How to control your backlog and spending habits in gaming

As a reviewer, I often find myself overwhelmed with the responsibility to buy and play lots of different games and as such I am left with a huge backlog of games just lying around waiting to be played… but then a new game catches my attention and I drop everything just to play it. Then I get fed up again.

Now you must understand that I have been writing on the Destructoid C blogs for 3 years now. I used to be a proactive writer, I would take a pick out of a game that took my fancy and just throw out a review. However, the quality of them was appalling among other things. To make a review is pretty easy if you think about it, all you need to do is write what you’re thinking. However it’s not easy to make a solid review. In fact the moment you start improving as a reviewer is the moment when you start to realize that it is hard work.

Sure there are a lot more harder things to do but reviewing is considered a hobby to me. Unfortunately with this mindset, I have to become a lot more close-minded. Since this isn’t my job, I’m not going to play every single game on the face of the earth and throw out a review… though I may occasionally try something new, I want to stick to writing about games that I am passionate about or manage to gain my full attention and considering the fact that the gaming industry is changing for the better, I have to change to adapt to that, as a writer.

In any case, how is this relevant to controlling your backlog/spending? Well you see in the latter half of the seventh generation, I hit a massive burnout. Games just stopped coming out (games that I cared about anyways) and I had to change myself as a gamer, I had to be open-minded and explore new areas of gaming which I hadn’t before. In a way, I had grown as a gamer, I had grown away from my nostalgia barrier that led me down a narrow path in gaming. I feel better as a gamer for doing that and to be honest, I don’t think I would have become inspired to write without that.

With this however came its own issues. Though I am often careful with my money, I came to the point where I simply couldn’t turn down a cheap deal. If there was a game that interested me even a little, I would buy it without a moment’s hesitation. This had it’s fair share of ups and downs. I got to discover new games that I otherwise would have never tried but I also picked up some dreadful games that I simply got tired with.

Despite what many people believe, I played Painkiller on a whim and guess what? I loved it!

I’m a cynic, I hate what the gaming industry has become and this changed my perception on gaming but it was more than just that, the industry’s change affected the games available. It is the end of 2016 now and games have been great this year but the past few years have been utterly dreadful, it was like a gaming drought. Trying to find a top quality game was a nightmare. Many of the top rated games I have reviewed are from past generations. Those days were good, it wasn’t until 2010 where things started going wrong.

I still say that 2011 was the worst year for gaming since the videogame crash, only 1 game released in 2011 managed to entertain me and that was Kirby’s Adventure Wii. Everything else was horrifically bad or just mediocre. 2012 wasn’t much better, Farcry 3 was probably my game of the year and that’s not saying much considering the fact that the game was an open world shooter with a dubstep soundtrack… ehhh.

The biggest question was “where are all the JRPG’s”? We had our Tales, we had our NIS shovelware along with a few others which were equally as bland. Seriously why do the Hyperdimentional Neptunia games still sell? Those games depress me because they take away all the passion and the effort that went into old school JRPG’s and instead these games are released every single year and as such the quality of those games takes a nose dive (at least in my opinion).

Sure Exist Archive may have re-used assets and all that but at least they were trying. Most JRPG’s of recent years don’t even feel like they are trying to impress us. Someone has to give all those lazy JRPG devs a boot up the ass so we don’t get shit like Time and Eternity anymore, that game was an insult to all JRPG fans.

Sorry about my soapbox rant but I’m trying to get you to understand why I felt the need to spend money when in truth you really don’t. I was prepared to give anything a go because I was lost in the massive labyrinth of gaming. I was desperate, I needed a game, anything to keep my passion inflated, a passion that I knew still existed after I was reminded by Grandia 2. There was still something there… the world just moved on and abandoned passion but I hadn’t given up, even now I’m still confident that we will someday see rainfall again in the gaming industry, Star Ocean 5 gave me hope, hope that I had been praying for years.

