Every week we do a round-up of news in an effort to give some coverage as well as our thoughts on said topics. With that being said, we try to even the post out between highly relevant and less discussed headlines. We love games but so do millions of other people and sites. Let’s get into this week’s blog post.
I’m Not Convinced Yet…
Redfall seems to find Its way into my vision week after week and I want to be excited about it but I just can’t get there. As everyone knows, their worlds are very detailed and they remind me of Half-Life and Bioshock in certain ways. I fear that they won’t be able to deliver the same quality with this game. Inherently open-world games are less engrossing than linear ones and that’s okay. But given that they haven’t done this before and they’ve said the map is bigger than we think, the things we’re used to could be scarce in Red Fall. On the flip side, I love to see developers trying new things like Tango with Hi-Fi Rush. I will be watching the media surrounding Red Falls release but I will ultimately wait to play the game to give it an official opinion. The vampires look cool, the weapons look cool, and all the characters and abilities look cool I hope everything is executed in a way that is enjoyable and replayable.
Sony…What Was That?
Initially, I was excited at the prospect of a brand new State of Play. “Finally!”, I thought! We’re going to see some new games that Sony has been holding back in hopes of saving the big guns for when there is a larger installed console base of PS5 system holders. Well, I was wrong. State of Play has been mild on almost every outing and has failed to impress me. My hope is always that we’re going to see something that really blows our minds in terms of gameplay, graphic fidelity, and sheer expectation. Simply put, nearly every State of Play has been underwhelming in terms of content. don’t get me wrong I am glad to see VR and smaller Indie titles make an appearance. However, we’re still waiting for that big game that’s a new IP we’ve never seen before or a fan favorite revived for a new generation. To be completely honest, I’m not a fan of this new strategy where Sony refuses to attend any large-scale established gaming events. Sony has refused to make a presentation at this year’s E3 and also skipped last year’s E3. Whereas in years past, Sony attended E3 and delivered that missing element of awe, excitement, and surprise. I have no plans to buy VR anytime soon, and the current news that Sony has slashed projections of their sales of the headset is telling. I believe they led the show with VR to light a fire under potential buyers but much of the software offerings were markedly unexciting for me personally. the strongest component of this week’s State of Play had to be Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. However, I also have my thoughts about that! I’ll write to you about that in a separate section. My own assessment is that Sony needs to do something different. State of Play is just not exciting and doesn’t build the anticipation that I’m used to having in previous generations. While these State of Play events are minor showcases and have little to no effect on console sales, they also don’t generate the type of anticipation and build-up to the actual game release that I’ve been accustomed to experiencing. I hope Sony changes their approach and returns to the format where they are giving us something to wait with bated breath for such as a showing at the next E3, Tokyo game show, or Leipzig, or any other large-scale gaming event.
More Horror In My Favorite Medium
Blumhouse has just announced the opening of a games division focused on smaller-budget titles while working with indie devs. This push will be led by Zach Wood who has worked for companies such as Iron Galaxy, Santa Monica, and Arkane studios over the course of the last 2 decades. I enjoy a lot of the Blumhouse movies so this is pretty cool news. I wonder if they’ll be adapting films to games or if they’ll just be helping new stories be created in the indie space. I’d be interested in playing a game adaptation of Sinister or The Purge. Either way, I hope this brings a slew of games to further my interest as a budding horror fan.
