Podcast Episode 16 - Uncharted 4

Another month has passed, which means it's time for another podcast! This time my rambling is all about Uncharted 4, and the franchise in general.

I talk about why I liked the final entry in the franchise, and how it did a lot of things better than its predecessors.

Memorable Melodies: Animal Crossing Theme from Animal Crossing

Song: Animal Crossing Theme

Game: Animal Crossing

Composer: Kazumi Totaka

Note: I looked all over to see if this song had an actual name. I could find no conclusive evidence, other than the name Animal Crossing theme listed on an OST of the original game. That's what I'm going with here.

Today it was super hot out. It finally feels like Summer. For most people Summer comes with fond memories of playing outside with friends. Sure I have those memories, but I was a weird kid and spent a lot of time inside playing Animal Crossing. The game initially released in the U.S. on the Gamecube in April of 2,001. Even though the content of the original game is quite thin I found myself playing it well into the summer months.

I can't properly articulate why I fell in love with Animal Crossing. On a family vacation my parents were nice enough to pick me up an issue of Nintendo Power to read on the long car ride. Within the magazines pages I read all about Animal Crossing and was fascinated. I am a huge fan of video games that try to emulate real life, and real life activities. The fact that the game ran in real time blew my 11 year old mind open. I mean come on, the Animals would continue to do stuff even when the game wasn't on. That's so cool!

Before the games release I had spent a great deal of time thinking about how I would get my animal friends to like me and plan out exactly how I would decorate my dope house. See, because that's all Animal Crossing really is. You walk around, water flowers, pick fruit, do basic fetch quests, collect things, and decorate a house. If there's a new Animal Crossing release you can bet that I'm going to get in on it. With each new iteration Nintendo adds many new features that add to the depth and keep players coming back for more. 

When I think back to the original Animal Crossing I can't fathom how I put hundreds of hours into it. I did though. I ran around all summer catching bugs and fishing in my towns lake! That's why I'll never forget this song. In fact, I think I'm going to boot this up and see how all the denizens of my town are doing...

Memorable Melodies: Nate's Theme from Uncharted

Song: Nate's Theme

Game: Uncharted

Composer: Greg Edmonson

Uncharted 4: A Theif's End came out yesterday. As of writing this a day later I am almost at the end of the game. I can see the plot lines wrapping up and bringing the exciting franchise to a close. Naughty Dog claims that this is Nathan Drake's final outing. Whether or not that's true remains to be seen. Personally, I hope that Uncharted 4 brings an end to the series. It's been an amazing ride, but I think that the franchise has run its course. 

Since I'm nearing the end of the final chapter I've been thinking back on the series as a whole. I played the original Uncharted long after it came out on a tiny CRT in my college dorm room. In just a few short sittings I played the game to completion. The characters and the wild adventure they were on pulled me in immediately. I couldn't stop playing. Somehow this same feeling has managed to grab hold of me during each Uncharted game. It's why I've almost completed the new one and it's only been out for a day!

This franchise is the closest that video games have ever come to blockbuster movies. Nathan Drake sets out on grand adventures where he climbs and shoots his way to lost civilizations and buried treasure. The visuals and action set pieces are unparalleled. Everything is so grand that I can't help but be enthralled by it.

That's why I've chosen Nate's theme for this week's Memorable Melody. It reminds me of all the adventures that I've been on with Nathan Drake throughout the franchise. Whenever I hear it I can't help but feel a sense of grandeur. It makes me want to go on an adventure.

What I Watched: Ace Attorney - Episode 1

Note: I will be using the English names throughout this post, because those are the ones I know.

I've been putting off watching the Ace Attorney anime, but I finally manned up and watched the first episode. I didn't know if it was going to stay faithful to the plot of the original game, or deviate and do its own thing. Either way would have been fine, but at least in the first episode it's as close to the original plot as it possibly can be. The debut episode covers the entirety of the tutorial case from the original Ace Attorney.

See, I was scared to watch this because of how much I love Phoenix Wright as a character. He's a dork who doesn't know what he's doing at first, but as time progresses he learns to become an excellent attorney. More than that he's not willing to sell out. He has an unflinching sense of personal justice, which is why I think he's so cool. Lucky for me the series seems like it's going to get the characters and the world right.

