video games

Leave a comment Posted on April 19, 2019April 19, 2019 Reviews

Review – Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

My regular two readers will have noticed that I haven’t posted a piece in just over a year. Apologies for this, but a 16 month old child has a nasty habit of hoovering up every spare moment of your free time. Yet here we are, back from the wilderness.

Due to the aforementioned bundle of carnage, my gaming time is measured in minutes these-days and so I have to be very selective with what I play. Long gone are the massive 100 hour gameplays of Persona 5 and Monster Hunter: World. I have even staved off playing Red Dead Redemption 2 (which is complete torture having waited years and years for its release) as I know that I can’t invest the time it deserves. But when From Software announced their newest title I knew it would fit the bill perfectly.

Now I must admit from the offset that I am one of many From Software fanboys and I consider Bloodborne not only to be one of the greatest exclusives to ever grace the Playstation 4, but one of the greatest video games I have ever played. Therefore I sat in excited silence as I watched the download finish installing (during little one’s nap time) and began on From Software’s latest offering. So here it is, almost a month after release, my Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice review.

Now, we’re almost 230 words in so let me cut to the chase: Sekiro is good, but it isn’t great. It pains me to say that but I have thought long and hard about this and I think From Software have tinkered with their successful formula a tad too much. Let me try and explain.

The story is straightforward enough, you play as a shinobi called Sekiro (Wolf) tasked with retrieving your young master from a very naughty man. Cue a From Software jaunt around old school Japan. There’s a plot point about you being given some of your master’s blood which enables you to use the new gameplay mechanic of Resurrection (more on that later) – hence Shadows Die Twice and all that. Oh, and also you get your arm lobbed off in the first act and get fitted with a prosthetic which of course can be upgraded with various bits and bobs throughout the game – some useful, some cack. The prosthetic arm also has a built in grappling hook enabling Sekiro to traverse the terrain more vertically (the gaming press have been very excited about this) and land “deathblows” on enemies from above.

On immediate control of Wolf you will also note that he can jump, yet the jump is a bit “off” if you ask me. It’s as if the whole movement is a bit too quick. In later sections of the game I was being treated to a nostalgic feeling of rage I haven’t felt since the early Tomb Raider games when plummeting to my death due to a combination of janky jumping and annoying camera angles. This frustration of falling to your death is only multiplied when using the grappling hook as the range at which it can be used effectively seems to differ every time you’re prompted to use it. I also don’t like the grappling hook being mapped to L2.

A lot of emphasis has been placed on stealth in this game yet the AI is very basic and can be frustrating. At times enemies will spot you even in cover and it can take an age for them to “reset”. When you are spotted and have to confront enemies, you are faced with what I think is the biggest mis-step From Software have made with this game – combat.

There was no better feeling in Bloodborne than visiting previous areas of Yharnam to do a bit of farming and slicing through enemies like they were butter. Such a delight. In Sekiro however, combat is much more defensive. Enemies, as well as yourself, have a posture meter in addition to a vitality meter. Wailing on an enemy is often a waste of time and the emphasis is on defending and deflecting an enemy attack by tapping L1. Doing this at the right time fills up the enemy posture meter and once full allows you to perform a “deathblow” to kill them in one hit. This applies to bosses as well, however they often take one or more of these “deathblows” to die.

What this means then is that combat is incredibly dull and frustrating. One on one and an enemy can be defeated fairly quickly, but if you have two or more enemies on you and it can mean death. Why they needed to implement this dire mechanic is beyond me. Sure, be allowed to block, but to have a posture gauge that needs to be filled up is perverse. Enemies and bosses also have these “impenetrable attacks” where a red kanji symbol plops on the screen and you must decide whether to jump, dash or evade the attack. If you’re not perfect with your timing then even the weakest of enemies can inflict massive damage. These “impenetrable attacks” are nothing more than quick time events in my eyes and are as obnoxious now as they were in their 2000’s heyday.

When you do die you have the option of resurrecting yourself (at the cost of losing half your XP, money and triggering an ongoing crappy side mission thing called Dragon Rot) and continuing the fight. But to be honest I rarely use it as it’s only marginally useful in certain situations. This was meant to be one of the standout mechanics of the game but I’m totally nonplussed by its addition.

