2015 | gamerangelsblog

Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon

Posted on April 17, 2016 by gamerangel301

Pokémon is one of the world’s most popular and well-loved franchises all across the globe – with trading cards, video games, anime series and movies, toys and even Pokémon Centers in Japan. Many people may age reflect on it fondly and refuse to accept the new Pokémon that this generation of children will grow up with. Despite this, this doesn’t mean we don’t still love the series – I don’t plan on not playing the games and collecting the trading cards just because of some Pokémon looks like an ice cream and I think it’s stupid – far from it.

Anyway, let’s stop this rambling, shall we? Sorry – I’ll get to the main part of this article now.

Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon is a a self-given title – a rouge-like RPG that allows the player to control a party of Pokémon to explore various dungeons, defeat other Pokémon and collect items in order to save the Pokémon world. This game is actually the sixth Pokémon dungeon-crawler in the series, which surprises me as I had never heard of the series until now.

Like the previous Pokémon Dungeon games, the player begins as a human who is unexpectedly turned into a Pokémon – they can’t remember anything about their former human past. The player is then attacked by a trio of Beehemyem and is forced to escpare thanks to Nuzleaf. The Nuzleaf befriends the player and suggests they join the Expetition Society, despite children not being allowed to join. The Ampharos in charge of the Society grants the Nuzleaf wish, so the player and Nuzleaf begin to explore the towns around them. However, the more they travel, the more they hear about the rumours of Legendary Pokémon being turned to stone.

Left to right: Beheeyem; Nuzleaf and Ampharos. Belowe: Some of the Legendary Pokémon featured in this game.

The player can pick from 20 Pokémon as their main and can have a party of up to 4 Pokémon to enter a dungeon. These include starters from all six series and the game features all 720 current Pokémon (as of 2015). The procedurally-generated dungeons are filled with enemies and traps along with 12 bosses to defeat. Mega Evolution is included in this game too and TM are one-use only.

Another interest aspect of this game is the personality test. The player can choose whether or not to accept the Pokémon suggested to them. Players are also able to save wherever they are in the dungeon, as apposed to temporarily saving in the pause menu. A Jukebox mechanic is also features, allowing the player to listen to OSTs of previous Pokémon Dungeon installments.

Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon was released in the Nintendo 3DS for Japan on September 17th last year, November 20th last for North America, Feburary 19th of this year for Europe and February 20th for Australia.

A Pokémon themed snapback cap is included if you buy it from the Nintendo Store (in Europe at least).

Watch the trailer for the game here.

Thanks for reading – hope you enjoyed! Until next week – take care!

Life is Strange Review

Posted on February 21, 2016 by gamerangel301

[WARNING OF SPOILERS AHEAD. PLEASE DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NOT PLAYED THE GAME, BUT PLAN TO. OTHERWISE, ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK. THANK-YOU]

OK, so I literally just finished this game about half an hour ago (as I’m writing this) so this will most likely be my freshest review of a game ever. Let’s dive in!

Life is Strange is a game developed by Dontnod Entertainment and published by Square Enix. It’s described as a episodic graphic adventure with elements of puzzle solving and branching choices – in other words, whatever choice you make in the game can affect future plots on the game timeline.

Speaking of time, this is one of the game’s main focuses. This game focuses on Maxine Caulfield (“Max…never Maxine), an 18 year old wannabe photographer student listed in a prestigious high school (with a scholarship). As a self-proclaimed “clique geek”, she fits the unsuspecting stereotype – she’s quiet and holds back her full potential like a taunt rope yet is still likable by most the students and teachers at Blackwell. As I mentioned, this is an episodic game, so I’ll give you a brief summary on each episode.

Episode 1: Chrysalis

This episode sets up the story and is arguably the slowest, which is understandable. It begins with Max in class having a vision of destroying the town she lives in – Arcadia Bay. In her freaked out state, class ends and she goes to the bathroom to calm herself down. In the bathroom, she witnesses one of her classmates – Nathan Prescott – shoot a girl. When she eventually has enough courage to reveal herself from hiding, she discovers that she can remind time and ends up back in class after her vision. Putting her powers to good use, she saves the girl – who turns out to be her former best friend Chloe Price – and escapades Blackwell and the clutches of Nathan. Max and Chloe catch up, in which Chloe reveals she knew the girl who has been missing for six months (also a former Blackwell student) Rachel Amber (her missing posters are seen all over the school) and thus begins one the underlying stories within the game. The episode ends with a snow fall – something that no-one expected.

