the cash.

Kingdom Hearts III

The epic conclusion to one of the most beloved crossover game series of all time, Kingdom Hearts III by Square Enix and Disney is sure to sell like hotcakes. I have played a few games in this series and I've tried to make heads or tails of the overly convoluted plot, but to no avail. Hopefully this game will tie up some much needed loose ends so we can finally get the closure we've all been waiting for this January.

Starlink: Battle For Atlas

If any of you were hoping for anything to fill that Star Fox shaped void in your life, this game might be able to pull that off. Starlink from Ubisoft is an open-space adventure game mixed with Star Fox style dogfights and a toys-to-life-based vehicle customization, but thankfully the game does not require the use of the figures to unlock everything. They still look quite nice though and with the Switch version having Star Fox exclusive content, you might actually want to plunk down the $75 for the game's starter edition this October.

Cuphead: The Delicious Final Course

I LOVE Cuphead; everything from its gameplay, music, and art style has proven to me that classic animation is not dead. So imagine how elated I was when the trailer for the game's DLC dropped. The fact that we're getting a FULL new island with new weapons, bosses and a new playable character just shows that this game is a labor of love that deserves every dollar thrown at it. For me, 2019 can't come soon enough.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

I may not be a big fan of the Dark Souls series, but I love Bloodborne. Yes its difficulty is more forgiving than Dark Souls, but I was more drawn in by the setting and atmosphere than anything else. To me, dark medieval fantasy has been played to death, so the Victorian era horror that Bloodborne offered was a breath of fresh air. Hopefully the feudal Japanese theme that Sekiro will offer will do the same thing that Bloodborne did for me, plus I'm really looking forward to using that multipurpose prosthetic limb that the main character has.

Devil May Cry 5

I have a confession to make: I have only really gotten into one game in this series, and it was the DMC reboot by Team Ninja Theory. I'm not sure what the general consensus is regarding that game, but I had a lot of fun playing it; it reminded me a lot of Bayonetta in its presentation. Now I know that Team Ninja Theory isn't working on the latest installment in this series, but considering how similar the gameplay looks I'm sure that I'll have just as much fun, if not more.

Spider-Man

This is a bit of a big hurdle for me. On the one hand it's Spider-Man; a comic book series that I have loved since I was a child, but on the other hand it's a licensed game; a mark that usually doesn't bode well with me as most licensed games never really do too well, but damn does this game look GOOD. Insomniac did a fantastic job in capturing the look and feel of the Spider-Man comics and the updated costumes of the villains in this game look amazing. I also love that the game has heavy stealth elements and the combat makes use of the environment. I may have to bite the bullet and buy this game because it is starting to make me think that maybe licensed games now have a chance at being genuinely good.

Babylon's Fall

Very little was shown about this game other than some of the game's backstory and the developer behind it, Platinum Games, but considering that Platinum is the same company that has given us Bayonetta, Vanquish, Nier: Automata, and The Wonderful 101, I am more than certain that this game will be a great, fast-paced, high-fantasy action game. I'll be sure to get this game day one as well, once again assuming I have the cash.

Doom Eternal

Doom 2016 was a great way to breathe life back into a mostly dead game genre, arcade style FPS, and now that the game is getting a sequel, I can only hope for one thing with the new entry: More of EVERYTHING. I want to see more weapons, more gore, more demon types, more locations, and most importantly more insanity. Only time will tell, but if the previous game is any indication, I could see the Doom Slayer getting revenge on Samuel Hayden for trapping him back in Hell.

Super Smash Bros Ultimate

As if this was even a surprise. I can't wait for this game and so far the only things we know about it is that it has over 65 characters, over 80 stages, every character from the previous 4 and half games will make a return plus Inkling, Daisy and Ridley, 8-Player smash will make a return, several characters had some major tweaks to their movesets, many final smashes were overhauled to speed up the fights, and some new items, pokemon and assist trophies will make their debut in this entry. Besides amiibo support, we don't even know anything about any side modes, collectibles, or single-player stuff and I'm STILL excited. December 7th will be marked on my calendar, and I will be waiting.

So that's my list. I am likely going to go broke in the coming year or so trying to get all of the games I'm most excited for, and I only listed my top 10 here; there are many more that were shown at E3 that are now on my wish list. I just hope I'll be able to at least get the ones listed here, but until then, I'll be seeing you.

This Direct was a mix of both 3DS and Switch news this time around and I don't think anyone was expecting anything like this.

• First off, it was revealed that a compilation of WarioWare games would be coming to the 3DS in the form of WarioWare Gold which will contain over 300 microgames. No information if it will be released as digital only or as physical copy, but it will launch on August 3.
• The third entry in the "Dillon" series was announced and it appears to have a bit of a street racing theme this time around. Dillon's Dead-Heat Breakers will be available May 24 with a demo becoming available on May 10.
• Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story was revealed to be getting a remake and will include a new game mode similar to the Bowser's Minions mode in the Super Star Saga remake. Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey will launch sometime in 2019.
• Detective Pikachu was reconfirmed to be getting a March 23 release date with a jumbo Detective Pikachu amiibo being released along side it.
  
• The Game Cube classic Luigi's Mansion was revealed to be getting a remake for the 3DS and would include a new Boss Rush mode. It will be available sometime later this year.
• Moving on to Switch news, Kirby Star Allies was revealed that other characters besides the many other partners in the game would be playable such as King DeDeDe and Meta Knight. In addition to this, other Kirby legacy characters like Marx and Gooey would be playable later in a future update.
  
• Okami HD was revealed to be getting a Switch port and would have both touch screen and Joy-Con motion support. It will launch this Summer.
  
• The new IP Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido was revealed to be coming to the Switch and will launch simultaneously with the 3DS version on June 8.
• Project Octopath Travelers had some new gameplay footage shown off in the form of 2 new characters (a merchant and an apothecary), the ability to have characters combine job classes to offer new strategies for battle and an official name. Octopath Traveler will launch on July 13 alongside a collector's edition that will include a pop-up diorama, a map, a sound selection CD, and a coin modeled after the in-game currency.
  
• Gameplay was finally shown off for Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes and it appears that the gameplay is mostly a top-down hack'n'slash that has different gameplay mechanics dependent on the world. It will also have a 2-player co-op mode where player 2 plays as Badman. It will launch later this year.
• Dark Souls Remastered was shown off and was revealed that a network test would be available allowing for players to try the game before it launches. In addition to this, it was revealed that an amiibo of Solaire of Astora would be available as well. They will both launch on May 25.
  
• News about My Nintendo was shown off regarding the gold points that you earn from purchases. Digital purchases on the Switch eShop will now give a number of gold points equal to 5% of the price of the software purchased (rounded). These gold points can also now be used to purchase games on the Switch eShop with each point being worth 1 cent.
• New info and gameplay features for Mario Tennis Aces was shown off. Players now will have a set number of tennis racquets for use in each match and you can perform super moves to that can give you the ability to break the opponent's racquet. Online tournaments and motion controls would also be a part of the experience among other things. It will launch June 22 with a pre-launch online tournament being announced some time later.
• Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker was revealed to be getting a port to both Switch and the 3DS and would include brand new stages based on Super Mario Odyssey and a co-op mode exclusive to the Switch version. Both versions will launch June 13.
• The critically acclaimed indie title Undertale was revealed to be coming to the Nintendo Switch...eventually.
  
• Crash Bandicoot The N.Sane Trilogy was also revealed to be getting a Switch port on July 10.
  
• A definitive version of the game Little Nightmares was revealed to be coming to the Switch and was shown to be compatible with the Pac-Man amiibo in order to unlock the paku mask. Little Nightmares: Complete Edition will be available on May 18.
  
• South Park: The Fractured But Whole is surprisingly enough also coming to the Switch with the DLC packs being available to purchase soon after. The game plus DLC Packs 1 and 2 will launch on April 24 and DLC Pack 3 will launch later this year.
  
• Hyrule Warriors Definitive Edition now has a release date of May 18.
  
• Nintendo will be hosting an official ARMS tournament with the qualifier beginning in the game's ranked matches on March 8 at 5pm PT and ending March 18 at 4:59pm PT with the online finals being on March 31. Another ARMS Testpunch will also be available for 3 more days starting on March 31.
  
• Splatoon 2 is getting a 3.0 update which will include over 100 new pieces of gear, a handful of new stages a brand new X rank for online ranked matches. It was also revealed that the game will be getting its first paid premium DLC in the form of the Splatoon 2 Octo Expansion which will introduce a brand new story campaign where you play as an amnesiac octoling assisting Cap'n Cuttlefish in a new subway themed overworld area, and once this game mode is finished you will be able to play as an octoling in the online matches. It will launch this summer with a price of $19.99USD, but you can pre-purchase it now and it will include special octo gear as a thank you.
  
