Gaming Archives - Fyx

Gaming Fyx – Episode 206! (Baja Blessed!!)

Andre Cole — Sun, 23 Jan 2022 18:52:05 +0000

Fear the New Blood as we are joined by Jeff Davis in their first episode as a regular guest. We see how deep the V-Tuber rabbit hole goes, and get caught up on some super spooky indie games. Then we hear about Rainbow Six and whatever new lingo they’ve made up before we extract into the only news that really mattered this week.

Timestamps:
00:00:00 – Show start
00:06:18 – VTubers
00:24:30 – Smash Bros. Ultimate/Switch OLED
00:31:00 – Trapped by N4ba
00:34:20 – Mortuary Assistant Demo
00:36:40 – The Blackout Club
00:42:15: – Rainbow Six Extraction
00:56:55 – Microsoft buying Activision Blizzard

Music by Jeff Davis – @strangerpeace https://twitter.com/strangerpeace/

https://www.fyx.space
https://twitter.com/fyxpodcasts
https://podchaser.com/gamingfyx
gaming@box5800.temp.domains

Alex – @mamsspaghotti https://twitter.com/mamsspaghotti
Allyson – @writerserenyty https://twitter.com/writerserenyty
Andre – @coolsl4w https://twitter.com/coolsl4w
Erica – @airehcuh https://twitter.com/Airehcuh
Pat – @pjcplays https://twitter.com/pjcplays
Sam – @sgch https://twitter.com/sgch
Jeffrey – @strangerpeace https://twitter.com/strangerpeace, http://twitch.tv/strangerpeace

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 205 (Fourble!!)

Pat Cotter — Mon, 17 Jan 2022 01:33:52 +0000

Salvé! We’re hot off of Game of the Year and ready for action in this episode of the Gaming Fyx podcast. We’ve got hardware, we’ve got software, and we’ve got cars. Oh, and quite a few games. From the courtroom to the hunting grounds, we’re sure you’ll find something to enjoy! (P.S., Pat edited this one, so apologies if it’s weird!)

Timestamps:
00:02:35 – Show start
00:08:40 – Switch OLED
00:16:22 – Ace Attorney Trilogy
00:25:30 – Life is Strange: True Colors
00:47:55 – The Fruit of Pat’s iRacing labor
00:52:45: – Monster Hunter: Rise
01:09:25 – Fable II
01:22:00ish – We just devolve into talking about Racing games and GT7

Music by Jeff Davis – @strangerpeace https://twitter.com/strangerpeace/

https://www.fyx.space
https://twitter.com/fyxpodcasts
https://podchaser.com/gamingfyx
gaming@box5800.temp.domains

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Gaming Fyx – Fyxies 2021! (Game of the Year!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 08 Jan 2022 21:54:45 +0000

It is that time of year again, everyone. Get your knives out because we’re talking Game of the Year 2021!!!! Though the knives can be dull. And maybe even made of comfy cozy cotton balls because we also have a new format which is far friendlier, and also super representative of our favourite games this year.

Also, in case you don’t listen to the very end, it is our last regular episode with Alex! He will be off working on his own projects, but will still be joining to guest on episodes here and there =]

Link to the completed Tier List:
https://tiermaker.com/list/video-games/gaming-fyx-2021-goty-1450894/1880369

SPOILERS:
00:20:53 until 00:24:22 – The Medium (Heavy Spoilers)
00:45:38 until 00:47:23 – Forgotten City (Light Spoilers)
01:41:50 until 01:45:22 – The House in Fata Morgana (Light Spoilers)
02:45:10 until 02:54:03 – Inscryption (Heavy Spoilers)
04:00:03 until 04:07:13 – Twelve Minutes (Heavy Spoilers)

Music by Jeff Davis – @strangerpeace https://twitter.com/strangerpeace/

https://www.fyx.space
https://twitter.com/fyxpodcasts
https://podchaser.com/gamingfyx
gaming@box5800.temp.domains

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 204! (Max Level ‘Stache!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sun, 02 Jan 2022 20:08:43 +0000

Ring in the new year with some old games, as the Gaming Fyx Crew ask, “is that an log in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?” Will Pat ever escape from Tarkov? Maybe he can drive out. And we discuss what the new year could bring in games. Buckle in.

Timestamps:
00:09:24 – Analogue Pocket
00:31:04 – Pat bought an Xbox Series X
00:37:28 – Guardians of the Galaxy
00:53:14 – Escape from Tarkov
01:07:14 – WRC 10
01:27:59 – Ruined King
01:32:19 – 2022 Thoughts and Feelings
01:56:14 – Show end

Music by Jeff Davis – @strangerpeace https://twitter.com/strangerpeace/

https://www.fyx.space
https://twitter.com/fyxpodcasts
https://podchaser .com/gamingfyx
gaming@box5800.temp.domains

Allyson – @writerserenyty https://twitter.com/writerserenyty
Andre – @coolsl4w https://twitter.com/coolsl4w
Erica – @airehcuh https://twitter.com/Airehcuh
Pat – @pjcplays https://twitter.com/pjcplays
Sam – @sgch https://twitter.com/sgch
(Alex doesn’t have social media)

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 203! (Drops of Jupiter!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 18 Dec 2021 18:34:41 +0000

Join us as we talk about the Shrek Cinematic Universe on Puss In Boots Fyx! Oh also a bunch of wicked games, including Paper Mario, Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon, High Frontier, Halo Infinite, Pokemon Red, and FFXIV’s Endwalker (no spoilers)! We also, yet again, go down the “NFTs why” rabbit hole. Also Star Trek.

Secretary Marty Walsh commending Vodeo Games’ union
https://twitter.com/SecMartyWalsh/status/1471588172765306881

Timestamps:
00:08:23 – Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon
00:19:44 – Paper Mario (64 bay beeeee)
00:30:29 – Escape From Tarkov
00:52:28 – Pokemon Red/Blue
01:06:37 – High Frontier
01:21:00 – FFXIV Endwalker (Spoiler-Free)
01:41:15 – Halo: Infinite
Newwwwwwwwwwssssssssssssssssss
01:51:57 – Let’s queue for FFXIV OH NO
01:58:29 – The weird crypto world of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2
02:17:15 – The first Union in games is now a thing
02:23:38 – PS5 in all the colours of the rainbow (almost)
02:28:17 – Tencent is back eatin’ up companies. This time it’s Turtle Rock
02:31:59 – Indie World Showcase snuck up on us

Music by Jeff Davis – @strangerpeace https://twitter.com/strangerpeace/

https://www.fyx.space
https://twitter.com/fyxpodcasts
https://podchaser.com/gamingfyx
gaming@box5800.temp.domains

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 202! (Mercedes-AMG F1 W12 E Performance in the streets, and also the sheets!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 11 Dec 2021 18:30:30 +0000

Come and join us as we talk about a whole ton of niche topics, and also catbois, and also games we didn’t expect to love but totally do. And our news is just a whole load of sunshine and flowers this week, boy howdy.

Natsuko Ishikawa getting lots of love at PAX
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywhTf2c5v9Y

That Keanu Reeves & Carrie-Anne Moss interview
https://youtu.be/0OK80eljWrs

Kelloggs brands you should avoid maybe
https://columbusfreepress.com/article/kellogg-workers-are-striking%E2%80%94don%E2%80%99t-cross-picket-line

Timestamps:
00:07:45 – Mercedes-AMG F1 W12 E Performance (iRacing)
00:14:54 – Century: Age of Ashes
00:19:28 – Godfall (Challenger Edition)
00:31:35 – GTFO
00:57:25 – FFXIV: Endwalker (No Spoilers)
01:09:45 – Newwwwwsssssssssss!
01:14:01 – The Game Awards
01:46:52 – Persona 3 Portable is maybe getting a multiplatform remaster
01:48:44 – Ocarina of Time has been Decompiled
01:51:53 – Ubisoft… Why. NFTs again
02:11:49 – Blizzard is back. Again. And again again.
02:21:03 – Don’t Quick Resume Halo Infinite
02:24:36 – Much love to Masayuki Uemura, RIP

Music by Jeff Davis – @strangerpeace https://twitter.com/strangerpeace/

https://www.fyx.space
https://twitter.com/fyxpodcasts
https://podchaser.com/gamingfyx
gaming@box5800.temp.domains

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 201! (RIP Father Winter!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 04 Dec 2021 17:25:17 +0000

The holiday season is upon us! Help us celebrate while we talk about good games and shows like Battlefield 2042, FFXIV’s Endwalker, while True; learn() and Arcane!! Then dive into the joys of indie games as we dive into some chats about platforms for our favourite indie games, as well as a host of good news. And also bad news. And hey, can you guess which big company is back in the news! Probably.

Dice’s GM Departing
https://twitter.com/ogabrielson/status/1466452718076276737

Timestamps:
00:07:40 – Battlefield 2042
00:16:47 – FFXIV Endwalker
00:37:12 – while True; learn()
00:47:13 – Arcane
Newwwwwwwwwwssssssssss
01:05:20 – It Takes Take Two
01:10:29 – Playstation Plus+
01:26:25 – Godfall lol
01:28:23 – Hey again, Activision
01:33:19 – Respawn-ing

Music by Jeff Davis – @strangerpeace https://twitt e r.com/strangerpeace/

https://www.fyx.space
https://twitter.com/fyxpodcasts
https://podchaser.com/gamingfyx
gaming@box5800.temp.domains

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 200! (Episode 200!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 27 Nov 2021 17:56:45 +0000

Join us in celebrating our 200th birthday! We have a fun 200-episode retrospective complete with stats and trivia waiting for you; but first we have games and tech to talk about! And afterwards, newwwsssss – especially about our cautious optimism for what a Mass Effect show could be… Here’s to 220 more, everyone!

Timestamps:
00:07:09 – Crossword Rant Time
00:16:55 – Pat’s Quick Hits (but mainly Star Citizen)
00:25:18 – Halo Halo Halo Halo Halo
00:26:35 – Battlefield Update
00:32:19 – Marvel Champions
00:44:35 – Guardians of the Galaxy
00:54:04 – Wildermyth
01:01:43 – Chicory
01:06:58 – Tech Minute (Pixel 6 Pro & Macbook Pro 16 Max)
01:18:49 – Allyson has made a huge mistake
01:29:49 – Episode 200 Fun Times
Newwwwwwwwssssssssss
02:00:54 – Harmonix lives on. In Fortnite
02:04:28 – Steam Saallleee
02:08:27 – Hitman 3 is gettin’ even better
02:09:14 – Mass Effect is gettin’ a show for reals

Music by Jeff Davis – @strangerpeace https://twitter.com/strangerpeace/

https://www.fyx.space
https://twitter.com/fyxpodcasts
https://podchaser.com/gamingfyx
gaming@box5800.temp.domains

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Lenovo Legion 5 Laptop Review

Sam Harrison — Fri, 26 Nov 2021 11:00:00 +0000

Lenovo Legion 5 Laptop Review

Review

As you may know if you’ve been listening to the podcast or following me on Twitter, 2021 has been the year that I have gotten back into PC gaming in a big way. I picked up a Razer Blade Stealth in the summer and have been having a blast picking up old games, trying out new stuff like Inscryption and just generally being back in the PC ecosystem again. So as you might imagine I was really excited when Lenovo reached out to send us a Legion 5 laptop for review. I’ve been using the Legion 5 for about a month now, so I thought it was high time I shared my thoughts with you.

One quick note – I’m primarily a console gamer and that’s how I apach games so almost everything here I played using a controller and I used both the built in screen and plugged the Legion 5 into a monitor and a TV. I’m not going to go deep into specs here, because I’m not really plugged in enough to talk about them and the differences between them, if you want that there’s a ton of reviews out there that cover those details.

First off let’s talk games. For this review I tried out Control, Destiny 2, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Batman Arkham Origins on the Legion 5 (and quite a few other games afterwards too). The first three because I was able to compare with console versions of those games I have played on a PS5 and Batman Arkham Origins because I listened to the Arkham Retrospective episode of the Back Page Podcast and just really wanted to see what it looked like at max settings. The Legion 5 easily matched and even exceeded the PS5 in some cases, though I did have a few crashes in Control that I didn’t experience in the PS5 version.

Pretty much any PS4/XBO generation game ran flawlessly, current gen games were usually very good but sometimes it would struggle and hitch in more challenging environments. I had the aforementioned crashes in Control and a few very short hitches in Valhalla and Destiny 2. I would describe the experience as almost as reliable as a current gen console. Also there were some occasions where games failed to launch or I had to do weird tech support to fix issues, though I wouldn’t mark the Legion 5 down for this as that’s just an unavoidable element of PC gaming. I remember when Gaming Fyx host Andre Cole could only run Forza Horizon 4 if he set his CPU priority to high, something I have no idea how to do.

Hardware wise I would say the Legion 5 is strong, but overall a mixed bag. I didn’t really love the design of it and coming from Apple and Razer laptops it felt a little plasticky for my taste. It’s really sturdily built and I wouldn’t expect to see any issues with durability from the hinge or any other parts. The keyboard is really excellent, an import from the ThinkPad line I expect as it feels very similar. I have typed bably hundreds of thousands of words in articles, reviews and freelance assignments on it and it is a truly excellent experience. bably the best laptop keyboard I have used in 2021.

The biggest downside to the Legion 5 is the size and weight of the laptop. It’s big, thick and heavy. If you want a desktop PC replacement that will occasionally come with you outside of the home then the Legion 5 is an excellent choice. One other thing that bothered me was fan noise, in most cases with the Legion 5 I had to use headphones when playing games to be able to hear music and dialogue, something I don’t always want to do.

Earlier I compared the design and build quality with Razer and Apple laptops and said it comes away unfavourably, but there’s a big difference here between the Legion 5 and the Razer Blade Stealth I use as my daily driver – cost. If you went out to buy a Razer laptop with similar spec to this Legion 5 you’d be paying almost £3,000. The Legion 5 is under £1,000. I think that tells you everything you need to know about whether you should buy a Legion 5 or a Razer laptop!

All in all as I said earlier the Legion 5 is an excellent laptop. While it doesn’t really fit my life as well as a small and portable laptop, I would imagine for most PC gamers who are already set up with a gaming desk and using a high quality headset you’d be hard pressed to find a better option for the money. But what about console gamers? Well that’s where this gets a bit murky. Should you buy the Legion 5 over a PS5? Unfortunately because of capitalism if you want to play Spider-Man: Miles Morales you need a PS5. But if you do a bit of travelling, or you are looking for more than just gaming or you want to play games older than the last generation then PC gaming with the Legion 5 might be a better option for you!

Pros

Powerful enough to run most stuff as good as current consoles
Great keyboard
Fantastic price

Cons

Very heavy
Chunky design
Loud fans

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 199! (Use the Whole!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 20 Nov 2021 19:50:34 +0000

This week we’re collecting monsters and getting downright angelic as we discuss the newest releases at the Intergalactic Aerospace Expo. Then we dive into the news and once again discuss the mess at Activision Blizzard and what the hell is going on with the Game Awards?

Timestamps:
00:10:01 – SMT V
00:18:00 – Pokemon
00:41:00 – Battlefield Minute
00:43:00 – Halo
01:07:11 – Ruined King/League
01:30:11 – Intergalactic Aerospace Expo 2951
Newwwwwwwsssssssss
01:38:30 – Bobby Kotick Sucks
01:49:00 – Streamlabs shit
01:55:16 – Game awards junk
02:10:00 – Phil Spencer calls for legal emulation

Music by Jeff Davis – @strangerpeace https://twitter.com/strangerpeace/

https://www.fyx.space
https://twitter.com/fyxpodcasts
https://podchaser.com/gamingfyx
gaming@box5800.temp.domains

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 198! (Getting Dune 2021 Vibes!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 13 Nov 2021 17:09:13 +0000

Crank it with us yet again this week on Gaming Fyx! We’ve got a bunch of fun games like SMT5 & BF2042, weird anime, new news, and of course some Tony Hawk talk. And regional dialect and slang. Also what does everyone think about egg salad sandwiches? Email us your thoughts over at gaming@box5800.temp.domains

MVG Video on PS5 being hacked:
https://youtu.be/Pz3PKWMPOUY

Timestamps:
00:10:00 – Battlefield 2042
00:33:37 – Some Sim & Card Stuff
00:40:14 – Shin Megami Tensei V
01:04:28 – Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure
01:09:43 – Muv-Luv
01:13:02 – First handful of episodes of Arcane
Newwwwwwwwwwwwwssssssssssss
01:18:06 – More Delays UwU
01:22:26 – PS5 Has been hacked. Twice.
01:24:40 – Riot Forge’s first game is comin’ out
01:28:09 – GTA, huh?
01:36:57 – The Xbox app on PC is getting less terrible
01:39:50 – Ubisoft employee group putting together another petition because management there is basically ignoring them
01:43:57 – End of newwwssss

Music by Jeff Davis – @strangerpeace https://twitter.com/strangerpeace/

https://www.fyx.space
https://twitter.com/fyxpodcasts
https://podchaser.com/gamingfyx
gaming@box5800.temp.domains

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 197! (Eight Nudie-meters!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sun, 07 Nov 2021 20:22:47 +0000

Gaming Fyx – Episode 197! (Eight Nudie-meters)

Buckle up and hop in the passenger seat in this podcast made for two. Pat and Andre are driving through Mexico, flying through the skies and stars, and venturing into the Rift. Then we get into the news to talk about cancelled games, delays and why you should read books set in the Cosmere.

00:04:45 – CSL DD
00:12:30 – Forza Horizon 5
00:50:00 – DCS
00:57:30 – Star Citizen
01:15:40 – League of Legends
01:32:30 – Newwwwwsssssss
01:33:00 – 2K’s Project Volt Cancelled
01:37:00 – Midnight Suns Delayed
01:38:30 – Endwalker Delayed
01:49:00 – Square Says Crystal Dynamics Wrong Studio for Avengers
01:54:00 – Blizzard Stuff
02:00:00 – Sega and Microsoft Announces Strategic Alliance
02:03:20 – Nintendo Earnings Were Good

Music by Jeff Davis – @strangerpeace https://twitter.com/strangerpeace/

https://www.fyx.space
https://twitter.com/fyxpodcasts
https://podchaser.com/gamingfyx
gaming@box5800.temp.domains

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 196! (Tulip Time with Tim Allen!! Ft. Jeff Davis)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 30 Oct 2021 19:25:08 +0000

Can Pikmin Bloom on the Battlefield? We answer this question and more this week on Gaming Fyx as we are joined by our very dear friend, Jeff Davis! Jeff gives us a wonderful walk through their horror-game journey this year, along with joining us for many chats on some great games, as well as our warm-to-hot takes on many different pieces of news. Sacré Bruh!