Episode 2: Out of Time

After telling Chloe about her superpowers in the previous episode, Max manages to convince her that her rewind powers with a few tricks. This is also the episode that highlights of Max’s friends from school – Kate Marsh – struggle with bullying. Basically, Kate was invited to a Vortex Club party (hosted by the school’s most elite and popular students, which include Nathan and the other ‘antagonist’ Victoria Chase) but a video goes viral of her making out with a LOT of guys, making her the subject of everyone’s mockery, despite her denying she remembered it happens. You see a hint of it in the first episode, but I would say that it’s this episode’s main focus. Despite seeking help from her family and teachers, Kate gets desperate to attempt suicide by jumping off the school roof. Depending on your choices throughout the episode and what information you’ve gathered from Kate’s room, you’re either able to save her or watch her fall (not in a morbid way). Despite this, the episode ends with Max and her friend (and potential love interest, again depending on your choices) Warren outside the school and witnessing an unannounced eclipse. She and Chloe decide that Kate’s suspected dosing at the Vortex party and Rachel’s disappearance are linked and they should investigate further.

Episode 3: Chaos Theory

Max and Chloe’s investigate begins in the evening of the previous episode (an episode is an entire day at this point, if that makes sense?) when Blackwell is quiet. Chloe manages to steal the keys to the school (her step-father is the security guard of the school, David Madsen) and they break into the principle’s office, only to find that Nathan isn’t the model student he’s made out to be – he’s actually much more disturbed and unhinged. After gathering a little bit more evidence, splashing around in the school pool and hiding from security guards, the two ‘detectives’ escape. The following morning, they gather more evidence on David (who was suspect in the second episode after Max caught him yelling at Kate for not reason) Chloe confronts him. Again, another choice is made here to either stand up for David or gang up on him with Chloe. Whatever happens, Chloe and Max decide that they should gather more evidence of Rachel’s disappearance from Frank (who appeared in the previous episode as a drug dealer and loan shark of Chloe) in his RV. They manage to break in with some special rewinds and discover that Rachel was dating Frank, which upsets Chloe even more. During a heated argument between Max and Chloe, Chloe reveals that she blames her dead father William for her life “being dipped in shit”. Max decides that she should change time and make sure William ends up alive, which in turn alters the timeline. On her way to see the alternative Chloe, Max sees beached whales (yet another unexplained phenomenon) and Chloe in a wheelchair.

Episode 4: Dark Room

In the alternative reality, Max and Chloe spend some time together, only for Max to realise the extend of her powers’ consequences and that Chloe – despite her parents still being together – is slowly dying. Max whips herself back to the present and after getting more information from Frank and Nathan, they link up all their clues to find that Rachel may have been involved with Nathan at a Prescott-owned barn. After discovering its location thanks to David’s own investigating (which he did not give willingly, FYI) they head to barn which is a front for an underground bunker suited for the apocalypse. There in the “Dark Room”, the duo discover that Nathan has been drugging girls and has been taking creepy photographs of them in their drug-induced states via the dozens of folders containing their photographs – one of which is Kate’s and another is Rachel’s. In one of the photographs, Rachel is seen being put into the ground of the junkyard (AKA Chloe’s “home away from Hell” that was seen in episode two). They race there only to discover Rachel’s body. Max and Chloe crash the Vortex club party to warn Victoria that she is possibly next and to bust Nathan. After walking and searching, they come to no avail and decide to stalk the Blackwell dormitories, only to receive a threat text from Nathan that he is planning to destroy Rachel’s body and any other evidence so she won’t get justice. The return to the junkyard only to find Rachel’s body still there. The final scenes show Chloe getting shot (for about the third time now, depending on your choices), Max getting drugged and Mark Jefferson AKA Max’s photography teacher is actually the one behind all this. Oh yeah, and some twin moon thing happened.

Episode 5: Polarized

In this final episode, Max finds herself in the dark room where Jefferson tortures her and reveals snip-bits of information – basically, Jefferson and Nathan had a father-son relationship develop after Nathan being trashed by his own “asshole” father, so Nathan became his protege. Only, Nathan believed that he could deal with Rachel by himself but ended up giving her an overdose and thus killing her. In turn, Jefferson kills Nathan and pins all evidence of the dark room on him while keeping Max captive. After some more flipping around alternative realities, Max goes back to the beginning of this adventure, hands in her entry of the “Everyday Heroes” contest and reports Jefferson and Nathan to the police. Deservingly, Max wins the contest and ends up flying to San Francisco to enter the world of art and photography, happy knowing she has stopped everything. Or, at least she thought she had – she gets a couple of voicemails from Chloe to discover that the storm has still hit Arcadia Bay. Max goes back in time again, destroys her contest entry only to wind up in the dark room again. Luckily, David saves and releases her. After remembering the picture that Warren (drunkenly) took at the Vortex Club, she wavers the storm and goes back to retrieve it. On the night of the party, Max and Chloe stay at home but tell David everything so Jefferson and Nathan still end up arrested, but this still doesn’t stop the storm. After some tripped-out nightmare sequence, Max discovers that the storm was actually caused by her saving Chloe from getting shot by Nathan in the first place. This leaves the final decision – save Arcadia Bay by sacrificing Chloe or keeping her alive.

