Distance

Maybe if I start typing this out at 3pm, I can finish this before the ball drops. I am incredibly efficient at procrastination, which leads me to have a big thing typed out here, then I pass out and all the ideas flow out of my head. So let’s give this another shot.

It’s a weird feeling knowing that exactly one year ago, I was halfway across the country, trying to establish a new life for myself. I had a good place to live, but no steady work to keep me there. I came back up here pretty quickly, knowing if I didn’t make that choice, I could have very well been stranded down there, even though my friends at the time were willing to help. The last twelve months have been something of an eyeopener for me, as I’ve realized I have no idea what the hell I’m supposed to be doing with myself. Right now I’m just sitting here with a cold, listening to Meshuggah, and hoping I can figure it all out. I have huge plans for this endeavor I have undertaken, we’re gonna start recording again, hopefully with El Shaddai, then whatever weird-as-fuck games we can find to supplant our boredom and collective malaise towards modern gaming. I’m gonna get some art done hopefully, maybe make this look a bit more professional, even if this is anything but. And, if I play my cards right, I’m gonna start streaming again. I know that little to no one is gonna see this, so I’m mostly writing this for myself, so if I manage to fail myself again, I can still look back and try this shit next year. So with this, I bid anyone and everyone a new year that’s at least more interesting than the last.

The Holiday Spirit

I write this on December 25, 2014, listening to Agent Orange’s album, Living in Darkness, something of a fitting title for this evening. Last night was a hell of an evening, seeing family I hadn’t seen in a couple years, myself being in Texas last winter, and enjoying the scraps of time we get to spend with each other. Every year I almost stay home, but then when I do decide to visit everyone, I’m glad I did.

I can also think of a bunch of things I hate about this time of year, but it’s nothing particularly unique. All I know is I head back tomorrow and hopefully, tomorrow’s hangover won’t be as bad as the sobering realization that it’s almost 2015.

A Labor of Love

I was working on a post for about four days, never getting the words out right. Then I played Captain Toad’s Treasure Tracker with Zach and it all came together.  Of course this post isn’t really related, but it works out better than the one I wanted to make.

You can always tell when people who made the game you’re playing actually enjoyed their work. You can say the same about music, as well, I’m listening to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs album “Fever to Tell” as I write this out, and you can just feel that passion and energy flowing into your ears, That said, there’s a level of detail in every layer of Captain Toad that makes this title feel like a labor of love. The level design is solid all around, with a few gems mixed in (there’s a pinball table in Chapter 3) and enough variety to keep your attention. The Wii U Gamepad implementation is good enough with minimal gimmicks, poking and blowing into the mic at times. The graphics are nothing short of amazing, with special attention paid to Toad and Toadette to remind you that they aren’t just palette swaps, they are unique characters. The entire presentation is so incredibly charming and enjoyable that it can pull you out of the crappy mood the holidays can bring.  And working in retail, I’ll definitely need the boost so I don’t lose my mind.

Persona Q and Persona Q 3DS XL

I was hanging out with Zach at the store that shall not be named, picking up a copy of Alien: Isolation, when he saw the aforementioned 3DS on the back counter.  I made the decision to buy it about .4 seconds after he told me about it.  In my excitement, I forgot to see if the game actually came with it, which it did not.  So we went back inside, and magically the line had become three times longer than it was when we walked out.  Of course, some guy we both hated with a passion when we worked there comes in, and starts trying to talk to us.  This guy would always reek of cheap cigarettes and leaned over the counter as you did his returns and trades, which were always the shitty old games that he bought the previous week.  I used to have people complain about the smell of the store, and also someone got on my case when he managed to leave a cigarette butt on the carpet.  A prime example of the people that live around here.  At that point, Zach and I started to ignore him and laugh the whole thing off.  Then we hear this guy say he works there now, which prompted the same reaction out of us, a look of horror and confusion.  It pretty much killed my new hardware buzz as we got up to the counter.  I got my game and we left, both of us knowing we will never be able to go back.

Persona Q is pretty cool so far, by the way.  If you enjoyed Etrian Odyssey or the later Persona games, you’ll find something to enjoy here.  I happen to be a fan of both, so when it was announced, I was bummed that I didn’t have a 3DS anymore.  Of course, they release this new one and here I am again.  I might have a small post about it next week when I play it a bit more.

