Thursday, November 6, 2014

Binding of Isaac: Rebirth; Sequel and Remake

Before reading, note that The binding of Isaac, as well as it's reboot Rebirth, is a game based on one of the developer's traumatic experience within his cathloc family. This game was made to be dark! Those who are easily offended by graphic imagery or parody of christian characters,  this game is not for those people. Also, I personally couldn't get into the first game because of how random the game can be sometimes. The original game has the same issue of Dark Souls, where you cannot play the game blind. On to the review....

The game starts as Isaac and her mother are having a normal day, as his mother watches christian television. One day, she believes that god called upon her and tells her that her son has fallen to evil. Isaac's mother then locks him into his room and removes him from his items ...and clothes. Ew. Then "God" ask for Isaac's mother to sacrifice him to prove to hhim her faith. It's implied that Isaac's mother has gone insane after Isaac's father's "death" as she wanted a daughter instead of a son. The problem with light, is not that it's holy, but it also blinds with pride.

The game has gone though it's changes and balances, which can be both good and bad to classic Isaac fans. For one, they decided to change the graphics to more of a Pixel Game-boy Advance graphics over it's hand-drawn animation. However, they including improvements which includes controller support, which is actually very smooth and works well for those who are playing the port on the PlayStation Network.  That's right, the game is also ported to both the PlayStation 4 and the PS-Vita, so Rebirth is now multi-platform. However, it would have benefited if the game was also on the 3DS and Wii U, but Nintendo's limits prevent good games from being ported sometimes. Mortal Kombat, anyone?

Another change that will disappoint the fans is that the original music artist didn't compose the music within Rebirth. While the new music is fitting, the original music from Danny, the original game's inde music developer, had charm on it's own merits. The problem is that the fans will have to adjust to the change, therefor, it might turn the original fans off while getting new fans because of the changes. Personally, the changes actually brings me to the game, thanks to the smoother controls.

One of the biggest changes is the difficulty has been adjusted greatly, as bosses have gotten a boost but the opening part of the game has a better starting curve. There is also new items, sixteen ending over the original 12 plus endings, and co-op that actually adds challenge as it subtracts health as your partner dies with only one heart. There are bigger and new rooms for the players to explore and more hidden rooms as well. However, the game is still not optimized very well as it still runs on windows mode. While it dose stretch to any size, the zoom dose seem like a lazy way to optimize the game.

However, if anyone has skipped the first game, this game is for them. While there has been some changes within the game, they are not too jarring for anyone to dislike the game. And while it is around fifteen dollars, it feels like it benefits the game as it pays for the improvements made twords the game in higher quality! In the end, I personally reccomend the game, as it improves the original formula to new highs. Now if you excuse me, I'm going to pray to the random number so I can get the right items in the end of my run!

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

A Machine for Pigs: That's no game!

And now a game that I was dreading that I have to review for the month of Halloween. And yes, I do mean Amnesia: a Machine for pigs, but I had to cut Amnesia out of fear of the infection of spreading, as this occurrence did happen to Silent Hill, just the original developers WEREN'T around for the so-called sequel. The developers for the game where the same ones that made the "Walking Simulator" Dear Ester, But that will be explained later.

The player stars as Oswald, the wealthy industrialist and explorer, , He awake in the room with Amnesia, which is a running thing with the Amnesia series, and receives  a call from someone who informs him that a machine that he helped build is sabotaged and is risk of exploding, that would risk his twin sons' life. On the way to fix the machine, you find Man-pigs (or pigmen? OR MAN-BEAR-PIGS!?) beings which chase after him.

However, while it dose have the Amnesia name, the game itself is more of a visual novel than an actual game, even though the player can mess with the dressing at times. Oswald tends to get pushed down a hallway more than exploring, which was the same problem with Dear Ester. While the puzzles have been watered down as well as the sanity effects, the sanity effects are used to at least try to cover  the look of the menpigs, which are sadly copy-and-pasted all over the place. The pigmen loose their credibility, or CREEPiblity, in this case, and becomes less creepy as time moves on.

