Thoughts on anything really, philosophy, religion, even the occasional litterature, but what I'm talking most about is video games and the industry in general. You can also find me on Twitter, DeviantArt and Youtube @crazycat690.
So I bought The Witcher 3 back when it released, hyped about it, then I played it for like an hour max and I just couldn't get into it. Then I played it again some a year afterwards for a few hours that I liked more but still didn't get me hooked and it was still very early game. Finally, a week or two back I once again started playing it determined to finish it, and boy did I really get hooked this time. Playing hours on end, every day.
The start was slow but once it got interesting it really got interesting. There's so much depth to the story and gameplay that I just haven't seen in any game before. Yes yes the combat itself is a bit on the simple side but it was surrounded by so much more than that like preparing yourself for fighting witcher contracts. Figuring out which potions, oils and signs to focus on before a fight made it so much more interesting than just walking in hacking away which at times works for sure but other times it will be an easy way to die without doing any damage at all to the monster.
Story was also beautifully told, the main story was decent but the main draw to me was the side stories. They were so interesting, well written and more often than not had a twist that went somewhere you couldn't have predicted. While you could argue that if it always has a twist that it's no longer surprising but it's very appreciated that they did play with expectations to keep it interesting. While I was a bit disappointed that the consequences weren't quite as fleshed out as I was led to believe, it did leave a strong impression when I had made a choice that resulted in an entire village being wiped out becoming a ghost town.
Now the things that they did really well that I would like to see more companies do is humor, deeper relationships and enemy variety. Witcher 3 is a mature game for sure, blood and guts, sex, tragedy, but it also knows to relax every now and then. Geralt's sarcasm always brought out a chuckle and partying with your Witcher friends was so much fun and a welcome break from the action, I wish more devs figured out to do this so it's not always just hours and hours of action and angry grunting. Now I know this is the third entry in the franchise but it was a breath of fresh air to see Geralt managing a current relationship, which is of course something you can choose to engage in or not but when I played it he and Yen were like an old married couple which is in stark contrast to say, Bioware games where a romance is a quick end game "reward" or Bethesda where it's basically a background perk.
As for the enemy variety goes it was one of the best things about the game. Really puts to shame everyone else doing similar kinds of games that just doesn't put in the effort that a small Polish developer managed to pull of. When going to hunt a monster you never really knew what it was, thanks to the variety of types and the fact that many enemies are more rare made sure hunting something unknown could be tense even late in the game. Not to mention the awesome monster designs. Contrast this with Bethesda as an example who use a very limited amount of enemy types that you fight often it's never tense or surprising when finding yet another Draugr lord, dragon, ghoul or deathclaw.
There's so much more I could praise like the beautiful world they built but I wanted to mention bugs as a closer. I did have a few annoying ones like sound being messed up, music would disappear and voices wouldn't be heard. Not to mention Roach who when not glitched would get stuck on a tiny piece of terrain sticking up. Wasn't ever anything that ruined the game, though I reckon it used to be in a worse condition around release.
TL:DR, I finally finished Witcher 3, loved it, can definitely see now why it got so much praise. 10/10 best game this gen so far. Though I remain open for something like RDR2 or TLoU2 to dethrone it.
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
Talking about the immortal NPC's that Bethesda insists on filling their worlds with. I get that NPC's in such a huge and dynamic world are forever in danger and that it would suck for them to die randomly but there's better solutions than making them 100% unkillable.
A vlog about how the Uncharted 4 multiplayer lacks a traditional leveling system and if it will be addictive enough to keep a living multiplayer community in the long run;
A rant regarding the settlement building in Fallout 4. Don't worry, it's not too negative, if you were a nice person you could even call it constructive criticism;
I have to be perfectly honest, I haven't even tried a Final Fantasy game since FF8 (might have played a bit of FF9, not sure). What I mean to say is that I haven't really kept up to date with the series for a long time so when I went into this demo I didn't really know what to expect as I haven't even followed FFXV that closely. Nonetheless, here's my thoughts on it and I will be keeping it short.
It should be said that this was a tech demo and not actually an accurate representation of the actual game. In that regard I can't give it a lot of praise, sure the visuals and atmosphere are charming to say the least but the actual performance was a bit questionable. Felt pretty "choppy", like the game couldn't quite keep up with me as I moved through the world. Quite disappointing considering that this was built specifically to show off the visuals in a controlled environment so it does have me worried how the full game will handle the bigger environments with more stuff going on.