I think that one of the issues I have is that I can’t help comparing Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice with Nioh. The latter was a sleeper hit the other year and an absolute blast to play. The combat in that was so cathartic and Team Ninja got it spot on.

Now on to some of the positives. Sekiro is a great looking game. Some of my favourite moments involved standing atop a mountain or pagoda, whipping out my Nightjar Monocular, and surveying the backdrop. Lovely. The level design is also typically superb as you would expect from From Software. Hidden paths and ledges make exploring every nook and cranny a rewarding experience. Finding an NPC with a little side quest and accompanying story is always a highlight.

Boss battles are as notoriously challenging as you would expect. One of the earlier ones against an old bag called Lady Butterfly had me punching the air in delight (a feeling completely unique to From Software boss fights) upon dealing her the final “deathblow” after days of trying. The character design is sublime too, with every boss uniquely designed so they stick long in the mind. Yet these battles are bittersweet as the emphasis on dealing posture damage takes away from the enjoyment as a whole I find.

So after nearly a month of playing I still haven’t finished Sekiro and you know what the worst part is? I have no real desire to. I am just not enjoying it as much as I feel I should. Gamers picking up this as their first From Software title may think it’s the dog’s danglies. But it’s not. You know what it is? It’s a 7.9 out of 10. A 79% game.

As for me, I can wait no longer. To Rockstar’s latest foray into the Wild West I must venture….

Leave a comment Posted on February 25, 2018 The State of Play - Gaming Articles

The State of Play – Is Zelda BotW Overrated?

I’ve been asking myself this question ever since I slayed Ganon and restored order to Hyrule in Nintendo’s latest instalment of its legendary franchise.

Peculiar perhaps, because I felt that I should have been more excited before waltzing off to Twitter to bestow wondrous platitudes on the game I’d just played. Instead, I was left slightly bemused. “Is that it?”, I thought, “is that what everybody was banging on about?”

Now, before I get dog turds thrown at me in the street, I must say that BotW is a great game. A visually stunning game. Yet I was expecting perfection, and who can blame me after reading the reviews.

IGN gave BotW a 10 out of 10. A perfect score. Polygon again, gave it a perfect 10. By awarding a game a maximum score like this you are in effect saying that it cannot be improved upon, that it has excelled in every aspect of its construction. I’m here to say that whilst BotW is a fine game, it is far from perfect and therefore unworthy of being called a masterpiece.

The infamous weapon durability system divided gamers, but for me I found it annoying at best and a ridiculous gameplay decision at worst. Having to switch out weapons mid battle because the sword you were using has exploded into a dozen pieces ruins the flow of combat. This process applies to your shields and bows too. It’s a gaming mechanic that I found got old very quickly.

Many fans have said that this is the most “brutal” Zelda game ever made (with regards to difficulty) but there is nothing difficult about a lowly Bokoblin one-shotting you with a wooden club to the back – it’s just cheap.

Another huge mis-step which had me actually shaking my head in disbelief was not being able to continue playing post-Ganon. Being returned to the title screen where you’re greeted by your most recent auto-save before the final boss fight will have you wondering if the game has crashed or an error has occurred. But nope, that’s intentional. If you want to go and finish any side quests that you have active then you need to go back and do them from that save and then return to battle Ganon again. INSANE. I wanted to explore Hyrule Castle in all its glory, purified from Ganon’s filth. But no, it cannot be. Maybe they ran out of time in development to build it, who knows.

These are just 3 of the bigger issues I had with BotW but I did have others; crap side quests (the vast majority of which are just fetch quests for dire rewards), the stamina wheel, clumsy inventory and menus (why can’t I drop an item from the quick menu?), cooking, not being able to fast travel between towns, having to tediously remove weapons in a storm to avoid getting struck by lightening, CLIMBING IN THE RAIN, lack of depth with regards to story, lack of enemy variety, ropey/grating voice acting (especially Princess Zelda’s), lack of proper Zelda-style dungeons, the frame rate plummeting to depths I haven’t seen since Goldeneye 64, simple boss battles, large swathes of empty areas, the camera going dodgy when locking onto an enemy, steering rafts with a korok leaf and just the lack of explanation with regards to some of the games more important aspects – such as elixir making.

