Off Topic Nintendo

[Ashez]

Holy shit am I hype! The Dragon Quest 35th anniversary event this morning announced some freaking cool shit! 

Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake 

A remake of DQ3 in the engine from Octopath Traveler that looks absolutely stunning! I don't own and haven't played 1-3 so I'm so looking forward to this! Now I'm delighted I didn't import the Switch mobile ports of DQ 1-3. 

Dragon Quest 12 The Flames Of Fate was also revealed but only a title card, they've said it'll have a changed battle system that worries me but it'll be a darker more adult story which excites me! 

Dragon Quest 10 Offline (Japan only MMO) was announced but not world wide so I don't know if we'll get that but we've not had DQ10 yet so it might stay in Japan. 

Dragon Quest Treasures is a new spin off based on Eric and Mia from DQ11, it's an action RPG with platforming by the looks of it but they've not shown much yet. Worldwide release but no platforms like most the above actually. 

I need to sit down! DQ12 baby!! 

Also massive Switch Pro rumour has started again thanks to a leaker who's usually in the know. Announcement soon apparently with release in September or October. I'll believe it when I see it but the fact most these games didn't mention platforms has me intrigued as DQ11 was how we first learned about the Switch as they accidentally mentioned it for the NX. 

[Ashez]

Finally we have a time and date 

Don't know if I believe it or not but apparently Thursday or Friday could be a big Switch Pro day too. 

[Rob]

12 hours ago, Ashez said:

Finally we have a time and date 

Don't know if I believe it or not but apparently Thursday or Friday could be a big Switch Pro day too. 

What are you expecting? And what are you hoping for?

[Ashez]

1 hour ago, Rob said:

What are you expecting? And what are you hoping for?

Trying to keep my hopes level atm tbh, it's been such a mad year I don't know what's possible and so on. 

I already know Darkest Dungeon 2, two Pokémon games and two Dragon Quest games are coming so that's alot of important boxes for me ticked! 

BOTW2 is likely the big hopeful one, then I'd also be excited for a new Fire Emblem and whatever the Metroid franchise brings to the table. 

Alot depends on if this new Switch is real and/or coming soon though. 

[Ashez]

What I've Been Playing 

May 2021

Switch

BioShock - I've always heard fantastic things about the Bioshock franchise so I was hyped to try it out, upon starting the game the first thing that hits you is the atmosphere and style of the game. The title is set in an underwater city called Rapture based on the late 1960's and the first person view really pulls you into this world, personally it seriously gave me Batman The Animated Series vibes with the timelessness of the era and with how well it works. The world was a joy to explore with plenty of beautiful scenery to take in while also feeling heavy, you see Bioshock leans towards the survival horror type shooter and while I wouldn't say it's scary it is indeed unsettling. My favourite section of the game has to be one where you're murdering people for some artist and having to take their photo's, obviously this sounds dark because it is but the whole vibe and creep factor of this section was extremely memorable, that's the main level I won't forget about this title. The gameplay is alittle more what you'd expect from a survival shooter as resources are limited and you're constantly looting draws and bodies for ammo and other pick ups, however Bioshock does add an interesting wrinkle to the experience as you also have superpowers. These powers are called Plasmids which is a way to ulter you're DNA and the powers are your typical fair like electric bolts, fire charges and ice blasts but you also have a range of more interesting abilities like being able to control bees or create decoys. As for the story that's where I personally get a little flakey on the game, before i start the story is absolutely brilliant with a killer twist that plays with your mind, however alot of the story is told in real time via voice overs as the game has hardly any cut scenes or set pieces. While this type of story telling is excellent for immersion and for making the world feel alive I often found myself missing key information and story beats as these voice overs were happening during hectic battles with the enemies (I even tried turning down all the other sounds but I still couldn't take it all in). Honestly I felt like I missed a big chunk of the story and it wasn't until after I'd finished it and watched a story breakdown video on YouTube that I was able to fully appreciate and understand it all, I get why the story is like this but it just meant I was unable to really absorb everything how I'd have liked, obviously this is more an issue with myself I guess. Due to the twist I also don't want to go into story details as I went in blind and it really enhanced the experience, I think if I expected what was to come it wouldn't have been as good as it was. As for the general gameplay you'll find yourself exploring Rapture trying to save a family in the early goings. This mainly consists of looter shooter elements and exploring the city to do various fetch quests or tasks to progress, one of the key things to look out for though are Big Daddy's and their Little Sisters. The Big Daddy's are terrifying enemies that hit hard and take a decent amount of damage which is expected since they're the protectors of the Little Sisters. The Little Sisters are young almost possessed like girls you'll encounter in every level and once you've defeated their Big Daddy you'll have the option of harvesting them or saving them, which has story and gameplay implications as you'll earn a form of currency called Adam which is used to improve your Plasmids. Basically as I don't want to dive into the story it's hard to talk about but they're important, especially as in the sequel they have a bigger role as you play as a Big Daddy. I have to admit I really enjoyed this playthrough which lasted around ten or so hours but my disconnect with the story did sour the experience, especially as I'm also not the biggest survival/looter shooter fan but the characters, atmosphere and feel of the game made it an experience I doubt I'll forget anytime soon, I know I'd rate it alot higher if I caught all in the story during gameplay though. 

