What’s more brutal? My love life or Dark Souls?

Dating in today’s world is tough, real tough! In a society where your next romantic adventure is a mere swipe away, ditching your partner for a more attractive, successful and popular one seems almost as easy as switching TV channels. The pressure is on, and a single slip-up could spell disaster for either party.

After numerous brutal defeats on my Tinder dates, I’m reminded of a similarly frustrating experience – playing Dark Souls.

Now you’re probably thinking: “Don’t be ridiculous Nicholas, you can hardly compare real life to a fucking video game, what the fuck is wrong with you?”. You’re probably right, and also fuck you, it’s my blog, I’ll do what I want.

 

Exploring dangerous uncharted lands

I’m a horrible Dark Souls player, a real class-a noob. The first demon’s souls boss took me more than ten tries, and that was after watching a tutorial! So naturally, I’ve always carried a sense of dread and trepidation while exploring the hauntingly beautiful lands in the Souls series.

Similarly, I also carry a sense of dread and trepidation while preparing for the big date. Instead of wondering if horrible monsters are just around the corner, I’m wondering if she’s going to be a horrible monster. You see, products on Tinder as we all know are almost always not as advertised.

Being the super prepared super gamer that I am (no I’m not a virgin), googling my date remains one of the highest priorities on my pre-date checklist. It’s not stalking, I just want to be prepared! Just like how I’d google a walkthrough for Dark Souls and look up a new area! See, I’m totally not crazy!

But in the end, there’s still no real telling what she’s going to be like till you meet. At least the video walkthroughs on YouTube give you a good idea of the enemies and strategies to combat them. Googling girls gives you the pictures they’ve allowed themselves to be tagged in. If you’re lucky you’ll find a blog she wrote when she was fifteen, so you can hypothesise and prepare for whatever unresolved pre-teen angst that may surface when you meet. 

Winner: My love life

Punishing gameplay

Like I said, dating is super hard. Just getting a date on a platform that emphasises so much on how attractive someone looks is extremely hard for the average lookin fella. Trudging through scores of profiles and finally getting a match is almost a surreal experience – much like how I finally hit another boss in the game.

Then of course you realise you’re going to have to actually interact with your match / kill the boss and you realise how utterly unprepared you really are. From the first swing of your sword or your first text, you’re tested.

Miss with a generic or uninteresting text and you might be met with a crushing unmatch putting you out of the game for good. It doesn’t just stop there either, next you have to actually meet her and then it’s a whole other game with so many more variables!  Here’s my typical thought process at that moment:

Should I lean in now and go for the kiss?

Is it too soon?

What if she’s expecting it?

Everything seems good so far, it wouldn’t hurt to try would it?

Oh fuck, I’ve been quiet for too long…. She doesn’t seem to mind?

Is she just counting the moments till she can go home?

No wait, stay positive, she’s waiting for you to make a move you twit!

But it might creep her out… or I might risk being that guy who was just really nice but she didn’t feel anything with!

Fuck it I’m going in *turns around looks into her eyes and move in slowly*

If you must know, we did kiss but she texted me a day later telling me how it was too soon, and then failed to reply any of my further messages. But yes, it was a devastating failure in the end, what more could I do but brush it off and learn from my mistakes?

There were plenty more dates of course and I’ve failed spectacularly in many ways. But it was futile, every girl was different and had different preferences the more you seemed to learn the more you know how much you don’t actually know. At least Dark Souls bosses are reliable, and chances are, it’s your fault if you die horribly.

Winner: My love life

The Corpse Walk

It’s the video game walk of shame, a mark of failure and your personal ineptitude. Getting rejected is tough, especially if you’ve invested so much emotion into imagining your perfect lives together only to be crushed when she texts you the following week to tell you she found someone better. I mean if that’s not the emotional equivalent of getting pounded by a nightmarish creature wielding the scariest looking mace in your life, I don’t know what is.

But it’s not over, after that you roam through life with what little remains of your soul trying to find the capacity to feel again. When you finally do, and when you think the world is great again, guess what?

But at least you’ll get to try again and not be put on her do not call list.

Winner: My love life

The epic YouTube videos

Just like sappy romantic movies and the Disney stuff you grew up with, Dark Souls speedruns on YouTube make everything look so easy. I mean if a 16-year-old kid could complete the game with a guitar hero controller, you can too right?

I’ll say this though, at least Dark Souls remains predictable, and if you follow and study enough videos online, you can at least know what to expect. Rom-coms just give you unrealistic expectations of love and the fantasy that hot girls will still love you if you’ve living a horrible sad existence.

Winner: Dark Souls

 

Game Of Thrones: Episode 1 review

It’s been a crazy holiday release season so far, and I wouldn’t blame you if you haven’t recognised the existence of the new Game Of Thrones video game yet. The series has undergone previous video game iterations with mixed results and Telltale, the  guys behind The Walking Dead adventure games (one of my favourite games of all time), are stepping up to make a change.