Now that there is a long old list of things I found incredibly annoying, yet I have to reiterate – I really enjoyed this Zelda instalment. It’s not one of the best, for me it cannot be mentioned in the same breath (get it?) as A Link to the Past or Ocarina of Time, but it’s a standout game nonetheless and a fabulous introduction for a new generation of Nintendo fans to the long running series.

However my point remains: a game with this many problems cannot be called perfect.

I’m perplexed that the major gaming publications neglected to mention or expand on the issues I mentioned above. Surely we played the same game?

I can’t help but cringe when I read about outlets that I both respect and admire gush utter drivel about how it’s the “game of the year”, with some going as far as to call it one of the “greatest games ever made”.

Go sit in a dark room and calm down, for Christ’s sake.

1 Comment Posted on October 3, 2017 Reviews

Review – SNES Classic Edition

SNES Unboxed

I’ve been pondering recently on what I would consider my best console to date. A tough ask as it’s tricky to balance the nostalgic charm of older consoles with the power and efficiency of modern consoles. Then I started to think about which console I would consider the most important in my life. The answer was there instantly, it always had been – the SNES.

The SNES (or more formally: the “Super Nintendo Entertainment System”) was the first video game console I ever owned. Arriving on Christmas morning in the early nineties I could never imagine that what was in that tightly wrapped box would spark a life-long love of video games.

I don’t intend to sound like a reminiscent old fool, but times really were simpler then. Especially for video game fans. The early nineties saw a division carve its way through school playgrounds around the world – you were either Nintendo or SEGA. The “Console Wars” were in full swing and the battle lines were drawn. Phrases such as “blast processing” and “16 BIT” were thrown around with reckless abandon. Those days are for another post however, I bring them up to emphasise the power of Nintendo, and the SNES, at that time.

Fast forward a quarter of a century and I still own the original cartridges I had back when I had a lovely head of hair. The problem is that these days older games look dreadful on modern TV’s and the hardware of the consoles themselves is starting to deteriorate. I’ve tried to store my original SNES the best I can by wrapping it up in an old carrier bag. Maybe not the most dignified way to treat such a beloved family member.

So imagine my joy when Nintendo announced that they were following up the success of last year’s NES Classic Mini release with the SNES Classic Edition. I could barely contain my excitement. The truth is, I’ve been waiting for something like this for years. I remember being at MCM Comic Con back in 2013 and seeing the Retron 5, but after almost a 2 year delay I finally lost interest.

So, after getting very lucky and managing to secure a preorder, I picked up my SNES Classic on release day and I can finally report that it’s everything I expected it to be – a nostalgic trip down memory lane via HDMI!

The box is compact and small and I must admit that I didn’t want to open it (I’ve already decided to buy a “spare” when stock becomes available once again”) and had to fight the urge to lock it away like a highly valued piece of treasure. Once I did open the box I was greeted by the SNES itself, albeit a miniature version. The shrunk down console is light and sturdy. The “feel” of the plastic will be familiar to anyone who owned the original. This feeling is only compounded once you un-package one of the controllers. Unlike my original SNES controllers, these are crisp and brand spanking. The buttons click and press like a dream. They feel much lighter too.

That’s side by side! Controller bigger than console

The NES Classic last year was notorious for having extremely short controller wires. Nintendo have rectified this and I find the length perfect for me. However, I have already had to jump off the couch a couple of times to stop the dog from tripping over the wire and pulling the console of its perch.

The SNES has two ports in the back – HDMI and a DC in. That’s it. Nice and simple. No fannying around. Yet, even thought the console does come with a HDMI cable and USB lead, it doesn’t come with a plug to connect the USB to the mains. I had to scramble through my drawer of electrical bits in order to find an adaptor.

Once we were all hooked up I flicked the familiar power on switch and we were in business! The menus are responsive and simple and the layout is as intuitive as you’d want. In the display settings menu you can alter the way the screen looks; old TV, 4:3 and Pixel Perfect. You can also add a frame to the edge of the screen if you like or just stick with black. These additional options are a nice touch.

