Berserk the Golden Age Arc III: The Advent

I had a lot of concerns going into the final film of this trilogy, most of which came from my fear of there being missing content everywhere from the manga. A concern I found dissipate quite swiftly as the film progressed. I was pleasantly surprised by it all, I will say. I feel i should note too, that a part of me began to wonder if this trilogy would become more centered around a returning audience rather than new viewers, but i think it's safe to say it's enjoyable for all. I will however, warn viewers interested in this film that it's not for those who don't do well with extreme levels of gore and sexual content. The gore especially can be a little unnerving for the most part.

The story starts a year after the events of The Battle of Doldrey end and quickly goes about getting back into the swing of things, with battles immediately. It doesn't really slow down from there too much either as for the most part, it sticks to what's made the series tick so well so far, it's focus on action. Battles are bloody and very well choreographed, with no slow down ensuring your adrenaline is pumping throughout. Guts makes sure heads are flying(and there is a good amount at that in this one, rest assured) while taking the majority of the limelight However, while guts ensures your gory combat needs are met, Casca's mental state before, during and after Griffith' rescue brings her to the forefront . Her emotions take a toll and it shows, with them fluctuating everywhere, she's a mess. It doesn't go unnoticed either, as it essentially acts as the ever developing rift between Guts and Griffith' friendship. This rift effectively brings about how “The Advent” comes to pass in all it's gory and bloody nature. Fans of gore will enjoy what's to come, while many others will find it very hard to stomach. However, while I say all this, there is still something...lacking. That something ends up being the rest of the characters and how much they are developed in general.

And that is where I think the problem with this lies and quite possibly the entire trilogy at that. It's a trilogy of feature films, so characterisation was always going to suffer a little. Guts, Griffith and Casca get a good amount of screen-time to develop as decent and strong enough characters, but for the general scope that the golden age covers, it's not enough. The secondary characters don't get enough coverage, and it hurts this film more than it should. The second half of this film is supposed to be quite a hard segment to watch, but understanding everyones' relationships to one another, the feeling of a “family” which Guts became a part of that should be weighing down heavily as “The Advent” takes place...doesn't. And that's a damned shame. The impact is lacking. That's not to say it's non-existent, it definitely isn't. It's just not there as much as it needs to be.

However, moving past all that, it's still able to bring out its best when the action is in full flow. You will be greeted with some fantastically animated battle sequences which will please you all to see. Which brings me to the animation, which starts to show signs of maturing here at long last. It has hiccups however, with one stand-out scene making me immediately think I should take hold of my PS3/Xbox 360 controller as it looked like a scene out of a game of that generation. A little off-putting to say the least. But you get moments where you can see where they learned to add more hand-drawn here or CG there to improve how things just look in motion. It still looks very experimental, but something I think can certainly work now i've seen it improve so quickly over the trilogy.

The music too, deserves a good mention. Shirou Sagisu does an amazing job with this one, making it even more cinematic and alluring to me. Coming off of stellar soundtracks from the Rebuild of Evangelion films and EVA itself though, I should've expected no less. He is able to capture the right emotions at the right time. What's more, the deliberate removal of any music at certain points like the scenes just before “The Advent” with Griffith help to capture the helplessness he feels for everything.

All in all. This film is the best of the three. It's attention to detail in battles, action-sequences and atmosphere is brilliant. While the main trio are covered decently well however, the loss of any major coverage for the supporting cast hinders what could've been a perfect finish for the trilogy. For those that are worried this will just "end", fear not, as the end of the film does finally cover more than the original TV series did, and does hint at more to come. 

Oh, I do still wonder why the hell there is a music video at the end of the film however. It feels a little out of place.

E3 2014 quick predictions

So i've decided to go ahead and make a very quick set of predictions for what to expect from each set of conferences, plus a few shots at what games each company will be bringing with them to the event. I expect a fair few will be a million miles away in terms of accuracy, but i hope a few will hit the target. So here goes!

Nintendo

1. Mario Maker will probably be a 3DS title, could be the one that has the other developers roundtable next to Smash this year
2. Obligatory Zelda WiiU prediction
3. I'm expecting Nintendo want to capitalise on the success of Mario Kart 8, so will have something lined up for release in the next month to continue the momentum for the WiiU.
4. METROID WHERE
5. Tecmo-Koei may show off their other third party venture with Nintendo, if not i expect we'll see a few more third party colabs from nintendo at the event. Maybe something with Mario, or perhaps Star Fox
6. WHERE IS F-ZERO
7. They may take this opportunity to showcase their figure style games, which work much in the same vein as Skylanders, but can connect to multiple games(this was introduced at their last financial meeting). Will be interesting to see if it comes attached with a new title
8. Expect some regional announcements, so as a UK person. SMTIV
9. On the note of SMT, it's about time we heard about SMT x Fire Emblem
10. Region Freeness?

Microsoft

1. Expect Halo 5 and Halo 2 Anniversary to be showcased side-by-side somewhere in the middle of their conference. it's the microsoft way. Oh, Master Chief collection will be there too.
2. I hate to sound like a broken record but, Gears of War. Gotta beat sonys GoW with their own
3. From what i've heard, they have a new IP to show off at the event. I can't honestly remember who's developing it, Microsoft Studios maybe? but my hope is that they pull away from their shooter obsession for a little while. Something platformy or maybe something RPG-like would be good.
4. Call of Duty Advanced Warfare will have time-based exclusive DLC to xbox first. as always
5. A long shot, but microsoft seem to have picked up a couple of japanese devs to work on their system, so maybe a titles originating from japan?
6. Platinum are rumoured to be developing a game for Xbox, this would be as fine a time as any to show it to the world

Sony

1. Getting it out there. The Last Guardian. I DID IT. WE HAPPY NOW?
2. More than likely, i expect to see Project Beast officially revealed during their conference. We know it exists, now they need to show it.
3. SquEnix have a new game in store, so expect it here. Maybe a new final fantasy. God please no more XIII.
4. I'd expect another God of War to be shown off. You know. GoW Sony vs GoW Microsoft. As it is. Nintendo where's yours? 
5. Expecting possible showing of ports to PS4. So Last of Us HD, GTAV for PS4 confirmation, etc.
6. Since Tomb Raider has more in development, a teaser of the upcoming sequel will be at least mentioned.

Other predictions

1. Deep Silver have 2 new titles to show off at E3 this year. One of which i expect will be the reboot of Saints Row that's been discussed previously. The other i can't really speak for.
2. Nordic games bought Darksiders a year ago, and at the time said "not to expect Darksiders for 2 years". This would be a good a time as any to show off what they've been doing with the IP so they can release the title in a year/year and a half.
3. EA are likely to show off Mass Effect 4, probably won't release for a good year, but it could be there
4. Residen Evil might rear its ugly head in too. Whether it'll be a reboot or a new one in the franchise, it's hard to say. Possibly DmC as well?
5. Cryteks new title will actually be Timesplitters(let me hope damnit)
6. VALKYRIA CHRONICLES
7. Konami, knowing konami may come out with a new Castlevania. Hopefully one that plays to the old timeline instead of the new.

