5 wishlist games with a difficult reach...

So we all love video games, and love to play them, but with so many its impossible to play them all. Sometimes we look back on incredible looking games that, to our horror, seem really difficult to get to. It could be a number of problems ranging from market conditions, console exclusivity, horrible PC compatibility issues, regional issues, online servers, or maybe even physically incapable of playing the game for some reason (some can't play a game with low FOV for example). Oh yeah, and this does not include developer hell games, so no Half-life 3 or Prey 2 type posts. These games have to exist, are real, and may actually be possible to enjoy in some way.., just not likely. I may in fact do a sequel list to this, as I'm sure there's more than just 5 games. However these 5 are what mostly come to mind right now.

Edit: Crossed #2 off as I got both. yay!

5) Banjo & Kazooie: Nuts & bolts

Yeah I can hear the fans screaming at me now about how I'm terrible for wanting such a thing. Sure, fine, I get it. Banjoe & Kazooie are amazing classics that were among the best examples of 3D platforming, as well as Rare's better work. However, this looks like a fun spin-off. Yes, note that phrase. Its what happens when you take an identity and add in a major twist to change things up, and it may or may not be cannon. Mario has multiple highly successful spin-offs like this for the record. I understand this series had a sad death, and this was the nail in the coffin, but ultimately there are far, far, far worse cases of it happening. Here it was simply... well.... not that amazing. It was a solid game that got good reviews, and kept some people entertained, but it undersold and with a raging rabid purist fanbase it is remembered in bitter hate. Well... personally I see some lovable characters and a stylish world with a fun kart building game with lots of fun physics and some collectibles. I want this game because it looks fun, not because it'll fill some hole that craves classic B&K. Fun physics and experimenting are a lot of fun to me for some reason, and this game thrives with them over top of a great aesthetic. Still it sits on MS's small pile of exclusives, and it doesn't look like that'll change anytime soon. Meanwhile I really don't think I'll get an xbox 360 anytime soon. If I happen to get one, then how hard will it be to get this? I just dunno, and ultimately I'm not sure it'd be worth the hassle. Still it looks a lot more fun than what credit it gets.

4) Divinity: Dragon Commander

Ok, steampunk fantasy world with political conquest RPG story elements and gameplay designed around you commanding an army in RTS format... while directly controlling a jetpack powered dragon. Yes to every single thing on that description! Oh dang, but I don't want to risk that much money on something my PC probably can't run. Ok, now to be fair that can go for countless other games that are exclusive to PC, but... I dunno this one really grabs my attention and feels more worthy of this list. I've heard its RTS balance is a bit poor, but I really want to try it myself before judging that. I'll probably play this for sure when I get a better PC, but that may be a long wait, and until then this game seems quite far out of my reach.

3) Vivisector: Beast Within

Just... Just you look at it! If you've been following my blog you know my preference in shooters by now. I love corridor shooters with old school mechanics, great gunplay in some form, precise AI that keeps you on your feet and performing precision aiming, and industrial sci-fi horror art styles. Vivisector checks all the boxes off, and then tosses in insane cyborg animals as the central theme. Yes! Yes, yes, yes, yes, 1000x yes! The game is so deep and rich in dumb campy industrial horror themes that the main menu is an operation table in a dark concrete sciency room with a cyber-like interface. The animals monsters are your core enemy that have attacks ranging from charging, laser arms, and a boss rhino tank monster that runs on giant wheels. I just love this whole set-up, and of course it goes nicely with my favorite era of shooter mechanics. Oh, and bonus points for the fact that it also used to be a Duke Nukem FPS. Here, have some more pictures of this wonderful game. Oh and the boxart covers as well. Heck, just say the full game's name out loud; It sounds like it could have been a silly FoxKids TV show I would have watched when I was younger (...or maybe I just watched too much of Beast Wars). Ok to be honest now I'm not saying this is the best ideal shooter ever, but it looks like such a fantastic junkfood shooter to sit down with some off brand energy drink and enjoy as more of a nostalgia loaded blast. Its alpha prime all over again! ....Except... oh.... its not $5 on steam. Its not even on steam, or GOG, or any download site at all. The game never really released outside of Europe either, so no luck with it in goodwill stores. I'd risk a pirate copy if there were even many options of that, and if I weren't afraid of viruses. Actually one youtube video with the promise of a free download even admitted it was laced with a virus, just that it was "Ok if you kill it soon enough". Yeah... no thanks, I'll stick with Alpha Prime until I get lucky and this stuff gets a release. 1C, or whatever the publisher calls themselves, has actually dumped some random mediocre stuff on steam before so I'm keeping my fingers crossed they remember this game at some point. If that doesn't happen, well its a tough thing to get I'm afraid. Well... at least I played a demo of it.... even though it was entirely german and I was going in blind. I suppose this is that moment where I should reflect on whether or not I'm sane for liking this B grade corridor shooter stuff when its so insanely obscure and forgotten.