• And as a special surprise announcement, it was revealed that what appears to be a brand new Super Smash Bros game, not a port of the Wii U or 3DS games, will be coming to the Switch sometime this year and will have the Inklings from Splatoon as playable characters.

Well that's it, and I must say it was one helluva Direct. Not only did we get confirmation of paid DLC for Splatoon 2 and ports of both Crash Bandicoot and Undertale, but the fact that we're getting a brand new Smash this year is newsworthy enough in my book. I just hope that the roster is even bigger this time around, but until then, I'll be seeing you.

I've had the pleasure of playing some of the best games the indie gaming world had given us over the last few years. Edmund McMillen’s The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth + and The End is Nigh is what I started out with. Then I moved to Human: Fall Flat.

Human: Fall Flat is a rag doll, real world physics puzzle adventure simulator that lets you play any way you want; as long as you can do a leap of faith at the end of every level. It has been a lot of frustration with a overwhelming sense of accomplishment. Climbing walls, breaking glass with a 2x4, using a catapult to launch you over a castle fortress. With an E rating it's a great game to play with family and friends. Though it may seem straightforward; the games does have its challenges that a younger player may find very difficult.

I think this is a great game for a science class that is learning about the laws of physics and motion. With the way the joy-con controls are set up; local Co-op mode would be an interesting way for students to learn teamwork, along with scientific theories being tested in a fun and very safe (to the students) environment. I don't know if anyone has seen the educational value of the Switch yet though I believe with more games like this, and what Nintendo is do with the Labo series; I hope to see the console in more STEM classes around the world.

The one thing that is lacking in the game is being able to customize your controller layout. It seems to be the biggest downfall for a lot of the Switch games I have played over the last few months. I hope there is enough demand for this feature seeing it could easily be available with a small software update. Other then that I find this game a mix of frustration and fun. I look forward to what No Brake Games has up their sleeve next. I hope helps merge the gap between videogames, and education even more.

As someone who used to play with Legos, K'Nex and Erector Sets when I was a kid, I got extremely giddy when I saw this trailer. It gives the player the ability to build something they can actually use with their gaming system, AND makes genius use of the Joy-Con's HD Rumble and the right Joy-Con's IR camera. The first of the two sets that were shown is the Toy-Con Variety Kit which comes with a handful of sets that allow you to make...

• An RC car
• A fishing rod
• An interactive house
• A motorbike's handlebars
• And a 13-key piano

Now while the other kit, the Toy-Con Robot Kit, only provides one thing to build, it is one doozy of a project allowing you to basically make a visor for the left Joy-Con and this backpack-looking device that houses the right; all for the purpose of playing as a giant robot that is used to destroy buildings and invading UFO's. Now while these are the only two kits that were confirmed so far, the trailer teased other sets to be released sometime in the future that showed off devices like a steering wheel, a fighter jet's flight stick, a photography camera, and what appeared to be a handgun.

Now if the thought of it being cardboard is a bit off putting to you, think about it this way...

1. Cardboard may be cheap, but it is also surprisingly sturdy for its light weight.
2. It can be easily fixed with glue or tape should it tear or crack.
3. It can be customized with markers, stencils, or decorative tape like a school art project or by using the optional Customization Kit.
4. It can be cheaply replaced if it is ever destroyed.
5. And there is this level of charm that cardboard offers that you can't get from thick, heavy plastics.

The first two sets will both be released on April 20 of this year with an MSRP of $69.99USD for the Variety Kit and $79.99USD for the Robot Kit and both will come with the needed building sets and the software necessary to use them. Now Nintendo has confirmed that should any of the kits become irreparably damaged from overuse or poor treatment, they will be offering replacement kits that only contain the cardboard sets at a much cheaper price. I personally think this is an amazing idea and I hope to see it expanded upon in some way with other games. But until then, I'll be seeing you.

The narrative of the game is you are Ikk, who is on a journey to cheer up his only friend, Sally who is a giant landbound whale. While being mentored by Death (who supplies you with multitudes of abilities, along with an arsenal of guns, and ammo) you traverse an ever-changing land full of unwieldy creatures who don't appreciate your trespassing or Sally the whale.

The definition of insanity is doing the same exact thing and expecting different results. GoNNER definitely embodies the insane; just like The Binding of Isaac there is no ‚ÄúCareer Mode‚; though there are randomly generated levels that gets progressively harder as you vanquish your enemies one by one.

If you think you're getting the hang of the game, knock yourself down a few pegs as you try the latest daily challenge. I've made it a few levels in on a good day though there are some days that are just ragetastic where I can't even get past the first level. This game will leave you embarrassed, while crying live on twitch to a thousand followers retweeting the clip of you punching your green screen.

If you thought Edmund Mcmillen or Bennett Foddy where the only sadists in the indie game business well meet Ditto; he has been making indie games at his gaming studio Art in Heart for what looks like a good while now. With eight games he self released on itch.io, GoNNER is his first game being released with (Un)publisher Raw Fury getting it to the masses. If this Ditto’s Super Meat Boy or Qwop, I can't wait to see what he follows this amazing piece of art up with which has become one of my new loves and hates.

GoNNER is definitely one of the best indie games on the Nintendo eShop that went under my radar; And from what Raw Fury is putting out, they are the publisher that could be putting out my favorite Indie games for the Switch. 2018 is looking like another great year for the small developers making great games.

The results broke down as such:

Although only one week has passed, so far the Boston Uprising have performed higher then most experts and journalists predicted. Interestingly, the only people that I saw that gave them some credit in the preseason rankings were Pro-Overwatch players Alex "Ajax" Jackson and Dusttin "Dogman" Bowerman.

It will be intriguing to see if this is just a fluke or if Boston can continue to punch above its roster's weight and spin a classic underdog tale in the 1st season of the Overwatch League.



Week 2 Fixtures are as follows:

Please keep in mind that all times in this image are in EST.

Three matches catch my eye immediately. Excelsior v Valiant, Dynasty v Uprising, and Spitfire v Fuel. Both of those matches will answer a few questions leftover from Week 1. How many of these 2-0 teams are legit? Are the Uprising a fluke or a playoff candidate? Which Fuel will show up this week? The ones who lost in a bitterly fought contest with the Dynasty? Or the ones who were swept by the Valiant?






Ways to Watch:

Twitch

OverwatchLeague.com

Warning: Side effects of this game are: insanity, anger, lack of sleep, depression, anxiety, and overall feelings of hopelessness.

The controls are simple, and I mean simple. Your mouse controls the direction and speed of the hammer. That's it. Yes, just like finishing the 100 m in QWOP, the goal is achievable. You CAN get over it, but good Lord is it frustrating. Lose your cool for one moment, and hours, HOURS, of work can be undone. In one particular part of the game, a single misstep sends the player spiraling down to the starting point...and into a state of irritable depression.

Our human/cauldron hybrid's name is Diogenes, named after the Greek philosopher who lived in a tub, which at first glance appears to be the only connection between the two, but upon closer inspection can also be interpreted as a message on Internet culture from Bennett Foddy.

Mr. Foddy's view on the overall culture and design of the majority of video games is that they have become too easy and unrewarding to their players, a far cry from the days of Metal Gear Solid and Ghost 'n Goblins. He even mentions it in the long string of dialogue, ramblings, quotes and speeches constantly playing underneath you while you attempt to focus on the game. (Whether this was designed to enrage or inspire players, I'm not sure. It certainly succeeds in doing the former.) Diogenes, the philosopher, was also extremely critical of his culture, arguing that "Wisdom and happiness belong to the man who is independent of society." He traveled to Athens and made it his life's goal to challenge established customs and values, similar to what Foddy has been doing for the past ten years. Of course, 4th century political activism is a little bit different than 21st century Internet activism, but the similarities are still there.

To give you a slight taste on what you are in for here is the official trailer:

That voice seems benign now, but I promise you, Bennett Foddy's lovely Australian accent slowly, but surely, begins to chip away at your sanity. In a string of good fortune, Mr. Foddy gives you an option to turn off his commentary in the menu, a small reward, silencing that calm voice that seemingly taunts you at every fall.

As opposed to unlocking heroes, Getting Over It delivers a real sense of pride and accomplishment to the players upon completion. Overcoming many, seemingly insurmountable obstacles in a game likes this can give hope to people undergoing real life scenarios. As silly as it sounds, video games, sports and other interactive events that you have an active hand in, can really positively affect a mindset. Maybe I can pass the LSATs, rent my own place, get that job, etc. Getting Over It's underlying lesson of never giving up is not fully appreciated until Diogenes disappears from your screen.

Plenty of streamers and Youtubers have already lost their collective minds during this game; will you do the same?

Now while the NESmaker is technically already finished, it is only optimized to create adventure games much like what Mystic Searches is. So what Joe wants to do is refine it and add modules that will allow for more genres that can be designed with little to no effort, and have a built-in music making tool so one wouldn't have to rely on external programs like Famitracker. He answers many questions regarding the NESmaker in the video below.

