Bringing Spyro The Dragon back

So last time I discussed the possibility that Spyro is back, but said if we were to narrow ideals down to a particular remake, I'd better serve it up in it's own article. This is that article, made for the original 1998 first release of Spyro, because as awesome as the other two were, a single game remake would probably be honed in on the first. Spyro 1 was a bit bumpier than the rest, and in a way maybe it'd be better that it gets the remake treatment anyway. Of course, I would still adore the whole trilogy being remade if possible. For a video demonstration on some of Spyro 1's issues, check out this awesome (and less biased) video, that reviews it with a bit of comedy thrown in. As he even notes at the end though, Spyro is more looked back on as a series than this one game, but still... this article exists under the assumption that only one can be chosen and it gets handed down to the first. So let's talk about things I'd like to make note of with this one, on top of what I already said in the last article.

Rescued dragons, and tutorials...

One of the hardest, most abundantly dumb things to look back on in Spyro, is the absurd way some of the stone dragons and their dialogue were handled. Spyro existed essentially without a static tutorial, which is fine. You explored, ran around, and uncovered these dragons who would occasionally give you good tips. For example, one would suggest Sparx is your health meter, and another would later tell you the triangle button could be used to scope out an area through first-person. However there's a few that are just plain dumb, whether they're repetitive, or very obviously late bad tutorial advice. For example, on the middle of a level in world 2 you bump into a guy that tells you of the very basic function of ramming armored enemies instead of flaming them. Wonderful, but you mentioned this like 8 levels in, after the player probably figured this out in order to even get to that point. This isn't even an uncommon one-off deal. The guy who tells you about the speedway is at the 3rd freakin' speedway entrance! That's also where you'll find the dragon who will give you the most vague hint about a secret all the way back in world 1. A dragon who tells you about electric traps, is seen after passing some electric traps. See what I'm saying?

The voices and humor is also real cheesy, which is fine. Still I'm sure there could be some arrangements in place. Perhaps give them more interesting discussions and exposition, plot out the tutorial spots a bit better, and maybe diversify the cast up a little bit (someone pointed out that there's no female dragons. Kinda odd, and reminds me I haven't seen one in the whole trilogy really). But generally keeping some of the humor, quick delivery, and such would be great. But please, even if it's technically a reference, please keep this line and mock the delivery as best as possible because I just adore it (and so does that view count on the video itself, nearly 8'000 for a tiny line of an ancient game):

Oh yeah, and about that secret... maybe a hint would be nice. I think it helped at the time that 3D was new, and it was family friendly, and little-kid me got this secret from my child mind of just playing "the floor is lava" in a very literal sense with those stepping stones. Thus I got the secret, but today... well, I'm not sure our 3D is so primitive that we're all goofing around on stepping stones. Leave at least the slightest hint around the area that it is in fact a puzzle. We don't need the exact answer, but do point out that there is something to do there.

Bosses need an overhaul

Speaking of redoing things for a better presentation, how about those bosses? Yeah, if you took out the small snippet of info around them, they'd be identical to normal enemies. These are some of the most anti-climatic bosses in old-school history, only dwarfed by modern day quick-time guys who never really pretended to be anything more than a disappointment. Give them a better build-up, maybe even rework their fights so they actually do something more intimidating. At least with the final encounter with Gnasty Gnorc, you know he's the big baddie and you have to work towards him by getting chasing down some keys. I also at least commend some of the obstacles the levels are built around like the tornado boss guy (ugh, not even worth remembering the names though), but the bosses themselves are fairly dull in implementation. You can even clear the 2nd world's boss as soon as you get to the 2nd world, making him the boss of absolutely nothing! Give these guys more of a presence, some epic music, some new attacks, maybe have them built up from the start of the world with the intro dragon telling you about how awful they are or how they're a part of the dastardly Gnorc plan. Heck, this ain't 1998 PS1 anymore, add more depth to the whole story and even copy Spyro 3's routine of giving you actual cut-scenes and story towards these awful guys. I would love that, and it'd give us an actual stage presence of these bad guys.

Get the controls right

Even in going back, I can play these games mostly pretty smooth. That said, there's a nagging sense of my mind telling me perhaps the precision isn't 100% there, especially when I think about it logically. His turns might be just a bit slow, especially when charging, and perhaps that's more evident than elsewhere with the original game that was made before analogue sticks were even a thing. Now they are a thing. Oh, and the second one is a good camera control. Still be sure to keep the passive/Active camera option in place. On top of that, let's also consider perhaps adding in some of the newer game moves? I mean sure the original didn't have a headbash, nor a hover, and it was okay with it, but considering how much people cried over their lack of co-oordination in Yooka Laylee, maybe it's best to give him the hover boost anyways for those people who just can't see in 3D spaces right. Meanwhile you can hide extra things with the headbash. I know if you had swimming you'd possibly change the whole game up, so I'll be fine with letting that stay out. Just basically keep the controls good and well. Oh, and if you do wind up doing Spyro 2 and 3, it would be awesome if you kept in Spyro 1's roll move. It was mostly useless, but fun never-the-less, and I'm not really sure why it was removed... especially now that we have analogue camera.

Careful with the music, especially Dark Hollow

Don't dare fuck up Dark Hollow's track. There's a ton of amazing music across the whole series, but Dark Hollow is one of the best.

Heard it? Feel like world peace came across that five minutes, and the whole cosmos aligned to bring bliss across your soul? Yeah, exactly. Don't screw that up if you aim to replicate something so incredible. If that means you can't, and need to go calling up Stewart and asking him to reuse that exact track the way it is again, so be it. With the awesome night skybox, the little details like lighting your own fires, and the perfect implementation of enemy balance, this music completes Dark Hollow as a masterpiece of a level and works to help it be one of the best introductions to the game. It's so good, that this song has been infused into my head as the essential "this night time is beautiful" type of background mood music. To quote a comment with 44 likes: "One of the comfiest levels in gaming history. Stewart Copeland is a genius!"

Please, get the little good quirks right...

Remember Dream Weavers anyone? That 2nd to last world right before Gnorc's land? Yeah, that had some uh... interesting things. I just looked up and found the enemy I wanted to talk about were called Armored fools, which blew my mind a bit. Above is where they looked like, and when they sit there looking so weird and wiggling their arms going "Awulululu!" like some kind of weird maniac, they just seem like odd monsters. Turns out they're human fools of fairy land, and... perhaps that speaks as to why this game needs a remake, even though for the most part the art style is still fairly nice. Anyway, back to the point, those guys need to be remade to be just as incredibly quirky, weird, and strange as they are now. Dream weavers was full of small quirks like that which just made the game so awesome. That dark level with the light/dark forms, the fairies that kiss you and give you powers, the silly time fools that run around, the little bit cannon, etc. It was the kind of wonderful enchanted chaos all in a single wrapped up world, and the essential spyro art style at full force completed with quirks. Please, don't lose that awesome stuff in transition.

Could Spyro be back?

So guess what kind of news I've been looking at in gaming? Spyro... because, whoa, there's actually spyro news and speculations that might actually be relevant to an old-school fan like myself! Now it's a bit of a stretch though as to what's real or not, but basically here's the thing:

1.  Bluepoint games (very reliable and skilled remaster outsourcing team) have announced they're moving onto making a full-blown remake of a "classic" that is sure to please the masses. A good portion of their work has been with Sony games, so most are speculating that it's an older PlayStation classic, but it could really be a lot of things. Link as source
2.  For some odd reason, First 4 figures looks to be making classic Crash and Spyro merchandise through the form of collector figures. ...why spyro though? And why his classic form!? That's just weird, especially since Activision loves their Skylanders franchi- oh wait a minute!
3.  Activision has announced there will be no more annual plans for a skylander series, as there is none set for next year. Huh, well how about that. Link for source

I'm not the only one connecting these cryptic dots together. It's all speculation, but it's very awesome speculation. Considering Crash, his industry brother, is also getting a full trilogy remake, it helps to hope someone shows Spyro the same love. Naturally you'd also assume a game being remade is probably from a year quite older than PS3 type era. Of course a good counter-argument to be made and shut this down totally, is that perhaps Bluepoint is looking to older multi-plat hits or something even more known than spyro, as they did say "pleasing the masses". Spyro is a big hit in his own right, but in the hall of classics I won't kid myself and pretend he's one of the first names and best sellers.

