Overwatch Rock, Paper, Scissors, Genji, D.va

Today on Stop Review we talk Overwatch balancing. Overwatch claims that for every hero there is a counter and after looking through the game that's partially true. Heroes all have certain antithesis' like Bastion and Genji. Bastion is a stationary character that deals incredibly high amounts of damage Genji relies on being mobile and harassing enemies from behind using his dash to finish off enemies all while staying moving and climbing the high walls in the map. These heroes are opposites and you might be able to counter a Bastion with a Genji using his Reflect Skill but a smart Bastion just wont shoot you. So it really comes down to knowing the game.

When I say it comes down to knowing your heroes its knowing what skills and abilities make them (or you vulnerable). A Reinhardt usually loses to a reaper because reaper gets in too close with and his shield doesn't work a Reinhardt might counter by sticking by his fellow heroes so a reaper gets taken out before he can do damage or he might charge the reaper before he can do anything. Heroes don't necessarily rock paper scissors each other. the largest part for countering a hero is countering the person playing, for example, I won't stop playing Soldier: 76 because i keep getting taken out by Roadhog and his chains, I'll sprint around the team and hit Roadhog from the back or better yet coordinate and attack with my team.

While knowing your characters is all well and dandy some maps just aren't kind to some characters. Usually me and my friend can play Torbjorn on a payload map offensively and once we set our turrets on the payload that pain train never stops but we run into trouble on Kings Row because of all the corners characters can hide around and take out our turrets with. Maps can be unkind to certain characters, mostly to non-support characters as ,they don't need a map they need a character to support. Keep in mind your maps and game modes when deciding your character.

The last thing I want to talk about is play styles. Just so you know there is a wrong way to play a character, A Reinhardt that chases that Genji is not only a bad Reinhardt but also a useless Reinhardt because now your team is getting killed while you get and extra elimination. A good hero knows where they work are you harassing enemies to get them away from your team or are you wading your way into the enemy team soaking up all the damage while your team lays waste to the team killing you. The basic roles follow these set patterns Offense is harassing and killing, Defense is killing and damaging and setting up  defensive positions, Tanks are getting shot at, and Support is keeping everybody alive long enough to pull this off. that's the gist of hero roles.Remember this isn't concrete each Character can be used in a variety of roles in a variety of situations and has their own play style. Experimentation is the key to figuring out hero roles and counters try new things and don't assume a new hero will fix things try all that you can with your heroes 

Trending

Whats up with the trend Youtube gaming Minecraft has been a massive game but recently I took a look at Youtube's trending gaming videos and apparently even though Google searches are down Minecraft has a majority mark on the trending videos for gaming and after some review of the channels its easy to see why.

Firstly lets take a look at subscriber count the biggest trending videos are made by channels with subscriber counts numbering in the millions which can have in turn means a massive amount of views and buzz on their latest videos. first there's a channel with over 10 million subscribers but after two days his video has received 1 million views. now a million views is a lot but in terms of his subscriber count you would think it would be more as most people subscribe so that they know when the newest video comes out. so i watched some of their videos and looked at some of the games played, what I found didn't surprise me at all.

Starting with the majority of the the content Minecraft. Minecraft started getting popular in 2011 but it didn't really start becoming the industry giant we know until it was covered by youtubers and spread throughout the internet. Now looking at the statistics Minecraft searches are slowing down and numbers are dipping. but the Minecraft part doesn't concern me Minecraft has always been a go to for any channel looking to capture new viewers during the craze. What I saw was Garry's mod and the ever popular Happy Wheels and that's the basis of so many channels now. Happy Wheels and Minecraft are what I like to call the Internet Celebrity starting pack. After a popular youtuber who I wont name but rhymes with ew-tie-die covered Happy Wheels it took off even today, 4 years later, the video in question is still one of the most popular videos ever. This fact hasn't deterred some people from being "inspired," by this success.

The last thing I want to discuss is the behavior of the content creators I viewed. These personalities all share certain characteristics they are loud, intensely over reactive, and they talk quickly. these characteristics are spread through many content creators and they all sound and act with the same mannerisms and expressions. I feel like there is a certain lack of originality and certain affront to original personaliities and content that cant get through the carbon copies of eachother.

Here's Something New: A Review of Captain America Civil War

Alright so aside from the mini rant about Corn Pops this site has mostly been about videogame editorials, well diversity is the spice of life so we're shaking it up like a bartender in a Bond movie.