I've tried to avoid commenting on stuff that is already well known for being there(X, Ace Attorney, Smash) but some you always cover anyways. I think Aonuma said Zelda was going to be there anyways, but its not really a Nintendo prediction without it. I have a few other ideas, but they are either too close to reality or far off being possible. we'll see. Please Understand

Completed Games for January & planned for February 2014

Since a few others i know over on the twittersphere have taken to this idea, i thought i may as well follow suit with my own wee twist. To get myself into the motivation of beating more of my backlog, or just more games in general, i'm going to compose a list of what i've beaten so far in january and february, but also include what i am aiming to beat by the months end.

My initial aim is to get at least 3 games beaten every month, if i can get more than that, fantastic, but 3 minimum is my aim. I'm doing a similar thing with Anime, but that is for another post entire. So here's what i've beaten so far.

January

Tomb Raider(PC)

Resogun(PS4)

Defense Grid: The Awakening(PC)

February

Soul Sacrifice(Vita)

Now, for the rest of February, i'm aiming to beat two others:

Shatter(PC)

Fire Emblem: Awakening(3DS)

Berserk: The Golden Age Arc Film 2: Battle for Doldrey

After a quick set of flashbacks to remind you of the events from the first film, The Battle of Doldrey wastes no time in getting straight back into the action. Flying heads are everywhere as you'd expect(i lost count this time after about 12), battles are all extremely well set up and choreographed to boot, but while the film stands out in many areas, it starts to fall short in others.

In terms of it's character development, The Battle for Doldrey is somewhat lacking in comparison to that of the first film. Saying that, it covers what i feel is the most important parts well. You're given a glimpse into Cascas past and how she was introduced to Griffith, well placed within what i feel is one of the best moments of the film between Guts and Casca. Not only does this show the dedication that Casca has to Griffith, it shows just how lost Guts is as well, trying to find a purpose amongst the bloodshed. The other particular moment comes into play at the latter half of the film, which shows a fall to madness of a character, though the execution may come across as a little humorous at one point despite the fact it's meant to be pretty serious. Outwith that,  it's rather limited in what else it shows, something that shouldn't surprise me considering there is only so much they can pack into three films.

Saying that, the main focus this time round seems more aimed at covering the major battles than just the characters themselves, so we're greeted with some more bloodshed from the fights incoming. I'm fine with this in many ways though, as the battles are so well done that they keep you hooked. Its definitely feeling more like the films are aimed at covering the action from the series than it is anything else, but my only issue is that, whether its because they want to tackle the battles mostly or not, something feels...off. While it still feels like anyone can enjoy this, there is that feeling inside me which thinks, this really is aimed more at appealing to the fans of Berserk already and less at the newcomers. Missing scenes here and there feel like they've neglected some pivotal plot points all round(especially one particular scene that is missing from the end of the film), but at the same time, it doesn't entirely hurt the story around the band of the hawk, instead removes some of the depth for the story.

For the most part, the films hybrid style of animation looks and feels great, but it does still go a little too CG at points, some parts being way to evident and a little distracting. It's definitely a pretty film to watch though, and they really do catch the feel of medieval europe in the designs of the castles, landscapes and dress sense. Sagisu Shiros soundtrack for the film again stands as very powerful in it's execution, from helping to bring out the adrenaline from battles to the tension between characters. It really captures the feel of Berserk.

For those interested in extras of any kind, i'm afraid to say that, like the first film there isn't any to be had. You get your options for audio, chapter select and that's all there is. The dub itself is fairly passable as well for those that prefer a english cast to the japanese. While i would still recommend the subtitles and japanese voice track, i think you'd be ok for going with either.

Overall, the film is still extremely enjoyable for the most part, but it doesn't feel aimed so much at the new audience the first film would have brought in, but more at those that have read the manga previously. There are moments which are covered too swiftly, and moments where are just not covered at all, and that's a shame. But for all the flaws in that respect, it still does a damned good job at covering the atmosphere of the series, and all that bloody combat we've come to love from the series.

It's just a shame it'll never get shown to dolphins

Breath of Fire 6 & a little rant about the increasing popularity of mobile games with developers

Ahhh capcom, just when i feel i can't find something to write about, you come up with some stupidly idiotic idea worth ranting about. What would i do without you?

So back on thursday, Capcom announced a collection of new titles on the way, of which one was a title that should by all means generate a lot of hype, Breath of Fire 6. So wait, "should" you say? Yeah well basically Capcom has gone out and decided that the next main numbered title in the BoF series is to be a browser/tablet/mobile game. Fans have been waiting for around about 11 years for a continuation of the breath of fire universe, and what we get instead, is a kick in the teeth. Or at least what looks to be a kick in the teeth. Admittedly, this may come across as too hasty a complaint to make, but considering that it has been so long since the last installment, i feel it's a little justified.

It's becoming more and more common these days for companies such as Capcom, and maybe more predominantly, Square-Enix to come out with a bunch of Mobile games or browser based games as a means of cheap title to bolster profits, and that's not a bad thing at all. What is a bad thing however, is bringing in huge IPs such as Final Fantasy, or again, Breath of Fire, and instead of putting together another big game, putting in smaller ones. For some this may come across as a decent enough idea, they don't have the time or money to invest in a full title so they get something more for on the go. For the fans of said franchises though, this more often than not enrages them, tests their patience or even removes some of the confidence they had for a company. Takes for example The World Ends With You, a critically acclaimed title from S-E for DS. They released a teaser site hinting at something new for the series back in August last year which ended up being an iOS port. A lot of people had hoped this may have been a sequel after so long and after high demand, but it never came to be. While the game does hint at a sequel, the case still remains that they put the effort into making the iOS port, and then a social game for the title afterwards. It takes away consumer confidence in my eyes and while i can understand the merits of making the game accessible again via other means, it brings up the question, are we forced to expect sequels on mobiles now instead?

Mobile gaming has become a lot more of a widely accepted field but it still doesn't mean you should place more hit titles on the platform, or even make them social for that matter. We get that production costs are steadily increasing year in, year out, but there is still other options companies can take in getting the games out there, and as full titles. Breath of Fire is a title which i could see everyone accepting as a 3DS or Vita title without any issue, in fact i could even see it bringing in Vita sales considering the popularity of the title as a whole. Not only that, but handheld consoles in general have a lower cost of production as a whole, and the market for them(at least for the 3DS at present) is pretty strong, so there would be guaranteed sales. Considering also that 2D and 2.5D are still pretty popular as well, it wouldn't be too hard to make a game in the same wake as BoFIII or IV just with newer, fresher textures. The need for a physical copy isn't there either, so you would avoid the production costs of cartridges too.

Developers please, stop it. You're making me cry in anger

While i can't honestly come up with numbers and graphs(cause everything looks better with graphs) to back up my idea that mobile games are hurting more than helping major IPs, i do feel that at least on a consumer level, you can see the frustrations caused by it pretty easily. While it may come across as a good idea to make Final Fantasy: All The Bravest SquEnix, it's also one of the worst titles to have dawned the Final Fantasy name. Tarnishing a franchise more that has been struggling for the past few years due to XIV(granted it might be sorted now) and a fairly average XIII isn't what you want to do. You would think that Capcom would realise this as well and focus more of their efforts elsewhere. Though even then, their unhealthy obsession with Call of Duty and attracting that market to every other game they make does show me at least a certain level of obliviousness to what gamers want, so it makes sense why they'd move to social games. It just doesn't sit right with me, and i don't honestly think it should with anyone.