Now for some more concrete Spyro stuff...

Lots of gems out there...

The more I happen to surf the web and bump into Spyro things, the more it's clear he's well and alive in the hearts of fans. Maybe... a little more alive than usual this spring. But I was delighted and surprised to bump into multiple animations or hack projects going on. Heck, and more will continue if this is any indication. I'm not just talking about those beautiful Unreal 4 interpretations that came out a while back to just mix classics with new engines designers are playing with. Those are bound to happen occasionally, gather some attention, and move on. However this is stuff that happened this year, with fresh animation, tributes, gags, etc. The animation at the very start of this is simply incredible, and it came out just about last month! There are even multiple fan games going on, with varying results and goals in mind, but one even has voice auditions, multiple texture artists, and perfect Spyro style music up and working alongside the study of these new hacking kits.

Even if everything above about Bluepoint amounts to nothing but rumors, there's still a thriving community that's starting to resurface again with some different projects, experiments, and just fun and memories. As one noted, it's bound to get noticed at some point, and every single time is a sting to Activision that "hey, maybe this classic spyro has something a bit more powerful." I really think projects like Spring Savanna are worth keeping an eye on, regardless of a remake or not. The comittment, art, and talent of fans creating and giving back to Spyro for other Spyro fans is something amazing in itself. This is the lasting power of truly wonderful classics, and the sort of people it inspires.

So what if it's being remade?

Dreaming that this actually happens...

Okay, so finally let's talk what ifs. What if some form of remake comes out for Spyro's 19th or 20th anniversary. First off the major question I instantly get is would they, or even could they, be as generous as the Crash Bandicoot trilogy remake? Would we actually see the entire classic Spyro set? I... am sadly forced to assume not for the exact same reason I've come to love this series instead of Crash. Spyro is a more complicated, more interesting, and more open game in design. You're not just putting a character on a lane and yelling "go!" with various pick-ups and distractions, Spyro was essentially open world. If they could remake the whole pack, that would be fantastic and I'd absolutely love them for doing that, but it'd be a bigger task. Crash Bandicoot was an evolution of those sidescrollers, but Spyro fully embraced the 3D mold to give you entire worlds, which means you'd have to recreate entire worlds. over 60 of them, loads of levels had voice acting, plus bonus levels, secrets, rebalancing all the jump and glide mechanics to make sure it was perfect, etc.

However I'll do a hypothetical "what if" article for if we narrow it down to a specific game, likely the original (but I'll be desperately hoping for Year of The Dragon). So for now let me point out things that would apply to the general feel across all games.

• Keep on track with remaking things, just as with what's being done in Crash. Don't reinterpret everything, keep the good things awesome and updated. There's areas that can probably use a bit of a make-over (I don't expect a line-for-line replica on every NPC or anything), but let's not go crazy with that idea and start leaving out entire levels. Spyro holds up well in most areas, and can be replicated with updated visuals in spectacular fashion. I know some things will need to be remade in a way I may not be 100% happy (like new actors, and music), but I can get over it as long as the effort is there, and enough is preserved.
• Keep things fun. Spyro was full of lots of little light-hearted and fun details, be it plants that shook off their scorched texture when flamed, Spyro literally being flattened like a pancake, and just the silly nature of the game's themes and characters. This was a game franchise where one of the more oddly remembered details was gnorc soldiers running into tents, and then mooning you if you burned their cover. That's the fun sort of attitude and sillyness that needs to slip in with the gameplay.
• You've got to really be sure to capture the spirit of the music. I know it's not going to be a straight carry over job, but it's also not that hard to get it right. Many musical pieces actually had something to do with their levels to, like the industrial sound to Huricos, and that odd ship creaking sound worked in with the music of Breeze Harbor. Now think of a bouncy up-beat tone, electronic organs, and you're on the way to making a good mock-up of Spyro music.

Got those notes? Good. However I'll be honest, I would be estatic if the spyro trilogy just got a generic remaster with some res stretching and smoothing, and was re-released. Essentially I'm happy if you can update Spyro, keep his spirit pure to the content we love, and give that to both modern and nostlagic gamers. Of course as Sony has proven by idiotically neglecting Spyro on the vita, nothing is owed even where it makes sense and money. We've been essentially living off of Spyro emulators or the original disc for what's going on to be 19 years. Any form of a remake would definitely be welcome, regardless of the guidelines I noted above.

If this all turns out to be really nothing, life still goes on, and people still seem complacent with keeping Spyro alive by other means on the net. If all we ever end up with was the PS1 version, well it was a fantastic run, and it left having given us something amazing to look back on. It's just so awesome though that there's actual clear hope and possibilities for this to be coming back. Whether it's Blue Point, or somebody else, I'd be very grateful to see what efforts they put forth if there ever is one.

My bold suggestion for Borderlands 3

I almost never talk about Borderlands, which is kind of weird. It's got a big place on the market, and I still remember the hype around the very original. It released surrounding talk about how awesome it's infinite gun system was, how colorful and humorous the world was to explore, and there was even this funny little video IGN made based around it's hype. I got my hands on the original fairly late, but once I did, I was addicted. I loved it! I lost so much time exploring, looting, trial and error fights, taking up quests, and laughing at so many hilarious bits. However I never finished it, and kind of chalked it up to the fact that it was a huge game and I wasn't finishing plenty of things. 2nd one came around, was funnier, a slight bit improved, but as time has gone on I've found myself losing the gravity of appeal, and never wound up buying the 2nd until just recently. I ignore the pre-sequel and Tales spin-off entirely before. Only just now am I getting the Handsome collection while it was on sale (finally!). Here's the thing though: I know a big part of what went wrong.

Over the course of time, loot & shoot games have become a bigger deal. Destiny happened, Ubisoft stuck their hand in with The Division, Shadow Warrior 2 went that direction, and you could argue Fallout was sort of a grittier slower solo idea of the same vision. So it's clear people love this sort of thing, especially online with pairs, and even Borderlands has catered to them over time. So I feel it might be important for me to disclose that I'm still a solo player, and I wish for the series to return to ensuring gamers of that type are still enjoying things, and to NEVER go the Destiny/Division route of forcing it onto a stupid server system. I also don't know if my main suggestion will involve hurting or helping the multiplayer concept, so keep it all in mind. Now then, let's talk about the bazillion guns...

So what I found really help me back, was all the vocal number-crunching going on. Look, I get it, you're a loot and shooter game based on finding awesome loot, and it's best done through a random and awesome system so you can keep generating dozens of guns. However, I know I'm not the only person who feels the killing factor of this game is shooting up a room full of bad guys, and then having to scrape and turn over every piece of that room and compare numbers just to make sure you get it right. Some people will even go a step further, and say the combat itself takes a hit for it for having these padded out scaled up enemies that soak in bullets. I do not agree with that complaint, but it also exists as an example that maybe the numbers are in a little too much control here. However my main issue is just all the damn time where I have to sit there and compare guns, making double sure I've got my best loot, and that the stuff I sell is good, what to drop in a full inventory, etc. It's all the chore of an RPG busywork, stuck in the middle of a cool and quirky action packed chaotic world. It makes no sense with the thrill, and yet it's the most obvious and plain way to establish the selling mechanics of this game. So let's consider re-evaluating that a bit.

In the most recent game right now, these are the factors going into a weapon:

• Weapon type
• Damage
• Rate of fire
• Reload speed
• Capacity
• Scoped/sights (not actually stated, but a present feature to consider)
• Specials, which can include: Elements, elemental chance, critical hit damage, reload based perk, etc.