The games themselves are a who’s who of some of the greatest games ever released on the SNES and indeed some of the greatest games ever made, full stop. There are 21 in total with classics such as Super Mario Kart and Donkey Kong Country included. I won’t go through them all, but it’s safe to say that even a handful of these are worth the price alone. Firing up Super Ghouls and Ghosts was like playing it yesterday.

With a limited number of games on the console there was always going to be some argument over what was included and what was omitted. Personally, I would have liked Pilotwings and Legend of the Mystical Ninja to have made an appearance, but I understand that it would have been impossible to please everybody. Hopefully I can play these again once Nintendo get a move on and finally make the Virtual Console available for the Switch.

There was a big deal made over Star Fox 2 finally getting a release on the SNES Classic Edition over 2 decades after it was originally canned. Personally for me, I find it hard to muster any excitement as I thought the original was overhyped crap back in the nineties. A controversial view maybe, but a valid view nonetheless.

All in all I am very impressed with what Nintendo have achieved here and I look forward to many more years of playing these classic games.

Long live the SNES.

Leave a comment Posted on August 7, 2016August 7, 2016 The State of Play - Gaming Articles, Uncategorized

The State of Play – The End of Nintendo?

I write this article with the realisation of a man who can no longer ignore the inevitable. Like a doomed passenger onboard a slowly sinking ship, I can do what only one can do in times like these: embrace the end, remember better times and try to fathom where it all went wrong.

I, like many gamers, began my journey into video games with Nintendo. I’ll never forget unboxing my first console – the Super Nintendo Entertainment System – back on a Christmas morning at the beginning of the 90’s. My young mind could never comprehend the path my life would take as video games would become my favourite way to spend my free time. The console itself is my most treasured, and some of the games released on the platform I count amongst the greatest I have ever played. I have many things to say about the SNES and its accompanying sublime titles, but that is for another day.

Long before the powerhouses of Sony and Microsoft arrived on the console scene, the video game world was dominated by two console manufacturers – Nintendo and Sega. The legendary rivalry between these two titans of gaming needs no introduction, anybody growing up in the 90’s knows all too well the history of this classic feud. As a gamer you picked a side. And you stuck with them, to the end.

Last week details emerged about Nintendo’s newest offering into the console market – the Nintendo NX. News like this to my 90’s self would no doubt have sent me babbling to my parents and informing them that I know what I want to be on my Christmas list in a year’s time. But reading the news today I was left feeling a little empty and for the first time I felt sorry for Nintendo. The general feeling from the gaming press and fans alike is one of disappointment.

The news that the NX won’t be as powerful as this generation of consoles was the first nail in the coffin. Nintendo say that they won’t compete with Sony and Microsoft in the power department. Not since the N64 (for me, the Japanese company’s last great offering) has Nintendo lead in the power department – that was 20 years ago. The design of the system seems to be causing a certain amount of confusion too, much like it’s dog turd of a predecessor – the Wii U. The general consensus is that the system will be some kind of a vague “hybrid” between a home console which is can also be used as a portable. What this means for the 3DS is anyones’ guess. Seeing as the 3DS is Nintendo’s most lucrative product within the market, it would seem like suicide to take the focus away from it.

Then there is the release of the worldwide phenomenon that is Pokemon Go. Nintendo’s stock rose through the roof as opportunistic investors jumped onboard the Pokemon train. Stock prices shortly plummeted to a 20 year low as those same investors suddenly realised that Nintendo had actually very little to do with the record breaking app. A fact anybody who actually had played the game could have told you.

The sense of shameless opportunism hit a new low when I was perusing the Nintendo Store on my 3DS to see what “new” Virtual Console titles were available (telling that isn’t it? Searching for 20 year old games to play). There in the catalogue were all of Nintendo’s available Pokemon releases – on sale. The blatant cashing in on Niantic’s worldwide phenomenon caused me to cringe as I added Contra 3: Alien Wars to my download list.

So; a falling share price, an extremely tepid response to their new console and a general feeling of pity towards the once glorious console manufacturer. The question is: how can Nintendo be successful once again? For that, we have to turn to their oldest adversary. We have to talk about Sega.