 There is plenty of alternative methods to get a game out there without resulting in the creation of a free to play, microtransaction social game which enrages many fans of a series. Sure, keep making mobile games, social games, browser based games, there is a market there for it, but try to avoid making ones for major IPs, and avoid calling them the next in the main series as well. Try to imagine Ubisoft saying "Assassin's Creed V - For android/iOS only" or Activision making Call of Duty a touch-based tablet game with no chance of console or PC release. It just wouldn't work, it would throw away a good chunk of the fanbase that franchise has created, and god knows what else. Just leave major ips as they are.

SimCity: The Debacle

SimCity is one of the most renowned series EA has ever had, and is to this day a favourite to many. The SNES version of the original is even regarded to several as the best game of all time, so you wouldn't be surprised to hear how huge the hype was for the new entry into the series released this week. Unfortunately, that hype has turned to despair as everything that could have gone wrong has, and worse.

Reviewers praised the game across the board from their experiences with the beta/review copies. Cities where fun to build alongside friends who built theirs next door, and the new elements added made for a fantastic experience with every new city. As soon as it hit launch though, things went pear shaped. Here's where problem number one arises. SimCity requires you to connect to a server to play. What this means is, it kind of works like an MMO, where each server can handle so many players at one time before you get caught up in a queue. EA had originally set the release dates spread out to ensure overloading never happened, and everyone could get on at once, but they had obviously forgotten just how big the demand was for the game, and no server was ever empty. This left many gamers waiting in queues for over 2-3 hours just to get into the game. What's more, the servers where unstable, and many would get disconnected from the servers mid-game and lose all of their saved data.

An example of the queue time, some go as high as 3 hour waits.

Due to the server issues, patch after patch was sent out in an attempt to sort the game, so if you weren't waiting in a queue, you where waiting for an update. Which never worked most of the time, so the issues continued. EA even removed a lot of the major features, cheetah mode(fast speed) and leaderboards are gone, two key features which made the game even more fun. This has caused a lot of people to abandon the game either entirely, or until it's stabalised, and even now major gaming websites and personalities, like Destructoid are warning to avoid the game until the issues are dealt with. Overall, the fact that they need to put you on servers for what is, for the most part, a single player experience is outright stupid. Sure, it has multiplayer in which you and friends play in different cities in the same zone, but that can be done outside of servers. You can't even play the same city in a different server, it's an atrocious move in every respect.


Another major issue, though this could easily fit in above, is Always-Online-DRM. It's fits in with the servers, and is just another thorn in gamers' sides. Do we really need it still? Ubisoft and many other publishers have learnt that it doesn't help matters, but only dampens them. EA are still one of the few who have yet to grasp just how damaging it can be. It removes the idea of you actually owning the rights to the copy you now own of a game, and instead all you have is a contract, or a pass to play it. Which leads to the last issue that has plagued this.

Servers are 95% of the time full, so you can't get in

A consumer recently approached EA about claiming a refund for the game due it being unreliable, unstable and basically unplayable. Whilst in a chat with an EA customer service representative he was denied a refund, and then told that if he continues with disputing his right to a refund, he'd get banned. The full conversation is linked below.

Also worth mentioning that TotalBiscuit put out a warning to all UK consumers that they should check the Sales of Good act if they are refused a refund from EA, so please do so if you already own the game and wish to claim a refund on it

Now i won't lie, i want SimCity. It looks fantastic when you get into the game, but that is only IF you can get into it. With server issues, game patches to hide behind every issue the game has, be it instability or whatever, and it being always online DRM'd whilst being a single player title for the most part leave me wondering if i'll ever get to play it. If i was to even consider purchasing this down the line, then they would need to remove the always online part part of the DRM and make it more in line with what other platforms do, register your product online then you can do what you will with it after. And then there is the server issue. If they are so hell-bent on keeping this idea here, then they need to quadruple the size of the servers at least. The demand for the game is high, very high in fact. We aren't buying this game to sit in a queue for 3 hours at a time, we're buying it to play it when we want to play it. Learn from this EA, and every other developer/publisher for that matter. This is not how you release a game, this is how you destroy it.

DmC:Devil May Cry - Dante returns...wait, his hair is black?

Devil May Cry has been a fairly iconic series for Capcom since it's original release back on the Playstation 2 in 2001, so when Ninja Theory showed up with a retake on the title, and some kid essentially posing as Dante, we all raged. And we did, and we expected to just bash it to hell because it wasn't THE Dante we all wanted. But fortunately, things took a different turn as more was revealed. Now the question is, Does DmC match up? And how does it stand as a new title in itself?

DmC starts off by showing off the new dante in a strip club, with an all new attitude, and a thing for the ladies. Following the intro cinematic and the introduction of Kat straight at the beginning of the game with a rather under-dressed dante, you get flung into where you spend 95% of the game, Limbo, and learn soon after someone is targetting Dante, and he gets pulled into Limbo whenever they find him. It's quite the interesting idea, one that is eerie yet strangely gorgeous to gaze your eyes upon. The whole world is basically pulled into the demon realm. Asides from an area or two, it's has a great aesthetic to it, never being truly bland. Dante can only use his sword in limbo, as it's a demon weapon, so anytime you may spend outside of it, you don't do combat. It's basically story based segments leading up to limbo. Perhaps a missed opportunity, but a minor complaint all the same. while the story doesn't focus on limbo, you get a basic jist of what it is from explained, and from the world itself. It's well executed, and the characters do help to carry it forward as well. What's more, you can easily tell that one of the main choices in this re-take was to essentially add the modern world to DmC, something that becomes more evident and maybe more relavent in the later half of the game.

Characters wise, Dante still has that attitude of his, but made to suit that new age and look to him. He's quite the ladies man, enjoys his booze, and still has that "couldn't care less" approach to everything. If it doesn't affect him, he won't care. Good to see it stick, but the development of him learning who he is, what his past is, his relationship to Vergil and who Mundas is adds a new depth to him that really hasn't been explored before. Also, for those that wonder, why his hair isn't white is dealt with too. Panic over. Vergil is not bad, though i feel he doesn't get covered as much as he could. He wants Mundas dead, and will do anything to get it done. People knowing the series prior to this will know what's in store for him later, but it's covered subtly throughout the later half of the game. Kat acts as a good grounding for Dante in this. She's there to help Vergil however she can, and eventually for Dante too, helping when she can and however she can. Being able to see Limbo plays a lot into the progression of things. Overall she's a pretty well designed character, one whom i'd love to see more of.

