SaveAsDoc

SaveAsDoc

Analyze, Diagnose, and Prescribe.

Comments 296

Re: Feature: The Best Games on PS4 - 2015 Edition

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Overall, a pretty solid list, guys! I'd bump up The New Order into the top 10, move down Journey several places (I could never put it above the likes of TLoU, The Witcher III, and Bloodborne...sorry! ) and put The Evil Within or Alien: Isolation somewhere in there, but everything else looks pretty good.

Re: Review: Journey (PS4)

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@ShogunRok And you made my day for even making that reference! lol I've had yet to see another person make that connection between the two until now.

Re: Review: Journey (PS4)

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Nice review, Robert! Journey is really something special, and I like how you pointed out that it speaks to people on different levels. For me, it's definitely on a religious one, and I'm surprised you chose "Pilgrim's Progress" as the subtitle because I originally compared the game to John Bunyan's book after playing it for myself! One thing though is that I found the co-op a double-edged sword. It can make a world of difference with your experience for better or for worse with someone who takes the game seriously or ruins things on your end by messing around. So while I find it innovative as well, that first person someone plays with in their first playthrough of Journey can either be a good or bad influence on their experience.

Other than that, I loved every second of Journey, too. Truly magical and transcendent with its artistic direction, world, and themes. I've only played it once, so I think it's time to give it a second go!

Re: Watch the Crash Bandicoot Cartoon That Never Was

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That ending took me completely off guard. I was like, "Oh, Crash saves the da- WHAT."

Anyway, that was really bizarre! I'm surprised this took so long to be unveiled, but hey, better extremely late than never. Now, I wonder if Crash would have had a voice if this had been made into a show...

Re: Soapbox: Why I Love Shenmue

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Lovely, personal article, @get2sammyb. I always love reading about the history gamers have with the first titles that influenced them the most and showed them what the gaming medium is capable of. Spyro and Crash were the games I'd point to that helped make me the gamer I am today, so since I've never understood what made Shenmue special (since - at a first glance - it's got bad voice acting, a seemingly boring open world, etc.), seeing the series from your perspective has helped me see why people love them so much and regard them as groundbreaking for their time. Timely article as well! lol Anyway, nice work.

Re: Review: The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited (PS4)

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Thanks so much for this in-depth review, @ShogunRok! I've been wandering back and forth on whether or not to get this, and after participating in the beta and renting it recently, I still wasn't too sure about it. Like you pointed out, the quests can get repetitive and feel monotonous, and the fact that people are everywhere and complete quests for you can be annoying. However, the overwhelming amount of content, huge, divided open world, and deep customizable systems are definitely impressive and offset the negatives some. I'm just always wary about getting into an MMO, so I think I'll make this one of my first ones since it seems fairly noob friendly.

I think this will definitely be worth checking out with a couple friends (and maybe you perhaps!) when I can get it for somewhere around $30-35. Your review helped me solidify this plan of mine.

Re: All Hideo Kojima References Have Been Stripped From Metal Gear Solid V's Box

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I've always liked how Kojima prominently put his name on all of his games. It's just a part of who he is and him just...well, being Kojima. And while I think it's definitely a pride complex of sorts, I really don't like that Konami is removing it. It's part of what makes the MGS box art covers unique, so to see the name gone is frustrating for some reason. I don't like it.

Re: PlayStation Pays Its Respects to Nintendo's Satoru Iwata

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Pokemon Crystal got me into Nintendo, and that game wouldn't have been possible without the brilliant programming skills of Iwata-san compressing Silver and Gold so the entire region of Kanto could be added into the game as well.

Thanks for posting this, Sammy. He's an icon and giant in the video game industry that will be sorely missed. I send all of my condolences to Nintendo and prayers to his friends and family during this difficult time.