Grandia 2 re-ignited my passion for gaming

In fact it amazes me that games such as Halo can be considered classics now, yes I’m talking about Halo 3. How can a game like that be considered a classic by today’s standards I cannot fathom… but it is, it has been nearly 10 years since it was released. The state of the gaming industry completely blinded me of just how much time had passed, it was a depressing time for me and possibly for many others. Heck I was on the “Gaming industry is dying” bandwagon at one point, even people like Razorfist mentioned it in one of his videos during the dark days of the year 2013… that was a terrible year for a lot of reasons… and for gaming also.

Now that we have hit the eighth generation, as bad as the modern consoles are, there is still hope for change. A fresh start, something the industry has needed for a while. Now it has come to the point that there are far too many games coming out that I simply can’t keep up, I just have to buy them all, I owe it to myself and the readers to do so… or do I?

Not only does buying lots of games cost money but the more games you buy, the less invested you become in them. Here’s one of the reasons some of us younger gamers are possibly suffering from this gaming “spending spree” and what we need to do to prevent it is:

1. Think back to when you were younger…

It sounds so simple doesn’t it. For some, it may work better than others. If you were spoiled as a child, this may not be the way for you, if you are an older gamer, this may also not be the one for you but if you are in your 20’s like myself and think back to your childhood, you will remember the small selection of games you owned and how dedicated you were to finishing them. They were all you had and you made the most of them. Be is Pokemon Red/Blue Legend Of Zelda Ocarina Of Time or for the older gamers perhaps it was Castlevania.

We valued our games back then because we didn’t have the ability to purchase them ourselves, we were funneled gifts from our parents at xmas or our birthdays and those were usually videogames (for those who were lucky). We were all excited back then. I remember the excitement of getting not only a Gamecube for my birthday but also A Playstation 2. Those were the best consoles I played in my life (well besides the SNES which was before my time but we’re talking about my childhood here). I had so many great moments on both systems, especially the Gamecube. There were so many games to play… but I couldn’t play them all. All I had to play was Smash Bros and a few other games. It wasn’t until way later where I looked back and tried out other games such as the legendary F-Zero GX.

So try to remember those moments and be responsible for your spending. I don’t care how well off you are. Be responsible for the psychological impact that buying tonnes of games brings and try to pick and choose your games. I know it’s hard for the more dedicated individuals out there such as myself but remember, gaming isn’t going anywhere, you can always pop round at a later date and play them when they’re cheaper, sure you’ll miss all the craze but for single player games especially, it may be for the best. However you might want to:

2. Avoid using digital distribution services like Steam/GOG/Humble Bundle too much

My Steam Library is chock full of unfinished games

Ah the temptation of steam sales. That moment when you realize just how cheap games can be. The moment when you find out that just about everyone can be a gamer regardless of how poor they are. Not only that but you can also help charity’s through gaming too? It sounds like heaven doesn’t it? Well… it’s kinda cool at first, however you don’t want to overdose on this trend. Remember, these are digital games, they cannot be sold off when you’re done with them (though you can refund them on steam but that’s not what I’m talking about) nor can you keep them on your shelf as memorabilia.

Digital games are the equivalent of an economy flight to Benidorm, a cheap break-away with no frills. Now I’m not saying that picking up cheap games digitally is a bad thing, nor am I saying that cheap digital games are all terrible, which they’re not. What I’m saying is that there’s little point in buying a game for the price alone and steam sales are notorious for encouraging the purchase of cheap games for the sake of it. Know that these games are cheap for a reason, don’t fall for the trap!

As a PC gamer, reviews are more important than ever because there is so much choice. However you cannot just read reviews that say “this game is awesome” you have to be 100% sure that you are prepared to play the whole way through because only then will you get your money’s worth. If it helps you can:

3. Play games with a shorter length

Need For Speed Carbon may be short but it keeps me engaged better than any other game in the series.

For the casual audience, this is your best bet. Games like Child Of Light are great, yet small diversions away from the gaming ghetto bringing back the quality of old games at the cost of its length. Sure I would have liked it better if the game had an epic final dungeon at the end but to be honest, I was glad that it was short. It gave me the quality I was looking for without the investment required, plus it was a challenge.