The project only needs $32,000USD for the minimum goal, but if this program is going to be at its best, it needs a grand total of $256,000USD for all modules, the music maker, the Troll Burner demo, and the memory mapper to be developed for it. If you wish, you can pledge any amount you wish here. This software looks quite promising and I honestly would be extremely disappointed if it couldn't reach all of its stretch goals. Please pledge as much as you feel comfortable with, but until then, I'll be seeing you.

DISCLAIMER:

I have not been paid for this article, but I have pledged some of my own money to the original Kickstarter.

Despite the video being less than 15 minutes long, they managed to show off a lot of new info for games we already knew about, and some brand new Switch games to be released on the horizon. Here's the info below.

• First off, there was a rather surprising reveal that The World Ends With You for the Nintendo DS will be receiving a port with some new content. The World Ends With You: Final Remix will be launching some time this year.
• Pokken Tournament DX will be receiving DLC in the form a 2 wave pass called the Battle Pack which will contain the playable pokemon Aegislash and Blastoise and the support pokemon pairs of Mega Rayquaza & Mimikyu and Mew & Celebi. The Battle Pack can be pre-order for $14.99USD right now, which will also contain some new Avatar equipment, with wave 1 being released on January 31 and wave 2 being released on March 23.
  
• New abilities were shown off in Kirby: Star Allies being the Artist and Spider abilities and team abilities that allow access to new areas. This game will launch on March 16 of this year.
  
• The demo for Dragon Quest Builders was released on the Switch eShop after the direct.
• Hyrule Warriors Definitive Edition was confirmed to exist and would have all of the content from both the Wii U and 3DS version of the game and two additional costumes for both Link and Zelda based on their appearances in Breath of the Wild. It will launch some time this Spring.
  
• A new entry in the Mario Tennis series is being developed for the Switch under the title Mario Tennis Aces and would be the first Mario Tennis game to feature a story mode since Mario Tennis Power Tour on the GBA. It will also launch this Spring.
• Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana was revealed to be getting a port on the Switch and will be released this Summer.
  
• A free update for Super Mario Odyssey was revealed and would add a new distraction to the main game called Luigi's Balloon World which is pretty much a glorified game of hide & seek. The update will also add new costumes for Mario and filters for snapshot mode. The update will be available in February.
• Another fighting game by SNK was revealed featuring an all female roster of charactes from past SNK games, all of which can be customized with different outfits. SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy will be available this Summer.
• Neo Geo's Art of Fighting 2 was also released on the Switch eShop as well.
  
• The new character that was said to be coming to Mario & Rabbids: Kingdom Battle was officially confirmed to be Donkey Kong and will be available some time this Spring.
• The Switch version of Payday 2 will have some timed exclusive content in the form of a hacker-themed character named Joy. The game will launch on February 27.
• The unusual new platforming game inspired by Nordic mythology called Fe by Zoink was revealed to be coming to Switch on February 16.
• Another game by the name Celeste was also confirmed to be coming to the Switch on January 25 and seems to focus heavily on precision platforming and dashing through the air.
• Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze was revealed that it was being ported to the Switch with the addition of a brand new game mode where you play as Donkey Kong's surfer mechanic brother, Funky Kong who seems to be geared mostly toward speed runners. It will launch on May 4.
  
• And finally, it was revealed that Dark Souls Remastered will be coming to the Switch on May 25 of this year.

Now I would say this was a pretty good direct overall. Not too bad, but had just enough new info to keep me satisfied. No info on the newly revealed Bayonetta 3, a possible Switch port of Smash Bros, or even any new amiibo though. One step at a time I guess, but until then, I'll be seeing you.

Here we are the end of 2017. With mobile games, there are way too many games. There are so many games I can't play them all. Unlike PC or console games there are double or triple amount of games put out for phones and tablets, and a lot of them are casual games that I don't want to play, or they are fake games. If you have read any of my articles you know I like to play games that are platformer crossovers.

So I wanted to talk about some of my favorite games of the year that can scratch that gaming itch when you don't have your favorite gaming setup at hand.

Over the summer I got the Daydream Headset and I had the opportunity to play a handful of really cool games. One of those games was a PC port of the best horror game made, Layers of Fear. The Daydream version of Layers of Fear: Solitude utilized the controller to its fullest. It also had some of the best graphics of a mobile VR game that comes close to its original version.

Though the most innovative Daydream game I played was Untethered. Which was made by Numinous Games who created That Dragon, Cancer. You play as a radio DJ were you have to read as well as record the weather, news, and emergency broadcast announcements. I've only had the chance to play the first episode though it's the first game where I had to speak a script to move the story along. I know it sounds tedious, but it was very immersive, along with being a lot of fun.

There were a few games with that I thought could be fun for the whole family. The first is Along Together, a game where the protagonist goes on an adventure to find their lost dog. With the help of their new imaginary friend (controlled by you) you travel around town though obstacle course type levels that reminded me of classic Nickelodeon shows like Legends of the Hidden Temple, and Guts. For what the game is and it being a imaginative follow up from Turbo Button’s Floor Plan, I think it was a great step in the right direction for the studio.

Even with it's great story, great graphics, along with some fun game play, it just didn't hold up to what I thought was its rival, Lola & the Giant. The game made me think of a VR follow up to 2012’s Papo & Yo (which is on sale right now on Steam). I really like how you have to use two characters to complete tasks. It's also cool that you can have a friend use their smartphone or tablet to help in a local Co-op mode. There is a lot more use with the controls in Lola & the Giant over Along Together, that made the game more of a challenge.

I'm not much for casual games, let alone golf games, but Ok Golf was a great surprise that I found myself playing it over and over again. Especially when they would add a new 9 holes to conquer. This game has a lot going for it in a very simple game. With three different game modes, along with secret courses, this game was a fan favorite all over the globe. If you want to know more about the game read my review right here.

Last year we saw the birth of a great Counter-Strike mobile game called Critical Ops. Then we got a few games doing their take on mobile versions of console and PC powerhouses like Destiny and OverWatch. This year we got Gameloft's Modern Combat Versus which was just ported to Steam this month. If you were lucky enough to get into the beta for MADFinger's long awaited Shadowgun Legends, you know how fun it is with it's Destiny type of game play. Though just like honest game trailers said in their end-of-the-year video, every game is slowly becoming a Destiny FPS RPG.

Though with the popularity of Playerunknown's Battlegrounds on PC and now XBox One X, mobile clones were popping up left and right. The top 3 were all made by an Asian gaming company called NetEase Games. I honestly don't know why they made 3 when they just needed to make one, and the one that I like the most is Rules of Survival. They had the best layout for touch screen controls, graphics, and map. Even though it's not the real thing, it's still fun to play.

There were a lot of great indie games that came out this year. Stranger Things: The Game, Death Road to Canada, Monument Valley II, and Morphite. The latter two are probably the two most beautiful looking games I have seen this year. Monument Valley II shows us why we fell in love with 3D puzzle games all over again, while Morphite is a stylized low poly FPS game that reminds fans of classic games like Metroid Prime, and Turok.

Along with being one of the best multi-platform games of the year, Morphite is the only game I played this year that is on all 3 home consoles, iOS, Android, Windows and Mac. The only way you can't play the game is if you're running Linux on your PC. Though it's strange that you can't seeing that PlayStation is Linux based. Right now the game is on sale over at Steam.

For the past few years streaming mobile games from your smartphone or tablet have become just as popular as streaming on PC or consoles. I have streamed with all of the best best apps: Live.Me, Omlet Arcade, YouTube Gaming, and Mobcrush. In my opinion I believe Mobcrush is the best app to stream from your mobile device. They just added a feature where you can stream to Facebook, YouTube, and Twitch simultaneously. Before that, the only app you were able to do that from was Omlet Arcade. Though Mobcrush is the only app between the two that saves your stream on their app.

There are a lot of talented people making and putting out this immersive playable art. Though the studio putting out some of the best new games and old ports for mobile goes to Noodlecake Studios. I'm not a casual gamer and they had me downloading 80% or more of their games over any other casual studio this year.

Well there you have it, my year end review. I'd like to end this article by thanking you, the reader, for reading my articles over the last 12 months. I'd also like to thank the following people who were kind enough to give me content to write about: Ryan at Noodlecake, Josh at CrescentMoon, Amy at Numinous, Johnathan at Aspyr, Holden at Turbo Button, Nicolas at Playdigious, Josh at Climax, and George at CCP. Last but not least, thanks to Novogamer for letting me have a voice in this gaming community.

Now a year later cre-ture has rebranded the name simply to Session, and has launched a kickstarter that has succeeded it's goal of $62,935. At the time of the submission of this article the campaign has reached $118,019 and has completed 7 of its stretch goals. Though the campaign is being funded daily through the support it is receiving through all forms of social media, including gamers YouTube videos of them playing the game.