As far as the gameplay goes it did feel okay to play. The reason I haven't really been a big fan in the past is that the previous games haven't exactly been user friendly. This however felt pretty easy to get into, don't get me wrong when I say that because you did get a taste of an actual fight at the end and it didn't feel easy to me. Once I got a hang of it I did manage somewhat but my first impression is that it's relatively easy to get into but will take effort to master. However that's based on this demo alone so I might be completely wrong.
Personally I must say that the demo did catch my attention and did make me more interested in the game. Like I previously mentioned I haven't really been an avid follower but this may have changed it, as someone a bit fed up with the same old shooters this might actually be a breath of fresh air I can actually get into. Now I've seen feedback from others and it would seem I'm not in a majority of that particular viewpoint but I guess I wanted to express that I do see potential in the game. I'd still want to see reviews before buying but I am more likely to buy the game now than I was before playing the demo.
Finally, for those interested, here's my playthrough for the demo;
I've just finished my very first playthrough of Fallout 4 and I'd like to share my thoughts on the whole thing. Not a review as I'm a bit late to the party and overall I'll keep it pretty simple and personal. Also don't worry, I don't intend to drop any spoilers. Also, if you don't feel like reading, feel free to watch my video version of this "review":
It may sound weird that I finished the story of Fallout 4 just now, I mean it's been out a long time and all. The thing is for once I enjoyed it so much I didn't want it to end, in the past I've never been the biggest Bethesda fan so I've never dragged their games out any longer than I've had to. Let me elaborate, in Bethesda's previous games like Skyrim and Fallout 3 I've felt the writing and gameplay was rather poor.
Sure they were very open and all that but I need the game to be enjoyable to play if I'm going to enjoy everything else it has to offer. I just couldn't get into their previous games because they felt so stiff in every way, the worlds felt like amusement parks where I interacted with robots and so on. Fallout 4 however did elevate itself to such a level it no longer felt weird, for once the writing was pretty solid and the gameplay was highly enjoyable. I've spent a lot of time just exploring the world without a real objective which I've just never done before in a Bethesda game.
In many ways to me Fallout 4 is a promise of a bright future where I too will be able to get into their games. I say that because it's obviously not perfect, yes I enjoyed it a lot but lets talk about the things I want improved or added. Speaking of additions, settlement building was added to Fallout 4 this time around and it was an aspect I really enjoyed and put many hours into. It's fun but again not perfect, some settlements where just too small to really matter and there were just too many of them.
Fallout 4 effectively welcomed me into the Bethesda fanclub
The way I'd like to see this aspect handled in the future is fewer player controlled settlements but deeper mechanics. I'd like for them to matter more, if I basically own the wasteland I want it to mean something. Would be fun to have some politics involved in this, think of Fallout New Vegas where you could choose to take everything over yourself, this is something I would've liked to see here. Yes I know that's what the Minutemen storyline is all about but they're not really yours to control. What I guess I'm getting is that I want to see a Gta style rise to power where you reach a point where you're a big deal, a point where caravan guards no longer treat you like some ragtag wastelander peasant.
I know Bethesda makes big games and I know you can do insane amounts of things in them, but if there's one thing they've yet to master it's to make the world respond to you in a way that you feel like you matter. Fallout New Vegas (again) did this pretty well, you were given feedback to your actions, if you killed members of Ceasar's Legion at first sight then you'd reach a point where you're vilified in their eyes, you could also become idolized by different factions and communities. In short it felt like your presence was acknowledged.
Moving on, to again bring up the Minutemen aspect, if you want you can pretty quickly in the game become the Minutemen General. A nice title, yet it feels hollow that even after having literally every settlement available under your control you still need to take care of everything yourself. It feels like the next step for Bethesda is to look into micro management, wouldn't be too far fetched considering they've added a big new mechanic such as settlement building. Let me send troops to defend settlements, to take over settlements, to sabotage the enemy or clear out raider camps. Just let me feel like the leader I've worked so hard to be.
Now to bring up something completely different, vehicles. I know there's both negative and positive opinions on this but I really feel vehicles could be a good addition to Fallout. Now I don't think they'd work well in Fallout 4 in particular but they could be added to improve future installments. How, you may ask? Well Fallout 4 felt very dense, not really a bad thing in most cases but this is Fallout, you're supposed to feel like you're in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, yet it feels too "alive". You walk two feet and you stumble upon yet another settlement or otherwise inhabited location. Some breathing room between points of interests would go a long way to capture the feel of the original games and a vehicle would be more useful.
Of course I also bring up vehicles for another reason, in a near future a patch will be released that overhauls the survival mode, one way it does this is by removing fast travel. One point against vehicles I always hear is that you miss out the sense of exploration, that you'd just race past everything interesting. Now my counter point is that fast traveling does this to a much higher degree, at some point the world gets very small as there's no reason to actually wander around anymore. You're just going from loading screen to loading screen. My solution would be to completely remove fast travel, apart from maybe certain locations like Witcher 3, but instead introduce vehicles that allows you to travel faster between locations while exploring the wasteland in between.