Get that style combo up and you'll be hitting SSS in no time

Now gameplay. Combat is extremely fluid, and feels fantastic when you get it down, i'd even go as far as to say it's the best of the series in many ways It doesn't take long to get to grips with things, and they've happily supplied you with a training mode in the menu so you can work with combos and learning how to switch between weapons. The longer you can keep your combo going without getting Hit, the more rewarding it is. The Style system ranges from D to SSS, based on your attacks/combos, and how you mix it up. Just doing the one combo all the time will stop it increasing after a while, so upgrading for more attacks is quite handy. All your attacks come from Y(triangle) and B(circle). B being a launcher, Y being your main attack. And X(square) of course, being your guns. You get demon and angel weapons not too far into the game which require you to holding down the right and left triggers respectively to activate and you can dodge with RB/LB(R1/L1). Angel weapons are generally faster and weaker while demon is slow but deadly. Trying to find the best ways to mix these up for SSS is a nice challenge, but it's not so daunting as to scare away new players. it's introduces you fairly gently, and you get the grasp of things by experimenting when you can as well. Devil Trigger allows dante to change into his old colour scheme(red clothes, white hair) and the world to turn white, in this mode throws enemies to the air and you do more damage, take less, health regens, you also get bonus style for air combos, so use it to your advantage. While there is some minor hiccups in framerate here and there, combat doesn't ever really get affected by this, so the performance is top notch as well.

The levels don't take too long to complete, i'd say you'd get about 5-7 hours of gameplay before you beat the game on your first playthrough, and then you could easily best the game afterwards in about 2 hours when you try to increase your rank and find all the secrets. It's pretty much all linear as well, though the secrets usually have you searching a bit. Keys for doors to secret missions are scattered everywhere, and Lost Souls are hidden in most levels too. Cleverly, or to some irritating, you can't get everything in the early levels straight away. You need to progress some first then go back to old ones to get what you couldn't. This helps increase the replayability. The difficulty is my main issue. Of the three you start with, Nephilim is the hardest. And the main concern i have is that it feels more like normal than anything else. Companies still have this tendency to make "hard" normal now, and it bothers me. Thankfully the 4 extra difficulties you unlock after make up for it. I'd have just liked a bit more complexity on my first playthrough. Also, for those of you that like a challenge, there is the "complete the game on Nephilim with all stages SSS'd" which, at the time of writing this, seems to be all i'm focusing on instead of the next difficulty.

Revisiting early levels with new weapons can grant you access to new secrets

And of course, lastly, the music. The game goes for that heavy to death metal style, which to those that have played DMC before will recognise as a staple for the series. It really gets you going in the early levels too, with a fairly decent soundtrack. It's not my music of choice, but with DmC, it never feels out of place.

All in all, DmC stands it's ground. The combat is easy to learn and incredibly well executed and both the story and characters are well designed, surprisingly deep and interesting for DmC, with so much more obviously set to tell. Sure this isn't the old Dante, but this one stands on his own two feet, and is just as deadly as the previous one. Give DmC a chance, don't just throw it under the rug and imagine it doesn't exist, i think it may surprise you just how good this game is.

Please note i've not touched the PC version of the game, so i can't really add anything about performance or framerate for that here.

The VGAs - Good, bad, ugly, and extremely questionable

The VGAs have finally passed for yet another year, and again this one was set to be the "best one yet!" by the one and only Geoff Keighly again and, what a show eh!.......right?

Celbrating 10 years. Wait, they've ran for 10 years?!?

There was a lot of speculation on what this would turn out like before it even began, and not only that, there was a fair bit of debate about some of the awards as well, considering that at the time of announcing them, The Walking Dead(which was in GotY and such) had an episode left to be released, and two of the games for the Wii award weren't even out yet as the Wii U hadn't hit anywhere! So they where questioned as to why they where added. No response was ever given from what i remember, but i still never agreed with the idea. Trailers flew everywhere, two new title announcements where thrown in the loop, some update trailers to games and some new content trailers shown as well. That was all good and fine, but this never felt like an award ceremony in the end. Before i begin, here's the list of awards and who won each(taken from Destructoid):

• Game of the Year: The Walking Dead
• Studio of the Year: Telltale Games
• Best Xbox 360 Game: Halo 4
• Best PS3 Games: Journey
• Best Wii/Wii U Game: New Super Mario Bros U
• Best PC Game: XCOM: Enemy Unknown
• Best Shooter: Borderlands 2
• Best Action/Adventure: Dishonored
• Best RPG: Mass Effect 3
• Best Multiplayer: Borderlands 2
• Best Individual Sports Game: SSX
• Best Team Sports Game: NBA 2k13
• Best Drviing Game: Need for Speed Most Wanted
• Best Song in a Game: "Cities" by Beck, from Sound Shapes
• Best Original Score: Journey
• Best Graphics: Halo 4
• Best Independent Game: Journey
• Best Fighting Game: Persona 4 Arena
• Best Handheld/Mobile Game: Sound Shapes
• Best Performance by a Human Male: Dameon Clarke in Borderlands 2 as "Handsome Jack"
• Best Performance by a Human Female: Melissa Hutchison in The Walking Dead as "Clementine"
• Best Adapted Game: The Walking Dead
• Best DLC: The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim - Dawnguard
• Best Downloadable Game: The Walking Dead
• Best Social Game: You Don't Know Jack
• Game of the Decade: Half-Life 2
• Character of the year: Claptrap from Borderlands 2
• Most Anticipated Game: Grand Theft Auto 5

Now here's where the issues arise. Only six of these awards where shown during the 2 hour ceremony. Six. Take that as 1 every 20 minutes. This is disgusting. You've made an award ceremony more like an entertainment event and less of a congratulations for those that made these titles. What's more, if the situation with Jennifer Hale is anything to go by, we know that awards that where given away outside of the screened event weren't even mentioned to all the nominees. During an interview 45 minutes after the Best Performance by a Human Female was given out, she was told that Melissa won it. She didn't even know beforehand and was still hoping for a win. How terrible can you get at this? For an event that is 10 years old this year, they certainly haven't learned how to run it properly yet. It also tells me that these promises of Keighly, and Spike TV no less, are all empty and hold no solid ground.

The trailers shown throughout weren't bad i'll admit, and we got a good dose of them too. South Park : The Stick of Truth opened the event fairly well, and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 got a good showing. The Last of Us was dated finally for the 7th of May next year, far earlier than i had expected it to be, and showed off a new trailer. Tomb Raider had a new trailer, but was kind of ruined by the camera going to focus on the orchestra more, as much i respect the music, we where there for the game. Halo 4 and Assassins Creed 3 showed off new content in the works for it, Halo 4 with the latter half of the Spartan Ops season, and AC3 with The Tyranny of King Washington, a "What if" kind of DLC focusing on if he was a tyrant instead of a hero, basically.

Watch as MGS reveals itself to you.

Finally, two new trailers showed themselves. We got The Phantom Pain from Moby Dick Studios, which we may as well just say now is Metal Gear Solid V. it was quite obvious by some of the tells on the screen as well as the title screen shown. Also, noone is fulled by "Joakim Mogren", Joakim is an anagram of Kojima, and Mogren is a reference to Project Ogre. All in all, say Hi to MGSV. One other title was announced, Dark Souls II. Presented by Jessica Alba, which was ok, but i felt she was a little out of place with the whole event. Dark Souls 2 has me both excited and concerned. It means more Dark Souls, which is never a bad thing, but at the same time it's not Hidetaka Miyazaki directing, but Tomohiro Shibuya, who's more well known for Resident Evil: Outbreak. He wants to make it more "straightforward" and "understandable" for players. This worries me, but a topic for another day.