BioShock 2 - BioShock 2 sees you return to Rapture in a direct sequel of the first game set 8 years after the events of the original, but it's made by a different team. As it's a sequel I'm again hesitant to touch on the story beats but this game does change some things up. For starters in this title you play as a Big Daddy in search of his Little Sister which is a very powerful feeling as you mow down enemies with the classic drill, obliterate them with bullets or take them out with the returning Plasmid abilities. I will say the gameplay of BioShock 2 has greatly been improved as you can now duel wield weapons and Plasmids which gets rid of the clunky constant switching between them which you had to deal with in the first. Unfortunately though this title does lean more into the standard first person shooter elements which is a good and bad thing imo, personally I found this change to work alot better gameplay wise as it's more to my personal tastes, however the increase in gunplay paired with the survival horror elements meant I was often low or completely out of ammo due to some of the bullet spongey bigger mini bosses, it was pretty frustrating to finally have a decent amount of ammo only to run into a mini boss and then be basically out again and I found this happened repeatedly, in one level I basically started with nothing straight into a hectic area so I had to brute force my way through chipping at enemies with melee attacks while repeatedly dying and continuing to chip at them (enemies don't respawn or regain health when you die). One thing that did leave me feeling rather disappointed in BioShock 2 is the atmosphere of the original game is gone, I'm not sure if this is purely because the game feels different or because you're returning to a world you've already experienced but this title isn't as immersive. One reason for this might be because they've changed the way the story is presented as you do get more cut scenes and slower paced moments to absorb the story, admittedly this is something I appreciated as like I said I did struggle to keep track in the original, however this title still has plenty of voice logs and the old method of story telling though so I think the balance is about right. So while the story telling method has improved I have to say this story in the second isn't as good, don't get me wrong it's still strong with a more personal journey to take but it doesn't live up to the heights of the twist of the first, it's almost a retelling of the first story and feels more like DLC than a true sequel at times. In short I think it really depends what you're after as the gameplay in Bioshock 2 is better in my opinion but the story, atmosphere and characters of the first are excellent and more likely to leave a mark. I still found the title very moreish as I beat it's campaign in a weekend and jumped right into its story DLC which will be below. 

Minerva's Den - Bioshock 2 DLC Campaign - I've gave this DLC its own section as it's highly regarded as some of the best ever DLC and as the best version of BioShock, so does it live up to the hype? In Minerva's Den you go to a previously unaccessible part of Rapture and discover the AI brains behind the city. In this DLC you're playing as a different Big Daddy going by the name of Stigma and while you get them in a different order you have most of your abilities from the main game. This story is short, mostly self contained and bloody excellent as it pulls on your heart strings throughout while landing a gut wrenching twist at the end. BioShock played with your head but BioShock 2 and the DLC especially focuses on your heart and I think it delivers. Obviously I don't want to go into the story as I'd hate to spoil it for someone who went in blind as I did but I think it was done well, I'm not sure if it'll stay in the memory as much as the original games twist but in the moment it's gasp inducing. As for the gameplay it's practically the same as the main game but you do have some new toys to play with in a gravity Plasmid and a laser gun, they change it up enough but you'd have hoped for more I think. Regardless this short story takes under five hours and it's well worth a playthrough once you've beaten the main game. All in all its good but maybe alittle over hyped which is what I think of the series so far, I've enjoyed both games but it's been the story that has me interested, the gameplay just hasn't held up for me personally. 

Shovel Knight - I'm only four hours in so I'll save this for next time. 

BitBoy PocketGo 

I picked up this handheld emulation console a few months ago but I haven't mentioned it because getting it working took alittle time. Console wise everything worked wonderfully but my PC is too old to work with its software but eventually my brother in law sorted it out for me. Obviously emulation is a grey area I don't really want to get into, as this thread proves I champion physical media and I'll go physical whenever I can but I'll admit I've become a tad frustrated with GBA collecting due to all the fake carts, even if most of what I'll play on this device I already actually own. You see one reason I wanted a new handheld device is because my Gameboy SP has a dead pixel that drives me crazy, eventually I'll get a new SP but I want a AGS 101 model which are stupidly expensive (like triple what I paid for this device) and the fact this can play GBA, SNES and much more with save states is appealing. I'll give my thoughts on this console in a couple months once I've properly tested it out but for future reference any GBA/SNES games are likely to be played on this. 