Now on a list, it doesn't look like anything to end a game. However keep in mind that this is the next biggest priority to shooting things. Nearly every single one of these is numbered, drops frequently, and it's usually beneficial to keep higher-tier boss loot stuff anyway so a whole bunch of it winds up being crap. When you're slowed down looking at each and every damn number, stat, and test-firing close calls, not to mention the weird lesser-described perks of elemental damage and multi-bullet shots, you've got a crapton of sorting to do with this. Oh and don't point to the green/red arrows as a fix, they just guide the eye a bit. If you've got a gun that gives you 1+ point of damage, but takes away your entire magazine, arrows won't help; You'll still be eyeing those numbers to measure. It's a blatant chore, and anyone trying to argue "it's about finding a reward" is ignoring how poorly done of a reward it is. You can still go and find your rare weapons with super stats, it's just that these stats are stupidly drawn out and a waste of time.

Less numbers, more of this

Okay, so first off: Why on both games am I starting off with assault rifles that aren't assault rifles? That can be the first fix, stop generating so many damn slow 12-shot assault rifles. That's just annoying, and contrived inconvenience, not to mention it breaks the immersion to remind you that only a game with random generation would come up with such a dumb weapon as a burst-fire assault rifle that holds 3 shots, or an automatic LMG with the accuracy cone as big as a bus and yet scoped in tight like you were going sniping with it. Stuff like that is just a good way to piss the player off, and I know there are parameters that can be set to eliminate annoyances like that.

Now let's talk about simplifying numbers. Rate of fire, and reload speed do not need to be strictly numbers down to some decimal point. You can set these things up to simple pieces: Slow, medium, and fast. Or to be even more player friendly, you can have a gun actually list it's style of shooting. You can break an assault rifle down into: Semi-auto, Burst, automatic, wind-up (minigun style), and custom. Custom would be a great addition where the player can set the pace of the rifle among basic functions, and could be a rare feature. On top of this, you can set functions like making scopes only go with burst and semi-auto functions so they're not riffing off of some crazy number function and slowly making it in. I could even suggest, just so you don't cram the game full of crappy semi-autos at the start again (it defeats the whole purpose of progressing from a pistol to an assault rifle), that you even leave semi-auto out of assault rifles, and instead include it among sniper rifles as a lower scope chance. That way, a guy expecting good assault rifles will always get them, but that niche sniper player will still enjoy a simple and accurate semi-auto rifle for picking off enemies. Besides, for the reload speed, do you really need to measure that by the exact time? Just take your average range of slow and fast speeds, and compress it down into three differences, or have it be an invisible factor that balances with the capacity (bigger mag takes longer).

Finally, just stop making gamers do the math for some of your extra features. Like if an assault rifle fires two bullets close to each other, stop lazily labeling it as 11x2, so that it always compares weirdly with a normal gun firing at 21 damage. If you're going to keep that weird system in place, at least calculate it for the player. Like have it say 11x2 (22 total) in the box. This'd be especially great for shotguns that naturally have multiple shots. Then there's the "consumes two bullets" thing. Why!? No really, just why? Don't tell me it's a counter-balance, because that's what the capacity is there for. To slap that on, and pretend the gun still has 20 shots in the capacity is a blatant lie. Just label it for what it really is, stop slowing the player down with these damn mind-games and set your parameters to balance the shit out right instead of overcomplicating it.

Okay, finally: Learn from Doom and R&C, and simply your pick-ups a bit. You don't 15 crates in every area, shoved into the far corners, filled with nothing but pocket change and ammo that you have to manually grab. Give the player automatic pickups for what they need, compensate more out of enemy kills and how well they killed them (maybe hitting criticals to a certain threshhold within an enemies life reward health or ammo more often?). Then when you're done with all the good loot that you do have, you should be able to just go and sell your junk. Unfortunately, these games only have a favorites, not a junk. That could also help. With that said, let's recap:

1. Take the numbers out of RoF, shield recharge, and Reload speeds. We don't need to be measuring them so strictly. Just tell us if it's fast or slow, break it up into simple categories instead of fine numerical mathmatics.
2. Stop giving us lame assault rifles that don't function properly, or have horrible inconveniences like a scoped low-accuracy situation. That's just not fun.
3. Cut down or re-work the distracting stats, like multi-bullets not showing their real damage output, or how for some stupid reason there's both a "consumes X shots" and it's unaccounted on the capacity.
4. Make ammo pick-ups simpler to get, and less cluttered around the map. It's incredibly tedious as of now, and could be simplified down like most games have it where you simply find ammo when you need it, or get it off of kills or special kills.
5. Give us a junk/sell category to put things in.

Sound good? Good. I'd like to think this is all reasonable, and still keeps the loot present. I'm also still open to any good addition they can think of, like say an anti-gravity element, or some manual customization like being able to buy your own mods and equip stuff like a scope yourself to a gun. I think things like that can be done well, alongside my changes, and still make for a fun loot and shoot experience. You'll still be playing with your friends, collecting loot, and fighting crazy enemies with crazy weapons. It's just that you won't have to slow down and read a page of stats for each new trinket you find, nor dig through all the rubbish cans lying around and holding down the pickup button on everything to make sure you fill up on what you can. It's time to move on from this OCD trip the game encourages, which is discouraging to the general game, and instead to streamline it so you're more in the moment to moment action. I'd like to think Borderlands could benefit a lot from working on it's general interface and loot system like that a good bit.

Now Playing: Yooka Laylee

Yeah I showed a bit of skepticism for this game before, and who knows notably it's length and price. But I got a slight discount, and was told the game has up to 20+ hours, so I took a risk and got it alongside a secured pre-order of Prey, thus ending my hype list for the short-term. Truth be told, I still have hope, and a desire for this game to be as awesome as possible. How is it so far? Well, in the green, but I'm not exactly ready to announce it the ultimate fantastic return of Rare or 3D Platforming. Of course, I don't see the hyper-critical dismissive side as having an ounce of validity to their arguments either. An 8-ish range is about right if you want to score it, I can imagine a 6 from people who just aren't suited for this type of thing.

Let's get address that downside of the internet real quick, because that's what's on my mind as I look at the fun I just had, compared to those so easily tossing it aside. Even unpatched, the camera is mostly fine, even better than what I was complaining about in the last article on the issue with it's toybox problems (though not perfect, but I have yet to hit anything bad enough worth putting it in a review). The collectibles? Fine, and quite fun. The setting, and character voices? Fine. The platforming? Fine, save for some stubborn sliding (you won't believe how easy it is to miss that one collectible). The music? Awesome, though maybe just a tad bit too on the shadow of B&K. If you're just not able to get into this kind of game, I get it, but I don't see where the outright hatred or easy dismissals are coming from. As Ratchet and Mario Galaxy will tell you, 3D Platforming never died because of any quality or design issues, so quite pretending it was "obviously" going to underwhelm when those games have been hits in the past recent years. The game does it's job just fine. But you know what, if you hate jumping that much, this ain't your game. It's not that kind of below 40%* broken mess just because you couldn't get that down right, or because your career in gaming gets you to hate collectibles. That sort of area on practically every game's code index, including a certain one that gave it that score, is for broken games with hardly a passable attribute to be found at all. Yet the music, the colors, and the point of the game are all present and running.

*I know there's the angry fanatic stigma out there that takes this kind of attitude up a few notches, so let's be clear here: I'm frustrated with the dishonesty of a few critics, but not to the point of attacking them or breaking their sites. I do not endorse that sort of idiocy, and I honestly don't even agree with numerical scoring systems in the first place. However I'm not going to remain silent when a couple seem to be blatantly exaggerating any possible problems, and it's prominently clear even through just gameplay video that the game is not on tier with broken disasters that lack redeeming qualities.

Who can hate playing in the snow anyway?