Re: The Vanishing of Ethan Carter Appears on PS4 Next Week

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I'm definitely up for playing this. I've had my eye on it for quite some time since I like the mysterious premise and puzzle-solving nature of the game. Overall, I think it was well-received when it came out on PC, so since we'll be getting a UE4 overhaul, I'm up for it. Will definitely be waiting to see the reviewer's thoughts on how it transitions to the PS4!

Re: Oh Look, It's a Nintendo PlayStation Console

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Wow, WHAT a piece of video game history! I can't imagine a game industry where Sony partnered with Nintendo. Everything would be completely different today. But man, I seriously hope that this - if it's indeed one of the only prototype models in existence - ends up in a museum of some sort considering how incredibly rare it is.

Re: Feature: We Grade E3 2015's Press Conferences

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I will give one-sentence summations of what I thought about all the conferences...

Bethesda: (B+) Seemed too short, but mostly in a good way since they impressed with everything they showed without any filler, especially with DOOM and Fallout 4 (loved seeing Dishonored 2 as well!).

Microsoft: (B+) A really solid showing with a focus on games, games, and more games (Halo 5, Tomb Raider, Unravel...loved it all) along with that amazing HoloLens demo.

EA: (D) Star Wars: Battlefront is the greatest thing I saw come out of E3 (which prevents the score for me from being an F), but despite showing Catalyst and Andromeda as well, the overall conference was awful with an agonizing deluge of sports games and bad pacing.

Ubisoft: (C) Didn't see too much of this conference, but from what I saw, it was simply "all right" with a decent showing of games, an okay speaker, etc. (Wildlands was the best thing to come out of it).

Sony: (A+) One of the top 5 conferences I've personally witnessed since I started watching E3 consistently about 5 years ago. I'll give TWO sentences here just to say that they had The Last Guardian, FFVII Remake, more Battlefront, Horizon, Shenmue III...need I say more?

Nintendo: (C-) Oh dear, this was an extremely underwhelming conference with Star Fox Zero, Triforce Heroes, and Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam being the only highlights for me. (That Metroid Prime game looks fine, but...man, that was low, Nintendo.)

Square Enix: (B -) A very low-key and professional conference, but organized with a satisfying assortment of new trailers (Kingdom Hearts III!), game announcments (new Nier), and so forth.

Re: Reaction: Sony Delivers the Greatest E3 Press Conference of All Time

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All I'll say is that I can't say this is the best E3 press conference of all time just yet, but at the moment, it sure feels that way to me. I only started watching E3 consistently 5 years ago, and there are 2-3 conferences from Sony and Nintendo in particular that have been memorable highlights for me over that time period. This is sure to be one of them! And here's the thing...I'm not ecstatic for a Final Fantasy VII remake or Shenmue III (I've never played Shenmue), but simply knowing that people have been clamoring for these games for years, and to see them pop up at E3, alongside The Last Guardian? I was simply excited for the people who will finally get to play these games!

Re: E3 2015: Hell Hath No Fury Like a DOOM Gameplay Reveal Trailer

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@ryanorly @get2sammyb Same here! You know, something I'm not usually accustomed to is FPS games with fast movement. The New Order took me off guard at first with this and how quick shootouts can be in pace. However, I got used to it and started to love this increased speed. Now that we have the king of fast-paced shooters returning with this DOOM...I'm so ready. lol Definitely my favorite part of Bethesda's conference.

Re: Talking Point: Did Bethesda's E3 2015 Press Conference Blow You Away?

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Felt really short, but I guess that was because they wasted NO time at all on filler, which is a good thing, I suppose! I can't help but wish there was just a bit more, but still...a plethora of DOOM and Fallout 4 gameplay, and a reveal trailer for Dishonored 2? I've been left a very happy man by Bethesda's conference. Good show!

Re: Review: Sketchcross (PlayStation Vita)

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@get2sammyb Yeah! I think this will appeal to puzzle gamers. It's tough if you've never done nonograms before. Some are dead easy, but I got stumped halfway through! Lots of trial and error that got frustrating for me. You'll spend 30+ minutes on some of the harder ones, so if you've got the patience, they're good. And DLC is coming out in the future, so that'l make for some awesome replay value.