After the Mega Drive (Genesis), Sega decided to teach the new kid on the block – the Sony Playstation – a lesson, with the release of the Sega Saturn. Unfortunately for Sega, the Playstation was an astonishing success – selling over 100 million units and establishing Sony as the one to beat. The Saturn sold less than 10 million units and was widely regarded as a very expensive disaster for Sega. Meanwhile, Nintendo had decided to sidestep a 32bit disc based console altogether, opting for the aforementioned N64.

The bosses at Sega could see the writing on the wall and decided to go for broke with the release of the Sega Dreamcast before the turn of the millennium. The Dreamcast is the only Sega console I have ever owned and I can honestly say it was fantastic. The system itself sold just over 9 million units but ask any owner of a Dreamcast what they thought of it and they will regale you with mythical tales of VMU’s, Shenmue and ChuChu Rocket! whilst giving off a feeling that you “really had to own one” to know what was so special about it. Looking back you can clearly see it was well ahead of its time. It’s a cult classic of a console. It was also the last system released from Sega.

A decision was needed. Decisive action was to be taken in order to prevent this historic icon of gaming from heading into the abyss. Sega would no longer make consoles and would focus on producing and developing games. By doing this they could remain part of the industry as a whole, with their reputation in tact, and still contribute to making titles for old and new gamers alike.

This is what Nintendo need to do.

They have an arsenal of first party titles that they can focus on to bring in revenue whilst at the same time showcasing them on the most powerful consoles on the planet; Mario, Zelda, Metroid etc. all could be brought to a wider audience who would never touch a Nintendo console as it’s “for kids”.

It has to be done. I have a feeling that the Nintendo NX will be the final system Nintendo make. I just don’t want it to financially cripple them. I don’t want to live in a world where new gamers look at you with the mystified gaze of a time traveller when you mention the names Nintendo and Sega.

The next few years will be pivotal for Nintendo’s future, yet they have to look at their past and identify their strengths and focus on them in order to survive and become great again.

Over 20 years ago I picked my side and I’ve stuck with them ever since. And I will to the very end.

4 Comments Posted on July 16, 2016July 16, 2016 The State of Play - Gaming Articles

The State of Play – No Man’s Sky

NMS 2

In a month’s time Playstation 4 owners will be able to get their sweaty summer mitts on one of the most hyped games of this generation, Hello Games’ – “No Man’s Sky”. The excitement within the gaming community is palpable, but I’m wary.

“18 quintillion planets” are theoretically possible for you to visit according to the most recent trailer. I say theoretically, as somebody did the maths and it turned out it would take you billions of years to explore every single one of them. You may have gone slightly overboard there lads, 2 quintillion would have sufficed.

Since its first appearance, Hello Games have bamboozled gamers with incomprehensible facts and figures about the size of the explorable universe within No Man’s Sky. It gets to the point though where the eyes begin to glaze over as it all starts to become a little meaningless.

Gamers always want bigger and better worlds to explore, I think it’s a natural progression as we have journeyed through each generation of console. Yet it can get to the point where worlds are too big and too empty as to be interesting. This is the core of the problem with No Man’s Sky, I believe.

If there is nothing to fill the world then why does it need to be that big? Take Red Dead Redemption, for example. The game world is vast, and yet it is filled with amazing characters and details that you often stumble upon sometimes entirely by accident. The Witcher 3 is another prime example. These are massive worlds but filled to the brim with interesting NPC’s and quests.

It seems that there is none of that quality and gameplay in No Man’s Sky. Apparently there is little to no story and our aim is to explore, mine materials and catalogue what we find. There is little to no interaction between characters – as I don’t believe there are any. Have your socks been blown off yet?

And I swear that if I hear the term “procedurally generated” one more time then I’m going to put my head through my PS4 and send Sean Murray the bill. Most of No Man’s Sky *sigh* is generated procedurally; the planets, the life forms, the sound effects, the terrain etc. But how long is it going to be remain interesting to land on yet another planet which is slightly hillier than the last one and a slightly different shade of red? Or to see a tree with square branches rather than round? Or to “scan” and catalogue an animal with two dicks rather than one? You get the idea.