Find Jeff on Twitter/TikTok/Twitch @strangerpeace
https://twitter.com/strangerpeace/
https://www.tiktok.com/@strangerpeace
https://www.twitch.tv/strangerpeace/

Links mentioned in show:

Mundane Halloween in Japan:
https://www.boredpanda.com/mundane-halloween-hilarious-costumes-japan-taiwan/

MVG’s NSO N64 Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSyBMSOfPxg

Solairestep:
https://youtu.be/uSg5fSSRvjg

Timestamps:
00:09:55 – Oops… All Atelier
00:27:46 – Pikmin Bloom
00:43:37 – AoE 4
00:53:43 – Inscryption
01:05:55 – Alex’s New Journey
01:20:56 – House of Ashes
01:31:06 – Let’s talk Horror with Jeff
Newwwwwsssssssss
02:12:57 – New World has some quirks
02:23:56 – Sony’s Playstation PC && Returnal
02:25:12 – N64 on NSO might kinda be butt
02:28:37 – Shoji Meguro has departed Atlus
02:34:39 – Marvel news minute involving Spec Ops: The Line and Amy Hennig?
02:41:07 – Vicarious Visions has been absorbed by Blizzard
02:42:17 – BlizzConline 2022 Canceled
02:49:33 – PAX South. For Never.
02:55:36 – Oh right, the State of Play

Music by Jeff Davis – @strangerpeace https://twitter.com/strangerpeace/

https://www.fyx.space/
https://twitter.com/fyxpodcasts/
https://podchaser.com/gamingfyx/
gaming@box5800.temp.domains

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 195! (Bootsy Collins for you Booty’s Callings!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 23 Oct 2021 17:24:44 +0000

Holy moly, get ready for lots of games and lots of news packed into your weekly Fyx of Gaming! Actually, all these games rip. Though admittedly most of the news is pretty smol news; but we do dive in depth with some interesting, industry-y (and outside of the games’ industry) stuff too!!!

That seagull channel:
https://youtu.be/_l8T7OsJivc

The Destiny/Bungie Dungeon stuff:
https://www.reddit.com/r/DestinyTheGame/comments/qahau0/bungie_yes_you_can_upgrade_to_the_deluxe_edition/hh9dgr7/

Timestamps:
00:15:37 – Metroid Dread
00:30:49 – The Good Life
00:43:30 – Inscryption
01:03:05 – Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl
01:21:58 – The Cycle: Frontier
01:35:25 – Book of Travels: Chapter Zero
Newwwwwssssss
01:42:22 – Battlefield Briefing on 2042!
01:55:08 – God of War on the PC
02:03:34 – ConcernedApe’s next game!
02:05:27 – Bungie continues to monetize Destiny in weird ways
02:14:18 – Blizzard changed McCree’s name
02:18:03 – Splinter Cell?
02:20:47 – Europeans ain’t allowed to get Dying Light
02:23:59 – Elden Ring’s delayed again oh no
02:27:24 – Uncharted trailer I guess
02:30:09 – Tech news for like 30 seconds and then a bunch of random stuff

Music by Jeff Davis – @strangerpeace https://twitter.com/strangerpeace/

https://www.fyx.space
https://twitter.com/fyxpodcasts
https://podchaser.com/gamingfyx
gaming@box5800.temp.domains

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 194! (I’m a Nintendo Sucker!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 16 Oct 2021 16:58:43 +0000

Join us for some LoFi JRPGs To Study/Relax To this week on Gaming Fyx! We’ve got a surprising amount of new great games, surprisingly great older games, and discuss the nature of art itself. Lots to talk about on the news side also too, from Animal Crossing & Right to Repair all the way to MOBAs and MMOs!!

Steam Deck Footage:
https://twitter.com/OnDeck

Marci (Dota 2):
https://www.dota2.com/newsentry/4245197977522229561

The tweet Alex saw to introduce him to Umitober:
https://twitter.com/Azuminkun/status/1449032655840989186

Timestamps:
00:07:09 – A Little Golf Journey
00:12:01 – Cruelty Squad
00:20:17 – The Good Life (but we haven’t played it yet)
00:29:03 – Atelier is back, bay-beeeee
00:53:37 – Outer Wilds: Echoes of the Eye
01:12:13 – Circuit Superstars
Newwwwwwwwwsssssssssssss
01:23:29 – Animal Crossing has crossed the animal rubicon (and also nintendo online services)
01:45:40 – Microsoft is doing some cool stuff with Right to Repair
01:59:28 – Steam has banned NFTs, Crypto & Blockchain
02:10:32 – Metroid Dread and emulation both had a lot of discourse this week
02:17:55 – LoL has removed all chat lol
02:19:25 – Marci! New Dota Friend!
02:23:40 – FFXIV tidbits
02:28:37 – Best Buy adding a paywall
02:32:38 – New World’s PR lol
02:35:20 – Umitober is rad

Music by Jeff Davis – @strangerpeace https://twitter.com/strangerpeace/

https://www.fyx.space
https://twitter.com/fyxpodcasts
https://podchaser.com/gamingfyx
gaming@box5800.temp.domains

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 193! (Battlefield: BC!! [Bad Chorizo])

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 09 Oct 2021 17:50:18 +0000

This is a bonkers episode with lots and lots of game talk. And also lots and lots of news talk. And some math. And some old MMOs. And an old series coming back with a new game. And the blinds being pulled on Twitch. And far, far more!

That LOTR Poll:
https://www.thetolkienforum.com/threads/who-is-stupider-merry-or-pippin.6665/

Zipf’s Law Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCn8zs912OE

Oculess:
https://github.com/basti564/Oculess

Super GG Radio’s Extra Life Contest:
https://twitter.com/SuperGGRadio/status/1446262564044824580

Timestamps:
00:06:46 – Battlefield 2042
00:42:51 – Pat’s MMO journeys
01:17:38 – Outer Wilds – Echoes of the Eye
01:21:12 – Minor Spoilers for the next few minutes
01:27:44 – TI10 is 100% worth watching
01:41:45 – Idol Manager
01:49:54 – Metroid Dread
Newwwwwwwsssssssssss
02:07:16 – Twitch leaked. Like. All of it.
02:29:37 – Facebook got messed up too.
02:36:16 – It Sora.
02:44:09 – Toshihiro Nagoshi and Daisuke Sato are leaving sega
02:46:56 – XCloud is finally using Xbox Series X hardware, nice
02:47:55 – Randy PItchford sucks
02:52:09 – Eidos-Montreal & Eidos-Sherbrooke goin’ to 4-day work weeks

Music by Jeff Davis – @strangerpeace https://twitter.com/strangerpeace/

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 192! (Tidums!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 02 Oct 2021 17:29:47 +0000

Spooky season has arrived, and we’re here to ring it in with only the spoookiest of topics, like Hot Wheels! And JRPGs!! And MMORPGs!!! 🙀 Also lots of news this week and all of it is fascinating in its own way – make sure to check out the Steam Next Fest and support great indies!

The blatant Shadowbringers plagiarism:
https://twitter.com/ZhugeEX/status/1444173795292442628

Timestamps:
00:03:18 – Show Start
00:11:58 – Hot Wheels Unleashed
00:32:00 – Chats about old Toys to Life games and MMOs (Star Wars Galaxies mainly)
00:43:41 – New World
01:06:40 – Cruelty Squad
01:29:42 – Atelier Ryza 2
Newwwwwwwssssssssss
01:57:47 – Christopher Judge is the best boi
02:06:17 – Konami might be bringin’ back the classics
02:11:33 – ActiBlizz is being sued by the gov. Again
02:18:56 – Capitalism Minute
02:26:38 – Spider-Man 2 is apparently gonna be different
02:30:50 – Steam Next Fest! Go check it out!
02:33:19 – Everyone “Loves” Genshin starring Brad Garrett
02:42:45 – Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a decade old

Music by Jeff Davis – @strangerpeace https://twitter.com/strangerpeace/

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 191! (The Fresh Prince of Dead Air!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 25 Sep 2021 16:26:13 +0000

It’s-a-us, Gaming Fyx! Join in as we talk about some of the best things in the world, including Anime, Raccoons, Video Games, Possums, and more!! We also spend like a full hour talking about the Nintendo Direct, as well as some of our casting hopes and dreams for future movies and games. Also some new reviews on the site, we talk about them super briefly! Okay, let’s-a-go watch Oddtaxi!

Correction: When we talk about Edge coming to Xbox, we said it is not coming to Xbox One – however, it is!

That guy kissing a possum:
https://ifunny.co/video/tiktok-excuse-me-he-did-not-just-kiss-an-opossum-IKCK84Gt8

OPUS: Echo of Starsong Review:
https://www.fyx.space/2021/09/opus-echo-of-starsong-review/

Timestamps:
00:04:34 – Atelier Ryza
00:08:18 – Tales of Arise
00:16:23 – Anime Chats
00:22:20 – Lost Judgement
00:43:37 – OPUS: Echo of Starsong
Newwwwwwwsssssss
00:49:14 – Nintendo Direct!
01:40:15 – Apple v. Epic CONTINUES
01:42:35 – ActiBlizz stuff is gettin’ worse
01:53:53 – Microsoft Edge is on the Series S|X
01:57:19 – The new star wars game? Not the devs you’re looking for
02:03:17 – Crystal Dynamics & The Initiative sitting in a tree

Music by Jeff Davis – @strangerpeace https://twitter.com/strangerpeace/

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OPUS: Echo of Starsong Review

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 25 Sep 2021 14:18:38 +0000

OPUS: Echo of Starsong Review

Game title: OPUS: Echo of Starsong

Game description: Opus: Echo of Starsong follows Eda and Jun, two star-crossed adventurers who team up to uncover the source of a mysterious outer space radiance known as the ‘Starsong’. Gameplay moves between visual novel style storytelling, puzzle-solving, galaxy charting, space navigating, and third person exploration, as Eda and Jun chart a course to the heart of the galaxy.

Author: Alex Gelinas

Hear Us Talk About OPUS: Echo of Starsong on Episode 190!

Embrace Yourself With All Your Flaws

It’s beyond impressive when a creative endeavour can take clear influence and inspiration from many sources, and leverage them with care and respect to forge their own wholly unique, distinct voice. Developers Sigono proudly pin many different inspirations—including such greats as FTL, Mass Effect, Star Trek, and far more—on their proverbial sleeves with OPUS: Echo of Starsong; and they do so all while weaving a tale, universe, and game which is entirely their own. While each individual component which makes up OPUS: Echo of Starsong is good-to-great in its own respect, they all coalesce into an end product which is exponentially greater than the sum of its parts. A hopeful yet melancholic tale of a future not yet written, occupying a world—nay, a galaxy—which feels significantly larger than it initially lets on will serenade you with a grand, beautifully composed soundtrack as you breathe in its stunning art. All of this is in service of propelling the central core of OPUS: Echo of Starsong—its fantastic space opera story.

The game’s story is one with an absolutely phenomenal amount of thoughtfully crafted, creative lore which makes the scope of the universe feel enormous—far bigger than what’s present in the game itself. The entirety of the game takes place in space, with your characters piloting a ship to various space stations, asteroids, and other celestial bodies as you chart a course through the stars to solve a bevy of mysteries. Each of which has its own history, and is possibly occupied by members of one of several factions (each with their own history with other factions, mythos, beliefs, and customs). It is a universe full of adventurers, swindlers, refugees displaced by wars and religious persecution, honest people trying to make ends meet, and far more. So what is your role in all of this?

You and your crew are adventurers; however, you have an advantage over most. You have the ability to interact with the “starsong.” What is the starsong? How does it manifest? What are the implications? Well, while I could explain it here, it’s far better to experience it for yourself. One of the most impressive aspects of OPUS: Echo of Starsong’s storytelling is that it introduces many concepts similarly unique as the starsongs themselves, and explains each of them in an intuitive, plausible way which is internally consistent with the enormous world they’ve built. Beyond the scope of this world being thoroughly impressive, the most important part of its story is the smaller-scope, more intimate tale it weaves about our intrepid adventurers.

At its core, OPUS: Echo of Starsong is a story about life—the value of a life, the impact another person can have on your own life, the far-reaching effects your life and decisions have on others, as well as what it means to truly and deeply care for someone. The story primarily follows two characters, Jun & Eda, both of whom come from disparate backgrounds, and whose paths cross coincidentally. Their arc together is multi-layered and complicated, balancing and celebrating their differences while they both deal with very real, very human problems. They deal with their own instances of loss and longing, they both struggle and hesitate to say what they mean, and sometimes they make decisions which they know will be right in the end, but hurt in the moment. They have their own goals, and sometimes these goals mean making sacrifices which affect one another. Sometimes they make sacrifices they previously never would have expected in order to help each other, even if it means setting back their own plans and goals. There’s a lot to talk about, but to truly do it justice would require diving into deep spoilers—perhaps we will have a spoilercast in the future to touch on these intricate details.

All of this has been said, and we haven’t even yet touched on the act of playing the game. Or the beautiful, colourful, vividly imaginative visuals. Or the wonderful marriage between gameplay and audio, which routinely weaves its soundtrack into the world itself. There’s a ton to unpack, but for the sake of not writing a 10 000 word review, I’ll summarize most of it. The gameplay itself is often varied—alternating between a fixed-camera, side-scrolling adventure/puzzle game; a space-faring, resource-managing and decision-making strategy game; and a visual novel with a blend between 3D models interacting in a 3D world, and painterly 2D art which often manifests as gorgeous CGs at major plot points. While none of these gameplay systems are show-stoppingly excellent on their own, they’re all fun for different reasons and do a wonderful job of ensuring there’s enough variety in your playthrough to keep forward momentum which consistently moves the plot forward. There’s also a ton of side content to do, all of which is entirely missable and failable! This aspect is a bold choice which I thoroughly appreciate.

For a game which includes the term “song” directly in the title, that may conjure some expectations for the soundtrack to have significance, and to be well-crafted. Thankfully it delivers on all fronts, and the game is made exponentially better by a beautiful soundtrack. In fact, I’ve had it playing in the background throughout writing this review (it is available on Steam and comes highly recommended). It is certainly excellent as a standalone listening experience, but is all-powerful when contextualized amongst intense, emotionally charged scenes. Or giving a gentle moment a pitch-perfect atmosphere which punctuates character moments with appropriate bravado. All-in-all, the music (and sound design) tie an already impressive experience together in a way which elevates it far beyond any potential I could have anticipated.

OPUS: Echo of Starsong is a triumph in all regards. It frequently punches above its weight, ambitiously growing the scale of its storytelling with each passing hour, and rarely (if ever) missing the mark. While there are certainly things which could be critiqued—occasional framerate dips, awkward animations at times, a few obtuse puzzles—they all pale in comparison to everything the game excels at. The layered story, the thorough lore, the carefully and thoughtfully constructed universe, the refreshing gameplay loops, the excellent characters, the gorgeous visuals, and the music which will stick with you hours beyond closing the game. It is a fantastic experience through-and-through, culminating in an astounding ending worthy of the journey. Thank you to the whole team at Sigono, you’ve crafted a fantastic experience and one of the best games of the year.

Pros

Exceptional, Thoughtfully Crafted Story
Diverse Gameplay Systems
Distinct, Unique, High-Quality Audio & Visual Experience
Great Bonus Features After Beating The Game
Third Entry In The Series, But A Great Jumping-In Point

Cons

Some Framerate Dips in Exploratory 3D Sections
Some Animations Are Slightly Janky
TBH Anything I Put Here Is Super Nit-Picky. You Should Play OPUS: Echo of Starsong

OPUS: Echo of Starsong on Steam

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 190! (MX vs ATV vs Capcom!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 18 Sep 2021 17:25:06 +0000

We’ve got a full house for you on this week’s Gaming Fyx! Lots and lots of games, some of which might be some of our favourites for the year – Life is Strange, DEATHLOOP, Tales of Arise, OPUS: Echo of Starsong, and more! We then have what seemed like a pretty pithy news section, but then we had opinions & thoughts on game preservation, piracy, and more – so stay tuned for that!

PRODUCTION NOTE: Sam’s audio was corrupted, so the sections where he is talking come from our backup recording in case you notice a weird difference in sound quality!

Links Mentioned in Show:
Sam’s Life Is Strange: True Colors review
https://www.fyx.space/2021/09/life-is-strange-true-colors-review-ps5/

Techland Article:
https://www.thegamer.com/techland-report-bleeding-talent-autocratic-management-bad-feedback/

Dave Lang’s new car:
https://twitter.com/JosephJBroni/status/1438988260269707265

FFXIV Letter from the Producer thread from Michael Higham
https://twitter.com/michaelphigham/status/1439046912313737220

Timestamps:
00:07:42 – Life is Strange: True Colors
00:26:10 – DEATHLOOP
00:53:29 – WarioWare: Get It Together
01:03:05 – Tales of Arise
01:19:14 – Genshin Impact
01:30:40 – OPUS: Echo of Starsong
Newwwwwwwssssss:
01:41:11 – Battlefield 2042? DELAYED
01:43:49 – Dying Light 2? DELAYED
01:47:15 – Deltarune! TWO!
01:50:04 – Nintendo Switch price drop (in Europe)
01:51:50 – Also Switch can use Bluetooth
01:54:15 – LBP Servers Crashed…. FOREVER – and a talk about Piracy
02:13:40 – THQ had a showcase apparently lol
02:23:40 – FFXIV Letter from the Producer

Music by Jeff Davis – @strangerpeace https://twitter.com/strangerpeace/

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Life is Strange: True Colors Review (PS5)

Sam Harrison — Fri, 17 Sep 2021 11:27:25 +0000

Life is Strange: True Colors Review (PS5)

Game title: Life is Strange: True Colors

Game description: A bold new era of the award-winning Life is Strange begins, with an all-new playable lead character and a thrilling mystery to solve! Alex Chen has long suppressed her 'curse': the supernatural ability to experience, absorb and manipulate the strong emotions of others, which she sees as blazing, colored auras. When her brother dies in a so-called accident, Alex must embrace her volatile power to find the truth – and uncover the dark secrets buried by a small town.

[ More ]

Sam's Score - 9/10

9/10

9/10

Review

Life is Strange: True Colors is the story of Alex Chen, a twenty-two year old girl who has just moved to the small Colorado town of Haven Springs. Alex can see other people’s emotions as an aura of colour around them, and also is able to get a view into their thoughts by focusing. You meet Alex as she arrives in Haven Springs to see her brother Gabe for the first time in 8 years after being separated by the foster system. Alex has been living in group homes and with foster families and hasn’t had the best time of it due to her empathic abilities. If Alex is too close to somebody experiencing a powerful emotion she takes it on too, and unfortunately powerful emotions like anger and depression are commonplace in the foster system. She arrives in Haven Springs nervous but excited to start her new life, before tragedy strikes and kicks off the rest of the story.