2) Star Fox's Gamecube series

I guess I'm stuck on the B&K dispute again. Yes I know these are considered weak links in the series, but then again I can't help but also step back and wonder... when has it ever been truly strong? The only one people really seem to adore is StarFox64, which has sort of existed 3 times if you count the fact that its basically a remade version of the SNES game (original, the 64 version, and 3DS remake). The others try something different and to some mixed results. I really think StarFox Assault had the right mentality, its just the series needed some more work and refinement with that routine. Still I don't know much for sure, as the thing is the only game I've played in the whole series is StarFox64 through virtual console. Anyways It was fun, but I really didn't like the idea of an entire game being an on rails deal. It felt like it had so much potential with its silly cast and dialogue (Do a barrel roll!), crazy laser sci-fi, odd drama, and interesting settings to do something a bit more. Oh yeah, and its comic piece in one of the nintendo magazines I read was amazing! At one point and time I was keeping my fingers crossed for a Wii version, and even planned out its potential controls in my head. It seemed like a perfect match... but it never happened, apparently thanks to the crappy command and dying trust in the series. Well now there's a Wii U version, but that's shrouded in mystery. Will it give me the "more" I wanted out of SF64 though? Naturally growing up around shooters and platformers, I did in fact want something more direct and free mixed in. So... yeah Assault sounded perfect. You mix things up with land, air, and tank battles within pieces that change between open environments and linear rail space planes. It all looks like the fast paced blaster filled fun frenzy that the series seems to stand on. Its a great combination, fleshes out the world a bit more, and gives the game more replay value. I've heard in reality it was clunky, and honestly it does look a little stiff in some of the videos I've seen (uh... can he turn normally, or does he have to face every direction like a mannequin with a gun?), but I'm willing to try before I trash it. Now with Adventures I openly accept that it got some fans down. Its not a StarFox game, and honestly doesn't even look like it advertised itself well enough to deserve being called a spin-off, so yeah I guess it deserves some backlash. However it also deserves its cult following to because it looks like a fun adventure game made by the incredible Rare team just before being bought out. It honestly looks pretty fun, and again considering my background with gaming I don't think I'd mind the change as long as I accept that there's no "stars" in that StarFox. However what's holding me back is the fact that I neither have a gamecube, or a memory card. I can't seem to find one anywhere and that's really annoying. Its also what keeps me from playing melee, even though I do actually own it. One day I hope I can grab these games, a memory card, and play it on my wii... but for a long time its been tough trying to find a GC card. Then again... I'll admit I never bothered much with ebay. Alright fine maybe this isn't the most difficult, and I stand a chance. I sure hope so, I want something to keep me busy while I await news on StarFox wii U. I fear it may be taking a flight only path, but either way I'm kind of excited for it.

1) Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon

Best idea ever: "Well I'm not sure about this game. I can certainly live without it, so maybe I'll wait for a large price drop". Great advice for just about any game except the ones you absolutely need to support. Its a fine effect of the physical market. That is of course unless you're aim was at Spyro Dawn of the Dragon to which now you're slamming your head into the desk as you look at the very rare PS3 version on amazon that is more costly than the game was at launch. It was $68 before, but actually just checking on it now its raised to about the price of games in Australia. Except, I'm still in America and so is that game by the looks of its rating system, so there's no arguing about foreign politics. Its just damn crazy expensive. In gamestop its about $48 last time I saw it (which its been a while now), and outside of that its nowhere to be seen. Look if I barely wanted to pay $20 for it, there's just no way I'm putting down $100+ Or even half of that. Its crazy how things even got here to begin with. Apart from a strange cult of fanfic guys, there's almost nobody that finds this game of so much worth. Its a strange forgotten GOW knock-off made slightly kid friendly. However I'm getting ahead of myself here. Why do I want this? Don't I hate the new spyro games? Well, eternal night still haunts me as literally one of the worst games I've ever played, so sorta. However this game was made by a new company, was made with freedom and exploration in mind, and has more of a zelda meets god of war (while somehow not looking like DarkSiders) mentality. From day 1 this game grabbed my curiousity as I heard mixed reviews all over the place about it, with many saying that it is indeed better than past legend efforts. It still has that drama queen vibe to it despite how silly it really is with a voice actor that in now way even closely matches Spyro, and its still pushing heavy God of War vibes on a format that seems to have no business with it. But it still seems interesting, and that sheer curiousity mixed with its impossible price is tearing me apart from time to time as I attempt to check on its status and hope that I may one day have it on PS3. Oh and I also stupidly let it go when I had a $23 offering from bestbuy. That was before I saw the monster high prices, and still thought to myself "maybe it can go lower if I wait". Well screw you cheapskate conscious, look at where that got me now. Well on the bright side there is the PS2 and wii versions that are easier and cheaper to get, but still I really want my attempt at this game to be the best possible. I want the HD colors, and all the features, so... I'm kind of holding out hope that maybe I'll luckily stumble into the PS3 version at the ideal price one day. If not... well, tough luck. Maybe that's fate's way of saving me from another frustrating Eternal night mess.

Grudge against the moon?

Prepare for the attack of fanboys

This article is a bit of a nitpick, but I feel it needs to be made considering some rather mean spirited stuff I've bumped into recently. In case you ignore one of the most fun developers in gaming, chances are you know about Insomniac. Unfortunately all of their good games have been, and will seemingly remain, exclusive to PlayStation. that is until Sunset overdrive, and quite a number of people (especially PS loyal of course) have flipped out because its a perfectly flipped deal where its exclusive to Xbox's side. People find it worth boycotting, take the fact that we're getting an R&C remake as an insult, and actually expect Sony to hold the same grudge and never work with them. That's just pretty insane, and worrying onto obsessive tribal fanboyism. You know, on an emotional basis I'll agree that it sucks and I wouldn't mind having a disappointed talk with Insomniac, but beyond that and where a lot of these comments take things to... its just absurd and I'd like to do a bit of a mini-rant on what should be common sense to this situation. Fact is, Insomniac found their deal and made a great game while working with Microsoft's money just like they've been doing for years with other publishers.

Like I said before, maybe even twice, Sunset overdrive is not just an exclusive people are excited about, but its one of the few exclusives done right for current-gen... especially from Microsoft's end of things. While Tomb Raider is stolen and locked under a timer (and coming to the 360), Ryse and Titanfall move to PCs, and nothing is being done to combat true exclusives Sony has. To be fair, Sony isn't out on their A-game yet either, but they've got a far more promising opportunity. Don't think I've forgotten about nintendo either, they're finally doing a splendid job and I wish I had more money for some good Wii U games. Please let Starfox be good! Still getting back to the subject, Sunset overdrive is the only true and unique exclusive MS has for its xbox one around this time, and it has fueled genuine excitement (except from the haters, which of course is why this article exists).