In a game as story driven as this, it’s hard for me to delve too deep without revealing any potential spoilers, but suffice to say, the plot is extremely GOT like. I know, that’s not saying much. You’ll make hard decisions just like Telltale’s other games and be forced to live with them throughout the rest of the 6 episode season.

hmmmm whatever should I do?

If you’ve played any of Telltale’s previous games, you’ll be right at home here. The stories progresses in the standard adventure game format where you talk to people around the map, explore the area to find clues or little tidbits of information and participate in quick time events that usually happen during the action sequences of the story. They are hardly challenging but manage to put you into the character’s shoes as you try to predict where an enemy is swinging from or feel their struggle as they endure a choke or something. Yup, you’ve read that right, THEY.

The game puts you in the shoes of multiple Characters and in true GOT style, your view point changes from character to character throughout the episode. The story centres around House Forrester, loyal bannermen of House Stark who have gotten themselves into a bit of a precarious situation after the *ahem* wedding. And it’s up to you! Dear player, to lead the brave members of House Forrester back to glory or at least survive.

The art in this game looks FANTASTIC

The Forresters are a likable bunch and the voice acting does a great job of making you feel for the characters. Although what I think really stands out in the game’s presentation is the amazing art direction. This game is gorgeous, it’s no Crysis of Farcry, but the art really does a good job in evoking a sense of character into the different locations and settings, and more than makes up for the dated engine the game runs on. The character designs are spot on too, and borrow heavily from the HBO show. The way the characters are drawn also fantastic and I think it’s amazing how their emotions come through on their faces. That’s a great achievement!

Look at those puppy dog eyes!

I have to say, this is definitely my favourite Telltale game so far, and my initial worry that I would not be as invested in these new characters as those in the Books and TV show have been quelled. If you’re a fan of the series, this game is an absolute MUST to play. Think Sansa was a dumb little girl who should just die? WELL I’D LIKE TO SEE YOU TRY! And now you can, with this amazing new addition to the GOT franchise.

You’ll explore some new and familiar locations and characters

* If you’re new to Game Of Thrones I’d suggest holding off on this until you get up to at least season 3 or read up to Blood and Gold.

Oh mobile games how I’ve wronged you so…….

I was a sceptic, a cynic and unbeliever of the mobile gaming scene. Candy Crush and Angry Birds? Those aren’t even real games! I’ve played way better versions of those, they’re called bejeweled and worms, PC classics bastardized to fit the palm of your grimy little casual gamer hands! But i’m a reasonable man, despite what you may think from my earlier rant.

The impressive mobile line up at this year’s GameStart was a pleasant surprise for me, and they have pretty much forced me to drop my old man shaking his head at what the kids are playing these days atitude in place of an oh my god i’m genuinely excited for some of these games and man are these fun as hell!

Pillage People – free on Android and IOS

Mobile AND free to play (FTP)? I couldn’t believe I enjoyed what I was playing, two of my most apprehensive gaming movements coming together and I was actually having fun. I got to try my hands on the dev’s town.

This is a city building/ tower defence game. Players build up towns to fund armies and defence upgrades to better defend their towns. Just like any other FTP city builder, players must wait a set number of hours of minutes to reap the rewards of their mines and farms, which fuel development for the rest of the town. Players can then choose to invade other player towns for resources.

Attacking towns drops players into an instance the opposing player has already previously constructed. You can buy units in your town and deploy them here. Different units have their strengths and weaknesses and placing them at the right spot is important too. Defending players on the other hand can construct their instances defensively with towers, turrets and walls in an effort to repel invaders. This tower defence mechanism allows you to defend your towns even when not playing the game. The victor will emerge with some of the enemy’s resources which can be used back in their home areas.

I’m a sucker for city builders, i love watching my cities come to life and and develop. Pillage People doesn’t disappoint on that front. The art is charming and colorful which really injects life into the game, which unless you’re paying real money for resources, mostly a waiting game. It’s always nice to see animations of huge cities, testaments to your time and effort give you reassurance.

I’ll have to play and invest in a town of my own before i can say more but it has been pretty impressive thus far.

Inzen Studios

This local studio might be my new favorite developer in the mobile scene. Inzen is currently developing 2 games that will be released for mobile platforms soon. Their first game Dark Dot, is a top down shooter where you control a charming bunch of critters as they blast their way through the levels. The more critters you amass, the stronger your firepower, but the main draw of the game is it’s feature that allows you to draw formations on the screen depending on the situation. these formations are literally drawn on the surface so you can do anything from a cresent formation to a uh…. phallus if you’re so inclined. There are also fromations on the screen at points in the game that give you a bonus if you manage to get into that particular shape in time.

