Over the last few months I’ve really gotten back in to
Nintendo games on the Switch. The Switch is such a fantastic console and is
seriously everything the Wii U (Which I loved too) should have been. The titles the system has to offer have been stellar recently and it has a catalog that is ever growing with unique
experiences.Usually my main console is
either the PS4 or Xbox One with the Switch being a more casual experience every now
and then.
Yet I can’t stop playing games like Super Mario Party, Super
Smash Bros Ultimate, Astral Chain and to an extent Animal Crossing New
Horizons. With the last few Nintendo consoles I’ve owned I’ve only really used
them sporadically unless something like the new Pokemon had just came out and
you’re probably thinking the reason I’m playing so much at the moment is
because of games like this all releasing near each other.
This is not the case though, surprisingly it’s actually because
I’ve taken more note of the kind of experiences Nintendo can offer outside of
just single player. Over the last few years I’ve really wound down my online
play and co-op experiences due to factors like work and generally not having as
much free time as I used to.
I used games as more solitary experiences until my wife
started to take an interest in what I was playing. Sometimes she would just
watch me while doing other things but at times she would tell me about what she
used to play as a kid on the Nintendo 64 and would ask if I had any games similar to what she had played that we may be able to play together.
Initially she watched as I played Tetris 99 while we were living
in Australia and all I had with me was my Switch. She was filled with nostalgia
for it and asked if she could play, intrigued by the concept of battling other
people online. She found it extremely addictive as I’m sure a lot of us have
and began clocking in the hours quite quickly on her days off.
This opened the door for us to start talking about games
like Smash Bros and how she loved playing it at her cousins house as a kid.
When I told her the series was still going and I could buy it she got super
excited. Since then we’ve been religiously playing Smash Bros, Puyo Puyo, Super
Mario Party and more.
I felt Nintendo really allowed me to share my hobby with my
wife but also give me a new reason to play and enjoy games. I find that one of
us is usually playing the Switch at any given time now and most evenings we will
look at each other and just say ‘Switch?’. I still do play other consoles when
I have the time but I’ve found that Nintendo has almost changed my perspective
on gaming at the moment and that now I would rather have it be this fun joint
experience for the both of us.
Now this will likely change as time goes on as we tire of
playing the same games and while I’m currently enjoying experiences like Animal
Crossing which has kept me coming back to the Switch for single player and
online, I feel as though I want to experience more ‘co-operative’ games with
people around me.
I want to do some couch co-op on Until Dawn and treat it
like A movie, or keep playing party games like Jackbox with my friends when we
meet up. I’ll always hold a candle out for playing alone but I’m happy to have
experienced this change in me thanks to Nintendo.
So I bit the bullet after being on the fence
since its announcement and bought PSVR, I had a little money left over
from my recent trip to Japan (It was great) and saw an online store I
use a lot had some of its day 1 stock left so I thought fuck it why not?
I like new technology and I'm interested to see what Sony can do with
VR.
If you’ve read my article on the Vita and why I believe it
failed you’re probably already aware of why I was on the fence, the crux of that
article was Sony do not market portable consoles well in the West and
drop support for it altogether eventually, I still have this fear in the
back of my mind that VR is literally just a gimmick for Sony (and an
expensive one at that currently) and I’ve fucked myself believing only a few
games will ever properly utilise the technology, it’s too early to say
that of course but the thought is still there.
The main reason I was so hesitant to buy it was
the price I think, It’s to be expected with new technology so close to the
launch window and I know it will get cheaper eventually but I was one of
those people who did not have the PS Move controllers previously or
the PS Camera so I had to get a bundle with those included. I think I
paid approx £400 for all that and Batman VR. I’m actually still waiting
on my delivery of the two Move controllers because they are sold out
EVERYWHERE in the UK but thankfully every game I own can be played with
the PS4 controller and I’ve found it to work fine, I’m sure the Move is
better for the immersion but hey it’s optional so far!