GBA Via PocketGo

Metroid Zero Mission - I wanted to run the PocketGo through its paces with an action game so I went with the old classic Metroid Zero Mission. Zero Mission is a remake of the original Metroid from the NES but remade incorporating elements from Super Metroid (SNES) and Metroid Fusion (GBA). I've played the game once before on the WiiU virtual console and I do adore it, it's fast paced and relatively easy as I finished the game in 4 hours with 57% completion. Being a remake of the first Metroid title the gameplay is your typical shooter platformer fair as you traverse the map and use found items to over come obstacles which went on to define the Metroidvania genre. I'd actually say Zero Mission is the perfect starting point to get into the series as the difficulty is relaxed, there are objective markers to point you in the right direction without giving you the answers and its basically just a brilliant time. They also added a whole new "chapter" to the title in the remake where you play as Samus without the powersuit as the game takes on a more stealth like gameplay dynamic as you have to sneak around a Space Pirates ship, at the end you recover your Powersuit and flying back through the area destroying everything you previously ran from is so empowering! It's ace! 

Game Of The Year
 

Spoiler

 

New Releases

1.

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

First Time Played This Year

1. Xenoblade Chronicles DX

2. Bioshock

3. BioShock 2

4. Yokus Island Express

5. Red Faction Guerilla Remarstered

DC Lego Super Villains and Need For Speed Hot Pursuit are out. It's bloody annoying two of my recent purchases turned out less enjoyable than games I've had in the backlog for ages 😂. 

 

Recent Pick Ups

Hades - Switch - £29.99 - Hades released last year to massive hype but I held out in hope of a physical release which was a big enough announcement for it to be made in an Nintendo Direct! At the time of the physical release I decided to hold off and wait for a sale as I had enough to play, however instead of a sale I discovered the game basically disappeared becoming unavailable everywhere. Thankfully I was on a shopping trip with the missus and I popped into Game for a nose and found this sitting on the shelf, I was actually surprised because the game isn't even listed on their website anymore. I did hesitate but it had a £5 back in reward points offer attached which made it basically £25 which is a no brainer. As for the game itself it's a Rogue like action dungeon crawler based around Hades and the Greek gods, I've heard fantastic things but I've not looked into it too much as I want to go in somewhat blind. 

Buffy The Vampire Slayer Sacrifice - DS - £40 - You may have heard about a recent spike in DS game prices so I decided it was finally time to jump on this Buffy game. It's been one I've wanted for years but it's always been a higher price than I wanted to pay, however this title ticks alot of boxes of one that's price could sky rocket in the future so I decided to buy it now just to be safe. Horror games are known to explode in value and exclusive horror titles especially which this Buffy game is, it's also actually a pretty rare title in general as there is only ever a handful of copies available online. I know it only released in Europe or maybe just the UK and iirc it had a limited release at Woolworths or something daft, even reviews and footage of the game are hard to come by with very little on YouTube. The price hadn't gone up much since I last looked at it but when I noticed many DS titles starting to fetch £60-100+ I knew I had to have it. I try not to be swayed into "investing in games" or buying stuff because I think it'll be expensive in the future but as a Buffy fan I wanted this either way. Admittedly the game is meant to be trash but I'll give it ago eventually, but when I saw a minty looking copy on eBay that failed to sell at £50 which is about the current going rate I offered £35 with us agreeing on £40 so not a steal but a deal and I know it's a minty copy. I've just looked and the current eBay listings range between £65-150 so I think I bought it just in time, all it takes is for a few or those £65 copies to sell and a new price is set, thankfully it is failing to sell at the price currently. 

Ask Iwata - Book - £15 - Ask Iwata is a book on Satoru Iwata who is a former president of Nintendo who sadly passed away in 2015. Iwata was the forward facing person at Nintendo who did the Directs and interviews and like many fans I grew to love the bloke, I'll admit his death sucked and knocked the community back. I've heard countless stories about Iwata but I wanted this book in the collection to learn more, I think this famous quote summed him up best. "On my business card, I am a corporate president. In my mind, I am a game developer. But in my heart, I am a gamer." RIP Iwata. 

[Ashez]

I'm very tempted @Rob

[Rob]

34 minutes ago, Ashez said:

I'm very tempted @Rob

Wtf? That’s a bargain!!!

[Rob]

Not long to go!

[Ashez]

14 minutes ago, Rob said:

Not long to go!

GameXplain already spoiling things 😡. Won't say what they've reported today but I'd have been hyped to see that announcement and being able to be surprised by it. 

[Rob]

5 minutes ago, Ashez said:

GameXplain already spoiling things 😡. Won't say what they've reported today but I'd have been hyped to see that announcement and being able to be surprised by it. 

GX are nightmares these days. Sucks. 

[Rob]

If any of Wave Race, FZero, or MK 8 new tracks are revealed I will be happy.

