It’s undeniable at this point that mods do very well in extending the lifespan of any game that supports their use. Publishers who leave them out are said to be behind the times, and those who are in the vogue seem to have been looking for ways to get in on the action. Their efforts have now culminated to this, and what seemed good now doesn’t. What seemed like a helping hand at first later became a stick-up, if you wish to see this truly as a travesty. Whatever your thoughts are on what’s happening in Steam Workshop at this point, all you have to do is look at Steam Greenlight and think about what you’d give your money for. (more…)
Video Games Archives
Wishlist for Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
Square Enix just released the announcement trailer for Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, the sequel to Deus Ex: Human Revolution that is not a mobile or browser game (because to hell with Deus Ex: The Fall). As you can see from this website’s design (as of this posting), I quite like the look and feel of DX:HR. However, it was far from perfect as it had some “broken” parts that got in the way of immersion. These are my thoughts on what can be improved through the new game. (more…)
Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number [Impressions]
It’s rare for me to await the release of a game right on day one; I’ve only done that for StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm and Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- in recent years, as far as I can remember. This is one of the titles I was looking forward to this year because I love the first game, so I had to cover this game every step of the way. Therefore, here are my impressions of Hotline Miami 2 after playing it for around 3 hours or so. (more…)
The Dichotomy of Skill and Luck in Games
In The Co-Optional Podcast Episode 56, the guest Babylonian (formerly of Rev3Games) discussed the relationship between skill and luck when Hearthstone was brought up, which piqued my interest in the subject. It touched upon the competitive aspects of games, whether tabletop or digital. This, along with having gone on a bit of a tirade about Five Nights at Freddy’s in a Facebook thread, pushed me to look deeper into this subject. (more…)
Puzzle Forge 2 Mobile Game Review
Most of the games I ever play on mobile are either strategy or puzzle games in various forms. For the longest time, SpellTower was the only game on my phone, and I also liked Rymdkapsel. When I bought a new phone, it looked like I wasn’t installing a game on it anymore. But when I heard of Puzzle Forge 2 in a podcast, I had to try it out. From what I’ve seen, my time was certainly not wasted. (more…)
A Hadouken Too Far? More on Platform Exclusivity
So this topic comes up again with what should be a bigger knee-jerk than the last time. Street Fighter is a bigger franchise due to its history and wider appeal, so there seemed to be more attention this time around compared to Rise of the Tomb Raider being announced as an Xbox One exclusive. With the announcement of Street Fighter V and its exclusion from the Xbox One, the waves of reactionary rage were more palpable, so much that I had to write this follow-up. (more…)
Lara in the Box: The Case for Platform Exclusivity
With the news of Rise of the Tomb Raider supposedly being exclusive to the Xbox One, plenty of people got miffed by it, especially those who had played the Tomb Raider reboot (myself included). However, this whole thing may be more than meets the eye, and it’s a look into business practices of gaming companies, as well as how consumers react to whatever the hell the “corporate suits” come up with. Some may think that there’s nothing new to discuss with this topic, but some still think that it’s a new thing even though it has been going on for as long as modern gaming has existed. (more…)
EVO Hype Intro Videos
It has taken me a long while, but I’ve finally put my thoughts down on this little piece of fascination. Let me share something from EVO other than the games that I look forward to each year. Before every Top 8 Final for each game on the main stream, they play an intro video to get viewers hyped up. I personally am into these videos because I’m both a fan of fighting games and videography, so I would like to share my enthusiasm for this little part of EVO with you. (more…)
Top 5 Reasons Why I Did Not Play MOBAs
Recently, I was able to acquire access to both Dawngate and Heroes of the Storm, new MOBAs that are designed to be more “casual-friendly” than their more competitive counterparts. Not sure if that really is the case, but it seems that I’m getting more reasons to really get into the genre now, as indirectly declared by the past tense used in the title. But first, I need to do something cathartic in order to prepare myself. (more…)
Commentary on the Progression of Western RPGs – Part 3
As I worked to conclude this series that may or may not have been worth writing about, I did start thinking that this had been dragged on for too long. Perhaps I was thinking that while western RPGs were worth talking about at length, the things I’ve mentioned in this series aren’t exactly new information and may even be full of holes. I do admit to those doubts, but I still have to finish what I started. (more…)