It’s a really fun expereince, and i found the drawing feature to be very unique. you can also tighten or spread the critters by pinching the screen. which gives a layer of strategy and flexibility to the game. I’ve only played a little bit of the game but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I hope to see formations play a bigger role in the game play, perhaps certain shapes might give a bonus against certain enemies.

Nightmare Duel, their second game at the show might actually be my favorite game. It’s a local pvp game where each player control 1 side of the screen. The screen is divided into rows where suitcases come down at varying speeds tapping the specific row as they reach the bottom of the screen sends the suitcase sliding back to the opponent’s area. It like a very intense version of air hockey and good is it fun!

The art in the game is really zany and I know I say this a lot but it’s genuinely charming and give the avatars great character. each character also has a special ability once their meter fills up. My avatar’s ability was to spam the opponent with popups blocking his views of his columns. I still lost in the end despite the developers obviously going easy on me. It’s intense and this is a day one buy for me for sure.

Witching Hour Studios

so many symbols @.@

A veteran in the local game development scene, these guys have put out some impressive works that have gone on to achieve international renown. Ravenmark: Scourge Of Estellion was released for years now, and have challenged games all around with solid turn based strategy. I say solid because I keep dying, this game really demands your attention and requires some solid startegising. Knowing the weakness of your enemies and positioning your troops well is essential if you want to survive, and tension ramps up as you start second guessing your moves and struggle to make the best decision.

On a lighter note, their newer game Romans In My Carpet (RIMC) was also on show. I would call it a Ravenmark lite. It is tonally the polar opposite of their first game with  fun cartoonist character designs and graphics. But don’t be fooled by it’s looks. RIMC is still a serious strategy game at heart. The gameplay is similar to Ravemark and requires you to devote similar attention to it.

If this appeals to you, both games are available on IOS. RIMC is available for Android and an Android version of Ravenmark is currently in the works. A free to play multiplayer only version of Ravemark, Ravenmark: Mercenaries is also available for both platforms. See you on the battlefield!

Underneath that cutesy veneer is a strategy game that will kick your ass!

Sony pulls out the big guns for Singapore

Sony fanboys rejoice! Your fervent devotion  is finally paying off. You would be forgiven if you thought that Singapore was the least of Sony’s concerns for the past couple of years, after all the only major events that happened were the launch of the PS4 and s couple of non public events. But if this year’s GameStart convention says anything, it’s that Sony’s here to stay, and they’re more committed than ever.

Sony’s presence at the show was immense, the Playstation booth occupied an immense corner of the show floor including a pickup counter for PS4s with exclusive deals for the show. Read more here. One could even say Sony made the event, producers from wildly popular games, Street Fighter, Bloodbourne and Freedom Wars were recruited on this endeavour and allowed locals a chance to interact with giants of the gaming industry right here on our sunny shores.

GameStart also marked the beginning of yet another chapter of Sony’s partnership with Nanyang Polytechnic and the Games Solution Centre, a government backed division of the Media Development Authority Of Singapore with the extension of the PlayStation Incubation Studio in Singapore. The PlayStation Incubation Studio is an effort by Sony to help local indie developers with developing their games and offering a platform for their efforts. There are currently 2 games scheduled to be released, One Upon Light, a creative puzzle game which is set to release October 28th, and

Sony also announce the components of the GTAV bundle arriving on the 18th November which includes a $15 PSN card, 12 month access to PS+ and an extended warranty for a year making it a fantastic deal at $699. The White and Pink PS Vitas will also be making their way to SIngapore on the 13th Nov.

It’s about time Sony stepped up and leveraged on the immense Sony fandom in Singapore, and boy did they. Here’s to looking forward to a glorious future for the gaming industry right here in Singapore.

 

I Love/Hate Velocibox

I Love/Hate this game, it’s fast, it’s challenging and oh so addictive. In Velocibox you control a box as you move through a highspeed tunnel (heh get it? veloci-box? haha) and avoid obstacles while collecting 6 other boxes strewn around the level to advance to the next level. Sounds simple enough?

This game is anything but simple, it is FAST. The influence of super hexagon is illusive at first glance, but once you play it, you’ll feel it. The controls are tight, and navigating the obstacles requires precision and immaculate timing. Boxes are also placed in challenging spots that force you to risk hitting an obstacle making it a tense 10 second experience before you inevitably crash and burn. In fact, the Developer Shawn was so confident no one could beat the first level he offered free steam codes to anyone who could at his booth at GameStart 2014.

The game also lets you move along the walls so it really trains you to see the layout quickly and make snap decisions on the go. You can also flip to the side directly above you at anytime to make a quick escape or grasp a very fleeting opportunity at survival.

I was not able to play this game with any music, but i’m sure this is a game that would play extremely well if you’re a fan of fast EDM. Or if you’re like me, a great game to play while listening to Podcasts and E-books, that is of course once all the movements and layouts become second nature to you.

