FBTB

Category: PlayStation

  • Our Most Wanted Games From E3 2019

    Our Most Wanted Games From E3 2019

    I can’t do a third day of E3. I just can’t. I’m exhausted. I played all the games I wanted to except for Final Fantasy VII Remake. I heard it was playable at Square’s booth, but I never made it over there. As much as I’m looking forward to it, that alone is not enough to make me go back. So now that E3 is essentially over, we thought it would be fun to list our top 5 most anticipated games from E3 2019.

    Ace’s Top 5

    Hollow Knight: Silksong (PC | Switch)- It was a complete and total surprise that this game had a playable demo at the Nintendo Booth. It was stupidly popular too, commanding the longest wait times from a non-first party game at Nintendo’s booth. It really is a testament to the quality of Hollow Knight and the level of excitement and anticipation from its loyal fanbase. Silksong looks and plays like a proper sequel, in that it is both familiar and new at the same time. Instead of playing as the Knight, you play a secondary character from the first game instead, Hornet. She has her own set of moves and attacks. The controls are tight, fluid, and polished. No release date has been set yet but it can’t be that far off. I can’t wait!

    The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (Switch) – I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the demo at E3. The art direction, like I’ve said before, is just adorably cute. Navigating dungeons uses the room slide technique when passing through doors that takes me back to the original The Legend of Zelda game on the NES. That was my first Zelda game. I skipped everything after that until Phantom Hourglass and played a few here and there after that. So this re-imagining of Link’s Awakening is new to me in more ways than one. Link’s Awakening comes out on September 20th, 2019.

    Final Fantasy VII Remake (PS4) – Like I said in my other post, the music really stirred up the feelings of nostalgia. It looks nothing like the RPG I played back in the day. And that’s a good thing! I’m looking forward to the remake to see what they can do with it and how they can expand it to be what is sounding like a juggernaut of a game. The new battle system alone looks pretty interesting. It won’t be released until March 3, 2020, which is right around my birthday. I’m already planning a day off to play it.

    Other than those three games, I don’t think I can come up with two more. There are games that are being developed but weren’t shown at E3 that would make the list. Metroid Prime 4 and The Last of Us II would round it off but I purposefully didn’t include those since we are focusing on games that were shown. Sure I’ll be getting Pokemon Sword and Shield but I don’t want it enough to put it on this list. I’ve always wanted to play Witcher 3 but that’s on the same level as Sword/Sheild. The BOTW sequel is right up there but other than the “of course we are making a sequel” announcement, there wasn’t much shown to get excited over.

    So that’s my list. I turn the mic over to one of the other guys now.

    Nick’s Top 5-ish

    I was somewhat mixed going into this E3. I didn’t really know of anything that I was especially excited for, most of what I wanted had already been announced.

    Watch Dogs: Legion (PC | PS4 | Xbox One) – Assassin Hacker Grandma. I repeat, Assassin… hacker… grandma. I really like the Watch Dogs series; the second one scratches a particular itch of mine in games that manage to capture a fun gameplay loop with decent writing and over-the-top action; the sort of game that doesn’t take itself so seriously and is willing to look towards the player and give a little wink. It sort of shows in some of my favorite games of recent years: Saints Row IV, Fallout 4, and Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey all come to mind for different ways.

    Even without the comical action in the gameplay trailer, I was already interested in this game. What I saw, and what it looks to offer, makes this the sort of game that I’m likely to buy to enjoy when it comes out, because I know even if it doesn’t wow me, I will still get a lot of enjoyment out of it. And if it captures even half of the magic that the second one did with some of its quests and activities… we’re in for a great time.

    Final Fantasy VIII Remastered (PS4)- Sure, I’m going to play the Final Fantasy VII remake when it comes out… but there are some things that bug me about it. That it’s being released as an episodic format and they won’t even say how many episodes it will be gives me pause. It looks fantastic, and I love the original game, but SquareEnix is 10 gallons of BS in a 5 gallon bucket most days and they will find a way to screw it up.

    In their press conference, though, they dropped a surprise bomb that they were releasing a Remaster of Final Fantasy VIII, which for some reason is the neglected stepchild of the Final Fantasy games, having never gotten a re-release or any sort of port past the abysmal PC port when it was first released. While it didn’t hit the zeitgeist notes that VII did, VIII was a well reviewed and received game that sold extremely well, so it was odd to have been pushed out view so hard.

    It’s coming to Switch, PC, Xbox, and PS4, so I look forward to buying it multiple places to be able to play again. Now if only they’d go back and port the old DS and GBA ports of I – VI to the Switch…

    Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 (Switch) – There was one game that I would have put on this list before E3, but after watching the reveal, and listening to what they were going to make, it fell off my list hard. That was the Marvel Avengers game that Square showed off. It looked like last-gen graphics, where the characters looked kind of like the MCU version, but not so much that they’d pay likeness rights. The problem is that they still looked like them enough that it felt wrong. On top of that, the gameplay itself looked dull and the presentation of it after the fact made it sound like a live service game, which I give precisely zero craps about supporting. Seriously, industry, stop with the live service stuff.