[Ashez]

1 minute ago, Rob said:

GX are nightmares these days. Sucks. 

I'm very close to unsubscribing tbh. I've basically stopped watching them and now they're starting to piss me off. Same goes for Switchforce, but they do cover alot of the smaller games. 

Just now, Rob said:

If any of Wave Race, FZero, or MK 8 new tracks are revealed I will be happy.

Screw that, give me Diddy Kong Racing 2! 

Now that theme tune is in your head

Do da do, do do do do da dooo, do doo da doooooo doo da doo! 😂😂

[Rob]

22 minutes ago, Ashez said:

I'm very close to unsubscribing tbh. I've basically stopped watching them and now they're starting to piss me off. Same goes for Switchforce, but they do cover alot of the smaller games. 

Screw that, give me Diddy Kong Racing 2! 

Now that theme tune is in your head

Do da do, do do do do da dooo, do doo da doooooo doo da doo! 😂😂

Imagine DKR2. ❤️

[Ashez]

I like Super Rare Games and I've bought a few titles from them (Steamworld series) but this announcement has pissed me off. 

In short they'll be doing physical only releases of "smaller" indie games, things like prototypes or demos or whatever else, basically things that aren't complete games I guess. 

I'm all for physical media but this is everything wrong with the limited run company's, they're releasing this knowing it will sell out purely to the FOMO crowd. Buying games of unknown quality, length or reviews at full price just because they're physical? 

Having no digital release means they'll be lost to time as most those physical copies will stay sealed as collectors and the like will know what they have. In fairness they've said it'll be 5000 copies start and open preorders but I can't help but think this is so scummy as it's purely FOMO item targeting collectors. 

I've missed out on limited run games from various company's and it is annoying as I know I'll now likely never have them physically. 

Imagine wanting a complete SRG set which people do go for, you'd be buying their regular release and this every month or whenever they announce them, that's £80-100 a month. It's outrageous. Not to mention if you want Limited Run Games you have to pay the physical release mark up, the postage and import tax which to the UK is a joke. 

I love what these limited release companies do by making games that would only be digital physical but God does it create a FOMO and scummy behaviour, the fact it's limited isn't enough now though. I understand these games wouldn't be seen otherwise and I appreciate that, but I just think this is wrong. 

[Ashez]

The leaks and rumours were true with Mario And Rabbids 2 announced. I'm so hyped for this as the first is one of my favourite Switch games. 

[Ashez]

Made in that Game Builder Garage game Nintendo released on Friday @Rob

 

Simply incredible

Edited June 14, 2021 by Ashez

[Ashez]

What I've Been Playing 

June 2021

June was a disappointing gaming month as I found little time to actually play anything, in fact I think I only played around 10 hours this month. Plenty of work, family commitments and the Euros just meant I hardly had any time. Next month though I should be alot freer but I'm still undecided if I'll be picking up Skyward Sword HD or not. 

Switch

Shovel Knight Treasure Trove  - Shovel Knight is known for two things, being one of the few good successful kickstarters and for being one of the best indie games ever made. The Treasure Trove release is actually a collection containing a few campaigns with the one I played being the original campaign now known as The Shovel Of Hope, it's a game I've played before back on the 3DS but I've always wanted to try it out on consoles with a more standard controller. Shovel Knight is essentially a love letter to old school platforming with the inspiration from Megaman, Duck Tales, Mario 3 and The Legend Of Zelda 2 clear to see but reimagined with modern gameplay elements. This means the game does have some of the old school difficulty with things like knock back being especially annoying but all in all while challenging I do find Shovel Knight a fair experience as nothing is overly difficult and the checkpoint system is very generous so you can brute force your way through if needs be. The early game is fantastic but towards the end game I do feel the game loses its appeal for me, however that's not really due to the difficulty as my complaints are more aimed at some of the late game gimmicks which I've just never enjoyed in any games (death pits, one hit spikes, annoying level gimmicks etc). Gameplay wise Shovel Knight is a level based platformer where the character wields a shovel as his weapon of choice, you'll use this weapon to attack enemies, to po-go stick obstacles and to dig up loot as you quest to save your beloved Shield Knight from the games big bad the Enchantress. Each level has its own gimmick and boss battle at the end with the boss battles being one highlight of the game, each is difficult while you learn their attack patterns but once you've got an understanding of them most can be taken out with little trouble, but some are more difficult than others. I'm so mixed on Shovel Knight as I do really like the game but not as much as I feel like I should, it is a fun playthrough but I've left the game twice now feeling burnt out and thinking the qtitle is slightly overrated. As I said at the start the game does feature multiple other campaigns where you play as some of the bosses but only the Spector Knight one appeals to me (the Plague Knight one looks horrendous to me haha), I had intended to play that after my playthrough of Shovel Knight but I've absolutely no desire to at all, hopefully I'll return at a later date when I next feel like a 2D platformer but as good as Shovel Knight is its left me feeling somewhat flat. 