However it can be difficult to know when games are short or not. If you’re looking for more detailed information on length for any game I reviewed, just leave a comment. I will tell you a more detailed explanation. For the most part I will only cover it if it’s relevant to the game overall such as Exist Archive: The Other Side Of The Sky. However, I have and can not play every game out there so relying on me isn’t always the best bet. I can only try my best after all. As such one thing you really need to do is:

4. Do your research!!!

Spec Ops: The Line wasn’t a bad game, it just wasn’t for me.

Do you really want a game? Do you want it enough to work for it? To find out if it’s really worth your hard-earned money? Reviewers like me exist for a reason, demos exist too, so do forums and wiki’s. Look up everything you can about the game. Watch lets plays if you have to. I’ve always had a saying that you shouldn’t just read 1 review, you should read 50 because every review is different, if there was truly a definitive review out there, I wouldn’t be writing reviews to begin with.

If you aren’t wetting your pants with excitement, consider waiting. Sure you might not get that pre-order bonus but chances are it will be available as paid DLC later on anyways and if not, it’s not like you missed much. However wasting £40.00 on a game you get burned out on isn’t worth it and you want to get the most out of your money. You may also want to consider doing some price comparison, if you can find the game considerably cheaper elsewhere, you may re-think whether or not the game is worth giving a go, however don’t forget that price isn’t everything and that you also have to control your backlog. Make sure it’s a game that you can dedicate your time to finishing, it doesn’t matter how long it takes, just finish it!

Finally the last and most simple way is:

5. Take a break from gaming

This doesn’t mean you have to quit gaming, maybe your gaming lifestyle needs adjusting… or perhaps you need to bring a few friends over or just consider doing something else with your time for a while. Consider what I do as being a “productive gaming hobby” I’m not playing anything as I write this, I’m doing this simply because I would rather spend my time writing rather than gaming right now. Even the most die-hard gamers know that gaming 100% of the time isn’t fun, you have to break it up. I don’t care how you do it but you need to change every so often. Heck it could be as simple as playing 2 games as once and going back and forth. Be warned though as this can cause more backlog issues. As such, Pick a game that you have already beaten and try replaying it again. That way you can play both familiar and new games so you have a mixture.

Variety is the spice of life, its never fun to be doing 1 thing constantly every single day, though some people would disagree with that (I.E MMO gamers) but the majority of gamers want something more from gaming rather than something to sink time into. Games need quality to make the experience memorable. It’s why I hate on games like Legend Of Dragoon so much (you probably won’t know that unless you read some of my old Destructoid blogs though), that game was ridiculously long. It wasn’t a bad game by any means but it over-stayed its welcome. It took years for me to finally complete it. Never again. Oh and also:

6. Know your limits

I want to play God Hand, I really do, but if it’s going to be another masochistic game then I’m just going to have to pass up on it, at least for now. Sometimes you just want a nice relaxing game that you can just pick up and play rather than something which is going to kick your ass on a consistent basis. Think people! Before you pick up Dark Souls 3, think for a moment, are you truly prepared? Do you truly seek a challenge? Or are you simply starved for a new game and like the look of it? If the latter, put it off. I swear if you can’t handle those types of games it is often the best idea to just save them for later. There’s a time and a place for game like that, moments when you feel like you’re up for a challenge.

Games like God Hand and Devil May Cry are designed with replay-ability in mind, they are designed for players who want to invest time into the meta-game and constantly learn. F-Zero GX is the same, by all means as much as I love to preach about it, don’t just dive straight into it if you aren’t ready. F-Zero GX may be the best racing game ever but to truly embrace the awesomeness that F-Zero GX is you must develop patience and determination to get through it. Until you attain those qualities you are unfit for the task. Playing F-Zero GX is a reward in itself, a reward you should savor for a time in your life when you’re feeling like a winner. A time where you’re motivated to experience a true adrenaline rush. Of course you don’t want to hold off on getting F-Zero GX by any means, get it as soon as you are ready for some hardcore action. Heck if you really can’t cope with hard games, just play it on Novice. It’s not that hard.