My thoughts on virtual reality before the release of PSVR were indifferent
really, I saw it was becoming a thing and really taking off but I
thought it was all for PC and I don’t really play games on the PC so I would
think ‘oh looks cool’ but never imagine owning any myself, I did have a
brief go on the Oculus Rift at EuroGamer Expo about two years ago. I
couldn’t tell you the name of what I played but you were sitting in a
helicopter and flying around a Cartoonish looking city, there were objectives
but I just messed around and what stood out to me was flying as high as I
could, looking down and getting a bit of vertigo, it was amazing! then
letting myself drop to the ground and generally flinching on impact. I
knew at that point that VR could really become something amazing.
Moving back to my device I found the headset very comfortable to wear,
I’ve only played for maybe an hour and a half tops at a time or less and
never found any discomfort, I am so happy it easily fits my somewhat
larger than average glasses with no negative effects such as outside
lighting coming in, I found the headset to be easily adjustable and each
person I have allowed to try it has never made any complaints about how it feels when applied, the only negative aspect of it is the wire attached to the headset, it kind
of just sits there at the side of you and is always brushing
against your shoulder, it’s not uncomfortable it’s just always there but it
makes for easy access to adjust the built in Mic and volume control as
well as the standard headphone jack.
The parts that come with the device are quite
simple to hook up but you better have room for a bunch of wires because
there are a hell of a lot, I still haven’t put mine in the perhaps best
position yet but I certainly need to as there are bound to be a large
number of tangled wires in my room if I’m not quick, you’re
probably way better with you wires than I am but there will still be a
lot of kit to connect to your TV and PS4!
I currently have three games for the device not including any demos which I just wanted to briefly touch on. I’m happy there was a free full fledged game available to download from the store upon the release of the device Playroom VR. It's just a collection of mini games which are mainly based around multiplayer experiences, I think it is a great game to show to friends and get them involved in fact I think this title will be like Nintendoland to
me and my friends, every time we get together we play it, it
was included with the Wii U and just focuses on short mini games that
let you know what the console can do, they're really quite similar.
I got that Until Dawn Spin off Rush Of Blood as it was only
£15.00 and I knew it was not going to be like the original (which I’ve
not played still!) I knew it was an on rails shooter and usually I don’t like
them but I thought Hey it’s VR it might be better suited and it
certainly is. It’s a budget title and it’s a great game to test out VR
with, there are minimal jump scares but it’s nice to be able to see what
VR can do in terms of shooting games, I think it would be way better if
I had the PS Movecontrollers though and a fair bit easier to move both
arms independently rather than having to do a whole load of stuff in
order to make both guns aim different ways.
Batman Arkham VR is by far the most immersive
experience I have had on the device but it really is not the game I thought it
would be and it is only an hour or so long if you’re just doing the
story and not bothered by collectables and such but my god I felt like Batman!, I sat for
ages after the suit up sequence and just marvelled at the intricacy of
the Batcave, picking up all the things at the Bat-Computer and just
being truly being the worlds greatest detective. The game is basically
the Detective mode from other games and a walking simulator in some
respects rather than the typical Arkham experience I and many others expected!
I really didn’t like that I can’t actually walk in the game though!, there is no free movement in that sense as you just click a button and
teleport forward like 6 steps or if I want to change my perspective and this
really took me out of it a lot. The only other issue I have is that it
was short, I’m sure Rocksteady are done with the franchise now but I
would have loved more time with Arkham VR as it was one of the best
batman experiences I’ve had.
The shortest experience and the one that has given me
the most hope for the device is the demo ‘Kitchen’ which is yet another
Resident Evil 7 demo but this time just for PSVR, it’s not really a game
as it’s about 4 minutes long and you’re just tied to a chair while
sitting in a ratty disgusting kitchen, there is someone else with you
and, well I wouldn’t want to spoil it but he doesn’t have the best time
with what’s in there with you, all I will say is don’t look up! The jump
scare I got from this short demo solidified my purchase of Resident
Evil 7 for sure.
The
device has been really popular with my family, they all wanted to try
it out as soon as I told them about it, they don't play Video games at
all either, the last they played was the Wii and Wii Sports. I think
PSVR if it were cheaper certainly could be as popular as the Wii was at
launch because it has that new wondrous technology and sense of inclusion with
it, I couldn't tell you if it has been marketed that way but when I see
the enjoyment my family and my Girlfriend get from it I can't help but
feel it is like the Wii, hopefully it won't fizzle out like the Wii did
for many after its initial year of release.