    When the Nintendo stream came along and showed their exclusive for Ultimate Alliance 3, and it had everything that I wanted in the other game. We got to see bonkers action, new and interesting characters, and just a colorful comic set. At one point, we saw Miles Morales, Ms. Marvel, and Spider-Gwen together and I’m not ashamed to say I stood up and squealed at that (given that they are probably my three favorite characters, currently). I was at work, so it was awkward, but whatever. This game looks glorious, and that it’s on the Switch feels like the perfect fit.

    Cyberpunk 2077 (PS4 | Xbox One) – I’m honestly not that huge of a cyberpunk fan, as a genre. It’s interesting at times, but just never clicked as an overall thing. That being said, the studio behind this has a proven track record of making fantastic games without a lot of the monetization nonsense (even if their labor record is bad, at best, though said to be improving in favor of workers). The Witcher III, which was also announced for the Switch during Nintendo’s Direct, is one of the best modern RPGs ever made, and they are pouring even more into this.

    Having Keanu Reeves around doesn’t hurt either, because he is breathtaking.

    You’re Breathtaking! Keanu Reeves (Without Upvote) Requested Gif

    The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (Switch)- I know I played this game when it was on the Gameboy, and it was pretty startling given the wristwatch power of that particular system… but I don’t have a lot of strong attachments to it. It was fun, but there are other games that resonated with me more on the Gameboy (Final Fantasy Adventure, which was released on Switch Yesterday, Final Fantasy Legends – you know, maybe Ace is right, I might be a Final Fantasy fan boy).

    For the most part, I just want more Zelda… and while Nintendo got me incredibly excited for their “one more thing” reveal of a Breath of the Wild sequel, I’m going to play anything I can get between now and then. This game looks like it has the charm of the original, which channeled A Link to the Past (and A Link to the Past is the best Zelda game ever… I will die on that hill), so I will play it. It also feels and looks like Pokemon Let’s Go, which was surprisingly fun, plus they’re adding a builder mode that will add a lot of replayability to the game.

    Eric’s Top 5

    So, E3. I felt Sony’s absence, mainly because theirs was the conference I really had any true stock in. Plus, they always did the strangest things, like last year’s solid five minutes of instrument solos or, in 2017, when they hung people upside down like zombies to move at certain times throughout the Days Gone demo.

    Not always, how would you say, professional, but it beats the hell out of person-in-business-casual #19 or Japanese developer and translator. There’s a certain way to do E3, and I always felt that Sony did it best.

    So, unfortunately sans-Sony, here’s the Top 5 games that caught my eye at E3 2019.

    Elden Ring – From Software makes the most consistently good games. Demon Souls created a genre. Dark Souls revolutionized and popularized it. Dark Souls 2 was different in some bad ways, but remains my favorite game to relax and play. Bloodborne sits at the top of the PS4 Exclusive list with incredibly fast, fluid combat. Dark Souls 3 merged the best of all the games so far. And Sekiro, that came out in March, yet again completely flipped the formula while still remaining quintessentially a From Software game.

    I have no reason whatsoever to think Elden Ring will be any different. We’re going back to a medieval, Dark-Soulsian theme, with an open world rather than the tight, interlocked world of past games. But I know to trust Miyazaki and the boys at From.

    Plus, George R.R. Martin built the world of Elden Ring. And if there’s one thing that man knows how to do, it’s build worlds.

    Final Fantasy VII Remake – Likely on most lists, there’s nothing about FF7R I’m not ready for. So much care and detail has gone into Square Enix’s crown jewel. I played FF7 as one of my first RPGs, and while it’s definitely dated and even quite bad in some places, when you tie that in with solid 2019 story-telling and game mechanics, a lot of the bad gets better. I’ll admit that the x-number of games concerns me, but we’ll just have to let it run its course. If they can make Midgar feel like a full game, then we won’t have any problems.

    Basically, I’m hesitant, because Square Enix is kind of hit or miss lately, but I’m confident, because this is Final Fantasy 7, and they can’t afford to mess it up.

    Baldur’s Gate III – Two of the things I like: video games and Dungeons and Dragons. Now, the freedom of D&D clashes with the limits of video games, because you can’t just do everything in a video game. However, the studio behind Baldur’s Gate III, Larian Studios, recently released Divinity: Original Sin 2, a game that damn near reached D&D levels of freedom. Plus, they’re implementing D&D 5e rulesets and combat (although how is currently up in the air). DOS2 wasn’t a perfect game; it dragged quite a bit on the last two acts and began to crack down on that beautiful freedom of Fort Joy and Driftwood. But if Larian learns from their mistakes, and they have the backing of Wizards on the Coast, I’ll trust them.

    I can guarantee the first half of the game will be great.

    Deathloop (PC | PS4 | Xbox One)- Here’s what I know about Deathloop: Arkane Studio Lyon is making it, the studio behind Dishonored, Prey, and the upcoming Wolfenstein: Youngblood; and Dave Fennoy, voice of Lee Everett from 2011’s The Walking Dead, is in it.

    That’s enough to sell me. I have no idea how the game will play, the story will go, or the graphics will look. But, as with From Software and Larian, you gotta just trust a studio that makes good games to continue making good games. That’s one of Newton’s laws, I believe.

    Xbox Game Pass for PC (Xbox)- Not a game, per se, but exciting and available! After months of rumors and bated breath, being able to pay an exceedingly low sum for 100 or so games…man, it brings a tear to my eye.