Pros of Life is Strange

I will say that I am not the biggest fan of ‘click-and-explore’ games such as Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture or Beyond Two Souls – I often feel that they are a waste of a game – however, I really enjoyed this game. First off, the art style is amazing – it’s different and ‘quirky’ and with the Unreal 4 engine, it looks beautiful. Second of all, the music – the original music is calming but easily shifts to darker tones throughout the game which fits with the setting – I think this is especially evident in episode three.But it also has a few popular artists and their songs thrown in there – I recognised Jose Gonzalez instantly (he’s a Swedish indie folk singer. Many of you will probably know his song ‘Heartbeats’ and ‘Far Away’ which was used in Red Dead Redemption as you entered Mexico – one of my favourite unexpected moments in gaming) and other indie artists. The music fit in so well with the games that I don’t think it could be improved or anything removed at all.

Of course, the story is what drew me in, but also the underlying stories such as Rachel’s disappearance and Jefferson turning out to be a complete psycho. I was truly shocked in many places (the main one being never suspecting Jefferson as Nathan’s partner) and cried in others (in my playthrough, I chose to sacrifice Chloe and yes, I did cry during the funeral scene). But I also enjoyed talking to the other Blackwell students and Arcadia Bay residents and finding out little things about them so you could rewind time and redo the conversation so it ends in your favour. For example, I spoke to one of Victoria’s “minions” Taylor during the second episode, only to find out her mother wasn’t very well. I ended rewinding the conversation and talking Taylor I was sorry about her mother’s condition. Then, in episode 4 during the alternative reality I found a text stating Max had gone with Taylor to visit her mother after her back surgery. Also in the same episode, Taylor treated me nicely when I spoke to her at the Vortex Club End of the World party. That little detail I can appreciate.

I can also acknowledge the character writing – hell, I absolutely hated Victoria and Nathan (and Jefferson, eventually) which means to me that they written well enough for me to hate them. I mean, they’re just pixels and I wanted to punch them so many times (yes, I did let Warren beat up Nathan in episode 4 before you ask. I also took a picture of Victoria after she got covered in paint in the first episode but I then rewound it. And – of course – I enjoyed the many choices you had to make in the game that did affect parts of the story in the future, such as not taking a picture of David arguing with Kate that could have been as evidence to give to Jefferson in episode two.

I also enjoyed the photo opportunities you had in the game – some of them were hard to find and sadly I didn’t even get half of them (45%, ugh).

Cons of Life is Strange

I did have a few problems with this game. The first problem I encounter was that when I was in class after the tornado vision, I wasn’t able to perform any actions on the table because my mouse won’t move enough so I could select it (yes, I played it on PC). And it was nothing to do with my mouse cable – for the rest of the game, it worked fine. I used my controller to proceed and I would ignore the game’s suggestion of using the gaming controller. I’m not a very experienced PC gamer but I managed fine – apart from the sequence of focusing on photos to travel through time.

I agree with other reviews that I had problems with the slang used along with it’s “America-ness” – not that there’s anything wrong with America. OK, I’ll change it to “stereotypical American teenage-ness” of sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. I’m not a prude but I felt like there was too much emphasis of those things.

Of course, I encountered the technical hiccup here and there such as lag, lip synching (especially during the scene in the final episode when Max finds Warren and reveals her superpowers to him – Max had the ability to speak without moving her mouth), some parts not loading (final episode again when I time travelled through a photo) but there were so far few inbetween that I won’t say it ruined my playthrough – it was just something to be watchful over. And the rewind mechanism – I think it was a bit glitchy.

Another thing I agree with the reviewers about – the crazy trippy nightmare scenes in the final episode. I felt they were unnecessary and confusing – why the hell did play Victoria in the never-ending corridor? Why was Chloe making out with Victoria in the darkroom? Why was Max trapped in a snow globe? I get that it was being weird and messed up but when it doesn’t fit within the game, why should be there? Also, the time travelling through photos at the end of episode three and four made that made it feel redundant because you went back in time.

Oh, and the alternative decision at the end of the game when you chose Chloe or Arcadia Bay? I watched the ending I didn’t chose and all it was was Max and Chloe getting in a car and driving away. I understand that the developers thought that the majority of people were going to chose Chloe but you shouldn’t be so lazy. That and being lazy with civilian skins – I spotted two dudes in the art gallery that looked and sounded the same but were wearing different clothes.

Overall Conclusion

I thoroughly enjoyed this game, even though I suspected I wouldn’t. It had a great storyline, as well as under stories going on with great character writing, environments and themes of bullying, friendship and even an environmental message (you could argue). And by no means is this a short game – I managed to complete it within 17 hours, but I am an exploration whore when it comes to these types of games. But a game as beautiful and indie as this made by 15 people? Colour me impressed.