NMS 1

The very best worlds in video games are meticulously thought out and filled to the brim with lore and legend, with characters that ooze story and dripping with gorgeous dialogue that has been painstakingly crafted by a writer or writing team over countless hours.

We will be getting none of this with No Man’s Sky. Yet maybe that’s the point. Maybe the handful of people who have worked on this intend for the universe to be sparse – much like our own.

I really want to be wrong, I honestly do. I pray to the gaming Gods that in a few weeks I’ll be eating humble pie because I respect Hello Games and admire their ambition. But unfortunately, I have a feeling that the resounding lesson that Hello Games will take from No Man’s Sky is that sometimes, less is more.

3 Comments Posted on December 15, 2015December 15, 2015 The State of Play - Gaming Articles

The State of Play – Taboo Releases

Why do I feel dirty and slightly embarrassed about next week’s release of Black Ops 3? The thing is, I’m genuinely more excited about it than Fallout 4 which releases a few days later.

Treyarch’s latest behemoth in the COD franchise is surely going to be weighing down Santa’s sack this Christmas, yet why do I whisper its name in hushed tones to friends and work colleagues as if it’s taboo? I feel like a teenager quietly telling a friend about a porno mag he’s found in a bush.

Certain gamers and video game journalists have become sniffy at the series, many dismissing it as a money making machine and nothing more. Sure, the two most recent offerings of Ghosts and Advanced Warfare were nothing spectacular, but they were still great fun to play online and provided thousands of gamers with hours of head shot goodness. Most buy COD simply for the multiplayer, the campaign comes second. There is nothing wrong with this as multiplayer is where COD has it nailed. It’s become synonymous with online gaming – the image of a player in a darkened room, headset on, shouting obscenities at his TV as he’s blasted with a noob tube from across the map. Indeed, the decision to sell Black Ops 3 on Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 as multiplayer only was met with mild outrage in the more snobbish corners of the gaming press, but the general gaming community as a whole simply muttered a “meh” and realised it wasn’t a big deal, no fewer copies will be sold. It’s the multiplayer people come for, and Activision know this.

For what it’s worth, Black Ops 3 looks like it’s going to be the best in the series for years, but that’s not the point. The point is that people are having fun in a series that is confident in what it is. Activision don’t want Treyarch reinventing the wheel, they are simply asking them to give the fans what they want.

For me, after a busy year that has seen me play some seriously heavy games; The Witcher, MGS V, Bloodborne etc. I can honestly say that the last thing I want to do right now is dive head first into Fallout 4.

I want something fast, dirty and satisfying. And Black Ops 3 looks just the ticket.

1 Comment Posted on July 5, 2015 The State of Play - Gaming Articles

The State of Play – A Knight to remember

I’m currently dismantling various pieces of rubbish, selling items from my ever growing inventory and carefully selecting which sword/armour/gloves I wish to craft. After 20 minutes I’m happy. My girlfriend thinks I should have used the time to clean out the shed.

This is The Witcher 3, one of the finest games of recent times and certainly one of the stand out releases on this generation of consoles so far. It’s a vast, beautiful and awe inspiring title that has generated much acclaim and rightly so. It’s the only game I’ve played in the last month, until this morning.

I was perusing the Playstation Store on the lookout for any new titles that I may have missed when I came across Shovel Knight. I remember hearing great things about this title when it was released in 2014 but somehow missed the announcement that it was available on Playstation 4 (this could be due to CD Projekt RED putting me into a Witcher inspired coma for the last few months). £11.99 would be the price to play Yacht Club Games’ debut offering. And after a few hours, I can honestly say it’s probably the best £11.99 I have ever spent.

For those who do not know who or what Shovel Knight is then I shall do me best to sum it up in a sentence: It’s a 2D side scrolling retro platformer done in an 8-bit style where you play as a knight with a shovel for a main weapon.

Since the emergence of the Indie Game market there have been a lot of retro-styled throwback titles in recent years. Some more successful than others. I think that a lot of the titles released come down to the player relating and connecting with what they are playing to what they were playing all those decades ago.

