Red Dead Redemption 2 - Second Trailer Reactions

So the second trailer for Red Dead Redemption 2 dropped today, I'll leave a link at the end for those interested but for now I wanted to give my first reactions on it in words. I know it's a novel concept to write about it instead of making a whole video on it but lets get to it.

Mr. Arthur Morgan

First off, we find out that the protagonist is one Arthur Morgan, a dude who sure looks the part of a capable outlaw. Now I do wanna note that he does in every way appear to be an outlaw unlike the protagonist of the first game, John Marston. He is indeed quite the contrast to Mr. Marston, not only does he seem to enjoy being bad more but he's also a different figure, that is he's more physically intimidating. I do look forward to seeing him interact with the world as he doesn't really seem like the kind of guy to be pushed around easily.

I do think there's a reason for such a seemingly dark character, I wouldn't be surprised if he at some point was a more redeemable character but the changed up a bit after the release of Gta V. What I mean with that is that with Gta V Trevor Phillips was introduced and his psychotic persona became extremely popular so I wouldn't be surprised if this fact influenced Morgan of RDR2. Now I don't think he'll be going full psycho but I do think Trevor did encourage Rockstar to make a meaner character than they'd normally do. Personally, I like him, I've seen some negative comments towards him but I'm excited to see more of his persona. I suspect he's not all around bad but perhaps put on a tougher persona when in "outlaw mode".

Outside of Morgan, we didn't really see that much as it was a short trailer. I mean we did see glimpses of hunting (with a bow no less), horse taming and heists. Though the heists did look quite cinematic so I hope you can still rob stuff outside of main missions. We did see one big thing though, Dutch van der Linde, which with other released info has confirmed that it is indeed a prequel that is centered around Dutch's gang. I was skeptical there would be a lot to explore but it does seem to be so far back with plenty of colorful characters to make it interesting.

Not sure there's that much more to comment on story speculations. I do however want to comment on the types of comments I've read in the comment sections on Youtube, Twitter and so on. Fun conspiracy theories that I will hastily debunk. Lots of comments about Abigail being the mysterious blonde woman, to that I say, Abigail had black hair and wasn't a badass gunslinger. Next, lots of people are thinking the boy Morgan threatens in the trailer is a young Marston, first off John's mother died at childbirth and he was found by Dutch while in an orphanage so no dice. I've also seen comments linking Morgan to MacFarlane, that he would be related but as his name is Morgan it's also quite unlikely and reaching to make a connection. As are all the comments calling anyone with a beard Uncle (the drunk hanging around at Marston's farm towards the end of RDR).

That would be all, if you haven't already check out the trailer and get back to me perhaps if you see something interesting. Here's the trailer for those interested;
RDR2 Trailer 2

Objectification in Games [VLOG]

Now I probably wouldn't have made this video to begin with if it wasn't for the fact that when I've asked feminists why they don't look at these issues from a male perspective they've been quick to answer "well it's not a female issue, you fight for it you... You... MAN!". So, where we are.

And I can't stress enough that I don't claim to preach some objective truth, I'm open for discussion. I know I've made mistakes, yeah this video isn't perfect either, only arrogant fools claim to be perfect, please understand.

You can also find me on twitter @crazycat690

Sources for some of the things I talk about in the video:
http://metalgear.wikia.com/wiki/Raiden
http://www.metalgearinformer.com/?p=9178
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/10880647/Topless-women-campaign-to-Free-The-Nipple-why-on-earth-do-women-want-to-walk-around-topless-in-public.html

E3 2015 Thoughts and Winners

Best E3, like, ever! It has to be said before going more in-depth, it was a great show and many unbelievable surprises. It was so much fun seeing old and new games doing their best to impress. With that said, lets get to the meatier stuff! Do note that these are my opinions and I do focus on the stuff I was personally interested in.

I started watching Bethesda's E3 conference at 5:00 am Finnish time, and I'm glad I did. They started off with Doom 4 which was looking really good. Cannot complain about neither graphics nor gameplay, it was fun to see. They had a bit of stuff I didn't care about in the middle, like the Elder Scrolls online thing but they also showed off a lot of Fallout 4, and what can I say about that? It looks damn good, gameplay looks very fun with combat that they've actually put effort into this time around and they have a crazy amount of customization options. Lets just say it's hard to say that Fallout 4 isn't your kind of game because there's just so many options on how to play it. I suppose I should also mention that I can't wait to see more of Dishonored 2, I loved the first game so I do also expect great things from this game.

Moving on, the next conference I watched was Microsoft. I seem to be quite alone in this but their conference was pretty boring. Sure, they had good stuff like announcing backwards compatibility and, yeah. Don't get me wrong they showed games like Halo 5, Gears 4 and Forza 6 but those are franchises I've never been very fond of so they were pretty forgettable. The one game I was interested in that they showed was The Rise of the Tomb Raider (silly title though) but that demo was really disappointing. Very linear, scripted and the same old "shit breaks" kind of set piece gameplay that's just not very fun. They did the same with when they showed off the reboot as well, I thought that game was going to suck big time yet it's one of my favorite games from that year.