So keep this in mind when you are considering purchasing games. Don’t just purchase something because everybody else is playing it. Find out whether or not the game is going to be valuable to you first. Read reviews (not just the ones on mainstream sites like Destructoid/IGN), research as much as possible, pay close attention to trailers and you may notice a few things that may alter your experience for better or worse.

Don’t make the same mistake…

Have a great new year everyone… and don’t forget to keep your wallets sealed during the January sales unless there is something you absolutely must have.

Why Is Futuristic Racing Not A Genre?

Futuristic Racing is a label given to high-speed hovercar racing games such as F-Zero GX and Wipeout… but does this label have any real meaning? If they are not futuristic racers then what are they?

Special thanks to CrazyGameNerd for letting me use some of his amazing footage, link to his channel below:
https://www.youtube.com/user/CrazyGameNerd

 

 

Free Games On Uplay

While Uplay may be considered a crappy service, I ended up having to use it for Child Of Light at some point. If you have a Uplay account you can get some free games from it today. Assassins Creed 3 and Beyond Good And Evil are just a couple of those games on offer.

I gave Beyond Good And Evil a go first, after hearing everybody rave on about it, seems like I can already see why people love this game just by looking at it, it kinda has that Rare feel to it. Seems that there is some action involved in the gameplay which is nice and the camera is pretty nifty. Maybe it could become a game that I can get engrossed in, who knows?

I tried installing The Crew but my PC couldn’t run it… regardless that game is included too… even though it’s online only (seriously what is it with racing games being online only?

Just thought I’d give you guys a heads up, I probably won’t review any of these games since… well, we got them for free. Just go and grab them already, your PC should be able to run Beyond Good And Evil at the very least.

Update: New Format, Amazon Affiliate

A few things have changed this update. For starters I want to inform everyone that this site is now affiliated with Amazon. What this means is that I will be able to link directly to the storefront from my reviews so that people can buy the game. If enough people do that then I will get paid a bit of money for it… ha like that’s ever going to happen.

There are two reasons for this. First of all, WordPress.com is very picky when it comes to what you can and can’t do when it comes to monetization and Amazon is one of the few sites that you can affiliate with. This is a very good thing for me since Amazon is a storefront I regularly use to buy physical games. This will allow me to accomplish my ultimate goal which is not just to make money, it’s to encourage people to pick up the games which I think they should play so it kinda kills two birds with one stone for me and it’s there for you to use it I guess.

Don’t think that this means you should just click on the link and purchase the game (unless you really want to give back to me). Remember to compare prices first. Amazon are usually the cheapest anyways so buying it directly from the link is safe but this isn’t always the case. Also I will only place these links on games rated Mediocre or higher (this means I won’t be linking Need For Speed 2015 because that is a game you should not buy).

In addition, games available on PC only or games which are Japan exclusives will not get a link.

If you are not from the UK, you won’t be able to make use of this since it only works with Amazon.co.uk. However, do not fear. I have an even more important update. From now on I will be giving each game a set price value for each and every game I review to give you a good idea as to what you should be spending. Remember to always aim for the cheapest price (unless you want to buy a collectors edition or something which I would only recommend if you are getting a game with an “Excellent”rating or higher).

I would advise people to wait for a price drop until it meets that minimum price and do also consider the costs of postage as well. Plus do not forget to purchase games that are published under Activision, EA or Konami used, this way you do not give these companies a dime.

I hope this can add a little bit to the value of my reviews since I always aim for them to be as detailed and as informative as possible to the reader to help them decide whether or not they should purchase the game.

Painkiller Review

Have you ever had those moments where you are just fed up with the ever-growing complexity and heavily story driven titles of the modern era? Do you want something which goes back to the roots of gaming and revitalizes the simplified formula of the FPS genre? Luckily for you, the gaming gods have brought fortune upon you this day. Big guns, big bosses and big levels filled to the brim with cannon fodder, just waiting for you to bring them pain. This is Painkiller, Painkiller is nothing else. Painkiller is a game where you walk the path to hell and leave no survivors in your wake.