Alright, so what are the issues from somebody who actually knows what they're talking about with the genre? Well, my problems with it oddly aren't ones I've seen mentioned. The game starts off slower than I would have liked. That whole unlock things from Trawser is really there in full force, I'm honestly flattered they even allowed you to jump in the beginning from how tight it is (though that and walking is about all you have). Something as basic as the gliding comes after the 1st world, and you have to get the tall jump inside of the 2nd (and pay for it). So basically, if you though Moneybags was bad from Spyro, well you forgot modern game design is all about Moneybags X12 where they make you "upgrade" to even breath if they could, and it might be one of the few things Yooka-laylee did to modernize. Look, let me have my basic damn abilities of movement. This slow feeling was also helped by just how talkative everything is in teaching you how the world works, and certain issues with polish that could have been avoided. I had to talk to trawser about an upgrade, unlocked a mini-game with it, had to let the guy blabber about where to find him to play it, and then I go all the way down there and load another section only for him to tell me THEN that I don't have the ability for his game... which the game itself was unlocked by another ability in the first place, and he could talk to me from there, and he didn't tell me the real requirement while I was right beside the spot to get it! The game is riddled with odd little quirks of inconvenience like that. I rage-quite a race because the butterflies used to power it weren't respawning right with the retries, I had to endure unskippable dialogue on the quiz that refuses to let you skip the one part they should know was going to be repeated a ton, and there was a part of a level where there's 3 door-ways that lead nowhere, but they still function to load the screen as if to trick you into thinking something was there. But the camera is the problem? Really!?

Now the only issue I have with the platforming so far, is that the power meter is a really stupid core concept. Okay, you want to limit abilities? Just make them have a limit, or work really intense ones in with their own natural restrictions. Like make invisibility last only 7 seconds, or do exactly what you did with the projectile power. I have yet to see any sensible reason for why something as basic and fun as the rolling has to drain the power bar like the last drop of a slurpee. Every other game in the book, including this one (projectile) has a better built core design that empowers or restricts the player without some lame system like this, EXCEPT for the spyro games that people hate. So... nice job there. But really, I guess I'm just complaining because it's much easier for me to say what I don't like than what I do. What I love is the playful adventure in these games. What I love is sliding around, bumping into a secret, and the finding out you stumble into this secret path that fetches you the ghost writer you saw earlier. What I love, is the fun puns and insults Capital B shouts at you when you're just idly exploring his Hub world. It's hard to stay focused on that when it's intuitive, friendly, and just warm and charming. That's ironically why it's easier to focus on the problems, and yet why I'm also just eagerly defending the game from it's harshest of critics, because the hatred from some of them seems kind of heartless at the end of the day. It's just a fun and harmless game, and while it has it's issues, it's still something that kind of brings a great spirit to the table that you just can't put your finger on.

I've also got to say, I feel a bit sorry for doubting the 5 world system. I mean some of the concern still stands. However, it's not just five levels of been there, and done that in a three hour game. It's five levels that continue to expand, and encourage you to revisit them later after you've dipped your toes elsewhere. It's a subtle nod to metroidvania mentality, without the gadget puzzle crap. You get some key pieces, and you get to earn a new world and look to it for some variety, but then when you've got enough piled on high you feel like going back and hunting for what's different. It's like a kid on an easter-egg hunt in a park, you just get to keep digging, searching, having those ah-ha moments, and watching each world evolve around you as you continue to find treasures. It's pretty fun, and even though things like the energy meter, or some stupid unpolished quirks pop theirs heads out, so to do all the happy animations, or those NPCs that bring out a surprisingly fun game like Hiding seek mashed up with riddles. Stuff like that is what really keeps games like these a very fun and endearing adventure. If you're not up for that, and the crazy number of collectibles and occasional frustrations it brings, then I understand and I'm not recommending this game to you. However there's a lot of people out there, myself included, that fell in love with gaming because of games that do exactly this, and let you just absorb yourself in a quirky full and 3D world of fun and games, and freedom of movement. I don't understand why the bulk of gaming left that behind, but it's not obsolete, and I'm sure glad Playtonic formed off the back of Rare and revealed that some people will always have the heart to bring us these experiences. Yooka-Laylee isn't the king of such a position yet, but it's still a damn fun game I'm glad to be playing at about two worlds in.

[Review] Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition

The range of 2009-2014 was weird for games. We had great systems, devs were well-established into making games for them, there were a ton of different games to choose from, and yet... there also kind of wasn't. Horror games, 3D platformers, and every shooter that worked off of not-halo mechanics were a very rare find (essentially dead). Practically the entire action game scene was trying to follow COD, and your only alternative being an experimental batch of RPGs, and open world games. 2011 was one of those years where a surge of exceptions all charged out, but they were mishandled and undersold. Bulletstorm was among them. Now it's come back thanks to Gearbox in a remastered form. Maybe it was awesome up against some shitty cookie-cutter competition, but how does it do now? Furthermore, what did they do to make it worth revisiting?

Okay so for the unannounced, Bulletstorm is a shooter that sits in it's own league of strange and awesome. It has the old-school tone set to newer standards, giving you crazy weapons, secondary fire, trash-talking space soldiers, and some of the most creative vulgarity you'll probably ever witness in gaming. However, it got one foot caught in the COD bear trap of the era, and also decided they wanted you to heal behind cover, could only carry a few weapons, and they had that guy who swore up and down that people loved quick-time events down every other corner. Meanwhile they also listened to crazy earl, who said "I want to play as steve blum on a drunken rampage, where he gets extra points for shooting a guy in the nuts, kicking his head off, and surfing on his corpse!" The surfing bit didn't make it, but they overcompensated by giving you all sorts of other crazy point-earning schemes out of this combat system they dubbed: Skill Shots. Welcome to Bullestorm, a game so stupid, trigger-happy, and imaginatively swear-happy, that somebody actually wrote this incredible scene:

So with that tone set, you probably wouldn't expect a whole lot of the story, but to dismiss it is one of the most criminal acts I've probably seen so many reviews do upon this game's release. The story in place is actually quite powerful, despite all major character talking in a way that'd have their mother's feeding them lye soap for meals. The game stars Grayson Hunt, a space pirate that used to be a part of an elite confederate team, until he discovered the full extent to which is squad was being used. Now they all went renegade, are wanted criminals, and decide to pick a fight with their former boss, Sarrano... who happens to have a ship that's 8 times bigger. In a last act of sabotage, manages to send everything crashing down onto a nearby resort planet. Things are far from a vacation however, when it turns out the planet is run by mutants and savage creeps who run gang wars against other creeps. What makes things even worse, is your only surviving crew member lived by a last-minute cyborg surgery, and it's crude implant is causing an AI mind to try and take over, wishing death on Gray for his self-destructive and vengeful habits. The bright side? He'll spare you if you can fight to get to General Sarrano, who's is the only one with connections to get off the planet. Along the way you manage to meet an equally as pissed off solider, Trishka, and she joins you in trying to reach her boss, and manages to discover some of the people she's with happen to be heavily involved in a traumatic past event in her life. Now you've got a story about revenge, friends, guns and mutants, and it all comes together in an interesting way. When the game stops it's usual routine to have the two pals place a gamble reliant on the player, and the characters actually honor it, small moments like that make it all sink in even better. There's quite a few late game twists, and it all comes together as a pretty awesome bromance revenge story full of crass humor. Every voice actor, with Steve Blum and Jennifer Hale being the recognizable highlights, are bringing their A-game here with stellar performances as well.

Now the gameplay, is relatively awesome. As I mentioned before, it goes in with a bit of old-school attitude and mentality. You've got all kinds of crazy and cool weapons, ranging from a quad-barrel shotgun, a bouncing cannonball gun, and a drill gun. Each weapon has a secondary fire "charge" mode, with more limited ammo capacity, but all the interesting features like turning a simple pistol into a firework launcher, the shotgun into a super heated blast-wave, or allowing the drill to steer it's victims. Each weapon has a list of assigned skillshot with it, and a lot of times you'll have to combine accuracy with the naturally given leash (also has a charge shot), kick, and slide abilities your character can use at any time. For example, sliding into an enemy while blasting them with a shotgun gets you a torpedo skillshot, or you could send a kicked/leashed enemy out, lace them with explosives, and blow them up beside another enemy to get a homie missile (yeah, there's a bunch of puns like that). You spend these skillshot points later on ammo, and ammo-capacity upgrades. There's also lots of environmental objects that add onto this mentality, like explosive barrels, parasite plants, cliffs, wall-spikes, and set pieces like kicking an enemy into a helicopter rotor. It all also lends itself naturally to secondary score-attack echo mode, where you replay pieces of levels uninterrupted by story to wrack up points on a 1-3 star scale.