So yeah, I want MS to be applauded for this, as they're doing it right here (at least for now, they're some heavy PC related rumors). Proper funding, advertising, and a new game created to compete. I'm also jealous. Sunset overdrive doesn't look too amazing on its own, as the grind one rail to fight seems like it'd get really dull. However its honestly one of those cases where a company actually helps sell the game. I know Insomniac, I know they made the game with lots of good content critics will overlook, I know they've mixed humor with epic moments that you'll remember long after the game, and I know they have the crazy weapons and fun vibe down well from just looking at it. If this was on PS4, I would bump it up as the top priority before christmas of this year over Smash Bros and FC4. However I don't have one, so it'll just be on my watchful eye until the future when I may just have one or if it somehow ever gets a port to PlayStation (it happened with MassEffect).

So that still leaves the question though about why Insomniac did this. It does seem kind of sad and uncalled for that they abandon their loyal audience like myself that they've properly earned over the years. Many wish to believe its a very simple thing: Money. MS offered them a giant check to be exclusive, and they sold out.

They warned us it could happen

uh... actually its not that simple, Check this out. Do you actually remember a time when publishers let developers keep their own IP? Yeah that tends to be a missing era now, but Insomniac didn't get much of a chance even in the past to have their own game. They worked and made it to have another publisher (like Sony or Universal) print their name over it and claim money and direction bits. When it came to a personal passion project like Sunset overdrive, they wouldn't make it unless they truly had control over it. Sony wasn't one to allow that and owns Resistance and Ratchet and Clank already from Insomniac. Activision certainly wont do that as they love owning and manipulating their companies. Insomniac had their chance with EA and flopped with it. Ubisoft doesn't allow that (just ask free radical), and Bethesda is rumored to be rather mean about IPs as well supposedly bullying Human head into owning not just the Ip but the developer. That's not all the publishers, but as you can tell it gets kind of difficult. However... in one of the only moves of respect I have for them to this day, Microsoft does allow ownership of your IP. That's a perfectly normal and reasonable explanation for Insomniac's dream project, even if it is miserably ironic that loyal fans don't get a taste of it unless they were willing to cross over. ...and you know what, even if it was about money, MS played fair in regard to offering the best funding for an exclusive. That's just what kind of happens. Sony has even less of an excuse for being the exclusive owner of the past. There it was just because Insomniac randomly picked it, it was luck of the draw and within reach. Now they've actually got motives to go to exclusive publishing, and their game has more freedom. Insomniac doesn't owe you, me, or sony this game if they had a better deal. It isn't really about that with the whole IP ownership at the mention, but if it were that's not a devious thing at all. Its not like they are selling out on a sequel to an acclaimed iconic playstation character either. Its a new IP that means nothing to us loyal fans, as if it never existed, or if we're lucky and own that console to then its just another addition to our Insomniac collection. That's not betrayal at all. They're still giving us Ratchet & Clank, and I bet they'll continue to do other series as well. They also teased that maybe one day they'll get Spyro back, which is funny because I think I recall hearing something similar about Crash as well.... maybe Sony's up to something behind the scenes. I even have a good suspicion that if there's a sequel to Sunset Overdrive, it'll be multi-platform and they totally can do that if they get a publisher that accepts, which is more likely now that its not a new IP.

So why waste my time with this? Well in part because I don't get why there should be bad blood with fans. The other part is that I am one of those fans, and I'll gladly admit bias here (well funnily enough I am biased towards sony to... yay for conflicting bias?). Insomniac is one of my favorite companies ever. I'd say If you're a true fan, I see no reason to hold a grudge over this matter. We've got a freakin' movie and game coming out of them next year, its hard for me not to be thrilled with the company. Insomniac isn't perfect with their dumb fumbles, and some stupid quotes to have left their studio, but they make some incredible games I adore at the end of the day. They made the series that made me care about gaming. Their games took hours and hours of my spare time and turned it into pure bliss. They gave me what I was demanding in the shooter market at a dark time for the genre. With R&C into the nexus being one of my favorite games of last year, and having enjoyed sharing it with a friend to see him love it the same, I can't say they're dwindling on the whole. Some fans also supposedly wanted this game to fail because it was exclusive, but again that's just stupid and not a decent fan thing to say at all. Insomniac isn't the biggest selling or most acclaimed company anymore. Their games rarely get the sort of attention Sunset Overdrive got, and I'm quite glad the game has done well in reviews and is predicted to sell well with the console. If you're truly a fan of them, you should want them to succeed. You should want them to do well so they can live on and continue making the games they love. ...Or, you could have them go back to focus groups and do another Fuse if you want their passion projects to fail. I can't call these harassers fans at all, its narrow minded console fanboyism rather than heart felt game fans. They refuse to see past the console machines, and instead want a company to hurt... that's not a fan. To reasonable minded folks, its not an us or them struggle, its a matter of good or bad games. Insomniac is far more leaning on the good side. Sony's smart enough to know that, which is why there's no "bad blood' and they let the team make new content for them. They aren't childish enough to fight them over the matter. Congratulations on Sunset Overdrive Insomniac and Microsoft, I hope it sells well. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a movie and game to be excited for next year....

Drawing the line... in blood.

....So, how about that hatred trailer guys? I had heard a little about it, but didn't pay any attention until later where its starting to become almost like a joke to make fun of it by doing something like posting a colorful video right after they show off the trailer. To say the game has violence is an understatement. The game doesn't just have it, its selling itself on only that at this stage. Its very graphic, very dark in tone (literally as well), and there was just nothing but over the top killing after a mean spirited monologue. Obviously people are in an uproar about it, but there's also a bit of defense for it. Even Epic has asked that their unreal engine logo gets removed from any mention within the game. The guys that put this out there have said this is too much. So is this ok? If not, what something like GTA any better?Where do we draw the line?