WARNING SPOILERS IMMINENT

Lets start with the story comparison to the comics, in the comics the story focuses around the Hero Registration Act which requires the registration and cooperation of all heroes/vigilantes to reveal their identities and work for the government. Steve Rodgers otherwise known as Captain America opposes the Act believing the bureaucracy would stop them from doing the good they do. Tony Stark also known as Iron Man believes that they are too powerful to govern themselves. This divide spreads to the entirety of the Marvel universe. The  story ends with both sides fighting and losing friends in the fighting and after witnessing the destruction of a city and the lives put in danger turns himself in. The movie is slightly different due to the limited amount of heroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Also there is a reason the Movie is called Captain America: Civil War and not Avengers: Civil War is because the story starts off with the new Avengers but degrades into a Captain America story. It starts with an Avenger's mission in Wakanda where after saving Cap's life from a bomb Scarlet Witch ends up tossing it at an office building killing civilians. Meanwhile  Tony Stark is confronted by the mother of a boy killed in the last Avengers movie and he begins to see the tragedies they have caused and approaches the team with the Act. This Act starts the divide in the team, what really starts the divide in the team is when Bucky, The Winter Soldier" blows up a UN council about the Heroes Act that kills the king of Wakanda the father of T'Challa or the Black Panther. from there the teams side based on their previous feelings on the Act adn the teams fight it out with some members letting themselves get capture to let Cap and Bucky get away to stop a man from getting the 5 other winter soldiers the soviets created. after that Iron Man and War Machine go after them and War Machine is paralyzed and Iron Man goes after them alone and tries to kill Bucky because Bucky killed his parents which is the source of Tony's trauma and he snaps and nearly kills both Bucky and Cap.

While I prefer the Comic storyline the story of the film is very well written and greatly expands the cinematic universe for Marvel. With the limited characters they managed to weave together a coherent storyline while expanding the background of new characters. Focusing on Captain America also was a plus because it provided a better focus for the story and helped out  the motivation of all the characters. some of the problems are some of the introductions of the heroes are weak and some of the heroes are weakened to put them on par or make them beatable by the other heroes.

Overall the movie is the best of the Captain America movie yet and the writers and actors did an amazing job and in my opinion they particularly nailed it with Spiderman and they made a movie with leaves the future of the MCU with a ton of possibilities

OVERWATCH GIVE ME MORE-VERWATCH

Let me get this out of the way I love Overwatch. It's gorgeous, colorful, funny, and full of character and stories that are amazingly well written and well designed. I've been in love with this game since it's announcement.

If you don't know about Overwatch its a character based team FPS which basically means there are 12 different characters each with varying play styles and abilities, for instance there's Bastion which is a robot that can turn into a high power stationary turret or there's Genji a cybernetic ninja that can throw shurikens reflect incoming projectiles with his sword and do that anime dash thing where they slice an enemy and they take damage after they got slashed which is neat. But there are 12 different play styles with that can suit every kind of personality. I personally prefer Reinhardt the giant armored knight with a massive hammer and a laser shield.

Now Overwatch has your standard objective based game modes there's king of the hill, payload, and objective defense/attack. while the game modes are basic the varying team compositions really change up every single game especially if you and your friends are trying some gimmick like 5 Bastions with 1 Reinhardt shielding them or 6 Tracers blinking all over the battlefield.

Another amazing part of Overwatch is the character and world crafting that Blizzard has done. Each character has a backstory and relationship with other characters. These stories are expanded on in the Overwatch comics and and animated shorts (which can be found here). The story of Overwatch starts 30 years in the past when there was an uprising of sentient robots that built their own military bots to destroy humanity. When the governments of the world couldn't stop them an elite team of the best and brightest around the world was assembled. They were a small team than included Reinhardt, the German soldier, Torbjorn Lindhorn, the Swedish engineer, the Egyptian sniped Anna Amari, and two soldiers from an American super soldier program Gabriel Reyes and Jack Morrison. The team quickly became the most effective fighting force against the robots. the war left certain countries devastated but eventually resistances started forming and the strie force became Overwatch which expanded as more men and women proved themselves to be heroes. (if you want even more story check out the whole story we know so far here)

The game as of the beta is well balanced and each character seems to have an antithesis which is able to challenge that hero's play style. the most obvious being Genji and Bastion because they can counter each other in every way based on the players knowledge of the other the Bastion can take down Genji very quickly but if Genji hits his reflect and the Bastion starts firing the bastion will kill itself. Overall every character seems useful and unique. One thing to remember is the game is based on switching heroes so you can counter the opposing team and your favorite character is not the best character for the job. I'm a little biased but this game seems like one of the best unique and new IP's to come out in a good while.

Bloodborne More Like Blood-swore-n as in "How Come I Swore so Much?"