Alex is a really likeable protagonist, the best so far in the Life is Strange series, and is surrounded by similarly likeable characters. Her brother, Gabe, makes for a strong presence in the game, as well as Alex’s best friends, Steph and Ryan. One of the most important characters in the game though is the town of Haven Springs, which feels like maybe the most “real” place I have ever seen in a video game. Haven is a small town of only a single street (that you can access), but it has so much personality. When I finished the game I wanted to move to Haven Springs.

I’ll keep the discussion of the story and the specifics of the characters and the town short as I think they are the best aspects of the game, but that doesn’t mean the gameplay is a weakness. The way you play the game is a lot like how you played the previous Life is Strange games, though with a bit more freedom and openness in the way you move through the world. In the previous games in the series you were moved from scene to scene as the game’s story dictated, you would go to a location and then once you had done the objective in that location you often moved on and never returned. In True Colors you have access to the open world of the town for pretty much the whole game, you can leave an event and see how other characters who aren’t involved are doing. There’s a section of the game where you attend a big town festival, but if you want you can leave the festival to go see a friend who’s leaving town or spend some time with somebody who is having a tough time. It’s an excellent change that I think really works.

The majority of your time in the game will be spent in conversation or exploring the town and nearby mountains. When Alex focuses in on an emotion she is transported to how the subject sees the world through the lens of that emotion. For example, if the subject is feeling fear, items in the world will transform to be darker and scarier. Alex will then investigate highlighted objects of emotion in the world and try to help the person to calm that negative emotion. At a few story points she has the option of removing a single emotion from a person completely, and you get to see that this isn’t always a good thing – which I was really impressed by.

The choices in True Colors are often difficult, with some that I sat with for several minutes before making a decision. Your mileage may vary, but I found myself very invested in the town and people of Haven Springs and Alex’s journey in particular.

True Colors is gorgeous. The stylised realism of the characters allows them to express a lot of emotion in their faces without being too cartoony or over the top and the world itself is gorgeous. I played on PS5 and I took more than 50 screenshots because I was constantly stunned by the visuals in the game. Developers Deck Nine have done a fantastic job here, especially with protagonist Alex Chen. She’s so expressive without being over the top and is animated really well. Alex’s hair in particular moves in a really lifelike manner and was genuinely impressive.

True Colors is really Alex’s story in a way that I haven’t felt in previous instalments. A big part of that story is Alex’s love of music, which permeates the whole game. Alex and Gabe bond over their shared love of Kings of Leon, Steph works at the local record shop and radio station and many of the events in the game revolve around music. During the game you will often have the opportunity to sit and consider recent events in the game, there will be some narration from Alex over music, but when the narration finishes you are able to continue to sit and enjoy the song while a montage of scenery around you will cycle. Every single one of these I found I sat for the entire song, and I found these moments to be very effective and emotional.

One quick note – the game offers the option to not play licensed music if you’re streaming the game. I would highly recommend against that. If you’re a streamer I think you should play this game on your own time, or mute the capture for your stream rather than use this option. The music is so integral to this game, I think it would really lose something without it.

I loved Life is Strange: True Colors and it’s my favourite game I’ve played this year. I got very emotionally invested in Alex’s story and the town of Haven Springs. If you’ve enjoyed a Life is Strange game in the past I think you’ll really like this one, the more open structure and ability to move around the town as you wish lets you really make your home in the town and make the story your own. It’s been several days and I am still thinking about Alex and my time with the game, and I don’t think that will stop for a while. Reviewing the screenshots I took for this review honestly got me a little misty eyed. I’m hopeful that we will see more of Alex and friends in a future game or DLC, but if not then I cannot wait to see what Deck Nine does next.

Pros

Engaging story
Great characters
Visually impressive

Cons

Streamer mode a bit lifeless

My favourite spoiler free screenshots:

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 189! (If A Wario Could Ware Warios!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 11 Sep 2021 16:49:26 +0000

Andre & Alex are here to discuss the important things like Frozen Pizza and Danny DeVito on this week’s Gaming Fyx!! We’ve been playing a whole bunch of great games – the first one in a long time where we recommend everything we’ve been playing. Also tons of talk about the Playstation event, and doing our best to clarify the outcome of the Epic vs. Apple trial.

Wata Article:
https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/game-grading-firm-watas-co-founder-is-accused-of-selling-large-numbers-of-wata-graded-games/

Timestamps:
00:05:25 – Cookie Clicker
00:17:35 – The Forgotten City
00:30:04 – WarioWare: Get It Together
00:39:41 – Psychonauts 2
Newwwwwwwsssssssssss
00:50:34 – Playstation Showcase happened
01:40:59 – Wata you doin, Wata?
01:46:57 – Tripwire is a nightmare
01:56:04 – Epic vs. Apple has a conclusion (for nowwww)

Music by Jeff Davis – @strangerpeace https://twitter.com/strangerpeace/

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 188! (We Believe In A Thing Called Love!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 04 Sep 2021 17:15:32 +0000

We’ve got a power duo for you today with Pat and Alex diving deep into a bunch of stuff they both have big ol’ opinions on. Ranked matchmaking, strategy games, raids, good content in bad games, bad content in good games, and far more!

Timestamps:
00:08:34 – Pokemon Unite (basically a review, including an in-depth talk about high-level play)
00:41:28 – Hunt Showdown
01:09:25 – Humankind
01:28:08 – Icarus
01:41:35 – Destiny 2
Newwwwwwwwssssssss
02:15:11 – Star Trek is coming to GOG
02:19:33 – Chinese Government imposing limits on gaming time for youths
02:34:07 – Playstation Event & Console War Discussion
02:40:33 – Horizon Forbidden West doesn’t have an upgrade path
02:45:47 – GameBoy and GBC seem to be coming to Switch
02:48:07 – PlayerUnknown is departing PUBG
02:52:42 – FFXIII returns

Music by Jeff Davis – @strangerpeace https://twitter.com/strangerpeace/

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Death’s Door, Returnal & Difficulty in Games

Sam Harrison — Fri, 03 Sep 2021 10:43:34 +0000

Difficulty in video games is an oft debated topic. In 2021 I think it’s maybe the most relevant it’s ever been, as two of the games people are talking about most for the top spot in the GOTY race this year are Returnal and Death’s Door. Both of these games are very different, Returnal is a third person AAA roguelike and Death’s Door is an isometric action RPG, but they have one thing in common – they’re designed to be difficult.

I’m sure there are a lot of people reading this who are saying something to the tune of “well I didn’t find them hard at all because I’m a pro gamer” but I know that I certainly did find them both hard. I would even go so far as to say that I found them difficult to a degree that I didn’t enjoy them by the time I decided to put down the controller and stop playing. Because I didn’t finish either game I didn’t think it was appropriate to write a review for either, but they both ignited a frustration in me that I wanted to write about.

The big problem is that I really like Returnal and Death’s Door. In both cases I liked the combat, the art design, the music and the story they were out to tell. What annoyed me was that because of either lack of skill, talent or just plain reaction speed I wasn’t able to see more of them. And each time I died I didn’t feel I made enough progress to have made the time I played worthwhile.

Now for some background, my time is pretty limited when it comes to games. I work full time and freelance as well and I have a toddler at home, so my day is pretty much spoken for from 6am to 8pm. This doesn’t leave me with much time to game, and I do have to keep up with current releases for freelance work and the occasional podcast appearance. Because of this the 2-3 hours I have most nights is pretty sacred, and I feel really annoyed when I put time into something and don’t feel like I’ve gotten anywhere.

One night playing Returnal I achieved nothing in the entire evening, played a couple of hours and died a bunch of times no matter how I switched up my play style. That was when I uninstalled the game and moved on.

Death’s Door is a little different, as you do accumulate souls to trade in and improve your stats which does make the game easier. The issue there is that these upgrades are costly, and the average enemy might only give you 1-2 souls. When the next ability upgrade is 800 souls, it feels like you’ll never get there. I got pretty far into Death’s Door, reaching the third world and the Frog King boss, but I got to the point where I was running around the same small section of map for an entire evening and not really getting anything for my efforts.

I don’t think that either Death’s Door or Returnal are poorly balanced, or that they’re too hard in general. But they’re definitely too hard for me. I’ve learned over the last few years since the release of Demon’s Souls on the PS3 that there are going to be games out there that no matter how much I love the ideas involved in the game I’ll never be able to beat. This is a combination of several factors, though a major one is an unwillingness to put the time in to get better at a game. Doing that means pretty much forgoing all other games until I get good enough at one of them to beat it and I don’t find that very entertaining personally.

I can already imagine the readers furiously typing “git gud” so I want to talk about a couple of games that I think handle difficulty really well – Hades, The Last Of Us Part 2 and Destiny 2.

Hades

The God Mode in Hades is honestly what I think should be the template for difficulty in games. When you turn God Mode on you’re damage resistance is increased by 2% every time you die, so if you succeed on a run and escape then the difficulty stays the same. It gives you a leg up when you’re having a tough time and helps you learn what is and isn’t working while not just giving a blanket lower difficulty. It allows you to smartly push forward and feel the progress that you’d get if you didn’t have God Mode on too, which is really smart. The God Mode in Hades made me feel like I was having the same experience as everyone else, even though it was being made ever so slightly easier for me every run.

The Last of Us Part 2

The original Last of Us was a game that I suffered through playing because I loved the story that Naughty Dog was telling. I remember vividly throwing my controller and quitting the game for a day when I was killed at the end of a large combat encounter by the last enemy, forcing me to reload from the start of it for what I think was probably the third time. I’d probably go so far as to say I hated the stealth and combat in The Last of Us.

But I’m talking about it’s sequel here, which follows the recent PlayStation trend of adding a lot of accessibility options to help people who struggle to enjoy the game at it’s default setting. You’re able to tune the difficulty of certain aspects, so if like me you struggle with stealth you are able to reduce the awareness of the enemies to the point where you’re completely invisible when prone. I only used this a couple of times to give myself a break in intensive encounters that I was struggling with, but it helped me to really enjoy that game. I’d probably say that the ability to adapt the difficulty to suit my personal skill level was what pushed this game into my all time top ten.

Destiny 2

Destiny 2? Difficult? Well no the single player content of Destiny is pretty easy. I think I beat the entire Destiny 2 Red War campaign without dying more than a handful of times, but Destiny does offer some very difficult content if you’re looking for that through Raids and Nightfalls. But the difficulty here is mitigated by it being a group activity – you feel like you’re together with your pals against the insurmountable force. I remember getting stuck on a stage of the Leviathan raid with a group of my close friends for hours, and despite moments of frustration I never felt like the game was hard for the sake of it or got to the point where I didn’t want to carry on playing with my friends.

Sure, this comes to the often repeated question from the PS I Love You XOXO podcast – is the game good or are pizza, beer and friends good? Is the difficulty good and balanced for a group of friends or am I just enjoying a frustrating experience because I’m playing together with my friends? I think it’s a mix of both.

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Want to play Horizon Forbidden West on PS4 and PS5? I hope you have $80

Sam Harrison — Thu, 02 Sep 2021 16:59:53 +0000

UPDATE

Sony has now walked this back, all purchases of Horizon Forbidden West on PS4 will be able to upgrade to the PS5 version at no additional cost. They have also cemented that all future PS4 -> PS5 upgrades will cost $10, which while not ideal is reasonable as the cost of games is $10 higher on PS5. If you’d like to read my original commentary on this news it is preserved below:

Horizon Forbidden West, sequel to 2017’s most overshadowed-by-Breath-of-the-Wild game Horizon: Zero Dawn, was recently delayed out of 2021 and into early 2022 by Sony and Guerrilla. However it showed up today to preorder on the PlayStation store and people started noticing some small print:

According to the Horizon Forbidden West support page, there really won't be a PS4 to PS5 upgrade for the game

The FAQ also specifically mentions players being able to play the PS4 version on PS5https://t.co/tMjTbEZYnX pic.twitter.com/Mz8z7rcgit
— Nibel (@Nibellion) September 2, 2021

The minimum cost of entry if you want to own both the PS4 and PS5 versions is the $80 you’ll need to pony up for the digital deluxe edition. Sony has been moving towards just plain not offering an upgrade path for their PS4 games with things like the Ghost of Tsushima where they charged $29.99 for the upgrade from the original PS4 version to the Director’s Cut for PS5. Of course in the case of Ghost of Tsushima this also gave you the new Iki island expansion, but if you wanted to upgrade from PS4 base to PS4 Director’s Cut this was only $19.99. While there were multiple upgrade paths for the PS4 version to the PS5 version, all of them were at least $9.99 for the new upgraded PS5 graphics.

This is in sharp contrast with their distinguished competition, where Microsoft just sells you the game and you play it wherever you want. If you buy Halo Infinite from the Microsoft Store in December your $60 will let you play the game on an Xbox One, Xbox Series, PC and mobile device via Cloud Gaming. That might as well be 4 versions of the game for a single price. Of course you can also just subscribe to Game Pass Ultimate for $14.99 a month (so around half the price of the upgrade for Ghost) and play on all of those consoles, whilst also getting access to 100s of other games.

It’s sad to see, as a big fan of the PlayStation and their exclusives, how anti-consumer these practices are. They’re pretty clear on the store page for Horizon Forbidden West that there is no upgrade path at all for the base version of the game, so PS4 owners who are hoping to get a PS5 in the near future after buying Forbidden West will either have to buy the digital deluxe edition or resign themselves to playing the inferior PS4 version on their brand new PS5.

I’m hoping that articles like this one, and the myriad others I’ve seen, that we’re going to see a reversal of this policy in the near future, but they didn’t change their mind with Ghost of Tsushima so I’m not holding my breath.

My advice would be that if you’re not sure when you’re going to get a PS5 just wait and buy Forbidden West when you are able to get one. It’ll probably even be on sale by that point.

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 187! (Please Reconsider Your Spider-Man Hot Take!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 28 Aug 2021 18:35:18 +0000

This week Allyson, Pat and Sam come together for a breezy and short episode where they talk Psychonauts 2, Rider’s Republic, Boyfriend Dungeon, PC & Mobile gaming hardware and some Spider-Man then MCU hot takes. We end with a short news discussion and a little chat about manga.

Music by Jeff Davis – @strangerpeace https://twitter.com/strangerpeace/

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 186! (Rigging a Child!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 21 Aug 2021 18:22:42 +0000

This week we are rejoined by the intrepid Sam as we talk for no less than twelve minutes about Twelve Minutes, a revengeful visit to Marvel’s Avengers, verge on axiomity in Axiom Verge 2, and wrack our brains with Lobotomy Corporation. We also enter our own time loop with the return of Skyrim, and a bunch of other news!

Timestamps:
00:03:45 – Twelve Minutes
00:29:10 – Avengers: War for Wakanda
00:52:48 – Lobotomy Corporation
01:13:35 – Axiom Verge 2
01:20:45 – Listener question
01:26:55 – What are you looking forward to?
Newwwwwwwwwwwwsssssssssssssssss
01:35:57 – Skyrim again
01:41:55 – Kiryu
01:42:58 – People Can Fly Not Receiving Royalties for Outriders
01:46:15 – Fortnite copies Among Us Map
01:49:15 – Halo Infinite Launching without Forge
01:53:18 – Saints Row being teased for GamesCom

Music by Jeff Davis – @strangerpeace https://twitter.com/strangerpeace/

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 185! (The G Word!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 14 Aug 2021 18:41:43 +0000

This week we get mechanical and talk about board games, build out our Dodgeball team, tell some stories in the Garden, all while holding each other at Bladepoint. And that’s before we dive into the news to discuss new studios, a surprisingly strong Switch performance, falling Goombas, an incredibly attractive echidna, and more!

Timestamps:
00:04:47 – Dodgeball Academia
00:16:48 – Garden Story
00:27:32 – Oath
00:45:22 – Naraka Bladepoint
Newwwssssssss
01:12:33 – Naraka Bladepoint delayed on Epic Games Store for some reason
01:13:42 – Blizzard Activision departures continue
01:14:08 – Respawn fires Lead Dev of Apex Legends
01:17:27 – Goombas Attack
01:22:42 – Japan’s Weekly top 30 dominated by the Switch
01:26:52 – Nintendo Indie showcase
01:33:11 – Knuckles is hot
01:43:15 – Dr Disrespect opens a new studio
01:46:52 – Xbox cloud gaming now on PC
01:49:52 – Battlefield 2042 PS5 technical test cancelled
01:53:17 – Abandoned Realtime Experience App

Music by Jeff Davis – @strangerpeace https://twitter.com/strangerpeace/

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 184! (Mario Party 10 Sucks!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 07 Aug 2021 20:19:45 +0000

It’s the dynamic duo of Andre and Pat this week bringing you hot indie bangers like Pokémon Let’s Go Pikachu and Final Fantasy XIV (we kid, games include Forgotten City, Back 4 Blood, Splitgate, and more!)

Timestamps:
00:03:20 – Listener questions
00:08:42 – Forgotten City
00:19:10 – Back4Blood
00:31:05 – Hell Let Loose
00:40:20 – Splitgate
00:49:00 – Let’s Go Pikachu
00:56:20 – Final Fantasy XIV
Newwwwwwwwwsssssssssss
01:06:20 – Activision Blizzard continues
01:16:45 – Enter the Embracer(er Group)
01:23:00 – New World is delayed (again)
01:28:10 – Donkey Kong World at USJ
01:40:50 – Avenger’s Wakanda

Music by Jeff Davis – @strangerpeace https://twitter.com/strangerpeace/

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 183! (The UwU-Tang Clan!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 31 Jul 2021 17:25:58 +0000

Hook yourselves up to your (Se)X Box Twos and join us on a strange and wondrous journey through the lands of video games. We start strongly, talking about the phenomenon which is Pokémon Unite, and then dive deeper into games like New World, Death’s Door, Super Sami Roll, and Alex has some thoughts on Link Click now that he’s wrapped it up! The news is next, and it starts rough again with some serious talks about Activision/Blizzard. The rest of the news is more positive, but heads up for some rough chats.

