Showing posts with label Fire Emblem: Three Houses. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fire Emblem: Three Houses. Show all posts

Friday, April 24, 2020

Podcast Episode 81 - Super Sony

Apparently Nintendo decided to update all their games, which dominates a good portion of the news. I have been playing the same games for hundreds of hours, so once again it's just Matt who has new games to talk about.

For the third part we tackle the subject of Sony in our legally binding publisher rankings for the current console generation.

News - 00:42 to 27:22
What We Played - 27:23 to 43:43
Sony - 43:44 to 2:40:35

Specific Game Timestamps
The Pedestrian - 28:40 to 28:51
Fire Emblem: Three Houses - 28:52 to 30:57
Bound - 30:58 to 33:55
Until Dawn - 33:56 to 38:43
Lenna's Inception - 38:44 to 40:57
Top Run - 40:58 to 43:43
 

Friday, March 20, 2020

Podcast Episode 77 - Everything is Cancelled

Coronavirus is a very serious thing, and in an attempt to stay safe Matt and I have taken to social distancing. This sounds like a joke, but I am very serious about it. We don't want to take any unnecessary risks and get sick. Due to that fact we are recording the podcast over Discord for the foreseeable future. If there are any audio issues I apologize. We will attempt to work them out over the coming weeks.

There has been a lot of news in general the past few weeks and the world of video games is no different. We chat about that and what we played before transitioning into ranking 5 prominent indie publishers in our ranking of publishers.

News - 1:38 to 41:13
What We Played - 41:14 to 1:03:33
Indie Publishers - 1:03:34 to 2:47:35

Specific Game Time Stamps
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door - 41:14 to 44:41
Ori and the Will of the Wisps - 44:42 to 52:01
Animal Crossing: New Horizons - 52:02 to 1:01:02
Fire Emblem: Three Houses - 1:01:03 to 1:03:33
 

Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Top Ten Games of 2019

2019 really didn't do a whole lot for me personally in video games. Normally I gravitate towards narrative experiences, but there weren't too many great ones to latch onto this year. While there were a bunch of games that were great not many of them were "Manny" games. Despite that I still had a rough time cutting my list down to ten, but as always I managed in the end.

As always I will list my top ten games of the year in descending order. These are my opinions based on games I beat in 2019.


10. Kingdom Hearts 3

I feel that most people were disappointed by Kingdom Hearts 3 as the conclusion to the plot arc set up over the course of numerous games, but I wasn't. This game ended the arc as well as I thought it would and delivered compelling enough gameplay to pull me through.

Sure it could have been better, but I'm a firm believer that this was the best outcome we were going to get. I enjoyed it.



9. Concrete Genie

Sony did a bad job marketing this game, so not many people even knew it came out. It's a bummer, because Concrete Genie is a magical experience. You play as the bullied Ash who finds a magic paintbrush he can use to revitalize the dilapidated town of this childhood.

Neon colors and interesting painting mechanics carry this colorful adventure for its roughly 6 hour run time. Just enough time to leave me wanting more, but not so much that it burned me out.



8. Yo-kai Watch 3

Every year I think I won't play another 3DS game, but this year I truly think I mean it. Yo-Kai Watch 3 takes the system to its limits and shows that level-5 has truly mastered the hardware.

It's the Yo-Kai monster collecting I have come to love, but built out to an insane degree. The battle system became a bit more tactical and it has more content that anyone can handle.



7. Control

Control is the game I feel like Remedy has always been trying to make forever. They found their thing that allows them to finally have fun gameplay while exploring a story with the tone they're known for.

You play as Jesse Faden in what is the equivalent of the Men in Black for paranormal things. She shoots things with a magical transforming gun and throws stuff with telekinetic powers. It has amazing world building, but the overarching story falters a bit near the end.



6. Devil May Cry 5

Capcom decided to un-reboot the Devil May Cry franchise and didn't totally mess it up. Nero and Dante return as they were in Devil May Cry 4 and somehow it works.

As usual the stylish action feels good and is a ton of fun. The story isn't anything special, but it's exactly what I expected.





5. Katana Zero

Katana Zero is an action puzzle game where you play as a Samurai in a bizarre future. He can slow down time allowing him to deflect bullets and cut down enemies before they even realize he's there.

The story is like a Quentin Tarantino fever dream and I hope that more gets made in this universe. It's almost like a 2D SUPERHOT and that's awesome.




4. Fire Emblem: 3 Houses

I hated Fire Emblem: Fates so much that I had to take a break from the franchise. Three Houses brought me back in and I liked it a lot. It dumps some of the waifu stuff that Fates doubled down on and got back to the tactical combat I love. The social elements are still present, but they are now closer to Persona school life than a bad dating sim.

Instead of making three games they crammed three stories into one, so there's a LOT here if you want to play through it a few times.



3. Judgment

Once Kiryu's story was over in Yakuza the team decided to try something new with Judgment. The main bummer is that it's not that different from Yakuza. The combat system is very similar and it takes place in the same city.

The compelling part of Judgment for me was that it's a courtroom drama mixed with the insane high octane action of a Yakuza game. New characters elevate this story to new heights.



2. Sekiro: Shadow's Die Twice

In Dark Souls I played as a slow tank-like character, which Bloodborne did not allow me to do despite giving me the illusion that I could build a character to my liking. Sekiro removes the illusion of Bloodborne and lets you know that you are a specific character you're going to play a specific way.

In my opinion the game design here is superb. Areas leading up to a boss will teach you lessons to help later in the game. I loved it.



1. Outer Wilds

Outer Wilds wasn't even on my radar, but I fell deep into it immediately. You play as an astronaut of a new space faring race. The setup is very loose and then you're launched into space to explore the world for 22 minutes before everything resets. After each run you only retain the knowledge of your previous run. The ultimate goal is to end the loop.

I can't go too deep into detail, but the world building in this game is incredible. You need to have the personal drive to continue in the game, because the story unfolds as you find it. It's not for everyone, but it was certainly for me!

Friday, August 9, 2019

Podcast Episode 60 - The New Blood

In this episode of our fine podcast we chat it up about Ninja leaving Twitch, hot Evo announcements, an ESA leak, and all the Pokemon you can handle.

There is no third part, because we went way too long on the news and what we were playing. Matt played a ton, while I only played a single game.

Join us on this riveting adventure as we discover the actual name of the new Wolfenstein game.

News - 00:32 to 1:45:49
What We Played - 1:45:50

Specific Game Time Stamps
Warhammer: Chaosbane - 1:46:15 to 1:49:04
Wolfenstein: The Old Blood - 1:49:05 to 1:51:50
Wolfenstein: Youngblood - 1:51:51 to 1:59:07
Mortal Kombat 11 - 1:59:08 to 2:03:10
Fire Emblem: Three Houses - 2:03:11 to 2:30:48
Super Mario Maker 2 - 2:30:49 to 2:45:40