Rating: 8/10

I would give it 8.5 but that nightmare scene in the final episode cost it’s .5 rating – it was too weird, even for me. But I recommend this game if you haven’t played it. Now excuse me while I go buy a polarized camera and download some songs from iTunes.

Thanks for reading hope you enjoyed! Take care until next week.

Why Evie Frye from Assassin’s Creed Syndicate is my Favourite Female Video Game Character of 2015

Posted on January 17, 2016 by gamerangel301

I won’t lie – I am a massive sucker for a tough leading lady, especially when it comes to video games. I’ll also admit that Evie Frye from Assassin’s Creed Syndicate was a massive surprise for me as I thought that would be as accessible as she was in terms of play-ability within the game, nor did I account for completely falling in love with her character. But why, do you ask? Well, I’ll tell you.

She is arguably the most stealthy assassin in any of the Assassin’s Creed games. She is speedy and nimble, not to mention handy with her throwing knives meaning that she can take out an enemy without them ever being aware of her presence. You can also acquire the skill of Chameleon, meaning Evie will blend into her surroundings if she stands still for long enough.

She is much more level-headed than her brother Jacob. While her brother prefers to act and think later, Evie often stands by the sidelines, thinks up a plan and then acts accordingly. This may have something to do with Evie being the eldest, or perhaps becuase when their father, Ethan Frye, was training them in the ways of the Brotherhood, Evie got their fathers’ teachings seriously, as well as history behind the Assassin’s. But in a way, this works – they balance eachother out – although Jacob has been known to land himself into trouble, as the game has shown many times – especially when Jacob assassinated Dr John Elliotson. In Syndicate, the twins have different goals – with Jacob wanting to gain control over London again by taking out as many Templars as he can, while Evie wishes to gain access to the Piece of Eden, known as The Shroud – but ultimately, in the end, they help eachother out.

Despite her serious side, Evie does have a soft side. This evident in her romantic link to Assassin’s Leader Henry Green and her helping Clara O’Dea when she becomes sick. She may put on a serious face, but in certain moments, she can be seen to be a little bit more…human.

Much like her softer side, she can also be witty. This is probably due to being by Jacob’s side all her life and having to constantly put him back in his place. But her wit gives her a much more fun side and shows that she’s not serious all of the time. Well, most of the time, at least.

But most of all, despite her strengths coming from planning and stealth, she is a badass fighter when it comes down to it. Even though Jacob is the brawler of the two, Evie can be just a brutal – this is especially evident in the Jack the Ripper DLC while using the fear mechanic. Evie is skilled in using a range of weapons – such as brass knuckles, cane swords, Kukris and a revolver, along with metal rings in the DLC – making her capable of fighting, along with everything else.

She and Jacob are also from Crawley, which is near to me currently (I work there too). Those are the reasons why Evie Fyre from Assassin’s Creed Syndicate is my favourite female video game character of 2015, and possible one of my favourites of all time.

Thank-you for reading my mini essay of sorts – I thought I’d try something a bit different. Let me know if you’d like to see more. As always, take care and see you next week!

My Top 10 Games of 2015

Posted on December 27, 2015 by gamerangel301

It’s that time of year – with everything coming to an end, everyone looks back on the year they’ve had. So, I’ll review the gaming year I’ve played for 2015. But I have set myself some rules:

If I have played a series/franchise of games, I’m only allowed to choose one game from the series.
The games in this list do not have to be games that were released this year (probably just as well).
Also, the games that I have played do not have to be completed in order to qualify for this list.

Let’s begin, shall we?

#10 – Shadow Warrior (Flying Wild Hog/PS4/2013)

This game is the most recent one that I’ve completed, so it’s still fresh in my mind. This game follows Lo Wang, a ninja mercenary, who is on a quest to find the legendary Nobitsura Kage by a powerful Japanese businessman called Orochi Zilla. But of course, things go wrong, demons from another dimension invade the world and Wang gets sucked into a ever-lasting war between Japanese immortal gods known as the Ancients.

It’s your standard first-person shooter, along with other weapons such as a katana and even a demon’s head. It’s fast-paced and gory as hell, but there’s something satisfying about beheading demons with a katana and watching the blood spray everywhere. I loved the humour in this game too – you can collect fortune cookies which start out as serious, but as the game progresses, that is soon lost. I actually laughed out loud at some of them.

But sadly, this game does have its flaws. The levels are pretty samey – hack and slash – or blast up, which ever you prefer – the hordes of demons that attack you. There’s no puzzle solving as the game highlights which button you’re meant to press, which door to do through, etc., etc. Also the bosses – once you figure out how to defeat the first one, you know how to defeat all of them. And Zilla was easy too – wait and slash nonchalantly.

