Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Plans on E3

I know that coming up soon will be E3, so I wanted to go on ahead and give some insight into what I'll be doing this year, as it'll be my first year covering it.

Hopefully, the plan is to have something posted every night, on what all was shown that day. Things can change, though, so there is no guarantee I can cover every day, nor post every night. I will try to, but this is really the first time I've ever tried doing this, so please do bear with me on it.

Hopefully, we'll see some good stuff coming out of E3 this year, enough to make the rest of the year interesting and exciting. For me, Black Ops 3, Magic Duels:Origins, Dragon Quest Heroes(which I should have a post up on soon), and Adr1ft are already on my radar, so it should be fun to see what else is coming this year and in the future.

Magic Duels: Origins preview

As I stated in my Hearthstone review, I'm a big fan of the Magic the Gathering tcg. I play FNM's almost every Friday night, and try to at least make the game day's and pre-releases, and have played in my fair share of IQ's, PTQ's, and grand prix's.

Admittedly, though, most of the digital versions of the game just never really interested me. Magic itself is a costly hobby, which I can barely afford now. So, trying to play both the physical card game, and Magic Online, was never feasible.

Magic Workstation is ok, in that it's better used for play testing new ideas, since you don't have to put money into it. Then there's this line of games. They're good games, but still require an investment, but unlike Magic Online, do nothing to help out your ratings.

Now, the first thing I should mention is the title. The series used to be Duels of the Planeswalkers. Wizards is retiring that series, and replacing it with this game, which is going to be a free-to-play, continually updated game.

This means now, we won't be having a shifting card pool and feature set every year. Your collection will be more permanent now, and you can obtain new up to date content as new sets come out. Also, Planeswalkers cards will be playable for the first time in the series.

Being f2p will allow players to potentially earn every card in the game without spending any real money, earning currency rewards for completing the story campaign, multiplayer matches, and daily/community events, in the same way that Hearthstone allows you to earn currency as well. One has to wonder though, if the currency will be easier, harder, or about the same to get as in Hearthstone.

One thing of note, is if you already have 4 if a card in your collection, additional copies of that card won't show up in additional boosters. This should make getting all the cards easier, and won't leave you with extras, so that's a plus.

With the new content model, you can expect updates to roll out around the same time a new set comes out. They will also line up with whatever the newest set that releases, so when Battle for Zendikar releases in the fall, you'll have a corresponding Battle for Zendikar content expansion for the game as well.

Along with the campaign, you'll have the opportunity to play against thousands of different decks in Solo Battle mode, and participate in up to four player multiplayer, including the return of 2v2 2 headed dragon, with new features expected to be added down the line. Could there be a possibility of doing drafts or sealed with this as well? That would be nice, but probably not something we'll know about until E3, or possibly later. The Solo Battle and Story modes can be played offline as well, so that is nice as well.

With the past releases, this game was always fun, but just fleeting, as each title would be inevitably forgotten and tossed to the wayside with each new release. With this new approach embracing longevity and the collection aspects, could it be possible that we'll start to see tournaments in the future?

This newest edition in this series is looking like a real winner, and is showing that it has the potential to grow into something bigger down the line. I'm excited and looking forward to seeing the finished product.

Monday, May 11, 2015

Chrono Trigger review

So, I said one of the things I'd wanted to do for a while, is do some retro reviews, so I really couldn't think of a better game to be the first one than the game I love the most, Chrono Trigger. I will discuss the 2 versions that I've played, the SNES and PS1 versions.

The game itself is hands down, one of the best rpg's ever. You'd be hard pressed to find an rpg player who doesn't like or love this game. This game, along with Final Fantasy 3, usually are at the top of a lot of rpg favorites lists, usually 1-2, with either one ahead of the other.

This games story is one of the best ever, and still holds up well today. I absolutely love the time traveling, the twists and turns, the backstory of the characters, and how they develop. The characters are memorable, and each one has it's own story arc that lets you get to know them. This is what made both this game, and Final Fantasy 3 so memorable. Getting to know these characters, and to care for them, is one of the better parts of theses games.

The graphics are great. Some of the best on the system, and they still hold up today, and even look better than some games today. The sprites are crisp, and clean, and everything just looks beautiful.