    Of course, the PC library doesn’t nearly add up to the Xbox’s, but that’s ok. We’re getting there. The ability to play newly-released AAA games (not that I really play them, but it’s more so the ability to) for a couple of bucks a month seriously puts Microsoft at the top of my list for player accessability. Are their games great? Not really. But they’ve moved so far away from what they were, in the best way. Encouraging crossplay, helping players with disabilities, Xbox isn’t focused on the “game” anymore – they’re focused on the “player”, and I couldn’t be more into it.

    And There We Have It

    I’m actually quite surprised the FFVII Remake made all three of our lists. It just goes to show that Square Enix is doing something right. I wonder, though, how much nostalgia plays into it. I know for me it’s a big factor. I’m glad it’s coming next year because that gives me time to get through some of my backlog.

  • Final Fantasy VII Remake Extended Trailer, Premium Editions Detailed

    Final Fantasy VII Remake Extended Trailer, Premium Editions Detailed

    Today at the Square Enix E3 2019 press conference, a new extended trailer was released for Final Fantasy VII Remake. The first thing I immediately noticed was the lip syncing was greatly improved to match the English dialog. While it addressed one question I had, it raises a few more. Will a Japanese language version be available? And if it’s an option, will the cutscenes switch to match?

    Not that it matters much in the long run. I am stlll gonna get the game but I’m opting for the Deluxe Edition since it comes with a soundtrack CD. No brainer because hearing the music in that trailer stirred up all kinds of warm and fuzzy feelings. FFVII was the first Japanese RPG I played back on the original Playstation system. And hearing that battle music takes me right back to my college days.

    The Deluxe Edition comes with the game, SteelBook case, mini soundtrack CD, art book, and a DLC item. Pre-ordering will score you a second DLC item. You can pre-order the Deluxe Edition from Best Buy and Amazon. They also have the regular edition for pre-order too but no DLC bonus [ Best Buy | Amazon]. I’m pretty sure the DLC items are available in game through normal means; you’ll just have earlier access to them.

    And if you have tons of cash to burn and no sense in taste, you can pre-order the 1st Class Edition directly and exclusively available from the Square Enix online store. You’ll get everything that’s in the Deluxe Edition as well as a Play Arts Cloud action figure with a Hardy Daytona motorcycle. The Daytona might be the only thing that’s really exclusive to this set. And this is a “soft bundle” meaning there’s not one big special box for it all. Totally not worth it. I’m usually a sucker for deluxe editions and exclusives but either I’m getting older and wiser or they are starting to suck more and more.

  • E3 Roundup: Ubisoft – Hacker Granny is the Hero We Need

    E3 Roundup: Ubisoft – Hacker Granny is the Hero We Need

    Oh, Ubisoft… never stop being so nuts in your press conferences. I mean, you’re not to the level of Devolver Digital, but after that insane intro of Just Dance 2019, I was curious how they were going to top it. A warning about several of the trailers and videos in this, they have plenty of obsene language, so, be aware.

    They went in before the conference with Ice-T telling you to be nice online. After that, it was a bit of a nice symphonic mix covering Assassin’s Creed. Compared to last years, it was certainly low key. I’d be hard pressed to come up with an iconic music tune in Assassin’s Creed, but that’s probably me.

    Once they were out of that, we jumped right in to what is easily the biggest announcement that was leaked earlier in the week: Watch Dogs Legion (coming out March 6, 2020). If you’re not familiar with the Watch Dogs games, the first one was vanilla dude is a hacker out to avenge his family, and gave us “Ubisoft Iconic” as a joke. It was a decent, if not spectacular, game. The second one, on the other hand, was incredibly fun, had a memorable protagonist and cast of characters, and leaned into the absurdity of the whole thing.

    Big props to them for opening with the Gameplay video, and wow, what a show it was. Killing the character they introduce, giving us the general premise of the game, and then, on top of that, giving us the greatest game character to ever exist… HACKER GRANNY! The general premise of the game is that any character you see in the city can be recruited and become playable. They are supposedly unique, with different backstories, and fully voiced. If so… the size of this game will be absurd. Even if they only have a few hundred characters, it would be massive, but they set this thing in London.

    It’s also pretty funny that Ubisoft claims that there’s no politics or stances in their games… which if you’ve played the Division of Far Cry (or Watch Dogs) is just absurd. At least in this case they seem to be acknowledging the politics of it with the recent rise of Fascism and Authoritarianism (and the much more specific Brexit themes), and it looks to make a pretty awesome story. They’re clearly going for more of the same over-the-top stuff that made the second game so fun, so this game is jumping towards the top of my anticipated list.

    After the high of Hacker Granny, there were eleven million Tom Clancy games announced. There were update trailers for the Division 2 and Rainbow Six: Siege, announcements for a new Ghost Recon game that stars The Punisher for some reason, which includes several other other game modes. There was also a new multiplayer Rainbow Six co-op game, and honestly, I just don’t care about the Tom Clancy games so I’m not going to be able to give a lot of hot takes on these games.