We then got a fair dose of music from Tenacious D, Linkin Park(for Medal of Honor: Warfighters theme i think) and some orchestrated music from composers who worked on AC3 and other titles. All seems well and good right? Well, not really. Sure Samuel L Jackson presented it well, but where were the awards? where the heck was the respect to the other nominees for awards given out outwith the screened event? Where was this "return of a classic franchise", as it sure as hell wasn't Castlevania, as we knew it was there already. This wasn't an award show, it was an excuse to blow their budget on whatever big names they could get and make it look fancy, and as such turned into a show of nothing more than trailers, music, with nothing much else to speak of. If this is the way things are going to continue moving forward, i don't want to be a part of it. And i hope to hell that companies catch on, avoid all the glamour this seems to bring with it companies as best you can, it's not really well designed and it sure as hell ain't fun to watch either. Give us a proper set of awards, ones where all games are out for the public to vote on, where we don't need big names to make it fancy, because it doesn't need to be fancy in the first bloody place. Keep it clean, keep it simple, and keep it fair. Try it for a change, you may learn something. Oh, and don't tell NeoGAF what you are doing when you aren't, it's not always a good idea to get them angry, or so i hear.

Ah well, i guess we can take one major positive out of this. Micheal Pachter said The Walking Dead would never win Game of the Year. DIDN'T PREDICT THAT ONE WELL, DID YOU NOW?!?

Berserk: The Golden Age Arc 1 - The Egg of the King

Let's be honest, by now some of you may have at least heard the name "Berserk" thrown out there in some way, shape or form, and considering the series is nearing 23 years old(15 year old in terms of anime), that's to be expected. The main question here is, can this film be enjoyed by those both new to Berserk and those coming in from the manga and original series?  The answer to this is very much - Yes.

So what is Berserk? or rather, what is the Golden Age of Berserk? The golden age is where it all began, the story of Guts meeting Griffith, Casca, The Band of the Hawk, and the last few years of the hundred years war between the midland army and the Tudor Army, covering the many battles which the hawk are thrown into, and the struggles between as well. For those of you who are watching this film having seen the anime series previously, you won't get much new in this film, however you will get a far more action packed film compared to that. Not only that, but since it is a film instead, expect the gore/blood levels to be higher, so if you are a little uneasy with that, there is your warning.
Don't be thrown off purely by it being more action orientated however, fans of character development will get a good dose too with Guts, our tragic hero of the series, Griffith, the leader of the Hawk, and Casca, Griffith's Second-in-Command, who comes across as having a rivalry with Guts, and the bond you see start to form between the three, and the one formed with the Band of the Hawk as a whole. We get a good glimpse into Guts' past as well, and for the most part, it shows off as being extremely dark, and almost a struggle to survive. And this carries over to his stature and character here too, wildly swinging his sword as a mercenary in an attempt to earn a living. Griffith comes across, almost like his polar opposite to some degree, being far more refined in everything he does, and it makes for an interesting friendship/partnership between the two which is worth watching for in itself.  It's a good balance, one which i think could have done maybe a bit more coverage for the other characters, particularly Casca, who has a slightly smaller role here than you may come to expect, but it's well executed for the most part.

Guts and Griffith duke it out

I was expecting to be one of those fans who enter this film with me going "oh but this is missing, that is missing", being a fan of the originals, however you don't get that at all. Studio 4C do a brilliant job in getting all the important parts of the series into the film, to the point that nothing ever feels out of place, nor too rushed either. It all works. You get this feeling that this has been made with the intent of not only attracting the fans of the original to watch, but letting all those who have never had the chance, or maybe didn't see the appeal previously start here. The opening sequence itself kind of helps this too, in that it is extremely foreshadowing on whats to come, but in such a way that you don't get spoiled. Kind of to say "watch this, then come back begging to find out what this means after".  A tease, if you will.


The animation is very much unique. When Berserk was introduced to the audience, we where told that they had taken on this "hybrid" style, part of the film was done in CG, like bodies, horses, etc, whilst faces and limbs where traditionally animated. While this may sound fairly unappealing, it's quite stunning to watch. There are moments where i feel it lapses a bit, taking for example a scene where Griffith walks down a hill towards Guts, you see it fully in CG, and it doesn't look it's best.  However for the most part it's well done, and the CG mostly covers the background action while the animation is used to keep focus on the main parts of each scene.

The hybrid animation helps bring the battles to life so well

It's hard for me not to bring up the music of this film, as it's such a fantastic soundtrack to listen to. "Aria", the theme song by Susumu Hirasawa helps capture the sinister feel of the series and what's to come within the opening, whilst the rest of the soundtrack brings so much more emotion and atmosphere the film itself. What's more, it doesn't take long to get thrown into the music either. As soon as the film starts, you're hit by this epic seige of a castle, and the music captures the atmosphere for this perfectly, almost deliberately getting your adrenaline pumping for the rest of the film. That's the kind of soundtrack i love to see in a film, one that not only helps to bring out the best in the film, but pushes you to want to see more.


Whilst perhaps this won't bring much new to the table in terms of content, it covers the first part of the golden age well, never feeling rushed, and always keeping itself exciting. A film everyone can enjoy, just be prepared for a lot of blood and gore. Oh, and see if you can count the number of heads sent flying, i counted five.

Resident Evil 6

Resident Evil has always been revered for it's use of horror, heck it was one of the titles that brought the term "survival horror" to the table as a genre, and looking now, there is many a title that has followed in their footsteps. But in recent years, Resident Evil looks to have forgotten its routes, what made it such a beloved franchise, and moved more into action. Resident Evil 6 comes into play to "appeal to old and new fans alike" with horror elements and that which would appeal to an ever growing market of action fans. This is where the problems start.

The game splits itself into 3(4 when you beat the first three) campaigns, focusing on everyones favourite, Leon kennedy, back to deal with an outbreak starting in Tall Oaks, Chris Redfield, having lost his memory due to events 6 months prior to where the game focuses, and Jake Muller, a mercenary who turns out to be immune to the C-virus(i like to call his campaign Sherrys mode, since Sherry Birkin feels far more important) and is being safeguarded so an antidote can be made. Everything slowly comes to focus on a city in china where all hell breaks loose, but each feature different styles of play and atmosphere that they still feel a little unique. The stories aren't bad, and do have some pretty interesting and sad moments in them, so it isn't my main concern(though the characters do at times make it more annoying to follow). My main concern, is how each storyline is designed.
Leons campaign tries to bring back the feel of RE2, heck you could say RE in general, and for the first 3 chapters, captures it well. Heck, they stand out to me as the strongest chapters of the game. They capture a decent amount of atmosphere you used to get, and you face zombies(you know, those beasts that RE are famous for) instead of the J'avos in the rest of it. It is lost though later into it, but Leon is easily the best character in this. Helena is ok, but that's about as best a comment you can get. Leon is easily the best campaign of the game.
Chris' mode goes pure action, probably where the "attracting the CoD audience" comment came into play from Capcom, and feels tacked on. It has no feel of RE, bar chris being there. Chris and his partner Piers are bland, uninteresting characters that feel thrown in purely to get a reunion of the originals back in one game and someone to kick chris back into action. They probably tried to capture the idea of it not all being about horror, and now becoming slightly more military-like with it starting to go wide-spread, but maybe they tried that too much. It does have it's moments sometimes, like for example mid-way you have to deal with an invisible snake, no doubt a reference to the original mansion and the snake there, and it killing off chris' squad one by one from the shadows, but outside of that, i struggle to name any other memorable segments.
Jakes(Sherrys) mode is the most experimental, and as such the hardest to really judge. At first, i thought they where trying to go stealthy with it, but by the time you hit the later chapters, you realise, this feels like a movie. It's not bad, but again, it doesn't have any real horror in it. It does have a RE3 throwback in the form of Ustanak though. He refuses to die and has his sights set on Jake throughout. Very Nemesis against Stars-like. Stealth is there too, and it isn't bad, but you can just charge in for the most part too. They both aren't bad characters either, but still lacking a certain...something.

