Is PUBG THAT Bad on Xbox One?

Hey Guys, if you weren't aware PUBG recently released on the Xbox One and has already gathered controversy. Why? It's because there is a large number of reports being made about the game's performance on the Xbox One and the Xbox One X. I purchased this game day one knowing that I am getting a half finished game, but I wasn't aware of how bad the game runs on the console.

Image Provided by Forbes

You can have your own opinions on the game, but I'm talking about the game's performance on the console. You already know it's going to be a pain in the ass to aim with a controller, so I'm not going to complain about how the game controls. Besides, I personally believe that the game controls fine especially for a game that is clearly optimized for PC.

The framerate is what is seriously killing the experience. What in the world happened here? I get that Bluehole already confirmed the game was going to run at 30fps, but there are some serious fps drops that occur in the game.

You really start noticing it around the lobby when players start popping in and when you begin dropping into the map. I feel like the game's framerate starts to "smoothen" out close to 30fps when you start exploring the area. When people say that the game's framerate starts dipping every time you move, they aren't completely exaggerating. Depending on which part of the map you end up in and how many people are there, you're game is going to get a serious frame drop that will effect the gameplay.

For a Battle Royale game like this, framerate is going to make or break the experience. It will lead to unfair advantages to all players involved because it's going to be based purely on luck on who lands their shots the best. As I mentioned before, aiming with a joystick in this game is a bitch and most importantly there is no aim assist, so you pretty much have to be a console McCree main to hit your shots assuming the framerate is cooperating with you.

I'm not going to complain about the game's visiuals because I'm not too big on graphics and I'm aware that the quality of the graphics is going to take a dip when compared to its PC counterpart. However, draw distance isn't really that good on the console version. If someone is over 100ft away, you will see them as pixels. Meaning, you're probably not going to tell it's a human being.

I get the whole "game preview" thing, but it's clear that there was not enough time put into optimizing the game's performance on the Xbox One X or the base Xbox One. I'm playing the game on the base Xbox One, so I can say that the game isn't running good on it. There are even graphical issues that I barely touched on which do include pop-ins.

Did they really believe that this game was in a good state to be released on console? I don't understand why they just didn't spend more time focusing on the game's performance rather than just on the visuals. I bet a low-end gaming PC could perform better than the Xbox One version of the game.

Don't get me wrong. This is still PUBG. The game itself is fun. It's not a game for everyone especially if you don't like slow paced tactical shooters. However, if the game were to have a much better framerate then no complaints would be made about it. Well, besides the controls.

If there is truly no other way for you to play this game and you happen to have the Xbox One, then this wouldn't be a terrible choice, but you're better holding off until they manage to patch this framerate issue.
Till Next Time!!

The Star Wars Battlefront 2 Microtransactions Disaster: My Thoughts

Hey Guys, I haven't posted in a week and the time I was gone EA has really been taking a beating from the gaming community. I'm looking through forums and seeing what people think about the SWB2's microtransactions. Wow, EA gets a lot of shit, but this is the year where I noticed that people are not taking their shit anymore.

Image Provided by Reddit

I kid you not, Reddit is full of posts influencing people to stop giving their business to EA and generally giving more reasons to hate the company. I even believe that one of EA's responses to the controversy became one of the most downvoted posts on the site. All of this just puts a big smile on my face as people are taking action.

Want to know how I know people are taking action? EA disabled cancelling pre-orders. You would have to call customer service or something like that in order to cancel your pre-order for SWB2. I don't know if you still have to do that, but it's still funny that they did have to revert to people calling in to cancel their pre-orders. I'm guessing they did this because there was such a large number of people cancelling their pre-orders, so they thought that by having to call customer service they would slow down the amount of people cancelling their pre-orders.

EA had this coming for a very long time. After years of their overpriced DLC, shutting down a good portion of their developers, destroying the reputations of our beloved franchises, and general shady business practices.

However, this certain situation started because SWB2 was essentially a pay to win multiplayer experience. How the hell is it fair for someone to get their ass kicked by someone who paid more for some extra loot crates? I know it's star cards or something like that, but it still runs on random drops. Even if you have the money to drop on these microtransactions, what's the point if it's random?

I do not plan on buying SWB2, so I had to do some serious research on the multiplayer section of the game to understand what is causing this "revolt" against this EA. After reading this article, I can see that the progression system is damn near broken. I gagged as I read this article because of how shady EA is because the progression system is essentially influencing players to buy star cards.

What happens if you choose not to put money into these microtransactions? According to swtorstrategies, it'll take over 4,500 hours of gameplay to earn everything in the game. What in the actual hell? Want to know how much you'll spend if you want to unlock everything in the game? $2,100.

This has to be the final nail in the coffin for EA. Microtranactions are fine unless they are pay to win or generally effect the game to work to your advantage. If the microtranactions were just skins for your characters or weapons, then I'd be cool with that. Free DLC my ass. Sure, map packs will be free, but the actually gameplay relies on grinding which in turn encourages you to pay money to speed up the progress to dominate people in multiplayer.

What a shame. SWB2 seems like a solid game only to be held back by a company that wishes to exploit its brand to screw our wallets. Seriously, fuck EA. Don't give them your business and they'll eventually get the message. I'm also going to practice what I preach and not buy anything from them until they get their shit together.
Till Next Time!!

PSA: Black Friday 2017

Hey Guys, in a little over two weeks Black Friday will be happening. Most stores will be opening on Thanksgiving Day at 6pm. I know that Walmart, Target, and Best Buy will for sure be open at 6pm on Thanksgiving. Yeah, what a great time when most people are probably eating dinner at a family's house or are hosting a family dinner. Imagine hosting a family dinner and as soon as 6pm hits you tell them,"Okay, I love you all, but you guys need to get the hell out!". Anyways, this is just going to be a list of general Black Friday tips for 2017.

• If you're going to be waiting in line before a store opens, make sure to have basic necessities. Have a snack, a couple bottles of water, or even a blanket. I'm from Chicago, so we can get some pretty cold weather. Dress as warm as possible because you're going to be outside for quite some time unless you are fortunate enough to enter the store.
• Don't be an asshole. Seriously, pushing and shoving will piss people off and that is going to lead to a fist fight if things get out of control. For the love of God, don't even throw a fit if you didn't get the item your looking for because you could have easily ordered it online or get in line much earlier if you can. Well, assuming it isn't a doorbuster deal or something.
• If you're looking for an Xbox One or PS4, both will be on sale everywhere. I believe an Xbox One S is going to run you $190 while the PS4 is going at $200. Don't expect discounts on the Xbox One X or the PS4 Pro.
• If you're in the market for a Nintendo Switch or Nintendo Switch games, just know that you're not going to find a discount on the Switch itself nor for Super Mario Odyssey or Breath of the Wild. 
• Bethesda fans? Both The Evil Within 2 and Wolfenstein 2 will be on sale. They are cheapest at Best Buy going at $25 a piece. How about Call of Duty? WWII is going for $40 at Best Buy. 
• Shop online. It's a cool experience to actually go to the store with all those people, but it's not something everybody wants to go through. Just do it all online, but you'll have to wait for all your purchases to come in depending on the shipping date.

That's all I really have to say. Keep an eye out for those leaking ads. Seriously, stay safe if you're going out to the store. Stay smart as well by shopping online and spend some time with your family on Thanksgiving.

Till Next Time!!

The Evil Within 2: A Cult Classic?

Hey Guys, I know I'm a couple of weeks late on making this post, but I had to go back and play this game as much as possible to give my opinions in the most genuine way possible without sounding like a complete fanboy of The Evil Within 2. I'm just going to say it how it is, this is easily one of the best survival horror games released in recent years and one of the best games of 2017. I'll try to be as structured as possible when talking about this game.