If the game would have been called A Machine For Pigs as it's main tittle just with the note on the box-art "Made by the developers of Dear Ester!" then the game would have done well for itself. The story, while it dose have it's issue shoehorning bits of Amnesia like The Room shoehorned bits of Silent Hill, is actually very creepy in it's own right. However, the company wanted to make a sequel to the game, but they couldn't  get the original developers, as they moved on from the company.

Sadly, the game missed it's mark, as many fans and critics bashed the game for not being a true amnesia sequel. This caused a huge back-lash as The Chinese Room attacked back, giving the company bad repetation within the gaming community. While people do see some people will defend the game, it STILL dose not make it a game, as there is no replay value and feels like a paid for a custom story. Speaking of custom story, this game dose not have a custom story mode.

Sadly, I personally do not recommend this game. If anyone want to get the game on a sale, they are free to buy the game. Is it an Amnesia game? No, but it's a interesting interactive story on it's own.  The game is easier to complete, but the name betrays itself, as it could never reach it's expectation caused by it's hype. In the end, the game should have been it's own thing...Instead, it's just a thing.






With this review, this ends Horror game mouth. Thanks twords those who read my reviews. I do have a one thousand view special in mind, so please continue to read on. For those wondering about my Youtube, it's on hiatus until later as there are too many factors holding me back from family issues to moving to another town to build my own home. I hope to evolve Beastly Bash and even renaming it as the name is also currently used by Halloween party group. Until then....

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Amnesia: The Dark Decent

Horror games used to be an ignored franchise since the Xbox 360 launched, because during the time, shooters like Halo, and Call of Duty over-shadowed horror while gamers new to the gaming industry doesn't know what true horror is in games anymore. Back then in the PlayStation era, gamers where flooded with games Like Silent Hill, Resident Evil,  and other horror games. While there was some horror themed games, action has always been the main focus, whenever it's a shooter, brawler, or even to plat-formers...somehow...

This brings us to Amnesia: The Dark Decent. From the same makers of penumbra. While it might not be the game that helped pushed horror back upon the market, it was the final push that helped Amnesia to be one of the most loved horror games of all time. This game is all over youtube and helped many youtubers find their first start as lets players for better or for worst. Dispute being an old PC game, it still holds up to the test of time.

The player starts as Danial , a Amnesia stricken protagonist (who is found either bleeding or leaking potion all over the place) then finds a letter from himself to kill a man name Alexander, the cause of all the troubles within the manor he's stuck in. While trying to uncover the past, Danial runs into horrible monsters as well as horrible torture machines, hinting that Daniel gone too deep within the story as he question his own roll within the game.

The gameplay itself is what makes the game, however, it first all started with the same gameplay as penumbra but with improvements, like removing the annoying combat mechanics with the awkward controls. While a game without combat could sound like a nightmare to call of duty fans, this helps magnify the horror within the game. While the player could stall the monsters by trowing chairs and objects, they cannot be killed upright. The only way is to run and hide, to prevent from getting killed from the beast within the game.

While other games handles sanity as an on-and-off effect, Sanity doesn't exactly tie into the health, but rather make Daniel's sight and hearing, which goes crazy as it shrinks lower. When your sanity drops, Daniel goes crazy and falls to the floor, preventing him from temporally moving. To prevent this, the player must stay in the light to raise the sanity back up, but this can lead to situations where the player is spotted by the monster. Thus, the player must choose his play-style carefully...

However, this game dose have it's hiccups. For one, it is EASY to get lost within the game. While some items are easy to find, there is no real map within the game. While it was intentional for online guides and walkthoughs, it's padding in the worst possible way. Sanity also gets annoying later on as it can lead into deaths feeling cheap.

The best part about Amnesia is the mods! There are literally hundred of thousands of mods for Amnesia as much as their is mods for the original Doom games. Some range from silly and sad stories to creepy and horrifying experiences. Some of the mods change the game and even lead up into other games like most mods in Garry's Mod for Steam...for both better and worst.