So do I feel VR is the future? I’m still not sure
really, I think enough people need to be given the chance to demo it
properly, I know some companies (GAME in the UK) are charging people £5
for a 15 min try out of it which I understand in terms of not wanting
people to hog it and then not buy but it makes it a bit less accessible
for those who do want to try and may even put them off if they have to
pay. If enough people try it word of mouth spreads and more sales are
made which will make the device more popular and get more support from
developers and Sony.
Right now I think we are on the honeymoon period,
it’s had a good number of launch titles and functionality with other
games but this needs to continue, they can’t let it wane too much like
they did with first party Vita Games they need to continue to nurture
this device as much as they can because there are some really amazing
experiences just waiting to happen and some that are already available
to you if you give it a shot.
I’d say right now it may be best to wait unless
you absolutely must try it, With Resident Evil 7 coming near XMAS with
some decent VR support it may be best to wait and see if there are any
Xmas deals for the device and that game but honestly I’m in no way
disappointed with my purchase, it was never going to replace my PS4 it
was just going to enhance my experience with it and provide some unique
ones along the way, I’m thankful we live in a time where this can happen
and it makes me excited at the thought of what is to come, I know
Horror games are the hot ticket currently and they certainly work well
in VR but I’m ready for some really immersive games to be made by the
right people!
Just a short one from me this week as I saw a game on PSN for about £2.50 so I thought I'd give it a go, I went into this game totally blind because 'It looked indie', I feel like PSN is pretty on the ball with most 'indie' shit and I'm really happy with that as I feel a lot of them are underrated gems in a lot of cases, so this week I decided to buy Three Fourths Home for the PS4 and Vita, but just because it was cheap does that mean it was worth the money?
This game was made by Bracket Games and released in early 2015. The story of this game follows a young girl named Kelly as she drives home during a major storm while talking to various members of her family on the phone and the many conversations that arise from that, as it goes on you begin to see the deeper issues surrounding this family but also, at least in my case begin to appreciate the family and your own family for what they are.
This is a very short game and the main story can be beaten in
approximately 30-45 minutes with around 20 mins added if you play the
epilogue so it's prefect if you just want something to 'play' between
other games or when you've gotta head out . It's really easy to 100% and
get all the trophies for if you're into that sort of thing (which I
am), the game only consists of the main story, the epilogue and the
extras menu which include the radio, short stories and some photos taken
by the main character.
The design of this game is super simple and doest really
have a lot going on, It only really uses White,grey and Black and is
entirely 2D. However While the game has very basic design I feel it worked well, this game really didn't need to be flashy in any way, the only negative comment I could say about the design is the use of the rain effect going over the text, It may just be me but I found it really difficult to read at times and it made my eyes strain a little. Thankfully the epilogue doesn't do this at all.
As a game there is nothing more to do than hold R2 to move the car and select different answers so if anything this fits the visual novel style more I suppose. I could never imagine myself playing that style of game but recently I've really got into them, I think they work better as puzzle or mystery games such as Danganronpa and generally most half decent Vita games. The epilogue is even more of a visual novel as you can walk either left or right and just select what you want to say next.
I found I enjoyed the Epilogue a lot more, it was more intimate as it only focused on you and your mother and the phone call you have while waiting for a bus, I think this one was a lot 'deeper' because it went into the player characters problems rather than those of the family, the tone suddenly shifts to the mother almost having a go at you in order for your character to finally open up.
I like that there is no voice acting in this game and that it relies
heavily on the background noise and the radio stations (If you choose to
listen to them) as a source for setting the tone of the game, I feel
both absolutely convey the tone of each situation you come across when
talking to the parents in the game, the sound of the tornado warning
sirens seem to arrive just as you hit a quite meaningful and tense
moment in the story of your family.
One thing I
really did not care for in the game was the brothers story, like I get
maybe he had some stuff going on and was very much still a child but I
did not care for his actually story he decided to tell you save for it
changing up the scenery of the game from time to time like when the
lighting strikes and a bird turned into the beat from his story for a
split second.
Although you could choose your answers
during the main story it would not change the ending which almost makes you wonder why there is even an option at times, this is slightly
different during the epilogue however as you can outright choose to not
do something and the game ends, I much prefer the epilogue in general due to the choice system as it at least made me feel like I wasn't just reading a story and I had some element of control.