That is why I believe Shovel Knight is such a success. Its gorgeous level design, gameplay, story and soundtrack not only remind me of the obvious classic games it pays homage to, it also encapsulates a whole generation of gaming from my childhood. Shovel Knight himself is Arthur from Super Ghouls and Ghosts reincarnated, and the first stage where you can see a castle in the back ground reminded me of a similar sight towards the end of Streets of Rage 2. Everything feels comfortably familiar, from the perfect control system to the classic hit detection “flash” when you strike a boss. You have all the mod cons of recent gaming such as auto saving without it ever losing its authentic feel. This game could have been released 25 years ago and it would have been a triumph then as it is is now.

The difficulty is perfect and the boss battles are wonderfully challenging. I was cursing at the TV after timing a jump wrong over and over but all with a smile on my face, purely for the reason that the frustration was part of the fun! I welcomed it like a long lost friend.

It’s just the perfect game to play after endless hours grinding away with Geralt of Rivia or any other mammoth gaming project one has on the go. If I were to use a food analogy (my favourite) then The Witcher would be an exquisite 3 course meal consisting of foie gras, followed by venison with a red wine jus and finishing with a lemon syllabub. An experience to take your time over and savour. Shovel Knight on the other hand would be a delicious gastro pub-style burger with beer battered onion rings, accompanied by an early 90’s soundtrack playing through your brand new iPhone.

So I had best go clean the shed out now, if I value my life, but when I come back in there will be one game I’ll be itching to play. And it involves a little blue knight with a shovel.

Leave a comment Posted on June 10, 2015June 8, 2018 The State of Play - Gaming Articles

The State of Play – Do we still care about The Last Guardian?

E3 is just around the corner and this year’s show looks set to be a return to the glory days.

Gaming journalists and fans alike are working themselves into a giddy frenzy at some of the titles set to be shown this year; Fallout 4, No Man’s Sky and Doom are just a handful of the heavyweight titles tipped to be on display. But there is one title that pricked the ears of even the most sedate of gamers. If you listened hard enough you could just about hear the hushed whispers circling the Internet. Making sure not be be too loud, so as to not scare off this mythical title. Thousands of gamers the world over rubbed their eyes in disbelief and asked themselves, “The Last Guardian is to be shown at E3?”.

The story first appeared in an article on The Guardian’s website (the British newspaper – no relation to the game) this week. The short, sparse paragraph gave no solid evidence whatsoever as to the title’s re-emergence, it could have just been popped in to fill a few column inches. It doesn’t matter though, as gamers worldwide are talking about Team Ico’s title again. It got me thinking though, “Why do we care so much?’.

After reportedly being in development since 2007, the first time we saw the game was 2009. As expected from the people who brought us Ico and Shadow of the Colossus, the hype was real. Fumito Ueda had pulled up a throne alongside Hideo Kojima as Japanese game designer royalty. Gamers were chomping at the bit to get their sweaty mits on this Playstation 3 exclusive. Then, quite suddenly, everything went quiet.

As the years rolled by release dates came and went, as did key staff members associated with the project. Like Kojima, there were tales of mutiny and ridiculously lengthy delays due to “perfectionism” associated with the project.

Even though the premise of the game is beautifully original – a young boy and his huge feathered dog like creature completing puzzles – due to the game’s delay and what has happened in the proceeding years, it doesn’t feel as special as it once was.

In the 8 years it’s been in development (8 years!) we have seen some of the greatest games in a generation come and go; Red Dead Redemption, Skyrim, The Last of Us, Super Mario Galaxy and Bloodborne to name just a few. Not forgetting the emergence of indie game developers and titles such as; Journey, Braid, Limbo and Fez.

You can see the challenge facing Team Ico. The video game landscape has changed dramatically since 2007. What was once an original, intriguing title is in danger of becoming an overhyped throwback to a bygone generation. Don’t get me wrong, if The Last Guardian was to ever see the light of day I highly doubt it would be keeping company with Duke Nukem Forever as one of the most overhyped dog turds of all time. But I also doubt we will be talking about it in the same excited tones as we were back in the “noughties”.