    There were a lot of other announcements, some which were predictable, like Just Dance 2020 (and the accompanying crazy dance number), and some which were out of nowhere, like Gods & Monsters by the Assassin’s Creed Odyssey team. It looks like a mix of Zelda or Xenoblade, but nothing at all in the way of gameplay. The odd surprise, which was leaked last week, was a Roller Derby PVP Co-Op game.

    Of course, this is Ubisoft, so they couldn’t go on with the high of Watch Dogs: Legion and a bunch of Tom Clancy games. They had to come in and crap all over everything. It started with a rather dull looking “crossover” mobile game. I get that mobile gaming is a big market, but the traditional gamer market, which E3 is aimed at, does not care about mobile. There wasn’t any hype to be had here, so it mostly felt like a dud.

    That wasn’t the worst, though… that has got to be Uplay+. Because in the modern industry everyone has to chase the same idea in hopes of making all the money, we get another gaming streaming service from a publisher. I understand it with the platform holders… Xbox can add value by bundling it with Xbox Live, their first-party titles, and PC. Playstation can tap into a massive back catalog, and Nintendo – okay, Nintendo could crush it but frustratingly doesn’t and just drips out a few NES titles a month.

    Ubisoft came out to pitch this and then dropped an insane price point of $15/month, for 100+ titles on PC, and the only confirmed platform outside of that is Stadia (which also requires a subscription). For contrast, EA Access, which also isn’t worth it, is only $5 for 50+ games, and mostly gives early access to titles you purchase. I cannot come up with a single reason to pay for this service, especially at that price. There aren’t enough games coming out to justify it or integration to make it worthwhile.

    Honestly, Watch Dogs: Legion was the absolute highlight of this conference to me, but the rest of it was mostly a wash. The subscription service looks to be about as useful as Uplay is (read, completely pointless), and I don’t look forward to seeing them paste it all over every game they make. The rest of the games have their audience, but I’m not really among them. There wasn’t a Far Cry or Assassin’s Creed game this year either, so for the most part, it’s wait for March 6th to unleash your granny hacker assassin horde on virtual London.

  • Final Fantasy VII Remake Trailer

    Final Fantasy VII Remake Trailer

    This video was shown at Sony’s second State of Play event. The State of Play events are to replace their keynotes at E3 much like how Nintendo handles their E3 announcements via Directs. The biggest news is obviously the Final Fantasy VII remake. This game was teased about 4 years ago and this trailer is proof that, if anything, it is still being developed. Some thoughts:

    • The English voice acting is terrible. I hope it comes with the option of running Japanese audio with English subtitles. I remember when Fire Emblem Fates was released on 3DS, there was a lot of disappointment in having only English audio. Nintendo may have learned from this mistake once Xenoblade Chronicles for the Switch came out in the US, as they provided a day one patch that offered a Japanese soundtrack with English subtitles option. I realize the trailer is just a teaser ahead of the release. One of the things that bothered me about the lip syncing is that the mouth movement was tuned for Japanese but never re-rendered for English. It’s completely jarring but I get it. It would cost a lot to re-render scenes just to match whatever language the game is played in. I get it, but it’s the actual quality of the voice acting that bothered me. Example: at exactly one minute into the video, the guy with the red bandana. Also, I tend to think when it comes to English voice-overs for Japanese anime, the acting tends to be a little extreme. Like no one sounds normal.
    • There’s still no release date. Could be end of this year, could be end of next year. It could be another 4 years from now who knows.
    • It looks NOTHING like the original. I mean that in a good way. The graphics update is just stunning.
    • Would it be ignorant of me to say that it looks like nothing like a JRPG? It’s been awhile since I’ve played a proper JRPG but I don’t remember anything looking and playing like this.
    • One of the final screens of the trailer says “Play it first on Playstation 4”. The original Final Fantasy VII was a Playstation exclusive. This makes me think it’s a time exclusive rather than a console one. I’m not holding my breath for a Switch release though.

    Feel like pre-ordering? You can pre-order one from Amazon and Best Buy right now. Though, if you’re a collector’s edition kind of guy, I’m willing to bet a whole banana that one will be made for this game.

  • Disney+ Streaming Service Given Details, Price, and Launch Date

    Disney+ Streaming Service Given Details, Price, and Launch Date

    Disney launching a streaming service, the creatively named Disney+ (better than Disney 2.0, I guess), has been a reality for awhile now. There’s been plenty of wailing and gnashing of teeth over “yet another streaming service” showing up, but this is the end outcome of the request for “ala carte” service that people wanted cable TV to become. Streaming is what everyone asked for when they asked “I just want to pay for the channels I watch.”

    Disney has been pretty tight-lipped about what it would entail and focused more on who would be losing out in the deal (Netflix, for the most part) and who would be gaining (anyone who hates the “Disney Vault”). We had promises of exclusive content on the service and knew that was the major driver behind the 20th Century Fox acquisition, but not a whole lot else until Thursday when the company pulled back the curtain on everyone’s future streaming service.

    Disney+ will launch in the US on November 12th of this year (Europe and Asia will be sometime next year), and it’s going to run a startlingly-low price of $6.99 a month, or $69 for a full year. Given that price will include new Marvel Cinematic Universe and Star Wars shows exclusive to the platform, the entire Disney and Pixar animated movie catalog, every Disney Channel Show, the Simpsons (Disney+ is the new exclusive streaming platform for the show), and whatever else they have planned… that seems like one hell of a deal.