The new Dragon Age ended up dragging along for the final 15-20 hours or so.  We finished it up last night, and I use the word “finished” loosely here.  For some reason, the final three or four boss fights ended with the guy at about 5-10% then it would jump to the next cutscene, saying we had won.  I don’t know how you would feel about such a thing, but I was pissed.  I don’t know if it was intended or a glitch, but that shit shouldn’t happen, let me kill the fucking thing.  Plus we experienced some great glitches such as the game not showing the dialogue wheel or straight up just locking up randomly.  One I particularly enjoyed was during a boss fight, the game decided I had had enough and put up the game over screen, even though Blackwall was still alive.  This is the shit we deal with people, games so massive in scope that apparently it’s ok to release something that doesn’t work as it should, as long as it would have been a great game.  I’m really close to giving up on these big titles.  At least Guilty Gear Xrd comes out next month, then I can play that until my hands fall off.

Survival of the Dumbest

Yesterday, my friend Zach and I were leaving a local sub shop when we saw a young woman walk into traffic, trying to cross the street. This happens all the time, everywhere I know, but this was more unique I think. This woman made a point to walk slowly and erratically, almost like she was blindfolded or something. On top of this, her friend would lunge forward then return to the sidewalk, like someone who’s playing Frogger for the first time.  Add to that the fact that the woman taking our orders asked us what we had asked for a total of four times each, plus she forgot a component of each of our sandwiches, lettuce on Zach’s and mayo on mine.  I could see asking us to confirm because there was a bit of a line, but when another customer sitting across from us said the same thing happened to him, something’s not right.  Maybe I’m just an asshole but sometimes I wish I was that oblivious to the world around me, maybe I’d be happier. But then I wouldn’t have appreciated what I saw, so it all works out I suppose.

I figured I should at least mention a game instead of just recalling something that really stuck in my head all day yesterday.  The new Dragon Age: Inquisition is pretty good, at least the PS4 version, can’t speak for anything other system. The combat is fun and engaging and the quests seem diverse enough to hold our attention for the duration of the game.  We played for about six hours yesterday, which isn’t much considering the scope of the game, but it should be long enough to have some sort of concrete opinions of the game.  Plus, the old tactics of running around and getting your companions back up seems to still work during boss fights, something I deployed in Dragon Age: Origins, which I loved.

How Not To Launch Your AAA Game

Haven’t been feeling too great lately, hence the big gap between posts here, but the launch of the new Assassin’s Creed game got me thinking.

A short while ago, Ubisoft stated that AC: Unity wouldn’t be 1080p/60fps on the current generation of systems, and all the nerds online started frothing at the mouth, pitchforks and keyboards in hand.  I understood why Ubisoft did this, they wanted to immerse the player in France during the French Revolution, complete with a city full of people and architecture galore.  But everything I’ve read today makes me feel like the game was at least a bit rushed, mainly because delays sound like the game is being cancelled and the hard drives with all the code for said game are being shot into the sun, at least to some people.  Plus, shareholders tend to collectively lose their minds if there’s a delay on a major title.  But what’s worse, delaying the game and missing your holiday window or releasing a game that is glitchy as fuck?  We know the answer is release the glitchy-as-fuck game and patch it later.  My friend Zach and I saw this with Lords of the Fallen, which had insane screen tearing issues for a PS4 game, but of course there was a patch like a day later to fix it.  This, along with Day 1 DLC is becoming an alarming trend as far as I’m concerned.  Just give me a finished game, if there’s some minor issues, fine, just get the big stuff taken care of and send it out so I can buy it.  Don’t give me a game where you can fall into the map or get stuck on a fucking building that was designed to be scaled and ran across.  But of course, they’ll patch it or at least try to, because that’s how things are now.  You can’t even bring a game over to a friend’s house anymore to try, there’s always like a gig of updates to download and install now.  But who cares, there’s money to be had!  Gotta hit those holiday numbers, gotta make those stockholders happy.  Of course, there’s probably a ton of stuff I’m missing.  Actually, I’m sure I’m missing a ton of stuff related to QA and testing and whatnot, but it’s my right as a consumer to bitch if these publishers have the right to treat us like morons.

Drink of choice: Jack and Ginger

A few words about Wayne Static

As I was leaving work last night, I heard about Wayne Static’s passing and it definitely took me off the high I had from the Patriots game. My first exposure to his band, Static-X, was actually due to Omega Boost, a PS1 mech combat game I had purchased on a whim when I was a kid. On the inside of the manual, it had details about  their debut, Wisconsin Death Trip, inside, so I decided to check it out. I listened to that album about 10 times in a week, I just couldn’t get enough of that “evil disco” sound. I got a couple of their other albums and saw them in concert with my sister along with Otep in Worcester about 8 years ago, which was pretty sick. I’d like to think that actually going to that show with my sister helped us get closer, as we didn’t have much in common outside of musical taste and standing out in the cold waiting for the band to leave the venue. I think I still have his autograph on my ticket stub, at least I hope I do. Sure, I didn’t know the guy or anything, but his and his band’s music means alot to me, oddly enough. I just wish I could have told him after catching another awesome show.