Overall, I recommend Amnesia, while not as anyone's first horror game, but as a game that everyone needs to at least play once as a good experience to horror. However, I cannot recommend to play this blind as it can lead into frustration. That and the reactions on youtube is always hilarious.

Saturday, October 18, 2014

Eternal Darkness: Gotta slay them all?

This time for a horror game review, we're focusing on a GameCube gem that was successful unlike it's kick-starter sequel since the company in question fell from grace after Microsoft bought Silicon Knights. To be fair, like Rare-ware, they chose to be bought for the money sake, though they did embrace the dark side of game development. However, this game will always be their crowning achievement in life, as well as the Metal Gear Solid remake.

The player starts off as Alex, the last-in-the-line of the Roivas family line who's grand-father was murdered within his manor. While investigating, she comes upon the tomb of eternal darkness, a book inspired by the Evil Dead series. The book holds the stories by those who has ran into the darkness, including the main antagonist, where the player can choose which dark god they can face. Think reverse Pokemon meets horror , except you can choose your rival's Pokemon and only four elements. This actually add repeatability, but it can be a completion nightmare as they have to replay the game three times to get the true ending.

In the game, There are four main demonic gods known as The Ancients, specializing in different ways to torture the human race: Ulyaoth is the magic user jellyfish, Xel'lotath is the brains that drains the human's sanity with his lean arms, Chattur'gha the strong crab-like deity who crush humans with crushing force, and last and sadly least, Mantorok, a chaos entity who was rendered useless thanks to Augustus raiding his temple. The story becomes an epic as the player lives and die as the characters within the story as Alex learn from those who face the Eternal Darkness.

While the interface can be somewhat hard to learn but easy to master, the game could have explained itself much better, as most of the gameplay is learning from trail-and-error. While you don't need everything to beat the game, it is required since it makes the game easier. However, there is a hidden forth element based on the one fallen god within the story and if the player is not aware, it can easily be missed. In this game, it is recommended to replay just when figuring out everything

The icing of the cake, in this game, is the ever present sanity effects. And good lord, there are a lot of them within the game. When your character sees a monster, depending on one of the characters' condition, their sanity drains and they start losing their minds. Some of the sanity effect are creative, as some come as game bugs, oddities like loosing a head and then quoting Shapshere, to even forth-wall breaking as the game fakes deleting your saves! This game shattered the forth-wall as hilariously and creepily as it can get.

However, it dose have an annoyance: once the character looses all sanity, his OR her health starts to drain, meaning you will have to use spells (or items) to heal your sanity back up enough to see them all or just plan ignore the sanity effects by filling up the sanity meter all the way or even use cheats to keep the sanity in a certain spot. Not only that, but some of the effects often repeat themselfs, making it hard to see all the unique sanity effects in the game. It's very sad to see the sanity effects working agents themselves, often fighting for the screen.

Despite the flaws of the game, if anyone would love to enjoy a horror game without the annoying tank controls within past games like Resident Evil, this game is for that person. While it may not be anyone's game, anyone with experience with horror games will love this game. Even if it means emulating the game on your PC with HD graphic, it's an gripping experience for it's time. Just don't blame me when your computer gets possessed or you start having odd nightmares. Now excuse me as I take the pope to Best-Buy...

Sunday, October 5, 2014

Pineview Drive : Creepy Disappointment

Well, hello one and all, as the mouth of Halloween is upon us. And everyone knows what that means: SMASH BROS. And since I did my Smash Bros 3DS early, It's time to do some special Halloween reviews on horror theme games. One of the games on the chopping block is Pineview Drive, where one "play as a troubled man is standing at its gates, looking over the property. 20 years ago he had visited this estate with his wife Linda. During their stay his beloved vanished without a trace – her mysterious disappearance unresolved." And that's about it on the story...

From the start, the game dose show some promises as the player roams from room to room as the day quickly turns into night, where the majority of the game takes place. The only way to progress is to look for keys to open the next room while looking for more plot that is scattered about while facing many scary things such as, but not limited to, killer creepy clowns, a scarecrow, and a creepy ghost lady that might be after you for revenge.