So what's the problem with all this? Instead of trying to focus on one or two things, Capcom tried to do too much. Of the three, you have an attempt at horror, an attempt at action and an attempt at making a movie-like style section. Sure they had a big team to work on this, but it's too much. I feel that, in trying to appeal to so many markets at once, they've shot themselves in the foot and are essentially pushing away more crowds than bringing in. I won't mention much on the 4th campaign, as you do need to unlock it, but it does host the freakiest boss of the entire game. A small consolation prize, you could say.

Ustanak, the Nemesis of RE6

So how is the gameplay? Mostly ok. However it's become yet another title in the "must have QTEs aplenty" concern. It's also linear in a bad way. All resi has been fairly linear, but this hasn't got rooms to the side to look into for extra bits, it's more corridor shooter-like. finish this area, see if there is an emblem(files, which you read in the special features section), move on, rinse repeat. You also have a lot of forced sections, running away, QTEs, you name it. It detracts a lot, and it's something quite obviously no-one has learned from yet. Do not force us into QTEs, or situations. Heck the prologue suffered from the same idiocy as Gaiden 3 did. "press back on the control stick, walk forward, press left, walk forward". Sure, it's a prologue, but let us look about. Removing freedom is not something you should EVER do in a title, period. Controls are reasonable too, though they neglect to mention a lot in the instruction manual. You really need to look online for a lot of the control shortcuts(protip: Hitting RB & X (R1 + square for you PS3 guys)on the 360 controller automatically creates tablets from herbs if you have them available), a bad move overall. But again, the moves feel like they are deliberately trying to make it more action like. You run as normal now, need to tilt the control stick slightly to walk. You now dash instead when you hold A(X). Also, i highly recommend you switch the targeting reticule if you do intend to play RE6, the default is pretty abysmal, change it to laser sight and you should be fine.
There is no weapon upgrades this time, no weapon progression either, something i quite liked from RE4 and 5. Instead, everything focuses on skills. Some are what you'd expect, firepower boosts, defense boosts, more critical damage. Others are aimed at making the game easier(and for a couple, harder) for some, getting tablets when your ally helps you up, better accuracy, or you can remove your targetting reticule as well for a damage boost. It's not a bad setup, all things considered.
For those that enjoy it, the one thing that hasn't really gone and been hit bad at all is Mercenaries. It feels like it used to, you against the clock to kill everything you can(this time with a limit, which makes for some good score attacks) whilst collecting time and bonus multipliers. It's still exactly as it was which i'm glad to see. You can equip a single skill for it as well, which may unbalance it a little i find, but not as badly as i first feared. Time bonuses can give more time, longer bonus multiplier, kind of thing. You can switch between them mid-game, but it does mean you could drop your combo, something you need to watch for.

You will spend a fair bit of time crawling and jumping to the ground

I'm yet to try online, and to be honest, i'm tempted not to try it full stop. If you even set it to consider xbox live or anything, you can't pause the game, even if noone else is in your game. I recommend you set it to offline so you can(why that's not default is anyones guess). Co-op is available in mercs and agent hunter(i'm yet to try) as well both, local and online. Local co-op is horrible, it doesn't even take up a full screen. When my brother and i tried it on the PS3 at home(a 40" TV), it left a lot of black bars/blocks all over the screen and these small wee screens for you playing. Whoever considered this a good option needs to be slapped. There was one other segment which annoyed me. The details you get from the files(unlocked by emblems) is not all there. You need a residentevil.net account linked to your XBL or PSN account to get every detail, and you can only get them on the website. Whatever happened to having everything in the game already?

My opinions here may not seem to suggest it's an entirely bad game, and for the most part, it's not terrible, but it's not good either. What makes Resident Evil.....Resident Evil? This should be obvious. Survival horror. That fear of going up against the unknown, watching your ammo, a dark atmosphere, etc. This doesn't happen here. Sure, there is this more global style fear of things happening...but it doesn't capture anything i remember and loved. Maybe i should approach this as the new way forward as capcom are trying to say it needed to go, but it doesn't work. It doesn't give me what i want from the RE franchise. Why can't they make a game ala Revelations? That captures the fear of another "raccoon city" style even, yet keeps the atmosphere and fear alive? Why do we need the Call of Duty fanbase to help us move forward? The design choices just don't add up for me, and i don't think they ever will. They have taken what resident evil once was, put it into 3 chapters, and made a title that may as well have a different name on it. It might even do better if it did. But because it tries to expand the world of a fan favourite, it has done nothing but hurt itself. Perhaps capcom will take from this and go back to what it once was, or they might try and use this as a way to say "out with the old, in with the new" and move in a direction which will do nothing but push away it's core player-base. All i can say is, if this is a sign for things to come, i fear for the franchise, not because it's going to make bad games, but because it no longer is Resident Evil.

Gaming news round-up 20th - 22rd August

Howdy and welcome to what i hope to be a regular feature on my blog, the news round-up. Unfortunately due to my work and how it's laid out, i can't get these out on a daily basis, so i'm going to throw these out twice a week and cover some of the slightly more interesting story pieces of each week, probably every wednesday and saturday. So without anymore waffling, let's get started!

The World Ends With You 2 teaser site?

At midnight UK time on monday, Square Enix opened up a new teaser site which contained a 7 day timer and silhouettes of buildings in the background. With this was a piece of music playing with a very urban style akin to that of TWEWY. Going by the url link having "subaseka", it was easy to assume that this was probably linked to a new TWEWY announcement(or if you prefer the japanese name, Subarashiki Kono Sekai) after the timer had finished. Too add more to this, each day that passes alters something on the site. The background gets lighter and the buildings more noticeable, and the music has, as of today, become a new iteration of the fan favourite, and possibly staple song from the series "Calling". Whether or not this actually hits as a sequel, an iOS remake, or a social game still remains to be seen, but my hopes lie on a full blown sequel back in Shibuya for the 3DS. Regardless, we will see the result in the next few days, and no doubt we will get a showing of it at TGS in a months time.