However, if we're talking about an outright bad conference, lets check out EA. If you wanna go to sleep, this is where it's at. They were smart saying every now and then how long until the reveal of Battlefront 3, because that was really the only reason to watch their show. Sure they had the new Need For Speed which looked neat enough, but it was really Star Wars: Battlefront 3 that people were most excited about. They also showed off the new Mass Effect: Andromeda game, but there's not much to talk about there either, EA really should've waited to announce a few of their projects because it seems like they aren't even nearly ready to talk about their games yet. Better luck next year.

Maybe it was because I had just watched EA's snoozefest, but Ubisoft had a really good conference, or shall I say an entertaining one. With a good host and good games to show off, with highlights being The Division and Ghost Recon: Wildlands. Curiously enough with only a brief CGI trailer for Assassin's Creed: Syndicate, though I suppose that by now everyone knows what AC is. And lets not forget For Honor which also looks really interesting, new IP with a more realistic take on sword battles. Overall, good job to Ubisoft!

Next up, my personal favorite of E3 2015, Sony. Where to start, the first thing they did was reveal The Last Guardian which people have been waiting for forever. Almost unreal to see it again, and no mercy was given as they showed off a new IP, Horizon: Zero Dawn, with some impressive looking gameplay. The announcements kept coming, Final Fantasy 7 remake in the works and Shenmue 3 is also to be revived. Finally, they showed off more Uncharted 4 gameplay which looked really grand, more open and so detailed. To think that they still have plenty of studios still working on unannounced titles is really exciting. Sony really won me over this E3.

Nathan Drake in action!

As far as Nintendo and Square Enix goes, I don't have much to say. Nintendo's show was cute, sure, but I don't really saw anything worth of note. Square Enix then again showed stuff like Just Cause 3, but their speakers were so dull I just couldn't feel enthusiastic about their games. Seriously, if they don't care about what they're talking about then why should I? Charisma is really important in these situations, next time I hope they have speakers that actually care about our amazing medium.

Final words then, so this year Sony "won" E3 for me, however this year it was so great that I can't really say someone had the best show. All I can say is that EA, Nintendo and Square Enix still have a lot to learn, the rest all had good stuff going on. In the end it's the gamers that won, we will be getting so many quality experiences in these coming years it's insane. Hope you, yes you reading this, are just as excited as I am to be a gamer in this day and age!


You can also find me on twitter @crazycat690

Top 5 Best Games 2014

As 2014 is now over, (actually has been for days, might be late to the party) I thought I might as well name the games I enjoyed the most of last year. Number one will of course be my GOTY, going from 5 to 1.

5. Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes; as it wasn't a full game I can't give put it any higher than nr. 5, but as it stands it does offer great content, even if it isn't much, and great replayability. It does what it set out to do perfectly, getting me hyped for MGSV: The Phantom Pain.

4. Far Cry 4; this left me a bit disappointed to be honest, still a great game though so it earned a spot on my list. I felt it was pretty much Far Cry 3 with better environments but a much weaker story. The fact that they didn't properly balance all the mechanics stopped me from enjoying it even further.

3. Assassin's Creed: Unity; I know this game gets a lot of hate, but I like it. Sure, there's plenty of graphical glitches and they're really pushing the online stuff, but there's so much in here to enjoy that I had to give it a high spot on this list. The side quests feel fresh and the assassinations are for the first time in forever pretty free.

2. InFamous: Second Son; the very first game I played on Ps4, and boy what a start! Once I got past just how impressive it looks, there's plenty of fun content to explore. After my first playthrough I couldn't wait to get back in there for the evil run.

1. Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor; my GOTY of 2014! This game was surprisingly good, I was skeptical at first but I followed it closely, very glad it turned out so well. The gameplay is fun, the skill system is pretty unique and finally it has the nemesis system which allows the player to have completely dynamic and personal relationships with the bad guys of Mordor. Personally, I hope other developers take this system and implements it in their own games, it would be perfect for Assassin's Creed, just to name an example.

E3 2014 Predictions and Wishes

E3 is soon upon us once again, and boy is there reason to hype. Sony, Microsoft and even Nintendo all have reason to bring the big guns. The new consoles have been out now for about half a year, so this E3 will be a deciding point for many gamers. What else can we now do to handle the wait then hype some more?

Nintendo haven't been much of a presence on E3 since the release of Wii U, but they still have a desire to make their fans happy so don't expect them to show up empty handed. Say what you want about Nintendo but they are good at keeping secrets, wouldn't be surprised if they announced a new, grand Zelda game that the Wii U really need. Also I don't think the fans would mind perhaps a Super Mario Galaxy 3, a fan favorite to surprise? Nintendo could use the spotlight.