Bloodborne, is a game developed by FromSofware the creator of DemonSouls and the more recent Dark Souls III. These games are known for their difficulty and unforgiving enemies and systems. I have no experience with any of the souls game and I wasn't about to dive into a series with no experience so I borrowed Bloodborne and dove in. What followed was a never ending tale of frustration and an increasing amount of expletives of varying volume.

Going into the game blind I only knew of Bloodborne and the other souls games by their reputation. I expected things to be difficult and I expected to die which I thought I was prepared for, it instantly went out the window as I was one shot by practically everything and attacked by hordes of enemies and I got even more frustrated as 2 hours in I hadn't even reached the first boss. Now admittedly I went right past it because I wasn't interested in the dead end of a bridge so I went right past it.

Surprisingly the things that killed me the most were the enemies because unlike most games enemies will attack at the same time and will combo you into a corner of frustration and defeat. I beat the first boss my second try and the "Blood Starved Beast," on my first try which made me quite impressed with myself. Unfortunately everything else started to destroy me like some absolute goose with a gatling gun who i ended up having to shoot off a roof in the lowest point of my gaming life.

Now on to my usual shtick the combat in this game is amazing. The raw visceral nature of the combat makes every hit feel solid and and damaging. The other part of the combat is Bloodborne's "Trick Weapons," the weapons in Bloodborne morph into another weapon to change the move set and range of the weapon. One weapon, The "Threaded Cane," is a cane sword that transforms into a bladed whip that is used to hit multiple enemies and extend the reach of the weapon at the cost of its damage. The weapons I've been using have been "Kirkhammer" and "Ludwig's Holy Blade" both start off with a one handed sword and the hunters sidearm which is usually a gun but when it transforms the former transforms into into a massive two handed hammer and the latter transforms into a great sword by combining with its sheath. this changes the gameplay from a counter and multi hit based fast attacker to a dodge based style while using heavy attacks on the openings the dodges produce. fast paced combat is favored in Bloodborne because of the counter based gameplay and the fact that after you're hit you have the opportunity to regain your lost health by hitting enemies.

The story from what I've gathered starts with a foreigner (you) being given the blood of the beast which turns you into a hunter. After your first death you wake in the Hunters Dream which is the hub of the game where you level up, purchase items, and repair/fortify weapons. After you are given the blood your goal appears to be escape the godforsaken, monster filled, hellscape that is Yharnam. Oh and the second boss is an old hunter who reveals that due to the beast blood injected into the hunters they turn into the worst  of the beasts, so there's that to look forward to.

Overall the game beats you down and emphasizes the savageness of tearing your way out of the grey and desolate city by rewarding you for tearing apart your enemies. The game overall was a positive experience that emphasized the careful planning of strategies in order to fight large groups and massive enemies. Bloodborne is solid and incredibly well done which is expected from the company that brought out games like Demon Souls and the Dark Souls franchise.

Delay of Game

Why do games get delayed? Its simple games get delayed due to technical problems that must be solved in order to deliver the experience the creators envisioned when they started. I wanna talk about two games in particular, Platinum Game's "Scalebound" and Nintendo's "Legend of Zelda Wii U." These two games have were shown at E3 2014 almost two years ago and have suffered massive delays and detail changes that have greatly impacted fan response for both games

Starting with what I believe is the lesser of the two evils, Scalebound, Platinum games dub stepping, dragon taming, and super fighting RPG which I have been in love with ever since its original trailer in 2014. See the key feature of Scalebound is teaming up with your super awesome dragon that is fully customisable from armor to abilities. I love dragons they are the coolest thing ever and what made Scalebound's dragons so amazing was their AI that made them go into combat in multiple ways from spitting fire at a platoon of enemy soldiers  or stomping the enemy soldiers into pancakes of armor and soldier.you also get to have your dragon fight giant monsters which is another amazing feature because its like watching a godzilla movie you can be a part of. Now Scalebound's incredibly ambitious AI and game design has got to have unseen hiccups in production that I understand  and the delay may be a full year or it could now it was changed from holiday 2016 to a 2017 date to be announced.

Now lets move on to the game that has really rustled some jimmies The Legend of Zeld Wii U. Oh boy has this game been around the block. Much like Scalebound LoZWU debuted at E3 2014 to everyone's expected elated excitement (heh heh alliteration) but due to difficulties was delayed. After some dissappointment and a lack of updates there was an announcement a few days ago on the Nintendo twitter it was explained that the Wii U part of Legend of Zelda Wii U was getting the addition of +NX or from LoZWU to LoZWUNX if you're in a hurry. Now what comes next is speculation but what this appears to be is a ploy to push NX sales. As the release of the NX draws closer and closer Nintendo has to find new games to sell this console that is coming up that isnt even replacing an outdated console because the Wii U holds its own against other modern consoles. In the end this delay seems more based on marketing and business strategy rather than technical improvements. Especially since the second version delays the other.