I adore this game for it’s humour and creativity of using the first-person POV for using melee weapons, but with the game being a case of rinse and repeat, that is the reason why this game is not higher on my list.

#9 – Crossy Road (Hipster Whale/iOS/2014)

I started my first full-time back in October which requires me to travel to via bus (I haven’t got my driving license, yet) so I’m usually bored of starting out of a window for a hour at a time. But what I can I do to pass time?

Easy – I drain the battery power of my iPhone by playing games.

Crossy Road is easily one of the most addictive mobile games ever. You start of as a chicken who has the cross the road. You have obstacles such as cars, rivers and trees that block your way.

I love the style of this game – it’s colourful and blocky, like an old-school arcade game. You collect golden coins/credits that can be used to purchase other playable character via the arcade machine (seriously old school). And the environments can change for certain characters – for example, because it is the festive season – even if it is technically over – I’ve been playing as the Festive Chicken a lot, which means I have to cross snowy paths and ride on frozen logs to cross the rivers.

It’s that game that makes you say, “Just one more try,” and you end up playing for another hour.

#8 – Best Fiends (Seriously Digital Entertainment/iOS/2015)

Ah, another addictive mobile game. In this game, you build a team of bug-like creative that fight slugs in order to save their friends. You can build a team of five, each with their own power/element – leaf, mushroom, strawberry, water and flower. You collect meteormites (which are basically little cute orange/blue balls of…being) and gems to help them grow and evolve. There a mini quests for characters and you can extra power-ups by spinning the wheel every ten minutes (but you do have to watch an ad first). It’s similar to Candy Crush, only the the power items don’t have to be next to eachother – you can link them so long as they’re near eachother, such as diagonally across.

This game is much more restrictive compared to Crossy Road – you consume energy during each game, so you only have a limited amount of time/goes. But it’s cute and fun – and even at Christmas time, it looks festive and holiday-warming (probably for a limited time though, I imagine).

#7 – LittleBigPlanet 2 (Media Molecule/PS3/2011)

Ah, LittleBigPlanet. A game I definitely think the world needed and somewhat changed the gaming world ever so slightly – with its use of the PS3 controller axis, buttons to control limbs of Sackboy and the d-pad to change his facial expression – it made the possibilities of game mechanics much more intuitive.

I played LBP2 after completing the first one, and in comparison, it was much more…’meatier’. With voiced characters, more gadgets to use and harder puzzles, I both enjoyed and hated this game. There were times I wanted to give up and quit, but I knew I had to destroy the Negativitron like I had The Collector. Comparing both games, I enjoyed the storyline much more in LBP2 and with Stephen Fry returning as the narrator, how could I not love it?

#6 – Tekken Bowl (Namco/iOS/2011)

As a long time fan, how could I not put a Tekken game on the list? After loving the Tekken Bowl minigame in Tekken Tag Tournament and Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection, you can imagine my surge of love and surprise when I found it on the app store. Granted you can play as only three characters when you start (Jin Kazama, Ling Xiaoyu and Panda), the Puzzle Mode is what makes this game. As you can probably judge from the title, you have to solve a puzzle using the bowling bowl. Now, I’m on third puzzle and I’m still stuck, but at the same time when I’m not playing it, I’m trying to figure it out.

I recommend this game if you enjoyed the minigame as much as I did – there’s a Classic Mode too if you can want to sit back and play a game of digital bowling.

#5 – Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris (Square Enix/PS4/2014)

Much like LBP, I played Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light before Temple of Osiris and enjoyed the second one much more. However unlike LBP, I didn’t feel like Temple of Osiris was ‘meatier’ than the first one – the controls were still the same, the puzzles were just as good (maybe a little bit harder than the previous ones) and the story was similar. The only real differences were that the game was multiplayer with new characters and it was set somewhere else. Granted, the graphics were better simply because it had been transfer to PS4 rather than carried on PS3, but there was one point – just one – that made me think this was the better game of the Lara Croft series.

That was the final boss battle. It was a little bit samey, but without spoiling it, it was pretty epic and spectacular to watch what was going on in the background while you were fighting off mythical creatures. Definitely one of my favourite bosses battles in gaming ever.

#4 – P.T. Demo (Konami/PS4/2014)

Never before have I played as an atmospheric demo before. I had watched a few videos of other’s playthroughs beforehand so I knew what to expect when I played it myself – what to do, what would cause the jump scares, what to avoid, etc., etc. – but I was very wrong. I still managed to jump out of my skin, panic when I didn’t know what to do and be so scared that I haven’t touched it since my first playthrough. And it’s a fricking demo!

I hope that now with Kojima having his own studio with Sony, he’ll team up with Del Toro and create something even more spooky and engaging.