The sad thing though, is that the hit detection will sometimes fuck up your skillshots, or the skill shots just won't register right. This is especially true with chaining multiples on a kill. Sometimes when you shotgun an enemy off a cliff, it just counts as a kill, sometimes a cliff kill (vertigo), and only ever-so-often do you actually get the pump-action skillshot which quite directly translates to shooting enemies into things. Why the hell doesn't that occur all the times it actually happens? Sometimes, I almost consider the idea of turning off the Skillshot HUD so I'm not freaking out about what it counts, but this stuff does directly tie into the gameplay. It ties into getting ammo, unlocking trophies, and now with the remaster a game-changing reward on getting infinite ammo, and a new echo mode where you have to be very picky about skillshots. This stuff matters, so when bomb the hell out of a site and are only met with a base +10 for three kills instead of a +50x3 for a gang bang kill, it really does make a difference, and it's stupid that they couldn't fix their core system right in either the first entry, or even in this remaster. I'm surprised I don't hear anyone else complaining about it, but it's undeniable that both copies seem to fickle with whether they could a blast into a spike wall as a spike-wall only skillshot, or a pump-action, or both, and so on with other examples. Oh and then there's the flailgun, which has this bullshit auto-aim to it regardless of turning off aim assist. I'll be aiming at an enemy and then it'll wind up sticking to a wall right to the left of my aim, totally ruining the shot and delaying another by about 3 seconds since I have to detonate the first one I fired. I don't even remember that happening in the original copy, so... somebody get on fixing that if this remaster brought that on.

Now let's talk about it's fusion with more modern mechanics. This stuff works so well, that honestly I actually don't mind the 3 weapon limit as much as I usually would. Here it's almost a matter of strategizing which weapons you want to work with, unlock more skill points for, and there's always a station near the last to switch up your gear when you really need it. Plus the environmental and melee options are open, meaning you've always got more weapons than the three guns you carry. I suppose the regenerating health, while less interesting than a real system, is also present to streamline the combat. However, there are times when things don't work quite right. Not all covers actually do their job of covering you, and every second forced to try and find crouching spots is time wasted, slowing the combat down and reminding you of why you should hate this lazy and skill-less regenerating health stuff. I definitely don't recommend playing the game on anything higher than medium difficulty for that reason, cover sucks. Then there's the QTEs, which I don't mind as small connecting points in-between segments (like climbing to get from one building to another), but the game is way too happy with them, sometimes distracting you with a silly "QUICK, HOLD L2 FOR MAX POINTS" to look at a mini-boss enemy you've seen 8 times before. I almost have to laugh at the stupidity of a certain early one that has you zoom in and stare at a skull, and... nothing else happens. A lot of times it's not interesting, or useful, it's just there to be there, and is dated nonsense the game shouldn't have ever included. It probably did so as just a gimmick. I suppose it's also worth mentioning, the game moves in a linear path, and so you're left out if you're expecting old-school exploration, but I don't think the game necessarily needed it anyway.

Full clip, or firing blanks?

So let's go over the full extent of the remasters: On the generous side you've got a new color filter to toggle on/off at the options in any moment, they brought back multiplayer co-op survival, a new echo mode that changes up the system with special challenges to play through, and then there's Overkill mode. Overkill mode is essentially new game +, telling you that if you beat the game, you get to play through it all with a whole weapon wheel, all weapons at any point in the game, and if you've achieved all of a weapons skillshots you've also got the ability to have infinite ammo for said weapon. Your quick-select on consoles still works based on what you have selected out of dropkit consoles, and you can use this to help wrap up any lacking skillshots and have your infinite ammo unlocked right on the spot. Less obvious changes to the game, include the ability to play as Duke Nukem (sold separately if you don't grab a launch print), and subtle option features like a crouch protection... which supposedly keeps you from accidentally ducking on what I assume are the default controls. I'd imagine it's just easier to switch to toggle, and just used that the entire game. The graphics are okay, but haven't aged the best since it retains that strong Unreal 3 engine look. It has better AA, and thankfully still looks beautiful in places with it's naturally colorful art, but the models and technical visuals aren't all too impressive. I'm really not sure whether that could have been actually addressed, or if it was part of the model and engine limitations. The new color filter usually makes things grayer, and so I wouldn't suggest that helps with anything, though it's fun to play with and sometimes there's a spot that could use some de-orange-ing and the result looks a little better.

As for Duke Nukem, he's a fun addition, but I'm cautious to make a bigger deal than what it's worth. He's voiced right, has a few of Gray's lines rewritten to suit him, and makes some hilarious new jabs including a couple meta-jokes poking fun at the fact he's even there. Obviously other characters didn't get revoiced, and will still call him Gray, but Duke plays along with it and sometimes jabs back at the idea with one of my favorite lines being "How many freaks do I have to kill, before you remember my name!?". However his faults come in with a couple odd lines, and his very badly modeled cut-scene appearance. He was sloppily placed like a reskin over top of gray, having lips not match his actual words, and even gestures that don't follow up, like pointing at stuff he won't be talking about with his new lines. It's especially noticeable late game, where the character has some of the most awkward silent speeches and gestures (from new lines that were shorter than the old ones, but Duke still talks on because it was a sloppy reskin over Gray). It essentially boils down to the awesome idea of choosing between Steve Blum's voice, or Jon St. John's voice. He costs $5 to those that don't have a copy that comes with him, and if you're into Duke Nukem, it ain't a bad deal. Though he changes just enough of the story that I definitely don't recommend new-comers playing Duke first. However combined with the heavier price of the general remaster, and considering the problems, I can see how it's not a comforting proposition and it's a shame they didn't just include him with the base game for everybody. I'd recommend him if your a fan of this novel concept, but to everyone else, Steve Blum's character as the default Grayson Hunt is good enough.

Conclusion

This game comes close to scoring a flawed fun, but honestly, it's way too fun for that at the end of the day. It's got some issues with it's core design, but for all the fun it's worth, the game holds up as more than just an anti-COD game of the early decade. It's still a fun trip to come back to, full of creative kills, crazy weapons and enemies, and a fascinating revenge tale full of twists and vulgar humor. If that isn't enough, there's all sorts of extra content ranging from a fun score attack mode that makes the best of it's core feature, to the newly added Overkill mode that gives you the full power you deserve after beating a lengthy and fun campaign. There's a lot of value here. Many will rightfully question a one-game remaster for the price of $50, but as a fan who got it at a slight discount (pre-order discount + Amazon) I was sure happy with it. I totally understand other fans are waiting for a drop though, but I say that exclusively towards the "been there, done that" fans. If you're an FPS fan who missed out on this game entirely though, stop making excuses that it's too old to pay for, and go check it out. This is the definitive version of a good game a lot of people missed out on, and every crude FPS fanatic should be quoting general Sarannos in saying "I've got a scotch, and I am violently fiddlin' with my balls in anticipation at your arrival" towards this game.

Games I want remastered

I've been meaning to make this list for a while, yet never got around to it. We all have games we really want to see get a remaster, and yet not all of them do. Well... maybe not all, there's always those whiny bunch that think they need to approve of every release, and happen to think remasters aren't worthy. If you're one of them, the door is that way. Otherwise, continue on. These are the games I want a remaster for, and for the most part I'm staying away from real old releases that would better be remade. Sorry Spyro, Fur Fighters, Timesplitters, and the good Star Wars Battefront.

Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen

Now on PC, you guys already got a remastered definitive edition not too long ago. Congrats. Now... where's the PS4/Xbone/Switch one? It's gathered a cult following that loved this game to bits, and I'd consider myself among them even as someone that doesn't like RPGs. Real combat, loads of monsters, some hardcore backbone to the design, and lots of goofy antics with certain mechanics acting up a little weirder than intended. DD has all the hallmarks of a great game, yet seems to have been forgotten while Capcom goes about reselling so many other things. I'd love to see the best version of this hit console with the best FPS and graphics as possible.