Timestamps
00:07:18 – Pokemon Unite
00:22:19 – Ace Attorney
00:24:37 – Link Click
00:34:11 – Idol Manager
00:57:40 – New World
01:20:40 – Death’s Door
01:34:44 – Super Sami Roll
Newwwwwwwwwssssssssss
01:41:34 – Rain
01:43:11 – ActiBlizz continuing story
02:13:42 – PS5 is the fastest selling PS ever
02:36:05 – Annapurna Interactive Showcase
02:42:07 – Oculus Quest 2 is not being sold for a bit. Because….

Music by Jeff Davis – @strangerpeace https://twitter.com/strangerpeace/

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 182! (A Rock Band Fronted by Chad Kroeger!! Ft. Chris Edgerton)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 24 Jul 2021 17:50:58 +0000

Pour yourself a tall glass of sparkling anime with this sweet & salty episode of Gaming Fyx! We are joined by Chris Edgerton to talk about a buncha sports games, The Last Stop, Dota 2, Pokemon Unite, Atelier Ryza 2, and a brief look at Link Click. The news is a rollercoaster ride of bad and good, but they’re all good talks which need to happen.

Some of the awful statements that came out of Blizzard
https://twitter.com/jasonschreier/status/1418619091515068421

Yoshi P’s statement on FFXIV’s growing population
https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/topics/detail/c2d7b35d55577879086b64cfde0acb6c23ccd07f

Timestamps
00:02:32 – Show start
00:05:05 – Sega’s official Olympic game
00:20:38 – The Last Stop
00:34:04 – Dota 2
00:49:23 – Pokemon Unite
01:05:40 – Atelier Ryza 2
01:11:29 – Brief chat about Link Click
Newwwwwwsssssss
01:16:42 – Activision / Blizzard’s Lawsuit
01:34:32 – EA Play (Lots of Madden & FIFA talk from ~1:42:00 – 02:15:00)
02:22:46 – New World has been bricking 3090s
02:25:29 – Brief talk about game music
02:27:31 – Neil Blomkamp
02:29:35 – XD rawr
02:31:12 – Those PS4s found in a Ukrainian warehouse were farming ultimate team cards
02:39:28 – FFXIV is getting overpopulated

Music by Jeff Davis – @strangerpeace https://twitter.com/strangerpeace/

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 181! (It’s Much Sweeter!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 17 Jul 2021 17:48:03 +0000

We’ve got a thick new episode of Gaming Fyx for you today – lots of hefty talks about racing games, great co-op experiences, the changing MMO landscape, new “consoles” and far, far more! As well as some of our hopes for new Persona games, and jokes about… Well… Kinda everything this week.

Bunny’s Existential Crisis:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GR8-PksWGYg

Mark Kern’s thread on Blizzard and modern AAA Development:
https://twitter.com/Grummz/status/1414952816188264460

Timestamps
00:11:00 – iRacing 24-hour Races
00:36:11 – Amuse-Bouche of other Racing Games (F1 2021, GT Sport)
00:51:17 – It Takes Two and then some Cruelty Squad
01:08:54 – Discussion: FFXIV and the WoW Exodus
Newwwwwwsssssssss
01:51:10 – SGDQ 2021 raised $2.9 Million for MSF
01:53:11 – Steam Deck & Stream Deck
02:22:23 – Actual talk about the El Gato stuff
02:28:00 – Nickelodeon All-Star Brawwwwllllll
02:31:43 – Persona 25th Anniversary! 7 New Projects
02:41:27 – Lost Judgment may be lost on PC
02:47:08 – Netflix is getting into games
02:49:26 – Resident Evil Village works a lot better when cracked

Music by Jeff Davis – @strangerpeace https://twitter.com/strangerpeace/

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 180! (RIP Cranky Kong!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 10 Jul 2021 17:02:01 +0000

Show us your favourite doors this week on Gaming Fyx! We take a look at various great doors in games like Atelier Online, Atelier Ryza 2, Scarlet Nexus, Resident Evil: Code Veronica Remake and Cruelty Squad!!! Also, holy cannoli the new Switch is a reality! Also Apex has been hacked!! Also Sony did an event!!! And far more news, as well as some discussions about work culture and SGDQ 2021!

Timestamps
00:03:15 – Atelier Online
00:21:25 – Atelier Ryza 2 & TV recommendations
00:22:45 – Scarlet Nexus
00:32:13 – Resident Evil: Code Veronica
00:45:03 – Cruelty Squad
Newwwwwwssssssss
00:56:00 – The new Switch!! It is here!!!!!!!!!!!!!
01:09:40 – Apex got hacked. To talk about Titanfall hackers.
01:13:24 – Sony’s latest State of Play
01:23:04 – Tencent Kiddo Curfews
01:35:05 – Tencent wants to say bye to 996
01:43:27 – SGDQ is great
01:52:06 – DK is 40
01:55:54 – Dota 2’s TI10 is being delayed. And also moved.

Music by Jeff Davis – @strangerpeace https://twitter.com/strangerpeace/

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 179! (Whackin’ Wario!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 03 Jul 2021 17:05:50 +0000

This week we’ve got some great stuff! Some excellent stuff! Some kinda bad stuff! And everything in between! Also a lot of talk about everyone’s favourite turn-based sports game, Golf! Also please watch Odd Taxi!

Platform X Tweets:
https://twitter.com/NeonIain/status/1410184912745885702
https://twitter.com/matthewmwhite/status/1410261301180444681

Timestamps
00:07:51 – Wonder Egg Priority
00:18:06 – Odd Taxi
00:25:36 – The House in Fata Morgana
00:39:08 – Lost Ruins of Arnak
00:58:30 – Mario Golf: Super Rush
01:19:22 – Golf Smorgasbord
01:28:21 – Power Wash Simulator
Newwssssssss
01:40:33 – Ghost of Tsushima is getting more stuff. And also on the PS5
01:45:01 – Housemarque is now a Sony Studio
01:46:48 – The Witcher but Pokemon Go
01:52:24 – A.I. The Somnium Files – nirvanA Institute
01:56:28 – Kojima is making an Xbox game
01:58:38 – Apparently Sony is rough to work with
02:10:56 – Nether Realms is onto a new project!
02:12:23 – Control is getting a PvE
02:15:09 – Near

Music by Jeff Davis – @strangerpeace https://twitter.com/strangerpeace/

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 178! (Gaming Fyx Mega Max!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 26 Jun 2021 19:34:38 +0000

It’s a scorcher this week on Gaming Fyx! Set up your air cons and join us for some heated discussion about some of the sweatiest games on the market, like Mario Golf! Then feel the heat waves coming off the asphalt in Automobilista 2. If that all is too scorching for you, then cool off by throwing yourself into the ocean as we talk about Overboard!! Also the news will ensure that you keep warm overnight =]

Wholesome Direct:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ozqhc7YXd3M

Timestamps:
00:22:48 – Mario Golf
00:37:05 – Automobilista 2
00:47:45 – Overboard!
00:57:25 – News Quick bits

Music by Jeff Davis – @strangerpeace https://twitter.com/strangerpeace/

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 177! (We Get Knocked Down!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 19 Jun 2021 17:41:17 +0000

Press C to scream along with us on this episode of Gaming Fyx! It’s time for some rad games such as Wildermyth, Chivalry 2, The House In Fata Morgana, and some CHAOS with Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin. We then do a deep dive on the best and less-than-best of E3 2021!!

Wholesome Direct:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ozqhc7YXd3M

Timestamps:
00:04:01 – The House In Fata Morgana
00:13:58 – A little tangent about Brandon Sanderson books
00:20:20 – Wildermyth
00:41:35 – Chivalry 2
01:03:38 – CHAOS (Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin)
Newwwwwwsssssss
01:19:57 – E3! Let’s start with Squeenix
01:26:00 – Ubisoft and Capcom
01:33:20 – Wholesome Direct
01:40:15 – Microsoft
02:05:51 – Nintendo
02:35:57 – Oh right, other news. Blue Box stuff
02:46:17 – Tamagotchi smart watch? Why?

Music by Jeff Davis – @strangerpeace https://twitter.com/strangerpeace/

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 176! (The Director’s Cut!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 12 Jun 2021 17:05:55 +0000

Summer Games Fest and E3 both are here! But before talking about all the latest goings-ons, we have to talk about the newest release – Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart! Also Alex is back! He hasn’t had time for games much recently, but has returned bearing gifts of wonderful anime recommendations and awesome youtube channels.

The 4 anime Alex talked about:
Vivy -Fluorite Eye’s Song- https://myanimelist.net/anime/46095/Vivy__Fluorite_Eyes_Song
To Your Eternity: https://myanimelist.net/anime/41025/Fumetsu_no_Anata_e
ODDTAXI: https://myanimelist.net/anime/46102/Odd_Taxi
86: https://myanimelist.net/anime/41457/86

Ami Yamato Videos
Hachiko: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frw4zRYlWyU
Most recent Q&A: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmcA8veuV7c
Ami’s Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdDpQ461uxNA3odAnpuigAg

00:15:19 – Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
00:45:30 – Alex’s Anime
01:03:20 – Ami Yamato
01:15:05 – Listener Mail
Newwwwwwwwsssssssss
01:09:53 – Nextlander has landed nextly
01:15:55 – Summer Games Fest was a thing
01:08:15 – E3 is Nigh!! We got some games
01:47:30 – That E3 site tho
01:50:49 – Playdate looks delightful
01:54:00 – EA dun’ got hacked

Music by Jeff Davis – @strangerpeace https://twitter.com/strangerpeace/

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 175! (Thanks to Listeners Like You!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 05 Jun 2021 17:03:26 +0000

It’s a shorter cast than usual this week as Pat and Allyson meet to chat more about Final Fantasy XIV, D4DJ and the mobile gacha landscape, and some E3 thoughts and prayers.

00:09:45 – FFXIV
00:27:25 – 2017 Slapped
00:31:15 – D4DJ
00:50:45 – E3 Questions
01:13:40 – E3 Schedule
01:20:35 – itch.io bundle for Palestinian aid
01:27:45 – Yuji Naka Left Square Enix
01:30:15 – God of War delay
01:36:15 – Wrap Up

Music by Jeff Davis – @strangerpeace https://twitter.com/strangerpeace/

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 174! (Fable 4: New Vegas 2!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 29 May 2021 18:02:53 +0000

Spring has sprung, and lovely smells are filling the air here at Fyx. We’re here to tell you all about the latest games currently blooming, and those yet to blossom! Chivalry (2)! Returnal! Famicom Detective Club! D4DJ Groovy Mix! Solasta! Dread Hunger! All your favs in one place – sit back, relax, and enjoy the cool breeze and warm fuzzy feels of games, news, and more.

00:04:00 – Dread Hunger
00:19:55 – Chivalry 2 Open Beta
00:29:20 – Returnal
00:56:15 – Famicom Detective Club
00:50:30 – D4DJ Groovy Mix
01:06:50 – Solasta: Crown of The Magister
Newwwwsssss
01:19:00 – Horizon: Forbidden West State Of Play
01:25:40 – Uncharted 4 on PC
01:30:24 – Xbox Game Showcase is June 13th
01:29:05 – Dying Light 2 Coming Out in December
01:40:22 – Borderlands 3 Crossplay shenanigans
01:44:00 – Pokemon Game Release Dates
01:47:20 – Valve Switch PC
01:52:30 – Team Ninja Final Fantasy
01:59:35 – Sonic Zap??

Music by Jeff Davis – @strangerpeace https://twitter.com/strangerpeace/

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 173! (We Dare!! Ft. Alex Orona)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 22 May 2021 18:04:30 +0000

This week, Andre and Allyson and joined by Alex Orona from Super GG Radio to talk about RPGs, rhythm games, visual novels, roguelikes, and werewolves. We really hit a lot of stuff this week, and that’s all before the news. Then we dive into some listener questions before a brief news segment, and then take a stroll down memory lane.

Alex Orona – @0ronalex https://twitter.com/0ronalex
Super GG Radio – @SuperGGRadio https://twitter.com/SuperGGRadio

Timestamps:
00:06:06 – Scourgebringer
00:12:31 – Persona 3
00:24:55 – Unbeatable [white label]
00:29:03 – Very Very Valet
00:39:30 – Silicon Dreams
00:44:35 – Famicom Detective Club
00:58:30 – Resident Evil: Village
01:10:35 – Listener Question
Newwwwwwsssssssssss
01:21:08 – New Tony Hawk???
01:26:15 – Timesplitters is back!?
01:29:33 – WB is gettin shuffled
01:33:00 – Sony wants to get in to gambling
01:36:28 – Final Fantasy Brand Manager change-up
01:41:00 – Gaming memories

Music by Jeff Davis – @strangerpeace https://twitter.com/strangerpeace/

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 172! (Eden Prime Dong Saloon!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sun, 16 May 2021 01:35:51 +0000

Join Allyson and Alex as they trek across the stars as well as through the games this week on Gaming Fyx! Also a lot of referring to weird british-isms so strap in for that. But hey, we get to talk about Mass Effect with no-one to stop us!!! And Nier Replicant’s E Ending (spoiler-free).

Timestamps:
00:05:51 – Mass Effect Legendary Edition
00:34:56 – Nier Replicant
00:51:23 – Brief talk about Turnip Boy
00:53:26 – Hot shots golf???
Newwwsssss
00:58:51 – Skull & Bones is coming out! (Lol Just kidding)
01:04:23 – Sony were actually the bad guys with crossplay all along (no shockers there)
01:11:49 – Resident Evil Village sellin’ great around the world (but not in japan)
01:15:14 – Sony’s making a buncha PS5 games
01:28:31 – FFXIV Fan Fest Baybeee

Music by Jeff Davis – @strangerpeace https://twitter.com/strangerpeace/

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 171! (Seeing STARS!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 08 May 2021 16:44:45 +0000

It’s a lot of strong feelings on this episode of Gaming Fyx!! This week we are talking about some games we truly like and love! And some news which really matters to each of us

Mass Effect deluxe edition downloads:
https://www.ea.com/games/mass-effect/mass-effect-legendary-edition/mass-effect-bonus-content-download

Timestamps:
00:10:40 – Hood: Outlaws and Legends
00:36:05 – Nier: Replicant
01:00:05 – Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion
01:03:57 – Resident Evil 8 Village (01:12:35 we get into some spoilers)
Newwwwwwwsssssssss
01:35:16 – <>
01:55:18 – Yakuza & Judgment news!
01:57:27 – Mass Effect goodies are out for free! (link in description)
02:58:29 – Discord is being discordant but this time with Sony
02:03:35 – Halo Infinite is crunchy
02:09:56 – Apple vs. Epic (Round 1)
02:18:50 – Waaaahhhhhhhh (sexily)

Music by Jeff Davis – @strangerpeace https://twitter.com/strangerpeace/

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 170! (Something Old Something Blue!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 01 May 2021 16:47:13 +0000

Learn hygiene habits and talk fruit with us this week on Gaming Fyx! Oh right, games too – lots of ’em! We’ve got some older games getting new life in NieR Replicant™ ver.1.22474487139…, New Pokémon Snap, and Days Gone; but the crew also share their eternally returning love for Returnal! Then by the end of the episode you’ll probably forget this is a podcast about video games at all but ¯_(ツ)_/¯

Timestamps:
00:03:44 – Nier Replicant
00:24:43 – New Pokémon Snap
00:43:23 – Returnal
01:13:14 – Days Gone
Newwwwwwwsssssssssss
01:26:43 – Activision of Duty
01:36:50 – E3 loses one million troops (konami)
01:46:23 – Resident Evil REverse ain’t comin’ out soon TT
01:51:53 – El Shaddai is comin’ to steam
01:54:23 – Valorant is listening
02:04:23 – Doom Eternal. You gotta give ‘em bucks for skins
02:06:38 – Chibi Robo is bacckkkkk (at least in speed running)
02:09:43 – Microsoft and Epic sitting in a tree

Music by Jeff Davis – @strangerpeace https://twitter.com/strangerpeace/

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 169! (Iconic Garbage!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 24 Apr 2021 17:43:38 +0000

Be just a slob like one of us this week on Gaming Fyx as we start off with some emails (with a deep dark secret at the end of the episode), a whole buunnnchhh of games such as SCUM, Chivalry 2, Before your eyes, Persona 4 Golden, Days Gone & the Resident Evil Village Demo!!! Also Alex talks about a game-related thing in the new Mortal Kombat movie, as well as anime-ing it up with Wonder Egg Priority! Whole lotta news in here too, boy howdy, it’s too much to sum up in one summary!

Lady Dimitrescu Towel:
https://www.siliconera.com/resident-evil-village-lady-dimitrescu-towel-is-3-meters-long/

Timestamps:
00:06:37 – EMAILS?!
00:25:13 – SCUM
00:39:01 – Chivalry 2 Beta
00:47:43 – Mortal Kombat 2021
00:56:49 – Before Your Eyes
01:02:05 – Wonder Egg Priority
01:10:23 – Persona 4 Golden
01:32:35 – Days Gone
01:49:16 – Resident Evil Village Demo
NEWWWWWSSSSSSS
02:14:43 – Jeff Kaplan is out
02:22:55 – Discord and Microsoft no longer sitting in a tree
02:27:03 – itch.io and Epic sitting in a tree
02:30:43 – LotR the MMO, boiled mashed and put in a stew
02:36:43 – Rockstar put a bunch of free content in some older games
02:40:04 – Ace Attorney is back bay-bee
02:46:31 – Ayyyy Sony said “oh wait nevermind lol” about that whole store thing
02:51:03 – Humble Bundle getting a bit less humble
03:06:05 – Judgement 2 seems like it’ll be a thing
03:07:03 – Apex Legends is adding a bunch of new tasty goodness

Music by Jeff Davis – @strangerpeace https://twitter.com/strangerpeace/

https://www.fyx.space
https://twitter.com/fyxpodcasts
https://podchaser.com/gamingfyx
gaming@box5800.temp.domains

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 168! (Baseball Island!! Ft. Chris Edgerton)

Alex Gelinas — Sun, 18 Apr 2021 02:04:53 +0000

This week we get straight into it with discussion of all the newest junk food, and then delve deep into what is wrong with the Playstation store before we talk about the game at the top of everyone’s mind. We’re joined by friend of the pod, Chris, to talk about the biggest Show in town, and get deep into a multiplayer hole with Pat. Then we take it to the news to discuss Indies, acquisitions, and sunsets.