Image Provided by VG247

The story in The Evil Within wasn't really memorable, but it had a very interesting concept. In the first game, you're just tossed in without much knowledge and is just an overall confusing plot. I'm not going to spoil what happens in terms of the story, but I will say that you do find out that you're actually in the mind of the antagonist of the game via a machine called STEM that links people's minds together. Honestly, the first game is all about survival and it did its jobs well for what it was.

Think Inception, but this isn't a dream.

The story in The Evil Within 2 feels vastly different compared to the first game as I mentioned back in my impressions post. Not only is this game about survival, but it's about finding your daughter who you thought was dead back in the previous game. I don't believe she was shown in the first game, but it's mentioned she died in a house fire, but I guess she ends up being alive for plot convenience.

For the most part, the story is interesting for what it is. Mobius turns out to be the true villain of the franchise because they were responsible for the creation of the STEM in the first place. I'm not spoiling anything as this is all revealed within the first 10 minutes or so of the game. Regardless, you're in a pretty shitty world that you need to get yourself and your daughter out of. While the story itself may not sound like something original, the characters are a lot more likable this time around and what they go throw compels you to see through the end of their stories.

One of my main complaints from the first game, was the boring main protagonist. What makes a survival horror game feel so tense is the character you play as. Do you honestly feel scared if you're character is something like John Wick? How about the way they react to what they encounter? In the first Evil Within, Sebastian is so non-nonchalant to what's going on around him. It's probably due to the mediocre voice acting, but even if the voice acting was awesome the characters are not exactly well-written.

In The Evil Within 2, it's already established that Sebastian Castellanos is no longer a Detective. As a matter of fact, he's washed up. I personally like how the game introduces him within the first 20 minutes of the game because it shows how the events from the previous game effects him. Not even the first 20 minutes, throughout the whole game you see that there is a evil within Sebastian that continues to haunt him. This is especially shown when he blames himself for losing his daughter as well as the treatment he received after surviving the events of the first game.

Sebastian is more of a character in this game than he was in the original game. He's not memorable by any stretch of the imagination, but the game does a great job at exploring him as a human being. However, to learn more about his backstory you have to go for the collectibles.

The collectibles in this game do serve a purpose. It's worthwhile to collect them because some of them lead you to supplies that you can use to help you in combat as well as exploring Sebastian as a character. You can argue that these collectibles force you to explore in the semi-open world areas such as Chapter 3. I think I spent five hours on Chapter 3 alone just exploring the area without a guide in order to find collectibles and supplies.

The open-world system is okay. Other than the collectibles and supplies, there really isn't much of a purpose to explore these open-world levels. There are side missions, but they only occur whenever you do meet a new character. They reward you with supplies and not much else. For a game like this, I really want them here, but they help with getting ammo and green gel.

Much like the first game, enemies drop green gel that you can use to upgrade Sebastian's physical abilities from shooting to health. Believe me, once you unlock the right abilities you become an unstoppable killing machine. It helps with going back for multiple playthroughs, but does kill the immersion. However, you can't do this on the Classic Mode which I think is a godsend because I think that's the way the game should be played. The limited saves and fight-or-flight mentality help to get you immersed in the survival horror feeling. If you want a real challenge, play this game on the harder difficulties to make it feel like a true survival horror game.

Before I wrap up, I do want to mention how clunky the combat mechanics are at times. Before upgrading your shooting abilities, the weapon sway will ruin your experience if you don't have the best aim. Imagine playing this on classic mode, you're going to want to run more than fight. Don't even try close quarters combat! The camera zooms in way too damn close whenever you take on enemies, so put in some good distance. You do have the option of using either a knife or an axe, but you have to find the axe and the knife doesn't do much damage.

I also mentioned this during my impressions post that Sebastian's movements are too slow. It's one solid reason why you will be discouraged from exploring the open world. I get that it's survival horror and you're supposed to move slow, but not in an open world like setting.

It sucks that this game is pretty much under the radar. If you didn't already know, it's not doing so hot sales wise much to my expectations. Anyone who is a fan of survival horror games needs to play The Evil Within 2. It's easily one of the best survival horror games I've ever played and is a significant improvement over the first game.
Till Next Time!!

I'm done with Competitive Overwatch

Hey Guys, I wasn't planning on making this post. As a matter of fact, I was just going to keep this on the down low because I don't really talk about Overwatch much. I know I made two posts complaining about the toxicity in the game and a couple of miscellaneous posts about the game, but I've finally had enough.

Goodbye to using my main in a more serious manner...

I consider myself to be a mild mannered person. The only time I will respond to a toxic teammate is when they start believing they are "carrying" and are just overall providing no useful feedback. However, a lot of them LOVE talking over you instead of shutting their mouth up to actually listen. Believe me, there are just times where I just lose my shit if someone is being toxic to me or anyone else on the team.

The whole, "if someone is being toxic just mute them", defense just doesn't work. Do you know how much of a disadvantage you will have if you lose the amount of players in voice chat? I get that they are being an asshole, but most of them will still make call outs(albeit in the most aggressive way possible).

Don't even get me started on toxic players who don't use mics and love to spam "Thanks!" in the chat log. It's especially annoying when they just start throwing because you'll have no idea why they are throwing. A lot of the time they'll throw if you pick their "main" or you pick a hero they don't like. Even if you do make the switch, they probably will still throw.

Whenever I play Competitive, I tend to play D.Va or another tank because I just don't like playing DPS even though I main McCree. Why? If there is a toxic teammate on your team, about 99% of the time they'll blame the DPS for a loss or just their overall performance. It's probably because they wanted to play DPS, but got salty as soon as someone autolocked DPS. I get that it's more satisfying to do the damage, but if you're playing on a Diamond level or above, then you absolutely NEED to learn how to flex. 

I'm making a lot of the same arguments I made in previous posts about me bitching about the toxic players in the game because it's STILL happening. Even with the addition of the report feature on consoles, the toxicity still keeps coming. A lot of the time it's from a smurf account, so there's no point in getting it ban because they'll just make another account and continue being toxic to other people.

With the little time that I have to play this game, I have fun playing this game competitively when nobody is being toxic. If my team lost a game, there was no blame game going on. We just would say "gg" and call it a day. If there was toxic behavior going on in the game, then prepare to get ear raped from your headset.

I can't tolerate it anymore. Therefore, I'm quitting Competitive Overwatch. Season 6 is ending in a few days and I couldn't be happier. I've been thinking about quitting for a long time and now it's going to happen. One part of me is upset because I won't be able to play a match of Quick Play where people actually take the game seriously, but at the same time I won't have to deal with toxic players.

Overwatch is a fun game, but it's the community is just causing the game to implode. If you're planning on starting Overwatch, just be aware of what you are getting yourself into. Goodbye, Comp.
Till Next Time!!

Update: Singleplayer is Dying

Hey Guys, just wanted to make a quick update post. This isn't going to be formal as usual and just going to be rambling about video game stuff.

Big subject this week and last week is the perception that singleplayer games are just dying and this is being reaffirmed by Rockstar after they've finally revealed the truth about why there wasn't story DLC for Grand Theft Auto V. They said Grand Theft Auto Online and Red Dead Redemption 2 have been taking up most of their time, so they just couldn't focus on single-player content. In reality, they were profiting too much from Grand Theft Auto Online and decided to just either focus on the online portion or just sit around and watch the money come in.

I do agree that there aren't a whole lot of new single player games coming out and the ones coming out tend to have microtransactions. However, 2017 has seen the release of some great single player games such as Nioh, Horizon: Zero Dawn, and Persona 5.

I don't think this is something that is going to happen within the next couple of years, but I do feel like it's going to progress very slowly assuming that online battle royal and hero arena games start phasing out. Better yet, it'll end when people stop paying for microtransactions in single-player games.

Before I wrap up, I will be working on another The Evil Within 2 post. I completed the game last Thursday and have a lot to say about the game.
Till Next Time!!