    It seems like the idea Disney is going with initially is market penetration, and they are pricing Disney+ not as a competitor to Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Hulu… but a complement to it. This seems more in line with pricing like Xbox Live, PlayStation Plus, or four Nintendo Switch online subscriptions, and gives a lot more value than any of those things do. Disney is also giving the impression that they’re going to release bundles for some of their other properties as well, such as ESPN+ or Hulu (which they’re now the majority owner of), to add more value for likely more money.

    What will make or break it, ultimately, is platform access. Netflix was initially successful by being available everywhere and on everything. Thus far, we’ve only gotten word of Roku and PlayStation 4, but other platforms are in the works. The reality is, for any streaming service, that to be successful you have to be as many places as possible (it remains to be seen if Apple realizes that, but Disney most certainly does and has had other Disney streaming apps for some time), so I’d expect it on consoles and mobile before launch.

    Given that there are Marvel shows coming for Falcon and War Machine, the Winter Soldier, Vision and Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye, and a lot of the other secondary characters, I’ll end up with a sub for that alone. On the Star Wars front, the Mandalorian will be available when the service launches in November as well, so expect move coverage as we get closer.

    Until then… prep your wallets for a lighter-than-expected hit.

     

  • Borderlands 3 Officially Announced (finally)

    Borderlands 3 Officially Announced (finally)

    Gearbox/2k has been teasing for a few weeks that something Borderlands was coming soon, and earlier in the week it was reliably leaked that it would be Borderlands 3. Today, they finally made it official, and released one hell of a reveal trailer.

    For those who haven’t played it, Borderlands is a first person Single/Co-Op looter shooter that did the model right before a lot of the more modern iterations like Destiny, the Division, etc. came and made it all MMO-y and overly grindy.

    The original game was stylistically fantastic, and introduced the world to Cage the Elephant”‘s Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked… as a game it was fairly fantastic, even if it’s a little rough by modern standards. The sequel gave us one of the great video game antagonists in recent memory, and perfected the drop-in Co-Op that defines the game. We see here all of those same things in play, some more characters, and even more favorites coming up.

    More will be revealed next week, during Pax East, and they’ve already mentioned that a remaster of the original game is coming along (joining the remaster for 2 and the “Handsome Jack Collection” that happened recently). While they haven’t been confirmed yet, there’s been a long-standing rumor that the original games may be headed to Nintendo Switch, where they would actually work pretty well… so I look forward to learning more.

  • I Got The Platinum Trophy for God of War on Give Me God of War Difficulty

    I Got The Platinum Trophy for God of War on Give Me God of War Difficulty

    Remember that game called God of War I started back in May? I just got the Platinum Trophy for God of War! It’s called Father and Son and to get that, like all other Platinum trophies for other games, you have to get every other trophy in the game, including “Chooser of the Slain”. This was the most difficult one to get as it requires you to defeat the nine Valkyries, the hardest boss encounters in the game.

    Did I mention that I did it all on Give Me God of War difficulty?

    The thing you should know, if you aren’t playing the game yourselves, is that the Give Me God of War difficulty setting is locked in. In most games you can ramp up or down the difficulty setting in the middle of the game. It’s true for God of War too but not on the highest difficulty called “Give Me God of War”. I’d be lying if said I wasn’t tempted to just quit, start over on easy mode, and then just burn through the game. One Google search on “Give Me God of War Difficulty” will give you links up on links of complaints, criticisms, stories of surrender, and accounts of frustration and agony. But I was resolute in my goal. It took a long time but once I was able to craft better gear and raise my level, the game became easier (but only slightly) and way more fun.

    Sadly, there is no trophy for completing the game on Give Me God of War mode. The above screenshot is the only proof of my achievement. It may not be much but I’ll take it. This was a couple of nights ago. The story mode was complete, but I still had one last thing to do, and that was to kill the Valkyrie queen. I finished up every other objective in every region and I was not about to let this one tough battle stop me from getting 100% of the game and the last two coveted trophies.

    The battle against Valkyrie Queen Sigrun was similar to the previous 8 Valkyrie fights in that it is an exercise of patience, stamina, and muscle memory. The fight lasts about 10 minutes, but to get there it took me dying over and over again, over hours and hours across several nights. Sometimes I’d die near the beginning of the fight, sometimes I’d get her health down about halfway. A few times she’d have one or two bars left and I’d flub a parry or forget to dodge and I’d be toast. I’d set the controller down during those defeats, put my head in my hands, and just rest a minute. I am not kidding when I say the fight is exhausting: ten minutes of absolute focus, maybe less if I die faster, for hours on end? It wore me down.

    Each death was a practice session though and as the nights wore on I’d be able to consistently knock her health down more and more. The moveset doesn’t change, it’s about reading her attack correctly and responding appropriately. Most of her attacks can be blocked or parried, but she has one particular move that temporarily blinds you. When this happens your view distance is much shorter making tracking her and anticipating her next move difficult. This is when I would die the most because once I was blinded, Sigrun can follow it up with just about anything. It took me a while to figure out that once my field of view was impaired, I would need to run in close to her to see what she was about to do.