GBA 

Pokémon Fire Red Nuzlocke - I've started a Fire Red Nuzlocke but I won't get into it yet, I'm currently in Lavander Town but I doubt I'll do an in depth write up for it. I have written notes for me to keep track of things which I might throw into next month's update though as a bonus and obviously I'll post my thoughts on my first Nuzlocke at a later date.

 Game Of The Year
 

Spoiler

 

New Releases

1.
2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 

First Time Played This Year

1. Xenoblade Chronicles DX
2. Bioshock
3. BioShock 2
4. Yokus Island Express
5. Red Faction Guerilla Remarstered

 

Recent Pick Ups 

Paper Mario The Origami King - Switch - £22 - I was browsing TheGameCollection as I often do when I spotted a first party Nintendo game for £22, a Mario game at that! For that price why not jump in so I picked up Paper Mario The Origami King. I've never actually played a Paper Mario game properly before as my only memory of the series is as a kid, I remember renting the N64 version from Blockbuster but I never bothered with it. The Origami King seemed to get decent reviews with most people moaning about the battle system but for £22 I'll try it out at some point. 

Sayonara Wild Hearts - Switch - £8 - Sayonara Wild Hearts is a rhythm game alot of people were hyped about when it first released, it reviewed well and had plenty of word of mouth praise on podcasts I listen to so for £8 it's in the collection. I think it's a pretty short game with high score chasing being its main appeal so it'll likely be a one and done for me which I'll get to soon enough. The visuals for it look incredible though as that was the main appeal to me.  

Hard West Collectors Edition - Switch - £5.50 - I popped into game and saw Hard West on the shelf for £6, when I got it to the counter I discovered it was actually the collector's edition which comes with art cards, a t-shirt and a pin and that it was actually £5.50....What a surprising steal! I actually have this digitally as I got it with expiring gold points months ago but I've yet to try it out, I'm sure I'll like it though as it's a turn based strategy game set in the old West which sounds right up my street. When indie physical games start getting too cheap it's best to pick them up before they disappear, especially if you're willing to give indie games a chance and have an interest in the title. 

[Ashez]

Switch OLED reveal

Dunno how I feel about this, it looks slick but appears more of another handheld set of improvements and not the rumoured "Pro". 

[Stretch]

2 hours ago, Ashez said:

Switch OLED reveal

Dunno how I feel about this, it looks slick but appears more of another handheld set of improvements and not the rumoured "Pro". 

I’m a little disappointed it will only be 720p thought they may have stepped it up a little more 

[Ashez]

7 hours ago, Stretch said:

I’m a little disappointed it will only be 720p thought they may have stepped it up a little more 

In handheld mode would it really make much difference though? 

https://www.ign.com/articles/opinion-why-720p-for-a-switch-pro-isnt-a-big-deal

I just wanted better docked features. 99.99% of my playtime which is hundreds of hours at this point in in docked mode. I'll wait for the OLED Pro 😂

[Rob]

1 hour ago, Ashez said:

In handheld mode would it really make much difference though? 

https://www.ign.com/articles/opinion-why-720p-for-a-switch-pro-isnt-a-big-deal

I just wanted better docked features. 99.99% of my playtime which is hundreds of hours at this point in in docked mode. I'll wait for the OLED Pro 😂

You barely play the Switch these days so it makes no difference really 🤣🤣🤣

[Ashez]

37 minutes ago, Rob said:

You barely play the Switch these days so it makes no difference really 🤣🤣🤣

I'm be back on the grind before you know it

[Ashez]

Anyone playing Pokémon Unite??

[Mikey]

I bought FM21 Touch when it was on sale recently. I've already hit over 100 hours. Just a shame that you're only allowed to load 3 nations.

 

[Ashez]

14 hours ago, Mikey said:

I bought FM21 Touch when it was on sale recently. I've already hit over 100 hours. Just a shame that you're only allowed to load 3 nations.

 

It's never been cheap enough to seriously tempt me, if it was physical I'd have took a chance on it by now though for sure 😂

[Ashez]

What I've Been Playing

Just going through my notes for something unrelated and I discovered I never actually posted this, better late than never as they say! 

July 2021

July was the month of the Switch as I found some time and got into my groove playing a stupid amount this month. Mainly because I got into two games that were massively addictive that I couldn't put down! 

Switch

Assassin's Creed 4 Black Flag - I've never played an Assassin's Creed before but it was always Black Flag that interested me due to the pirate design. In trailers and other coverage the world and game just always looked super interesting but due to the poor WiiU port I never had the opportunity to play it until I purchased it on the Switch. However like the other Ubisoft games I've played there is so much going on in this title I've decided to break this write up up alittle to make sure everything gets covered. 