A Risk But Hopefully Not A Miss
In the words of the great scholar Pusha T, “ If you know you know!” I’ve tried to talk myself out of the way I’m feeling about Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. Even during initial conversations with my son, I had to express my concern. I’m not here to bash the game because I’ve never had hands-on time with it at this point. However, my initial feelings about the gameplay that I’ve seen are that it feels very light, floaty, strange, and very much a stark departure from what we’ve seen previously from Rocksteady. Don’t get me wrong, they have earned the right to go in a different direction and try something new. I know I’m going to buy this game simply because it’s based in the DC Universe with characters that are well-known and beloved. However, the story will have to be very strong for me because I have not been impressed with the gameplay thus far. It could be that I played so many of the Arkham games developed by Rocksteady that I’m expecting the same level of grounding, detail, and realism I’ve seen from their previous games. For example, the character models in Arkham Knight were amazing! In addition, the atmosphere depicted over Gotham was spectacularly accurate to comic book lore. While I’ve not spent enough time in Metropolis to give an account of whether or not it is comic book accurate, I am feeling that this is a lot more disconnected from some of the grounding Rocksteady is known for. This may not necessarily be bad. in addition, I know Rocksteady are masters at their craft. I will be watching very closely to see what initial gameplay Impressions and reviews from other outlets turn out to be for this game. I want so badly to believe that it’s going to be a great experience to play, however, I’m not certain at this point. Also, there’s this funny phenomenon that I just can’t quite explain. With video games, you can generally look at the game and get a pretty good sense of whether you’re going to enjoy playing it or not. This ability/feeling has been generally accurate very often with my experience in games. Right now I’m getting not-so-good vibes about Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. I hope that my judgment is premature. This statement is coming again after not having laid hands on the game. I could be totally wrong as many of you were about Gotham Knights, which I predict will be praised in the future as being a slept-on gem, just like Batman Arkham Origins is today. Let’s cross our fingers and pray that I’m incorrect in my initial assessment!
Putting It All On The Line
Ori was the game that got me into metroidvanias like 3 years ago and I’ve been fascinated with them ever since. Moon Studios saying they’re working on an open-world game makes me super excited which is odd considering my stance on Red Fall. Here’s a team that’s known for a certain product and delivering it a certain way moving on to a new genre that might not deliver the same quality. It’s funny I know. The devs said this next title is going to be their Zelda and that it’s “make or break” for the studio which could be a good or bad thing. If Moon is treating development like it’s “make or break” then they could be going all out to provide us with the best experience they’ve delivered to date. I really want to see the art direction of this new title because I liked Ori’s art style/direction it was one of the many endearing aspects of the game. My ear is to the ground for this and I’m looking forward to this announcement.
Mounting For A Comeback
There are reports of Konami being at this year’s E3 showcase bringing a new Castlevania and a remake of Metal Gear Solid (MGS) 3. I’m pretty sure you’ve read a million and one articles on this exact topic so I’ll give you my take. Konami hasn’t delivered a super big title in a while. Their newer games being the Cowabunga Collection, the upcoming Suikoden 1 and 2 HD collection as well as the newest Bomberman installment. MGS and Castlevania could be their ticket back on the main stage due to the weight that these two franchises hold. I’m pretty sure they saw the virality of the RE remakes, FF7 remake, and the new Deadspace remake, with them all being beloved franchises from a time long passed, and thought to jump on the train of “free money”. If these rumors are true, the game community will be ecstatic, to say the least. The question remains if they could actually deliver on the same level as the aforementioned remakes. We’ll have to wait and see first, if they’ll actually get announced. Second, if they look promising. And last, if they’re actually good when they come out. I love Metal Gear and think it along with the genre it belongs to has been on ice for far too long and this could be a shot in the arm to get them both back going. Castlevania is one that has grown on me because I had Rondo of Blood on the PSP as a kid and that game was hard as nails at the time but due to the anime on Netflix (it’s really good btw), my love for it was discovered. I went back and bought the ones from the 7th gen (Lords of Shadow) as well as older titles with the intent to play them. All in all, I just hope this is actually something to be excited about.
Games In Full Effect
I really do enjoy games I don’t think I can say it enough. This past week I played a lot of games. That all added some variety to my palette. First, I’ll talk about Darksiders 3 which I finished Monday. This one was a souls-like hack-and-slash game that seemed not fully realized to me. There were a few mechanics that were just bland or didn’t allow for much imagination or creation in their use. The best way I can describe it is a stiff, segmented-combat Devil May Cry 5. The story is cool honestly I think the highlight is that It’s a prequel to Darksiders 1 and 2 furthering a look into the events leading up to the end of Darksiders 1 where we see all 4 horsemen standing beside one another. Another highlight was the bosses. The bosses consist of the 7 deadly sins which was a cool concept but could have been better if their moves and dialogue were developed to further reflect themselves. The best boss hands down was Lust providing the most challenge because it ended up being a double boss. In the end, I enjoyed the game but I don’t think I’d play it again for a while. I could go deeper into it but I’ll stop there.