Dark Souls

Nothing else on this list is so obvious of an excuse to print money, as Dark Souls. I won't even mention Demon Souls, though that would be amazing (bundle the two as the classic souls pack), but let's be real: they could put out Dark Souls with a simple porting job, renew online, and then we'd all run out and buy it. It's a classic of the PS3 game, one of the biggest games to come out in japan in a while, and practically a part of gaming culture's very vocabulary. Stop stalling, and just give us this legendary RPG that has spawned a massive franchise. Especially since you claim there will be no more.

Killzone 2/Blood on Helghan edition

Please, don't make me beg... you don't have to, I'm sure I will anyway. The PlayStation 3 had some incredible and underrated shooters. Resistance (especially 3), Killzone 2, and Starhawk. However in the same breath as COD catching on fire, Killzone released to have most people shrug it off after the impact of the initial hype train. Graphics were marveled over, some fans boasted about it being a great campaign, but aside from a cult following of hardcore fanatics that kept the server running up through even the PS4's launch, not many people kept their eyes on it nor valued everything it offered. At first glance, it was just space COD before that was an actual thing. Regenerating health, scripted campaigns, angry soldiers and nuke babble, and a multiplayer with unlocks that was accused of taking a slight turn towards TF2's direction. However if you've paid attention to my blog, you'll know I'm among that hardcore following, and I can give you so many reasons to throw this delusion of a space COD out of the window. What you have with Killzone 2 is taking the COD frame, and aside from a minor mistep or two, it does everything around it to give it the deepest experience possible.

• The gunplay was weighty, loud, impactful. The very decals that hit into walls left 3D-like holes in them, and soldiers would flinch, helmets would pop off, and there were over 200 death animations and idle dialogue from the enemies to make it all come together before you turned them into a ragdoll corpse.
• There was a legit story in place, with underlying depth in the war politics, hints at a greater mission at play than what you were told, and allies who actually had personality and character. Though, everyone loves to hate Rico for his character, go figure.
• There were actual boss fights in this FPS! I know, crazy, right? An epic show-down with Radec on top of his awesome voice acting cemented him as PlayStations Darth Vader, while on the way you witnessed massive chaingun toting brutes, and a supped up death drone you had to deal with.
• Did I forget to mention how incredible the enemies were to fight? In addition to the gunplay, there were enemy types that actually posed differences, and most enemies were actually intelligent.
• The graphics are some of the best... or perhaps the absolute best, on the PS3. Except for the weird flamethrower visuals, I don't know what the hell was going on with those. It's dated by today's standards, but that's why we're talking about a remaster here. With all the physics and engine detail, I think this game would hold up well enough with a little polishing.
• The multiplayer was a splash of old school fragfest, mixed in under the guise of a class based tactical shooter. Add that on top the server browser (An incredible asset that most modern games are too stupid to use), and you had matches full of chaotic strategy, energy, and depth to them, all ran by the community and for the community. Clan wars were detailed like you wouldn't believe it, spectator mode was in place, there were bots, unlocks that actually made sense, team work, a real health system, and a love of grenade spam all at play to make this really stand out. It's really no wonder the big fans stuck with this while everything, including the future killzone, dumbed down.

Now if that's not enough to entice you, what I'm recommending here is a revival of the multiplayer scene alongside a remastered core game. I'd buy it in a heart beat, max price, especially if they worked out some minor kinks like the terrible default bot mode method (bots from the menu lacked proper options, but you could make a work around by filling up a locked private server with them). It'd be especially great if they could let you carry more than one main gun, the biggest issue with an otherwise exception military shooter campaign. With 60fps, updated graphics, revived multiplayer, I think many would return and might even notice and catch on to some of the great underlying qualities I mentioned. However, you can go a step further and make a Blood on Helghan bundle, which would include Killzone 3, and Killzone Mercenary. Yes, the vita game, and before anyone raises an eyebrow note that it ran off the exact same engine here, so they could hypothetically bump everything to match Killzone 2 & 3 and build from there. It'd make an incredible pack, and Killzone merc would especially bring in some attention for those that never bothered with the vita. The only concerns I'd have is they'd ruin either the weapon weight system, because a bunch of babies thought it was wrecked, and they might either choose the wrong multiplayer (Killzone 3... ugh), or wreck what was good about the 2nd one. However they could just as easily fix it's faults up a bit instead. Even if I just got the remastered Killzone 2 campaign, I'd be paying for that and ready to return. This game was one of my favorites ever on the PlayStation 3, and I'd love to see it reshined on the PS4.

Ratchet & Clank: Collection/CiT

Ratchet & Clank is one of my favorite franchises, and with the recent remake, I'm very happy for them to have made a great successful one again. I even enjoyed the movie people loved to hate, and bought it on Blu Ray as soon as the opportunity came up. However, the remake itself had some issues with it, and... well, I still feel partially like R&C needs a more proper show on PS4. While a remaster won't exactly give them any remade functionality built for the PS4, it will catch people up on some of the games they missed, not to mention bring out some of their best adventures yet. However I doubt they'd actually pull the whole series up to date, and put it on one system all over again like they did for PS3. So if I were to narrow it down, and follow my rule of newer games that aren't of remake tier, I suppose I'd get things down to the main Future series: Tools of Destruction, Quest for Booty, Crack in Time, and Nexus. If you want to shave it down once more, well you're in luck, because I'll work with you there to and quickly get to the main point of what I truly want more than anything else in the series: Crack in Time.

It, alongside oddly enough the 3rd PS2 game, is the best of the entire franchise. It's got amazing characters, amazing levels, great graphics, a story that has brought gamers into tears through both laughter and raw emotion, and is essentially the biggest milestone in their journey yet... if the remake didn't throw it all out the window with a reset button. Crack in Time may have also been a hit with me for one odd reason, and perhaps that makes it fit right in with the year we've got Skylar & Plux, and Yooka-laylee; CiT was the most old-school platformer friendly game of the whole series. It didn't stop you with stupid metroidvania stuff every other level, nor did it hold you to any wacky gadgets too hard. Instead it was more about exploring the galaxy, merely gated by Zoni collecting, and you had to enter in these challenges, find secret spots, and snatch them. It was Spyro in space, with two weapon wheels full of crazy guns. On that note, all the good guns we expect are there. Shotgun, blasters, bombs, zerkon, disco dancing, transformer weapons, this game even introduced a gun that works through burps. Oh, and did I mention it had free-roaming space travel, and Dr.Nefarious!? Incredible game. So please, remaster it with better AA (which was lacking and noticeable on explosions), 1080p+, and it'll be an easy port job I'll be happy to pay for, and put the very best and most interesting part of the adventure right in front of all those eyes that just got interested in the series. I'd love to see this remastered on the PS4. I Swear, I've turned this game on just to fly into space, find one of those magical grass island sphere bits, and just wind down a bit listening to the radio. This is one of the best games I've ever played, and I'd love to have it updated just ever so slightly. Of course, packing it in with more good times would just be all the better.

Lights, camera, fail?

ugh, horrible memories

Yooka-Laylee has brought out an interesting level of criticism now that reviews are flowing around. The camera is especially notable, popping up across many reviews. Now I know it's possible to have a bad camera, even in today's time. Still, I get a little skeptical when people claim the camera is just that bad, especially enough to give it a freakin' 2 out of 10 like some critics have. It's a more isolated one to, not like everybody around the board is smashing the game open like a pinata. Some, including 3D platformer fans of course, are having a great time. Now I'd love to just dismiss the camera complaints as a bunch of uncoordinated guys who aren't suited for these kind of games, much like how some people just don't have the reflexes for a sidescroller, or the accuracy for unassisted shooters. However, I decided to look into things a little deeper, and... well now I'm left wanting to discuss proper 3D cameras, especially after actually experiencing the toybox demo after a late pre-order.