#3 – Borderlands 2 (Gearbox Software/PS3/2012)

I was always put off to play Borderlands mainly because I was worried about the humour being me off it. And I also didn’t know much about the game itself. But after seeing it on sale, I thought I’d try it.

I fell in love with Borderlands after my first sitting of playing it. I’m a fan of first-person shooters but with the added role-play element, it blow my mind. Add in a good storyline, great characters and a bunch of side-quests then I’m all set.

But Borderlands 2 changed everything. It took everything that was great from the first game (which was basically everything) and wrapped it up in a much more engaging storyline and memorable (and recurring) characters, and you have me sold. To fall in love with same game twice evidently as achieved something great.

Despite the antagonist being a horrible character, I really loved Handsome Jack as a villian – there is one point in the game (no spoilers!) were I felt utterly helpless and didn’t know how the story was going to end – not at least in a good way. Not many games have made me feel like that, but with Borderlands that made me laugh and almost cry at certain points, I can do nothing but praise it. And replay it over and over and over again.

#2 – InFAMOUS Second Son (Sucker Punch Productions/PS4/2014)

I had never played the InFAMOUS series before (unless playing as Cole MacGrath in Street Fighter X Tekken counts) so when I first bought my PS4 and saw the game in sale, I decided to take a chance.

I loved the graphics (reminder – this was the first game I played on PS4) and the main characters Deslin Rowe (voiced by Troy Baker AKA one of many favourite gaming VAs) and the way the story played out – you could choose the good route (which I did) as a Hero or the bad route as a Villian.

I think – like more superhero stories – the game spoke to me. Deslin was feared for being different, yet he showed that it was OK to be different. And to be a total badass with powers.

I did find the game a little difficult, but I felt for a lot of the characters and felt that Sucker Punch did a great job on making the environment as authentic as Seattle itself.

#1 – Hyrule Warriors (Koei Tecmo/Wii U/2014)

It surprised me that when this game was announced, quite a few gamers doubt it. I kinda of understand why – it’s a game that wasn’t developed my Nintendo as all Legend of Zelda had been, but I had played Dynasty Warriors a lot in the past, so I had faith. I also watched the trailer at least a hundred time purely for the rocked out version of the main Legend of Zelda theme.

Granted, this is a hack and slash game – I thought it was purely that. However, I soon found out it wasn’t. During one segment when you can play as Impa or Shiek, I lost over and over again simply because I was concentrating on defeating as many enemies as I could rather than recovering the points on the map. This game requires you to think out a plan and be on the edge of your seat util it succeeds.

I enjoyed having tie-ins from previous Legend of Zelda games, such as enemies, characters, levels and even weapons (the hookshot will always be my favourite to use when it’s at it’s most powerful). The story stumbled a little bit in places, but I enjoyed the game nonetheless. And I’m excited to see what Hyrule Warriors Legends will bring next year for the 3DS.

There we have it – my Top 10 Games for 2015 all in order. Let me know if you agree/disagree with my choices and/or placements. Hope you enjoyed – leave a like and/or comment if you did.

And Merry Belated Christmas – I hope you all enjoyed the holidays! I’ll see you next year (well, it’s really next week, but you know…)

Take care!

The Games I’ve Played This Year (So Far)

Posted on August 23, 2015 by gamerangel301

Even though the year is half-way over (give one or two months), I’ve managed to play some good games. Here’s a list of 10 so far with some mini reviews (in no particular order).

#10 – Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light (PS3)

This was a game I had been wanting to play for a while, so when it was on sale and I was given a discount I seized the opportunity. Having played the Tomb Raider HD Trilogy again not too long ago, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light was a huge jump. Not only were the controls different (there was no lock-on but you could aim with the analogue stick) but it was top down perspective. The puzzles returned and I’ll admit they were easier to figure out compared to previous Tomb Raider games, but damn did I feel smart for figuring them out (I only had to use a guide a few times). The story follows Lara exploring a tomb and coming across a demon called Xolotl. With the help of Totec, LC must seal Xolotl into the Mirror of Smoke before sunrise. I also really enjoyed the opening scene with the animated sketches flipping through a journal. For a spin-off, it did a good job.

#9 – LittleBigPlanet 1 & 2 (PS3)

I had played LittleBigPlanet on a friend’s PSP previously, so after the announcement of LittleBigPlanet 3, I decided it was time to get my hands on them. The first game follows Sackboy as he tries to save LittleBigPlanet from The Collector – a rogue Creator Curator. Despite being released in 2008 (not long after the PS3 console) as an indie game, it was incredibly sophisticated – the analogue sticks were able to control Sackboy’s arms and tilting the control made him turn his head. With any puzzle platformer, the game as it continued got progressively harder and harder (I really struggled with the Tundra World) but it was satisfying after completing a level. And how could you not enjoy listening to Stephen Fry narrating the story?