And the music? Listen to the soundtrack and tell me it's not some of the best music ever. I could listen to this games soundtrack for days. It really is that good. Final Fantasy always has good music, but in my opinion, the music in Chrono Trigger is better than Final Fantasy, but again, that's just my opinion.

I also love some of the things introduced in this game. Dual techs, and triple techs, magic abilities using either 2 or 3 characters, are some of the best abilities I've seen. I also love the New Game+ option as well. It allowed you to check out the alternate endings in the game, in which the original had 12, that I remember. The endings themselves were also brilliant and finding them was another part of the game that was great.

To be honest, there's absolutely nothing about the game that I can say that I dislike. The PS1 version though, brought some new things to the game, like cut scenes, but is generally considered the worst version of the game, simply because of the loading. Every battle causes the game to pause and load, which for me was pretty unbearable. The original had minimal loading, but the PS1 version literally made it unbearable. So really, there's nothing really wrong with the game, just the system it was on.

This is hands down one of the greatest rpg's ever made. Really, the only problem this game has ever really had, was more to do with the system it was on, rather than the game itself. Outside that, this is by far one of the best rpg's ever, and one of the best games ever made.

Thursday, April 30, 2015

Small update

It's been a little while since I've posted anything, so I thought I'd post an update.

I'm getting some things set up to try and make some videos again. Not sure if it'll work or not, so keep an eye out on the YouTube channel.

Also, I've been playing around with some older games, as well as Hearthstone. Needing to replace the hard drive for the 360, which hopefully will be here next week.

Until then, I'm gonna try to do some reviews and previews a little more frequently. I'm not gonna lie, I do get caught up in the day to day and forget things, but I will try to make at least 2 posts a week, maybe 3 if I have the time.

Anyway, hope I can bring some news on some games that'll interest everyone, and thanks for reading.

Saturday, April 25, 2015

Dangers of mobile gaming.

I know, I said that I wanted to do reviews and previews here, but decided that I would do an entry on this, after seeing some of the dangers of mobile gaming. I also want to stress, that I'm not talking if physical dangers. This is strictly a monetary thing, and something I wanted to share with everyone who has kids that have phones and tablets.

A went over to a friends house today, to pick up my sister and nephew after they stayed over with him, his daughter, and her mother. There was also another little boy staying, all in the 5-8 year old range, as the little girl was having a sleepover and wanted to invite them.

So, as I'm sitting there, he gets on his iPad, and notices that there's a lot of charges to his account. I'm not sure the exact amount, but one of them was well over $400 on a UFC game that his daughter had downloaded. When asked if there was a password, he said yes, but she knew it.

Now, I know that that's probably asking for trouble, seeing as to how she can download just about any app at any cost, and with telling the password to my nephew and their friend, they could download anything from the app store. After looking and realizing that the apps they had downloaded were free, the only thing we could think of is buying things in game.

Now, I personally don't know how the apple store works, but I do know that the Play Store has options to where you can set up to have your password entered for every purchase. I'm assuming that, of course, Apple does have some sort of system in place that does the same.

Now, the thing that bothers me, is that there's a way to actually spend $400 on an app. I mean, surely there would be some sort of limit on your purchases, but apparently not.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you shouldn't spend money on a game or app you enjoy, and there's nothing wrong with supporting the developers who make these. But when you're spending literally hundreds on an app, then there's a problem.

Now, I know that part of the problem, was the fact that my friends daughter knew the password, which meant that she, or my nephew, or the other little boy, could've been responsible for what happened. To me though, that's only one part of the equation.

The other part is some of the purchase prices for items and stuff in these apps. Admittedly, I spent some money on on Game of War, and I don't care to admit that, even though now I regret doing so, which is for another article another time.

These prices though, really do bug me. For instance, in Final Fantasy Record Keeper, there is an option to spend $85 on coins in the game. Now, I love the game, and have thought of spending some money on it, just to support the developers. But $85? That's a brand new game, possibly 2 or even 3. Hell, for that price, I can go buy most of the series and be able to play them all the way through, and they'll last longer, and retain their value, or even continue to go up.

Another instance is Hearthstone. For the most part, theirs is not bad. Unlike in FFRK, Hearthstone actually does give you a way to get packs, to get new cards, without ever having to spend a dime. For me, that makes it not so bad, because then you can do quests to gain coins, to buy packs, and play the game completely free. I still think that $50 is a steep price to pay in an app, but I also know from personal experience the feeling of opening pack after pack of cards. I know the rush from doing that as well, which in part bothers me, because someone looking for cards, with little or no self control, can blow through $200-$300 in no time.