First off, let's get this right, there is a way to do proper 3D 3rd person cameras, and there is a wrong way to do it. Examples exist in the past, and somehow, the present. Getting it just right entails giving players good control of it (360 degrees around the character is nice), making it work well in tight spaces, and having the proper controls to adjust it when such a thing is needed. I'd even go as far as to say that means it needs a first person look mode in most platforming games. It'd also be fantastic to follow in Spyro's steps of having an active and passive choice for cameras. Ideally the end result should be so good, you forget you're even using a camera most of the time, much like how a good shooter doesn't have you think about aiming so much as just doing it. So to recap:

• As much control as possible. Mario 64 is the biggest culprit of bullshit disregard for this I can name, with games as recent as Snake Pass following close behind when I can't even look up half the time to see if there's any collectibles, or better path.
• Prepare for objects and tight spaces! I don't exactly know of the best examples, but that's because they do them so well you don't think about it. Perhaps the best option is to hug closer to the character, which is what Yooka-Laylee's toybox demo does NOT do, and it's really irritating when it can actually get stuck on objects.
• Have camera adjustments ready. You cannot have this break the first rule, about camera control, but it's a balancing act to make sure the camera still does it's job. If you charge forward too hard, there should be a toggle-able way to fix it so the camera follows. However if you jump, it should not be auto-correcting in mid-air.

Correcting recent mistakes:

Watch where you're going!

I lashed on both Snake Pass, and Yooka-laylee (at least it's toybox demo) in that list, and for good reason. They don't have problems that break the game in some significant way I know of, but they have issues that had me thinking "this sucks" in moments where I needed more control.  Snake Pass had this issue where the camera control was never full present. You could turn it and use it as if it were there, but there was no first person button, the zoom felt inconsistent, and on top of that you couldn't always keep it at a leveled view. You had these moments where it wanted to force you to be at an angle, as if you were watching the snake crawl instead of moving it. It was as if the safety bounds for the camera-to-ground level (so you're not looking through the floor) were too broad, so you could never scope out certain areas. On top of that, there was no first-person control to help sort out directions and secrets. As for Yooka-laylee, well... it's a little more worrying since I've only goofed with the toybox.

In the toybox, the camera has fairly bold issues you happen to notice, and I'm not sure how it wasn't caught. One is that physical objects are solid even to the camera, meaning if you walk through an archway or frame and try to look around, you'll get stuck on the wall and unable to look around until you move away from it. As far as I can remember, all good cameras typically zoom rather than lock into a wall. Meanwhile the other problem comes in with a very specific type of platforming, and was nearly on highlight for one of the obstacles there: the camera fights to reset itself behind the characters. It essentially breaks the rules of control for the rule of adjustment, but there's nothing that needs to be adjusted. When a player is making a jump, the camera needs to do what they ask, not what the devs think they would usually ask. You currently cannot make certain longer jumps that watch your shadows, because the camera will take away the perfect angle to watch those shadows, and on top of that just the fact it corrects anything mid-jump can be a distraction. Platformers are for platforming, and if you distract players from platforming, you've failed on polishing your basic mechanic. Not on some 2/10, "game sux and all 3D platformers are terrible", sort of nonsense, but never-the-less it's a flaw and I hope some people find ways to put this into better details than just "the camera sucks, sometimes". I actually might discuss the hate certain corners give to 3D platformers in general some other time on that issue, but for now, I hope I did some good in discussing the cameras.

Keep those cameras going strong, in times of need

Selling a sequel without selling the first...

Bulletstorm can't seem to catch a break, and in almost every way I'm forced to play devil's advocate for each side. At first launch it was a game that looked fun, but got hit with piracy, fox news' ignorance, and just plain low sales. So the sequel that was so clearly planned, suddenly got sent nowhere. Now that it's back, it's been hit with everything else. Actually it's so many things, I'll make it a list:

1. The crowd that decides they're so special, they need to approve of every damn release, pretended they didn't care about this getting a remaster. They said so by flooding the comments on the game they did not care about.
2. People raged on about the remaster price, which is understandable since I commonly do so as well.
3. Gearbox struck a retailer deal with an infamous gray market seller. Upon complaints and a discussion, they pulled out, but still got flak for even bothering with the deal to begin with. Even in an act to fix things, people would still rather hate them to begin with than say "at least they fixed their fuck-up". The game is just collateral damage for all they care.
4. The remaster really couldn't remaster all that much, and the fans are still in agreement that the price is stupid.
5. Even when People Can Fly state the obvious, that they're hinging a sequel on this remaster's success, people fuss about it. Do I need to remind PCF, they choose to do a cliff-hanger ending?

Getting kicked around quite a bit

So I especially want to talk about point #5. Bulletstorm is in a weird situation here. How do you make a game? Well, you need money. Okay, so how do you make a franchise? Well you start it somewhere in making a game, and usually you have to build it up a bit before it catches on. A franchise is naturally a bit rough to get going in that sort of process. There's also freak incidents like R&C where it goes get, hits a peak, drops for a long while into near nothingness, then gets a freakin' movie and sells the game big time while the movie flops. WTF is that big chunk of nonsense!? But usually a franchise just goes forward for a while, that's how all the big ones came to be. Aside from Assassins Creed, I can't name many that just hit the ground storming markets with millions on top of millions.

Now Bulletstorm, and a couple others, are over here saying they need a remaster to sell a game they couldn't sell, so they're overcharging the remaster price because... obviously people will rush out to buy an overpriced six year old game once the first copy didn't sell well, right? No, wrong. Double wrong with all the other shit that happened. Some people will turn away just to spite Gearbox alone. However my real question is in why they decided to go this route to begin with. Did they really lack the money to make a sequel? Did they actually not have the ability? They could have re-used assets, cut the multiplayer nobody even asked for, and made a sequel that caught a little more money in around 2013/14. It wouldn't have looked so pretty on newer consoles, but then again neither did Dark Souls 2, and we were all looking for newer things to play on them even if they didn't look their best. The first game sold 1 million. EA, I'm looking at you when I'm calling your expectations bullshit, and you could have given this IP more of a chance than throwing it out the door because it didn't automatically print you 8 million instead. Obviously as a new IP, it takes a little time and extra marketing to get rolling, but sequels are cheaper and where the profit usually kicks in... if you don't fuck it's launch window up in some colossal way.

People Can Fly claims to have done their best, when dealing with both Bulletstorm & their gears entry. However Gears clearly wasn't some new darling, it just had poor luck and as a spin-off, people weren't biting. So is it fair to determine it on the same level as Bullestorm? Just stop making Bulletstorm and Gears? Nope, gears had a remaster, then a 4th entry people raved about, it seems to be doin' fine enough. It's not the 22 million style acclaim all over again, but Gears still turn for the franchise, while Bullestorm was just left to rot for... some stupid reason EA probably made up as to why they can't invest in it. It's silly really, and I think games like this need a sequel. There should be some golden rule about making a franchise, that you've got to give the game two chances to take off. Some never actually do, and I get it if you want to shut things down at that rate. However making plans for one, then killing it while all the talent is still alive and good just because it didn't storm the gates is... well, stupid. I'm not just speaking for Bullestorm here either, but for games in general. ...and no, a remaster doesn't fix that. A remaster is not a sequel. It doesn't get much for marketing, it doesn't get people excited, and it doesn't even mean you'll match the sales of the first time around. People like me, who love it enough to run out there and get it, don't make up your entire userbase from the first time around. Some people are fine sticking to their old copies, while others just aren't in the mood, and new and old alike might be easily watching on and scoffing at the launch price, ready to wait it down. You cannot expect a remaster to outsell a game that didn't do good to begin with. I hope their expectations are capped at a 200'000 sales mark at the highest. 1 million + positive reviews, should have been good enough to begin with, to show that their was indeed interest. Now please, stop stalling and either fix your cliff-hanger with a real ending, or stop pretending things.

Is it all crashing down, or can we crash stuff in a new release?

2017: Back where I belong?