The great classic thing about how cre-ture is going about promoting the game is a free prototype demo. I remember playing that first Tony Hawk Pro Skater demo at my neighbor's house before the game was out when I was in highschool. It was just one level, but we played it like it was a fully developed game. You can spend the holidays mastering your skills and playing Skate with your friends, just like us old farts did back in the day.

You may be asking yourself. Why is this game the evolution of skateboard games? Well cre-ture posted on the campaign that:

Session focuses on the authenticity of skating, both in the way the game feels and is presented to the player. Based on this philosophy, each feature makes the game even more innovative, fun and respectful to the skateboarding culture. The main purpose of the game is to live the sport in its entirety. Feel what it is to be a talented street skater. Explore and tame the concrete, film yourself, your friends and share your footage on the internet with the worldwide skateboarding community.

So the game seems to give you the tools you need to become the best skateboarder in a virtual community of skaters. Though there is no point system so that means there is no ranking, this is all about earning respect in the streets.

Today is the last day to donate. This is a great gift for you or your Skateboard gaming friend. Along with supporting a great up and coming independent game company, and the next great skateboard game.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/100195109/ses...

Since the days of Wasteland and Fallout, fans of post-apocalyptic wastelands have longed for a new addition to the genre that is even worthy of being mentioned in the same discussion as the masters. Some titles such as Fallout 3, Wasteland 2, and UnderRail have tried with varying degrees of success, but none have been able to properly recapture the same radioactive magic of their elders. That is until now. Beginning life as a Kickstarter project, ATOM RPG is an isometric RPG developed and published by AtomTeam with the sole intention of recreating that sense of wonder and fulfillment that RPG fans haven't experienced since the days of Fallout 2 and Baldur's Gate.

What I love, perhaps, the most so far is the story. Despite the main quest tasking you to investigate a conspiracy that threatens all remaining life on Earth, it's entirely up to you if you even want to go about that. You are not "the chosen one." You are not a fabled hero tasked with saving the people of the wasteland. You are a survivor. Plain and simple. Your goal is to survive. How you choose to do that is up to. Yet, despite all that, if you wish to choose to play as some kind of messiah, you can. Your story is your own. How you want to leave your mark on the wasteland is up to you.

The setting itself is also quite interesting. Instead of the cliche post-nuclear remnants of the United States, ATOM RPG is set in an alternate version of the Soviet Union circa 1986 where both sides of the Cold War settled their differences through a mutual nuclear holocaust. While a post-apocalyptic Russia setting isn't exactly new for a video game, it's still a nice change of pace from the good ol' US of A.

As of writing this review (11/28/17), there are currently over 20 quests in the early access build of ATOM RPG which will take anywhere from 8 or 9 hours to complete. AtomTeam plan on adding much, much more for the final release.

Anyone even remotely interested in ATOM RPG has spent some time with Fallout 1 and 2, and fans of the original Fallouts will find that almost everything, in terms of gameplay, has been either lovingly recreated or painstakingly improved upon; even down to the nearly identical HUD. Turn based combat is very much an acquired taste. It's difficult for people nowadays to come from Fallout 4's borderline Borderlands gameplay to an isometric turn based action game, and there's nothing wrong with that. You just have to know what you're in for. Enemy encounters are just as tactically challenging as they were in Fallout 2. You have to weigh your options against each other due to a limited number of action points per turn. For example, you could attempt to kill a bandit nearest to you, but risk being attacked by his buddies, or you could take cover and wait for an opportunity to take out any bandits in your vicinity, but they may run to cover as well.
If you have a basic understanding of turn based combat, you don't need me to explain ATOM RPG's gameplay to you; you'll do just fine.

Either in 1988 or 2017, graphics have always been the least important aspect of any RPG. The same can be said for ATOM RPG. While the visuals aren't exactly photorealistic, the graphics are serviceable and lend themselves to the authenticity of the Soviet Wasteland. The best part of this, of course, is that if you don't have the shiniest new GPU or CPU, you can still probably run ATOM RPG at 60fps. If you can run Fallout 1 and 2, you can run ATOM RPG.

It's difficult to criticize an early access game because any problems that are observed by the community will more than likely be remedied in future updates. The few issues I did fine are hardly worth mentioning. For instance, you can see the edges of locations you're in as plain grey textures and once you find an AK47, you become a walking god of death. The former can be fixed by simply adding a desert texture overlayed with a green light indicating that you are about to be transported to the map screen to walk to another location, and the latter can be fixed with a balancing patch. Other than that, ATOM RPG is one of, if not the most, stable early access game I've played.

Even in its current early access state, ATOM RPG is a love letter to the fans of the original Fallout games and is, without a doubt, worthy of your time. With a couple of patches to fix simple issues and the future release of the rest of the promised content, ATOM RPG is a great throwback experience for a reasonable price. ATOM RPG is the post-apocalyptic RPG fans have been waiting over 20 years for.
This review will be updated and added upon as updates are applied over time.

First of all, once the game is started it just throws you right into it without pomp and circumstance. You are introduced to a cutscene of Mario engaging in fisticuffs with a sharply dressed King Bowser Koopa as he is abducting Princess Peach in order to force her to marry him. Mario loses and lands unconscious in the monochrome town of Bonneton in the Cap Kingdom and is greeted by a ghostly being resembling a white top hat named Cappy who is in a similar predicament in which someone he cares for, his sister Tiara, was kidnapped by Bowser to be used for his sham of wedding to Peach. He and Mario team up, which grants Mario the ability to possess certain objects, animals and enemies with an action known in-game as "capturing," so they can find a working airship that can chase after Bowser, defeat the wedding planners that Bowser hired known as the Broodals, and rescue Peach from his clutches as he commits grand larceny in several kingdoms so he can obtain only the best quality items to be used in the ceremony. Seems like a lot to take in all at once right here, but trust me it is much easier to follow the plot in the game than from reading my explanation here.

Now as to be expected from a 3D Mario game, Mario has a ton of movement options, but with the addition to his normal running and jumping techniques that have been a staple since Super Mario 64, Mario can also roll into a continuous somersault which can be linked into a long jump and back again, and he can throw his hat to be used as a temporary platform that can be jumped on. All of these movement options coupled with such fluid and responsive controls makes it feel REALLY good traversing the massive kingdoms that Mario must explore in order to find Power Moons, the game's chief collectible and fuel source for the Odyssey, Mario's top hat-shaped airship, and he will need a lot of these moons to power his ship so it can get to new kingdoms. Luckily each major kingdom has more then enough moons to find usually having around 30-50 moons each. In addition to the sheer number of moons, each main kingdom also has either 50 or 100 regional purple coins to collect that can be spent in a Crazy Cap store for special costumes or souvenirs for your ship. Not necessary for finishing the game, but needed for 100% completion.

Compared to some of the other 3D Mario games, this one has one major change that completely changes how the game is approached; There are no more 1-up mushrooms. Instead, every time you die you lose 10 coins and considering that coins are much more important in this game than in previous entries, those unnecessary deaths are much more of a problem now. Luckily though you will never see a game over screen no matter how long you've been playing; no 1-ups means no way that you can run out of lives. In addition to this, coins no longer restore health. Instead, if you are low on health then you will need to find and collect a heart to restore one portion of his 3-HP meter. These new mechanics make the game feel more modern and makes collecting coins fun again without devaluing them considering they are no longer a source of health.

Now my biggest fear before I started the game was thinking that a good chunk of the kingdoms would just once again be rehashed ideas that have been used in many Mario games before. Thankfully, Odyssey only follows this trend to a bare minimum instead using those old design tropes as merely guidelines and greatly expanding on those and turning them into their own thing. Instead of a regular water-themed area, you have Lake Lamode of the Lake Kingdom which is heavily inspired by Greek architecture and French fashion designs; instead of plain lava area, you have Mount Volbono of the Luncheon Kingdom which is all bright colors and low polygonal models; and my personal favorite and what could possibly be considered a fresh twist on the jungle-level trope, New Donk City of the Metro Kingdom: a vertically impressive urban jungle modeled after what could possibly be Times Square of New York City and the classic arcade game, Donkey Kong. Needless to say, I never found myself bored from exploring as there is so much detail in even the smallest things and there is a lot of stuff to do, and it is all condensed into an impressively small 6gb package.

There are just too many good things that can be said about this game. The music is fantastic, it feels really good to collect all of those power moons, the 8-bit 2D segments are a great nostalgic change of pace and don't break up the flow of the game too much, the capture mechanic is ingenious, and the worlds are so unique despite them mostly being the same old stage tropes from past entries. I only have one real gripe about the game, but I'll save that for another article; let's call that one part 2, but until then, I'll be seeing you.

Score

(Please keep in mind that my opinions may or may not reflect your own, this list is entirely biased.)