Velocibox is available on steam for $5.50 SGD and more platform options are on the way. Buy it!

edit: “There is music! As you can hear from the trailer”

The Evil Within Review

The Evil Within is not the game I hoped it would be. Parts of it aren’t terrible, in fact there are some pretty cool moments and boss fights. But there are so many technical faults and bad design choices that really hinder the game’s ability to truly stand out as a shooter or even as a horror game.

The game puts you in the shoes of Sebastian Castellanos a rugged and worn out cop who stumbles onto the site of a mass murder in Beacon Mental Hospital where he is knocked unconscious and proceeds to awake into a realm of horrible nightmares and monsters. Got it so far? Great because this story gets really crazy really quickly, and if you’re not paying attention to the diaries and audio tapes littered around the game, you’ll quickly get lost and end up as confused and clueless as our dear detective as he stumbles into one horrible situation after another. The story itself, after you piece everything together isn’t anything very compelling, and probably nothing you’ve never seen before if you have any experience with horror or mystery novels or TV shows at all. The characters in the story barely make an impression on you as well. Sebastian is the embodiment of every single veteran cop on TV, has a wife and kid, breaks up with wife but still loves the kid and drowns himself in work or alcohol. The other characters aren’t exactly anything new either.

The game is played from a third person over the shoulder perspective, and is pretty much similar to one of the most classic horror shooters of all time, Resident Evil 4. (No surprise since Shinji Mikami is responsible for both projects.) The shooting itself is…… a real mixed bag. On the one hand, pulling off head shots is really satisfying. It’s rarely a one hit kill, you’ll have to upgrade your critical hit for that, but the chunks of brain and skull blasting off as your shot connects feels great.  You can also shoot enemies in the foot while running to knock them down for a quick kill with a match by lighting them on fire.

The environments are pretty great. This one near the beginning of the game is incredibly reminiscent of the village in RE4, down to the psycho with the chainsaw…..

On the other hand, it doesn’t feel very precise. You can upgrade your aiming ability to prevent your weapon from swaying too much, but it doesn’t change the fact that you might be fighting the controls form time to time. It’s not a huge problem, but it does get a little tiresome in tight corners which may force you into a position where you might use melee attacks which are highly ineffectual even when fully upgraded. My advice? Put those precious points into something else because it honestly won’t make much difference. Enemies can also carry melee weapons which can sometimes be picked up by Sebastian. These items are one use only but they do tons of damage, and it’s a one hit kill to the basic enemies in the game.

Weapons in the game are pretty standard fare. Pistols, shotguns and a magnum later in the game don’t do much in the way of mixing up gameplay. The crossbow however allows you to craft different types of ammo for your needs, and provides players with more flexible ways to play. These arrows can deal massive damage, stun or freeze enemies depending on what you need, and are crafted by scavenging for parts around the game. These come in especially handy in boss fights where you will more than likely be out or running low on ammo.

Instead of fighting enemies straight on, you can also choose a stealthy route, when the game lets you. Sneaking up on enemies provides you the opportunity to instant kill them. Unfortunately, it’s rarely the most viable option. Enemies are often too close together to do it, and often times areas are separated by doors or traps that take forever to open leaving you completely vulnerable to all those guys you just sneaked past. It’s pointless at times and incredibly frustrating when it happens.

Speaking of frustration, the one thing that makes my blood boil more than anything in this game is the controls and movement. Parts of this game require you to make precision movements which are fine, but the game’s controls just aren’t up to task. Sometimes it’s the camera angle that puts you in an awkward spot, or sometimes your character just moves a little too much triggering a trap that blows you to smithereens. Checkpoints can also to pretty scarce and replaying parts of the game because you screwed up for one second just isn’t any fun at all. Coupled with the long loading times this game has, it’s a recipe for disaster.

The game isn’t a looker either, the letter box resolution the game is stuck with on consoles really hinder the view and just looks really jarring. You’ll get used to it after some time but I’d much rather a full screen game still. The environments themselves are very well designed. It’s incredibly eerie, gruesome and dreadful, and they look interesting and induced my sense of exploration. However, texture issues really bring down the visuals on what could have been a great looking game. Texture pop ins and low resolution textures on surfaces are a real let down especially since the environments are so well executed.

Parts of the game are genuinely unsettling, but I wouldn’t call it a scary game.

The Evil Within is a great tragedy. On paper, it looks like a great game. The legendary creator of the revolutionary Resident Evil 4 returns to offer a similar product, but it’s just nowhere near as polished as what I expected it to be. It has some great aspects, but everything else about it just brings it down and at the end of the day, you’re better off not making that effort.