The fun part is when the player roams within the dark, looking for batteries (which comes very often) for a flashlight, matches for candles for later on in the game. As the game quickly give and take away comfort within the home, as sudden changes occur within the house with either guide or scare the player as he or she explores the mason. As soon as anyone expect, creepy things like doors disappearing and reappearing will catch one off guard with...jump-scares....

However, this is where the game falls apart, as some of the jump-scares become predictable at times and are even required to continue within the game. While they are somewhat scary, it's wears out very quickly to the point of annoyance. Another issue is that the game's map is so big that most of the days are padded. It would have helped IF they would at least either provided a map within the game itself or if the house was smaller so getting lost would not be an issue.

Also, the sanity bar should have been shoved aside, as it is a useless indicator of your character's sanity as there is no real fail state within the game. It becomes a literal walking simulator that you often see within steam. It's easy to miss a scare because you get distracted looking for keys because of how too subtle it is...

But the worst offense of the game is it's ending, as the game just ends with more questions more than the proper answers.The thing about a good horror game is that there's a method to the madness that is occurring within a good storyline. For example, Silent Hill had a mad cult who made a personal hell trying to make a god, resident evil had an evil corporation, and amnesia has a man old men hungry for power.  Here, it just gives you the item in question...and fades to black. No real answers; Just questions and theories.

While this game has a nice, admirable start, the game then trips and flops into an average horror game with no real consequence, yet no real ending.   It works for a real good scare, but afterwards, there's no real replayiblity for the game is nonexistent.  If  anyone would like to look at it, feel happy to apply, but Steam Sales are the best time for fun times.

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Super Smash Bros. (3DS)

While this game hasn't hit the Americas just yet, it is currently out in Japan and everyone who has an imported Nintendo 3ds has able to play the game. So much for patience, since Nintendo like to over-hype their games sometimes. However, I personally do like smash bros. as this game help introduce people into characters that no one met before -- It what helped Fire Emblem be ported to the US. Sad that Earthbound only got a VC release.

But back on the subject. The 3DS version of the game is like Super smash bros. Melee+, or at least the fan hacks that has came over the years. At least the fans can be more creative than Sakurai sometimes since he tends to put random character like a roulette from hell. Whoever, he dose find a way for them to fit in, unlike Capcom and their fighting franchise of today. There was some issue with the roster that they should have a clone for Olimar so there would be some room for at least one new character, but I think that's where the DLC comes in. Anyone knows Mario Golf: world tour knows that Nintendo is resorted to putting character behind a pay-wall to get extra dosh.

Unlocking the characters are getting predictable as Smash Bros. has always been. to unlock hidden characters. For example, playing the game's Classic Mode as that character to fight the clone or another character that has been in the same series. Or one can play the casual way for twelve hundred times just to unlock normally like a normal caffeinated child who has trouble getting dates since he look like the local pizza boy has got pay by laid. The roster itself is a "take it or leave it" situation as some characters will be liked or hated in the end.

However, there's a new mode that was inspired by Kirby Air Ride, of all things, where one and a few other local players can play around in an open field collecting power-ups so the players can use it for the next event that is coming up just to race it up or trow it down. However, the mode itself is, as I mentioned, LOCAL MULTIPLAYER, meaning that players cannot play this mode online. Sakuri, I am very disappointed, I know the wifi-mode can be laggy sometimes that the frame-rate drops, but the fan base is one thing that shouldn't be ruffled with. I know you rather trow yourself into a buss, but life is worth living! As least the serious players can finally get separated by the silly players now...

The stages themselves are nice as their are now different final destinations, which is great for the serious players, but that's the majority of most of the stages however. Sounds like more DLC could be placed here. That sounds like that contradicts with one of Nintendo's old statements. but the worst stage offender is Sonic's, as it is nothing but a copy-and-paste job from Brawl's data files. Not even new music has been added to the stage. I hope they at least change the stage in the Wii U port, as I have a feeling about that situation. However, the stages are still a nice known staple for Smash bros. as returning from past games. I understand that changes to those stages wouldn't be welcome. Just add at lest some new music, unlike Sonic's stage.