The PS4 is a system that I feel marks a generation of return to form, at least as close as we can, to the PS2 days. We've got lots of diverse games, a huge indie market, lots of experimentation, accessibility, and devs are just having fun with things. With the diversity, I recognized some familiar and comforting patterns, but it was only this year that I'm scratching my head and thinking it's all coming together in a notion that feels like gaming is pushing me back to my roots. Not in purest of form, but what is that without some nostalgia induced inaccuracies anyway? So let me show you my shopping list of the year, and I'll show you... (* means pre-ordered)

• Gravity Rush 2: (sort of a platformer-ish game)
• Mount & Blade (It was cheap)
• Crypt of the NecroDancer (same time and reason as above)
• Worms WMD (I grew up loving this series)
• Horizon: Zero Dawn (Robo-dino game made by Guerrilla)
• Turok 2 Remaster (Old-school FPS that I used to attempt to play)
• Snake Pass (imitation 3D platformer, David Wise included)
• Zelda: Breath of the Wild (yeah, this one's hard to explain away...)
• *Bulletstorm (Imitation old-school FPS, Duke Nukem included)
• *Yooka-Laylee (do I need to explain this one? Just ordered this right before starting this)
• *Prey (FPS creature horror by Arkane, hell yeah!)

I could be forgetting something, but these are the games I've bought this year. Aside from two and a half (Gravity rush is a weird one), it matches up to things I've always loved. I've also been still gripped by R&C, Turok 1 remastered, and Doom. The only oddballs out of the bunch might be EDF, and Witcher 3 that I still play. 

With Doom being one of the best games ever, why stop playing?

This year feels ripe for playing older interests, in a more modern light. Bulletstorm is a modernized old-school shooter that is getting a remaster, with Duke Nukem. What a combo! Turok 2 had a surprise release with NightDive's awesome usual effort. Yooka-laylee, Skylar & Plux, and Snake Pass are all piling around a 3D platformer formation in an indie way, and considering we came right after a R&C release I think it's safe to say we finally have a rush of quality 3D platformers. Beyond this pile of awesome, I can't say there's a lot I know about going on in the year save for some oddball shooters and adventure games, which is still about par for the course.

Maybe this is the wine talking at the moment, but thinking in the now I could care less what happens next. Just continue this, this is good. I may have complained about the idea that maybe 3D platformers are getting stuck with indies, but I'm still glad somebody is doing the job and filling the roll. As long as these games keep rolling out, and I've got the money, I'll be happy. If the 2nd half of the year goes cold, well... I've been meaning to reinstall and look at Dishonored 2's updates. No big loss. Maybe I'll pick up Nier or Nioh at that point to, or finally get around to a copy of Pikimin 3 or Tropical Freeze. Still there's a lot of good games out there right now, calling to the very foundation of what I love in gaming. No more COD bullshit to worry about. Those days of complaining about the stale mechanics made for a bad crowd are no longer around. The games are diverse, there's lots of experimentation and developers, and a ton of games coming out that suit the very core of what I enjoy about gaming, art, and entertainment. 2017 is looking to be a great year. May gaming continue to be awesome, and I look forward to playing some Bulletstorm if it arrives on time in the mail tomorrow. Then, some good 'ol Yooka-Laylee.

A familiar but awesome adventure seems to be waiting all around 2017

Are 3D platformers stuck to indies now?

Holy crap, it just occurred to me that the 3D platformer count for indies is quite incredible. We've got ex-rare guys making a successor to Banjo & Kazooie, Skylar & Plux being a R&C inspired spin, Snake Pass sort of mix physics platformers in with the theme, and more. However, in every case I've got to confess I get a slight bit down on the indie reality of the situation. In no way do I want to tell you that it's a bad thing that these games are happening, nor am I doubting or talking down on the teams. However, let's not play blind here, I'm trying to be a realist and as a long time fan of the genre... there's a bit of an ache that comes with a couple of details. The Indie details. The fact that these awesome and great games, which are worth enjoying and celebrating, are still a little different and off-key from the point of the same games I grew up with. Alright, getting to the main point, consider this: Spyro 3 had over 20 levels, and this was pretty typical at the time. Banjo, Mario 64, Gex, they all had absurd amounts of levels, and no shortage of depth or complexity either (heck Mario made sure each level was worth going back multiple times). Just look at the list of realms on there!

Skylar & Plux got it's 3rd delay recently, and while that's all fine, it shows a bigger issue when taking everything else into account. The game's been up and coming for nearly a year (maybe more), has been advancing towards completion, and we've got all sorts of trailers up, but when it's released we're looking at around three levels (from earlier reports I can recall) of play, or in their words somewhere around 2-7 hours estimate depending on collectibles. But what if this is just a team testing the waters? Well, Yooka-Laylee is made by ex-rare employees, heavily backed and funded to be successful (and double-backed with Team 17), and it's getting a physical copy at $40. So we're probably good there if it's competing with R&C, right? Heh, no, sorry: you get five "worlds" (levels). They're supposedly replayable, but so was B&K/DK64, as well as Mario 64 and Gex with quadruple that level count (and not quad the price). How about Snake Pass, with 15 levels? That's a pretty great amount for some diverse runs, but remember what I said earlier about physics puzzles? Yeah it's playing closer to a puzzle platformer than a free 3D platformer. Each of those 15 levels is a near line you move in. It's still fantastic, and a lot of fun, but there's still a catch holding it leagues away from the kind of game we used to really sink our teeth into.

Fun, but not quiet Peach's castle

I know there's already that guy out there whining back about how I'm complaining about length, or that he/she prefers a short game. Look, that's fine, go enjoy your short games because we sure aren't short of them. However it's not always a matter of binary length complaints, but it actually does in fact effect other parts of the game around it. In most of these 3D platformers there were always those levels that filled us with wonder, strong nostalgia, or creativity. Then there were those levels we hated, that did something weird and crazy we didn't like. Levels made or broke the moment, and were a core part of the experience, like what guns and enemy variety are to a shooter. Now suddenly leave us with 3-5 levels, and that's a lot less of a game and experience, and it never takes away from the risk of getting one of those iffy levels. I could hate water levels, and level 3 is all over being a water themed level. I could hate gimmicks, but each level decides to be a gimmick to make full impact of their limited quantity. I could love every single level. Either way, it turns out the game becomes even less. If I hate the water level, that's one miserable part of a short game I never want to touch again, so the fun was even shorter. Same with gimmicks. ...and then, again I'll bring up Snake Pass or even Tinker, and use them for an example of not length, but the great lack of depth they possess. Either way, this is all a factor of indie teams doing their usual thing, but they're doing it with a genre that was nearly based in length, and freedom which contradicts their work ability. This was a genre where people talk about collecting 128 stars, or 40 orbs for a gateway point, 20-30 levels, and the art style and creativity oozed out of every drop of it. That's what kept us playing them, and now we're flipping a switch towards five levels for $40. I'm not moaning over spilled milk, this is a black and white comparison, and I'm a bit worried we'll be stuck in this sort of frame as time goes on.

Again, I'm stressing to you that this isn't anything against any single developer here (well... maybe curious as to YL's pricing, but eh). If anything, this is a cry as to why full dev teams need to come back. Right now it's just Mario and Ratchet, but there was never any real reason for the others to leave. Meanwhile I love the indies that are trying to do the best they can. I'm hyped and ready to buy Skylar & Plux, and enjoy every hour I can get out of it. I'm excited to see how Yooka Laylee does, and I'm loving the nostalgic nods and cool stuff they've given us. I'm really enjoying the odd but lovable design that is Snake Pass, and it might be my favorite puzzle game this year considering I don't do many of them. However, I don't think they should be burdened with the task of upholding the genre on their own. They can't, not like this at least. The thing that got generations into it, the very thing that made them love it, was in games that they could truly have time fall by the side, and get absorbed in.

Indies that make short and impactful games, are doing so from an angle where it makes sense. They do big stories, or crazy experimental mechanics that really catch on, or cast the narrative in an interesting angle that leaves you curious.  Platformers are a different story. They're the things that pull you in with a charming character, and an alluring world, and they're supposed to keep you fully immersed and searching in that world, having an adventure. They're about vast treasure, awesome levels, and quirky nonsense, and sometimes you can't work that into a four level game, or start taking away basic freedoms like jumping, and expect that to become the new example. We need another Sly Cooper sized game, or for people to try and go the distance that Mario 64 went, instead of stopping just short of the first bowser boss. It shocks me that in this age of "look at my massive open world game, with so many activities, side-quests, and graphics" the original open world filled with treasures and colorful worlds has been left to the little guys.

So much to see and do back then