8 Reasons why you should be PUMPED for Gamestart 2014!

It’s Singapore’s first big video game show, and after the press conference earlier today I gotta say, I’m pretty pumped thanks to this line up. This 2 day event will take place at Suntec Convention Centre from the 25th to 26th of October and tickets are going at the measly price of 8.50 for a 1 day pass and 15 for a 2 day pass. Here’s the breakdown of what you really need to know:

1. Game previews, game previews everywhere!

And not just the usual free to play stuff we’ve been getting at local gaming shows, but actual real AAA games. The main draw of the floor will be Sony’s booth (Little Big Planet 3, The Order 1886, Driveclub,Freedom Wars). Other Mainstream developers attending the show will include: Bandai Namco (Project CARS & Bloodborne), 2K (Evolve, NBA 2K15) and Blizzard (Hearthstone, Diablo and the new WoW expansion) to name a few. The games at the show will be playable and freebies will be handed out on a first come first serve basis so come early! Here’s the full list of games to be featured excluding indies:

2. Local Talent

We’re big on fostering local talent here at Singageeks and we’re glad these guys are too! An area of the show floor will be dedicated to the Gamestart Founders Base which willl feature local game studios such as Witching Hour Studios (RAVENMARK: Scourge of Estellion, Romans In My Carpet), Inzen Studios and Liongeeks studios (Just realised I may have ripped off another company’s name :/) with more to come! There will also be a panel headed by Ian Gregory creative director at Witching Hour Studios, about breaking into the local gaming industry. So for all you Ken Levine or John Carmack wannabes pay attention!

3. Tournaments

If yelling “NOOB” and gaining a false sense of superiority through online competition is your thing, this place is for you too! Except now, you can yell at your opponent in real life before he messes you up big time (please don’t do that, Singageeks does not condone violence :(). The Capcom Pro Tour Asia will conclude here at Gamestart bringing together some of the best street fighter players in the world. Previous EVO champions RZR Xian and MCZ Daigo Umehara will also be there to make your hard earned streetfighter prowess look like child’s play and also make you feel like putting a cool looking acronym in front of your name. Other tournament games include:

– Naruto

– Gundam Extreme VS FB (That’s what she said)

– Jojo’s Bizzare adventure

– Soul Calibur

There’s also a FIFA workshop for players to improve their skills and learn how to break into the fifa pro-tournament scene.

4. Retro gamez man

I made the organizers promise to bring this in. No idea if it’s actually gonna happen but, don’t need to thank me people! Just giving back to my community is all.

Video game hipsters unite! This is where you’ll get to hang out and tell people how you used to play games before they were cool and people will care and celebrate with you! Or if you’ve just grown up with these games, talk a walk down memory lane. Gamestart has a retro gaming section featuring old arcade machines from the land before time and all your old favorite consoles! Personally I’m pretty excited about this one, because I happen to be one of the aforementioned hipsters. I’m crossing my fingers for a joust machine.

5. Cosplay

Gonna go practice my pick up lines now

Some top cosplayers are comin down to town and i’m sure the cosplay fans reading this will recognise names like Yuegene Fay (Thailand) and Yasemin Arslan (Australia). There’s also a Cosplay competition with cash prizes to be won. Not to mention the countless other cosplayers which will be lining the halls.

6. It’s a great place to buy a PS4 or Vita

SINGGEEKS WORLD EXCLUSIVE REVEAL OF NEW PS4 REDESIGN!!!!!!!! SUGOIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Sony loves you apparently, they love you so much they want to cannibalise your old consoles for 100 bucks of their swanky new PS4s, AND they wanna give you even more stuff. The first 3 customers who purchase a PS4 will get a Sony Xperia Z3 and a 3 year membership to PSN+ absolutely free. Which i’m pretty sure is worth camping overnight for. The first 10 customer will be rewarded with a custom Toro faceplate for their new PS4 and the first 50 customers will get a PlayStation T-shirt so you can wear it and annoy microsoft when they do their next event.

ALSO top up $10 for the extra value meal and receive one of these additional toppings:

PS4™  – TABLE 1
Games / Items	Console	Version
Wireless Headset O2	PS4	Black or White color
Ryu Ga Gotoku Ishin	PS4	Japanese
Natural Doctrine	PS4	Japanese
AKIBA’S TRIP 2	PS4	Asia
KNACK	PS4	Asian Chinese + English
Killzone Shadow Fall	PS4	Asian Chinese + English
Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition	PS4	English
Dual Shock Controller	PS4	Black color only

PS VITA – TABLE 2
Games / Items	Console	Version
Natural Doctrine	PS VITA	Japanese
Hatsune Miku – Project Diva – F 2nd	PS VITA	Japanese
Sly Cooper Collection	PS VITA	Asian + English
The Legend of Heroes Sen No Kiseki II	PS VITA	Chinese
Blazblue Chronophantasma	PS VITA	Localized
MLB 14 The Show	PS VITA	English
XBlaze Code: Embryo	PS VITA	English
16GB memory Card	PS VITA	–

7. Freebiessss

Get yours before the aunties do!