Characters - The second the game started I was instantly pulled into the world as you start off as a character called Edward Kenway, and the second he spoke I realised the voice actor was Matt Ryan who is someone I've really liked for years, he's most known as playing Constantine in DC's animianted and TV universes. Having the game start with a high action scene and realising I loved the actor playing the main character was an excellent start and thankfully the game continued to introduce plenty of interesting characters from pirate lore like Black Beard and Anne Bonny, it was just cool seeing these characters brought to life and they really added to the story. The voice acting throughout is fantastic and some of the best I've experienced on an immersive level as the accents, dialog and delivery just made everything feel authentic. 

Story - As I'm new to the Assassin's Creed universe I have to admit that parts of the story did go over my head, some parts I managed to pick up as I went along but other parts left me wondering what I'd missed. However thankfully Black Flag while having an overarching story from previous games is more of a character driven experience as Edward Kenway really does go on a journey as you start off as the selfish pirate looking for a better life and without spoiling anything it's safe to say Edwards character develops alot by the time of the powerful ending credits. Moving away from Edward the game takes place in the Caribbean during the 18th century which was the "golden age of pirates". You have a ship and travel island to island while the story unfolds and at each location you'll meet a handful of colourful characters that bring the world to life. The title has many stories going on at once as you'll have elements of the Spanish and British war, you'll witness pirates trying to create a place of their own and dealing with the outcome of their ways, the Assassin's Creed story of Templar's verse Assassin's and of course the journey of Edward. Basically the game is pretty story driven and I think the game is pushed along by a story that does what it needs, while I didn't find the story ground breaking I did find the journey of Edward intriguing enough to keep me pushing on as I needed to know what happened next. 

Land Gameplay - Gameplay in Black Flag is split into two core elements as you have land gameplay and at sea gameplay, on the land gameplay you'll control Edward in an open world which you're free to explore. This is where the game really feels like an Ubisoft game as while I haven't played many of them so much of Black Flag felt familiar due to it being a tried a tested formula for the company. Basically when you arrive at a new location you'll have plenty of activities to keep you occupied but the first thing you should do is find the closest lookout and climb it to uncover more of the map. With the map uncovered it'll reveal all the side content, shops and whatever else in the area while also giving you a better understanding of the land. The locations are full of your typical collectables, hidden items and the like to make exploration somewhat rewarding but as all items are shown on the map it's somewhat of an empty experience in truth but as most of you know I'm not usually into this type of stuff anyway. Throughout the game you'll control Edward around these environments with one of the core gimmicks of Assassin's Creed being the free running mechanic which I have to admit feels so freaking cool, basically if you run at any object or wall Edward will attempt to climb it and if successful you'll be leaping rooftops, launching off trees or hopping off fence posts in no time! It's such a thrilling experience but I have to admit it's a little clunky at times because of the automatic nature of the feature it's easy to get caught on walls you didn't intended to start climbing and the like. It can feel a little Sonic like where the game is essentially playing itself but it feels so cool and you have enough input I think it just about gets away with it, personally I never found the feature got old as it was fun throughout the adventure. The combat on the other hand I did start to find grating towards the end of the game as it's just uninspired, it's like a poor imitation of the Arkkam combat and felt clunky throughout. It's your typical block, attack, parry system but I soon worked out guns were the most effective weapon so I'd often create space and use the quick shot to clear the hordes of enemies quickly or I'd run around attempting to use the assassin's quick kills. Thankfully while an important feature of the game combat is usually the last resort during on land missions as you're an assassin after all so in most cases stealth is the intended way forward, jumping out of a bush or haystack to get an instant kill will never not be satisfying! Unfortunately though that does lead to the story missions which can get repetitive pretty quickly as most missions consist of following someone without being caught or killing someone without being seen, usually the story reason will give the mission more meaning but I did start to groan anytime a stalking mission came up as they're frequent, boring and a little trial and error as being caught usually means you'd have to restart from a generous checkpoint. All in all the gameplay was very enjoyable and almost addictive but it was definitely clunky in parts, not enough to damage the game but it could have been tighter in my opinion. 