Another Pint: Hating on Hatred

(Rambling and incoherence incoming)

This will most likely be the only time I’ll ever talk about the game Hatred on here or on any other site.  Hatred, for those living in a cave, is a game made by Polish developer Destructive Creations where you play by a man who has given up on himself and society.  This man chooses to kill as many people as he can with a variety of weapons, and that’s it.  Judging by the trailer, the game is played in a top-down (I think) perspective with maybe some close-up shots of your handiwork at times.  With all that said, everyone and their cat seems to have an opinion about this game, including myself.  Most people are spouting a bunch of garbage about how it shouldn’t exist, or how bad it looks, or it being too violent.  Then there’s the camp defending it based on artistic merit or claims about it not being any different than Grand Theft Auto, considering both involve mass murder, although one of these two doesn’t force it upon the player.

Now, I’m a fan of Rockstar Games’ Manhunt, mainly because the game is a properly built test of the player, through and through.  Sure, you sneak around, you stab a guy in the eyes with a piece of glass, and move on, but your success, for lack of a better word, is based upon restraint.  If you rush through a level, you die.  If you always go for the most brutal kill, you could end up revealing yourself and having to run away.  It properly stresses a player out, which I enjoy the most, through it’s atmosphere and pacing.   What seems to be the case with Hatred is that it lacks proper atmosphere, but I know as much as everyone else does, so I’m most likely wrong.  Give me some context for this guy’s rage, besides him just being pissed off.  In every other murder simulator I’ve seen or played, there’s context, as flimsy as it may be, but it’s there.  That said, the sociopath inside me is somewhat excited to see a game like this go into production, just to see how well Destructive Creations’ ideas materialize.  The thing I hate the most is that the only reason I heard about this game was because people had to pick up their torches and pitchforks to destroy it like it’s Frankenstein’s monster.

Drink of Choice: Rum and Coke (lots)

Another Pint: The Final Countdown

This song came on at work today and it got me thinking about that last hour or two of a game.  A wide range of emotions can start coming out when you finally realize your journey is almost over.  Personally, there’s a part of me that doesn’t want to finish Persona 4 Golden again because you have to leave behind all your friends.  The final hour or so of Metal Gear Solid is a masterpiece, with emotions peaking when Grey Fox sacrifices himself to help defeat Metal Gear Rex then the satisfaction of Liquid finally dying.  The ending of Diablo was pretty bleak when you and the hero realize that he must sacrifice himself in order to contain the demon within.  I could go on and on, citing my past experiences, but there’s another side to the coin.

My friend Zach and I finished Shadow of Mordor a little over a week ago, and they made some baffling choices when the ending of the game was approaching.  The game quickly went from using your minions to dominate some strong guys, to aggressive piggyback rides, to mash X to win.  I want to know who said “Yeah, that’s good, print a million copies.”  There are plenty of titles I’ve played over the years that just sputter out or run out of cool stuff to show us.  Final Fantasy X had some of the weakest last boss fights I’ve ever experienced, although I did have one Celestial weapon for Auron that was overpowered as hell.  Deus Ex: Human Revolution got a little too preachy towards the end and just sorta ran out of steam.

Now I’ll never claim to have all the answers, but there had to be a better way to wrap up the couple titles I’ve mentioned, as well as a ton more that I can’t even remember.  Imagine if at the end of Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Ganon just fucked off and left Link and Zelda at the base of his crumbled castle.  Think of how you would feel if you made if through Bioshock Infinite, all amped up, and Comstock just ruins you, game over.  Of course, those are extreme cases, but those endings we all love and talk about could have been just phoned in and went to print.  It’s the difference between good and great games, as well as the difference between great games and greatness.

Drink of Choice: Sam Adams Octoberfest

The Binge: Einhander for Playstation

I was on the waiting list for Jay St. Video Games for about two years when I got a message yesterday from their automated service saying this had come in.  I called the verify the condition of the disc and was quoted $70 after receiving some pictures of the game and case.  I made a semi-idle threat against the guy I spoke to if he sold it, and we were on our way.  Of course, it wouldn’t be as easy just driving to Albany, there had to be a closed lane on the highway which led us to some less than ideal areas of the city.  After arriving, I looked at the case and game in person, and saw a price tag for $60.  He didn’t realize his mistake until just then, so after making him call his manager, I saved $10, which promptly went to buying Arby’s because it’s amazing.  Shortly after arriving at my friend Zach’s house, we should be playing this all night instead of The Evil Within, but Bayonetta 2 does come out next week, so it must be finished so we can be rid of it forever.

Drink of choice: Orange Juice, or a Virgin Screwdriver, according to my friend Ian.