The Evil Within 2 Impressions

Hey Guys, it's been three since the release of The Evil Within 2. I did get the game on the first day of release, but I didn't get a chance to actually play until Saturday. I still haven't finished the game and as of writing this I'm on Chapter 9. What do I think of the game so far? Remember, this is just my impressions and not a full on review of the game. I may or may not release a review of the game. It all just depends on how much time I have.

This is a screenshot I took from the Xbox One version of the game. I think this is miles more beautiful compared to the first game.

If you've played The Evil Within, you'll notice that there is just an immediate shift in tone when you first start up the game. The first game started you off as a Detective simply working on a case without knowing what he was getting himself into while the second is about the same detective(now an ex) who is on a mission to save his daughter knowing what he's getting into.

The Evil Within is undoubtedly a survival horror video game. Sure, the difficulty of the game will effect your experience, but for the most part you had to be careful about how much ammo you used and what abilities you unlock to help you get through the story. This game is pretty difficult once you start playing on higher difficulties because resources are a lot more scarce and you're pretty much forced to use stealth in this game to conserve whatever supplies you want.

The Evil Within 2 is still a survival horror video game, but it plays differently compared to the first game. What major difference is the semi-open world.

Personally, I feel like the semi-open world is going to be divisive among players. I like it because it pretty much forces you to explore the area to find both supplies and collectibles. In my opinion, it's worthwhile to go for the collectibles because not only do they provide backstories, but some of them actually provide set pieces or more supplies that you need to survive.

However, due to Sebastian's slow movement speed you might be turned off from exploring the open world. I get that you're supposed to be moving slow in survival horror games, but this movement is unnecessarily slow given the size of the environment around you. Remember Resident Evil 4? You moved slow, but you could sprint for faster movement without a stamina bar! I feel like the stamina bar hinders exploration because you could only sprint for so long and it's barely faster than the standard movement.

In all honesty, the controls aren't the best especially when it comes to close quarters combat because the moment you aim down the camera zooms in a bit too close to you for you to miss an enemy that is in your face. Why I can't shoot from the hip is beyond me, but I guess it's done like that for the survival horror feeling.

I'm trying to avoid wording this like a review, so bear with me. All I can say that gameplay wise the game isn't too different from the original The Evil Within. With the implementation of open world elements they did take some risks. I don't really want to talk about side missions because there aren't a whole lot in the game, but just know that it's worthwhile to complete them in order to keep getting supplies.

While I'm playing on medium difficulty at the moment, I can say that The Evil Within 2 is slightly easier than the original because of the crafting system. You can upgrade your weapons, craft ammo, and even craft healing supplies!

So far, I'm liking the game. The story is nothing special, but I still find it to be interesting. Just don't expect to see award winning voice acting or memorable characters. If you played the original game, I say try this game out some time. Maybe I'll give a full fledged review of the game if I either absolutely love the game or just have second thoughts on it.
Till Next Time!!

Will The Evil Within 2 fail Financially?

Hey Guys, I was browsing NeoGaf and stumbled upon an article that I found to be interesting. Instead of making a post responding to multiple threads on NeoGaf like I usually do, I decided that I want to talk about this topic in depth because I'm very interested in The Evil Within.

Image Provided by Bethesda

Okay, I understand what the OP was trying to get to when he mentioned that back in 2014 The Evil Within was released into a market where we didn't have a Japanese Survival horror game available in October. Additionally, he mentioned that the game was hyped up way ahead of its launch due to its artwork, "slow cross gen period" and the developers behind it.

I personally became hyped up for the game when I heard the director of Resident Evil 4 was working on The Evil Within. I don't believe there was a gameplay trailer until E3, but that is what solidified my hype for the game. At that time, people who were really into Resident Evil were hyped for this game due to the disappointment of Resident Evil 6 for not going back to its survival horror roots.

The OP was right about there not being enough promotion to The Evil Within 2. I don't even think I seen one commercial on live TV promoting the game while the first game has plenty of commercials for the game-at least when I was watching AMC. Additionally, Resident Evil 7 released this year! Who wouldn't want to buy that game over The Evil Withing 2? Promotion is going to be the killing blow for this horror sequel since the only sources promoting the game's release are gaming outlets and a couple of retail stores!

I chuckled a bit when he mentioned Sins of the Father Curse. This actually made a lot of sense. Titantfall and Watch Dogs weren't bad games, but they ultimately ended up as some of the most disappointing games at the time. While I never played Watch Dogs 2, I can say that Titanfall 2 is a significant improvement over the first game and easily one of the best games of 2016. However, it was wiped out due to Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare and Battlefield 1 demolishing the gaming market. I even forgot to mention the other games that came out in October which even include the Skyrim remaster!

Another thing I feel like should  be mentioned was the fact The Evil Within released on Xbox One, PS4, Xbox 360, PS3, and PC. See where I am getting at? Since it was available on so many consoles, it's able to have a much bigger audience, so the fact that The Evil Within 2 will only be available on three platforms means that sales are going to take a hit.

Going back to the Sins of the Father Curse, I wouldn't say that The Evil Within was a bad game. I agree with the author that it's flawed, but I never really encountered the problems the OP listed. My main issue with the game is the main protagonist not really having much of a personality.

I don't believe that the game is going to be a complete commercial failure, but I do feel like it's not going to exactly match its predecessor's sales on day one. Based on early impressions of the game, The Evil Within 2 is an improvement over the first game. I know I'm getting it through Amazon on Friday, so I'm personally excited for the game.

If I'm wrong about the game not being a commercial failure, then I can definitely see it becoming a cult classic much like Titanfall 2.
Till Next Time!!

In Retrospect: Mafia III

Hey Guys, it's been a full year since the release of Mafia III! It feels like yesterday since this game first game out. I remember being hyped up for this game as I was a fan of the previous game in the series. I didn't get a chance to play the game until March of this year, so I won't be complaining about the bugs and glitches that occurred within the first month the game released.

Just so you know, I'm playing on the Xbox One version of the game. It may look good from the screenshot, but until you see the game from a TV you'll notice it's not exactly the best to look at.

Most of you might not agree with my opinion of the game, but I'm just going to say it. I don't think Mafia III is a great game. Why? I have just two major complaints on the game and I'll go into detail on them.

The gameplay in this game is just derivative and monotonous. All those critical reviews that you may have saw from reviewers, other players, and your favorite YouTubers could have all mentioned just how repetitive the missions are in this game. It's as if the developers of the game couldn't get the game design right. You end up doing the same activities over and over just to progress through the story.

Let me demonstrate. I'll even label the steps and it's essentially all the missions in a nutshell.

1. The game instructs you to talk to an NPC.(One of your underbosses, their partners, etc...)
2. Said NPC tells you their problem that you need to take care of. (Kill someone, rob something from someone, rescue someone, etc...)
3. You go to drive over to the location to take care of the problem. (Mind you there is no fast travel in the game, so expect to be doing a lot of driving)
4. You take care of the problem and have to drive back to tell the NPC that you took care of the problem and get paid.
5. Assign district/racket to an underboss depending if the mission demands you to do so.
6. Depending on the type of mission, you get a cutscene.
7. Repeat steps for next mission

What went wrong with the mission structure? Did these guys get lazy halfway through the development of the game or was it all just an afterthought?

Okay, the previous game had the same issue in terms of repetitive gameplay. However, you didn't have to keep on doing the same tasks to capture areas of a map in order to unlock the next cutscene. Every mission you did progressed through the story. It made the game feel shorter, but the story was good and made you want to push through the game in order to finish it.

This brings me to my other main criticism of the game: the open-world. New Bordeaux is a great setting for the game especially in 196 due to racial segregation and Vietnam effecting American culture at the time. However, there isn't much to do in the world.

All you're doing is driving around completing story missions and not really doing much of anything else. There are collectibles, but they don't necessarily add anything important to the game. Sure, there are optional missions, but they are pretty much the same as doing the story missions in terms of the activities. Sure, you can race in the game, but why do that if you're spending a good chunk of the game driving to your next objective anyways?