Here’s something for you cheapos, if an $8 entry fee seems too steep for you, booths will be giving out free t-shirts for players of their games, bags, screen cleaners, ice packs and even a free goodie bag for attendees! The goodie bag items are random so if you wanna get your loot fix in real life, this is the place to do it. Those of you interested in the whatapp group auction house i’ll be opening during this event send me your number in an email, no spamming and gold farming ads please! (I’m kidding please don’t send me e-mails unless you’re a hot girl then I’m totally for real).

8. For luck

Originally I wrote 8 points because I’m Chinese so I have to end a list with 8 for auspicious reasons, but I realised I can actually contextualise this by saying… ticket holders will also be entitled to a lucky draw with a variety of prizes including consoles. HUAT AR! See you at GameStart 2014!

Let’s talk Destiny…..

When I first saw the original E3 footage of Destiny I remember thinking to myself “That’s what I call next-gen!” I mean a shooter MMO made by one the best developers to ever touch the genre? Hell yeah! The amazing set designs, fascinating world and rapid gameplay on display immediately grabbed me and I imagined myself playing it with a few friends. Trudging through dungeons, fighting epic bosses getting cool loot while doing one of my favourite things ever, shooting  things in the face. Ahhhh the utter bliss that would bring me….. it would be like Borderlands! But better! Perhaps the picture destiny painted in my imagination was too perfect. Playing destiny made me feel like a teenage girl, all my life Disney movies and boy bands have painted the perfect picture of my prince charming, and now I finally have him! Only to find out he’s a jerk just like all the rest of them 😥

That’s not to say Destiny was all that bad, when we first got together, it was magic. Everything I imagined it to be at first, I was shooting and riding on my bike along the beautiful setting and gorgeous graphics oh that handsome lighting…. makes my heart flutter. And he whispered such sweet melodies into my ear every time I turned him on, it just made me want to….explore. He handled like a dream too, he wasn’t too glitchy or slow, ran really smoothly and those shooting mechanics were spot on! The AI felt engaging and i felt constantly excited and challenged. But as time went on, the relationship started to fall apart.

I was so fascinated by his world and his characters, but he just seemed so shady about it and wouldn’t tell me much at all. We always had a general direction of things we had to do and I understood where we were going, there were so many other things I didn’t understand. Instead of telling me upfront or when I asked, Destiny told me I had to sign up on a website to view all the information I wanted. But why? He seemed like such a great guy why didn’t he just give me some context to who he is? The events in his stories he alluded to, the strange new worlds he brought me to seemed inconsequential I didn’t feel connected to them at all and in the end his stunning good looks and great gameplay just seemed to whisper “trust me darling, just come along” and I did. Now I feel dirty.

One of the things he promised me when we first got together was all the gifts he would shower me with, and he delivered…. sometimes. My ex borderlands was such a giving guy, he would shower me with so many cool gifts! Every gift he gave me was ridiculous, and they all had a great return policy so if I didn’t like them I could just get some cash back and buy gifts of my own. Even though, eventually he always gave me something unexpected that was totally cool and what I always wanted :). My other ex Diablo was even better, he gave me gifts I could customise to my own liking and my playstyle which made me very happy. Destiny just seems stingy in comparison, he doesn’t give me gifts as often, and he’s so random! My exes give me gifts when I accomplish something like defeat a boss or find a chest. Destiny doesn’t really do that, I rarely get gifts when i manage to finally defeat his enemies and even when he does give me gifts, they don’t really make me feel very special.

But one of the best things about Destiny that I like that none of my exes did was the many people I could play with. PvP and when we are on our regular quests. The PvP is fun, we have familiar games like controlling points on maps, team deathmatch etc. It’s fun! But sometimes I just wish he explained the rules a little bit better, does the type of damage my weapon does matter? What about my armour? some of his friends seem a little crazy though, very violent and rough. Those hunters are always spoiling everything with their “special power”. I need to tell Bungie to nerf them a little so I can have some fun with the best part about my babe.

After a while, I just got really started to get sick of Destiny, I was tired of his non giving attitude, his mysteriousness and even his sweet music and good looks weren’t doing it for me anymore… I started to think about my ex Diablo, who I recently dated, and I felt really tempted to call him and go out with him again. That’s when I knew, this relationship is not going to work out.

So Destiny, if you’re reading this, it’s not me, it’s you. You have so much potential, and I thought you were someone else when we first started going out, I just….. don’t love you anymore! Not until you change your ways, there are good parts of you and you can do so much better. I won’t lose hope on you, maybe in time you’ll grow to be the right game for me but for now, I’m going home with Diablo, sorry.

Top 10 games I’m looking forward to this season

It’s almost that time of the year again, fall and winter have historically been one of the most anticipated seasons for gamers with the horde of awesome games just hoping to be snatched up for the holiday season, and without further ado, here’s my top 10 list of games to get this year….