Yoshi Topsy Turvy (Game Boy Advance)

While I like a fair majority of the games in the Yoshi series, I'm not entirely sure what was going through their collective minds when they developed this abysmal game. There are times in the game where it hardly ever feels like an entry in the Yoshi's Island series and those spirits that give you missions to do in order to up the difficulty don't even feel like they were meant for a Yoshi game in the first place. In addition, the gyroscopic controls are stiff and unresponsive; the motion sensors in Warioware Twisted were of much better quality and that game came out before this one. Luckily they haven't made a sequel to this drek so they must have taken notice of its poor design choices.

Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival (Wii U)

An unusual board-game spin off of the Animal Crossing series, but I honestly think it should've been left on the drawing board. It is a retail game that downright REQUIRES the use of amiibo to play effectively, you only get one randomly chosen board to play on and you can't get a new one without erasing your progress, the minigames (which require the amiibo cards) are non-existent through normal play and can only be accessed from the plaza, and online play doesn't exist which would've helped a game like this even if it wasn't by much. If you still want to get it I can't stop you, but just to warn you I actually got so bored playing this game that I almost fell asleep.

The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes (3DS)

As you all know, I love The Legend of Zelda series and will often go out of my way to get anything Zelda related, but when I got this entry in the series, I feel like maybe this game might have been nothing more than one expensive experiment. This game seems to focus mostly on co-operative battles and player interaction over puzzle solving which completely misses the point of the series. Plus this game is damn near impossible when playing solo and since its online multiplayer is region locked, finding anyone who will play with me is a challenge in and of itself since I usually only have time to play late at night. That, and the unnecessary inclusion of the "doge" meme, made this a rather unpleasurable experience overall.

Paper Mario: Sticker Star (3DS)

Compared to its successor, Paper Mario: Color Splash, this game was an absolute snore. The dialog was uninteresting and bland and Bowser didn't have a single speaking role throughout the entire ordeal, the worlds were uninspired and just rehashed ideas that had been used in past entries in the main series Mario games, and everything done when in battle were only through the use of consumable items and fights yielded no experience of any kind. I actually got so tired of this game's shenanigans that I basically just did a speed run of everything after the halfway point. Overall, this game was such a disappointment to experience.

Metroid: Other M (Wii)

Metroid has been one of those series that I enjoyed just about as much as The Legend of Zelda and I was quite excited for Other M when it was originally announced, but after playing it again recently, it left such a sour taste in my mouth. First of all Samus's official height in every other entry in the series is 6'3" where as she's around 5'9" in Other M. While not too much of an issue on its own, when I found out that the devs shrank her so she specifically was shorter than Adam, her old commanding officer, I saw that as a stupid and petty design choice that demeans her as a strong female character. And while the gameplay isn't too bad, I think I can pretty much sum up all the problems this game has in one quote directly from the game...

"Samus, activate the Varia feature on your suit to protect yourself from heat damage."
- Adam Malkovich, roughly 20 minutes after entering the sector that requires the Varia Suit

Pokemon Dash (DS)

This game baffled me. It was a foot racing game where the only playable character was Pikachu, and you played by repeatedly swiping the screen in the direction that you want to go. If this game was released for iOS or Android devices for free, people would thing nothing of it, but since this was a retail game on the DS that got very stale and repetitive VERY quickly due to there being only one playable character, there was no reason to keep playing after you beat the first grand prix. Once you've played one map, you've pretty much played them all. Not even the ability to make new maps from the GBA slot could save this one.

Kirby Squeak Squad (DS)

As far as the Kirby series has gone, I've had pretty much no complaints with any game that has been released in this series so far, barring this particular one. Despite the baffling story to the game where it revolves around Kirby trying to recover a stolen slice of cake, it plays pretty much like what you would expect from a Kirby game, but compared to the other games in the series, this game is far too easy, even by Kirby standards. Plus some of the sound effects sound a bit off with the sword being the biggest offender having this horrendously high-pitched ding happen whenever you perform a combo attack. While this is a decent first game for newcomers to the series, this is in my opinion the weakest in the series due to its unchallenging gameplay (by Kirby standards) which ultimately renders this game forgettable to me.

Alleyway (Game Boy)

An attempt at making a Breakout clone with heavy emphasis on "attempt." Unlike Arkanoid, a much better Breakout clone which had been out on NES earlier, this game had no power-ups or enemies to destroy and extremely limited options for gameplay alterations. The stage progression was also very predictable and the difficulty was unfair for what type of game it was. I suggest if you want a good Breakout clone on the Game Boy, just play Kirby's Blockball. It is so much more unique and a helluva lot more fun.

Wii Fit series (Wii, Wii U)

I feel that a good number of us gamers can probably agree that fun and exercise can mix well when its done right, but one thing I can guarantee is complete and utter bullcrap is Nintendo's attempt at making a fun fitness game. Personal fitness is not a game, nor should it be treated like one. While I agree that if you want to get back into shape that you need to find your own personal workout regimen that works for you with some fitness games sometimes falling under this category, this "game" series is pretty much just torture and insulting to anyone that wants to lose weight or improve their health. The way this game uses your ideal BMI as an "endgame goal" is an absolute joke and it doesn't even take into consideration skeletal build or total muscle mass. You need to have an accurate measurement of all three, otherwise its just a demeaning experience. The fitness games on XBox Kinect look more fun and effective than this.

The Virtual Boy

And the pièce de résistance, the one thing that almost made me completely lose faith in Nintendo's ability to make a fun gaming console: The Virtual Boy. This red and black monstrosity had an astoundingly short lived run and had a library of games that barely exceeded 20 titles in all regions combined. But how could that be? I'll just cut to the chase and tell you that it was the godawful screen colors when you looked into the apertures of the device. On a monochrome screen, you should never EVER use a display color scheme that can induce headaches even after short periods of play. It's just a shame that none of the good games that were released on this thing ever got ported to a later system in Nintendo's repertoire of systems.

Being a hardcore Nintendo fan, these stains and marks on Nintendo's image physically hurt me as I know that they are capable of doing so much better. But I also know that they are only human and they likely learned a lot from making mistakes like these. They took features from Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival and just added them to New Leaf as an update, they built upon Paper Mario: Sticker Star and made a somewhat better entry as Color Splash, and after the failure of the Virtual Boy, they didn't experiment with 3D imagery again until the 3DS. Hopefully Nintendo won't continue make any mistakes this bad in the near future, but until then, I'll be seeing you.

Planet of the Apes: Last Frontier opens with a brief summary of how a tribe of apes got separated from Caesar's tribe and had to make a new home on a mountain devoid of any food or livestock. Because of this lack of food, the tribe of apes are slowly starving to death and must act quickly if they hope to avoid this fate. Khan, the chimpanzee leader of the tribe, instructs his sons Bryn, Tola, and Juno that they must go out on a last-ditch effort to hunt for food. However, Khan and his adviser Clarence, an orangutan, warn the brothers not to hunt outside of the mountain because if the humans know of the ape presence in the mountains, it will put the entire tribe in danger. Tola disregards this warning due to the knowledge of there being no food on the mountain and convinces Bryn and Juno to hunt with him on the plains below.

We cut back to the three ape brothers as they spot a small farm with cattle guarded by two humans. Tola recommends that they kill the humans so they can get the cattle without witnesses, but Juno advises that they should either turn back or find a way to gather the cattle without harming the humans. Regardless of who Bryn sides with, one human ends up dead and the other wounded. The wounded human is able to reach Jess' town and explain to her and the town's folk that apes attacked, killed his brother, and stole cattle. This is where the human characters' story begins to intersect with the apes' story. Anything beyond this would be a spoiling the plot of the game.

The choices themselves don't seem to make much of an impact outside of smaller, more inconsequential ones either. No matter what you pick, Bryn will go with Tola to steal the cattle. No matter who you side with, the human farmers will be attacked and will alert Jess to the apes living on the mountain. It seems to me that outside of the possible endings, the choices dictate more of who will like you rather than where the story will go.

You may have noticed that I spent much more time looking at the story than I would normally. This wasn't by accident. That is because Planet of the Apes: Last Frontier is a purely narrative driven experience. And I do mean "purely narrative."

While I've defended games that have been falsely labeled "interactive movies" in the past, this is one instance where I can not because the label adequately defines Last Frontier. With the lack of any sections where you can actually control and move your character around, your time spent with Planet of the Apes: Last Frontier can be similarly experienced by watching War for the Planet of the Apes and pausing the film for 10 seconds every time a character is contemplating a decision. So Last Frontier ultimately begs the question of: Why did this have to be a video game? With the underwhelming performance of the latest film at the box office, it is still uncertain of whether or not there will be a fourth film in the rebooted franchise, and seeing as how the scope of this game is nowhere near as large as any of the films, Planet of the Apes: Last Frontier would have worked much better as a short film or as a television mini-series.

With a fantastic story, but devoid of any actual gameplay, it's difficult to recommend Planet of the Apes: Last Frontier to anyone. Especially with a price tag of $29.99 USD for a 3 hours experience. However, I understand that this is the type of experience some players are looking for, and for them this is exactly what you want. But for those of us that prefer to play a video game rather than watch one, Planet of the Apes: Last Frontier may only be worth your time once the price drops significantly, if only to experience the story.