Game of War also had the option to spend large sums of money in it as well, and admittedly I wish I had covered that aspect of these games when I did reviews for them.

I guess the one thing that should be said, is just be careful. Not only with kids, but also when playing mobile games. These types of games can be fun, and if you enjoy them, there's no reason not to support the developers of these games. I just want to stress caution. When these apps have options to spend money in them that are anywhere between 1-2x what a new game costs, you should exercise caution. I know many people can control their spending habits, but still, it's better to be safe and let people know of these things.

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Hearthstone tablet and phone review.

First things first, this game is great. I absolutely love this game and find it very addicting. If you're someone who loves playing Magic the Gathering, this is a game for you.

The list of characters is a who's who from WoW. I love most of these characters from the game, so being able to play as them, even if only in a card game, is pretty cool. I also like the graphics. Some of the minor things, like the fireworks and effects from the cards are impressive.

I also love the gameplay. The game itself, I've noticed, seems to be built around the original card game, but only with the quests removed to streamline everything, which is kind of sad, because that's one of the things I enjoyed about the original card game. But it seems to work really well, so I can't say too many bad things about it.

One thing that I wanted to address is the difference between the phone and tablet versions. Outside if the obvious smaller screen, the only real minimal difference is that you have to go through things more on the phone.

For instance, to see your hand, you have to tap where your hand is, then drag from there, as opposed to on tablet it's all laid out for you, and is easier to see. Phones seem to have a graphical advantage, why I'm not sure, but from seeing it on mine and 2 others phones, and playing on the tablet, it's clear that phones have an edge graphics wise.

The one thing I don't like, is that the classes aren't all equal. Mage seems like a really good class, Hunter, Paladin, Warrior, and Warlock are decent as well. Rogue and Priest just don't seem to be very good though. Shaman is just slightly better than them, but not by much. Maybe they should introduce some more cards to help make those classes better. Right now though, I just don't see myself using them, and haven't seen anyone else using them either, outside seeing a Shaman every once in a while.

Other than that, the game itself is pretty good, especially for those who like playing Magic the Gathering, or any other TCG's. It is definitely worth a download to try and see if you like it.

Destiny review

I've been playing this off and on, right up until my hard drive decided to give out on me. There's a lot about this game that I liked, and wanted to like. So, let's get to it.

The first thing I like is the gameplay. It feels almost distinctly like Halo, which I've always enjoyed playing. The gun play is one of the things I've always enjoyed in Halo, and for me, it's great that this game has the same type of gun play.

I like some of the loot, but one of the problems I have is that it generally doesn't drop enough, and by the time you level up to what the vendor sells, he's already selling higher level gear and no longer has what you were going for. This creates a problem, because you have to spend the in game currency to buy stuff before you level, which wouldn't be bad, but then when you actually do find loot, it defeats the purpose of buying it.

If there were a way to either pick up a little more loot or be able to buy what you were wanting when you level up, then that would better. The current system now just isn't very good, from what I've played.

The graphics are pretty good, and I've not had any reason to complain about them. The character models look great, especially the enemies. More than once I've just sit and admired the graphics in the game, especially whenever I come across a new area.

There's a lot of gripes that I have for this game. For starters, for this to be an MMO, there's not that many people. I mean, the hub world has had at most, 20-30 people whenever I'm there. As someone who's played WoW, and used to seeing anywhere around 100-200 people online at a time, seeing that few people seems to give the game more of a sense of isolation.

Occasionally when questing or exploring, you come across a couple of people, but overall, the world just seems really isolated, which for this game, doesn't feel right.

The other problem I have is the PvP. How in the world, does a level 9-10 guy, get grouped with players that are 29-35? How does that happen? Also, when it does happen, how do you not scale the players to the others level for that period? That happened multiple times when trying out the PvP.

Something like this just leaves a big hole in the competitiveness, and makes it practically no fun to try and play PvP, which is one of the major draws of this game.

Other than those complaints, the game is fairly good. I like what Bungie tried to do here, but it seems like they didn't implement everything correctly or just didn't think everything through. The game is good, but don't go in with high hopes, and you should be good.