No Lives Left

There's a lot of talk about hype these days. A lot of gamers seem to really take trailers at face value these days and despite being let down time and time again, we still chomp at the bit at the latest trailers. We, as a community, never really learn our lesson. We swear off pre-orders and day one purchases. We balk at the term, "loot box" or "Season Pass." Yet they get more and more prevalent as time goes by. Heck, major developers also throw in mobile gaming tactics (gatcha gimmicks and buying in-game currency to speed up grinding) into their triple A titles because they the player base is so large, developers will find those so called "whales" to increase revenue. And while I can understand all of these things as ways to recoup costs of insanely expensive development costs, it sort of ruins the simplicity of gaming. When I was younger, there was a sense of finality in buying a game. A bad game would be completed, forgotten, and left in the ...

There's a certain inexplicable joy I get when I find games that take something I never would have found interesting and make it fun. I don't normally like golf as a sport; mostly because I am not very good at it or...in shape. But golf also is a very slow-paced game and a lot of  time players look like they are doing nothing . Or at least it seems that way. I get there is a lot of calculation, body control, and strength involved in every tee, stroke, and putt. But as an observer, there is just too much time between hits that it's just not fun  to watch. But then comes along the trailer for  Golf Story  and I immediately fell in love. An RPG that revolves around golf and has a sense of humor about it? Count me in.  It's one of the few games where the hype I had matched the quality of the game. The gameplay is fun enough for the length of the game, the story is simple but full of funny, well-written characters, and the sprite, 16-bit graphics fi...

It's been almost a year and half now since my review of Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice Review, so I had to go back and scan it to see what I liked about it. My positives for the movie were mainly about the new take on already established characters and the cinematography. I think I also liked the idea that Warner Brothers tried to take a risk with killing off Superman in order to sort of reset his character. I hoped that later down the line, he would come back after Batman established the Justice League. I also hoped WB would learn from their mistakes. I originally thought the movie was good, but had a lot of problems in trying to telling a decent story. The characters were great (even if Batman let his no-kill rule go), the comic book/cartoon references were awesome, and the fact that DC was trying something new in the comic book movie genre was refreshing. However, critic's opinion would dictate that BvS wasn't good. And neither was Suicide Squad (which I didn...

Taking care of an infant isn't easy. Babies require constant attention. They're loud and they can't even think for themselves. Sleep doesn't come easy for parents and it seems like a battle every day to just get a good nights rest. Yet there is this biological need to have them. Humans would cease to exist with the lack of babies. Like the old sayin' says, "Babies make the world go 'round." But we live in a technological age. We have TV dinners, we have mobile phones, we have video games. So why have kids when you can play a game about raising kids? Wouldn't that make it easier? And let me tell you, readers, video games always make life easier. So today, for you, I'm going to be reviewing a game I've been playing for the past couple of months. I'm sure there are billions of people out there who have played it before, but I'm going to give you my take. It's a little party game called I've Got A Baby, What Do I Do Now?...

It's been a while since I have actually been able to make a review of a game in a timely manner. It took a couple of weeks, but I finally got through Metroid: Samus Returns on the 3DS. If you exclude the Metroid spin-off, Metroid Prime: Federation Force , this is the first real entry in  Metroid series in friggin' seven years . The last entry in the series, Metroid: Other M,   left a bad taste in fans' mouths with a very contrived story/dialogue, the method of unlocking Samus's abilities, and the odd tone the game gave off in general. Most of all fans disliked the the way Samus was treated. Instead of being a very independent and strong woman, she seemed to hang on the every whim of her commanding officer. Majority of fans could tell that something was off with the game. The Metroid series is very near and dear to my heart mainly due to Super Smash Brothers Melee.  I ended up getting pretty good with Samus and my favoritism led to consumerism. So I ended up bu...

It's amazing what Hollow Knight has done. Not just from a gaming perspective, but from an art perspective as well. Team Cherry was able to create a very depressing and post apocalyptic setting but instead of keeping the tone dreadful and dreary, they were able to add life and a sense of wonder to the world. Not only that, but some of the character designs are a bit cute.  And despite the juxtaposition of world design and character design, the game on a general level works well. Hollow Knight isn't for everyone, obviously. But it's content, quality, and art style really puts this indie game on a pedestal above the rest.  Graphics: You can tell a lot of effort had went into the art direction of this game - even the backgrounds The game is absolutely gorgeous. The hand drawn sprites (if you can even call it that) move gracefully. Each character and enemy in the game have an amazing amount of detail and animation. Despite the sad and dark atmosphere of the game, ...

Oh, Bruce Timm, what has happened to you? Champion of my childhood; the brainchild of  Batman: The Animated Series (Batman: TAS) . Now, the villain behind not one, but two terrible animated Batman movies. What happened? Have you contracted the same virus as Frank Miller? Is there a certain lifespan of Batman creativity that stops after the '90s? If only I could peek into that confused head of yours and see if there is a loose wire. I could fix it, and all would be right with the world. We could have good  Batman stories instead of what we have now. Remember good animated Batman shows/movies? Batman TAS  was an instrumental television show in establishing and memorializing the Batman universe for years to come. Not one person who grew up in the early/mid nineties could say they didn't know about the show.  Even with the repetition of villains, the show never got repetitious. It was fresh, exciting, and each episode was  told in a very surprisingl...