2017 brings us the long anticipated follow up to 2014’s Modern Combat 5: Blackout with Modern Combat Versus. MCVS still has big open battle area's, though the game is just one mode, Zone Control. Each game you're paired with different plays of different ranks though you are in the same league.

Leagues are separated into six different elements: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Emerald, and Diamond. You reach the next league by collecting trophy points from winning multiplayer matches. You're also demoted from a league by losing multiplayer matches, in turn you lose trophy points.

Though all this is nothing new with free mobile PVP. Creates to level up your players XP with some coins thrown in, unlocking new characters, leveling them up to match the ones you started with, you know the deal. Though besides the typical PVP format, MCVS has become a daily game I will play, and stream for people to watch me as what I have coined #ZoneControlorDie.

I don't know how long the hype train will be, seeing the game seems to be in a alpha stage. I have already seen a lot of frustrated players in the MCVS Facebook Community and in the reviews on Google Play. The game has gone from a 3.9 rating to a 3.5 rating just in the first week of it's release. Compared to the game's predecessor's rating of 4.3. We will just have to see how many people jump off the MCVS train like a hobo when they see they're about to come to the next hot town that is Shadowgun Legends.

First off let's recap the lore of the game: Samus is a bounty hunter well known for her heroic exploits against a massive group of interstellar terrorists known as Space Pirates who in turn were most well known for using an alien species known as Metroids as both a bio-weapon and organic energy source. After her climactic battle with them and Mother Brain on the planet Zebes, she became the one the Galactic Federation turned to when things started to become too difficult to control; Think along the lines of a one man SWAT team. After a botched recon mission to the planet SR388 in order to collect a living Metroid sample, the federation concluded that the Metroids were too dangerous to be left alive and called for Samus to commit mass genocide against the entire species. Not overly complicated and just interesting enough to keep your attention.

Now the gameplay is easy to pick up, but difficult to master. You have your usual move, jump and shoot actions plus Samus's unique ability to curl into a ball, but in this entry you have three new abilities that alter the feel of the game quite significantly: free aiming in full 360 degrees, a melee counter-attack, and the brand new Aeion abilities. Aeion let Samus perform special skills like revealing breakable blocks or slowing down time. All of these new abilities are just what the series needed to evolve the gameplay of the 2D entries further. Plus once you get the hang of the melee counter, you feel like a real bad-ass, especially against the larger enemies.

As for everything else in this game, it hits all of the marks I was hoping for a remake of game that did not age well. The music is fantastic and captures the atmosphere of the world extremely well, the gameplay and exploration is top notch and incredibly responsive and I love how many classic abilities make a return with brand new functions like the Spider-Spark and Grapple Lasso, and as for the ultimate goal in the game, it is exactly the same as what it was in the original; slay every metroid on the planet. This can range from relatively easy to quite a hefty challenge, but if you're having trouble you can scan a compatible amiibo to give you reserve tanks or the location of the metroid nearest to you.

Overall, I was initially skeptical about Mercury Steam developing a game in one of my favorite game series, especially after the lukewarm reception that Castlevania Lords of Shadow: Mirror of Fate got from the fans. But my fears were eased when I played the game to 100% completion as this was probably one of the best 2D Metroid games I've played since I first experienced Super Metroid. Nintendo has successfully revived a series I long thought might be forever dormant and I can't wait for more in the coming years. But until then, I'll be seeing you.

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As I hope you can tell from that lengthy introduction, Life is Strange: Before the Storm centers around Chloe Price, as well as her unlikely friendship with Rachel Amber. All is not right in Chloe and Rachel's worlds, though. With Chloe still dealing with the death of her father and Rachel discovering a devastating secret about her family, the two must confide in each other and face their demons together. Immediately I found the premise to be much more enthralling than the original, but after completing Episode 1: Awake, I knew with absolute certainty that developer Deck Nine were the right choice to create this prequel.

Anyone that experienced the original is familiar with Chloe's rebellious personality, but Before the Storm allows the player to understand why Chloe has this attitude. This is mainly due to Chloe's friendship with Rachel. We see much more sensitive side of Chloe that is brought out by her feelings for Rachel. While the interactions between Chloe and Rachel feel genuine, the speed at which their friendship progresses seems unnaturally hasty. By the end of this episode, their friendship has only lasted for about a day, and they're already much closer with one another than I've ever been with my any of my friends. Surely Chloe and Rachel's friendship will have its ups and downs over the course of these next few episodes, but it would have been nice to see a more realistic path from strangers to best friends.

The scenic little town of Arcadia Bay returns in Before the Storm and is either paradise or perdition depending on whether or not you're a student at Blackwell Academy. The stylized graphics and modern point and click gameplay popularized by Telltale's The Walking Dead also make their return from the original Life is Strange. And while Before the Storm doesn't add anything new to this recent sub-genre of games, it never really had to. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Everything you've come to expect from this type of game is here: explore an environment, examine and interact with objects, then speak to a character or exit said environment to continue the story. It's understandable that some people have become fatigued by this style of gameplay, but they're missing out on an exceptional story with Before the Storm.

Player choice was a major narrative and gameplay mechanic in the original that makes a return in Before the Storm. Whether it's something seemingly minor or something blatantly obvious, the choices you make in Life is Strange: Before the Storm all have consequences. Of course, since this a prequel, Max Caulfield is not in the picture and there are no time altering powers for the player to utilize, but Chloe has a power of her own; her attitude. 'Backtalk' allows the player to turn Chloe into the rudest 16 year old imaginable to verbally force her way through specific encounters.

Backtalk is used as both a narrative and gameplay mechanic. In a narrative sense, Backtalk plays a large role in player choice and consequence. And in terms of gameplay, you can use Backtalk to easily bypass potentially longer sections of the episode. You may find that someone you were rude to in order to get through a section of the episode easier is someone you really shouldn't have been rude to later on. There's only a few moments in Episode 1 that allow you to use Backtalk, but it's clear that there will be repercussions in the following episodes for using it. The exclusion of time altering abilities elevates the feeling of needing to face reality and consequences to heights not seen in the original Life is Strange, and that's crucial for any "coming of age" story.

Perhaps it's just me, but I found a large amount of the dialogue in Before the Storm to be painfully cringeworthy. I like to think that I'm 'hip' and 'with it,' but I've never met another human being in my life that spoke even remotely similar to how characters in Before the Storm speak to one another, and I live in California; the birthplace of all popular slang words. To blame Deck Nine for this would be misguided. Lest we forget that the original Life is Strange developers, DONTNOD Entertainment, sewed these cringe seeds hella deep.

On top of well written characters, Deck Nine also did an incredible job with Before the Storm's soundtrack. Had they gone with only melancholic tunes to match the depressing tone of Chloe and Rachel's stories, it would completely negate their punk, rebellious personalities, and if they had gone completely with a punk rock soundtrack, it would take away from many of the somber moments found in just this one episode alone. Luckily Before the Storm has a perfect combination of chilling melodies and rocking tracks to properly convey the appropriate emotions for each scene.

Returning to Arcadia Bay with a 16 year old Chloe Price as our hero was a great idea, and if the quality of this first episode is any indication, Deck Nine were the perfect choice to take the reigns of the Life is Strange series. Working in tandem with a beautiful location and a properly utilized soundtrack, Life is Strange: Before the Storm is perfectly capable of eliciting the emotions applicable to any given situation. While the unnatural speed at which Chloe and Rachel's friendship progressed at was a tad bit off putting, I'm still very much excited to see how their relationship will play out, and how they both deal with the curveballs life threw at them. If you've played through the original Life is Strange, you know where both of these characters end up, but it's not about the destination, it's about the journey.

Now while this isn't especially long for presenting new games, I'm sure a lot of you just want to skim this article for the key bullet points. So let's get started.

• First up was the unexpected surprise that Super Meat Boy would be getting an official sequel in the form of an auto runner platforming game called Super Meat Boy Forever. It will release some time in 2018.
• The King Knight campaign for Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove was officially revealed and would feature a brand new card battling minigame as half of its story. Shovel Knigh: King of Cards will release early 2018.
• An unusual puzzle game called Mom Hid My Game was announced and will launch later this year.
• A golf themed RPG called Golf Story was revealed and will launch exclusively on the Switch this September.
• A new rhythm game called Floor Kids was announced where the main focus is break-dancing. It will launch this holiday season.
• A beat-em-up game inspired by medieval history called Wulver Blade was announced and will launch this September.
• The popular Steam game Poly Bridge was revealed to be coming to the Switch and would release this holiday season.
• Kentucky Route Zero was revealed to be getting a Switch port and will be released early in 2018.
  