Don't get me wrong, you could still have fun with the game by doing stupid actions that aren't relevant to the missions. Much like GTA, you could have a standoff with the cops in the game if you'd like. However, a neat part of the game is that depending on what part of the map you're on the cops will either come quickly or slowly. It's not really encouraged to take part in these activities since you can die pretty easily in this game if you're not careful due to the amount of damage you could take in the game.

I talked about what was wrong with the game, but does it make it a bad game? No. The story and characters are possibly the strongest part of the game.

You could tell that a lot of effort has been put into the story and voice acting. Holy shit. Just look at the cutscenes for the game and you'll know what I mean. The cinematics are just graphically impressive and the lip syncing is on point. I wish the game looked exactly like the cinematics, but I guess we can't all get what we want.

Sure, the revenge story has been done a million times in different variations, but the actor for Lincoln Clay did a damn good job at showing how much rage was truly behind the character. I like Lincoln Clay as a character and prefer him over Vito from Mafia II. The reason for this is because of how Lincoln Clay doesn't seem to give a shit abut what was going on in American society and is instead focused on his adventure for revenge.

I said it once and I'm going to say it again. This is not a great game, but I would say it's worth a try if you could get past the repetitive gameplay. This is easily one of the best stories told in 2016, but this is a rare case where story over gameplay has harmed a game because this particular gameplay isn't very good.
Till Next Time!!

Update: Rise of Broketober 2017

Hey Guys, it's a big month for video games and entertainment as a whole. There are literally a lot of games that I would like to get this month that include The Evil Within 2, Wolfenstein 2, and Super Mario Odyssey. Okay, I don't have a Nintendo Switch, but I really want to play Super Mario Odyssey.

This is just an article where I just get to type whatever comes to mind and talk about video games. I don't really have a particular structure as to what I'm going to be talking about, so just know that I'm going to be talking about one game and then move onto the next one. Additionally, people stop PMing about Destiny 2 because I won't be playing that anytime soon.

The Evil Within 2
Okay, The Evil Within 2. It's the month of Halloween, so why on Earth wouldn't you want to play a horror game? To be honest with you, I personally believe that The Evil Within is one of the most underrated horror video games in recent years. The gameplay feels very smooth and is reminiscent of Resident Evil in the survival horror department.

The Evil Within is a game that should be played on Hard because it forces you to think twice about using weapons. Additionally, it makes enemies a lot harder to take down. They were already annoying to take down because you have to burn them to make sure they didn't come back. At least, that's what I remember the game being like. It's been a long time since I have finished the game.

The story itself is also a very cool concept. The main protagonist and antagonist aren't really interesting to me because of the lackluster voice-acting performance of the protagonist and the generic characteristics of the antagonist. I guess you could say that about most of the characters because I felt that more character development should have been added into the game, but it's serviceable for what it is.

Forza Motorsport 7
I'm not much of a fan of racing games, but the Forza series is pretty cool to me. I only played Forza Motorsport 5 and really want to get into the Horizon series.

If you didn't already know, I have the Xbox One X pre-ordered and want to take advantage of its capabilities. Why not see how Forza Motorsport 7 performs? This is a damn good looking game and would look amazing in 4K HDR running at a beautiful 60fps.

I won't be getting this day one. I'm sure it'll go on sale by Black Friday as well as most 4K TVs, so I'll keep an eye out on this game.

Wolfenstein 2
Wolfenstein was a series that wasn't known for its story. The series was the basis of Doom. B.J Blazkowicz was the original character in the first first person shooter game ever created. This man has been kicking ass before Doomguy.

However, Wolfenstein took a new direction when The New Order released. The game actually had a decent story and B.J. Blazkowicz had more of a character to him. The New Order really succeeded in the gameplay department because you could play it full guns blazing or just play it stealthily. The voice acting was also pretty impressive for what it was. If you haven't played The New Order, then please go pick it up.

You need to personally watch gameplay of The New Colossus. For crying out loud, you start the game off killing Nazis in a wheelchair. I don't think I've ever seen a game do that before. Based on early impressions of the game, the characters are being more developed this time around and this game is taking place on American soil!

I'm a fan of Red Dawn and this game in particular is giving me that Red Dawn vibe, so I'm excited to see what this game has to offer in terms of story.

Final Ramblings
I'm considering getting a Nintendo Switch, but come holiday season it's going to be extremely hard to find. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey are system sellers on their own, so it sucks I don't have the console to play them on.

Some other games I would like to get include Persona 5, The Sims 4, and Call of Duty: WW2. I didn't include them on this "list" since they aren't releasing in October. Well, Persona 5 and Nioh have been out I just didn't have the time to play them.

I'm looking forward to playing a lot of these games, but it's going to be tough trying to budget them. I'm going to try to get The Evil Within 2 this month. Also, I'm still working on that In Retrospect post. I'm sorry for the wait, so I'll do my best to have a double post this week to make up for that.
Till Next Time!!

Xbox Live: Free Games of October 2017- A solid month...

Hey Guys, a lot has happened in the gaming news this week. The new Red Dead Redemption 2 trailer was amazing and is just building up hype for the game. I just can't wait for the game to release. As tradition towards the end of the month, I will you my thoughts on the free games on Xbox. Just a little side note, PlayStation has a much better lineup of free games for next month.

Image Provided by Major Nelson's Blog

I heard good things about Gone Home. Keep in mind, not everyone is going to be into these types of games because it's based on exploration, atmosphere, and general puzzle solving. While I am interested in playing it, I'm not sure I'll be able to play it especially in Broketober.

The Turning Test has been put on sale so many times that it's not even funny. I was scared to play it because I'm terrible when it comes to puzzle games. It's very reminiscent of Portal, so that's the main reason why I would like to give it a try.

Alright, I'm a big fan of Rayman. While I already played Rayman 3, it's good to give it a re-visit. If you're not into platformers, then this is not the game for you.

Medal of Honor Airborne was a solid game back in the game, but it hasn't exactly aged well. I would give it a try to just see how it compares to what I remember it being like. Just looking at the game you could tell it looks pretty dated. However, the guys at Xbox have a quote when it comes to including first person shooters.

Anyways, it's a much better month for Xbox Live users. Personally, I prefer PlayStation's free games because they are getting Metal Gear Solid 5 next month. Sure, I played the hell out of it, but it's an amazing game.
Till Next Time!!

Can Project X compete with PUBG?

Hey Guys, this is actually new and I'm early to commentate on it! Okay, we all know what Player Unknown's Battlegrounds is due to its crazy amount of popularity and concurrent players. Seriously, this game is just killing it. Since I'm a console peasant, I'll have to wait until the Xbox One version of the game releases to be able to get into the action.

Image Provided by Eurogamer

We got a couple of details from the developer, Automaton, that the game will support 400 players in a Battlegrounds inspired gameplay. There was also a couple of screenshots, but it's nothing special since it doesn't really tell us anything important about the game. These maps are going to be huge (they are aiming for 12km by 12km) in order to accommodate the amount of players on a server.

Okay, I know what most of you are thinking. This is just aiming to be a Battlegrounds clone or merely aiming to profit off of Battlegrounds's success. It's arguable for sure.

If you've been following my blog for a while, you'll know I'm not a fan of big open-world games if there is nothing to do in them. What makes Battlegrounds so different to this exception is that the map decreases over time and you have to explore to get better items and weapons. It gets the adrenaline pumping!

If Project X is too similar to Battlegrounds in this regard besides just being bigger, then it's just a rip-off at that point. According to an IGN article,"In addition to its Battle Royale mode, the MMO will feature dynamic weather, roaming wildlife, social hubs, and a "player-driven" story". The final half of this sentence reminds me of The Division. That's not a good thing. I didn't like Tom Clancy's Pedestrian Simulator. The game has gotten better, but that's besides the point.