So far the characterization seems on point.

For the uninitiated this initial case is the first time Phoenix is entering the court room as an attorney. His childhood friend Larry Buttz has been accused of murdering his girlfriend. Phoenix decided to become an attorney because of Larry, but that's something that will be elaborated on later in the series.

Phoenix knows that Larry is an idiot, and there's no way that he'd ever be able to kill anyone. Since it's the first case the whole thing is relatively simple. The girl was found dead in her home next to a bloody golden statue. Turns out that the statue is one that Larry made her as a gift. Since Larry made it, obviously his fingerprints are all over the thing. To make matters worse a newspaper salesman claims he saw Larry leaving the apartment shortly after the victim's time of death! Can Phoenix save Larry from this cruel fate!?

Phoenix needs to find the contradiction.

I'm not here to rehash the plot, but I will tell you all about why I thought this initial episode was so good. To begin with they do a wonderful job of introducing the characters. Mia, Phoenix, and Larry are all characterized by their actions. You can immediately tell how experienced Mia is in the court room. She jumps to Phoenix's aid when he begins to struggle and feels like hope is lost. That's the fear I have about adaptations like this. The characters are so central to the enjoyment of the series, if their characterization isn't done right, then it might as well not exist. So far the show seems to be doing a good job.

People new to the series may not get as hype as I did. I waited the entire episode to hear some of the classic Ace Attorney songs come into play, and when they did I ended up squealing like a little girl. As far as I could tell two songs from the games were remixed and used in this episode, and I can only imagine that more will be done down the road. To go along with the classic jams Phoenix yelled objection and I got so hype I almost fell out of my chair. In the games I couldn't wait to find contradictions in people's statements, and the excitement is not lost in this adaptation. I mean, come on. It's his catchphrase!

OBJECTION!

Overall I think that this initial episode is a great introduction to the series. Since it's a court room drama it's likely to pull in people who aren't familiar with the world or the characters. Then, for people like me, there's all kinds of stuff to get excited about and see happen all over again. I can't wait to continue watching the series now. I'm glad I ended up giving it a shot, or I would have missed out on this seemingly great adaptation. Yes, this is only the first episode, but I have faith that it'll continue on the right path.

Game Time - April 2016

I played two "hard" games this month, so to balance them out I played a whole lot of an easy mobile game as well. It's crazy to think that this will be two months in a row I'm writing about a mobile game.

Normally I talk a lot of mess about at least one of the games I play each month, but this month I don't really have a lot of negative things to say. I truly enjoyed the three games I'm going to tell you about.

Hopefully this is a trend that continues!

Hyper Light Drifter

I've been following the Development of Hyper Light Drifter for a very long time. Needless to say I was very excited to finally be able to play it. Prior to its release I didn't really consume a lot of coverage about the game. I watched a combat video, and a few of the trailers, and just from that I knew I wanted to play the game as soon as possible.

It's weird, because the developer of the game describes it as a combination of Diablo and Zelda. I definitely agree with the Zelda, but not at all the Diablo. For starters it's not an RPG, and the weapons you get don't really have stats. You don't even really level up. I would however call it a faster paced Zelda. The crux of the game is that you are a dude with a sword. You can slash your sword, shoot a gun, and dash. The dash is super quick and allows for you to dodge incoming enemy attacks.

Think of it as a much faster Zelda.

At first I thought the combat was super hard, but eventually I got used to the pace of the game and started to do a lot better. You need to be careful, because enemies can shred your health when they get in a few hits. It's important to learn how to use the dodge early on, or you're going to have a lot of problems. Each enemy has a set attack pattern that they will repeat. Once you learn what it is you can dash appropriately to get around them and get in a few slashes. It's very important not to get greedy, because like I said the damage enemies dish out is severe.

Browsing gaming sites I've seen all kinds of opinions about this game. Some people think it's too hard, and others think that it focuses more on style than substance. Like I said, I don't think the game is super hard once you get used to the mechanics. It gives you all the tools you need to do well. Dashing and slashing are great, and the addition of your gun makes things a bit easier. The style versus substance argument is also one that I do not necessarily agree with. Yes, Hyper Light Drifter is a beautiful game with some amazing pixel art. While the combat isn't ridiculously complex, it is varied. There are quite a few enemy types in the game and they all move and hit differently. The game is rather short, but that doesn't mean it isn't a substantive game. It's filled to the brim with secrets and challenging combat.