Sea Gameplay - Early on in the adventure you will acquire a ship of your own and the seas will be open to you, Black Flag has often been called the Wind Waker for adults and I can see why! While at sea you can sail around the world map which is sectioned off by difficulty which I think scales well, but it's not just sailing you have access to! You'll also be getting involved in epic pirate ship battles! There is nothing more exciting than seeing a ship in the distance, approaching it and then starting an intense battle of cannon fire! If you win the battle and don't sink the enemy ship it's yours to board and claim as your own! Claimed ships can be used to repair your ship, to lower your wanted level or be sent to your fleet which is a side mini game where you can send ships off in hopes of completing missions for gold. As the story progresses you'll be able to improve your ship by adding more cannons, adding other fire power and things like increasing your cargo hold for loot taken from defeated ships. I have to admit at first I wasn't into the ship battles at all but in time and after a few upgrades it became one of my favourite elements of the game as it's by far the best pirate experience I've ever had. The battles can be tough and somewhat tactical as you need to be positioned where you can do the most damage while also being safe from returning fire, there is nothing worse than accidentally being caught side on by an enemy ship and being blown away within seconds, or taking too long to defeat the ship so reinforcements join the battle and begin flanking you. At sea you'll also have other objectives outside of battle and general travel as you can find loot, undiscovered islands, hidden coves, battle forts, dive at ship wrecks and even take up hunting as you can get in a little boat to take on a whale or great white shark. The only thing I don't like about the sea elements of this game is how repetitive and tedious it can become, especially when it comes to boarding defeated ships. You see not only do you have to defeat them on the water you'll also then have objectives to do to claim the ship, thankfully they're usually pretty easy like kill so many of the crew members or cut off the ships flag but when you're grinding for upgrades this process can take a while, personally I'd have liked it if the smaller ships were just won after the sea battle later on in the title. For the biggest Man'o'War ships though the boarding process was just as intense as the battle as they're tough to take out due to their fire power, so after finally defeating one then having to do another decently tough objective to claim it did make them extra intense and feel like the bosses they were. The game does also feature 4 legendary ships with one in each corner of the map but unfortunately I never conquered them as I wasn't up to the grinding required to get my ship up to the required level to take them on. 

Side Quests/Content - Boy does this game have a lot of content! I've mentioned multiple side activities in the write up above but that only scratches the surface! You can hunt animals to upgrade Edward's gear, you can do assassination contracts, work for the Templars, have bar fights, gamble in mini games like drafts, upgrade a port, find all the collectables, climb all the towers, find hidden islands and so much more! Basically this game is a beefy one and while I didn't participate in alot of the side content it's good to know it's there. 

Visuals - Personally I thought the visuals of Black Flag were fantastic, especially the environments as some of the island exploration was simply gorgeous. Then while at sea the water design was spectacular and some of the best water physics I've ever seen and when combined with the weather effects you could have some extremely pretty dark and gloomy nights at sea. Obviously this is an older game being remastered and it does show its age at times but all in all I think it passes the visual test as it all looks fantastic while really bringing the Carribbean and the pirate life style to life. 

Soundtrack - The best thing to say about the soundtrack is it sounded how you'd expect a pirate soundtrack to sound, with a slight Pirates Of The Carribbean flavour which I think is a compliment. However the best part of the musical design of this game is while at sea your crew will sing Sea Shanties which are so addictive and immersive. Collecting them is actually a side activity but hearing your crew burst into song while traveling the high seas is much cooler than it sounds! "Leave Her Johnny, leeeave herrrr". 

Overall Thoughts - I had an absolute blast with Black Flag and it's the best game I've played since Xenoblade Chronicles DX. The open world was addictive and throughout the adventure there was always that "oh I'll do that before I turn it off" moment which would lead to you continuing to play for another hour or so. It is clunky in parts which can be frustrating but as a package I think the good is extremely good! The gameplay is solid, the story moves the game forward and the world feels alive so it is a title I'd recommend. As for me though I don't think I'll jump into another Assassin's Creed title any time soon, I've looked into more since and so much looks just more of the same without the pirate asthenic which is what I loved about this title, to me it was a pirate game first and an Assassin's Creed game second, it turns out alot of what I didn't like about the game was from the Assassin's Creed side. All in all though Black Flag is fantastic and definitely on the higher end of best Switch games I've played. 

Pokémon Unite - Pokémon Unite is a free to play game which released with great fanfare as it seemed to be everywhere, it's not really my thing though so I didn't expect to get into it. However I watched a few videos on it which peaked my interest but it was speaking to Liam who sold me on actually trying the game. Pokémon Unite is a MOBA where you essentially pick a Pokémon and farm to level it up while an opposition team are doing the same thing, via grinding you earn points with the goal being to score these points at the enemies goals. As you can imagine the game gets hectic quick as you're battling the opposition for experience, goals and for general map progression. The game is very repetitive yet somehow extremely simple and addictive to get into, I've never played a Moba before or even been interested in one but Unite really got it's hooks into me as it's very morish with me constantly having that "oh just one more match" vibe (matches last 10 mins). While the point of the game is to score goals and gain experience you also have battle objectives which are essentially mini boss battles, this is where I've enjoyed the game alot less. Most people seem unhappy with how over powered Zapdos is (massive bonus goals potential and swings games) but I actually love that mechanic, my issue is however is how hardly anyone I've been teamed with understands the importance of Drednaw! Drednaw gives bonus experience and a shield and like any Pokémon game having a level advantage is a game changer, however everyone online seems to focus on the Rotom (low bonus goals) and it drives me mental. I've lost so many matches due to my team prioritising Rotom and letting the opposition get Dreadnaw and it's infuriating! The other big talking point of Pokémon Unite is you can upgrade battle items with real money, this I do feel is something worth talking about however I don't think it's pay to win as many say. Yes you can gain an advantage buy splashing the cash but you can also grind for these items, it's basically pay to advance quicker like most mobile games. If you do the events and other bonus reward schemes the game has you can get most of the items you need, it is a grind and I understand the frustration as there has been times where I've been whipped and I've wondered if they spent money to be more powerful but all in all its a minor hicup imo. I'm yet to spend any money on the game but I've played it that much I am debating picking up the battle pass for £4, mainly to support the game but also because it will give me a little boost in progression. Charizard is the character I've enjoyed the most but he seems a low tier character thus far but he's recently been patched so we'll see how he turns out. I'm so surprised by how much I enjoy this game I just wish playing ranked matches wasn't such a shitshow as I'm struggling to climb ranks ATM (currently in Great Rank) which can be very frustrating, especially when you're teamed with players that no show, rage quit or don't understand their roles but that's part of soloQ I guess.  All in all I'd recommend trying it out, it might surprise you like it did me. 