The story of Painkiller is simple, you are a bad motherfucker who has been ordered by god himself to slaughter the demonic generals, luckily for you he gives you a licence to kill so of course you pick the easier option. Total genocide, yes you heard me. You are going to deliver the entire demonic race their last requiem in the form of lead… lots and lots of lead. Now you know the story of Painkiller, you are free to press the “ESC” key with every wonderfully voice acted cut scene to save yourself the needless exposition you so tire of and don’t worry, the story doesn’t even make much sense anyways so you’re not missing much, they just decided to incorporate a free B movie in with the whole package, feel free to watch it if you like but it has nothing to do with Painkiller.

Eat my shotgun you whore!!!

So with all that aside, with everything Painkiller has to offer, does it manage to deliver a solid ass kicking experience worthy of being a timeless first person shooter? Hell fucking yes! The core elements which make Painkiller so great are not so simply defined in one word. After all, a game such as Painkiller cannot possibly have a straightforward explanation as to why it is one of the greatest shooters of all time and quite frankly there is a lot for me to cover in just the gameplay elements alone.

For starters, one of the first things you will notice almost immediately in Painkiller is the movement… that is if you have played an old school first person shooter before. If you haven’t, don’t worry you’ll master the technique in no time. It’s called bunnyhopping. Bunnyhopping is the ability to essentially increase movement speed by jumping, allowing you to dodge bullets and weave through your enemies as you gun them down. Now bunnyhopping is very easy to learn but difficult to master as players will have to constantly re-position their reticle when they are airborne in order to maintain accuracy. This is what separates the men from the boys in Painkiller. You see in Painkiller, bunnyhopping is a big deal.

“Painkiller is a game where you walk the path to hell and leave no survivors in your wake”

Unlike most first person shooters, Painkiller takes bunnyhopping to the next level as it pretty much doubles your movement speed. This means that as long as you are moving, you are nigh untouchable. Of course you will still have a lot of enemies to contend with and you will still get hurt… a lot but bunnyhopping effectively will minimize the pain you receive, allowing you to deal more pain in return. This leads to some crazy looking gameplay which is a feast to the eyes and is without a doubt the most satisfying experience you will ever have in a first person shooter.

The game starts off quite simple as you are pitted against only melee enemies who are harmless from a safe distance, however they will pose a threat to you if they get close. The levels will slowly become less open and more closed in, forcing you to manage your movement more diligently. As such, movement is the key to success in Painkiller, as you’ll be using your increased level of agility to avoid the enemy’s lethal attacks, get behind them and introduce them to your exotic barrel blaster.

Each level has its own unique set of enemies, presenting new challenges for the player to overcome. As such, it’s not long before enemies start hurling projectiles at you. This is where things begin to get tricky. Most enemy projectiles can be avoided by stepping/hopping out of the way, though some enemies use automatic weapons which can be pretty difficult to avoid. This time you will need to fight fire with fire and bring out the trusty stakegun, taking them out from afar before they get a chance to gun you down. Best of all, after you’ve stuck their corpse to the wall, you can pull out your trusty painkiller and launch it at them repeatedly in order to mug them of their demonic riches in the form of jewels which come flying out of their ass each time you pull the trigger.

As you can see, the arsenal of weaponry available to you is far from the conventional military apparatus. You are granted weapons worthy to only the most fearless of genocidal psychopaths, each with their own unique function which allows you to take those pesky demons by surprise. The Painkiller is a weapon which you can always rely on. At first glance it is almost identical to Link’s iconic Clawshot from the Zelda series but then… wait, hang on a minute, Painkiller came out in 2004, Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess came out in 2006 so technically the Painkiller came first so suck it Nintendo and suck it hard.

Anyone up for some laser tag?

Of course there’s more to the Painkiller than meets the eye, sure you can launch it just like the Clawshot in Twilight Princess but it also doubles as a portable blender which you can use to slice and dice your enemies to make delicious demon smoothies. OK, I lied, they’re not delicious, they’re disgusting and that’s why they all need to die.