LittleBigPlanet 2 as a sequel changed the game a fair bit. Despite having a similar storyline (the inhabitants of Craft World are kidnapped by the Negativitron so it’s up to Sackboy and his friends to save the world), weapons such as the Grabinator and the Creatinator. Compared to the first game, I found LBP 2 much harder to start off with, but more enjoyable. I loved the characters (along with their voice acting) and the way that LBP 2 felt more…’polished’ for lack of a better term. I loved both games for their perspective in the game – you play as a voiceless, tiny hero with no special abilities in a giant, creative world for you to explore.

#8 – Borderlands 1 & 2 (PS3)

I must admit that I did avoid Borderlands when it came out because I didn’t think I would enjoy it. I understood that it was a first-person shooter that was humorous, but I didn’t think the humour would appeal to me – I thought it would be the kind of humour that talks about bodily fluids and just try too hard. Oh, but how wrong I was and glad for it.

As mentioned, Borderlands is a FPS combined with RPG elements (Role Playing Game). The first Borderlands allows you to choose as The Berserker (Brick); The Siren (Lilith); The Hunter (Mordecai) or The Soldier (Roland) who choose to move to a planet called Pandora in the search for a better life (this is also set in the distant future). After encountering Pandora’s inhabitants and environments, rumours of a treasure cove known as The Vault emerge and it is up to you to find it. With the aid of other characters such as The Angel, Dr. Zed, Claptrap and Marcus, the player is supplied with guns, ammos, grenades, shields, vehicles and health. As with any RPG, side-missions are available to help the player level up and endure boss fights.

When I played Borderlands 2 after completing the first one, I was stunned at the changes not only to the gameplay and layouts but to the weapons and the humour. Borderlands in terms of it’s humour was tame compared to 2. Borderlands 2 follows a similar storyline to the previous one – a company called Hyperion’s boss Hnadsome Jack claims that he opened The Vault, destroyed the alien creature (which I struggled with a lot) and that he saved Pandora. So naturally, when more Vault Hunters are sent to kill him, Pandora is once again in trouble. Once again, the player can choose who to play as from The Commando (Axel); The Siren (Maya); The Gunzerker (Salvador) and The Assassin (Zer0) with additional DLC characters The Mechromancer (Gaige) and The Psycho (Krieg).

Story-wise, I enjoyed Borderlands 2 much more because of the amount of great characters and emotional plots (I won’t spoil it but there were at times when I felt hopeless and thought I wouldn’t be able to defeat Handsome Jack) however it took me a while to get used to the new layout and I didn’t really approve of the gun designs for some of them. I did struggle a lot more with Borderlands 2, but the (seemingly) endless list of side-missions made up for it. The only critique I would give these games is that is there is no way of dodging oncoming attacks. But I’m looking forward to playing Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel (clever title) and replaying the first games as different classes (I chose The Siren for both).

#7 – InFAMOUS: Second Son (PS4)

I decided to catch up and buy myself a PS4! I had never played the previous InFAMOUS games but I knew they were some form of superhero-type game. The game follows Deslin Rowe (voiced by Troy Baker, one of my favourite video gaming voicing actors) a teenager who makes trouble follow him everywhere. One day, after running form the police, he rescues an escaped Conduit (someone who has superpowers) and unwillingly absorbs them himself. He is ambushed by the Head of the D.U.P (Department of Unified Protection) and with his brother, Reggie (who’s also the sheriff), track down Augustine to save their community. During his journey, Deslin makes contact with other Conduits such as Hank, Fetch and Eugene and absorbs their powers too.

This was my first time playing a PS4 game so I was stunned by the visuals, not only because of the engine but because the game looked like it was really taking place in Seattle. Like all games, I struggled in some parts but I enjoyed the story and also how the way you played the game impacted the story, i.e. if you chose to be a Hero, the story follows a ‘good route’ but if you chose to follow the ‘bad route’, it impacts the game negatively (I don’t know how as I chose the good route).

With the combination of amazing graphics, good game mechanics, parkour elements and a good storyline, I enjoyed this game, even if some parts were a bit repetitive.

#6 – InFAMOUS: First Light (PS4)

This game is claimed to be a DLC from Second Son (I still don’t really believe that, even for the price I bought it at) that follows Fetch and her story of how she integrates into Second Son (essentially like a pre-sequel). While I felt this game was much more emotional compared to Second Son, it was much shorter (but not quite as repetitive) and you could only use Neon powers compared to Deslin’s abilities of using multiple powers. But it definitely helped me understand Fetch much more with her state of mind in Second Son. I highly recommend playing First Light after playing Second Son (love the titles too).