Well my first thought is how hilariously bad the opening dialogue is. No seriously, its so bad its hilarious and fun to watch. That coupled with the mediocre animation quality, it feels instantly like a B grade game trying hard to be edgy. Honestly the game could be looked at like that, but they really try to hammer home the idea of these intense graphic animations with no game incentive reasons in sight. Of course I bet there will be points, leaderboards, maybe power-ups, alternate modes, etc, but the trailer itself is living off of raw shock value of mass murder in interactive form. Its pretty much the poster child game the mainstream media wants you to think is the backbone of the gaming industry. My gripe with the game is mostly around the question of "What's the point?". I don't hate the hatred so much as I hate the lack of substance. There isn't anything fun to it where as Madworld, Naughty bear, and other games full of killing at its core build other gamey elements around your input and interaction. I suppose if you want it laser focused down to raw killing, fine I'm glad you got your game, but for a large number of people this should be an easily passable experience. Some people in defense of this game are suggesting people hate the violence because its not going against aliens or armed forces, but that's not necessarily true. It implies the same dumb idea Spec Ops did, that we want to be heroes. Nope, sorry, not the case. Aliens, soliders, and monsters are better though but not because of context as much as for the fact that they encourage better mechanics. Aliens have cool abilities and require some interesting possibly horror tipped story. Soldiers are supposed to be trained to fight you and bring out a warzone type of setting that gives the battle more of an edge. Civilians and a handful of cops... well that's just not so interesting, you can only kill so many of them before you feel you're wasting your time on polygon people. Look at Shadow of Mordor's recent praise over the nemesis system. What could have been dumbed down to as "kill these guys on your hit list" was turned into one big strategy game within a game where people are actually thinking and building up their own enemies, stories, battles, and rivalries from a deeper system that contextualizes everything just right. The game is doing well because of a very clever combat based mechanic stretched to shape dynamically with the player and very smart AI planning as well as some smart immersive extra bits on top. Hatred can't even pull off its aggressive animations smoothly, never the less come up with any mechanics that make it appealing. Its just run and gun in its most mindless and literal interpretation as possible. Once again, this isn't a fact of the game as a whole. Maybe they just hid the HUD and scoring system, quest info, or some kind of combo piece. Its just that like with most people its going off the feelings of the trailer. This is what the developers put together to appeal to you, and if that's their best than they've failed to hook me at all.

Its color is about as bright as its depth seems to be...

So I mentioned the mechanics and only that, but I have yet to talk about the gore. Many bring this game up as crossing the line in violence, and I really have trouble seeing that as far as violence on its own goes. Maybe to some degree you could say its whole design and tone is terrible, but violence on its own? Nope, sorry, guess I'm "desensitized". I don't hate violence in video games, never did. There's only been two times a game's shock value violence has moved me to think its a bit too much, and that was the original Soldier of Fortune (It eventually looks a bit robotic, but the first hour is just insanely gorey for an old game), and one time in Dishonored where I decided to be the most psychotic guy possible on the party level. I couldn't go through with it on Dishonored, walking up one by one and slitting throats just got old and felt wrong. I wasn't doing anything useful or relevant, I was just doing it because I told myself I would try a "mean" playthrough on that one level and it left me quitting out on that save and erasing that progress before I finished the mass murder. Still for everything else out there.... nope never found a limit. Actually I think some violent flare is needed in an action game. Its about aesthetics; If you give me a game like Uncharted where shooting a guy means he just falls flat on his face and still looks like he's clean enough to attend a fancy formal gathering, it leaves a bitter feeling. Its as if the game wants to look action packed while being too cowardly or lazy to pull off the full effect. Getting it just right alongside great gunplay can make a massive difference as to whether or not the game feels good at its job. Far Cry 1 felt great whenever you were able to hurt a guy, then see how accurate your shots were as it was actually one of the only games to leave bullet holes in targets. Meanwhile Killzone 2 has an entire trailer showing off how well tuned their death animations, gunplay, fun ragdoll physics, and bleeding effects are. In addition to the inteligent AI and level design, the aesthetics have helped make Killzone 2 my all time favorite corridor shooter out there. Censoring or downplaying that stuff in a game about action feels essentially like what would happen if Batman movies had him defeat thugs by a game of freeze tag (I blame Mr.freeze), it just sounds stupid and breaks the immersion. So what does this all have to do with hatred? Well I just don't have any problem with its show case of violent and aggressive visuals. I'm willing to bet there's worse out there that I've played. I mean sure its got those terrible animations, and a horrible context, but is it worse than firing a cerebral bore in Turok, hacking off limbs with a hatchet in Postal 2, or a fatality in Mortal Kombat? I really don't think so. Some people would argue those are cartoony by comparison, but again I'll point out Hatred's opening, animations, and that shotgun to head explosion. Its still quite crazy, its just that the problem lies in the fact that there's nothing beyond the violence. Again its mechanics that are important, and I disagree with the fact that this game is crossing the line in violence. Its crossing the line in pointless violence, sure, but the key word that separates this game from something like GTA, is pointless. However since violence is a big deal to this game, its a compliment to say that it has indeed nailed the nature that it wont be so pretty. Still I'd much rather be playing something with mechanics behind that combat and gorey aesthetics, so how about bulletstorm and a mini-gun instead?

Let's rock!

Of course though I don't speak for all. Some do find the violence disgusting, or maybe they do feel its the lack of mechanics and the obvious shock value that makes this work appalling. So much so that they really would rather the game not exist at all. Honestly I think that's a pretty twisted view, maybe more so than the game ironically. This is kind of the thing you do with free markets and free speech, you've got to let this game slide. If you don't like it, don't play it. If you're worried about it causing violence, then you need to re-check yourself and remember what we've been fighting for as gamers (...well other than gamergate, but lets not discuss that now). Video games don't cause violence, even the ones that are made for shock value. It'll take an already messed up mind to take gaming out into reality in such a way that causes harm. Worst case scenario is that this is just one big stunt that may make a bit of money. It was made to get people shocked and hateful towards its terrible nature, it wanted to give journalists something so horrible they had to cover, and they want people to buy it just to see if it really is some kind of murder fantasy. Its basically a living bad publicity = sales stunt as some claim. Personally, I can totally see this point and wouldn't be surprised if it was true, but again... I can't really find a necessary reason this needs to stop. Just do not support it. If the news uses it against us, just remember that gamers themselves were opposed to it... in addition to the fact that other medias have their own substance-less shock value junk.