The game is absolutely beautiful at times.

If there is one thing I could criticize Hyper Light Drifter for it would be the way it tells its story. To be honest I don't know what's actually happening in the story. There is no dialogue, only cutscenes. I believe that the main character has a disease that he is trying to cure by finding vials of antibodies around the world. I have no way of actually knowing this though. To make things more confusing at the beginning of the game there is text telling you how to dash, shoot, and slash. However, after that there is nothing. You have to figure out where to go and what to collect on your own. It's both frustrating and cool at the same time. Looking at the crazy map and figuring out where you need to go is fun at first, but if you miss something then it's super annoying to find. I'm of two minds on this. At first it's rough to figure anything out, but by looking at the environment you can form ideas about what's going on and what you need to do.

Hyper Light Drifter is a cool game. Dashing around and cutting down foes with a laser sword feels satisfying. It's only around eight hours long, but there are a ton of secrets to find. If you are a Zelda fan, then I recommend checking the game out. Right now it's only out on PC, but it should be coming to the PS4 at some point.

Dark Souls 3

You may have already seen it, but I recorded a podcast about Dark Souls 3 and my thoughts on the Souls series in general, which you can find here. I talked a lot about the game in general, but here I'll be talking about the Dark Souls 3 specific changes and how I felt about them. I want to preface this by saying that I enjoyed Dark Souls 3 a great deal and I can't wait for the DLC. It feels like a fitting conclusion to a series that has reached a ridiculous level of popularity. At this point in time most people have played Dark Souls, so I'm going to assume you have a base level of knowledge. If not, then you might want to skip this section.

Okay, so I didn't really like Bloodborne very much. I think it was a great game, but it just wasn't for me. While it was similar to Dark Souls in many ways it forced you to play as a light character and dodge all the time. In Dark Souls I like to play as a walking tank man with a great sword. Tank through most fights and obliterate the enemy with a ton of damage. You couldn't make a build like that in Bloodborne, which is why it was less appealing to me. Much to my dismay Dark Souls 3 took some of the things I didn't like about Bloodborne and it really bummed me out. For starters armor doesn't really matter in Dark Souls 3. Yes, some has better defense than others, but not enough for it to really matter, The extra weight makes you fat roll, so you have less invincibility frames when rolling. In the previous games in the series that didn't matter to me. I could still roll well enough and if I got hit I could tank through it. Dark Souls 3 makes armor more cosmetic, because you can't upgrade it at all. This meant that I had to drastically change my play style to beat some of the games bosses.

Even this guys armor is straight out of Bloodborne!

I tried to be my tanky build for as long as I could. When I reached a certain boss I could no longer continue to play the way I used to. The boss was too fast, and I would get obliterated again and again. I took off most of my heavy armor and switched to a lighter sword and beat the boss without getting hit. That sucks. I shouldn't have to change my play style. The issue is that many of the enemies in Dark Souls 3 are faster than they were in the previous games. The changes to armor make it a lot rougher for a build like mine. However, I still managed to make it through the game easy enough.

Other than that I liked Dark Souls 3 a lot. I felt that the bosses were more unique than they were in 2, and the areas were a lot more open as well. Dark Souls 2 felt too contained to me, so it felt good when 3 opened everything up a lot more. It's still very linear, but the areas are wide enough to feel like the game isn't just leading you down a singular path. I actually feel like the linearity of the game fits with this being the final game in the trilogy. You're being pushed towards a conclusion.

So much fan service! *Squeeee*

Dark Souls 3 would be a good place for people to enter into the franchise, while at the same time it is filled to the brim with things that only people who have played since the beginning will understand. In my opinion this iteration teaches the player what they need to do better than any of the others. It's entirely possible that I only feel this way because I've played all the other games in the series though. I am sure about all the fan service though. There were multiple times where I entered a new area, or got a new set of armor that had me squealing in delight.