    But that Wednesday night, after about three hours of dying, I finally did it. I beat her and got my two well-deserved trophies and screenshots. Give Me God of War was NOT easy, and has broken many gamers into giving up and questioning their life choices. I was almost one of those players. I’ve contemplated quitting and starting all over on easy mode. I’m glad I didn’t because finishing this game on Give Me God of War gave me a great feeling of accomplishment.

    Tips For Beating Sigrun On Give Me God of War Difficulty

    • Use your Leviathan axe. Don’t use the Blades of Chaos. Sigrun has one move where she flies up in the air and spins her scythe to unleash a shockwave that will knock off about 90% of your health. Once you see her fly up and the red circle appears, you need to hit L2 and then R1 to fling your axe at her to disrupt the move. Then recall the axe upon impact, rush in, and start hitting her. The Blades are no good here because the range is limited and you’ll more often than not will try and keep your distance from her.
    • Keep your distance from her and stay in the center of the ring. It makes anticipating moves and dodging her attacks much easier.
    • Memorize her move set. Know when to block, when to parry, and when to dodge. She has a couple of moves where she rushes in and thrusts her right wing at you. Because of this you should always be sidestepping to your right whenever possible.
    • Use enchantments and gear that have useful perk activations. Choosing my best gear and enchantments had me at level 9 halfway to 10. I swapped out a piece of armor and bunch of enchantments and ended up still at level 9 but just a hair up from bottom. I used a couple of lower level enchantments that would grant a health boost or cooldown upon successful block or parry. You WILL get hit, so having some passive mechanic to replenish health is definitely helpful. The cooldowns will let you unleash Runic attacks more frequently.
    • Start the battle with full rage. You can regain health with every punch and kick you land while in Rage mode. You won’t be able to get back to 100% health, but if you’re in the red, it’s a good way to get some health back so you have a little more breathing room.
    • Carry a resurrection stone, preferably the one that gives you a good amount of health. The one that gives you full rage and little health may sound like a good idea because you can resurrect, go into rage mode, knock Sigrun down some and gain some health back. The truth is, the amount of health you can potentially get back isn’t that much and you will more than likely die in one hit after rage mode wears off. The health resurrection stone will give you a lot more breathing room.
    • Expect to die. A LOT. This fight, like every other Valkryie fight, is about muscle memory. Even when you know her moves and the appropriate response, it will take a lot of practice. Sigrun hits hard and it will remind you how it was at the beginning of the game.

    The one thing I regret during this journey was not being fully familiar with the PS4’s share options. I thought I saved video of my fight against Sigrun but alas, I did not. The screenshots will have to do.

  • Games We’re Playing This Weekend

    Games We’re Playing This Weekend

    Well since this is a holiday weekend… sort of, we thought we’d share a list of games that will be taking up our time this week…ish. having July 4th in the middle of the week kind of screws everything up, doesn’t it? Unless you’re like Nick, and took the entire week off just to hide from meetings at work. Hopefully there will be plenty of gaming time when not spending time doing family stuff, unless said family stuff is playing games.

    Ace’s List

    Splatoon 2

    Splatoon 2 is the one game I spend most of my time on. The ranked modes are fun when you’re winning (like most things in life) and Salmon Run is always good when you want a bit of a break from the competitive side and do some friendly co-op. This might be the weekend where I can finally break into the Rank X rank. Plus, there’s the Octo Expansion which I haven’t even cracked into…

    God of War

    This is the only non-Switch game on my list. The only way I can really play this game is if I have a huge block of time where I can just spend hours and hours on one battle.  The other games on the list can easily lend itself to a short blocks of time. Not this game though. If I’m not dying and resurrecting at least 50 times in a row then it’s just not God of War to me.

    Hollow Knight

    This was a hotly-anticipated game for the Switch and while everyone wondered when Team Cherry was going to announce a release date, it’s clear that Nintendo wanted to feature it as a “download it today” announcement during their E3 Direct broadcast. I took a chance based entirely on hype and downloaded it only to be absolutely delighted with its metroidvania game play. The platforming can be a bit frustrating at times (I’m beginning to hate Crystal Peak). Boss battles are challenging and fun. The hand-drawn art is fantastic as well. Hollow Knight is the whole package and an absolute steal at just $15.00. If there is one game I will turn on before Splatoon 2, it’s this one.

    Lumines Remastered

    This one JUST came out this week. I played the original one endlessly back in the day when Lumines was a PSP launch title. I’m pretty sure there were some other iterations since then, but Lumines Remastered is the first time this title has appeared on a Nintendo system. S

    A game I won’t be playing this weekend? Pode. I wrote down my thoughts on the game in our review so I’ll just briefly recap it here. I downloaded that in hopes that the wife and I can play something together. She’s not a gamer, but we did have a lot of fun with Overcooked!. So I was hoping to find a good easy-to-pick-up-and-play co-op game. Pode is NOT it. While it is easy to pick up on the game mechanics, neither one of us just found it compelling enough to keep playing.

    And if I’m not playing games, I may squeeze in a LEGO set review. But I make no promises.

    Nick’s List

    My game time has been dedicated to trying to clear out my rather expansive backlog of “stuff I really need to get around to playing.” Seriously, my Steam Library has gotten to the realms of stupid, which is why I’m spending most of my time playing on my Switch, PS4, or in uplay. Priorities!