1) Destiny (out now) – 360,PS3,XONE,PS4

Destiny has been out for a little under a week and everyone on my friend’s list seems to be playing it. The makers of Halo have successfully the intense and challenging firefights they are known for into this borderlands-esque experience. Destiny allows players to team up in fire teams of 3 players to conquer dungeons, explore caves, and get some epic loot. I will be doing a little review of the game soon, once i’m done and you and look out for it soon.

2) Disney Infinity 2.0 (23rd sept) – 360,PS3,XONE,PS4

I was incredibly exited when the original Disney infinity was released being the gargantuan Disney fan that I am, but something just never clicked with me. The game seemed repetitive and grew boring despite it’s charming visuals and characters. The figures were also giving my wallet a really hard time and it grew harder and harder for me to justify spending $20 on a character on a game I was falling out of love with.

But 2.0 looks like a refreshing breath of life, the game now features the Marvel universe right along side Disney characters and the figures look amazing, not to mention adorable. Characters also have ski8ll trees now and it plays almost like an action RPG. All your 1.0 figures will also work with with the new game INCLUDING the base set. which means you could possibly play 2.0 by just buying a disc copy if you already own 1.0. That’s a huge deal because it just means I have more money to spend on all those supercalifragilisticexpialidocious figures.

3) Shadow Of Mordor (30th Sept) – PC,XONE,PS4

This is the best looking LOTR game to date, you play Talion, a ranger whose family was slaughtered by sauron and the game chronicles your revenge into the heart of mordor in a stealth and action based adventure.

The video shown at E3 really impressed me, I never thought a stealth based LOTR game could really happen. But what was shown proved me wrong. SOM operates on a Nemesis system which generates enemies unique to every playthrough to assassinate. These characters follow a hierarchy and lower ranking enemies can be influenced to spy, assassinate or spread fear of your name around the ranks.

Combat in this game looks super fun as well in a very Batman Arkham Asylum way. It’s a tried and true system, I wouldn’t blame anyone for copying it because it works so well. But I think the option to go all stealth creates a unique gameplay experience. I can’t wait to play this game!

4) Alien Isolation (Oct 7th) – 360,PS3,XONE,PS4,PC

This game looks scary and for Alien fans, the game they’ve all been waiting for. Alien Isolation is pegged as the sequel to the original Alien movie. You play as Ellen Ripley, daughter of Amanda Ripley from alien as you explore a devastated outpost for signs of your missing mother.

The game provides you with rudimentary tools for survival but not so much for combat and the constant threat of the alien stalking you is always around. Dark corridors and empty rooms are now stalking grounds as you try and evade the alien that is ever on the hunt. Besides the alien, there are also other survivors who may or may not be friendly to deal with as you uncover the mysteries in Sevastopol.

5) Dragon Age: Inquisition (Nov 18th) 360,PS3,XONE,PS4,PC

I’m a big fan of the original Dragon Age and this one has me drooling so far. Not only does it look great, but the combat looks exciting and faster than ever before. DA3 is an action RPG with combat happening in real time, you can also choose to pause combat at anytime and issue orders to your team mates to carry out.

The world looks beautiful, and i’m super pumped that it’s open world. What i’m hoping that means is that we’ll get different quests that bring us back to familiar areas with a new context, or decisions that are made changing the landscape of previous areas and of course mounts, which i feel is essential to any open world game, unless you’re demon souls.

6) The Crew (Nov 11th) 360,XONE,PS4,PC

This is an interesting one. It’s touted as a social racing game, a racing mmo where players share the same world. The game seems similar to EA’s latest offerings in Need For Speed: RIvals, where players can challenge each other to races as they pass by, interact with other car factions ie cops vs racers and hunt for hidden routes and secrets.

The crew seems to have a pretty good emphasis on off road racing though, and could be the thing that sets it apart for similar racers. Players can also join crews to complete objectives and compete on a global leaderboard to be the best crew.

7) Assasin’s creed Unity (Nov 11th) – PC,XONE,PS4

This must be the 15th AC game, but the series has always managed to deliver pretty stellar stuff with a few exceptions. Last year’s iteration Black Flag turned out to be one of my favourite games of the year, although the best parts of that game weren’t designed after traditional AC mechanics.

This time, the game will take place in revolutionary France, which is great because I can say i’m researching for my history essay while playing. The game of course looks fantastic, the in game crowd in the E3 video looked like what the original AC had promised but failed to deliver so many years ago.

The gameplay however, looked really similar to other AC games. There’s your climbing stabbing and counter based combat, which seems totally fine and competent, but a little bland and uninspired being the 15th time they’ve done this. It’s like in soccer games when they introduce a new shooting system to “revolutionise” the way you play fifa, then they “revolutionise” it again next year.

The co-op missions however look really interesting and could be great fun to play with. Up to 4 players can work together to infiltrate restricted areas and kill off their targets which could lead to some interesting gameplay moments, although i’m interested to see how the developers will counter the ease of the missions once 4 players are involved.