Naturally like any first person shooter, you’re going to need a real gun and boy do you have some serious firepower in your arsenal. The first being your weapon of choice for a huge portion of the game, the shotgun or as I like to call it a double-barreled massacre device designed with the sole purpose of deporting demons straight to hell. As an added bonus, this double-barreled recipe for disaster comes with a buckshot duplication device allowing you to shoot a single shell out of two barrels. Better yet, your destructive double barrel slinger of doom is fitted with liquid nitrogen so that you can shatter them in a single shot.

Later on you will acquire the legendary stakegun, a weapon originally used to kill vampires. Well guess what? It kills demons just as effectively, if not more. You can use the stakegun from any range and impale their worthless bodies with a pointed stick, burning as it approaches them at an insane velocity which will cause so much shock and pain towards the enemy that their limbs will come flying off the moment the hit connects. If you’re lucky, you can also impale them to the nearest wall and keep them as trophy’s. In addition, your makeshift stick launcher is fitted directly onto a grenade launcher so that you can bring fireworks to the party, just fling it in the direction of the nearest group of demons and watch their body parts soar.

Of course there are other weapons available to you but I will not spoil the fun for you, have fun discovering them for yourself. All you need to know is that you’ll be well equipped for your journey along the borders of heaven & hell which spans across 24 levels filled with dozens of enemies, destructibles and secrets for you to discover. Though these secrets serve as a distraction from all the intense action you will be facing, they only go towards helping you increase your body count within the realm of purgatory. Put simply if your finger isn’t constantly tapping the lmb and the space bar, you aren’t playing it properly.

With all that said however, purgatory is home to some iconic landmarks that you will pass through on your journey. Purgatory is home to many historic locations which have found themselves sealed within due to incidents that occurred there in the realm of the living. You will pay a visit to many forsaken lands and bear witness to the remains of the terrifying tragedies which partook there. Other locations will have you gaze in awe as you embark across forbidden and unholy lands of grandeur. Every place has its own story to tell, a story left unwritten, a story that guides you along a linear path and to your destiny. You cannot control the path destiny has weaved for you, you can only control the field of battle. That is the fate of all who pass on to the realm of Purgatory. It is up to you to piece this story together… that is when you aren’t fighting for your life.

You will find yourself isolated in these desolate lands as very few are fated to walk the path to heaven or hell and many of those who are misfortunate enough to do so, often fall into damnation. With only you and your destructive arsenal at your disposal, you are left with no other choice but to keep on killing. Because everything is your enemy in this game and everything must die no matter what. How you go about doing these deeds is up to you. Though the demons are greater in number, the odds are in your favor. The path will open up with every foe you slay and it will guide you to your next destination, you will never lose your way in Purgatory… but there is no escape.

Uh oh… looks like we angered the locals…

Every demon you slay makes you stronger. Every soul you consume gives you life. You will kill your enemies and devour their souls to become stronger and when the time comes, they will become the prey. If you just happen to acquire 66 souls, you will receive the ultimate power known as demon morph, a power which will grant you with an unearthly scream, an echo which tears apart all the unfortunate victims who dare to oppose you. To add insult to injury, you are also granted temporary immortality so the more that oppose you, the more devastating your powers will become.

Did I forget to mention that Painkiller is accompanied with a badass heavy metal soundtrack? Of course it is, what else are you going to listen to as you gun down masses of demonic fodder? The music is quite possibly the lifeblood of Painkiller, together with the endless chaotic and downright sadistic gameplay, it makes for an exhilarating experience. There are countless metal tracks to listen to with many different styles to choose from. I am no expert but I’m pretty sure any metal-heads out there will be able to appreciate the level of diversity in the music of Painkiller.

The music is so good it makes me wanna do this.

As you can see, there is a lot to like about Painkiller, most would say that is perfect in every way. Unfortunately, as good as it is, Painkiller does have one notable flaw. The boss fights in Painkiller are huge and very powerful… too powerful. While some bosses are great, others are too great. Certain bosses are immune to bullets and require you to find their weakness.