The point is, if this game doesn't do something avoid being similar to Battlegrounds then its in trouble. What's the point of being bigger if there's no soul?

Honestly, I'd rather stick to PUBG. I like the idea of 100 players. Anything above that is just too much for me. If you are liking this idea, that's fine. It will be releasing in 2018. Because of the popularity of PUBG, I don't see anyone switching over to Project X any time soon.
Till Next Time!!

Should you buy the Super Mario Odyssey Nintendo Switch Bundle?

Hey Guys, there was a ton of news from Nintendo Direct. I was planning on talking about how Doom and Wolfenstein 2 were coming to the Switch and having a discussion about how the Nintendo Switch should be considered some serious competition. However, I think it's time to talk about if it's the right time to buy one.

Image Provided by IGN

Although Nintendo isn't exactly friendly when it comes to content creators, we cannot deny that every game developed by them is pure gold. So far, the console has some damn good exclusives.

Seriously, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is already considered to be one of the greatest games of all time. The recent Mario and Rabbids isn't even developed by Nintendo and is getting some pretty good reviews. How could Super Mario Odyssey be a bad game? There hasn't been a bad Super Mario game in a long time.

This bundle is coming with a game that is going to be good, a pair of red Joy-cons, and a carrying case. If you're on the go, how could you pass up on the offer of a carrying case coming with a bundle like this?

Honestly, the main issue with this bundle or even future Nintendo Switch bundles is that it doesn't come with an SD card. If you're planning on getting as many exclusive games as possible, then you're going to be disappointed with how much room is available on the Switch.

If you just want Super Mario Odyssey by itself, then you can get it on Amazon. You get that discount if you're an Amazon Prime Member after all. Just use this link right here, Super Mario Odyssey - Nintendo Switch.

The bundle will be releasing on October 27th. You can't get it on Amazon at the moment, but keep an eye out as I see these selling out quickly.
Till Next Time!!

PewdiePie vs. Sean Vanaman: My Thoughts

Hey Guys, PewdiePie has once again caused controversy over the internet again. Want to know what he did? While livestreaming some Battlegrounds, he dropped the "N" word. Of course, some people didn't like this one bit while other normal people knew that he was just messing around. Racism isn't the main point of this article as there are arguments on both sides of this. The main point of this article over the actions of Firewatch dev, Sean Vanaman.

Image Provided by Twitter

I want to make this known that I am not a PewdiePie fan by any stretch of the imagination. It's been a while since I have watched any videos made from him, so I am going to have an opinion on this from the perspective of someone who believes in the first amendment.

While Sean Vanaman was the creator of Firewatch and has the right to refuse to have his products show up in PewdiePie's vidoes, he has no right to use DMCA takedowns on his videos. Do you know what a DMCA takedown can do to a channel? It can lead to the death of a channel! No person deserves to have their channel taken down by bullshit like this unless they are our right stealing content. You know... like reaction channels.

While this particular tweet from Vanaman has a good point in the sense that your words can get yourself incriminated IN A CRIMINAL OFFENCE, I guess what he means that PewdiePie got himself into this situation by saying a racial slur. Using his logic about his steam not being commentary, what about other big steamers? Aren't they technically getting ad growth to their brands? These people have to make a living somehow.

"Our game on his channel= endorsement". What. The. Serious. Fuck. You give 3,000 keys to streamers and you gave one to PewdiePie. This was the same man who you can arguably say contributed to the YouTube adpocalypse. You're telling me you didn't do the same action when this happened? I'm not saying he should have, but as soon as PewdiePie dropped the "N" word he's like "fuck this I'm taking down his Firewatch videos".

Let's be honest, PewdiePie still has the most subscribers on YouTube and still pulls millions of viewers a day. Any game he shows on this channel essentially is being promoted. The fact that Sean Vanaman is bending over the man that helped bring Firewatch to popularity is already a dick move.

Have your own opinions, but when your actions are going to threaten someone's lifestyle-especially one who helped you- then you are no longer deserving of sympathy.
Till Next Time!!

Update: The plan ahead, Destiny 2, and other stuff

Hey Guys, just wanted to make a quick update as my viewership has gone down significantly. I'm not dead, but I have been busy for the past week.

Anyways, September isn't my month for games. I'm not buying Destiny 2 day one. Will I even buy it? Maybe I'll get it once every expansion pack releases for it, but that means that Destiny 3 will be released shortly after that happens. I hear it's better than the original game, but I still don't want to be grinding missions for three hours at a time.

I have the Xbox One X pre-ordered. I never mentioned this, but I had it pre-ordered on the day it was announced for pre-orders. The PS4 Pro is good, but I want to play my multi-platform games on my Xbox One X since they are going to run so much better. Although I don't have a 4K TV yet, the games on it are going to run a lot more smoothly. I'd rather have my games run at 1080p at 60fps than at 4K at 30fps.

After months of hiatus, I decided to go back to Rainbow Six Siege. The game has gotten a lot better over time, but the amount of players who are new to the game are just everywhere! Seriously, I just love this game and it's as good as I remember.

With October coming up, I should be able to post a bit more frequently. When the Xbox One X releases, I'll be sure to have a review for it.
Till Next Time!!

Rise of the Bots

Hey Guys, anyone over the age of 13 or with a half a brain can tell you what a bot is. Normally, you'd come across them on chat sites or porn sites. However, they have started to make their way towards both Xbox Live and PSN. If you want to see what inspired me to write about this, please read this post.

Image Provided by NeoGaf

Personally, I have experienced this myself through my Xbox messages. Literally, as soon I saw that stupid phrase saying they were "bored" and "found your name in __" I could tell it was a bot. I wish I had the message of this conversation I had, but I guess the account got deleted or something because I can't find the message.

If you come across one of these bots, please don't give them any kind of information. As a matter of fact, report them if you can. The user in the screenshot made the good choice of asking this account if he knew him/her. The response afterwards makes it obvious that it's a bot.

I'm guessing these bots are trying to get you to go to some cam girl shit. Why people pay for those I have no clue, but people are free to do with whatever they want.

I'm not completely sure because they send you a website that has cam in it. Regardless, they are going to ask you for a credit card to "verify" you are 18 or older. ANYONE with a basic understanding of how the internet works would know this is bullshit and a security risk! I guess they are trying to scam little kids because kids are stupid, but I doubt they are stupid enough to steal their mom's credit card to see some boobs.

The best that could be done is to report these bots or to just ignore them. I have no clue how Microsoft could implement a system that could prevent these accounts from being created, so I guess we'll have to deal with them for some time.

Stay safe on the internet, guys. Please don't give out your credit card information unless it's to a trusted source. If you want to see naked women, just know there are free HD videos on Pornhub.
Till Next Time!!

The Importance of Timing Game Releases

Hey Guys, this is a topic that I feel should be talked about more often because people often overlook the development time for a game and when developers feel is the right time to release games. I recently stumbled upon an interview on Polygon where Shannon Loftis, general manager for Microsoft Studios Publishing, stated, "I think we probably announced Crackdown too early"(Loftis).

Image Provided by DualShockers

Okay, Crackdown 3 was announced back in June 2014. Literally, over three years at this point. Now, it's being pushed back into "Spring 2018". I say that in quotes because we don't know when in the Spring and we don't know if there is going to be another delay.

The usual development time is about 2 or 3 years. With that in mind, you'd think that Crackdown 3 would be released sometime between 2016 and 2017. However, Crackdown 3 was in very early development when it was announced. Additionally, the Xbox One wasn't even out for a full year at this point and Microsoft was talking about cloud computing...in a multiplayer game.

Cloud computing really hasn't been done before in a multiplayer game let alone on a console that hasn't been on the market for very long, so announcing Crackdown 3 will be utilizing cloud computing technology that early in development is absurd.

At the same time, I guess Microsoft wanted to release more exclusives because the community's main criticism is the lack of Xbox exclusive games. Thus, having people hyped up for Crackdown 3 is needed to keep Xbox users coming back or to have a new audience. However, this could have been announced at either E3 2016 or E3 2017.