On a final note though, I obviously can't see the appeal of this game, but what about those that do? Some people really have looked towards it and said "ok, I may check this out" and defend it as a thing for stress relief. Fair enough, but once again I think mechanics trump all here. When you just want stress relief would you rather play this mindless shooting game, or something that has more humor, silly references, more immersive, and a mod community. Well meet Postal 2, where you can absolutely go insane and only that if you just want stress relief. Then you can also have a good laugh at reasonable humor, fun missions gone wrong, and witness an environment that naturally lends itself to hilarious interactive set-pieces. There's pretty much no fluff getting in your way, but you can get so much more out of it if you're having a bad day and just want to let out some angry tension in a virtual world. So.... who really wants Hatred?

Now playing: Assassins Creed Brotherhood

I suppose this sounds predictable after my last post, but believe me when I say I've been working on some other articles and games between these times. Actually to be fair my reasoning for jumping back in is way more ridiculous than analyzing the mixed feelings I have for the series. Its actually that I went from watching a bunch of BBC Robin Hood stuff on netflix to finally getting back around to watching the Zorro movies I saw when I was little (it was also one of my earliest halloween costumes, so that makes this sort of related to this seasonal timing.... ok not really, but who cares). At the end of the day I love the vigilante rouges, romanticized theives, or whatever you want to call those character types. I wish gaming had more of them (actually I want a robin hood game SO badly, even started planning it all out in my head) and I started thinking of the closest encounters to them we've had. Its somewhere within Thief, Sly cooper, Assassins Creed, and even a bit of Dishonored that we might find the best cases with maybe some influence leaking in from this years Shadows of Morodor and Watch Dogs. Then I really started trying to recollect the story and motives of Ezio from brotherhood, knew I wanted to replay it, and so I gave in and opened up a new profile instead of wrapping up AC4 or 3... and I believe I made the right call, because as it turns out I'm right to say brotherhood is just flat out superior to the majority of the following series.

For a while whenever I briefly gave this game praise, I always backed it up with a disclaimer excuse. It was my first in the series, its been a while, and it was all so new at the time but may feel old now. Pfft, all of those were just poor excuses. Sure my memory wasn't quite so accurate to what the game was, but I'm actually finding it better in a few cases. For example, I totally forgot there were horses.... yeah, dumb but true. The armor isn't breaking as often as I remember it, meaning its not an annoying process to run and get it repaired. Similarly, weapons and attacks are stronger than I recall. If you get surrounded batman arkham style you don't just button mash to the best of my knowledge. When the followers of romulus pulled that crap I watched their every move, noted their every frame, and gripped on that deflect and counter button at perfect timing to get some incredibly sick kills, and before I knew it 15 people were on the ground and I hadn't been hit once. It felt incredible compared to the obvious red flashy and counter because that's all you've got type of move set future AC's employ. At the end of the day I do know that counter is 90% of what matters in the whole series, but the freedom, timing, and lack of flashy give-aways disguise it in a process that makes it all the more fun. Meanwhile the parkour system is better since you feel like you can drop and move more precisely.

However are there downsides and parts where my mind went weird? Well sort of. For starters the very first hour or so is just a pain. Long loading screens everywhere accompanied by the fact that they show and stop at the dumbest of moments, and combined with the blinding white flash it makes the entire thing more disconnected than it really is. That's saying something to, because as it was its still fairly disconnected and it felt like the story had entire chunks cut and pieced together like some sloppy cardboard and glue job of putting together a story. Once you get into Rome and start the sequence where you look for help, things begin to retain a stronger sense of immersion and consistency, and I can't help but feel like this is one of those games worth replaying just because I hear so much more due to aging wisdom. Its just one of those games you wont get the first time playing if you're young. Still despite this there's still some odd moments where the story is, as I've described Ezio before, more style over substance. Another downside is just some of the better innovations or choice made over time from the series. Here I can't seem to assassinate people off from a ledge, aiming with tools is a complete pain and somewhat down to chance, some of the animations or jumps just don't connect, and the worst thing is how tight this game is in level design which just contradicts and ruins its run & jump system. For all my complaints on AC3 and 4 the one thing they got right that I never realized until now, is that these games need more open space. Its not just because space is good or anything, its just because tight spaces does not work with the running and climbing system of this game. I've been dashing through halls, ancient tunnels, or tight allies only to have him bump into a wall and because of climbing he doesn't just bounce off the wall, he actually takes about 3 seconds out to try and climb a giant unclimbable wall. That's not something you want to happen when on a time limit, trying to test an odd building, or running from a bunch of guards. Its terrible, and by comparison the open-ish streets of Boston and woodlands or the beaches of the Caribbean make a huge difference since you've got some room to keep on the ground. You don't go up a wall or building unless you really intend to. Oh and finally, its kind of just sad that I can't use my tools anymore and it feels where not to see Ezio ever use contextual cover or whistle tricks. I'm actually kind of glad whistling is gone because that's what 80% of AC4's land missions boil down to; You sit and wait in the bushes, lure guards, kill them, and repeat over and over and over again. Its the only effective and perfect way to work that game's stealth system and its terribly boring after some time. Still its just a bit jarring to have that capability ripped away while it still parades around the same basic tactics as that game. While I can live without the graphical enhancements its also just an immersion bug when I try to hide against a wall and it really doesn't effect a thing, he stands up straight up against a wall like always. There's no crouch, no bushes to hide in, no walls to push up against, and you really feel vulnerable if you want to be hidden. Unless there's just the perfect haystack, or well, you're not capable of truly hiding and its just a matter of guessing the line of site. That combined with the less intuitive nature of using something like throwing knives makes it feel a bit.... off, compared to its successors. Still I'll take this game over all that.