In the end, Super Smash Bros. 3ds is as simple and fun as it's name. While it is a good game, it's mostly there to buy time for Nintendo to develop the game for the Wii U. While there is connection abilities with the Wii U and 3DS port, we don't know if that will benefit the players as must as the figurines, which is both for kids and the creepy fat fan-base. This is WHY I dislike Skylanders, as they're just there for anyone's money dispute their boosts! Plus, what will the Wii U version hold besides different stages and modes? Only time will tell.

...Which the fan-base has none...

Sunday, August 31, 2014

Games that jumped the shark

I was going to make a review on one of these games, however, I realized that there are A LOT of games that have made their characters (or series, in that matter) do certain things that they won't knowingly do and feel out-of-character. Listing them all would take too long, I will point out the most common games that jumped the shark. Please note -- not all of the games listed are garbage, its just the game could either been different or better as it's own Independent property, or IP for short...




Spyro Reboot Game

 Now before I get marked as a traitor by Sally "Kit" Ballard, Krome studios WAS once a part of EA and after they made their game Ty the Tasmanian Tiger, the guys saw how good it was and decided they should reboot the Spyro series. While it did attract some newcomers, it alienated the old fans away from the series. In fact, I think this is why they usually get crap from review sites because of their past like Double Helix, but in need of more help. They are more comfortably  doing their own thing, which is why they formed their own indie-studios. I have a feeling I'll be chewed out by both an angry nekomimi and an angry dragon man. My life in-a-nutshell...

Resident Evil 4

As I said, not all games are bad. But! Once the game sold well, this set a standard that would damage Capcom's repetition as well as they protrusive "exclusiveness" within the other counsels.  The problem comes that they decided to go more action than horror and the series suffered for it. While four was good, it had out-of-character moment in the middle of the game where Leon became yet another Sonic clone. It didn't help that they copied and pasted it for five, which was "MEH" at best if  played with a friend, but six was a complete disaster! Companies like Capcom are a shell of their former self, as they even abandoned their own mascot! Sad..

DmC

Let's face it, This game should have been a NEW IP. This property was made as a failed prototype to Resident Evil, which showed how crazy and stupid the developers are at times. The original was hard for its own reason that it had to be nerfed in the port within the United States. The reboot was ugly on purpose to fit with the common hipsters of today times which should be tossed straight into an oncoming bus. While there are fans of the new-gen Dante, it killed off any change of a sequel and proves how reboots can be a bad thing if used incorrectly. I honestly rather play Metal Gear Rising. I'm sorry...But I am not a fan of either games. While I do love fast-action games, this series is not for me.

Metroid: Fusion

While Other M should have been never M'ed, we must remember that the game series first jumped the shark when Samus show some emotions in Metroid Fusion. While it did bring new elements within the series, it did bring up Samus' past where she left her adopted planet to join the military. For one, this lead into Other M's story ark which caused the Prime Trilogy to become non-cannon. As a fan of the series, it made me distrust Nintendo with it's property. Secant, it tore the fan-base apart like the internet dose 24/7. Samus was trained to control those emotions by her adopted parents, as they where bird alien warriors  who rival the monks on earth. Plus, she meet Riley thousands of times. Why should she fear him?! Idiots...






I would list more, but this list would be endless. Metal Gear Solid 2, Bionic Comando, and the other of many games which just want to do the crazy things just to grab someone's attention but doing it at the worst way imaginable. It's like cos-playing as Hitler while at a Jewish wedding. While it dose grab someone's attention, all that ends up getting is a angry mob, angry war vets, and annoying questions only getting even more questions. We can only hope the developers get their heads out of their asses or out from each others' asses before someone make a human centipede!

...And yes, I don't know how to end my topics as well. Don't hate me Yatzee, because I'm merely using Jon Tron's method of entertainment....