Re: Review: Ether One (PlayStation 4)

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Huh, a lot of people didn't like Ether One at all it seems. :/ Yeah, I can see why a lot of you were turned away the first time around. There were big technical issues to note that were ruining the game, but with the patch, the developer worked out a lot of the major stuff and I wasn't really affected by anything after restarting it...just several annoyances that I could shrug off.

And while I'll admit some of the puzzles were confusing and ambiguous as I said in the review, you really have to give the game a bit of time to start understanding what they're all about. Some of them are genuinely very good! Others...just okay.

Pre-patch this would've gotten a 5/10 From me, but post-patch is somewhere around a 6 and 7, so I went with 7 since I appreciated a lot of the stuff I saw in the game.

Re: Interview: The Man Behind the Music - Jason Graves

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Hey everyone! Forgot to say thanks for the compliments. In all honesty, Jason Graves was such an easy, nice guy to speak with that my nervousness of approaching such a talented composer quickly went away as we got absorbed into our conversation. I interviewed him back in April, so it took a long time transcribing the interview with school to deal with up until May. So, I'm glad I could finally get this up for you all to enjoy!

Re: Review: Wolfenstein: The Old Blood (PlayStation 4)

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Nice review, @gbanas92! I'm getting through Chapter 4 at the moment and am loving this DLC. The old school feel, new weapons, more awesome characters (with the insanely good voice acting) and story to go through, creepy castle Wolfenstein environment...this is pretty much what I wanted from The Old Blood. Although the stealth at the beginning was mundane, the gameplay picked up considerably around Chapter 2 and has been keeping an excellent pace of mixed stealth and all-out combat sections since then. Can't wait to see how the other half of the game is!

Oh, and the easter eggs are just incredible. I found the Hamlet one tonight and came across a Dovahkiin helmet from Skyrim and a soda machine that had "Nuka Cola" on it a couple of days ago. The video game references are strong with The Old Blood.

Re: Game of the Month: April 2015

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@Gemuarto I have yet to finish Transistor! I'm still kicking myself about that. From what I've played, I consider it on-par with Bastion, but I need to complete it before I make that decision.

Re: PS4 Platformer Yooka-Laylee Makes Over $1 Million in Six Hours

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I backed it! Can't believe it's raised this much money in such a short amount of time. I'm a sucker for 3D platformers, so this was a no-brainer for me. It's pretty set in stone at this point that the game will launch on the PS4 along with the other platforms on day one, so that's awesome to see. It'll probably only take 3-4 days to raise $500,000 to reach that goal!

Re: Feature: What Are May 2015's Free PlayStation Plus Games?

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ETHER ONE! I heard about this game a couple months ago and knew they were developing it for the PS4 (it's already out on PC), but the developer hasn't clarified a release date for a while. So this has come as a surprise to me! Can't wait to play it for myself. Oh, and just so everyone knows, look up the soundtrack by N.J. Apostol. It's absolutely fantastic.

Re: Soapbox: You Should Stop Pre-Ordering Games

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The only time I pre-order games is to gain access to a beta, make sure I secure a copy of a collector's edition for a game I want, or to get a poster or something.

But when it comes to bonus in-game content, I don't really care at all. In fact, I won't pre-order any game I'm skeptical about. I canceled my pre-order with Evolve due to all of that DLC nonsense. And overall, I only pay the minimum amount for pre-orders (like $5), because I'm not putting all my money into anything that hasn't come out yet. So yeah, pre-orders are good when I need them (again, with collector's editions and whatnot), but I typically don't rely on them since they're becoming a problem in a lot of cases. Assassin's Creed Unity, anyone?

Re: Feature: What Do You Mean You've Never Played... Transformers: War for Cybertron?