Despite all those negatives though, I can't keep myself from enjoying this game and remembering why I truly loved this series. Yeah some of that new and refreshing charm is washed away, this was especially clear with how obvious I could see through the scripted and repetitive nature of Desmond's part where as before I put up with it fine because it was a new mystery. Still its worth revisiting and its worth saying that this is one of the best open world games I've honestly played. The charming characters, the fun combat that the rest of the series mostly destroyed, the merchant system truly encouraging you to own the whole town and driving home that narrative point about giving things back to the people for your cause is just incredible. Let me give you this final scene to ponder on why this game is incredible. In a task to take a tower over and win a piece of land, I had to locat a capatin within a small square building area. I climbed the roof tops, took out a higher up guard, and surveyed the ground. I realized the captain was under an archway and the only way to get from the roof top, to him, was through two guards which may allow him to escape and cause a big fight I didn't want. Then I had an idea. I went back to the roof watchmen's corpse I silently took out, dragged the body out near the edge, and then dropped it a couple feet away from the two guards. They were fascinated and frightened at the same time as they took the bait and drew out, and right as I was ready to swoop in and dive for the captain... he took the bait to. In complete over-excitement of this lucky catch I made the jump too early and landed on the wrong guy, but never the less right beside the captian. I countered the other guardsmen before beating the crap out of the captain. Swing after swing, his armor took a thrashing as it slowly whittled down way too awkwardly for my comfort. I eventually had him cornered and decided it was time to improvise. I picked him up and shoved him into a great wooden scaffold, crushing him under far more than just armor and sharp steel, and rushed out of the area alongside the terrified citizens and escaped the sight of any other guards. I then claimed my territory and felt far a deep satisfaction for everything that had happened. This was that moment where the game felt it set off a welcome signal with a bang, and it felt so good to be back. Of course this entire time I keep thinking to myself though.... why the hell isn't revelations this much fun!? No seriously, I never could figure out why I just didn't care for that one. It was basically AC brotherhood 2.0 with a brand new and interesting setting, and a bomb mechanic. It had no La Volpe, a more confusing plot, and I remember being furious with this one outpost mission, but I don't think that was ever an excuse to quit it. I've put more effort into the lesser 3 and 4 games that followed it... so what gives!? I plan on visiting it soon after, its time I tie up some loose ends within this series. For now though, I'm excited about finishing my meeting with this game's guilds and setting up the assassins function.

Oh and for the record, this is amazing and all but I still want a true Robin Hood game. I'm seriously considering a full article dedicated to my expectations around one, and how I'd prefer it to be handled. I think it could really happen. Oh well, for now there are Templars just asking for hidden blade acupuncture.

Lets talk about Assassins Creed; What is the right way to view this?

Ubisoft do a lot of wrong and compared to others a lot of right, but are very, very loud about how they do their wrong. Actually I believe half if not more of the hatred that can be leveled at them are statements that are totally unnecessary and easy to take care of. It feels like they distribute loaded statements that pinch somebodies nerve, but left unsaid nobody would have thought or known anything of the situation that sparked it. I could go on to name examples, but that's not so much of what this article is about. Fact is though its happened again recently when Ubisoft felt the urge to drop console resolutions for AC Unity and framerate specs. Alongside that already unneeded info dump, there was also the unprovoked statement addressing that the console ports are identical because they wanted to "avoid debates". Yup, by dodging the fanboy war debates that are practically over with already they ended up causing their own storm over console parity. Nice "debate" you triggered on your own self there ubisoft! Look its just fact by now that the PS4 is the leading tech platform, not by a ton, but enough to boost some settings. Of course the PC is the lead of everything, and I'll throw in the fact to that it seems like Watch Dogs on PC went a similar fate as what's going on with AC Unity. So it seems a bit messed up to stunt all of these just to make things look closer to a match up. Fact is these are different machines, we bought them based on that and should be treated to them as such. I could discuss more into this, but to be entirely honest I don't find myself caring all that much. For starters, this was a similar case for all of last gen as well where the PS3's cell was never used by difficult design (not a perfect comparison, but its still a matter of not getting the expected best power you paid for). In addition to that, 900p and 30fps is still solid. Lastly the game is still in tact, but really that's the reason I don't care, its just another AC using a mostly routine trip I'm kind of done with. Or am I?

The entire situation alongside some recent events has just gotten me thinking of how unusual Assassins Creed is in its place. Its an annual copy and past release game like Call of Duty or Madden, but the amount of content, largely single player focus, the great writing, long length, and its unique stance on fictional writing all make it above and beyond the normal annualization mess. That alone makes it a pretty unique case, and back when this questionable situation occurred around my introduction through brotherhood I was thinking it'd never get old. However I couldn't drag myself to be enthusiastic or finish a game since then. Brotherhood was incredible, and I mean that in every sense of the word. I was addicted to collecting things, buying shops, completing objectives, unlocking territory, fooling around with the guards and civilians, etc. I loved that game, and I haven't even bothered to mention it was a decent story trip as well. Revelations? Well not quite as fresh, and the setting and pacing just felt a little weird. I loved some of the idea brought it, but something just didn't feel on par with Brotherhood and I never got around to beating it. AC3 is where things went downhill in a more obvious way. Mechanics felt dumbed down, pacing was a wreck (7 hours of tutorial!? um, no!), and things just weren't quite as fun. Don't get me wrong though, the story I felt I loved even more than the past, the hunting and diverse areas were awesome, and I generally felt like there was something special to it despite all my more clear dislike for many things. AC4 took off boasting the naval combat I didn't understand the appeal of, and dragging the same shallow mechanics from 3 within the core system. Island hoping, storming forts, and clearing an island all felt strangely compelling. AC4 was a better game on a meta sense rather than a gameplay one. The writing was still excellent though, and the narrative with characters took cool risks. Oh, and shanties.... such a great little touch to add in, and I've gotten on the boat just to hear some tunes out of them and found myself humming them while I step away from the game. Still for the whole, I feel done with this series.