Honestly there is nothing wrong with delays sometimes they are a healthy part of a game that can make it great. The only problem with with delays is ulterior motives for pure monetary game and affects the previous product that shouldn't have been changed in any way.

Weapon Shop de Omasse: Rythm Smithing with Charm

Weapon Shop de Omase is a rythm based blacksmithing game in which you rent weapons you crafted to story characters  or NPC's with various numbers after the name NPC.

The basic crafting is centered around maintaining a combo streak throughout the process of hammering the molten ingot the desired weapon this is done by hitting the pattern of strikes set to a specific beat. the higher the streak the higher the bonus to the different damages to the weapon, slash, pierce, and blunt. while crafting the weapon you have a time while its over heated perfect temperature and its too cool to forge so there's also a slight time limit that can be extended by reheating the piece on coal that is a limited resource but you should always have more than enough to never have to scrap a piece.

The real place this game shines is the dialogue of the characters whether its NPC 24 asking you if you want to save such a great weapon for a character with a name or the fabulous Mr. Grape asking for a giant club so he can defend himself from monsters while he gathers ingredients for a beauty cream. The characters all have personality and stories that compel you to make better weapons so you can see where there story goes and what new weapons you can craft.

Overall the game is fun rewarding and friendly and is just a welcoming gay to play for an hour or two on the the plane or when you just have a few minutes to kill. The crafting is fun the story is fun and there isn't a single complaint that I can find with this game especially for its eight dollar price tag its a great game to play.

Pokkén Tournament: The Tale of the Suplexing Pikachu

What can I say about this game? Well I should probably say I barely have a clue as to how to play it but that's nothing new. This game is amazing and I can't figure out if its because the fast paced particle effect filled combat or the fact that I can have Pikachu suplex a chandelier and flying press the legendary pokémon Suicune.

In case you don't know Pokkén Tournament is the new fighting game centered around Nintendo's favorite super powered animals. Of all the 721 Pokémon to choose from we get a whopping roster of 16 with your classic fighting pokémon Braixen you know the one  that looks like a fox in a dress holding a stick that's been lit on fire or the heavy hitter and the best pokémon to put in the ring Chandelure, (If any of you don't know what that is its literally a chandelier). You might be wondering why such strange and non fighting pokémon are here where are the classics like Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan well the only fighting types in the game are Machamp and Lucario which is a welcome sight. But don't worry, do you remember the pokémon that evolves from Kirlia and is known for fighting? Me too but instead of Gallade they decided a better option would be Gardevoir who is renowned for her fighting talent.

Ok that personal rant aside Pokkén is an amazing fighter with strange but incredible mechanics. The biggest Mechanic is the Phase Shift which is a switch from a 3D arena fighter to a classic 2D fighter when enough punishment is dealt to a fighter with certain combos. The other Interesting Mechanic is the move changes from Phase Shifts. A projectile in the 3D Phase is a mid range blast in the 2D Phase while another button will change from a regular attack in 3D can change to a projectile in 2D.

The Combat is fun and fast and very rewarding even if you aren't very good at fighting games because almost every combination of buttons can create a fairly combo. Another interesting mechanic is the counter move that every pokémion has and it can be used to break the combo of an opponent, unfortunately one of the ways to get through the combo breaking through (the other is grabbing) has yet to be understood as to what exactly has to be done... By me anyway. Now I'm going to talk about is the support pokémon.  Throughout the battle you fill a support gauge which can be used to call out your support pokémon which range from damaging moves to healing and other passive boosts as well as negatives to your opponent. You start with three sets but more can be unlocked by completing the campaign. The last part of combat is the Synergy Gauge which is how your pokémon mega evolves or enters a super state if they don't have a mega evolution. These forms do more damage have some different moves and can use their super move for massive damage. Pikachu Libre thows her (yes it is a her look at the shape of the tail) opponent into a wrestling ring fist pumps and does an electric Flying Press, but thats neither important or relevant. These supermoves can be blocked and cancelled out and hava a variety of ranges they can also be used only once per mega evolution.

Overall Pokkén Tournament is one of the of the most innovative an genuinely fun fighters I've played to date, even if particle affects assault fills my eyes faster than cup at the bottom of a lake.

VR: Holy Shit it's the Future!

VR is awesome, ok? its just one of the coolest things I've ever experienced and I only got to play with the early Occulus build at a trade show in Las Vegas. Even something that simple compared to the products we have today the experience was mind blowing and the trick VR plays on your mind is probably the scariest thing that can happen to you while gaming.