• An unusual underwater shoot-em-up game called Earth Atlantis will be coming out on the Switch first this Autumn.
• A community driven action game called Next Up Hero was announced and will launch early next year.
• We finally get a launch date for Steamworld Dig 2 being September 21 of this year.
• A new adventure game inspired by the culture of the Tarahumara tribes called Mulaka was announced and will be released early next year.
• A very cute looking action/puzzle game called Yono and the Celestial Elephants was announced. It will launch exclusively on the Switch on October 12.
• A very arcadey action RPG called Dragon Marked for Death was revealed and will launch this winter.
• Adult Swim Games announced a new game they would be publishing called Battle Chef Brigade which is part combo-heavy action game and part match-3 puzzle game. It will launch this holiday season.
• A brand new team-based shooter was revealed called Morphies Law in which shooting your opponents steals their mass and adds it to your own. It will launch this winter.
• Sausage Sports Club, a game where you duke it out as one of 4 floppy animal friends, will launch this Autumn.
  
• A procedurally generated action board game called Light Fingers was announced and will be coming out early in 2018.
• A fantasy action RPG, not unlike Diablo, called Nine Parchments was revealed and will launch this holiday season.
• And finally, a brand new game in the No More Heroes series was officially revealed called Travis Strikes Again and it appears to be a collaborative effort between Suda51 and potential indie devs. It will be coming out some time in 2018.

Now while that was the last of the direct, there were some other games shown off on Nintendo's official YouTube channel that weren't shown in the main video. You can see them in the sizzle reel here. I am especially excited for the new No More Heroes game and I'm sure it's going to be one helluva ride once its released, but until then, I'll be seeing you.

Now compared to the first Splatoon, the gameplay is virtually unchanged. There are still many of the same main weapons making a return from the previous iteration, but in this game, two new weapon types make their first appearance: The Dualies, dual wielded pistols that give you the ability to perform a dodge-roll; and the Brella, a combination scattergun and shield which can be launched forward trailing ink behind it. In addition to this some new sub weapons were introduced, but that is nothing when you find out that EVERY special attack from the first game has been replaced with one of many brand new ones. These new specials force the player to think of brand new strategies that were not possible in the first game, and I for one welcome them.

Now when playing online, the stage rotation now updates every 2 hours instead of every 4 allowing for more varied arenas more often. Some stages are updated ones that have returned from the previous game, but most of them are brand new with some special exclusive stages that are only available to play during the game's occasional Spatfests, which are time exclusive parties to see which of 2 selectable teams is better in a themed competition.

When online you can play your normal Turf Wars and Ranked Battles like in the previous installment, but now you have 3 ranks for ranked battles; one for each mode. In addition to this, some elements from the battles have been updated. For instance: In Tower Control, you now have to pass by a certain number of check points before the tower can reach its final destination; and in Rainmaker, the rainmaker itself has been upgraded from being a chargable inkzooka to something more like a grenade launcher. Plus now if you want to play Squad Battles, you now have to have a minimum rank of B- to play them as it has been renamed to League Battles and now has its own unique stage rotation separate from the normal ranked battles.

The real star of the show here though is the game's new hoard mode: Salmon Run. In this game mode you and 3 other players will play cooperatively with a random set of loaned weapons to collect golden power eggs from the mutated salmonids living in the toxic waters just off the coast of Inkopolis. Now unfortunately this game mode can't be played whenever you want as it is on this bafflingly asinine clock where it is only open for about 12 to 24 hours every other day, but when it CAN be played I think I can safely say that this is probably my favorite of the game modes available and the unique rewards that come with it certainly more than make up for it.

Now like the previous game, there is a single-player story campaign. In this story we find out that Splatoon 2 takes place 2 years after the events of the first game. You have been chosen by Marie of the Squid Sisters to help her recover the once again stolen Great Zapfish and rescue her missing cousin Callie, the other half of the Squid Sisters. You will learn the game's basics in this mode and it will progressively become more difficult the further you get into the game, but now you can unlock and use any of the nine main weapon types found in online multiplayer and will also have more than double the number collectibles to find with some of them only found in the hub world.

And finally, the dojo from the previous game (which is was the local multiplayer game mode) has been completely removed in favor of a new local multiplayer mode called The Shoal. Instead of it being where you and one other person compete to see who can pop the most balloons before the time expires, it now is just a simple local wireless or LAN mode where 4-8 players can compete against each other in either a regular combat match, or a game of Salmon Run.

Overall, I love all the new content that was introduced and little improvements that were made here and there. You can now customize your hairstyle and leg-wear, the amiibo make a return as a way to save you loadout preferences, you can now assign specific abilities to equipment (assuming you have enough ability chunks), and I especially like that you can now have the ability to buy bonuses like double money or XP from the newly added food truck in the square. To some, the online mode, AKA the main focus of the game, may feel like "more of the same" but that isn't always bad thing. This game did everything right when it comes to sequels: Fix what was broken, and build upon what was already good. I just hope that some day in the future they remove the limitations from Salmon Run, but until then, I'll be seeing you.

Score

Now where did this undying love begin? Well one day, whilst strolling through the Xbox Live marketplace, I stumbled upon an interesting little title that caught my eye; Mars: War Logs. The description and screenshots made it appear as a Mass Effect-esque space adventure. This was back in 2015, so I was still emotionally scarred from the utter disappointment of Mass Effect 3, and had yet to experience the human rights violating atrocity known as Mass Effect: Andromeda. I needed a worthy successor to Mass Effect, so after glancing over some reviews, I took a gamble on Mars: War Logs, and boy, did I get it.

Mars: War Logs opens on, you guessed it, Mars, in a POW camp where we are introduced to our first companion, Innocence, through a heavily implied attempted gay rape scene. If there's a better way than that to start a game, then I haven't seen it. Luckily the protagonist, Roy, intervenes just in time to prevent that from happening. What follows is a slow, yet deliberate prison break sequence reminiscent of The Great Escape that sets the tone and narrative for the rest of the game.

While some might be initially put off by the overall depressing tone of Mars: War Logs, I think it's fantastic because it illustrates a grittier depiction of war and death in a cyberpunk future. Most games with similar themes, such as Mass Effect and the latest entries in the Call of Duty series, show a much more "Hollywood-ized" version of those themes complete with huge budgets and explosion filled set pieces. Whereas Mars: War Logs drags you down into the thick of it. If that's the kind of future we have to look forward to, I'd look at Mars: War Logs to get a more accurate picture of what to expect; technomancy excluded.

"Technomancy?" What? Yes, in a way, similar to Biotics in the Mass Effect series, Mars: War Logs features "Technomancy." However, unlike Biotics, technomancy is limited to the ability to wield and control the power of electricity. Characters trained from a young age to use 'pre-Turmoil' artifacts enabling them to wield the electricity produced by the human body are called "Technomancers." Normally this would be a spoiler, but Mars: War Logs spoils itself with a locked skill tree that says "technomancy" when selected; Roy is a technomancer. The introduction of this plot point also becomes a gameplay change that was executed perfectly. Up until this point, I'd been playing for about 4 hours, so the fights had been becoming rather stale, and I can't help but feel this was intentional to make your newly acquired technomancy powers feel all the more powerful to freshen up the gameplay.

Anything beyond that actually would be a spoiler. So let's recap the story thus far: you're on Mars, it's a gritty cyberpunk future, you play as a guy named Roy, and Roy is a Technomancer. Got it? Alright, let's move on.

Mars: War Logs is not, I repeat: NOT, a shooter. Not a first person shooter. Not a third person shooter. Not a Bulgarian miak shooter. NOT a shooter. Surprising, right? Well the reason I bring this up is because, according to many reviews from both critics and users that I've come across, many people went into Mars: War logs expecting a third person shooter similar to Mass Effect. I don't know if it's because shooters were the only games being developed at the time or the fact that Mass Effect really is the only game Mars: War Logs can be compared to, but Mars: War Logs is a third person action adventure, not a shooter. However there are gun in gameplay, but they are used in a similar way to the guns in Bloodborne. Yet you wouldn't categorize Bloodborne as a third person shooter, right?

Perhaps it was just me, but I was nearly overwhelmed when first experiencing the combat Mars: War Logs had to offer. That was until I realized how simple, yet ingenious it actually was. You have basic melee combat mechanics such as attack, block, and dodge, but that won't be enough to get your through most enemy encounters. That's because enemies are actually somewhat competent and won't hesitate to murder you repeatedly if you try to spam your attacks. Since the enemies are as tough as nails, you must remain vigilant in every fight. Like I said, you have your attack, your block, and your dodge, but you must also utilize your ability to break your enemy's block, your technomancy powers, and the orders you issue to your companion.