Yet I still kind of care about it. Look at how much effort is found in the things that are proven as unnecessary to print money. Fantastic story writing, deeply details settings and worlds, the activities, the long 12+ hour length of the main campaign, and things like shanties. Look at all the details on the uniforms, the expanded universe lore, the codex you can easily forget exists, all the optionally skipable parts of the present day pieces, etc. It was recently revealed that someone spent around 2 years working on Notre Dame for AC unity! There's a ton of things in there provided thanks to Ubisoft's odd (though admittedly clumsy and stressful) set-up of thousands of staff on the game's development.  It really holds up my belief that out of all the crooked scumbags of the triple A field, Ubisoft is the best for true quality. I recently found an AC3 leather and steel necklace at a thrift shop for cheap. For a game on par with how I felt about it, I should have just shrugged it off, its not really much to look at for a symbol anyways. Yet somehow it kind of lit up and blew my mind that it existed and was cheap right in front of me. It needed a bit of cleaning, but I felt generally proud to say "yup I own this now" and then felt slightly.... well, kind of nostalgic for the good parts of AC3. I really use nostalgia heavily, as I knew I had plenty of problems with the game, but I for some reason kept my head thinking about the cooler parts. That awesome bar fight, the beautiful snowy forest lands, charging around a battlefield helping a questionable George Washington, being intrigued by the headquarters the game had, and how amazed I was at that twist in the beginning they pulled with the first playable character. All mechanical quips and pacing frustration aside, despite discovering glitches and being annoyed with QTEs, I had to admit... the game was still full of grade A work at points. Oh and its one of the only games to touch on Native American stuff (alongside Turok glossing over it and Prey doing something weird with it), which I've got to say is nice. This kind of reflects the rest of the series as well. Sure I'm bitter about the combat, the changes the series has taken since revelations, and I just feel like there isn't much for me in the core gameplay aspects, but in the end there's guys that adore this series and I feel very much like they have every reason and right to. There's a ton to do, a lot worth seeing, and some clear hard work and effort put into the writing. The lack of full PC or PS4 power isn't taking away from that either, though I'd worry a little on season passes and Uplay for that.

So... what really is the right way to tackle this series? In the end its a bit of a convoluted mess, but not in the way you'd expect of an annualized series. Its about the good and the bad, and occasionally the ugly, but at the end of the day Assassins Creed falls down to the market rules. If you love it, it entertains you, you collect and enjoy the special editions and can live with the evil triple A practices, then by all means I'm happy for you and I think this series deserves to continue doing well and pleasing you. Don't lose any sleep over the recent parity crap either, it'll be okay even if its a dumb move. If its not something for you... well then that's alright to, and I may find myself on that side, but then again I was saying the same about AC4 and caved in anyways. I still do play it to, and maybe one day I'll finish it. I think its best to have at least played one game for the big skeptics though, but if that's all and you can give it and feel burned out or bitter on changes, or don't agree with the way they manage the series.... well you may not exactly be missing out on too much either. Its still kind of easy to find your fix of open world fun elsewhere, and the story is well written but not a must follow situation. Speaking of which the only major issue I see with the series is that its annualized practice removes any clear indication of a solid conclusion, and that's already made clear as they had to think outside the box for AC4's outer world story arc. Still for the most part the series is an interesting case for the lot of triple A, and I'm kind of glad some people still feel good about it and I'm glad ubisoft looks like they continue to pour effort into its universe and fiction. I don't think they're doing enough for gameplay (they sure are making a big deal over "stealth mode" which just seems to be an ordinary cover system, bound to frustrate you as they force it in with some instant fail stealth missions), but they still put enough care in to rile up some legitimate excitement. I hope it does well, and maybe in the long run I'll jump back into the series sometime.

Now Playing: Puppeteer

I'm actually also going to be playing the Battlefield 4 trial since I'm actually curious enough about what improvements its made to the campaign. I'm not expecting much with that, but I plan to take a free offer when its given to me. Still since I'm waiting on the installation, I have yet to deal with it and thus I'll talk about the main game I'm going to be working on that I actually own (well kinda. PS+ own). I've often used this game before as a great example of amazing games Sony publishes against the odds, or as those "just plain fun games" that don't get enough credit. Its kind of true, but as I'm actually playing it now I'm finding it to be a lot weirder than I expected it. I thought of it as somewhat of an artsy sidescrolling platformer, and that's why I've got it through PS+. Sorry, but I do my share of support for niche games that appeal to me, 2D platformers are bargain bin material in my eyes. I'll support them with word of mouth like I've been doing with this game on the blog, but when it comes down to it its not my thing quite like Wolfenstein and Sly cooper are. However I was also kind of wrong. Instead of just a cool flashy and awesome take on simple old sidescrolling its actually a bit more modern than I expected it without at all feeling overused. Its kind of cross between light hearted fun and serious "artsy" cinematic gaming and genre blending like you'd see more in today but its executed in the same tone as you'd expect for a game more to its time in gameplay. The story is like a cross between being really gamey and a Disney film. You have a fairy tale feeling, you have a big booming villain and his clumsy henchmen, a whiney comedy relief, and a hero who's choosen by magical scissors in Excalibur fashion. Then you realize the boy is also mute, the villains have these odd powers and a sense of dark energy, the second act's plot so far is that the forest is becoming corrupted under dark evil goop, collectibles litter every level, you can unlock side stories that flesh out the lore and history and you've lots of puns and cannon fodder going on. That's just the story and lore side of things to, and noting how it crosses old school game story logic and sillyness with old Disney film charms all with a more cinematic and scripted presence. So far I've been up to act 2, stage 2 at this point and I feel I have enough to talk about it and enough investment to hopefully finish it. Just as much as this game is a mixed bag, I feel quite mixed about it though.