    Yeah, I have close to 1000 games on Steam, and yeah, I haven’t played more than 90% of them.

    Far Cry 5

    I’ll admit that I’m a bit late to the party on this. I’ve mostly quit chasing games, and have really soured on pre-ordering a game unless it’s a) physical and b) expected to be hard to find in some way (see… World of Warcraft Collector’s Editions, Fallout CEs, anything that’s related to Switch Hardware). But I knew I wanted to play it based on word of mouth from some friends (specifically Austin, who loved this game).

    For those who haven’t played it… it’s sort of hard to describe. The Far Cry games are all similar, but not really connected. This one is about a cult that takes over a county in Montana (despite how that sounds, not based on a true story)… and then gives speeches that all sound suspiciously like TED talks. I mean, seriously like TED talks.

    It’s an FPS available on all platforms. I’m playing it on PC, because that’s where I bought it on a good sale (and also where I own all the other Far Cry games).

    Xenoblade Chronicles 2

    My current client at work has me riding the train for about an hour and a half each day to and from their offices, and that time has turned into prime time to sit there and play my Switch in handheld mode. It tends to go all over the place when I play (I’ve done a lot of Hyrule Warriors Legends and recently dabbled in Hollow Knight, which Ace covered above)… but lately I’ve been playing some Xenoblade Chronicles 2.

    It’s a weird choice for me… I never played the first Chronicles and the only Xeno game I recall playing is the original on the PSX (and I couldn’t tell you much about it, that was 20 years ago). More than that… it’s just a hard game to wrap your head around at times. It’s got more systems than probably every other RPG released last year combined, and twelve hours in and there are still tutorial screens that pop up for me.

    Still, it’s fun and kind of goofy, and one of the best RPGs on the Switch until Octopath Traveler comes out next month.

    God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn, or Last of Us Remastered

    Let’s call this the PS4 trifecta of games that I need to go finish. They’re all tough for me to do for different reasons… not the least of which is that I tend to go through phases on what I feel like playing. Luckily, I should have a lot of extra time on vacation to devote to it, so here’s hoping I get some time to take them on

    God of War is tough to play because it’s not really a game I can play while my kids are awake. It’s a fantastic game, but not great family entertainment. More than that, though, it’s a game that just demands (and deserves) your attention, and it’s impossible to sit and play for just a little bit. By the time my kids are settled down, it’s already fairly late at night and I probably have other things to wrap up. That means my time is limited, and it’s competing with other things. Good for quick games, not great for stuff like God of War.

    Horizon Zero Dawn is similar for time, but not content. It’s a game you can’t put down, and just keep playing and playing. I want to give it hours of my time to finish, I’ve just never gotten around to it. And by now, it’s been so long that I’d probably need to start over.

    Last of Us Remastered I actually haven’t played on my PS4, despite having owned it for a long time. I played the original, and liked the story a ton (the game play could be kind of frustrating, but was overall great)… but zombies aren’t really my thing in general. I have to be in a particular mode to play this one, but I want to finish it before the sequel comes out.

    Also, if you’re curious about the videos I linked for this and Far Cry 5, Miracle of Sound makes video game-inspired music. I quite like him.

    World of Warcraft

    There’s perpetually an MMO of some sort on my rotation… I’ve always enjoyed the genre and have been playing back since the EverQuest days. World of Warcraft is what’s currently in my rotation, and I’ve been enjoying it. I’m a filthy casual in any of these games these days, so I play at my own pace. That sometimes means I play every night, and sometimes means I take a week off to do things like play Far Cry 5. Still, I’d like to get my class mounts finished before the expansion comes out in a couple of months, so it gets some time.

    Eric’s List

    Kingdom Hearts II

    After a lot of consideration and four years of trying to get through the first game, I’m finally deep, deep into the Kingdom Hearts lore, on a rapid train straight to January 29th for the release of Kingdom Hearts 3. And, honestly, while it took me a while, I finally get it. This series is cheesy, silly, and a lot of it (especially in the first game) didn’t age well.

    Luckily, Kingdom Hearts II is a lot better. I’m only about an hour into this one, still playing as Roxas, and it is weird. I’ve always felt like sequels live in this strange place where they always have to get a little…strange (see Guardian 2 or even Empire Strike Back), and KH2 is no exception. I keep asking myself “where’s the Disney / Final Fantasy stuff?”, but then I realize, I really don’t care. This story is off the rails, super weird, and I’m loving every minute of it. I can’t wait to see where it all ends up, and I’ll be squeezing as much time as I can into playing through.

    The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth+ (Nintendo Switch)

    I’ve been playing Binding of Isaac since the original (2011, wow!), and having it on the Switch is absolutely incredible. I turn on a podcast, jump in my bed, and play for a 30 minute session. I love it, it’s seriously become tradition at this point. Having just gotten a new job, resulting in me being way too busy, I’m looking forward to relaxing, turning the brain off, and playing through a couple rounds of this game.

  • Playstation Blog Left Out One Important Tip For Playing God Of War

    Playstation Blog Left Out One Important Tip For Playing God Of War

    As click-baity as that title is, it felt appropriate because the Playstation Blog’s article headline was just as click-baity if not more: 16 Tips to Conquer the “Give Me God of War” Difficulty Mode. Out of those 16 tips, I only found a couple that were worth re-reading. Some of them were just downright ignore-able. Like playing through the game once on an easier setting? No thanks. Cue the “ain’t nobody got time for that” meme.