The game clearly deals with depression and I don't think that makes the game inherently negative, I've dealt with quite crippling depression in my life before when I was a teenager due to X Y and Z and this game reminded me of being in that place again as the character sort of breaks down during the end of the game, they realise in a lot of ways they are the problem and bottling things in is not the answer.
Perhaps the morale of the game is that family are more dependable than you think and they'll always be there even if they're having problems too, I think that's a good message and not one people really think about as much as they should. Like we all get a bit annoyed at family at times and maybe we find them embarrassing or you feel like you're quite different from them but I think you gotta remember that they give a shit about you regardless.
I played this on PS4 but due to its length and simplicity I feel it would have worked better on the Vita and I'll probably play it on the Vita if I ever feel the desire to replay it. It is probably the perfect kind of game for the Vita in fact, I feel the console really is under appreciated however its strong points are indie, RPGS and visual novels and they are certainly the reasons I still play it as much as I do.
Overall would I say this game is worth your very short amount of time? Yeah. If you're unsure if you want to play visual novel style games this short game would be a decent starting point however I feel as though the price I paid is the only price id be happy to pay for it as it really was just that short and really does not have any amount of replayability unless you're adamant you want all the trophies.
This week I wanted to continue with the focus on experiences with video games as I had a lot of fun writing up that fucking essay of a post last time, however I thought about getting others involved in it so that I could get not only a more varied look at other peoples beginnings with video games but also to see how similar they may be to my own and who better to start with than my best friend and forever Co-op partner Liam (who some of you may have met at Gamedays last year!).
I think Liam has been my longest friend ever since we were around 13 years old in high school, I think we first started talking about video games and Dragonball when we met so we were probably a good match from the get go, I was more in to single player games at the time but he convinced me to get an Xbox 360 with Halo 3 and from there we'd play most multiplayer games together.
That's kind of died down a little now as we're both busier with work and things and I've began to focus more on the PS4 and single player games again but we always make time for Halo at the very least, he's probably more in to games than me currently but let's see why that is!
What were your first experiences with video games?
The
first time I ever played a game was Alex Kidd in Miracle World on the
master system, my memories of it are very vague other than I remember
playing it, the first game I remember vividly
enjoying and playing was Super Mario All Stars on the SNES the sounds
the colours it was all so engrossing to me as a child, I didn't know it
then but video games were going to become a major part of my life and I
will always have Super Mario on SNES to thank/blame for that.
When do you feel you got in to video games as a hobby?
My brother had a copy of Red which
only increased the appeal this sibling competition continues to this
day, from the Gameboy colour to the new generation and is a major
component of why video games have stuck with me for so long.
What are some of your favourite games and why?
My all time favourite games is something that changes so frequently its hard to pin down.
I'll go ahead and make a list of the top 3 and give my reasons why.
1
: Ocarina of Time - About 10% nostalgia but this game is often labelled
as one of if not the greatest of all time and with good reason, playing
it again on 3ds only solidified this choice, the sense of adventure is
grand, the characters are all charming and unique and oh god that music, especially that of The Lost Woods.
2: Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
The perfect spy game
The perfect James Bond game
The perfect Metal Gear game
Have you ever eaten a tree frog?
3 : Halo 3
Two words, Custom Games.The reasons for why I love Halo 3 are covered in depth in Lewis' article on the Halo series so click here to find out my reasons in a lot more detail.
What game has the best soundtrack to you and why, do you feel music is important in a game?
A
special soundtrack to me will always be games like Ocarina or Mario 64,
listening to the music fills me with a flood of nostalgia I mean how
many other games have such great music at their file select screen?
Another song I really enjoy is Saria's
song from Ocarina of Time, this song in particular is one track that no matter when I hear it makes me
smile because its just such an upbeat track and I feel like Darunia every time I
hear it.
Of
course my love for Halo is obvious and the music is a huge reason for
that the main theme for Halo is up there as one of the most iconic
tracks in all of video games that Gregorian chant,
the heavy thudding bass, the string section and the ever climbing
urgency presented makes it a masterpiece.