What intrigues me about VR is the ability to be in a game and to truly see the size and scope of a game or world. I say "or World" because there are also non games in VR like The Samsung VR Netflix application that puts you in a theater that you can watch Netflix in. Also a few people played Minecraft in VR and said the scale was insane because the blocks in Minecraft are one meter cubed which is up to some peoples chest. which really shows how big the world of Minecraft is which we could not appreciate from the normal perspective on the screen. I will say fighting zombies is also a lot scarier when you have to fight them when they're bigger than you and up in your face.

What I really want to talk about is the trick that VR plays on your brain. The trick is convincing your brain that its scared of the "real" things that are happening. A gif  (http://imgur.com/gallery/tWIIzAr)  I saw was people going out off a skyscraper on a board to grab a cat off the edge and a comment on the video asked what it would take to to pull a "matrix" and realize the edge wasn't real and just walk off the edge because they were just walking on a board on the ground. in real life. Now it seems like it wouldn't be too hard to realize its not real but they use real footage of a city beneath you and just watching the gif was terrifying. Now the question is mind over matter would you possess the willpower to walk off the edge in order walk into the air to their apparent death?

VR may be the way to experience technology in the future but for now i think $400 plus prices make the product way to niche for the general public and it needs to be more user friendly so even the dumbest consumer could set it up. One thing that VR needs to succeed is triple A support and big name brands coming out for VR.

Stardew Valley: Aaaaaannndd there goes my life.

Stardew valley took my free time. It's simple relaxing and provides a very charming world to get lost in. While it may seem like a simple farming simulator it has a charming story and lovely characters for you to invest your time in. There is also a diverse set of story lines and areas of progress.

For those unaware of the premise of Stardew Valley the game starts with you working a desk job in a depressing urban environment where you open a letter from your grandfather who left you his farm and his wish for you to live a simpler life with the land and fresh air. So you quit your job and move to Stardew Valley to take over your Grandfather's small farm.

In Stardew valley there is a skill system that revolves around the leveling up of those skills. by leveling up you gain proficiency in that skill as well as new crafting recipes that pertain to that skill, for example, leveling up in fishing lets you craft bait and use better fishing poles. Levelling up in fishing also unlocked more items to buy from the fisherman because fishing "became more popular in the town.

As expected Stardew Valley centers around your grandfather's farm. Starting out the farm is overgrown with weeds, grass, trees, and its covered in stones and fallen logs. The farm also has a few secrets in it if you explore the massive area the farm contains.  The farm can also be upgraded and improved with crafted items to automatically grow crops. you can make money selling your crops or cook with them but there are many other ways too make money.

Stardew Valley has a very simple dungeon and combat system to go with it. The "dungeon" is a mine in the north east corner of the map. There is an adventurers guild that gives you quests to go deeper and slay certain monsters but that really just means mashing the attack button until the monster dies.

Now as of the day I'm writing this the developer has confirmed he will add multiplayer in the near future but I can not find a specific date. Unfortunately a practical multiplayer for this game seems difficult if not impossible. Some mechanics require the sleep and rest because you run out of energy to do things  there is also the relationship and quest mechanics to take care of not to mention the synching of the calendars in game

Clash Royale... With a Pinch of Salt

From SuperCell, the makers of "Clash of Clans," comes a brand new competitive strategy game, "Clash Royale." This game features the clans and online competitive nature of Clash of Clans but rather than destroying an enemy base that they built you use cards of the characters from Clash of Clans to destroy your opponents three "Crown Towers." rather than just playing your cards you have a certain amount of Elixir that builds up over time. Much like Clash of Clans you and your clan earn trophies alone and together.  I'll be honest i wasn't the biggest fan of Clash of Clans but Clash Royale is my go to game on the toilet or on the plane as the games are only 2 to 3 minutes long.

Now Clash Royale being a free to play mobile game might make you ask how "Pay to Win" this game is. That's part of the beauty of this game is. The things you pay for are used to buy cards which you use to level up the duplicates you have and leveling up in turn allows your cards to become stronger. The game is separated by certain arenas based on the amount of crowns you have which you earn by beating other people and as you progress other players in your arena will have stronger and stronger cards so people who pay to get cards are paying to move up in arenas but as they rush through the game they can miss out on crucial parts of the current meta and effective strategies crippling their future play.

Another part of this game I absolutely love is the stream built in to the game that allows you to view the games of the top players. I love being able to see what effective strategies and combinations of cards are and these games get hundreds of thousands of views within hours of going up. From what I understand this game already has a fairly large Esports scene in China and it is easy to understand why.