Monday, I also beat Terminator: Resistance which was alright. A little stiff with a few bugs here and there but overall a welcome experience that didn’t overstay its welcome. The story is pretty bland and I think the game is supposed to have a lot of fan service but I haven’t seen a single Terminator movie so that’s that. I will say this game piqued my interest in the universe and I think I’m just gonna buy them and watch them on a Saturday or something.
The two highlights of this week’s rotation were Deadspace (DS) 2 and Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (BRoN). DS 2 was a blast. I have so many clips because the environment, enemy AI, weapons, and set pieces were really enjoyable and intriguing. I ended up thinking “how was this game made in 2011” because there are games that come out now and just do not measure up at all. I hope the remake of the first game does more than enough to warrant the remake of 2 because so far it’s my favorite in the trilogy.
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night on the other hand was as Jake Baldino calls them “a game ass video game”. I had so much fun exploring the castle collecting weapons, equipment, and crystals (power-ups), and employing them in different ways to travel and defeat previously annoying enemies and bosses. The story was predictable but it fit given the setting, scenario, and backstory. Overall, the genre has just grown on me and I can’t wait to find the next metroidvania to get lost in.
This upcoming week I’ll be diving into FF9, Army of Two, and Resident Evil 2 all of which I’ve started and am enjoying. The next round of games that I play will be covered on YouTube so I can give them a full analysis through a passion project channel called Backlog Files. Since I’m clearing my backlog and I want to talk about games in as many ways as possible I think this could be a good way to express my passion and give updates on my progress throughout this year . I have to get a couple of things and then I’ll start production on my next few videos
A Videogame Retrospective
40 years. I can’t believe it’s actually been 40 years. this is both amazing and saddening for various reasons. I’ve actually been playing video games since 1982. it started with pong and that game system that my father bought for myself and my brothers. the game system was called name of the game. it had two paddles. There were two brown controllers with dials for manipulation that you could turn left or right to move the bar up or down on the screen. we engaged in Endless hours of competition with that simple play format. we graduated from pong to an Atari 2600 and we felt that was an incredible technological leap. the TV that we had for Paul was black and white. however by the time we got the Atari 2600 we’d managed to finally get an old color TV. the first Atari games were basic and Design but far beyond anything we played previously so we were amazed. as Atari games continue to evolve you began to witness more impressive color palettes as well as adventure games that were well thought out for the time, some even including quests. shortly after the introduction of the Atari 2600 we began to see other consoles and PC games begin to enter The Fray. there was coleco vision, and in television, and not to mention the games we started to play in elementary school on floppy disks, such as the Oregon Trail. we received later iterations of Atari with the 5200 and the 7800. But by this time we began to see even more manufacturers begin to make an entry into gaming. The next significant gaming console I recall was my Nintendo. It was everything to me, I recall waiting home everyday after school. In fact the Christmas when I received my Nintendo I stayed up until about 3:00 a.m. and I put the blanket over the television so my mother would not see me playing. I remember when she pulled the blanket off of the television and me and made me go back to sleep. I was still smiling because I knew when I got up the next day I would be able to enjoy gaming goodness with Super Mario and a video game called Mach Rider that my father had gotten for me. The bittersweet point of all of this reminiscing is that I know there will be amazing games to come in the future. I begin to wonder how much I will live to see as someone approaching 50 years of age. The redeeming point of all of this is that I have passed down this incredible pastime of playing video games to my son who will continue to carry the torch forward. Games have served as a point of relaxation and recreation while also being one of philosophical reflection. And there are still those games that fall somewhere between both of these extremes. I love gaming. I love what it’s meant for my life. I love how it has enriched my existence. I will continue to enjoy this past time as long as I live and I will do my part in any way possible to help and push, or at least nudge, this form of media forward.
THANKS FOR READING THIS WEEKS BLOGPOST SAME TIME NEXT WEEK
IG: 36thgen Twitter: XmanFi1es