Without
music in games would people enjoy them as much? no its as simple as
that, a good soundtrack doesn't so much as enhance a game it is a core
integral part of that games identity
Would Super
Mario Bros be as fondly remembered without Koji Kondo's genius? probably
not, you ask anyone to hum the Mario theme and chances are they can and
that is proof itself of how important music is to the video game
experience.
Most vivid video game memory?
Oh man I can't choose one, I've played too many games and have so many moments its impossible to choose any single occurrence. Some stand out moments for me include finding the hidden stages in Super Mario World, Becoming Adult Link in OoT, The ending D of NieR,Getting the vidmaster achievements with friends in Halo 3, Beating my brother with a single kick in Tekken (He never enjoyed fighters after this) or just the entirety of MGS1 which was a whirlwind of a game both story and game play wise, there are just too many moments to list here.
What are you playing currently?
Xenoblade Chronicles X
Halo 5
Senran Kagura Burst
They couldn't be 3 more different games...
What is the most obscure game or rarest game you own?
Most obscure is probably the Japanese version of Lost Odyssey I had imported because its a beaut. The
rarest game I own is either the boxed copy of Pokemon Stadium 2 or my signed
copy of Super Mario 64 by Charles Martinet and MGS HD Collection signed by
Hideo Kojima.
What about video game memorabilia
A full scale golden retro lancer from Gears of War 3
a jewel in my memorabilia collection...
Are you as in to video games as you once were ?
There was a period where I was kind of annoyed with the politics surrounding video games
I
just wanted to enjoy the worlds people created, the adventures and
wonders I could delve into but for a while the focus was on whether or
not game X represented community Y appropriately
I mean look at this shit!
Why focus on this tripe politics and dilute why we even play games in the first place.
Thankfully I tuned out the click-baiting social justice crowd and focused on what actually matters to me, the game.
Favourite game you never beat?
Probably The Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past. I'm on the 3rd to last? dungeon of that game and I really need to revisit it.
Physical or digital?
If
it is available then I will always go physical but if I don't have any other option I'll get the
digital version if only to support the franchises I enjoy, Such as the Ace Attorney franchise on the DS/3DS.
Was there ever a genre or series of games you were adamant you would not get in to but ended up enjoying?
For me it was Visual Novels. I had Never
played a single one until the Nintendo DS and now I love the genre, the Hotel
Dusk series is fantastic as is the Zero Escape series. The
genre has such rich storytelling and phenomenal characters but are
often overlooked by the mainstream which is a shame because they'll
never experience the thrill of finding a paperclip...
How do you feel about video games currently?
I'm loving them at the moment, the games I've enjoyed the past year are going back to what made me love them to begin with, they're
focusing on the game play and how to wow the player again. Of course
there are still the soulless vessels that were once great like the
Assassins Creed series to make a point but in general gaming has gotten
much better at least for me personally.
Where do you feel video games will go in the future?
Anywhere but away...
If you'd like to be interviewed for next time be sure to message me on Facebook or Twitter @ScatmanBegins
After a bit of a hiatus I'm back this week with a game a played a lot of while on a short vacation, Murasaki Baby which is a side-scrolling puzzle platformer with horror elements from Italian developers Ovosonico released exclusively for the PS Vita in late 2014. The game was designed by Massimo Gurrani who is better known for his work on titles such as Killer 7, No More Heroes and Shadows of the Dammed, all of which are games I have played and loved.
I originally saw this game when it was revealed briefly in a Sony press conference at E3 2014 and at the time I had no intention of owning a Vita but in all honesty this game looked like it was going to be amazing from the brief look we got and the visuals made it really stick out in my mind as a game Id like to try eventually if I ever got a Vita. However after that E3 I never heard of the game again, it was only with PS+ that I remembered this games existence and jumped at the chance to play it after being so drawn to it the previous year.
I honestly could not wait to play it and saw my recent vacation as a chance to really get into it during travel and while I did play it first, I slowly moved on to other games and found this title to be much more of a chore, saving it mainly for the inescapable plane ride to and from my destination, it's fair to say I was disappointed with this game as a whole, but this is not to say it does not have it's strong points as a welcome edition to the PS Vitas lacking exclusives list.