8) Far Cry 4 (Nov 18th) 360,PS3,XONE,PS4,PC

This game looks bat shit crazy, in other words incredibly fun. You still do the same thing like tackling outposts, but the fundamental feeling of stalking your prey and exploding barrels all around you is just so thrilling. Far Cry 4 also introduces a lot of the late game traversal stuff in 3 like the flight suit earlier so players are more empowered to experiment and do crazier shit.

There’s a cool bait mechanic as well. Instead of throwing rocks to distract enemies, you can throw meat which serves as bait that draws nearby predators into the fray. The game actually spawns these animals whenever you throw it so use them wisely of you might just end up getting mauled yourself.

9) Costume quest 2 (Oct 7th) 360,PS3,XONE,PS4,PC,WIIU

The original Costume Quest came out sometime ago and I absolutely loved it. You go around as 3 kids on halloween trying to collect as much candy as humanly possible while reprising the roles of your costume while battling other “monsters” in turn based combat. Now that’s saying a lot coming from me because I hate turn based RPGs. Too slow for my taste, but CQ is just so charming it makes my heart melt and I could never ever hate it. It may be bare bones turned based combat but it’s not a big budget game like everything else on the list and if it looks good to you, it’ll be well worth your time.

10) Forza Horizon 2 (30th Sept) 360,XONE

Forza Horizon is my favourite racing game of all time. It’s gorgeous, has a great soundtrack, great festival atmosphere and some good old arcade style racing. This isn’t a game for hard core racing sim fans, it’s an arcade racer at it’s core but true to Forza style, you can turn off assists and tweak various settings to get to the realism you want.

This time the game takes place in one of my favourite places in the world, Southern France and Northern Italy, and I’m expecting nothing but greatness from the soundtrack this year. The beauty of Forza Horizon for me was how a non racing fan like me could enjoy it so much too. It was  challenging, but the leveling up system was addictive and the adjustable difficulty settings reallyy helped me ease into things.

Goin back: The World Of Warcraft (Part 1)

My first foray into azeroth was in 2006, I was an unsuspecting teenager longing for another video game to tide me over my school holidays. I remember being filled with wonder and excitement when I first realised the scope of the game, the possibility for adventure seemed endless and I ended up spending many a night slogging away to earn my first mount.

It’s 2014 now and a lot has changed. The recent trailer for the new expansion and all this hearthstone buzz has made me long for the good old days of questing and /dancing so I’ve decided to take a plunge and return once again to The World Of Warcraft (cue title card).

This is my character Nickosaurus, he’s a badass warlock and also my first class.

 

Something about controlling evil minions to do my bidding struck a chord with me. It’s kind of amazing to see my character again after all these years, and he hasn’t changed at all during my absence. Like an old friend who’s always going to be there for you and welcome you back with open arms, then systematically destroy your life by starting with your free time.  After leaving for a long time, the thing i always looked forward to when returning to WoW is the wipe of my talent tree and coming up with a new build. To my dismay, the tree was gone, you can still spec your characters but 3 new talents are now unlocked at preset levels and you can only choose one of each. The way all the classes worked have also been completely redone. There was now a new bar under my mana which I was completely confused by, and some of the spells I used to cast were now gone.

Now this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, for the most part most of the spells that were gone are now worked into the talent tree, and spells that i used to cast like demonic armour (gives a defence boost for 30 mins) were now  just passive skills for the class, which I kind of preferred anyway. And that new bar was a real pleasant surprise for me too. It works like a warrior’s rage meter and goes up as you deal damage, and you can use that energy to transform into an actual demon with a whole new set of spells and extra spell damage (HOW COOL IS THAT?). I was thoroughly impressed by the game so far.

I picked up where I left off, in the eastern plaguelands, and man that place has changed! The holy paladin dudes have now gotten more control over everything and the place is a lot less scary as I remembered it to be. The game also seems to have gotten way easier, the rate in which I was earning gold and leveling was so different to when I was playing in the past. I for one am ecstatic about the change, I remember getting really frustrated in the past spending hours at the AH trying to sell mats so I could get enough money for a mount or new gear to make my life easier rather than actually going out there questing! The new pace really kept things fresh, and I never had to grind for gold of loot because the quests were designed so much better now. Gone were the group quests that required me to wait around till some poor sod was in the exact same quest i’m in, instead those quests now provide you with NPC characters to make your life much easier. The game is pretty much a breeze now, which will probably upset some players, but for me it’s great. I get to do what I like to do in WoW, exploring new locales and living the lore.

 

That about does it for my first entry of my “goin back” feature. If any of you are as tempted to jump back in as I did, find me on battlenet as invadernick, I’m playing on the Oceanic Nagrand server. Hope you enjoyed the article if you have questions or comments post them below. Also if you have a suggestion for game for our next “goin back” feature where we revisit some old games  drop them below too. Also we have Facebook.