Microsoft then again have been hyping their stuff big time. Some stuff has also been leaked early, like cover and some info about the announced Halo 5: Guardians. Lately, they've been announcing new and good changes to their console, Xbox One, stuff they could've said at E3 but they might be clearing room to talk about games. Which is a smart move, they could do with some more popularity considering their situation. What I would expect to see from MS is a demo of Quantum Break, a lengthy trailer of Halo 5, a teaser of Gears of War 4, Sunset Overdrive trailer and then some more surprising announcements and some less surprising announcements with the usual exclusive content for certain games.

Then we have Sony, now I must admit I'm personally most hyped over Sony since I've been playing Playstation since a wee lad. I feel like they will bring good stuff to the show this year, they want to stay number 1 right now, eye of the tiger and all that. I wouldn't expect much as far as announcements for the console itself though I suppose I could see a demo of their VR project Morpheus thing and see how it separates itself from the competition. Maybe along with an announcement of Media Molecules game we'll see a demo of their game with Morpheus.

What I expect from them on a gaming note is that they really show off Uncharted 4, it will likely be used to show off the graphical powers of the Ps4, and I for one expect to be impressed. Other than that I think we'll see The Order 1886, Driveclub and Deep Down, you know, the announced stuff. When talking about the surprises I would hope that they're ready to re-introduce The Last Guardian, but not only that, also Agent, and the optimist in me would also not mind seeing Eight Days as a Ps4 project. Finally there's this older franchise that's been rumored to make a return for a long time now that I hope to finally see, which is Syphon Filter.

Of course we also have Ubisoft and EA which I which I will bring up last. Ubisoft have spilled the beans on a lot of stuff they will show like Far Cry 4, AC Unity and The Division, but I would still expect a surprise from them at the end in some form or another. EA on the other hand is kind of a wild card, not really sure what they're up to, could be really good, though they also have the biggest potential to disappoint greatly. Having new Star Wars games, like Battlefront 4, to show they really need to show something good to meet the high expectations from eager fans. They're also rumored to have already have a new Battlefield game in the works, scheduled for no later than this year, while some would be happy I'd imagine many would be angry with them releasing a new BF game one year later while BF4 is according to many still not very functional. Also making it an annual franchise like CoD which is so often trash talked by BF fans and EA alike.
 

If anyone want to share their hype go ahead, I do encourage discussion, not just one-sided talking. 

Top 69 last gen [Ps360] games!

Well folks, it seems like the new console generation is taking root, what better way to celebrate this fact than to list my top 69 (...I'm incredibly immature) games on last gen? Do note this is just my opinion, though I'm mostly right so if your favorite game isn't on this list, though tomatoes.

First a few rules, it doesn't matter if they have or are getting Ps4/X1 ports, and HD versions of Ps2 era games don't count. PC games are also included, of course. I've judged the game on how interesting the content is, and how rewarding it was to play through said content. Finally, I've also allowed myself to select specific and several games from a franchise, since rarely is every game in a franchise of equal quality.

From 1-69:
1. The Last of Us
2. Red Dead Redemption
3. Bioshock
4. Uncharted 2
5. MGS4
6. Grand Theft Auto V
7. Journey
8. Spec Ops: The Line
9. Far Cry 3
10. Fallout: New Vegas
11. Assassin's Creed 2
12. Telltale's The Walking Dead
13. Dishonored
14. Deus Ex: Human Revolution
15. Sleeping Dogs
16. Grand Theft Auto 4
17. InFamous
18. LA Noire
19. Max Payne 3
20. Uncharted
21. Call of Duty 4
22. InFamous 2
23. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
24. Bioshock 2
25. Battlefield: Bad Company 2
26. Batman: Arkham Asylum
27. Alan Wake
28. Batman: Arkham City
29. Bioshock: Infinite
30. Little Big Planet
31. Battlefield 3
32. Sly Cooper 3: Thieves in Time
33. Tomb Raider
34. Uncharted 3
35. Metro 2033
36. Guild Wars 2
37. Hitman: Absolution
38. South Park: The Stick of Truth
39. Dead Space 2
40. Metro: Last Light
41. Mass Effect 2
42. Heavy Rain
43. God of War 3
44. Resistance 3
45. Dark Souls
46. Rage
47. Crysis
48. Silent Hill: Downpour
49. Splinter Cell: Blacklist
50. Mortal Kombat
51. Fallout 3
52. The Darkness
53. Red Faction: Guerrilla
54. Saint's Row 2
55. Dragon's Dogma
56. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
57. Hotline: Miami
58. Trine 2
59. Dawn of War 2
60. Machinarium
61. Shank
62. Team Fortress 2
63. Borderlands 2
64. Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood
65. Amnesia: The Dark Descent
66. Yakuza 4
67. Just Cause 2
68. Torchlight
69. Skyrim

Phew, what a list. Here's a potato:

Thanks for reading!

Disclaimer: I'm aware of the fact that games are still being released for Ps360, like Watch Dogs... So this list stands for today, 28.4.2014, and may change if it's really necessary.