#5 – P.T. Demo (PS4)

Now, if you’re a gamer like myself, you probably would have heard about the P.T. Demo so I won’t drabble on abut it. But for those who don’t, the P.T. Demo (playable teaser) was Konami’s idea to revamp the Silent Hill franchise. You start off in a first-person view and you have to navigate through looped corridors, finding snippets of the supposedly plot of the game. I won’t spoil it but jump scares do happen and with the amazing atmosphere, I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. I was so scared that I didn’t complete the demo (and before anyone calls me a pussy, I was also stuck on the last part with the telephone). It makes me sad that Konami have now cancelled it and taken the demo off the PS Store. I liked where the story was going (even though it was weird and made my skin crawl in some parts) and had it been released, I definitely would have played it, even though horror games aren’t really my thing.

R.I.P. P.T. Demo for Silent Hills. At least there is a Minecraft Adventure Map available.

#4 – Pokémon Shuffle (3DS)

This game is basically Candy Crush with a Pokémon skin (and none of the original sound effects). You have to match three of more pokémon heads in order to attack the enemy pokémon with a limited amount of moves (or time limit for bonus stages). pokémon stats are also taken into effect, i.e. water pokémon create more damage against fire pokémon, and you are able to capture the defeated pokémon depending on how well you fought in battle. It’s a cute, quick little game that can become easily frustrating but enjoyable to any pokémon fan, past or present.

#3 – Heavenly Sword (PS3)

After following Rhianna Pratchett’s career after Tomb Raider, I found out about Heavenly Sword. You can play as the protagonist Nariko and her younger sister Kai. The game follows Noriko and her clan as they protect the most powerful sword, the Heavenly Sword. Despite it’s great power, it hold a great curse – it absorbs the life of the wielder. I thought it would be a simple hack-and-slash game, but it also includes quick-time events (QTEs) and puzzle solving (some of it extremely frustrating), which I was glad about, otherwise I would have gotten bored of it easily. The SIXAXIS of the control also helped with ‘Aftertouch’ – by tilting the control, you can control projectiles, such as arrows and cannon balls. This added an element of difficulty but also to the game mechanics. However, I did find some of the boss fights being strung out for too long and Kai not really having any abilities apart from dodging and firing arrows (long range only really worked). But it you enjoy controlling a strong female character with a long of emotional baggage (not that that’s a bad thing), that I suggest checking Heavenly Sword out. Just don’t watch the movie.

#2 Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris (PS4)

What a surprise – another Tomb Raider game! From Guardian of the Light, the Temple of Osiris didn’t change much apart from the story, enemies and puzzles. Oh, and it’s multiplayer. But I enjoyed Temple of Osiris much more not because I’m a sucker of Egypt and I enjoyed the story (Lara and her fellow researcher Carter become cursed and help the Egyptian Gods Isis and Horus piece back together Osiris in order to stop Set from taking over the world) but for the amazing boss fight at the end. Trust me, you forget about the somewhat repetitive tombs and not-as-creative puzzles when you have to help Osiris defeat Set. This is a spoiler-free zone, but you have to check it on YouTube or play the game yourself. It made me feel that even though I was controlling human Lara Croft, I could still defeat these powerful legends of Gods. Honestly, no words can describe it – it has to be something you experience with your own eyes.

#1 – Agario (PC)

As you probably guessed, I like to keep up with the kids and play a lot of the more popular games. There’s not much to say about Agario apart from that you play as a small, colourful dot who zooms around and asborbs smaller dots to grow bigger. The bigger you get, the easier it is to eat other players and get to the top of the leader board. It’s very addictive and you can even play it through your Facebook amount. I will warn you that will want to play again and again to get better each time and soon enough, many hours have passed.

So, what am I playing now?

I’m currently playing Hyrule Warriors on the Wii U. Much like Heavenly Sword, I thought it was a simple hack-and-slash game, but I was wrong. If you don’t know, it is a game developed by Koie Temco who developed Dynasty Warriors (which I played a little bit of before this) which is pretty much a Legend of Zelda skinned Dynasty Warriors game but with more plot. The story follows Link, a knight-in-training for Hyrule, who defending the castle after a mysterious witch called Cia attacks it. Many well-known Zelda characters make appearances, such as Shiek, Impa and Darunia, along with original characters, such as Lana (who I love and wish I could see her in more Zelda official games, but I don’t think that will happen). While the gameplay mainly consists of attacks enemies, defeating bosses and opening Fairy Foundations, you do need to keep an eye on your bases and make sure that they are not taken over, otherwise it’s game over. So far, I’ve played the majority of the game and I think I’ve nearly completed it but for a simple game, it is long but not too dragged out. If you’ve been looking for a strategy-induced, hack-and-slash Zelda game, then Hyrule Warriors is for you. And don’t worry if you don’t have a Wii U – Hyrule Warriors Legends is coming out on 3DS next year.

Thank-you for reading, hope you enjoyed!

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