Timestamps:
00:11:45 – Playstation Store is Bad
00:25:25 – Final Fantasy X|V
00:47:45 – Art of Rally
00:52:34 – Phasmophobia/Fall Guys/Among Us
01:08:00 – MLB the Show 2021
01:34:05 – One Piece Pirate Warriors 4
01:38:35 – Resident Evil News
01:45:45 – Square Enix being bought?
01:57:15 – Sony and Epic sitting in a tree
01:59:45 – Pour One Out For Labo

Music by Jeff Davis – @strangerpeace https://twitter.com/strangerpeace/

https://www.fyx.space
https://twitter.com/fyxpodcasts
https://podchaser.com/gamingfyx
gaming@box5800.temp.domains

The post Gaming Fyx – Episode 168! (Baseball Island!! Ft. Chris Edgerton) appeared first on Fyx.

Gaming Fyx – Episode 167! (Of Marsters and Marsdens!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 10 Apr 2021 19:40:40 +0000

Pour yourself a glass of Soulstorm and buckle into your bucket seats for a cozy episode of Gaming Fyx. We’ve got new games. We’ve got mobile games. We’ve got betas and demos. After our chat about games we hit the news and try to make sense of what’s going on with Playstation, and learn what Pat is willing to do for a thousand dollars for some reason.

Timestamps:
00:10:45 – iRacing
00:25:00 – League of Legends Wild Rift
00:40:45 – Story of Seasons
00:44:45 – Cozy Grove
00:50:45 – Spiderheck
00:55:00 – Oddworld: Soulstorm
01:07:30 – Resident Evil RE:Verse
Neeeeewwwwwwssssssssss
01:18:15 – Deathloop delayed
01:20:31 – Last Of Us Remake and assorted Playstation news
01:41:30 – Xbox and Kojima
01:44:30 – Pacman 99
01:47:15 – Metroid Fan Game
01:53:30 Twitch has a new anti-harassment policy

Music by Jeff Davis – @strangerpeace https://twitter.com/strangerpeace/

https://www.fyx.space
https://twitter.com/fyxpodcasts
https://podchaser.com/gamingfyx
gaming@box5800.temp.domains

The post Gaming Fyx – Episode 167! (Of Marsters and Marsdens!!) appeared first on Fyx.

Gaming Fyx – Episode 166! (Notorious B.I.G. Chungus)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 03 Apr 2021 16:06:45 +0000

The birds are singing and the sun is shining on this week’s episode of Gaming Fyx – come join us as we celebrate such beautiful moments such as the radiant FFXIX free trial, the hitherto unknown shores of Shores Unknown, the lovely Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town and the death of our beloved Mario. Equip your finest Texan chaos language, it’s time to Fyx!

Yesterworld video on the Disney Vault
https://youtu.be/CE-C8rOeo74

Timestamps:
00:00:38 – Show Start
00:05:52 – Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town
00:23:07 – Shores Unknown
00:35:26 – FFXIV (Free Trial, Includes the Critically Acclaimed Heavensward)
Newwwwssssssss:
00:51:13 – Looney Tunes World of Mayhem gets invaded by big chungus
00:55:55 – The console war is over
01:03:28 – The Series X is officially a fridge
01:07:28 – Mario is dead. Long live Mario.
01:17:29 – Crash’s Crashy Crash release gets Crashed
01:21:25 – Andre has an existential crisis (PSN for PS3/Vita/PSP = RIP)
01:30:35 – The chip shortage which is messing with the industry won’t be stopping anytime soon
01:33:51 – SGDQ2021O!!!

Music by Jeff Davis – @strangerpeace https://twitter.com/strangerpeace/

https://www.fyx.space
https://twitter.com/fyxpodcasts
https://podchaser.com/gamingfyx

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How To Win Review

Andre Cole — Thu, 01 Apr 2021 05:57:56 +0000

How to Win $8.99

Game title: How To Win

Game description: How to Win is an anarchic adventure/gaming experiment where players decide the rules. Whatever you decide, that’s what happens next in our story. No matter what chaos it creates. Play through all 5 chapters of Season 1, then send us your ideas for Season 2!

Author: Andre Cole

Here us discuss How To Win on Episode 165

This game is presented in a 4:3 format to preserve the integrity of Zack Snyder’s creative vision.

As a world, we will look back on 2020 as a pivotal moment in society. A global pandemic, protests for racial and social justice, political turmoil, and the list go on. Where that pivot takes us remains to be seen. One thing we can see, however, is how artists and creators are responding to these events in real near real-time through social media and the internet. Hidden Track, an interactive theater company in the U.K., found themselves unable to perform because of Covid-19 lockdown restrictions. Their response was to shift their focus to creating a game while maintaining their interactive flare. The result is How To Win, a game that probably has terrible SEO.

Booting up How To Win is like being transported back to 2002, with Newgrounds open on your desktop. It looks and plays exactly how you remember a flash game playing. Made over the course of a couple of months, it’s not a mechanically complex game, it’s mostly a visual novel with a few branching paths and a handful of minigames. You start episode one in an idle clicker/idle game situation, while later in the game you find yourself playing a whack-a-mole type game. Simple activities to break up the story are all they are. You’re here for the writing.

The way Hidden Track created the game is what makes How To Win unique. Being an established theater company before their foray into making games, they utilized their existing audience to help them develop content for the game. Fans would submit their suggestions; Hidden Track would then comb through the suggestions, put their favorites up for a vote, and create content based on the winning votes. The main example of this would be the win condition objective of each episode. By audience vote, the first episode’s win condition is to “make the most money.” After each episode, the audience was again solicited for ideas and suggestions, which were then voted on after the developers chose their favorite options.

The game started production shortly after the time that national lockdowns started happening, specifically the lockdown of the U.K., where Hidden Track is based. In this remastered version of the original release, they explicitly point to the events that were happening at the time that shaped their storytelling. The group is not shy about their push for social justice, which has been present in their stage shows and made its way into How To Win. Subtlety is certainly not their goal, though. The game very openly addresses issues like income inequality, education, and racial justice. Often in ways that feel jarring.

That’s not to say the issues shouldn’t be handled. Many of the topics are introduced in a way that borders on parody and leans into the frustrations that many people can feel when these topics are broached. Not everyone has the mental capacity to constantly think about and unpack social issues in their free time. Some folks want to disengage their critical part of their brain and just have fun without being reminded of the world’s problems. It intends to address that we are constantly bombarded with entertainment and fun to make us ignore social and political issues. The approach they take to tackling this fact is heavy-handed on both sides of the message, which ends up diluting the point.

How To Win is a surprisingly nostalgic experience for those that spent time playing flash games in the early 2000s. It’s rife with a brand of British humor that may or may not land for people outside of the U.K., and even then, it’s hard to praise the writing. Fans of improv comedy will probably enjoy it quite a bit for its humor. This game-making approach is novel and has potential going forward as Hidden Track works on their sequel. As a piece of 2020 history, there are worse media experiences to have.

Pros

Socially conscious
Short and sweet
A consistent sense of humor

Cons

Heavy-handed
Sense of humor is totally subjective
Super simple gameplay

The post How To Win Review appeared first on Fyx.

Gaming Fyx – Episode 165! (Captain Pikman!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 27 Mar 2021 17:18:58 +0000

Whip out your 3DS and download your favourite PSVITA games (while you can) because it’s time for Gaming Fyx!! We’ve got some great new games like Kuukiyomi 3, Genesis Noir, Monster Hunter: Rise Kujikawa, Mundaun and How To Win; along with some old(ish) favourites like Gnosia and FFXIV: Shadowbringers! Also we get an opportunity to talk about Ikumi Nakamura again, which is always the best.

Also Alex guested on Episode 31 of Bread Radio, which you can find here:
https://www.breadradioshow.com/

Timestamps:
00:05:51 – Kuukiyomi 3
00:16:59 – Gnosia
00:23:35 – Genesis Noir
00:38:58 – FFXIV: Shadowbringers
00:38:54 – Monster Hunter Rise
01:03:30 – Mundaun
01:13:09 – How to Win
Newwwwsssssss
01:23:33 – Sony reportedly closing PS3, Vita and PSP stores
01:33:18 – PSN is giving away some games with Play At Home
01:35:18 – Xbox Live is dead. Long live the Xbox Live
01:37:19 – But you can download Discord for free
01:54:23 – Nintendo and Niantic are back at it again
02:01:54 – The 3DS is a decade old now!
02:08:20 – Call of Duty! A new one?!? Whaaaaa
02:14:15 – Ikumi Nakamura is makin’ games again!!!
02:17:41 – Bring. Back. Big. Bo.
02:22:57 – Apex cheaters are getting more creative. And also banned.

Music by Jeff Davis – @strangerpeace https://twitter.com/strangerpeace/

https://www.fyx.space
https://twitter.com/fyxpodcasts
https://podchaser.com/gamingfyx

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 164! (The Fyx Podcast Cinematic Universe!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 18:26:51 +0000

This is a game-heavy week! We get to talk lots about games like Arknights, Fortnite, The Avengers, Adios, NBA 2K21, and Final Fantasy XIV’s Shadowbringers – whose base game has a very generous free trial which now contains the critically acclaimed Heavensward expansion! Also, Higurashi Gou has finished and Alex has lots of thoughts on it. We also have lots of thoughts on news this week, so join us and our chaotic cats for this episode of Gaming Fyx!

Also, we actively stand with the AAPI community at the best of times, and especially now during the worst of times. The AAPI community has been enduring racism and violence for a long time, which led to awful acts of violence this past week. We encourage our listeners to join us in anti-racist activism, and if you are so able, to support organizations who strive towards the same cause & provide relief to those individuals and families who have had to endure the worst of it.

https://stopaapihate.org/
https://gofundme.com/c/act/stop-aapi-hate
https://standagainsthatred.org/report

Timestamps:
00:04:22 – Arknights
00:20:06 – Fortnite
00:31:15 – The Avengers (PS5)
00:37:03 – Adios
00:42:01 – NBA 2K21
01:00:01 – Higurashi Gou
01:13:57 – A random bout of Zack Snyder’s Justice League
01:17:00 – FFXIV: Shadowbringers
Newwwssssss
01:33:13 – There was a Squeenix event y’all
02:00:18 – Sony bought…. Evo?
02:07:12 – Devotion & Detention are back!!!
02:12:11 – Disco Elysium kicking up a stink in Australia
02:21:08 – Rockstar and their community shaking hands
02:23:40 – Activision Blizzard continues being awful
02:34:25 – Jade Raymond might be able to make a game, hopefully
02:41:27 – A very great, funny Twitch stream is happening

Music by Jeff Davis – @strangerpeace https://twitter.com/strangerpeace/

https://www.fyx.space
https://twitter.com/fyxpodcasts
https://podchaser.com/gamingfyx

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 163! (Fan Fyx!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 13 Mar 2021 17:57:45 +0000

Coming soon to your UMDs, it’s Gaming Fyx! Come check your dixterity with furry Phil Spencer as we wipe out tomato town, but not before talking about some great new games like Century Age of Ashes and… Well… That’s the only new one, everything else is kinda old. But we do have some long chats about the state of the industry with Microsoft officially acquiring Zenimax, along with chats about Mental Health, NFTs, and the best movie

Links referenced in show
Atkpwr’s Tweets on the Valorant Situation:
https://twitter.com/atkpwr/status/1369668267602808833

Kotaku Article on Artists not Being Happy With NFT Art:
https://kotaku.com/game-artists-not-happy-that-developer-is-selling-their-1846465316

Timestamps:
00:09:50 – Century Age of Ashes
00:42:19 – Star Trek: Voyager – Elite Force
00:52:24 – Nioh 2
Newwwwsssss:
01:09:42 – Rust servers blew up
01:13:17 – Bethesda x Microsoft UwU
01:44:54 – Codemasters promoting positive mental health
01:48:20 – TMNT beat em ups are back baybeeee
01:51:46 – NFTs continue to bone things up for everyone
02:03:34 – A Dark Valorant pro scene rabbit hole
02:08:44 – The most important news of the year

Music by Jeff Davis – @strangerpeace https://twitter.com/strangerpeace/

https://www.fyx.space
https://twitter.com/fyxpodcasts
https://podchaser.com/gamingfyx

The post Gaming Fyx – Episode 163! (Fan Fyx!!) appeared first on Fyx.

Gaming Fyx – Episode 162! (Non-Fungible Tips N’ Tricks!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 06 Mar 2021 18:37:37 +0000

Get your recursion on with us on this week’s episode of Gaming Fyx! Get your recursion on with us on this week’s episode of Gaming Fyx! Get your recurs….

This week on Gaming Fyx we’re talking about loops and recursiveness (which seems like a Coding Fyx topic but hey) with games like Loop Hero, Gnosia and Maquette, along with Fights in Tight Spaces, Fifa, the latest Pokemon mobile game, and much, much more!!

Timestamps:
00:10:09 – Fifa 21
00:23:37 – Loop Hero
00:37:38 – Gnosia
00:52:04 – Maquette
01:01:49 – Pokemon Unite
01:13:44 – Monster Hunter Movie
01:19:06 – FFXIV: Stormblood
01:22:04 – Fights in Tight Spaces
Newwwsssss
01:47:24 – The new Switch might be real?
02:00:07 – Elden Ring had a leaky ship
02:04:39 – The Sinking City and the Sinking Publisher Communications
02:07:11 – Shovel Knight x Arby’s
02:07:57 – E3 2021 Physical Event? Nope
02:09:44 – Noclip 2.0!
02:10:55 – Germany is cracking down on lootboxes
02:15:56 – Artifact is dead. Again.
02:17:09 – Story of Seasons has some weird stuff

Music by Jeff Davis – @strangerpeace https://twitter.com/strangerpeace/

https://www.fyx.space
https://twitter.com/fyxpodcasts
https://podchaser.com/gamingfyx

The post Gaming Fyx – Episode 162! (Non-Fungible Tips N’ Tricks!!) appeared first on Fyx.

Gaming Fyx – Episode 161! (Feel The Succ!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 27 Feb 2021 22:18:24 +0000

Get ready to Feel The Succ on this episode of Gaming Fyx. We’ve got monsters, Monstrums, and Pocket Monsters (Oh my!) on this week’s episode. Join us as we discuss the Outriders demo and Titan Chaser before getting our RPG on with Ys IX and Persona 5 Strikers. Then we talk at length about the Sony State of Play and Pokemon 25th anniversary celebration announcements and more in the news.

Timestamps:
00:07:24 – Outriders demo
00:29:09 – Titan Chaser
00:38:05 – Ys IX: Monstrum Nox
01:00:04 – Persona 5 Strikers
01:07:23 – Dark Souls 3
Newwwwsssssss
01:27:15 – State of Play and Sony news
02:08:09 – Pokemonsss
02:42:20 – Anthem is dead / also Bioware
02:50:04 – Hard Suit Labs
02:54:39 – Gnosia
02:55:52 – Daft Punk Lumines

Music by Jeff Davis – @strangerpeace https://twitter.com/strangerpeace/

https://www.fyx.space
https://twitter.com/fyxpodcasts
https://podchaser.com/gamingfyx

The post Gaming Fyx – Episode 161! (Feel The Succ!!) appeared first on Fyx.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV Review (PS4)

Sam Harrison — Tue, 23 Feb 2021 21:18:08 +0000

4.5

Summary

I often struggle with starting to write a review. Do you explain the concept of the game, what it’s about, how it feels to play? For this one I’ve opted to get a few sentences under my feet before I really start. You might wonder why a JRPG that (unless we’re buds) you may have never even heard of is so important to me, well let me explain:

The Trails series is a long-running JRPG franchise developed by Nihon Falcom, a company you have also probably never heard of. The thing that makes the Trails series special in a way no other JRPG series I’ve played is it’s story – a complicated and interwoven narrative across nine games. Trails of Cold Steel IV is the 9th game in this series, billed as “End of Saga” in Japan, and is the final game in the first half of this planned story. This game is a continuation of 8 others, with very few references, hints or tips to help you catch up on what you’ve missed. There are excellent YouTube recaps and the game itself comes with a bunch of background info you can read – but you probably shouldn’t.

I started playing the first Trails of Cold Steel in late 2019. Around 350 hours later in early 2021 I completed Cold Steel IV. In that time period I’ve become a father and there’s been a global pandemic. All through 2020 in the background I was plugging away at this series, playing a few hours a week when parenting would allow.

This review is focused on Cold Steel IV and I’ll keep it spoiler free for the whole of the Cold Steel arc.

In the Cold Steel series you play as Rean Schwarzer, a new student at a world famous military academy. You’re inducted into a new experimental class made up of misfits from all walks of life, from major nobility to new money, the son of a general and a few with mysterious backgrounds that take a while to be revealed. The first game is essentially an act of incredible world and tension building, introducing you to the country of Erebonia where the game is set and carefully placing dominoes ready to knock over in future games.

I can’t say much about where we find Rean in Cold Steel IV without heavily spoiling the endings of the first three games, so I’m not going to. But suffice to say that Rean and his pals are up against it, with insurmountable odds opposing them and and many of their friends missing or dead.

Cold Steel III ends with a bang, but like every Trails game I’ve played Cold Steel IV opens with a whimper. I have found the opening of II-IV to be a little too slow, and too preoccupied with smaller stories when you really just want to know what’s happening in the main story. However, if you didn’t marathon the entire series back to back this chapter of the game would be perfect to set you up and get you back into the groove.

The Trails of Cold Steel games have a fairly simple structure, not unlike a Persona game. The chapter will open with some story, then you’ll get a free day off to hang out with people and do bonding activities or side quests. Then you’ll ship out somewhere to investigate something, end up in a dungeon and fight a boss. The secret weapon Trails has though is it’s worldbuilding and the history you have with the characters on your team, in the world and that you fight against.

Yes you might be going through a linear dungeon with a few puzzles, but when you get to the end you might fight a boss who was a former ally. Or an almost mythical character you’ve fought multiple times but never been able to defeat or maybe even a family member of one of the characters. The emotional weight on what in many JRPGs might be a dragon that’s slightly bigger than the ones you’ve fought in the dungeon, or a haunted treasure chest is unmatched in the genre from my personal experience.

Let’s talk about the world for a sec. So the Cold Steel series are set in a country called Erebonia, which has been portrayed almost as the villain for the previous games. To begin with your party are essentially child soldiers, training at a military school and going out in the world for field experience before they graduate. But everywhere they go they make connections, they meet people and you explore a world that feels real. You go to a city that’s recently been conquered and subjugated by the empire and you can really feel the tension from it.

This incredibly well realised and deep world is bigger than ever before in Cold Steel IV. With more places to visit, new people and stories in places you’ve previously visited and more links to the previous two arcs in the series than ever before. I’d wager I only saw half of what was on offer in this game and I played for over 80 hours.

I could talk for hours about the worlds in these games, and I have done so on the podcast a few times, but what about how they play?