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@Trikeboy I'm one of the few that actually likes both games equally, but if I had to choose, I'd go with Fall of Cybertron as well.
How so? All three characters are in each campaign mission regardless of who you pick, so you're always hearing all of the dialogue the story has to offer. Other than that, you're just picking between different playing styles with the classes, which I thought worked in the first game's favor. But yeah, I'll definitely concede that the missions were more focused in Fall of Cybertron since levels were designed to utilize unique character abilities, so yeah. Both campaign structures have their pros and cons.

@Galvatron Glad we agree! Not sure about Optimus standing no chance against you though! He's one, tough Prime.

@BladeRider Yes, games that use Unreal Engine 3 tend to have this problem. Even with the Gears of War trilogy, textures would sometimes take 4-8 seconds to completely materialize during the loading of a multiplayer match, the start of a new campaign level, etc. But I'm surprised that turned you off for War for Cybertron. Once that nastiness subsides, the graphics look pretty great from what I remember. You just have to bear with those loading textures sometimes, which I think is absolutely fine compared to the awesome experience you get otherwise.

Re: Feature: What Do You Mean You've Never Played... Transformers: War for Cybertron?

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@RaymanFan2 Yes! I think Fall is just as excellent (if not better than) as the first game. I wanted to focus on War here, so that's why I didn't mention it.

I see what you're saying about Rise of the Dark Spark, but I also played the game in its entirety and gave it a 4/10 in a review on my YouTube channel. In retrospect, I'd probably give it a 5/10, but the reason why I gave it this score is because the game was boring and dull. It hardly does anything to differentiate itself from the previous games; it's practically a carbon copy of the gameplay from Fall of Cybertron with a lame, inconsequential story that ties the awful Bay universe into the Cybertron canon. Is the gameplay solid and fine? Sure, but since I thought the levels are unmemorable, writing for the dialogue and story are bad, and that there are no meaningful improvements upon the gameplay, Edge of Reality did nothing worthy of topping or simply meeting what High Moon Studios did with the first two games. It's serviceable, but I find that an insult to the utter passion and love that went into High Moon Studios' work. I don't see that at all in Rise of the Dark Spark. But hey, I'm glad you liked the game! I just couldn't see what made it special to someone like you, so overall, I actually have to agree with Ben's review. I wish I didn't because I wanted to love Rise of the Dark Spark!

Re: Bloodborne Sales Are Off to a Bloody Good Start

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Awesome. Definitely deserves this kind of success, and I'm really happy a lot of players have decided to get this as their first "Souls" game. From what I've played so far, it's definitely the perfect jumping-on-point for getting into a From Software game.

Re: Review: Bastion (PlayStation 4)

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@jmburks It will actually be available for Vita at a later date. The dev is working on it now, so the PS4 is the only platform it's on now (not planned for PS3 though). Honestly, it might be best on Vita! I'd wait for it, if that's what you want to do.

Re: Feature: How Is PS4 Exclusive Bloodborne Treating Our Beginners?

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@Superstick I would definitely advise you avoid From Software's other three games, but honestly, I kind of get at what @TOMBOY25 is saying. Bloodborne does seem easier in some weird way compared to its predecessors. The most I've died somewhere around...17-20 times after playing it for 7 hours or so, and that's pretty astonishing compared to how much Dark Souls made me die. I'd consider giving this a rent if I were you or borrow it from a friend and play for 4-5 hours to see what you think.

Re: An All-Male Party Makes Final Fantasy XV 'More Approachable', Says Director

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Tabata-san is definitely right, and the same would apply for an all-female cast. Men and women will act differently to different extents if there is a mix of guys and girls rather than a homogenous group of one gender, and because of this, you have more genuine interactions, conversations, and openness in a way that wouldn't be possible any other way (even if only one person that's part of a group is the opposite gender). Guys act differently around their guy friends, and girls act differently around their girl friends. Simply natural, and anyone reading this should know what I'm talking about from personal experience. I have yet to play that FFXV demo, but I bet the story is going to be wonderful for reasons such as this.