Some bosses can also deal a lot of damage to you which can sometimes be difficult to avoid. This can often be troublesome when you are low on health and as it is impossible to acquire souls in boss fights it can result in a lot of cheap deaths. Nobody said Painkiller would be easy… this is purgatory after all. Luckily for you, tarot cards give you superhuman strength enabling you to kill most bosses in under 2 minutes.

I think I’ve found your weakness buddy

To escape purgatory you will walk the path of judgement, your only hope is to kill everything that moves but no hope will ever be enough, by doing so you will never find the true path to heaven. The only known thing that lies in wake is your demise but how long will you survive the endless gauntlet of purgatory? Will you ever find a way out of here? Or have you been subjected to eternal damnation? Though you may never find an answer to these questions there is one thing for certain, many demons will be harmed in the process and you will keep on fighting till every last one of them is dead. This is Painkiller, this is your destiny, our destiny, we must all walk this path in life, the only question is, when will you walk the path of damnation?

Quite frankly there isn’t a better time to start, pick up your copy of Painkiller right now, whether it be a physical retail copy, a digital Steam copy or a DRM free digital copy. It matters not how you approach it, all routes lead to the same path and you will follow that path until the very end. Will you survive? Or will you be damned forever? One thing’s for sure, if you don’t start now, it may be too late for you, you must play this game and you should play it as soon as possible for everything is at stake. This game is the definitive fast paced, adrenaline inducing first person shooter and if that sounds even remotely interesting to you, it should be illegal for you not to play this game.

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Plot/Story: Wait, Painkiller had a story? Sorry I completely forgot, what is this story?

Visuals: Exceptional

Gameplay: Exceptional

Music: Excellent

Lifespan: Decent Length

Difficulty: Medium

Would you replay? Hell yes (I put emphasis on the word “hell” for a reason)

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Overall: Exceptional

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For a more serious, in-depth analysis of the game, watch this video.

Value: £40.00+

Issues with Space Engineers Part 2

 

Turn up the sound, the games audio was louder than I expected.

There are problems with some of the new blocks and I try and find those problems. I decided to make a video so that I could explain things better since people seem to get confused easily by text.

Things that definitely need fixing:
Windows: They’re rounded at the sides which leaves holes in between them… plus they need to have wider borders to they can phase into the other parts of the ship to keep them pressurized. Also I noticed that windows do not fill gaps between armor blocks.
Button Panel: you can put an object in between them but it looks like that object is floating in mid air.
Cryo Pod: Interior model doesn’t match exterior.

Things that disappoint me:
– Conveyors are still not sharp at the corners and the edges meaning that they’re still not designed around pressurization.
– Conveyor tubes don’t seem to phase in as well as they did before.
– Passenger seats look ugly
– Original Flight Deck screen looked better
– Hangar Doors look ugly and I’m not sure if they’re pressurized
– Framerate seems to be worse than the stable version
– Interior Walls still look pretty bland

Ideas for improvements:
– Loading bar when loading the game so people can see how long the load times are
– Add the ability to allow people to type in the number value they want in the control panel instead of relying on the slider
– Don’t just highlight the blocks you place, highlight the blocks you delete so that people can tell easily which block they are deleting.
– More furnature for the ship. This gives the modelers and artists something to do and get paid for while the player gets new content rather than wasting time redesigning blocks
– More mods incorporated into the game

Things that I like:
-Corner LCD’S
-Corner Lights
-New catwalk design
-New control station design
-New Turrets
-New Sliding doors
-New LCD panels/text panels
-New regular doors
-Window textures (not the models)

All in all, typical Space Engineers update, takes one step forward, 3 steps back. Remember that nobody asked for the new models and the few things we DID ask for in terms of model fixes did not happen.

Bullshit PSA: Exist Archive The Other Side Of The Sky

I bet you didn’t see this coming but sadly this shit has to be said. Now remember when I said that I was going to post something nasty towards Aksys Games If I found a speck of paid DLC on the PS Store? That time has come. Aksys Games has made a mockery of the consumer by charging no less than £49.99 for Exist Archive The Other Side Of The Sky and expect them to pay for it.