First though I should explain exactly what this game is about and how it plays. The story of the game while not in depth focuses on a character known only as 'Baby' who lost her mother and needs to traverse a world filled with childhood fears and at times disturbing imagery in order to reunite with her, pretty simple. As he traverses through the world she begins to meet a number of other children however each child is help captive in some form or another and it is up to you to free them from their fears or problems.
Gameplay wise the controls are relatively simple and generally touch screen focussed as you guide Baby via dragging her balloon with the touch screen through various obstacles and eventually learn new techniques such as turning the Vita upside down to progress or using the swipe function to be able to use a certain ability on the world around you such as freezing a certain platform or even having a monster in the background constantly blow air into your balloon to re inflate it after a puncture.
These sort of abilities are a real strength for the game and are perhaps its strongest point, especially towards the end of the game where you're suddenly using all different abilities one after another in order to get through the level, while playing these latter levels I was actually having a great time. Unfortunately they were short lived as just as soon as they began the game was suddenly over, I really felt let down.
Although I was not really enjoying my time overall with the game the visuals were something that actually kept me interested in playing just so I could see what new creepy world Id be thrown into next. I found each design to be quite unique especially in terms of the characters, with the heads flipped over and their mouths above their eyes yet the hair still being on the 'top' of the head. Overall the visuals were quite creepy and even Tim Burton esq, although it is said they were inspired by American artist and writer Edward Gorey.
The primary use of Black and White really intensified the feeling of being a child who is more or less alone and depressed in a strange world as well as pushing the weird atmosphere upon the player. I think the use of the balloon was also pretty neat as it was at times the only coloured part of the game which stresses the importance of it as your 'life' but also that this item is the child's safety net, it's what keeps her calm in a otherwise scary place while she searches for her mother. While there were these areas that I enjoyed I have a lot to say about what I found to be lacking in the game.
By far the worst part of the game for me was the clunky controls, which is surprising as the game is mostly touch screen based. The primary way you move the child is to press the balloon with your finger and drag it in the direction you want to move in, this seems simple enough however the speed at which Baby moves is tediously slow and if you ever try and move just a touch faster than a snails pace then the child falls over, cries and takes a few seconds to get back up, this is super frustrating towards the last level where you actually have to try and move at some speed.
What's worse is the odd time you have to turn around and the character will just turn and instantly turn back the other way again making it take a super long time just to get them facing the correct direction. Even when you have to use the touch screen to touch enemies in order to kill them, this sometimes is so inaccurate that you'll end up getting yourself killed numerous times. This was without a doubt the point which made me refuse to play the game for a number of days, I just could not bring myself to fuck around with the awful speed the child walked at.
The game was about 3 hours long which ordinarily I would not have too much of a problem with, however because the difficulty was really really easy for the majority of the game it felt like it was over way too quickly, it was only the last level where I actually had to do a few more attempts. This made me feel like the game had such a missed potential, the devs really could have put a bit more time into the level design and come up with levels more akin to the final one where it gets quite intricate, I feel like they really let themselves down in this respect.
I felt the soundtrack was really nothing special either and I'm not a trophy collector but I thought it was really dumb that the only way to get the gold trophy was to listen to the only real song within the game during the credits, the trophies may as well not have been in the game to begin with as they were all to just complete each level with only one requiring you to do something missable.
I think I was a real shame that this game wasn't that good because the Vita as it is now is failing as a system, so much so that Sony outside of Japan have officially dropped support for it and class it more as a PS4 accessory. I love my Vita, mostly due to PS+ and I know there are a number of great games for it and amazing features such as crossplay, but I feel like Sony really didn't learn from the mistakes of the PSP and shot themselves in the foot, there are some great games for the Vita like, Senran Kagura, Danganronpa, Tearaway and Gravity Rush but it's only the former two that have any sequels on the system, it seems as though it's mostly Japanese games that dominate the system.
Now this isnt a bad thing and I love playing them but even the PSP had a number of Western games and exclusives at this point in its lifetime. I think I'm happy because I essentially got this game for 'free' due to PS+, as I'd only feel a huge sense of buyer remorse if I had paid full price for this title, If you're a die hard Vita fan who wants to play all the exclusives made for the console then Id recommend waiting for this to go on sale but overall I would advise you not to waste your time which really is a shame.
Thanks for checking this out, I'll hopefully get back to some sort of schedule soon!