Could work a bit like the power armor does in Fallout 4, speaking of which, the power armor in Fallout 4 was both a hit and a miss. First, I do like that this time around it felt like a big, powerful piece of armor. Secondly, not a fan of the Fusion Core system, I get that they wanna limit it somehow to make sure you don't abuse such a valuable asset. I mean it's really against the lore that their batteries only last 30 minutes, it's just wrong in that regard. What I'd suggest is reduce their level of protection so they're not quite as overpowered and don't sprinkle them around the wasteland like they've done here. I'm fairly certain that it can be balanced without messing up the lore much.
There's two more points I'd like to address in this already lengthy piece, the dialogue and choices. Now let it be know that I actually liked having a voiced protagonist, if I spend an hour creating my character I like to see him interact with those around him. What I don't like is that I suddenly can't interact with anyone after having done their quest. What I refer to is that I've literally completed every quest in the game and there's no one I can talk to anymore except traders and those who give radiant quests. Oh and by the way a small thing about that I'd like to see someone but faction characters give out these quests, as an example that chem salesman in Diamond City could always have more ingredients for the player to collect.
Fallout 4 can be pretty lonely
As far as choices go, and this will be my final issue, I would've liked to see a more open story. Now I do feel this was the most well written and interesting story ever to be in a Bethesda game but because it was about searching for your son you're automatically written to be a good character. Even the companions reflect this, there's not a single companion that's outright evil, even Fallout 3 had this so it baffles me that this time around being good (more or less) is your only option. Not that it had to be that way, I could easily see how instead of being a force for good the events in the game would lead the protagonist on a more violent and evil path. Though as I don't wanna spoil much I won't go deeper into that, I would however like to see in the future that you don't define my character this much from the start. Like the voice actor even sounds so kind it's hard to be an evil bastard even if you try.
There you have it, my thoughts on Fallout 4 and where they can go from here. I am very excited for it as I did enjoy playing it a lot. I had spent about 200 hours on my first playthrough and I want more, to me that's a testament to how good the game is.
Sharing both my positive and negative thoughts on the open beta for STAR WARS: Battlefront III. I'm a bit late to this party I know but the game isn't released yet so here goes.
I like it, won't review it or anything... Just wanted to spread my personal joy over finally getting it. Why this late, I hear you ask? Well I wanted to get it for Ps4, and I got a Ps4 just a week ago... So there, played this game quite a bit and in my humble opinion it was worth it. Though I am of course a completely biased MGS fan.
E3 2014 just went by, they showed off plenty of good games but there was also few surprises. Sony showed some Uncharted, Microsoft showed Halo, and Nintendo showed Zelda.
I'm going to go over E3 briefly and from my own point of view now so don't expect some in depth analysis or anything, without any further delay lets start out with Microsoft! Their idea to show only games was great, it was entertaining to see game after game but they showed mostly multiplats and then CGI trailers for newly announced games. Oh and if you're not tired of Halo, good news, they talked a lot of Halo.
Then I watched the EA conference, they kinda left me puzzled. I understand that they want to show off games and all but they proved that you can show them off too soon. Do I need to see games so early in development that they miss all textures? No, not really. Hard to be excited for something that we'll know won't come out anytime soon. And while Battlefield Hardline did look interesting, I don't think it's a smart move to annualize the franchise considering they like releasing pricy DLC for about a year. I can't speak for everyone but I won't be spending 120 bucks for a game that'll last a year. Though since I never bought BF4 I might get Hardline instead.
Moving on, Ubisoft, they were a bit more fun and once again having the energetic Aisha Tyler return as host. Apart from the less interesting segments with those dance and workout games their show was pretty solid as they showed off good games like Far Cry 4, AC Unity, The Division and the newly announced Rainbow Six: Siege. Overall a strong conference.
I watched the Sony conference last, the first half hour was really entertaining with Little Big Planet 3 suddenly being announced and demoed. It slowed down for about 20-30 minutes halfway through when they spent way too much time talking about more boring and technical things. Overall it was a decent conference with games like LBP3, Bloodborne and Uncharted 4.
Final words, I didn't bother watching Nintendo's thing because I was kinda asleep at the time and they've never interested me much. Later I've heard that it was pretty good with many games shown off. Anyway, based on my experience I liked Sony's most, mostly because they showed off the three games I'm most interested in, MGSV, Gta V next gen version and Uncharted 4.