This is not inflation, this is just flat-out bullshit, where did they pull that extra £10.00 from? Oh I know, right the fuck out of their asses that’s where. They expect us fans to get on our hands and knees and beg for our localization, so much that we have to pay an extra £10.00. Needless to say I did succumb to this and purchased the game seeing as the game already sold poorly in Japan and I didn’t want this shitty business practice to harm tri-Ace so I was conflicted at the time. Plus considering the fact that It was my GOTY and that I had already played it before I bought it for that reason, that reason alone.

However we cannot let this company get away with this bullshit any longer. Though it may sound hypocritical to hear me boycott this company right after purchasing a game from them, you must understand that I went in knowing the value of this game. However my review gave this game a “great” rating, not a “masterpiece” rating, there’s a difference.

As such while the original Japanese release of Exist Archive The Other Side Of The Sky was worth every penny, I cannot personally recommend the localized version of this game right now. While I managed to get what I wanted from the game, I cannot be so sure that others will be able to. As such I am not in the easiest of situations right now. If you want my advice, just purchase the game second-hand simply because it is definitely worth a look. If you want to support the developers, get the Japanese version as well and give one of them to your friends for Xmas or something, don’t do what I did.

Oh and to add more to the bullshit pile and what is quite possibly the biggest offence that Aksys Games have pulled, they had the nerve to charge for DLC that was previously free in the Japanese version of the game. What DLC am I talking about you ask? The freaking new year/reindeer DLC that was free in Japan. All it is a silly reindeer horn decoration on the character’s head and a red nose while the other is basically noughts and crosses on their face.

How dare you expect us to spend real money on that crap, It was fine before since it was free but this is either stupidly careless on the publisher’s part or just downright greedy, I believe the latter. I believe that is enough to keep my eyes on this stupid publisher. While it hasn’t yet reached the levels of Konami, EA or Activision, know that this company is going to receive a place on my blacklist in the near future. Know that I will not kneel for shit that we should be getting for free, know that I will no longer pay £10.00 more for a game which should be priced at £39.99 tops. How the hell can I even consider this an acceptable price?

I have to consider the masses here. Believe me when I said that it took a lot of consideration for me to actually make that purchase… a lot of consideration, that’s why I got the game so late on because that price tag was just plain absurd… however like I mentioned before, I am not completely against price increases in videogames. What bothers me the most is that the company still has the nerve to charge for DLC they shouldn’t be charging for on top of that. Fuck you Aksys Games, I didn’t expect to get Exist Archive localized at all, let alone like this but you have made a mockery out of what localization is supposed to be about. What makes you think that you’re entitled to an extra £10.00 when other companies do not? Please do tell me… oh of course, us consumer peasants are not worth your time.

So do I recommend purchasing Exist Archive? Hell Yes! Do I recommend purchasing Exist Archive brand new? Hell no!  Pick up the Japanese version if you want to support the devs, it’s cheaper and has all the Star Ocean and Valkyrie Profile DLC. Of course if you can’t speak Japanese you might want to hunt around for a second-hand copy of this game online or something. Believe me, I am pissed at myself for buying this game knowing full well that extra £10.00 wouldn’t go to the developers but what did you expect me to do? Star Ocean 5 sold like shit, Exist Archive sold like shit in Japan, I knew that it was something I had to do to keep that company relevant because if this sold like shit, it wouldn’t go down well.

I purchased the game to deliver a message, something I usually try to do when boycotting a game… however this message was a stronger message for me, so I bit the bullet. This doesn’t mean that you have to though, weigh it all up for yourselves before you pick up the game brand new… oh and seek out that second-hand copy if you see it, you can always purchase the next tri-Ace game day 1, let me and the few others who actually bought this game take the bullet and believe me, it will cripple Aksys Games and make them think twice about pulling off something this stupid with a game that barely anybody knows about.

Fuck Aksys Games and praise tri-Ace!!!