Now what I absolutely adore about this game is its presentation. From the start menu with the narrator welcoming you in and reminding you to turn off your cell phones, to the audio work behind the exceptional voice acting and music. I'm never a massive fan of generic orchestrated music, but when they take a leave out of the bland and generic movie score sound and become something more mystical and magic driven, it really works wonders. Either that, or since I notice it usually works in stylized cartoon games maybe I'm just somehow more easily immersed and noticing the charm of the music within cartoony games. I think its just that they capture a better feeling of melodies, think Zelda for a moment with that. Real-ish orchestra, but done in this awesome tone you can hum... I think all of the orchestrated stylish games sort of capture that amazing feeling and magic with it in some sense. But I'm digressing. The presentation is just wonderful about this game, I'm just constantly amazed by every little detail and chuckle every time a pause sends the stage curtains down into "intermission". Whenever it really does boil down to straight forward platforming for a while without any of the clear stage or story effects (the curtains will always be folded to the sides, but still without any move and on a harder part it becomes clear its a platformer under all that glorious stage stuff), it kind of drags me out of that moment and the magic loss is just a stark contrast. Its not that the gameplay is bad, its just that the stage presentation is so good by comparison its sad to feel without it even for a moment. I love the characters, the constant and silly puns, the 4th wall jokes, the story, the boss characters, its all just so awesome. [Early spoiler-ish content for the rest of this paragraph] I was honestly sad when I found out the cat didn't play as big of a role as I initially thought, even if he was meant to be a despicable character. Meanwhile the witch is just awesome as a character. She's playing on so many different sides at once, its just fascinating to see her on screen. She was an evil minion to the main villain, but always wanted to betray him, so she sends you on this quest but fumbles as she realizes she needs you to get the powers she originally sent you to retrieve for her. So she's obviously still evil trying to just win for herself, but equally as much she's you're mentor training you and helping you in each new move you learn. In the process she's clumsy, goofy, has odd magic and dialogue, and constant mood swings making for a good laugh in her character. On top of that she's promising to help you out in the end, even if you know she doesn't mean much good. So she's a friend, a villain, and comical all at once. Ultimately she's the most curious and unpredictable element of the whole story. The closest comparison I can make to her is maybe the step mother in Disney's movie Tangled, but even then I think the witch is much cooler.

So what's bad? Well.... the fact is I love watching and "feeling" the game out more than playing it. I can't really complain about its gameplay in any objective way, its solid, its just... I dunno, its not totally clicking with me. I have a decent list of subjective nitpicks or complaints over it. The head system feels a bit off balanced with how a head you already have can drop at random and ruin your current collection, meanwhile acting as a health system it just feels tedious sometimes to chase your head down. The difficulty isn't too high, but its unpredictable and the game weaves in and out of some speedy tough and rough spots mixed with encounters that are way too easy. Similarly the pacing of the game is just random. For example the second level has you looking for a knight and something powerful, and at the very end you hear talk of some awesome powerful shield you're character has uncovered after a boss fight... but its a bit confusing as there doesn't seem to be anything noticeable. It ends and then the 3rd level begins with this training course as you then fight your way through the level after this.... so its kind of almost like a tutorial for the shield, but like I mentioned with the difficulty it really doesn't take long before it expect you to think real fast with this system its just given you. Then after that level its over and you move on to the next act, which is sort of like a "world" in mario terms. So.... you gave me a new power at the 2nd level, started 3 off with a tutorial and used it, then I complete the world and get nothing.... oh but don't worry the 1st level of the 2nd act then confuses this whole thing up more. You get to do a full platform level, then new power and its tutorial on spot, and then a repetitive boss fight that makes sure you know how to use it.... all in the first level of act 2. This game has no sense of typical pacing or even its own idea of consistency. It just throws powers and bosses at you whenever it feels like it. So I just feel a bit aimless and the level set-up a bit pointless in the gameplay which throws me off a bit from the story and presentation I love. Finally, the last problem I may have is just some of the repetition in boss fights. That act 2 power is actually a great example. You fight these corrupt "lantern" guys that feel like a mini-boss where they are giant monster with patterns you have to exploit. However they're over in one hit. Still notice how I'm doing this plural? Well its one at a time, same stage type, and same identical idea of a monster, but you have to take them on 3 times with tiny little twists to their patterns. That sounds like a boss fight formed out of seperate entities, right? Well the developer didn't think so, this is all just repetetive and annoying practice for the real boss that does the same thing only you have to hit him 3 times. So you're basically fighting a boss with the same pattern 6 times over. Likewise one of the lesser bosses in act 1 has so many hitpoints, but few diverse attacks. The bosses in this game just love being as repetetive as they possibly can to me, and the moments usually come out from epic to "is it over yet!? Please be over!!!". Whenever I get to that train of though, I want it to be because the boss was tense not dragging on. Sadly that's more of the case, its a drag. I was actually slightly more amused when the true story context boss was half QTE, even as much as I thought it sucked that had now been implemented into a 2D game I was at least grateful the pattern I clearly learned wouldn't be forced on me for another 10 minutes. Now all these complaints don't make it a bad game, once again I think its gameplay even alone is one that commands some respect, just not something I'm into with some of the choices taken here.

Overall I really want to get to the end of puppeteer and experience the whole play thing it has set up and going for it. Everything on the presentation side is just absolutely phenomenal! I kind of wish I were more skilled with these kind of games to because I would love to collect all the extra bits without repeating everything. The downside to the presentation is the same as replaying a COD campaign, you're going to have to do some skipping and witness some down time cutting into your gameplay glory. If you want to redo a level, you'll be redoing the story that comes with it. Still for such a different game, and such a great tone, I think it deserves to be cut some slack in this area. Despite its surprising amount of scripts, presentation, odd QTEs, and my personal issues with the gameplay, I stand by what I said before about this being one of those plain fun and grand middle tier type games people should be more willing to support. Unless there really are so many like me that just cannot get into these sidescrollers, I'm baffled that these games don't sell. Blame the marketing all you want, but that doesn't stop other games from selling well. Anyways I hope to see this clever and unique game to the end... I don't see why not, I have a good seat with this theater after all.