It may sound fairly simple at first, but in practice, it can be a nightmare to get through fights if you don't know what you're doing; even on the easiest difficulty setting. This is where I discovered the one major flaw in Mars: War Logs' combat- the companions. Being able to control whether or not your companions should focus on melee attacks, dodging, or ranged attacks may sound like a blessing, but that's completely squandered once you realize that enemies will gang up almost exclusively on your companion, so unless you set them to dodge, they're going down in just a couple of hits from multiple enemies. So I devised a routine to account for this problem. Set your companion to focus on dodging, take out the out any ranged enemies, then pick off the enemies ganging up on your companion one by one. This routine makes combat a breeze, but enemy encounters begin to get stale. While not fatal, this flaw definitely does hurt an otherwise great combat system.

Outside of combat, Mars: War Logs is a fairly open exploration game. While not an "open world game" per-se, Mars: War Logs' open, non-linear level design is great. You'll be able to visit multiple locations around Mars ranging from a hellish prison camp to a decaying ghetto and even a war torn city; all full of side quests with interesting characters and stories. It's clear that a monumental amount of love went into fleshing out these characters and locations to create a seemingly living breathing world. Even if that world is a sun scorched hell hole ravaged by war and human atrocities.

The side quests, and even some of the early main quests, introduce the player to Mars: War Logs' morality system. Now before you roll your eyes so far back that you snap your optic nerve, I am happy to report that Mars: War Logs is one of the few games on the market today that properly utilizes a morality system. I'm sure we're all used to morality systems in games being as simple as "be a jerk for absolutely no reason other than receiving weapon that is slightly better than the one you're using right now" or "be a goody two-shoes and get nothing other than a nice big thumbs up from the game for being a good person." While there definitely are some side quests that end like that, most of the quests in Mars: War Logs end in moral ambiguity, and it is imperative that you understand which decision will affect your moral standings with a companion and/or faction. Something you may believe to be beneficial to whomever gave you the quest may in fact cause your companion to grow suspicious of you and even eventually distrust you.

As I said before, my initial discovery of Mars: War Logs was while browsing the Xbox Live marketplace, so my first playthrough of this underrated gem was on my poor old Xbox 360. Of course, that being said, the graphical fidelity of Mars: War Logs on console was... okay. Obviously not up to par with the latest AAA or even most middle market releases at the time, but also nothing that made my eyes bleed. On PC, however, Mars: War Logs actually doesn't look half bad. Facial and clothing textures are well detailed, expansive Mars vistas are a sight for sore eyes, and all at a buttery smooth 60 frames per second on any PC built before the turn of the century with little to no dips during transitions between loading areas.

Although I was hoping for a more synthesizer heavy soundtrack in a cyberpunk game, Mars: War Logs' soundtrack is actually quite incredible. Often times I found myself in a quiet area of the map just listening to the original score Sylvain Prunier crafted for Spiders. So props to you, Mr. Prunier. Listen for yourself.

While not necessarily a masterpiece, Mars: War Logs is a testament to proper RPG and game design the likes of which we haven't seen since the original Mass Effect. Undeserved hate and criticism comes with the territory in the middle market, but Mars: War Logs is one of the most undeserving of said hate and criticism of any middle market game I've ever experienced. The combat could have done with a bit more polishing and testing, and the side quests could have been a tad bit more unique, but if you're like me and often long for a proper role-playing experience, then do yourself a favor a pick up Mars: War Logs.

Before I even begin, I already know the first complaint that will be made about The Surge. "It's just Dark Souls, but in the future." And while that's right, it's also wrong. It's right in the sense that Dark Souls is also a hack and slash RPG with an emphasis on patience and difficulty, but Dark Souls, nor Demons Souls, were the original pioneers of that subgenre of video games. They merely popularized it. The cherry on this bad comparison sundae is that The Surge having an original story and setting already sets it leagues above a generic medieval dungeon crawler with its only gimmick being that it's difficult.

As Warren, you arrive at CREO, a robotics company desperately trying to reverse the effects of climate change, for your first day on the job. You quickly learn that your character, Warren, is paraplegic. Now how are you supposed to play an action RPG as a guy in a wheelchair? Well, luckily for the player, the position Warren has signed up for at CREO needs him to undergo a painful operation that will give him the ability to walk again as well as giving him near superhuman strength. The catch is that, in doing so, he must agree to have a metal exoskeleton surgically bound to his body.

"Show, don't tell" seems to be the motto for The Surge's story. Similar to many games that follow this narrative style, you enter CREO's facility after it has already gone through hell, and your main goal is to survive the mad house and get out. Just the environment alone does a great job of visually telling you of what happened. It also doesn't hurt that there are occasional audio logs and survivors scattered around to help put the pieces together. While told in a way that has been proven to be great time and time again, the story itself isn't anything special and merely serves as a backdrop for the vastly superior gameplay.

While nothing entirely special at first glance, the visuals of The Surge are quite impressive for a middle market game. From the highly detailed combination of the flesh and metal textures on Warren's newly modified body, to the sprawling, seemingly lived in, facility of the CREO complex, The Surge is a testament to the fact that you don't hundreds of millions of dollars to make a pretty game.

At this point, we're all familiar with combining light and heavy attacks as well as occasionally blocking and dodging to overcome hack and slash gameplay challenges. So what does The Surge bring to the table? Instead of needlessly adding arbitrary gameplay gimmicks or complicating systems that were fine the way they were before, The Surge chooses to refine already tried and true gameplay as well as putting a twist on some to make it its own.

Normally this is the part where I would say something along the lines of, "if you're familiar with Deck13's previous hack and slash outing, Lords of the Fallen, you'll be right at home with The Surge," but that would actually be wrong. If you did, by chance, play the criminally underrated Lords of the Fallen, then you would remember just how slow and deliberate it felt. The Surge is not at all like that. While it's still just as, if not more, deliberate as its predecessor, it's also much, much faster. Think of the nature evolution from Dark Souls to Bloodborne in terms of speed, and that's one of the only Dark Souls comparison that can be made here.

It's the little things that have a place in my heart. Something as simple as targeting seems like something that doesn't need to be improved on or tampered with in anyway, right? Well The Surge does just that and now it's how I want targeting to be in every game I play from now on. There's many things you have to pay attention to in The Surge, and enemy's armor is one of them. The Surge allows you to target individual body parts in real time and make decisions on the fly of where your attacks should land to inflict the most damage.

"Cutting" was, by far, my favorite feature in The Surge's. To cut, you must first build up your energy level by successfully chaining together light and heavy attacks to perform an instant kill. The benefits of cutting also go beyond just an instant kill. Say there's an enemy with a weapon you want. Simply target the body part that the enemy is holding the weapon in and cut it off. The successful cut will result in the enemy dropping said weapon and allow you to pick it up and use it. This also works for armor, so mutilating your enemies is greatly rewarded.

Just having light and heavy attacks is so 2011. Why not have vertical and horizontal attacks as well being able to combine those with light and heavy variants? With the addition of cutting individual body parts, having the ability to choose between vertical and horizontal attacks was definitely a needed option, and we got it. You wouldn't want to swing downwards when attacking someone's legs, you'd want to swing from the side.

Killing enemies rewards you with experience points. Take those experience points back to the designated safe area to level up, but if you die before you make it back to the safe area, you drop your experience points and have to pick them back up, and returning to these safe areas respawns all the enemies. Sound familiar? Well it should be to anyone that's played this kind of game in the last 5 or 6 years. There's nothing inherently wrong with this formula because many developers in the past have proven it to be effective. The problem The Surge has with it though is that it spreads these safe areas out thinner than Assassin's Creed's premise. There's only one or two safe areas, or "MedBays," per level, and these levels are huge. So you're either going to have to trek all the way back to the only MedBay in the level or pray to God that you can make it all the way through to the next level. Having more than one MedBay wouldn't have hurt the difficulty, Deck13.

Starting on the outskirts of CREO's facility, Warren must delve into the heart of a robotics lab in order to escape. As far as level design goes, The Surge offers enough to serve its intended purpose, but still nothing to write home about. The levels go far beyond the samey grey corridors and interiors that you would initially expect from a fictional facility like this, and they even feel lived in, as if they were designed with an actual purpose other than mindlessly murdering enemies scattered around, but nothing ever really stood out to me; or gave me that "wow" moment.

I also couldn't help but feel somewhat let down with the sound department. Now don't get me wrong, whether it's a chainsaw tearing through flesh and metal or bludgeoning unsuspecting crazy people to death, The Surge elevates the sound of death to an art form, but the music is seriously lacking. You would think that a cyberpunk action game would be a great excuse for the developers to throw in some fast, hard hitting synthwave, but with the exception of some occasional ambient tracks and a single Stumfol track, your ears will be treated to musical stylings of nothing ft. nada.

While not exactly the greatest game Focus Home Interactive have ever published, The Surge is an incredible experience and worthy of standing among the greats such as Dark Souls and Bloodborne. The soundtrack and level design leave much to be desired, but I'd be lying if I said that wasn't all made up by the beautifully refined gameplay. The Surge is a win for Deck13, Focus Home Interactive, and anyone fortunate enough to play through this game of the year contender.