Calling~ you hear me Calling~

Teaser Site

New Final Fantasy XIII teaser site

Keeping that ball of teaser sites rolling, Square Enix announced earlier today that they would be revealing a new chapter in the Lightning Saga for Final Fantasy XIII on the 1st of September. Not much else is shown bar that the Producer, Director and Art Directors will be at an event in Tokyo to present these details as part of the 25th anniversary of Final Fantasy. It seems to me that Square just love announcements of announcements this week, it's funny.

Teaser Site the Second

Ubisoft claim that their PC games have a 93-95% piracy rate

This kind of cracked me up. Yves Guillemot spoke with GameIndustry International earlier this week and claimed that the free-to-play games and PC games are getting roughly the same amount of income as one another. He mentions that about 5-7% of the F2P playerbase buy through micro-transactions and that those that purchase their regular PC games is about the same, and that about 93% to 95% of the rest of players pirate their games. This struck me as weird because, if a game is to be pirated, how would they know the actual numbers for that? A pirated copy wouldn't be connecting to their Uplay service, someone would have built a crack to by-pass it, so essentially, these feel like numbers taken out of a hat. I won't doubt his F2P numbers, but i doubt the accuracy of the regular retail title sales. Not only that, but they wonder why the PC market for them is so terrible. The DRM + delays + for some, bad porting cause PC gamers just to ignore such titles and purchase other titles elsewhere. The addition of their Uplay site/hub they are intent on bringing to their titles on PC adds insult to injury as it brings even more DRM to the table. If it wasn't for the large amount of DRM, i expect their "93-95% pirated games" would be far lower, and the sales far higher. It just doesn't add up.
Maths bit: If, say, that 5% was Assassins Creed 3 selling, say, 5 million. then at 100% sales, that would suggest a total of 100 million sales. Do you honestly see that being accurate? I thought not.

For the full interview, check it out on Gameindustry International

And finally for this edition...

Jay Wilson(Diablo 3 Director) hits at Diablo 1/2 Project Lead - David Brevek

Back on monday, The Diablo 1 & 2 Project leader David Brevek commented on Diablo 3 saying that it was "very different" from the game he would have created, also adding that they made a lot of advancements with Diablo as a whole, but it was "not the game i originally designed for Diablo 3". He commented on the skill system being a bit like a load-out system from a shooter and perhaps too generous, and that he wouldn't have chosen to allow items and weapons to power skills. He did also make a comment on the always online DRM for the game and said he wouldn't have made the same choices. All of these comments where fair game, considering he now doesn't work with them(please correct me if i'm wrong on this), and these comments where all made in an interview with IncGamers. The issue was that, not long after this hit the web, those that work at Blizzard, and those that did once previously all jumped onto facebook and commented on the interview in question, with Jay Wilson adding "**** that loser" which was quickly deleted soon after. This hit forums, reddit and so on fast, and soon became known worldwide. From what is known now, he has written a formal apology to David Brevek(which can be read here) and should hopefully be the end of the tale, but this all stemmed from the team of Diablo 3 jumping on what was easily just a mild comment on the game. He never once said it was a bad design choice, just one he wouldn't have gone with.

You can find most of the details for this everywhere, but if you want the image of the facebook comments + more details, check out the reddit post here and the image here

And that ends the news round-up for the week. I probably haven't mentioned much at all, but these stood out as major things to me. If you want to suggest other ways for me to lay this out, please leave me a message and i'll get on it. Until later!

Lollipop Chainsaw - Killing zombies with lollipop power

Lollipop Chainsaw has been out for nearly a good month and a half now, so no doubt a good few of you have picked up this already and had a good playthrough of it, much like myself. It's a pretty interesting style of game, and of course, pretty wacky, but coming from Grasshopper Manufacture, that doesn't even surprise me anymore, considering the other titles they've released(No More Heroes, for example). What got to me with this was, how underrated it's actually been. So is it actually as bad as some say?

Let's start with the basics, Lollipop Chainsaw at it's core is a hack n slash zombie game where you play as birthday girl Juliet, a cheerleader for the San Romero Knights...who just so happens to have her boyfriends head attached to her waist(there are worse ways to go, gotta say). The high school gets hit by this weird ritual in which zombies take over and you, being the badass cheerleader with a chainsaw, have to clear them out, essentially. Story wise, it's there, but nothing you need to rattle your brain over. It's basic in style, but that's all it needed to be for this game.

Combat is fairly clunky at the beginning. You start off with a series of basic combos, chainsaw attacks, pom pom attacks and your low attacks. That's about it. Don't attempt to guard either, since there is no way to do so. Fear not however, as you progress and collect zombie tokens either littered around everywhere or by killing them zombies, you can purchase new combos which improves the feel of the combat as well as makes it far more interesting as well. Health, strength, lock-on and recovery upgrades are available as well, but i'd suggest getting the combos first, as you'll be needing them more at the beginning. Getting good combo chains in as well as well aimed attacks can get you a flashy multi-kill animation where you get bonuses to your gold and platinum tokens(used for music, artwork and all the costumes) which fell pretty damn satisfying. My only gripe with them is that, after a while, they can be a little repetitive, but they don't remove from the flow of combat i found, surprisingly. You'd have thought that slowing everything down to show you 3-7 zombies heads flying off with rainbows spouting out of them would cause disruptions but there we go. Also, it's worth mentioning the Sparkle power, which is the meter at the bottom left which, when filled, makes chainsaw attacks insta-kill and you invincible, and the nick attacks. You fire Nicks head at enemies to stun them and make them vulnerable to your chainsaw attacks.

There are other upgrades you will get via story progression, the chainsaw blaster which is your gun, easy to use but i do recommend you turn off auto-aim, it makes it a lot easier, and the chainsaw dash. Chainsaw Blaster is annoying in a couple ways, one to get used to it, the second is that everytime you choose to use it, Juliet shouts "Chainsaw Blaster". granted there is enough variation in how she says it, but really? I think once every so often would've been a bit better.


The best thing i found about Lollipop Chainsaw was the aesthetic of the game. My god is it fantastic. Each level is designed with a different genre in mind, and it ensures the music follows suit to. One stage will have you listening to Dragonforce as you work your way to the punk rock boss, the next you'll be listening to viking metal whilst trying to get atop a flying viking ship. Also, i can't leave this section without mentioning how fantastic the music in stage 3 is. When you reach a certain section of the game where you need to kill hundreds of zombies to progress, you'll know what i mean. Fit so perfectly. The soundtrack was superb, well thought out and there isn't a song that is out of place within it.

Finally, the main other thing i feel needs mentioning is the voice acting. Tara Strong does a fantastic job as Juliet Starling, even if the "chainsaw blaster" line gets repeated way to often, but the praise has to be handed to Nicks voice actor the most; Micheal Rosenbaum. When i first heard he'd be voicing Nick in this, i wonder what the hell to expect. When i think of him at all, i think of Lex Luthor from Smallville, and just can't imagine him in more of a comical role, but he nails it, and in many ways, carries the game with it. Yeah, all the voice acting is pretty good, but he does stand out atop the rest.