It's the same type of game that we've all come to love over the past few years. It's hard, and can get very frustrating. If you didn't like any Souls games prior to this, then Dark Souls 3 won't change your mind. It's a fitting conclusion to what is in my opinion a brilliant series. I just can't decide whether or not I think it;s better than two. I might have to wait until after the DLC comes out before I can find the answer. Regardless, the original will always be my favorite.

Kingdom Hearts Unchained

I am normally not a fan of mobile games, which makes it odd that I'm talking about another mobile game this month. I fully expected Unchained to be a shallow cash grab, but instead ended up finding something that I enjoy quite a bit. Yes, it is still trying to get you to pay cash, but I think that it's really bad at doing that. Like most mobile games that have come after Puzzles and Dragons, Unchained uses a stamina system to gate how long you can play. The issue is that everything in the game costed half stamina for the duration of April. This meant that I could play a ton of the game at a time and level up rapidly, which refills the stamina bar.

The game plays a bit like Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories. However, instead of cards you put medals into five slots on your Keyblade. When in a battle with heartless your medals will appear in order. You can do one of three things to attack. If you tap an enemy you will focus all of the damage on the enemy you tapped. If you swipe across the screen the damage will be split across all the enemies. Finally you can swipe on your current medal in order to do its special attack. Each medal has a different special with a cost between one and three. As you defeat heartless you regain some of your special meter. It's a simple system, but it works. There are also some interesting wrinkles to the regular mobile game formula like leveling up stamina, and health through cosmetic items.

I really like the title screen for some reason.

It's only been a month, and I've become one of the top 2,000 players in the game. The fact that everything was half stamina allowed me to fully level up most of my medals, which normally wouldn't be able to happen. Now that we're in May and everything is back to its original stamina cost I'm going to have to slow down a lot, which is a bummer.

Normally I'd play a mobile game until I hit a wall with leveling up, but there's something that keeps me going in Unchained. When I started the game I created a Party, which is essentially a guild. Including me we have about six active members. Each week the game ranks parties based on how much experience all of the party members have gotten. We managed to make it into the top 500 parties, which is insane. All of the people around us had the maximum of 30 members. That's insane! For some reason I like the feeling of seeing our party succeed with so few members. It keeps me coming back to the game on a daily basis.

The gameplay is simple, but I enjoy it.

It helps that the game has been out in Japan for a long time now, so they can add in "new" content to the version I'm playing at a quicker rate. This means that something new is happening on a weekly basis as opposed to a monthly basis. I don't like waiting, which is why I've stopped playing a ton of other mobile games. Also, I have yet to hit a bullshit paywall. I was able to get high strength medals and get to a high level without paying anything. I'm probably going to keep playing this game for the foreseeable future.

War Isn't About Being a Hero

For some reason I decided it would be a good idea to import Gundam Breaker 3 from Asia. It's a Gundam game where you build custom gundams and then battle other gundams. It seems really cool, and I can't wait to play it. Since I ordered a physical copy from PlayAsia I have no idea when I'll actually get it. It could come any time between this Friday and three weeks from now.

Other than that I will be getting Uncharted 4. I'm looking forward to seeing how Naughty Dog wraps up the series. Then at the end of the month I'll be getting the One Piece fighting game Burning Blood. It looks terrible, but I love One Piece too much not to get it.

Those will be the three games I chat with you about next month, so look forward to that!

Memorable Melodies: Headbangeren from Lethal League

Song: Headbangeren

Game: Lethal League

Composer: Doktor Lazer

Not enough people know what Lethal League is. It's a local co-op game where you and the person you are up against smash a baseball around. If you get hit by the baseball, then you lose the round. It sounds simple, but it takes a lot of strategy. The ball gets super fast, and the game is extremely hectic. It's awesome! I really hope that it gets released for PS4 at some point, but until then I'll have to be content with the PC release.

If the concept alone isn't enough to pull you in, then the music might be enough to push you over the edge, A few DJs are featured in the game and they put down some hot beats. The song I chose this week is the quintessential song in the game. It was the one featured in the original flash game, and it's the one that plays on the default level in the full game. 

It's intense, and really gets you into the flow of the game. 

Podcast Episode 15 - Dark Souls 3

This month I ramble on about Dark Souls 3, and the Souls series in general. When I say ramble I mean it. My thoughts are all over the place. If you want to hear what I think about the series, then this is the podcast for you!