My main complaint for this game is personal because no other game has made me quite so angry as A 10 GAME LOSING STREAK AND LOSING OVER 100 TROPHIES WHEN I WAS ON THE VERGE OF MOVING UP IN AN ARENA! (After which i played for an hour trying to regain as many trophies That's purely personal though, I encountered a fairly major problem in which i could not run the app and it would crash at the 50% on the loading screen. after and uninstall and a data wipe didn't do it I didn't install it for a for a few days then reinstalled and had to progress from the start.

Overall I have to say as frustratingly fair as this game is its a ton of fun and a clan with all of your friends is a blast and challenging each other everyday allows you to experiment with new decks and cards to help you in the long run. I have to give this game a glowing recommendation because it really shows how great free mobile games can be in a market that is so cluttered with lackluster games.

Burnt Out

Lets talk Early Access and Betas. What appears to have started as a useful tool for mass testing for a game has turned into a bit of a cluster of meanings. Early Access used to a mean a game that just needed a few bugs out and a minor content update where as now it doesn't even have to be a game. I believe Jim Sterling recently referenced a game called "Just Death" a game in which there were five people to kill, that's not the plot of the game though there are literally five people to kill. that's not even worthy to be called an alpha and its being sold for $15. You know what game is less than that? Undertale! A complete, well made game with some thought not some piss poor GTA rip off. Early access may have started as a great way to start a community and receive input on your game but with the sheer volume of games coming out in early access and the states they're in is just unacceptable.

One Amazing example of an Early Access game is Darkest Dungeon. Darkest Dungeon is an innovative, dungeon crawling, RPG that came out in early access as a solid well established game that only needed minor tweeking. This is a massive contrast to many games coming out in early access

The other Problem with early access and betas is that people will gorw tired of your game before its out. TotalBiscuit said "You only get one release," There is only one release you can use, people only pay attention to the one time your game comes out. People's attention is incredibly short and they will forget your game because they were excited for it to come out and play it but now that they can play it they don't care about updates.

Cube World: Back From the Dead... Eventually

Cube World was started in 2011 and since then received its perceived final update in July of 2013 and since then has been stuck in its alpha stage. Until a few months ago the game was thought to be dead, an abandoned project amidst the flood of games being created, However months ago Wollay, the creator of cube world, updated his twitter showing brand new screenshots that unveiled new mechanics and content.

Now the real question is, has Wollay been working on Cube World this whole time? after looking at some of the screenshots in Wollay's tweets its apparent the game has been changed alot and has had a lot of work poured into it over the previous years. but why did Cube world updates vanish and why was the game removed from the site?

I loved Cube World and the drop in updates really disappointed me, seeing this game come back after so long really shows us that there is hope coming. This could be one of a few games to come out after fans have waited so long for games they were promised. Maybe  we could see Beyond Good and Evil 2.

The Funniest Thing I've heard All Week

Tom Clancy's: The Division came out recently and its launch included one of the the most humorous events to happen in Gaming recently. As we all know a majority of games come out with some bugs and a day one patch. Before that could happen players got to experience what some are calling Tom Clancy's Line Simulator. Fans started calling it that after it was discovered that players could not phase through each other even in the the safe zone which is a cramped office building. This resulted in queues hundreds of people deep just to talk to the starting NPC.

Many are claiming that this detracts from the value of the game and they have a valid opinion as thousands of players lost time waiting to start playing the game. However as this game's community grows as most MMO's do, I can see this becoming a community memory that adds to the depth and character of the players.

Few things can stick in the memory of today's gamers. Most people have short attention spans and even shorter memories. I feel like it detracts from the nature of games, It prevents new memories like the ones that stuck with the gaming community as a whole. A Prime example the death of Aerith that shook players of Final Fantasy which is imprinted in the minds of gamers and we just don't see moments like that anymore there aren't moments that every gamer can remember. I personally remember fighting King Bomb-Omb at the top of the mountain in Mario 64. Unfortunately there are no moments from a recent game that gripped my imagination and left me feeling like one of the most amazing players in existence

Fantasy Life: New Lives Await

Fantasy life is an open world RPG on 3DS that centers around a player made character picking their job or "Life." there are a total of 12 lives each in their own basic subcategory. The job categories are combat, crafting and gathering. Each class has different levels and skills. The player starts  as a fledglings then can progress to master by turning in the milestones earned by living out that life. In the DLC players can reach god rank in Europe and creator rank in North America.