The game plays a lot like a Persona or Final Fantasy title – there’s towns and cities to explore, meet people and get quests and there are zones with roaming monsters in the overworld you can either fight or avoid. Another trademark of Falcom games is that you’ll only get all the quests and activities by speaking to everyone. And this isn’t the drag it might sound like, as every NPC has something interesting to say whether it be adding context to a previous big story moment, pointing you towards something interesting or just a small and more personal story to tell.

Once you’re out of the town and on the road you can enter combat with monsters, enemy humans and other such things. The battle system has evolved and balanced over time throughout the series, but is essentially a turn-based system however instead of the fights being a line of your characters VS a line of enemies there’s a 3D battlefield and your characters can move around it. Characters have crafts which are sort of like special physical attacks, arts which are magic spells and also move around to get in range or out of range. There’s also Battle Orders, which cost battle points but can be used on any turn and don’t take up a turn.

This combat system might be starting to sound complex, I know. But it’s been built and iterated on for 9 games, perfecting it like sharpening a samurai sword. I think it’s the best traditional JRPG battle system I’ve ever played. There are so many options and ways to play and they all come together to create something really fun to play as well.

So I’ve talked around the story and discussed the gameplay a little, but I think you’re probably all wondering by this point – was it worth it? Was the ending a pay off for the 350 hours of JRPG I played leading up to it? Did the end justify spending over a year of my life playing it?

Heck yeah it did.

There were moments I stood up and cheered. There were times I stayed up into the wee hours, fighting sleep to finish a section of story I just couldn’t put down. There were character moments that got me truly emotional, beyond almost anything else in gaming. There have been moments like this across the series, but Cold Steel IV is the culmination in the best way possible.

I can’t wait to see where the Trails series goes next and Nihon Falcom has me hooked for life now. I couldn’t give a stronger recommendation than the one I give for this series. It might not be the best story in gaming, but it’s very very good and I think the worldbuilding in these titles is absolutely the best in gaming, even for games based on existing properties.

So if you’re still reading this, go out and get Trails of Cold Steel and jump on at the beginning of this arc or get Trails in the Sky and jump in at the start. I honestly think you won’t regret it.

Pros

Incredible story that wraps up well
The best battle system in the series so far
Beyond the best world-building in video games
The ending brought tears to my eyes
The music slaps (https://youtu.be/imvMNkhQq7E)

Cons

Opening is a little slow
Getting the true ending isn’t possible without replaying around an hour of content
Graphics feel a little dated, though design is good

The post The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV Review (PS4) appeared first on Fyx.

Gaming Fyx – Episode 160! (Turn Off The Dark – Gritty’s There!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 20 Feb 2021 18:18:28 +0000

Fire up your LaserDiscs and join us for talking about some “great” musicals this week on Gaming Fyx! Oh and also a ton of game talk this week! Not just video games, either – we’ve got your Tabletop Fyx covered with Cartographer & Tapestry, we get geometric with Project Triangle Strategy, and fall down the Soulsborne hole with Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls 3. After that, lots of talks about the state of the industry with regards to Nintendo and Blizzard hosting some new events and announcing things, the new Mortal Kombat movie seeming good, and lots more.

Timestamps:
00:01:19 – Show Start
00:15:41 – Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury
00:22:36 – Project Triangle Strategy
00:37:26 – Quick Update on FFXIV kinda
00:39:56 – Tabletop Games!!! Cartographer & Tapestry
01:08:51 – Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls 3 & a Soulsborne Chat
Newwwwwwssssssssssss
01:33:31 – The Nintendo Direct is back baybeee
02:05:51 – Blizzcon is back baybeee
02:15:03 – Hitman 3 is getting ever closer to being the true world of assassination
02:17:37 – The new MK movie actually… Looks… Good?
02:25:21 – Dotanimation
02:27:31 – The fog is lifting on Silent Hill

Music by Jeff Davis – @strangerpeace https://twitter.com/strangerpeace/

https://www.fyx.space
https://twitter.com/fyxpodcasts
https://podchaser.com/gamingfyx

The post Gaming Fyx – Episode 160! (Turn Off The Dark – Gritty’s There!!) appeared first on Fyx.

The Medium Review

Andre Cole — Sun, 14 Feb 2021 02:19:58 +0000

The Medium Review $49.99

Game title: The Medium

Game description: Discover a dark mystery only a medium can solve. Travel to an abandoned communist resort and use your unique psychic abilities to uncover its deeply disturbing secrets, solve dual-reality puzzles, survive encounters with sinister spirits, and explore two realities at the same time.

Here more about the Medium on Episode 157

It's On the Rare Side

Horror is a genre that is exceptionally hard to do well in games. Balancing suspense and danger to create an enjoyable gameplay experience is not easy. It’s also something that, until relatively recently, games have had trouble balancing. Bloober Team’s newest horror game, The Medium, performs this balancing before collapsing for no good reason in the final moments.

Set in Bloober Team’s native Poland in the 1990s, The Medium is a story about Marianne and her attempt to discover the mystery behind her mysterious power to exist in both the world of the living and sort of spirit realm where lost souls linger before being sent on. Marianne has lived with this power for as long as she can remember. One day, when returning home to finish preparations for her adopted father’s funeral, she receives a phone call, calling her to Niwa, a defunct worker’s resort. It’s a set-up reminiscent of Silent Hill, which is welcome as it’s been so long since we’ve had one of those games, which is appropriate since Silent Hill composer Akira Yamaoka handled the music for the game.

Further drifting into Silent Hill territory, The Medium employs the use of multiple worlds within the game. Unlike the world of Silent Hill, which often drifts and changes between its real-world and hellish counterparts, The Medium creates two distinct worlds that you can play in Tandem. The worlds share general geometry but use unique art. It’s an impressive implementation, requiring the game to render two different versions of the world at once. At times you can separate your spirit self from your corporeal form and investigate the spirit world separately for a brief time, which is when this dualworld begins to impress rather than feel like a simple gimmick.

Put simply; The Medium is a walking simulator with light puzzle elements eighty percent of the time. You spend most of your time exploring spooky areas, finding objects with echoes of the past ingrained in them, which fleshes out the story of Niwa and the people there before the infamous Niwa massacre that left it abandoned in disrepair. In fact, it would probably be better if it stuck to being a walking simulator. The controls are not well suited for the forced stealth sections. While you may not die in most situations, things are just fiddly enough that the risk is there. Luckily the game has a decent checkpoint system, so you aren’t left in the cold. The stealth sections mostly just feel superfluous and arbitrary at times, especially later in the game. It’s one of the biggest problems for horror games—the need to create tension while balancing it with enjoyable gameplay that isn’t too punishing. The moment you need to replay a section because of a death, it begins to lose its appeal. Unskippable (albeit short) cutscenes in certain moments make random deaths even more frustrating. The stealth and tension end up getting in the way of the rest of the experience.

There are several interweaving narratives which you’ll uncover during your time exploring Niwa, and they all end up drawing an uncomfortable conclusion. The Medium is a game with relatively little danger, so when you encounter one of the few monstrous creatures throughout the game, they take the time to flesh them out and attempt to explain them. Unfortunately, the game leaves us with this idea; trauma turns us into Monsters. We may not like it, or we may embrace it. Either way, Monsters we become, personally unaccountable for our actions and unable to recover of our own volition.

Marianne uses her powers to help lost souls move on to the afterlife, using that same power to dispel the Monsters holding dominion over Niwa and the surrounding area. Not only does trauma give birth to Monsters, but those same Monsters also outlive us.

It is unquestionably a story about the impact of World War II and the Nazi and Soviet occupation of Poland in the 20^th century. Much of the story and lore of Niwa and Marianne are deeply entrenched in this history. Still, without being better versed in Poland’s socio-economic history, it’s not one that I can adequately unpack. Marianne, for her part, represents a new generation of Poles raised by people traumatized by World War II and the political turmoil of the 1970s but not experiencing it themselves. She is left to navigate the lives and trauma of those that came before her. All this with the hope of understanding who she is.

But the game doesn’t posit that this new generation “has it easy” or anything of the sort. They, too, can be traumatized and create Monsters. This becomes distressing because the game says that the ONLY way to move past the trauma is death. There’s no magic wand to wave; of course, nothing is that easy. But according to The Medium, attempting to move on or recover from your trauma is impossible. Forgiveness can dramatically affect recovering from traumatic incidents, but the game refuses even to entertain the idea. One character has managed to harness their trauma and live with it but ultimately cannot keep it from harming others.

The Medium is a technical showpiece that shows some of the possibilities of gaming with new consoles with faster storage solutions available. Unfortunately, the PC’s performance is riddled with glitches, and it sounds like even the Xbox Series X plays the game at sub 1080p resolution and sub 720p on Xbox Series S. Despite these issues, the environments are beautiful in a haunting way. The performances by the voice actors and the music are all exceptional.

The game is let down by its insistence on inserting stealth sequences and a pace that is just too slow to be that enjoyable during less tense gameplay. Paired with a story with a less than stellar outlook on personal trauma and how it impacts us, The Medium is hard to recommend.

Pros

Dual world mechanic shows promise for the future of games
Performances are well done
Well realized world

Cons

Dismissive/harmful attitudes toward trauma survivors
forced stealth sequences
performance issues

The post The Medium Review appeared first on Fyx.

Gaming Fyx – Episode 159! (Super Wario RPG!! Ft. Bread)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 13 Feb 2021 18:52:12 +0000

We are joined by the one and only Bread (August) to talk all about games, platforms, news, movies, the future, the past, and everything in between. Valheim, Destruction Allstars, Hell Let Loose and Mario all get some love, along with a good talk about our feelings on Stadia in general. The news goes all over the place, and we get some sick tier ranking going on along with some pretty good fart jokes.

August Acker (Bread) – @itsbreadtime https://twitter.com/itsbreadtime
Bread Radio can be found wherever fine podcasts are distributed!

Timestamps:
00:10:02 – Valheim
00:29:38 – Stadia
00:47:30 – Destruction Allstars
01:00:19 – Hell Let Loose
01:16:27 – Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury
Newwwwssssss
01:34:05 – Jack Black is all up in the Borderlands
01:42:15 – Halo 3 is getting a new map
01:49:14 – Valheim is kickin’ it with a million sales
01:53:40 – CDPR got cyberpunked
01:59:05 – Kingdom Hearts is pretty Epic
02:03:44 – Terraria & Google, oof
02:08:52 – Riot’s CEO holds up the reputation of their company
02:27:19 – EA & Bioware are auditing Anthem NEXT
02:39:42 – DLSS is for the people

Music by Jeff Davis – @strangerpeace https://twitter.com/strangerpeace/

https://www.fyx.space
https://twitter.com/fyxpodcasts
https://podchaser.com/gamingfyx

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 158! (Garrus Vakarian in the Streets, Lady Dimitrescu in the Sheets!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 06 Feb 2021 18:13:33 +0000

JRPGs, anime, squirrels, Kiryu, no less than 10 minutes of talking about pasta, the 12-foot tall Home Depot skeleton, we’ve got all of this and more for you today on Gaming Fyx! Oh yeah and lots of games like Valheim and stuff too, oh and also news.

Timestamps:
00:01:58 – Show Start
00:09:57 – Trails of Cold Steel 4
00:29:23 – Atelier Ryza
00:52:03 – NUTS
00:58:02 – Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken
01:03:24 – Valheim
01:20:29 – Andre has joined the modern era
Newwwwwwwssssss
01:35:24 – Google is doing a Stadia thing
01:44:10 – Sega’s going to be way better now
01:47:33 – FFXIV had a giant event
01:51:46 – Goldeneye for Xbox 360 is exist
01:54:10 – Taaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
02:00:39 – Mass Effect has been un-assed
02:08:41 – Gearbox is back baybee
02:11:35 – Baiii Overwatch 2 & Diablo 4. At least in 2021
02:15:33 – Apple is a leaky ship these days
02:20:10 – NCAA is back baybee
02:27:08 – Akira Yamaoka (Silent Hill composer) is baaacckkkk
02:29:59 – Robert Altman has passed

Music by Jeff Davis – @strangerpeace https://twitter.com/strangerpeace/

https://www.fyx.space
https://twitter.com/fyxpodcasts
https://podchaser.com/gamingfyx

The post Gaming Fyx – Episode 158! (Garrus Vakarian in the Streets, Lady Dimitrescu in the Sheets!!) appeared first on Fyx.

Hitman 3 Review

Andre Cole — Sun, 31 Jan 2021 13:27:33 +0000

Hitman 3 $59.99

Game title: Hitman 3

Game description: Agent 47 returns as a ruthless professional in Hitman 3. He is supported by his Agency handler, Diana Burnwood and his long-lost friend, Lucas Grey. Together, their mission is to hunt down the partners of Providence – an organisation that 47 and Grey promised to destroy. These are the most important contracts of Agent 47’s entire career and when the dust settles, the world he inhabits will never be the same again.

Hear Our Discussion on Episode 156

A Donut's Hole in a Donut's Hole

IO Interactive is back with the latest in their globe-trotting Hitman franchise, finishing the trilogy started with their 2016 Hitman: World of Assassination. A lot has changed for IO in the past five years, but despite tumultuous times for the company – not to mention the rest of the world – Hitman has become a remarkably consistent game that has evolved with each new iteration.

This latest game in the series wraps up the story of Agent 47, Diana Burnwood, and Providence (a secret cabal of people ruling the world). But you could be forgiven for not realizing that the story was taking place. It’s always been delivered in short vignettes between missions and served as more of a loose justification for why Agent 47 is jetting around the world to take out wealthy shitheads. This time around, traditional cutscenes are back, leaving behind the second game’s motion comic style. More than the previous games, they are trying to make players care about Agent 47 and Burnwood. But because the sequences are so short and usually lack connection to the locations you’re visiting, it’s hard to care about them.

While the story is mostly the same thing we’ve been experiencing for the past few games, Hitman 3 does make some bold choices regarding level design and new gameplay options. Dubai is a relatively straight forward Hitman level in terms of your objectives, but it plays with verticality and complex interconnecting spaces more than other levels in the series. Persistent short cuts play a large part in that as well. These shortcuts are a new mechanic; whereby unlocking particular doors or ladders, you can create a shortcut that will be forever opened on subsequent playthroughs, gaining you faster access to hard-to-reach areas. Taking time to explore and learn a space is now even more rewarding, and your pathways through levels become more direct and intricate.

The first level does, however, do away with a bit of the magic and hilarity the first two games explored. Agent 47 is a chameleon, fit to blend into any circumstance, as long as no one notices. The Paris level of Hitman (2016) encapsulates this perfectly with Helmut Kruger. Agent 47 is the man’s spitting image, and you can use that to your advantage. The second game had Agent 47 able to assume a celebrity tattoo artist’s identity, despite lacking the tattoos to inhabit the role fully. Agent 47’s ability to blend in among his clueless targets makes for great gags. But there’s nothing like that in the third game. You can find your way into multiple stories where you assume the identity of people who look nothing like Agent 47, but people pay no mind to the sudden change in appearance of the men they were speaking to, not 30 seconds ago. The men in question aren’t even bald! It’s not an issue that Agent 47 takes on these people’s identities, yet it feels like a step backward to not even attempt to waive it away.

The second level is where we begin to see new and unexpected mechanics. If you choose to follow one of the Story Missions, you’ll find yourself in the role of a detective enlisted to solve the murder of your target’s brother. Typically, in Hitman’s story missions, the game will direct you to each step with a waypoint and instructions. Here, the game gives you free rein to explore and investigate while you look for clues. There are plenty of ancillary characters for you to interact with and learn about, which makes the mansion feel that much more like a real place. Of course, there are plenty of other more traditional ways to go about your assignment, but the twists and turns of the investigation make this a standout on a first play.

I’d like to avoid breaking down every single level in the game, but I would lastly like to touch on the Berlin level. It’s a creative mechanical twist on what we’ve come to expect from the series. Agent 47 is now the one being hunted, and you’ll need to be on your toes if you want to make it out alive. This level is like jazz. It’s about the assassinations you don’t make. There are hundreds of bodies packed into this underground club, and while the game has done crowds before, things have never felt this dense. The dense groups of ravers also manage to up the intensity and stress of the situation. Finding a way or opportunity to take on your mark is that much trickier here.

At first blush, these new levels appear to have less content within them, as there are fewer story missions compared to stages in the previous games. Instead of removing that content from the game, finding intel scattered across the map now has greater emphasis. Intel isn’t new, but the renewed focus on it means you’ll want to pay a bit more attention as you’re exploring so you can find every opportunity on your subsequent playthroughs. While it may not be as curated, it encourages the player to be even more creative with their plots.

It’s just a shame that the PC release of the game was marred by the promised inclusion of Hitman 2 levels (for owners of the previous game), which was then reneged on, stating players would need to purchase the levels as DLC since the game is an Epic Store exclusive this year. They once again changed their stance days before release, notifying PC players that they would be able to access Hitman 2 levels sometime in the future. Still not available yet, which is a shame as there are some incredible levels in Hitman 2. Then there’s the always-online requirement. You could play offline, but you would be giving up the ability to earn mastery points and make progress. These server woes tend only to be an issue in the first few weeks of the game being out, but getting frequent disconnection messages, which pause the game, is quite annoying.

After 2020, It’s nice to have a game that takes you to exotic and luxurious locations, where you can take out the absolute worst kinds of people in the most absurd or sneaky ways. The biggest thing standing in the game’s way is its insistence on trying to make the characters people players should care about. There are a few missteps within the Mission Story narratives, but overall, the level design is top-notch this time around, and there are plenty of creative twists on the mechanics that it doesn’t merely feel like “more Hitman.” IOI has done incredible work at supporting the Hitman games in this trilogy, with things like Elusive Targets, escalations, alternate versions of maps, and DLC, so I have high hopes for the future of Hitman 3 as the last game in the trilogy. However, it remains to be seen what will come to the game in the future. As it stands, Hitman 3 is a fantastic addition to the two previous games in the series when bundled together, but it stumbles as a standalone release at launch.

Pros

New mechanics that make the formula feel fresh
Beautiful locations
IOI is committed to continued support with new content

Cons

Deluxe edition is needed to access any escalations at launch
Levels feel less replayable than previous games
Take-it-or-leave-it story

The post Hitman 3 Review appeared first on Fyx.

Gaming Fyx – Episode 157! (PCE!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 30 Jan 2021 18:07:01 +0000

Strap BB Keanu Reeves to your chest and join us for another exciting episode of Gaming Fyx! This time we’re talkin’ all about new games like The Medium, Dyson Sphere Program, and Cyber Shadow; but also some older ones we’re fans of like Atelier Ryza and Haven! The news is also real wild this week, so make sure to strap in for that. We also talk about cheese quite a bit across this whole episode. And also PCE. You will know.