So yeah, I like their reasons for doing this since it results in more unique relationships and interactions between the characters. You know, it kind of reminds me of Final Fantasy X-2. Weren't the main characters an all-female team (Yuna, Rikku, and Paine) in that game?

Re: PS4's Wolfenstein: The New Order Is Getting a Prequel 

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Well then. This is a nice thing to wake up to.

Yeah, so, The New Order was one of the most surprising and best shooters last year that I've played in recent memory, so color me hyped for this unexpected DLC. Really cool that it's a prequel, too! Looks like this will be worth the hefty price since the time period allows for new weapons, an awesome, classic setting, etc. I'll definitely be downloading this day one!

Re: These Are the Players: A Conversation with YouTube Game Reviewer Caddicarus

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@BLPs I know! Very surprising to find that out. My first Nintendo home console was the Wii when I was around 13. Not everyday when someone waits that long to get one! And yes, the fact that this can result in full-time jobs for the rare few is unbelievable...and awesome, when you think about it.

@ShogunRok Thanks, Robert! Yeah, I've been wanting to do this for a while and thought it was time to get around to it. Glad I did!

@Tasuki Cyoar! lol

@charlesnarles Very good point. Some YouTubers would rather have small audiences so that pressure isn't there, since it's just a hobby (and usually starts out as that for everyone). But yes, as long as you're doing what you want to accomplish as a YouTuber, your subscriber count is ancillary, since all that matters is entertaining people, whether it be a large or small audience. I run a YouTube channel as well and have about 80 subscribers. I hardly have time to manage it though during school, but when I do have free time, I just have a blast uploading reviews and Let's Plays. I plan to do a lot more of that this summer to gain some experience with video editing, but yeah. It entertains some people, and that's all that matters to me, too, especially if I'm having fun doing it, too.

Re: Ubisoft Admits Difficulties Developing Assassin's Creed Unity for the PS4

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@Bigdoggy Hey, just saw your comment about the title. You're right, it could be viewed that way. But we usually just say "PS4" even if we're talking about a multi-platform game (PS4 = multi-platform on Push Square, basically), so what I mean by the title is "Ubisoft Admits Difficulties Developing Assassin's Creed Unity for All Systems," I suppose. And I didn't try to tie the PS4 to the problem, but I unintentionally did (I just thought the title would sound more complete with that on the end). Thanks for the feedback!

Re: Opinion: How Reviews Can Colour a Game's Reception

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@teknium_ Never? I know I've played a wide assortment of games only because the opinions of others (whether it be friends, reviewers, etc.) pushed me over the edge to give them a try, based on the way they talk/write about why they enjoyed a particular title and the reasons they give to back their claims up. I never would have played - among many other games - Shadow of the Colossus, Bastion, Final Fantasy X, Skyrim, or Super Metroid if it weren't for being influenced by others' opinions, and I can say that I'm glad that I took their advice on occasion.

"...the weekend after the exclusive's release, is very different. Many can still acknowledge the criticisms pointed at the PlayStation 4 title, but are using completely different language when describing their experience: surprising, better than expected, and so on. And this happens regularly when a release draws a lukewarm critical response: the reception is much softer. Compare this to the games that score highly – The Last of Us, Journey, and other esteemed guests – and punters will be much harsher."

Definitely an interesting trend I've noticed, @get2sammyb. Cool for you to point it out. And I agree with your conclusion. Our reviews aren't meant to be the "end-all" on a game's worthiness. Our readers should take them in as one person's opinion as a means to inform whether or not they likely share the author's sentiments and, subsequently, if they should then purchase it or not. For example, reviewers' criticisms leveled toward The Order: 1886 are what I feared would happen with it, so I really think I'll end up agreeing with the reviews after I play it. However - as they've have pointed out - it still has some incredible aspects to it, so I'll be sure to rent it.