There are 4 of each category of class the four combat roles are; the sword and shield using Paladin, the greatsword wielding Mercenary, the bow using Hunter, and the Magician.  In my playthrough I became a creator level Paladin which is more defensive focused combat role. The roles are influenced by the stats that are chosen as the player levels up which greatly affects the later game as there is a massive difficulty spike in the DLC that makes for a very fun and challenging post game.

The rest of the classes are broken down into gathering and crafting. The crafting class has a few more actions as there are five crafting classes and three gathering classes. Starting with the gathering classes there aer fishing, mining, and woodcutting, the two systems work in a very similar way, you circle the gathering point searching for a sweet spot and chipping away at the health of the resource. Fishing is slightly different as its more of a battle with the fish. The gathering classes also have skills that allow them to do massive damage to the resource. Overall the gathering lives will be a side life to your combat and crafting lives but they provide a side narrative that can be entertaining and even humorous at times.

The crafting classes will have a massive impact on your combat lives as the gear you find in the world is only a standard quality where as crafted items can become god level quality. This isn't as important in the main game but in the DLC top quality gear is needed for the final dungeon. The crafting job that shares the same characteristics as the paladin and mercenary and crafts the gear for them is blacksmithing. Now you may be asking how the crafting differs and the real answer is it doesn't the only difference in crafting is the changes in the minigames whether you mash the A button, hold it down, or press it in time. The different lives only vary those few items. The gameplay loop can start to feel pretty repetitive but the most fun comes from running around the world in the online multiplayer with friends around the world.

Now the story of Fantasy Life focuses on the character choosing their first life then visiting the king and meeting a butterfly that for some reason also needs to meet the king. from then on the two of you travel the continent to the three cities and the three areas surrounding them. Something that keeps the story is all the surrounding side narratives that go with the different lives. One of the biggest advantages to mastering a life isn't the unique gear the game gives you after mastering each job the real reward is the unique song that the game plays for you and that's worth all the time you put in to your life.

Blood Bowl 2: Fun but Lacking?

(Disclaimer: I am new to the bloodbowl franchise so i lack the perspective of a long term fan)

Blood Bowl two is the newest iteration in the Bloodbowl franchise. Being the newest in the franchise it naturally boasts a host of new features. Some of these features, however, are more welcome to the franchise than others.

Starting with the new campaign mode the game opens itself up to new players and offers a tutorial and guide to those unfamiliar with the systems. The largest complaint I've seen with the campaign is the distance it takes with the established lore of Bloodbowl. In previous games certain games from the history of Bloodbowl could be played in the single player option. There is another singleplayer option which lets you take your own team through its own league with persisting affects. Honestly this is a small complaint as the body of the game is the multiplayer.

The multiplayer of Bloodbowl 2 is set up in player created leagues and competitions. Any player can set up and manage their own league with varying degrees of publicity. This means you can join a public league or set up a private league of just your friends. In league matches team progress is persistent along with injuries which offers a wide variety of team builds and situations.

Bloodbowl 2 is well balanced and well designed however its major improvement over previous iterations is the graphics quality of the animations. These small improvements make the game so much more fun to watch and play. The other major improvement was made after launch which was the addition of the "Coaches View" which added the option to add a grid to the field and the ability to view player names and skills.

While BloodBowl 2 is not without fault though as it lacked a large amount of races compared to previous games, especially if you haven't purchased either of the two DLC races, Lizardmen or Woodelves. The team behind Bloodbowl has promised at least four more races in the future and is on record as saying these races will be free. After the brief fiasco surrounding Bloodbowl 2's launch the free races may only be accepted when they have been seen.

This game fills the turn based strategy game hole in my heart and lets me bring all of the star players I created into the league. While some may complain about the amount of dice rolls in the game the randomness mixes up the game making it more fun and unpredictable that can really test your ability to maneuver out of situations and fix the situations that can occur. The random number generators also serve to balance of the game and makes it more fun to play more experienced players.

In my opinion The good of Bloodbowl 2 greatly outweighs the bad and is a great ongoing game. Starting a league with your friends and living through the highs of victory and the agony of the deaths of your star players really lets you invest emotionally to your team and the game.

Pokemon Yellow: Special Pikachu Edition

After 20 years nintendo released the games that started it all Pokemon Red and Pokemon Blue, along with the special pokemon game that followed the anime Pokemon Yellow. Of the three I chose yellow for purely nostalgic reasons. The game was ported to the 3DS with all of its orignial glitches including the infamous mew glitch in Cerulean city.

The entire Game has been brought to virtual console however it differs slightly from other games brought to the virtual console. Unlike other virtual console games players cannot create a restore point and have to load from wherever they saved in the game. Other than that feature the game is the exact same.