GBA 

Pokémon Fire Red Nuzlocke - I've made it to the Pokémon League but I've kinda left it there for most of the month. You see I basically need to grind every mon up 10 levels each and as yet I just haven't bothered, I will but it's a question of when haha, I don't even have the experience share so it's proper grinding n all. I've chipped at it occasionally while watching TV but progression has stalled. 

Game Of The Year 

Spoiler

 

New Releases

1. Pokémon Unite 
2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 

Pokemon Unite is there by default at this point but I wouldn't be shocked to see it still there come year's end. Currently only Metroid Dread and the Pokémon Diamond/Pearl remakes are on my preorder list. 

First Time Played This Year

1. Xenoblade Chronicles DX
2. Assassin's Creed Black Flag
3. Bioshock
4. BioShock 2
5. Yokus Island Express

Red Fraction Guerilla is bumped off the list with Assassin's Creed 4 Black Flag jumping in at the number two slot. Seriously I doubt anything could dethrone Xenoblade and Black Flag this year but we'll see! 

 

Recent Pick Ups 

Teddy Together - 3DS - £1.25 - I saw it was £1.25 on Amazon for a sealed 3DS game so why not? It appears to be an Nintendog's type sim featuring Teddy's instead of pets. Apparently the teddy has a creepy voice so I have that to look forward to I guess haha, but in all seriousness it'll be in my collection but it's one I expect I'll keep for when the niece is older. There is nothing wrong with having games ready for all age groups 😂. 

Kunai - Switch - £12.49 - I loved the demo I played a few weeks back which showed this game delivers on its promise so it was only a matter of time before I picked it up. Amazon dropping it to £12.49 however was the ideal price of just buy it now and play it later. For those that don't remember Kunai is another indie Metroidvania but the gimmick here is you play as a computer who moves around like Spiderman using Kuani's. 

The Legend Of Zelda Skyward Sword HD - £27 - Switch - I wasn't sure if I was getting this or not, or I wasn't getting it at full price at least but due to a combination of discounts and vouchers I had the opportunity to pick it up for £27, considering it was £50 everywhere at the time I couldn't turn that down, even if it does seem to have settled closer to £40 in recent weeks, that's still a decent saving. Anyway I likely played Skyward Sword for the first and only time around 6-8 years ago now on the WiiU. While I liked it in many ways I also disliked large chunks of the game as it's overly padded, overly long and I didn't get on too well with the motion controls, hence why I didn't think I'd be picking this up. However every time I saw a trailer and heard the Ballad Of The Goddess theme tune I was weak with nostalgia, like emotional nostalgia as one thing I loved about the original game was the orchestred soundtrack and how the title has the best story in the Zelda franchise. Once I saw reviews and heard about all the little fixes Nintendo had made for the remaster I was intrigued so once I found out I could get it decently discounted I was always taking it home with me. 

[Ashez]

It's a long video at a hour but bloody hell it's fascinating. All about how the video game market has been manipulated by a small group of people trying to turn a profit. How they've created the bubble, how they've history of doing it before and all sorts. Well worth the time investment if you're into video games or collecting anything. 

[Ashez]

@Rob holy shit!

 

[Rob]

5 hours ago, Ashez said:

@Rob holy shit!

 

That is the greatest thing I have ever see 

[Ashez]

30 minutes ago, Rob said:

That is the greatest thing I have ever see 

I'm so glad I'm not into Lego as it's so stupidly expensive but these Nintendo lines have me so tempted at times haha. Only previous times I've been weak is for Batmobiles but I've not bought Lego yet lol. I did get the Club Nintendo Lego Mario keychain last week though 😛