Some would say that sometimes it’s better to just cut your losses, accept that the game had promise and move on. Others would say that it is a labour of love and the game must see the light of day, a reward to all the fans who have waited patiently for its release year after year.

It’s all speculation of course. The only reason we are talking about this game again is because of a vague reference in an article on the Internet somewhere.

Yet there is a part of me deep down that would love to see Team Ico and Ueda swagger out at E3 and show us that actually, good things do come to those who wait.

Leave a comment Posted on June 8, 2015June 13, 2015 The State of Play - Gaming Articles

The State of Play – Are games challenging enough?

“You Died”

I found myself maniacally laughing and speaking in tongues at seeing these two words for at least the thirtieth time in 3 hours. Yet the frustration was reassuringly nostalgic.

I’d first seen the blood red text appear on my screen 20 years prior when playing Resident Evil for the first time on the Playstation. Now, in 2015, I was seeing the same two words again – but this time on the console’s fourth generation, and in the form of Bloodborne.

Playing From Software’s fantastic new release got me thinking about another thing these two games had in common despite the age gap of two decades – the difficulty.

Bloodborne has garnered much praise from critics due to its unflinching difficulty and deservedly so, but is this game overly testing or have we – as modern gamers – become scared of a challenge?

It immediately becomes apparent that From Software have been very economical when it comes to checkpoints, they are audaciously few and far between. The humble checkpoint has become such a crutch in recent years that we take them for granted. Most releases these days find them staggered in what sometimes feels like 30 second intervals. In Bloodborne, the feeling of finally reaching one after fighting through hordes of beasties, half dead and low on items, is one of exhilaration. The sweet satisfaction of reaching a save point where you can fully restock and replenish your health and items make it all worth while. A glorious feeling.

Back in Capcom’s survival horror masterpiece, and the feeling was quite similar. There was nothing quite like the dawning realisation that you have no health replenishing herbs left, 4 rounds of ammo in your handgun and in order to get to the typewriter to save your game you must first get through a corridor of the undead. Couple this feeling with the stomach churning dread of knowing that you last saved two hours ago, and you begin to appreciate the enormity of the situation.

I’ve lost track at the number of games from back in the day that I have put to one side for months on end after dying and losing hours of progress.

The interesting thing is that early in my gaming career I didn’t really know any better. Sure, Legend of Zelda a Link to the Past had a superb save feature, as did Super Metroid, but other titles on the other hand had nothing at all. Not even a password to level select.

I remember Jurassic Park on the SNES. It was a decent game; great graphics, sound and design. The object of the game was to collect eggs and do something with them. I never knew what as I never made it that far. There was no save function or password system. Every time you played the game you had to start from the beginning. Every time.

To this day I can still play the first three levels of Super Ghouls ‘n’ Ghosts in my head as if I was playing it on a SNES. I shit you not. I’ve played that game, and more specifically the first few levels, hundreds of times in my life. It’s easily one of the hardest games I’ve ever played and also one of the best. Any game where you get to the end of it only to find out you have to play through it ALL AGAIN immediately in order to fully complete it is a true sadistic masterpiece. I must be a sucker for Capcom games.

The feeling of completing a game such as Super Ghouls ‘n’ Ghosts is unparalleled in my experience of gaming. A true test of timing, reactions, level memorisation and patience. The same feeling with Resident Evil. There were many points where you would temporarily give up, but the frustration in it’s difficulty would ensure you’d always be back.

Recent games I’ve played have none of this. GTA V for example was a stunning game. Great fun and an enjoyable experience. But was it a challenge? Not for me. Not in the slightest. It seemed to be scared to challenge the player too much.

It’s as if developers these days are playing it safe, they don’t want to lose players who can’t hack a challenge.

That is why Bloodborne is such a breath of fresh air. It has everything the modern gamer wants in a game; gorgeous graphics, fast paced action and lots of blood and guts.

Yet it also has what the modern gamer so desperately needs in a game – a challenge.

	Brandon on Review – SNES Classic…
	Dave on The State of Play – Aver…
	Dave on The State of Play – Tabo…
	Maya on Review – Star Wars Battl…
	garethswain on The State of Play – No M…

James Talks Games