Pokemon Yellow differs from the previous versions by giving you a special pikachu at the start of the game and giving you opportunities to receive the other three starters. this pikachu, like the one in the anime, dislikes being in a pokeball an will follow the player around much like your pokemon in pokemon soulsilver or heartgold  and can be interacted with and shows pikachu's mood. There are also minigames scattered around the region that pikachu can play. The first i found was a surfing pikachu mingame which was a fun break from the standard game play.

All in all there is little to be said of this port to 3DS and its very nice to see where the pokemon games started compared to the games and community they created that exist today. Its a healthy dose of nostalgia and a fun reminder of what pokemon has done.

Assassin's Creed: Syindicate

Assassins Creed Syndicate is the latest in the entry of the mainline assassin's creed series set in industrial revolution London.. After the disaster of Unity Syndicates starts of strong introducing a dual character campaign and new zipline mechanics making the freerunnung and climbing faster for London's larger buildings and wider streets.

The combat has been changed to one of three new main weapons: the Knuckles, Hidden blade Cane, and Kukri. Each weapon offers satisfying combos and finishers that give a visceral and brutal edge to the combat. While these weapons are incredibly fun it doesn't change the combat to an incredible degree it still boils down to counter, attack and, block break.

There were a few glitches in the game although they were nothing to write home about. The most infuriating and only glitch that frustrated me through the game was an enemy sitting outside the ring in a fight club and I had to wait a minute for him to get into the ring.

The story of Syndicate follows the twins Jacob and Evie Frye as they ditch the Brotherhood to liberate London from its corrupt Templar overlords. The story focuses on jacob assassinating the mob  bosses of London trying to fulfill his dream of leading his gang the Rooks and Evie having to cleanup as his actions hurt the infrastructure of the City. Jacob Frye is a very infuriating character through out the entire game and its unfortunate that he is given so much more of the limelight than Evie who I prefer to play as through the game.

In the End Syndicate is a very solid assassin's creed game and a very fun one to boot. From meeting many famous leaders and facing the amazing villains the game has to offer the characters are charismatic and just fun meet. The combat is nothing to write home about but its very solid and the entire game is a tremendous step above Assassin's Creed Unity.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

CD Projekt Red has done it again with another entry in the award winning rpg series based of the novels of Andrzej Sapkowski. The Witcher 3 is another open world rpg but don't let the recent flood of open world games influence what you think about the Witcher. The Witcher is brimming with content and full of quests and when I say quests I don't mean sidequests, every quest has its own story, characters and continuing story. The writing in the Witcher is bordering on genius and it shows when you start to care about characters that most games would make you hate for their blatant character flaws.

Starting with the Witcher's combat, it is what I like to call a "fair" combat system and having played on both regular and the superhard deathmarch difficulty the combat has to be described as "fair" as Geralt can take on almost anything one on one but struggles the more enemies are thrown at him. The combat focuses around swordplay combined with the different signs that are minor magic abilities that witchers can use. These signs are mostly used against monsters and groups of enemies that can overwhelm Geralt  can be augmented and upgraded by special gear and ability points found through leveling up and absorbing places of power. Unfortunately there is only one real change to each sign through leveling and some are obviously more useful than others. The most useful is undeniably the Quen sign as its upgrades allow you to regain health when hit which is incredibly useful on higher difficulties and borderline overpowered in the lower ones. The swordplay is a mix of short and long dodges and light and heavy attacks. Throughout my playthrough i decide to focus my upgrades on short attacks and short dodges which can be upgraded into invincibility frames.

The Witcher 3 is a very well polished game but like most massive open world games bugs often slip through the cracks. There is only one that has cause me to reset my game and that is falling in a pool of water with no escape that locks my ability to jump. there is another glitch getting an upgrade to special witcher gear where it is impossible to escape but through online help it was possible to fall out of the world forcing you to recover outside the dungeon. and these bugs were the only ones that forced me to reset my game. there is another fairly common error that results in Geralt preforming a swimming animation after he jumps off Roach while sprinting.

Finally moving into spoiler territory The Witcher 3 follows Geralt of Rivia as he attempts to track down his once lover Yennefer. After finding Yennefer Geralt discovers she is working with the Emperor of Nilfgard to track down his heir and Geralt's one time Ward Cirri. What follows is a hunt across warring countries and cities in turmoil. The story is fairly linear compared to other rpg's but its comforting playing as a defined and well rounded character rather than a blank slate miracle child that rpg's provide when you make your character. Playing as Geralt allows the story to draw out his character rather than inserting the player into some situation he has to fix.

In the end The Witcher 3 is an incredibly written and solid preforming rpg that really raised that bar in what an rpg can be and really broke the mold of what many other rpg's consider the standard of the industry.