    “Give Me God of War” mode is the highest difficulty setting in the God of War game. I posted before about how much trouble I was having with it with just the early skirmishes. I’m talking like 5 minutes in and I was struggling pretty hard. I got through the parts outlined in that post, hit another skirmish and struggled. Struggled for several hours per night across more nights than I care to remember, but, alas, I got through it. Not because of anything written in that article. Oh no, it was something I learned on my own that is and should be fundamental in a game like this: patience.

    I think lots of games these days give your character so many hit points and a Wolverine-like healing factor, that it actually makes it difficult to actually just die. And with that you get this sense of invincibility where you can go into any situation, guns blazing figuratively and literally, and come out the other side all in your first go. But Give Me God of War mode? Oh man, that is a humbling experience. But the key is patience, and that is something I was looking for in the Playstation blog post to validate my theory.

    Not that I needed much validating from an external source as this was something I kept repeating to myself after every death: be patient. And it’s hard to not be patient and take your time to dispatch a group of enemies. You’ll want to kill that draugr before it turns elite. Cause elite enemies are way harder, don’t flinch as much, and get a boost in health. But you can’t let that transformation to elite power rush you into battle or into taking chances you shouldn’t be taking.

    That video above is the last three attempts of clearing the 1st brazier at the lake of the world serpent of whatever that place is called. It took my far longer to get to this point than I care to remember. The additional abilities I picked up definitely helps, and the game keeps throwing new enemies at you to keep you on your toes. It’s fun, grueling, and there are still nights where I question my life choices and skills as a gamer. Having patience and knowing when to strike along with favoring the quick attack that hits for less over the stronger attack that leaves you vulnerable are, in my opinion, the very basic fundamentals of “Give me God of War” mode. I kinda hoped the PlayStation blog post emphasized that.

  • Give Me God of War Mode In God of War Is REAAALLLY HARD

    Give Me God of War Mode In God of War Is REAAALLLY HARD

    I used to think I’m slightly better than the average gamer. I see difficulty settings in games and always choose to play them on the most difficult setting because in my mind games are supposed to be fun and challenging. Finishing games on normal difficulty would just make me wonder what the higher difficulty is like, and I’d just end up questioning my abilities of whether or not I could do it. So when I popped in God of War and had to select a difficulty setting, I naturally went for the “God of War” difficulty despite that the option was in red color. I may have made a grave mistake.

    Combat at the beginning of any game are more or less tutorials for you to get used to the controls and game play mechanics. Look at the very first Goomba in Super Mario Bros. That thing has killed more players than anything else in the history of games. You had no idea what to do so you just run up to it and then die. Then you figure, “Well, I can jump so maybe I should jump on it.” Things seemed so easy back then with a D-pad or joystick and four buttons. Fast forward to today and what do we have: controllers with two sticks, a D-pad, and 14 buttons. 14 buttons! But even with the exponential growth of input options, the basic premise of the tutorial doesn’t change. The players need a chance to test out the buttons and see what they all do.

    My point in talking about the complexity of controllers and initial combat encounters is that it may take more than one try to get used to the control scheme, read the tool tips, and basically try and not die, all at the same time. The clip above only shows two attempts to pass the first encounter, a mere fraction of the total number of attempts. I didn’t really keep count but I can break it down by time spent instead which adds up to 3 nights at 3-5 hours each. That’s a lot of time to get past what should be the easiest fight of the game.

    The funniest part of that experience was discovering how wrong my estimation was on how many draugr I had to defeat. The progression and thought process went something like this:

    • Kill three draugr then die multiple times. “I hope there’s only four. I can do four.”
    • Eventually kill four draugr. “Why is the combat music still pla- omigod why are there more spawning from the ground!!!”
    • Many more attempts and get to a point of killing five draugr. “Oh man so close. I can totally do this!”
    • Eventually kill six draugr. “Hell yeah! I di- omigod why are there more spawning from the ground!!!”

    I think the final count was about 8 total draugrs in the first encounter. And it took me three nights to do it. I did say it was funny and it was! I was laughing so hard I was crying. Okay, maybe I wasn’t laughing but the tears were real.

    I manage to get a little further and find a pair of wolves I need to dispatch. They were slightly easier and only required about 45 minutes to deal with. And then I get to the broken down church and spend another full night trying to get past it. I think that was about a good solid 4 hours of dying and reloading from the last checkpoint. If anything, the practice I got is pretty valuable. I’m much better with the shield parry move and can dodge most attacks. Check it out below.

    Kind of a big difference in ability, so that gives me a little hope. I’m also hoping things get slightly easier once I get more health, level up, and get better weapons. All that sounds extremely daunting at this point. I’m shuddering just thinking about what I’d have to go through to just to get enough XP.

    I never questioned my abilities as a gamer until God of War mode in God of War came along. And because it’s God of War mode, I am unable to change difficulty setting on the fly. I’d never consider doing that in any other game but after spending countless hours trying to just get past with three skirmishes, I’m beginning to question my life choices.