Timestamps:
00:03:17 – Atelier Ryza & Cyber Shadow
00:11:16 – New podcasts! Bread Radio & Do We Like It?
00:16:03 – Dyson Sphere Program
00:27:39 – The Medium
00:47:48 – Haven
Newwwwsssss
00:48:48 – The PS5 in Japan
01:10:24 – Sooooo remember how we talked about Gamestop last week?
01:24:41 – Cyberpunk is back in the news! Not so bad this time tho
01:28:18 – Skywalker Saga has a cast of hundreds wow
01:31:21 – Hitman 3 is doin’ well
01:40:49 – There’s a lawsuit!

https://www.fyx.space
https://twitter.com/fyxpodcasts
https://podchaser.com/gamingfyx

Music by Jeff Davis – @strangerpeace https://twitter.com/strangerpeace

The post Gaming Fyx – Episode 157! (PCE!!) appeared first on Fyx.

Gaming Fyx – Episode 156! (Agent 69!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 23 Jan 2021 18:49:47 +0000

Hitman III is on our mind this episode, and we get into it for no less than an hour because it’s good! But also there’s caveats which are dumb. But it’s still good! We also talk about Ys and Monster Hunter Rise, along with a bunch of news. And also The Noid for some reason? Seriously if you look at The Noid’s Wikipedia entry, the occupation listed is “ruining pizza”

Timestamps:
00:02:45 – Hitman III
01:04:22 – Ys
01:18:11 – Monster Hunter Rise
Neeeeeewwwwwwwssssssss
01:34:13 – Microsoft doing a Microsoft
01:42:02 – Vicarious Visions has been absorbed by Blizzard
02:04:22 – Valve is looking to release more games
02:06:57 – Resident Evil 8 got a big ol’ lady
02:19:37 – Playdead be makin’ a new thing!
02:21:23 – Jack from ME2 should be lovin’ everybody

https://www.fyx.space
https://twitter.com/fyxpodcasts
https://podchaser.com/gamingfyx

Music by Jeff Davis – https://twitter.com/strangerpeace/

The post Gaming Fyx – Episode 156! (Agent 69!!) appeared first on Fyx.

Yakuza: Like a Dragon Review

Andre Cole — Mon, 18 Jan 2021 12:04:00 +0000

Yakuza: Like a Dragon $59.99

Game title: Yakuza: Like a Dragon

Game description: Ichiban Kasuga, a low-ranking grunt of a low-ranking yakuza family in Tokyo, faces an 18-year prison sentence after taking the fall for a crime he didn't commit. Never losing faith, he loyally serves his time and returns to society to discover that no one was waiting for him on the outside, and his clan has been destroyed by the man he respected most. Ichiban sets out to discover the truth behind his family's betrayal and take his life back, drawing a ragtag group of society’s outcasts to his side: Adachi, a rogue cop, Nanba, a homeless ex-nurse, and Saeko, a hostess on a mission. Together, they are drawn into a conflict brewing beneath the surface in Yokohama and must rise to become the heroes they never expected to be.

Here more about Yakuza: Like a Dragon on Episode 149

I don't got friends, I got family.

The Yakuza franchise has been slowly building a world and mythos over the last twenty years. The story of Kiryu, the Tojo Clan, and Kamurocho spans decades. As such, the developers of Yakuza: Like a Dragon (Yakuza 7 in Japan), had quite a challenge in front of themselves. Not only did they leave the lovable protagonist of the series behind with this new entry, they also left the familiar setting of Kamurocho, and transitioned from the beat ‘em up/brawler gameplay of the series to replace it with turn-based combat, a four-person party, and a job system that works.

While Yakuza: Like a Dragon does leave behind many aspects, it still maintains some relation to the previous games in the series. Our new protagonist, Ichiban Kasuga, is an orphan and member of The Tojo Clan and starts his journey in Kamurocho. He’s also quite capable of holding his own in a fight and has a knack for finding himself in absurd situations, much like Kiryu. While the two share a wealth of similarities, Ichiban is not a simple replacement or recreation of Kiryu. While Kiryu is a Yakuza legend for his skills and exploits over the course of the series, Ichiban wears his emotions on his sleeve and is almost completely unknown. This is in large part to an early event that leaves Ichiban in prison for 18 years, while the world and the entirety of the Yakuza series (save for Zero) pass him by.

That’s where the story begins to pick up steam. Ichiban is thrust into a world that is not only unfamiliar to himself but drastically different from what fans of the series have come to know. The status quo has changed, and there’s no room for Ichiban in it. We’re quickly pulled from Kamurocho (a fictionalized part of Tokyo) to Ijincho (a similarly fictionalized part of Yokohama), a first for the series. Ijincho is larger and more sprawling than other areas in previous Yakuza games, and effectively creates a sense of place. Much like other games in the series, Like a Dragon has an open world that actually feels alive, and as if people are really living in it and spending time. The streets are crowded, traffic can be dangerous, and people react when a fight breaks out between your rag-tag group and the local ruffians and gangs of Ijincho.

And boy, do fights break out often. More so than previous games it feels. Part of that may because upon defeating a mob out in the world, another will respawn to take their place somewhere down the street. And if that happens to be in the direction you’re running, it can begin to feel a little tedious to have to fight multiple times on the same street. There is an auto-battle system that you can utilize to let fights play out without your help, but you can’t guarantee that you’ll get the most efficient or quickest victory with that. Now more than ever before in the series is that a concern.

As mentioned earlier, the combat system of the series has been replaced with JRPG turn-based combat. This is justified and explained away by Ichiban’s ferocious love for the Dragon Quest series, which drastically impacts the way he sees the world, and especially how he sees fights. Part of this change is the addition of a party, which allows three additional companions to join Ichiban in combat for the player to control. Each companion has a unique job, which can be changed freely at Hello Work. The real Government Employment Service Center (the Don Quixote license wasn’t renewed, but somehow, they got Hello Work). Changing jobs is helpful for getting new skills and abilities and to create new strategies for fights. This mostly works, but there is little carryover for skills, and it can take a long time to level up each job. Because of that, it’s hard to know when you should bother changing jobs and which ones are important.

Then comes the somewhat frustrating combat. Enemies and allies don’t take static positions in the world, nor does there seem to be any sort of logic to their positioning at all. Characters walk freely about the combat area, breaking furniture, or kicking street signs. It’s a little bizarre. Causing further frustration is the fact that enemy placement can have a significant impact on execution and strategy. Enemies can opportunistically attack out of sequence to stop a character’s attack from being successfully executed if they run past. You could wait until you have a clear shot, but there’s no telling how long that could take, or if an enemy’s pathing could randomly reverse and thwart your attack. It felt frustrating more than it made me carefully consider and plan my attacks.

My final gripe with the combat has to do with the last quarter of the game, which sees a sharp spike in difficulty that the game does a poor job of preparing you for. Autosaves can save you some measure of pain, but fights can drag out for long periods of time, and surprise one-hit kills can sometimes erase up to an hour of progress near the end. The difficulty spike makes sense in the context of who you’re fighting, compared to your previous opponents, but that doesn’t mean it feels good to play.

The time you spend outside of battles is largely the same as it has been in the series since its inception. You wander around an open world, happening across battles and an embarrassment of substories that will leave you moved, amused, and baffled. As usual, the substories give the developers an excuse to insert all manner of weird mini-games into the series. This time, the most prominent is Dragon Kart, a riff on the go-kart tours that bother so many native Japanese (and Nintendo). Through Dragon Kart, you can meet an assortment of strange characters and watch a dramatic story unfold. While the gameplay of Dragon Kart isn’t exceptional, it is totally serviceable as a vehicle for the game to deliver another series of sub-stories. Importantly, no sub-story felt like a let-down and some even reward you with a Poundmate (the game’s name for summons in combat).

Even without that added reward, the writing in the sub-stories is what fans have come to expect from the series. A story that has Ichiban assisting a young girl soliciting donations, doesn’t feel out of place next to a story about Ichiban helping a hapless Circus Ringleader who can’t keep his animals caged.

This deft weaving between the dramatic and the absurd unsurprisingly carries over into the main narrative as well. It’s a compelling crime story that lives and breathes melodrama with every ounce of its being. And it uses much of its story to address multiple social issues like sex work, homelessness, and even political corruption. All complex issues, that the game doesn’t claim to have a solution or even an answer to, but through its narrative humanizes many people that society often looks down on, if it even looks at them at all. It does this all while being genuinely funny, over the top and occasionally fantastical.

One way the game stumbles, however, is the way it characterizes these groups outside of the narrative. Referring to homeless enemies as things like “Hungry-Hungry Homeless.” I can’t say whether that was a localization choice or if that was the intended method of naming, but it’s punching down from a game that usually attempts to raise those same people up and humanize them. But these issues don’t feel malicious, more like attempts to lean into the absurd nature of the game that was somewhat careless.

The game also has one party member that is 100% inconsequential to the story. While the character in question is optional, she may as well not exist outside of combat and the sub-story she is a part of. It would be nice if the game recognized that she had been an important member of my party and gave her even just a handful of lines and presence in the narrative or cutscenes. Instead, she feels like a character added by Gameshark.

On PC, the game looks mostly good if you don’t pay special attention to signage in the game. Textures around the world, on things like street signs, which are a little low res even at the highest settings on PC, but it doesn’t really detract from the experience. My gut reaction is to say that Yakuza 6 looked better, even playing on a PS4, but I didn’t bother to check because, either way, it looks perfectly fine for the experience.

Yakuza: Like A Dragon is a fantastic evolution of the Yakuza franchise, that continues the themes of previous games, while also carving out its own path forward for the franchise. There are some missteps that have come along with the changes that the Ryu Ga Gotoku studio made but they are not enough to detract from the fantastic story being told. And those missteps bring along new ideas that serve to freshen up a series that had maintained a rather steady formula for the past 15 years. Whether you’ve been following Kiryu from his earliest adventures on the Playstation 2, or have never touched a Yakuza game before, you’ll find something to pull you in and keep you moving through the story.

Pros

New turn-based battle system.
A compelling and moving narrative
Lots of interesting side content

Cons

Poorly balanced last act
Some party members are underutilized
The new combat system has annoying quirks.

The post Yakuza: Like a Dragon Review appeared first on Fyx.

Gaming Fyx – Episode 155! (Top Tier Snacks!! Ft. Victoria Tran)

Alex Gelinas — Sun, 17 Jan 2021 01:21:20 +0000

This week we are joined by the one and only Victoria Tran from Innersloth! She joins us in talking about what it’s like working in the game industry, mental health, burnout and finding joy in playing games; but also about some of the best snacks around. We also have some chats about a lot of not-game stuff, like Urban Exploration and Andre’s Manga Minute!

You can find Victoria at:
https://twitter.com/TheVTran
https://twitter.com/amongusgame

The Uppercut Crit episode about Toxic Positivity:
https://uppercutcrit.com/episode-thirty-six-toxic-positivity-in-game-communities-ft-victoria-tran/

Victoria’s Medium article we were talking about:
https://thevtran.medium.com/deconstructing-among-us-twitter-strategy-ea33e070c9a5

Urban Exploration (The Proper People):
https://www.youtube.com/user/TheProperPeople

Timestamps:
00:04:44 – Who is Victoria Tran?
00:06:03 – Burnout & Mental Health
00:14:33 – Working in Games, Especially with communities
00:21:53 – Canadian snacks & random thoughts on Canadiana
00:42:38 – Allyson is back on her bullshit (aka 999)
00:52:46 – Urban Exploration
01:02:00 – Pat has started playing a rabbit hole series of games
01:09:23 – Andre’s been reading manga
Newwwwssss
01:17:11 – Lucasarts is back. Kinda.
01:27:18 – AGDQ raised $2.7 Million for Prevent Cancer Foundation
01:32:22 – “Ask Iwata” book coming out in English
01:33:24 – NEW Pokemon Snap has a release date
01:35:19 – Ben Pack is out of Giant Bomb
01:37:24 – CDPR continues digging a hole
01:45:48 – The Supergiant translation thing
01:50:31 – Tetris legend Jonas Neubauer has passed away

https://fyx.space
https://twitter.com/fyxpodcasts
https://podchaser.com/gamingfyx

The post Gaming Fyx – Episode 155! (Top Tier Snacks!! Ft. Victoria Tran) appeared first on Fyx.

The Fyxies 2020 – Game Of The Year!!

Alex Gelinas — Mon, 11 Jan 2021 17:55:24 +0000

We made it through 2020, everyone! Pat yourselves on the back, and take a moment to join us in celebrating some of the best games of the year. We started with over seventy games to talk about, and whittled that list down to our top ten of the year! If you would like to hear the entire deliberation process, we have a special podcast episode you can listen to here.

Despite the last year admittedly being quite a trash fire, it was a fairly fantastic one in terms of the games we played =D We had a lot of fun finding our favourites, and would love to hear which ones were yours!

#10 – Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales (PS5)

A worthy successor to Insomniac’s 2018 Spider-Man, Miles Morales delivers a compelling narrative and a visual upgrade which is miles beyond what we were expecting. To be noted, we are specifically talking about the PS5 version (sorry Andre), which has incredible use of ray tracing and generally has a stunning aesthetic. Not to mention, the story really resonated with some of us, which makes it a very easy pick to be a part of our 2020 Game of the Year list.

#9 – Yakuza: Like A Dragon

Yakuza is a series which has been beloved by us here at Fyx, and Like a Dragon had us half-excited, half-cautious. Introducing a brand new protagonist in a brand new city with brand new mechanics was a bold move; but to our collective reliefs, it turned out great. Ichiban rules, the side characters rule, the story rules, the new mechanics rule – it rules.

#8 – Necrobarista

Necrobarista is a game which has an innate ability to subvert expectations. It is a heartfelt, funny, emotional, affecting story which leaves you thinking for hours, days, and weeks after playing. We’ve talked with some people who have said it has caused them to re-evaluate parts of their own lives, and that is absolutely something to be respected. Necrobarista gets a full recommendation, though we do suggest the non-Apple Arcade versions as they are censored.

#7 – Bugsnax

Everyone truly was talking about Bugsnax. What started as a simple creature collection game turned into an introspective existential nightmare with a diverse, decidedly human-feeling cast of characters (despite not being human at all). Bugsnax is a journey well worth taking, and one where the destination will potentially surprise you. Also, dang, the character relationships are truly something special!

#6 – Trails of Cold Steel IV

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV -THE END OF SAGA- occupies a unique space in the modern gaming world. The Legend of Heroes series exists just outside of the mainstream (at least here in North America and the UK), and it has quietly been building an immense amount of lore and fantastic characters over the past thirty years. Trails of Cold Steel IV is a culmination of this effort, and delivers an engaging, exciting narrative coupled with good gameplay.

#5 – Amnesia: Rebirth

Horror games are often more effective than horror movies since you are the one in control, and while Amnesia Rebirth is a great horror game, it is special because it couples its mechanics with a narrative which is super effective because it is a game. It also tackles subjects which a lot of media often avoids, while doing so in a nuanced and spectacular way. We very much recommend waiting for the sun to go down, closing the curtains, and spending a few nights with Amnesia Rebirth!

#4 – Half Life: Alyx

It’s a pleasant surprise that the latest Half Life game, which has come thirteen years after the most recent entry in the series, turned out to be such a triumph. The only downside to Half Life: Alyx is the high barrier to entry (needing a capable PC + VR Headset), but once that barrier has been scaled, the experience on the other side is nearly transcendent. It is Valve at the height of their craft, and there are few studios who can compete with them at that level.

#3 – Final Fantasy 7 Remake

Before it came out, Final Fantasy 7 Remake seemed more like a punchline than anything else; but now that it is here, it is anything and everything but. It is a wonderful character piece, it has great combat, it reimagines a lot of the best moments from the original PS1 game, all while being wrapped in a fascinating and fresh take on the story it wants to tell. We are definitely looking forward to the next entry (or entries) in this series to see where they take things!

#2 – Umurangi Generation + Macro

Umurangi Generation came out in the first half of 2020, and in that moment felt like a decidedly 2020 game. But after releasing the Macro DLC, it felt more like the 2020 game. Creator Naphtali Faulkner delivers an exceptionally stylish game with fresh gameplay, and is not afraid to take on serious issues from a modern Māori perspective. The subjects & topics covered in Macro could not be more prescient with where the year took us, and Umurangi Generation along with its Macro DLC will continue to resonate for years to come.

#1 – Hades

Sometimes a game just gets everything right. Gameplay, story, characters, visuals, audio – everything. Hades is Supergiant Games proving that they are titans at their craft, and have created a game which deserves every praise we can throw at it. It is a fresh take on the roguelike genre, delivering a narrative in an innovative way – one which reacts to how you play, the hurdles you overcome, and the walls which stop you. And if the walls are often stopping you, they have included a great “God Mode” which can help you experience the game to its fullest, so while it can be difficult, it can also be accessible. Now that Hades has cross-save support between PC and Switch, you can bring the experience with you wherever you want! All-in-all, Hades is a wonderfully crafted game which is absolutely worth the time and effort to experience everything it has to offer.

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Gaming Fyx – Fyxies 2020! (Game of the Year!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sun, 10 Jan 2021 01:03:57 +0000

That time of the year is upon us once again, we are here to talk about our favourite games of 2020! We start with a list of 74 games, and got it down to an ordered list of ten. These are our full deliberations so you can see how we ultimately got there!

Timestamps:
00:03:26 – Up For Debate Games
00:46:38 – Cutting Down Our Qualified List!
04:26:33 – We Got Our Top 10! Let’s Order Them

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 154! (A New Dawn!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 02 Jan 2021 21:15:25 +0000

2020 only exists in the rear-view mirrors, and we at Gaming Fyx are looking forwards! Well.. For the most part. We still have our Game of the Year 2020 podcast coming next week, so join Andre, Pat & Sam as they talk about the games they’re wrapping up ahead of that; but THEN we look forward at the year to come – join us in sharing our hopes, dreams, queries, and bets.

Timestamps:
00:03:17 – What Pat is wrapping up for GOTY
00:08:11 – What Sam is wrapping up for GOTY
00:12:01 – What Andre is wrapping up for GOTY
00:15:13 – 2020 Release calendar – January
00:22:27 – 2020 Release calendar – February
00:38:11 – 2020 Release calendar – March
00:58:56 – 2020 Release calendar – April-June
01:14:00 – Unscheduled Games
01:23:00 – What’s up with Nintendo
01:33:00 – Do We Get an E3
01:38:27 – When will Andre get a PS5
01:40:00 – Final Predictions

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 153! (Custom Colonel!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 26 Dec 2020 19:36:38 +0000

Join us as we bid adieu to 2020. What a year. Yep. But thankfully it brought about some great games, such as the ones we’ve been talking about this week on Gaming Fyx!! This is a game-heavy episode, and we’re definitely giving some time to ones you should be paying attention to from 2020 (and also a few from 2019)!!!