It's also a good thing that this isn't being pushed around the holiday season because there are already enough games coming out in Broketober.

At the end of the day, we don't even know if Crackdown 3 is going to be good. For all we know, this could be another disappointment and we'll be talking about how this game was in development for years and how Microsoft has been hyping this game up to be the definitive Xbox exclusive fans have been asking for. Is this game really going to take advantage of the Xbox One X's power? We don't know.

If Microsoft-or at least someone from Microsoft-admitted that Crackdown 3 was announced too early, then you know something is wrong. I guess we can be thankful that they don't want to rush the release. However, let this be a lesson that video games should pick a schedule and stick to it. Don't release a game too early that we need to wait for it to be finished or release a game too late to where it could lead to it being either disappointing or forgotten about.
Till Next Time!!

Xbox Live: Free Games of September 2017- A halfway decent month...

Hey Guys, I can't believe that August is almost over. I also can't wait until the cold weather starts coming as it's the perfect sign that Broketober is coming! Anyways, the next free batch of games for Xbox Live Gold members have been announced. Let's get down to it.

Image Provided by Major Nelson's Blog

I've never been a big fan of racing games, but Forza Horizon 3 caught my eye despite the fact that I've never played any of the Forza games. I hear the main difference between the Horizon and Motorsport series is that one is on a race track while the other is not. Although I'd prefer to go into the Horizon series, I'll try out Forza Motorsport 5 to see if I'll get into it. I want to make sure that racing games will catch my interest.

Never heard of Oxenfree. The gameplay style doesn't really capture my interest. I'm sorry, but I just don't like the look of the game.

Hydro Thunder Hurricane. Whoa. That's quite a mouthful. It looks like a typical racing game with boats. I know I said that I'll try Forza Motorsport 5, but at least it has loud engines and wheels. Additionally, I'd imagine the player count is low for the multiplayer aspect and I don't feel like racing AI.

I remember being in love with Battlefield 3 when it first came out. I played the game on console and haven't thought much about it. When it became backwards compatible, I got a chance to replay it. Little did I know that this game aged TERRIBLY. Oh my god, it looks awful on console. How were my eyes able to stand looking at this game on a console!? Please, if you've never played Battlefield 3 on console then don't start now.

That's everything from Xbox. Sorry that I haven't been posting much. I'm doing my best to write as much as possible.
Till Next Time!!

A Response to Tom Marks's Article, "Opinion: Why You Should Stop Focusing On Player Counts So Much"

Hey Guys, I stumbled upon this article a couple of days ago, but I never got a chance to get around to it. I guess now is a good time to talk about it because I think it's a great topic to talk about and it's an article that is pretty controversial. Let's get right into this!

A little backstory, the editor here, Tom Marks is focusing on the release of LawBreakers and how its upsetting him over the amount of players considering it a dead game. Here are some of his points that stick out to me and I'll give you my thoughts on each point.

• The problem is that most of these people have likely never played the game, but thanks to sites like SteamCharts and the less reliable SteamSpy commenters everywhere can feel empowered to make wide generalizations about the health of any game based on “hard facts.”

*I can see where the author is coming from. Yeah, most people have never played the game because there wasn't a whole lot of promotion done for the game, so unsurprisingly most people haven't even heard of the game. However, SteamCharts is a good indicator as to which games are popular in the Steam community. The last time I checked I didn't even see LawBreakers in the Top Sellers list of Steam 

• If there are enough people playing LawBreakers that you can quickly find a game every time you play (which, in my experience, there are) why does it matter to the people playing it what the size of the player base is?

*I really hate doing this, but I have no other choice. I love to illustrate my points. 

If you don't believe me, you can check out the stats on SteamCharts

The game can hold 10 players per lobby. Additionally, it's not taking into account the amount of players in certain servers, so it's going to take a while to find a match that has players. Must I also add the amount of players in a certain gamemode? What about the game trying to place other players in similar skill levels? I'm not sure if it does that, but either way it's going to take a while to find players.

"Why does it matter to the people playing it what the size of the player base is?" Well, if the player count is too low then how long until these remaining players get bored of the game and move on? 

• "It’s frustrating to see as someone who genuinely enjoys the game, and I imagine downright demoralizing for the developers."

*Okay, this is a valid point. However, I take more sympathy for the developers because you can tell they poured their heart and soul into the game. Let alone the amount of time it took to program this game as well as coming up with the design of the game.

If you had people shit all over your piece of art-yes I consider video games a work of art-then you would be pissed off or even saddened. 

The players on the other hand can simply ignore other people on the internet and continue playing the game. Do you really think fans of Call of Duty care about the haters of the game? Obviously not because the series still sells like hot cakes. The developers can do it as well, but there are people who do give them constructive criticism over the game, so they have to look at the amount of players talking about their games.

• "So my question to the doomsayers is this: Why do you care? Why does declaring a game dead before you even know what it’s like to play add anything of value to the conversation? You’re not the first to say it, you won’t be the last, and you are usually dead wrong."

*I'll tell you why I care. If I see that player counts are low on a game I may buy, then why would I buy a video game with barely anyone playing it? I don't even care if the game is good or not!

Remember Titanfall? Both games were great, but the first game suffered due to its lack of appeal. I remember the player count was high the first week, but it dipped off shortly after. Now, it's practically a ghost town as most people moved on to different games or Titanfall 2.

I would pull out some more of his statements, but I would keep repeating myself. I have nothing against the author. His heart was in the right place, but I just didn't agree with him. Furthermore, his final statement is counter intuitive to the existence of this article. Low player counts will always hurt a game because people will naturally move on to something more popular.

LawBreakers looks like a fun game, but if it stuck to being free-to-play and was released on more platforms then the population of the game would be much higher!

LawBreakers is dying. It's not a dead game...yet.

Till Next Time!!

Overwatch Toxicity 2

Hey Guys, I previously made a post about Overwatch toxicity. However, I focused more on players who criticized each other in the most disrespectful ways possible rather than providing constructive criticism. I didn't even think to mention something as equally important: Throwers.

I tend to play the game in solo queue because I don't have a flexible enough schedule to be grouping up with people. If you group up with people in a six stack, you are less likely to encounter throwers. Assuming that you are grouping up with people you can trust. Anyways, you are a lot more likely to encounter throwers when you solo queue compared to grouping up with five other people.

The amount of throwers I encounter on a daily basis is absolutely ridiculous. I normally play about two matches a day sometimes more if I'm feeling lucky. However, there is at least one thrower on my team or the other team. Usually some smurf account or regular person playing Hanzo, Widowmaker, attack Torb, attack Bastion, and attack Symmetra.

They are not bad characters, but the amount of people who pick them to throw makes it seem like they are bad! I have seen good attack Basions, Torbs, and Hanzos, but they are incredibly difficult to come by especially in Diamond.

You know that feeling someone is going to throw if they switch from a support or tank to Hanzo. It's practically a meme at this point, but there is no sign of slowing down.

Regardless, people should not be picking characters they are not good at or think they're good at. Otherwise, these players aren't going to do much for the team. It's especially aggravating if they refuse to either switch to a hero they are good at or to a healer. However, it keeps happening.

None of this compares to someone switching to a "throw" character if your team looks like they are about to lose. Seriously, do people not understand there is a thing called snowballing? If you don't know what I mean, snowballing refers to saving up your ultimates and timing them to get as many kills as possible. Additionally, there is always a chance of making a comeback, so what's the point of throwing?

You guys get my point. Throwing is one of the worst things you can do in a competitive match.

Yes, these players can be reported, but I play Overwatch on console. PC players can report toxic teammates, but console players can't do it just yet.

Additionally, what's going to stop them from creating a smurf account and throw games on purpose or to "practice" heroes they won't play on their main account, so they don't ruin their stats? Not saying there is anything wrong with smurf accounts, but there are players who go on a losing streak with them and decide to throw every game they get into afterwards.