Overall, i very much enjoyed Lollipop Chainsaw to the fullest, and go back to it often enough when i feel like killing with all that lollipop power. Sure, it starts off a little slow in terms of combat, and the story is basic, but it's not about a extremely deep and though provoking storyline. It's about a cheerleader zombie hunter equipped with a chainsaw massacring many a zombie in an attempting zombie apocalypse, with well placed humour and a fantastic soundtrack. It needed nothing else, and does exactly what it needed to, entertain.

Indie titles WHY U SO GOOD!?!?!?!?

I'll be honest here, up until early last year, i hardly played any PC games, bar the odd RTS here or there. but then i delved deeper into it all, and asides from the usual big named titles, i found my steam library turn into this mass of indie titles. There was a point where i thought, hey, hah, all i want is title x or title y on steam, big name stuff i mean, and never looked to cheap titles cause they looked meh. I can't get enough of them now.

Probably some of the major titles you'd think of when you consider the indie scene is Edmund McMillens Super Meat Boy the platformer where having over 1000 deaths before world 3 is common place. Or of course the game that took off flying and is still to really stop, Minecraft. It's become such a diverse and, i'd go as far to say very well respected scene now, that  owning them is normal now. I find myself with over 80 hours on The Binding of Isaac, 60 on Plants vs Zombies, and so many more on others. But i think i'm missing my own point, Why are they so good?

Awesomenauts - check out the theme song, it's so good

I think part of that could be that, as an indie developer, you have a lot more free rein over what you do. You can experiment a lot more with what you're doing than you would if you where stuck working on a AAA title like, say, Resident Evil, which has nosedived into the worst gameplay choices imaginable(going for CoD fans? really?) Take Awesomenauts, which is set to hit PC/Steam in the not to distant future. It's a MOBA(think League of Legends) style game at heart, but so different outside of that. Sure, it has you defending towers, taking out mobs, buying upgrades, it's a platformer on top of that. Aiming  and firing isn't auto either, it's all something you need to control yourself. It can easily change up the way the genre moves on depending on how well it's received(i think it did hella well on PS360, but i forget) and essentially push even more weird and exciting ideas to the genre. Yes of course we will have bad games come out of them, heck that always happens, but there are times like this particular title that things work out. Bastion brings in new ideas for story telling, through a narrator who tells everything as you progress. It means you spend more time enjoying the game, whilst listening to his fantastic voice, tell the story of Caelondia and the Kid trying to find a way to sort out the "Calamity".

Sure, you could say "oh, capcom can do this" or  "Ea did that", and maybe they can or have, but the titles have either gone under the radar, or they are too afraid to do something major to their main titles with the chance that they'll lose sales. It's horrible to say that, but it's not too far off the truth. Resident Evil 6, to bring it up again, is being made with the intention of "trying to bring in fans of CoD". They want that because it means more sales, which in turn means more money. The feeling i get from that is, they don't really want to keep the fans of certain series they have now, they just want to bring in more to keep up cash income. I honestly believe that'll do them more damage with that title than anything else.

I think i've kind of only scratched the surface with it all. Indie titles are becoming more and more noticed and more of them are turning out to be good. Some more so. If i can get more titles like Bastion, Trine, Braid, Limbo, Super Meat Boy, and at such a good price, i think i'll gladly support them all when i can. i feel my money is more well spend with them too, as not only am i getting my moneys worth, i feel like i want to return to the titles time and time again. I think AAA developers/companies could learn from them, if they could only let go of their damn pride and silly notions of being the only ones that can do x, y or z. Some of their titles may just turn out to be good, real good.

Also, Indie games have the best soundtracks. Just Sayin'

The Steam Summer Sale. - Wallets stand no chance

Steam finally got their Summer Sale underway on the 12th of July, after what several believe was a delay. Last year the Summer sale was the last week of June, so there was a fair bit of belief that it would be the same again this year. Regardless, it's finally kicked in, and the deals which will take all our monies has finally hit home, so what kind of deals should we be looking out for on Steam? Here's a few recommendations from myself as to what you should look out for over the next 9 days(ok, 8 and a half when this goes out, you picky people you);

Bastion

Many people who follow me on twitter probably know my obsession with this title, it's such a wonderful game i think everyone should go out and buy it. The story telling is brilliantly done via the narrator, who tells you pieces of what's going on and the lore around the world as you progress through the game. He'll comment on your use of weapons, you're clumsiness(falling off the stage), but never excessively. It's all well paced and feels like it fits perfectly into the game. The combat is a little basic, but it honestly doesn't matter. I sat through the game in one sitting, and never once got bored. That soundtrack is probably my favourite game OST of last year, no competition. My only other mention is, play through the game twice. You'll thank me later. Supergiant games deserve every bit of respect for this.

Sonic Generations

Sonic titles as of late have been a little....on the iffy side. And to be fair the skepticism over how they could return the series to it's former glory was always going to loom over it when including classic sonic, but i can safely say, they nailed it. The classic sonic portions of the game are just right, they feel like classic sonic. The physics aren't off, the momentum is right, the stages are well design, just what we needed. Even the stages from games like unleashed & colours have been redesigned to fit him. And yes, even modern sonic feels good too. The focus for him being more on speed is well balanced with classic. You never get too much or too little from it. Also, What a joy it is to hear Chemical Plant zones music again.

The Binding of Isaac + Expansion

Edmund McMillen has a lot of wacky ideas for games, and this is no different. You play isaac in a zelda-esque style dungeon crawler, with your treasure rooms, item shops + boss rooms and head down deeper into the basement. Sounds easy enough? God it's not. Every playthrough is different, and you'll never get the same combo of items twice(items hit about 220+ i believe with the expansion on top). Consider this. One playthrough, you could be firing homing tears whilst having a cube of meat orbit you, or perhaps you are firing a laser from one eye then using your equipped Shoop da Whoop Beam to get out of a pickle. It's never the same twice. And with so many references hidden in there, it's great. You really need to play it yourself to understand just how wacky an idea it is. Tears as your weapon, and the aim of the game? Kill Mom. Yup. For those interested in where the idea seems to have come from, look on wikipedia for the Binding of Isaac page, it's basically a HUGE reference to the story from the bible of the same name.
(Also, at the time of writing this, It's 99p for the game, £1.73 for the game + expansion + OST. That's it, no excuses)

Amnesia: The Dark Descent

I don't think i need to explain this one. It's a horror game known all over the internet for being one of the scariest games out in years. If you like/love horror titles, you need this.

Saints Row: The Third

THQ are having a fair few issues at the moment with restructuring and money issues, and i find that sad to hear when they have a gem like Saints Row: The Third in their collection. It's insane, over the top fun ala Grand Theft Auto, but unlike GTA, it hasn't gotten serious over time, just more mad. There is enough to do in this sandbox title alongside the main quests and DLC quests that you'll probably be at it for hours. And with the co-op campaign there as well, it's even better. If you need convincing by the way, go check out Jesse Cox(OMGFCata) and his playthrough, even just part 1. The start of the game is enough to get a good judge of the game entirely.

And with that, there is just a few games i'd suggest buying when you can. I could also have gone into depth with Terraria, Super Meat Boy, Sanctum, Serious Sam, Section 8, etc etc, but i'd be here all day. Let's just hope that our wallets don't suffer too much this time round, at least until the christmas sale.