We can agree that throwing is a problem. I honestly wish that there was a solution to solve this. However, it seems that no matter how harsh the punishments get throwing is always going to be a problem.
Till Next Time!!

Is there room for Gearbox's new game?

Hey Guys, just this morning I received an e-mail from Gearbox Software about testing a brand new game they are currently developing. I'm sure everyone who registered with Gearbox Software from playing Borderlands probably got the same e-mail. Anyways, I read the e-mail to see what it's about and asked myself one question: How will this gain a following?

Image Provided by Project 1v1

This might be irrelevant, but I laughed my ass off when Gearbox called this "top-secret". I literally found articles about it this morning. Yeah, it's not top-secret anymore now is it? Not that it would matter because I'm sure most people wouldn't care too much about it.

Gearbox describes the game as a, "competitive first-person shooter that combines the action of fast-paced 1v1 first-person combat with the metagame strategy of a collectible card game"(Gearbox).

While it may sound like a cool idea, this isn't very appealing. Card games are already becoming too crowded. Magic: The Gathering, Gwent, Heartstone, and even Valve is coming out with a card game. You get the idea. The only difference is that Gearbox is incorporating first person shooter elements with possibly a Titanfall-like card element.

Remember Battleborn? Yeah, that's going free-to-play soon or it's probably free-to-play already and I just don't know about it yet. The point is the game was not successful because Overwatch just blew it out of the water. The game was dead on arrival. With the over saturation of card games I can already see the same fate for Project 1v1. I don't want the game to fail, but I'm just being realistic because I know for one that I won't be touching this game.

I'm going to be brutally honest, we all want Borderlands 3 from Gearbox. They did confirm it's in development, but that's all we want! I hate to say something like this, but it has to be said because we've been waiting for 5 years to get Borderlands 3. Gearbox should be focused on Borderlands 3's development to make sure it delivers rather than trying to release these games in between that aren't going to perform.

At the end of the day, Gearbox is a company that provides software to its customers to make a profit. Who am I to judge them for their choices? However, it's still not going to stop me from just saying it how it is.
Till Next Time!!

Shadow of War Microtransactions: My Thoughts

Hey Guys, I am aware that microtransactions have been a problem for years. However, we're usually used to seeing them in multiplayer games until Ubisoft popularized using microtransactions in single player games. I have never once used microtransactions in single player games, but apparently people do it enough to the point where Ubisoft continues to implement them in their games. The only thing though is that this isn't Ubisoft.

Image Provided by PlayStation

The main question is: Will microtransactions ruin the Shadow of War experience? If the gameplay is similar to Shadow of Mordor, then the game itself should be good. You could tell that this new Nemesis system is meant to spice up the gameplay to be more "team-oriented" compared to the original game. It's kind of reminiscent of Clash Royal or Clash of Clans.

However, if these microtransactions provided unfair advantages to make the game a breeze then what would be the point of playing it?

According to Monolith, "An important aspect of the Nemesis System now comes in forging, customizing, and leading your own army of unique Orc followers against the fortresses of Mordor...There are different ways to do this, including dominating Orcs by exploring the vast open-world and encountering them as part of Orc society, or players can acquire Orcs and other items through the Market (in-game store)."(Monolith).

While orcs and other abilities can be achieved in-game, something tells me that the game will purposely be made to be a grindfest in order to influence people to go to the Market to speed up their progress. That would just defeat the purpose of the game! Grinding is a love or hate thing. I just hate grinding! I feel that it gets in the way of progression as most of time you are just doing unnecessarily repetitive actions for far too long.

What pisses me off the most is that these "other items" are probably going to be "achieved" through random loot boxes-yes there will be loot boxes. Oh my goodness, random loot boxes in multiplayer games are already a pain in the ass. Just look at Overwatch during events or Destiny as a whole.

Shadow of Mordor was unique in the sense that you were made to be overpowered, but every time you died your enemies would grow in power. Additionally, you can't always use the same strategy as each orc boss had different weaknesses or strengths. Sure, the story wasn't on the strong side, but the gameplay was action packed.

If these microtransactions literally let you pay to beat the game, then everything that Shadow of Mordor brought to the table will go down the drain. Let this be a warning that microtransactions should not be in single player games. However, I feel like this is just going to be an industry standard if people actually pay for this shit.
Till Next Time!!

Destiny 2 Beta Impressions

Hey Guys, now that I've played the Destiny 2 beta it's time that I share my thoughts. Look, I'm only going to say how I feel about it. I'm sure this isn't representative of the full game, but this still gives us a good idea of what this game is going to be like.

Although I'm not going to go much into it, but Destiny 2 has some damn good-looking environments

As soon as you start up the beta, the game prompts you to choose your class and boot up the campaign after you pick your class. There are some pretty cool moments that the cutscenes show you, but what about the story itself?

From what I could tell, I guess it's a story of getting the light back. Sounds like a traditional storytelling element, but I feel like if the dialogue is done right then the story could be good. Think about The Last of Us. The story really isn't anything special, but the way it was conveyed between the characters is what made the game so memorable.

The only memorable character from what I saw in the campaign would be Cayde. I love that silly son of a bitch! He's a bit reminiscent of Claptrap from Borderlands, but Cayde is actually more of a badass than Claptrap. Everyone else just isn't appealing to me. I understand that the main antagonist is only shown for a few minutes, but he already looks generic. Just because he has a deep voice doesn't mean he's a brilliantly written character. I'm sorry, but I just didn't feel like he was an intimidating or memorable villain.

There was still some cool action provided by the campaign. Destiny 2 could take a Doom route in the sense that the gameplay is a lot stronger than the campaign itself. However, they really should have had a difficulty selection for the beta because I felt that it was way too easy for me. Maybe the inclusion of a hard mode would be great for the campaign.

Okay, what about the multiplayer? Destiny was known for its raids, strikes, and PvP multiplayer, so they've had to improve it, right?

I'm going to be honest with you. If you didn't like Destiny, you're definitely not going to like Destiny 2. Fans of Destiny are going to be divisive over the PvP, but it's fun for what it is. I feel like the time to kill is a little too quick because the health regeneration is way too slow and with certain weapons you could literally take out anyone with a couple of shots.

Honestly, everything feels slow! Why the hell does it take so long for my health to regenerate? Why the hell do I have to wait so long for my Super ability to charge up? Why the hell do I have to wait for my abilities in general to charge up? Is it for balance? I'm cool with it in the PvP, but if I have to deal with this in the raids and campaign then I'm not going to have a good time!

However, you can notice that teams do have to work together because of the nerfs. Want to surely finish someone off? Gang up on someone. Need some protection or want someone else to be targeted, go towards your team.

I already didn't like the grinding in Destiny especially when it was mixed with random loot drops, so how is this supposed to attract new players?

Other than a really big nerf and a campaign, Destiny 2 doesn't feel much different than Destiny. Even if everything was tweaked, what are we supposed to do about the campaign? If that's garbage, then people who didn't like Destiny because of the lack of a story are most likely not going to play Destiny 2. Once again, if you loved Destiny then don't let me stop you buy Destiny 2. It's all just my silly opinion.

I just get the feeling this is more like Destiny 1.5 than Destiny 2.
Till Next Time!!

Xbox Live: Free Games of August 2017- A proper close to the summer...

Hey Guys, I am currently working on my impressions for the Destiny 2 Beta. I'm putting all of my thoughts together in a way to not have people throwing pitchforks at me over my opinions. Anyways, next month's free games for Xbox Live Gold members have been announced and boy was I happy!

Image Provided by Major Nelson's Blog

I'm not sure why a game preview is being made free, but I assume it's because the Xbox team can never really satisfy Xbox One users. How about The Culling? It looks like a fun game and it's around the same price point. Personally, I'm just looking for anything is similar to Battlegrounds because I can't wait for that to come to Xbox One.

I've never played a Trials game before. I watched a lot of YouTube videos about the games and I laughed my ass off over them! Just never got a chance to get around them, so it's great that it's being made free for Xbox One owners!

Bayonetta is an awesome game. I bought a physical copy of the game a few months ago and only played a little bit of it. Why I never got back into it is beyond my comprehension, but I guess it's because of all these multiplayer games that are holding me back. If you're not busy and are looking for an action game, please play this game. It's an awesome beat 'em up style game with a lot of wacky action moments. Just don't play this game around other people. You'll understand why when you play the game yourself.

Never played any of the Red Faction game. I've heard Red Faction Guerrilla was pretty good and mixed opinions on Red Faction Armageddon. Maybe I'll play it, but it's at least a much better pick compared to last month's games.

Thanks you all for reading! Seriously, play Bayonetta if you haven't already. I'm still upset over the fact that Bayonetta 2 is a Wii U exclusive, but maybe in the far future we'll see a port of it on other consoles. Remember to keep an out for my Destiny 2 Beta impressions.
Till Next Time!!

Telltale's Summer Update 2017: My Thoughts

Hey Guys, I know that I'm a day late on this, but I didn't see this until I got home last night. Anyways, this was a surprise as I didn't think they would make any kind of announcement like this for another couple of months or later. I'll have a rundown on what they announced and give you my thoughts on each of them.

Image Provided by YouTube

The Walking Dead is finally coming to a close! Yes, the fourth season will be the last entry in the franchise from Telltale. While I have yet to play the third season myself, I have spoiled the whole season to myself and realized that it was arguably better than the previous seasons. There was some bullshit moments especially for those of you who remember the ending for season 2, but I feel like there was a lot more memorable characters in this season as well as a lot more choices to make compared to previous seasons.

While I might be a bit upset that it's coming to a close, I'd rather have it end where it's at in order to go out with a bang rather than have it get dragged on. Additionally, it would just be more work on their end to get choices to carry over this many seasons.

Never played the Batman Telltale game series, so I really can't commend on it. Doesn't catch my interest, but I guess it's great for fans to know that another season is on the way next month.

What made me really happy was the announcement of the Wolf Among Us Season 2. The Wolf Among Us is one of the most underrated games in recent memory. I don't know a whole lot of people who played it, but the people I met who have played it have nothing but good things to say about it. I really want to read the comics, but I saw that there was 150 issues.

Nonetheless, I'm curious to see what this upcoming season is going to be about. I hope there is a similar concept from the first seasons because I was just a fan of the noir style fable based episodic game. If you haven't played The Wolf Among Us, do yourself a favor and play it.

That's going to do it for me today. Destiny 2's open beta is starting tomorrow and I will give it a try. I know that I said a few years ago I would never talk about Destiny, but I want to at least give the sequel a try.
Till Next Time!!

Ataribox: My Thoughts

Hey Guys, I understand that we don't know much details about Atari's new product, Atairbox, but I still feel inclined to say something about it based on what information was provided.

Image Provided by IGN

It's clear that with the success of the NES Classic Edition that Atari is going to try and cash in on some of the action. Do I care about this? No. Atari is a business after all, so what business wouldn't want to take an opportunity like this to get as much money as possible?

I like the design of this console. While you can easily tell that it's not going to take Atari cartridges, it's probably going to contain Atari classics in a digital format much like the NES Classic. It will support retro classics and "current gaming content". Whatever "current gaming content" means is beyond me. Maybe it'll support ROM files, so you can add more games. It has an SD card slot for a reason, but this is my own speculation.

I guess the real question should be which Atari games will be featured? Will we just get 2600 games? 7800? How about the Atari Jaguar? Besides, this product will be useless if the games are lackluster or unappealing.

We just need to see what else this product could do. However, if it does what I think it does in the sense that you could add more games to it then it's already doing something much better than the NES Classic and the SNES classic.

Would I pick this up? If I feel like it's going to sell like hotcakes or become a rare item, then I would buy one. Otherwise, this is just another retro console being re-released.
Till Next Time!!

NeoGaf Responses #2

Hey Guys, it's been a while since I have done one of these, but I guess now's a time to have a discussion on the things I find interesting.

1) Do you think Anthem will get a downgrade graphically?
Even though Anthem is a damn good looking game, there is no way in hell it's going to look that way by the time it releases. I want the game to look the way it did in that E3 trailer, but remember that this game is being published by EA. The same company other than Ubisoft that is known to either release games too early and to downgrade their graphics.

Additionally, I agree with one of the comments on this post. It's a modern day game, so of course there is going to be downgrade. However, it's still going to be a good looking game especially on Xbox One X and PC.

2) 4k gaming TVs to Target on Prime Day?
The problem with discounted 4k TVs is that they aren't the good ones. All of them are going to output true 4k no matter what anyone says. However, it's the HDR that is going to make you get the most out of a 4k TV. The OP makes a great point that you have to do some research before you buy a 4k TV especially during a sale like Prime Day.

The Samsung KS8000 series is arguable the best set of TVs for 4k HDR gaming. However, they are difficult to find. You can go on Ebay to find one of them, but they are either overpriced or faulty is some way shape or form.

I suggest doing your own research to see which TV will satisfy your needs. After doing my research, I'm looking into the Sony XBR49X900E. I'm not a big fan of big TVs for gaming and I know that a big TV will show 4k a lot better, but it suits my needs.

3) What current gen game would you introduce a first time gamer to?
This is a hard question to answer. Why? Because a first time gamer doesn't really have a genre that could keep their attention. You all know how big of a fanboy I am of The Witcher 3, so if the person is into fantasy then it's right up their alley.

If they like cooperative games, then I would say Overwatch.You could have fun with the game on quick play without the toxicity and even when you're on a losing streak you could still have fun.

If they want a story, then they'll have a long list of games. First one to come to mind would be The Last of Us, but even that game is not for everyone due to its violence.

As I said before, it all depends on the person. What's the point of recommending a game that I know they wouldn't be interested in?

4) Series in which you went from rabid fan to having a casual interest. What lost you?
Before you raise your pitchforks, please understand where I come from. I was a mega fan of Resident Evil. Literally, I was all into the lore and characters. However, after the release of Resident Evil 6 I just turned into a casual fan.

In retrospect, Resident Evil 6 wasn't a bad game. It just happened to be the downfall of Resident Evil as a survival horror genre until Resident Evil 7 came along. I love Resident Evil 7, but wouldn't you have loved to see zombies and our beloved characters again? I get that these changes were made in Resident Evil 7 in order to be more terrifying, but I guess it's just a new generation for Resident Evil.

Additionally, I've grown apart from a lot of single player games because of the amount of time I spend on online games nowadays.

5) LTTP: Uncharted: Nathan Drake Collection - Is it worth to play?
I was in a similar boat as the OP. I've never played an Uncharted game before I got into Uncharted 4. What a big mistake I made to play Uncharted 4 before the previous games because I wasn't familiar with a lot of the characters in the game.

You don't necessarily need to play the other games to play Uncharted 4 since the plot doesn't revolve around the past games other than a couple of references.

Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection is great for new players and old players alike. I can agree with OP that the first Uncharted game didn't age very well and is weak compared to the later games, but I guess this is a genre that not everyone is going to get into. I can also agree that the climbing sections are linear and simple.

However, nobody can deny that Uncharted's gameplay has remained relatively unchanged, but it more than makes up for it in the story department.

Nonetheless, the collection is probably around $20, so I don't see the problem with picking up a copy today if you want to experience or go back to the story of Nathan Drake. I would definitely say that all PlayStation 4 owners should own a copy of Uncharted 4 and ideally have The Nathan Drake Collection.

Sorry for not posting in a while. I'll post as much content before July comes to a close and am looking forward to the upcoming Fall season of gaming.
Till Next Time!!