Timestamps:
00:03:46 – Fortnite
00:20:10 – Horace
00:30:46 – Nexomon Extinction
00:40:25 – Call of the Sea
00:50:16 – DJMax Respect V
01:05:15 – Sea of Thieves
01:19:33 – Paper Mario: The Origami King
01:30:57 – Bugsnax
01:47:02 – Touhou Luna Nights
01:55:12 – Cyberpunk 2077
Newwwwsssss
02:05:24 – Linux on N64 but why
02:06:12 – The KFC console is real and it chose violence
02:11:30 – There’s a lot of those Among Us
02:16:03 – Fortnite stuff I guess
02:17:39 – The PS5 now lets you know you’re on the wrong version
02:18:27 – PUBG mobile banned TWO MILLION people
02:23:52 – CDPR is under fire. Legally.
02:32:49 – Stardew Valley 1.5 is thicc

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Godfall Review (PS5)

Sam Harrison — Mon, 21 Dec 2020 21:26:32 +0000

Godfall Review (PS5) £69.99

Game title: Godfall

Game description: Godfall is a brand-new, next-gen looter-slasher, set in a bright fantasy universe filled with heroic knights and arcane magic. Embark on adventure in a fantasy action RPG that utilizes high-impact third-person melee combat to engage players as they hunt for loot, don legendary armor sets and defeat vicious enemies. Face challenging missions that reward you with head-turning loot as you vanquish the armies that stand against you.

Author: Sam Harrison

Summary

Godfall has the distinction of being the first ever PlayStation 5 game to be officially announced. The game tells the story of two warring brothers named Orin and Macros, you play as Orin who seems to be a sort of spirit or soul that can inhabit different armours called Valorplates. You fight your way across three distinct and large zones to eventually take on your brother to stop him from completing a ritual to become a god or something. Like the rest of the game, the story of Godfall is a real swing and a miss. But Godfall’s developers are calling it the very first looter slasher, so does the story matter if the loot is good?

Well, the loot isn’t very good either.

If you’re here looking for an enthusiastic and mean-spirited takedown of something that a lot of people very likely spent a lot of time on for several years, then I hate to tell you that this ain’t it. The biggest thing I took away from Godfall was honestly frustration, because with a few small tweaks and a little more time in the over this game could have been a great launch title for the PS5.

Godfall is trying to slot in between a casual button mashing slasher game and something more deliberate and slower paced like Monster Hunter, the developer even cited Monster Hunter as an influence in interviews. In combat you have two weapons and a shield, attacking with one weapon allows you to build up a big area of effect attack on the other and unleash it when you switch weapons. You can throw your shield like Captain America and dive at enemies with it to stun them. The combat is a little faster than Monster Hunter and for the first few hours with the game as I made my way through the first area I actually really liked it.

But unfortunately the combat in Godfall has a big problem, one so big I honestly thought my controller was broken or the battery was dying. Godfall doesn’t allow you to press a button while an action is completing, and for that action to take place when the animation for the previous action is complete. You have to know where the animation finishes and then trigger the new action. For example, you’re swinging a big and heavy greatsword, which takes a second or two to run through the animation for. You see an enemy winding up an attack and hold L1 to bring up your shield. Orin will complete his sword swing and then just stand there and get hit.

It’s definitely a deliberate choice on the part of the combat designer, but it made the combat feel completely broken and took a lot of the enjoyment out of it. Once I noticed it I never looked at the game the same way again. I assumed every death and every failure were due to this mechanic.

Speaking of death and failure Godfall also makes the interesting choice to preserve the damage done to enemies when you die in most cases. This allowed me to brute force my way through the entire game extremely under-levelled with only a couple of short pauses for bosses that took a few tries. The bosses do have regenerating health, but their health bars are split into segments and they only refill the current segment when you die. The first boss in the game took me a few tries, maybe 10 in all, but all the others less than 3.

One non-boss enemy in the game took me maybe 3 hours to beat and was more difficult to land hits on than any other enemy in the game including the final boss because it was the only enemy in the game I fought that regenerated its health bar. It was especially egregious because often the damage over time effects would continue to apply to me after reviving at a checkpoint. It was so busted that it felt like a bug, so I don’t know yet if Counterplay Games is going to fix it.

The overall enemy design and AI is pretty good, they telegraph moves well to enable you to get off a parry in a lot of cases (as long as you aren’t attacking) and the different enemies do have different styles of combat. There’s enough variety in each zone that you don’t get bored and the bosses are all pretty cool looking.

It’s the looks front where Godfall really and truly shines. Literally, the whole thing is glowing and reflecting and throwing clouds of glowing particle effects at you all the time. It’s obviously a matter of taste if you like the particular style or not but I really did, and technically I think the game is just a real feat of engineering. Obviously compared to other PS5 games like Miles Morales it’s trying to do a lot less in a smaller area, but I still found it constantly impressive.

Performance and presentation was good in both graphics modes, though I preferred the 30fps 4K resolution mode personally as I feel like if you’re not throwing on all the bells and whistles why even buy a PS5. Godfall is absolutely a game you show to friends to show off how powerful your PS5 is. I did have a very small number of 1-2 second freezes, but they didn’t really impact gameplay and were often when I had possibly taken on too many enemies at once in a graphically complex zone. It never came up fighting bosses.

I did have one final technical issue – when fighting the last boss Macros I was killed by a damage over time effect at the exact same time he died. This glitched the final cutscene into playing at the same time as the bossfight started over, and completing the mission didn’t cause the trophy for beating the game to pop which was annoying. The story progressed into the post-game but I was annoyed as I actually was unable to watch the final cutscene. Disappointing to see this in a AAA game, but I haven’t seen any other mentions of this online so I assume it was a specific and hard to trigger bug which I wouldn’t mark the game down for.

The one final thing I would mark the game down for is the gameplay loop. When you’ve done the story missions in the first area, the Earth zone, you then have to go around and do other non-story missions to collect 10 Earth tokens to unlock the boss and progress. I thought this was fine and the mini-bosses I fought were interesting enough, and I could even get all 10 without repeating content. But my feelings on this turned when I got to the Water zone and needed 10 Water tokens and 10 Earth tokens, or the Air zone where I needed 10 Earth tokens, 10 Water tokens and 10 Air tokens. This force replaying of old content from previous zones felt like busywork, and I wish they had just front loaded these activities in the zones as part of the campaign.

The token value for missions also seemed to me to be really off – a mission that takes me 30-45 minutes with multiple objectives and a difficult boss might net me 6 of my 10 tokens, but so will replaying the 2 token mission that takes 5 minutes if I play it 3 times. It was during the token collecting in the Water zone that I realised that I was trying to work out the way I could play as little as possible of the game and still progress, which I feel is fairly damning.

Finally, while this is a loot game the loot itself isn’t particularly well implemented. After a few hours I realised the combination of weapons I liked, got a legendary version of each and maxed out their levels and then didn’t find anything better until right before the final boss. Again this is another missed opportunity as the design

s of the weapons are awesome, but unlike something like Destiny 2 where all the weapon types feel great to use and have different use cases in Godfall most of them feel pretty bad to use. The upgrade system for weapons is great on one hand, because if you like the design of a weapon and how it feels you can keep it for most of the game. But on the other hand the encouragement to push through and try to love other weapons just isn’t there.

The biggest feelings I had playing Godfall were frustration and disappointment by the end of the story. The game looks fantastic and has some really great design, music and even half decent voice acting. But the story is fairly poorly told to you through conversations with two NPCs that stand on opposite sides of a room that you have to jog back and forth between before starting missions. The combat made me feel like my controller battery was dying, the gameplay loop needs work and the loot is just not that interesting.

The frustration I felt playing this game was mostly at the disappointment for what it could have been. Which, honestly, is a real shame as there’s a lot of promise here. I can’t recommend that anyone buy Godfall in its current state, but I do sincerely hope they work on this game and maybe fix some of these issues before they launch the DLC next year.

Pros

Incredible visuals
Great character and enemy designs
Cool combat ideas

Cons

Uninteresting loot
No action queueing in combat makes the game feel bad
Weak gameplay loop
Not great at conveying the story

Disclosure: Gaming Fyx received a code for the purposes of this review from Gearbox PR.

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 152! (Reindeer Games!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 19 Dec 2020 18:34:46 +0000

Happy holidays everybody!! As you rest and relax, please join us on a journey of games, games, and more games! All of the ones we’re talking about this week kind of rule to an unreasonable extent; though the news is a bit more mixed. Don’t worry, there’s good news in there too!

Timestamps:
00:08:46 – Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity
00:29:18 – Bugsnax
00:39:16 – Touhou Luna Nights
00:48:51 – Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
01:04:00 – Call of Duty… Kind of
Newwwwwssssssss
01:18:37 – The CDPR Saga
01:51:36 – Acquisitions!
01:58:15 – Riot kinda announced an MMO out of nowhere
02:04:39 – Hades! You can cross-save now
02:07:42 – Indie World!
02:24:56 – Polygon had their big fundraiser!
02:26:31 – Nintendo’s aiming to fix the switch store
02:30:16 – That Diablo phone game is out

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 151! (Seph Boyardee!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 12 Dec 2020 20:29:12 +0000

Hop into the Mister V Machine, everyone – we’ve got lots of talks about Cyberpunk 2077 on this week’s episode of Gaming Fyx! Also, we’ve got thoughts on Bugsnax, Paper Mario, Miles Morales and Umurangi Generation too!!! Anime also makes a return with Assassination Classroom, and we dive deep on some Game Awards chat! Thanks again to our friends at Super GG Radio & Damage Boost for inviting us to their Game Awards stream!

Timestamps:
00:09:00 – Bugsnax
00:21:20 – Paper Mario: Origami King
00:26:41 – Assassination Classroom
00:38:35 – Miles Morales
00:56:41 – Umurangi Generation Macro
01:03:45 – Cyberpunk 2077
Newwwwsssssss
01:39:16 – Halo Infinite oh boy
01:46:12 – The Game Awards happened. But let’s talk about the announcements
02:32:23 – Cyberpunk had some epilepsy issues
02:41:00 – Nvidia, hey, wtf?
02:49:47 – Medal of Honor Above & Beyond is absolutely enormous
02:53:38 – Pollyyygoonnnn stream!

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Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales Review (PS5)

Sam Harrison — Wed, 09 Dec 2020 10:19:00 +0000

Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales Review (PS5) £49.99

Game title: Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales

Game description: The latest adventure in the Spider-Man universe will build on and expand ‘Marvel’s Spider-Man’ through an all-new story. Players will experience the rise of Miles Morales as he masters new powers to become his own Spider-Man.

Author: Sam Harrison

We discussed Miles on Episode 150, click here to listen.

Review

2018’s Marvel’s Spider-Man for PlayStation 4 was a really special game for me, as you might imagine for a guy who named his only child after Peter Parker. The Pete that we get in Spider-Man 2018 is one of my favourite interpretations of the character and I’ve been reading Amazing Spider-Man every single month for the past 20 years. It’s probably in my top 10 games of all time.

That’s all to say that for me, Miles Morales has a lot to live up to. Spoiler alert for the conclusion of this review, but I think Miles Morales is a better game than Spider-Man 2018.

Spider-Man Miles Morales is set a little over a year after the end of the first Spider-Man game, in the intervening time Pete has been training Miles to be a new Spider-Man and the Morales family have moved from Brooklyn to Harlem. I assume the move to Harlem was so they could reuse the map from the first Spider-Man, which is largely unchanged in Miles Morales save a few new structures.

The rough (spoiler free) plot to Miles Morales is that Pete is out of town for a few days, leaving Miles as the sole Spider-Man in NYC. At the exact time that Pete goes away we also se

e the rise of a new gang of hi-tech criminals called The Underground, led by a mysterious character calling themselves the Tinkerer. You also see Roxxon, long time bad guy corporation from the comics, coming into Harlem and installing new power plants across the city that run on a crazy new energy source called Nuform. The Tinkerer and Roxxon butt heads early in the game and Miles tries to step in and everything goes downhill from there.

The story is pretty good, although fairly predictable (even without a lifelong Marvel obsession) but the side content is where the heart of the game is. Almost all of the side activities have a connection to Harlem or Miles’ family and their history with New York. Harlem feels like a much more real place that changes across the game as certain story beats play out and their embrace of Miles as “their Spider-Man” is really heartwarming. A few times across the ending and in one post-story quest I got a little emotional, and this version of Miles really captivated me in a way that the comics version of Miles hasn’t always done.

Miles and Pete start the game with a very similar skillset, web swinging and punching are shared across the two but that’s really where the similarity ends. Pete’s pockets are overflowing with gadgets and gizmos and special attacks whereas Miles only has four, and Miles has a special venom blast modifier he can use with a lot of his moves along with the power to turn invisible temporarily.

They talk about Miles having a venom punch but really the venom power can be applied to almost any ability, for example there’s a venom dash and you can pull the L1 button to trigger venom during most fighting combos. This really changes the game as you can add a stun effect and a chain lightning effect to the venom, which makes Miles’ fights feel completely different to Pete’s. Also the invisibility is excellent as it completely changes the way you take on stealth challenges. Where Pete would have to take out a room full of people in a certain order, Miles is a lot more free to move around as he likes, even walking or crawling right in front of most enemies.

I found the new gameplay stuff for Miles to be excellent, and I even used all four gadgets really frequently in play as they all had strategic uses in most combat sections. This is a sharp contrast to Spider-Man 2018 where I think I only used 1-2 gadgets and never changed my suit power because the web blossom was just too good.

The progression in Miles Morales is a lot shorter than Spider-Man 2018, where Pete had a max level of 50 and a pretty expansive skill tree Miles will max out at 20 and by the time I finished the game I had unlocked every item on the skill tree. Your mileage may vary on what you prefer, but being able to unlock everything easily felt pretty good to me. I will say that like Spider-Man 2018 I found myself only using a few of the abilities regularly and some not at all.

Technically and visually this game is a real marvel too. I played the game on PS5, my first playthrough in 4K with ray tracing and all the bells and whistles turned on and my new game plus in performance mode. I personally preferred to have all the bells and whistles honestly, as the game still keeps a solid frame rate and the loading times are still insane no matter what mode the game is in. With the 4K and ray tracing effects on I would say Miles Morales is without a doubt the best looking game I have ever played. Swinging by a building and seeing the realtime reflection of not just Miles swinging but also the world around you moving as they would in real life is honestly pretty breathtaking sometimes.

I mentioned earlier in this review that I played through this game twice, once taking the time to 100% the game and complete all side content but a second time where I only mainlined the main story for the platinum trophy in the new game plus mode. This whole process took me 19 hours, and while I did feel like I wanted more content on my first play through I didn’t enjoy the second run nearly as much and was pretty done with the game by the time I finished it. Personally I think the content to cost ratio for this game doesn’t really work out. Of course you’re paying an early adopter/launch game tax here, but when Ubisoft is selling Assassins Creed Valhalla for £2 more in the UK than Miles Morales for a much bigger game then if you have a strict budget for your video games I would probably recommend buying Miles in a future sale.

Back in university I started seeing somebody new and my friends gave me a lot of hassle about hanging out with this person too much. I eventually asked why and they said they just were annoyed because they wanted to spend time with me. This is basically how I feel about Miles, I don’t know if the game will be too short for you but personally when the main story finished I felt left wanting.

Also there are sections of the main story, especially the ending, that rely on you having played all the side content. I would imagine mainlining the main story would have you scratching your head at times saying “who the hell is that guy?”

The other two complaints I have are pretty minor – some of Miles’ dialogue doesn’t sound all that natural for a teen in 2020. It doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb or anything, but I definitely was taken out of it a little. Then again I’m a 34 year old British white guy so maybe I’m the one who is out of touch?

Finally a very minor quibble – way too many of the cutscenes are unskippable in new game plus. It always seems to be the story relevant cutscenes, which I understand for a first play through but I would like to see them become skippable in new game plus. Hopefully Insomniac patches this out, but it won’t ruin the game for you. If anything it will be the only time you have to check your phone during the game, as the load times are almost instantaneous.

All in all I had a lot of fun with Miles Morales. The story got me invested in its characters and Harlem felt like a living and breathing location. I got very emotional at the ending. I also loved the new gameplay additions and slimming down of side content so that you are only doing a small number of each activity. It’s like Insomniac got an editor to come in and look at Spider-Man 2018 and tell them what was wheat and what was chaff.

Overall this is a truly impressive second Spider-Game from Insomniac and I’m really excited to see where we go next with Miles and Pete. I just hope the next game we see is a little longer.

Pros

New gameplay makes the game feel fresh
Great story
All the killer from Spider-Man 2018 with no filler

Cons

Unskippable cutscenes
Some weird dialogue choices
Too short (for me)

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 150! (Spider-Monsanto!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 05 Dec 2020 19:42:23 +0000

We’re a century-and-a-half old in podcast years!! Join us for Episode 150 where we actually dive into a bunch of games again, but also a heaping helping of news. We’ve got board games, we’ve got the equivalent of action figures in games, we’ve got card games, we’ve got historical games, and we’ve got game making! If you’re hankering for some games talk, boy howdy do we have your Gaming Fyx with this one!

Timestamps:
00:06:05 – Miles Morales
00:24:42 – Fortnite (Galactus)
00:37:27 – Mario 35
00:46:59 – Coffee Talk
00:59:22 – The Solitaire Conspiracy
01:05:42 – Wingspan
01:19:16 – AC: Odyssey
01:28:12 – AC: Valhalla
01:44:09 – Coding Fyx
01:47:53 – Advent of Code
01:53:02 – Godot & Game Jams

Newssss
01:58:42 – Nintendo finally lets you export screenshots from the Switch!
02:03:27 – MSFS gets VR in a few weeks!
02:08:35 – Kadabra is back baby
02:12:06 – PAX 2021 is happening(?) in June
02:15:46 – PS2 works on the Xbox Series S
02:17:11 – Oscar Isaac is snaaaaaaaakkkkeeee
02:22:09 – Monster Hunter movie is problematic…
02:27:59 – 3060 Ti kinda just showed up
02:29:19 – Laid-Back Camp VR hell yes
02:33:02 – Casey Hudson & Mark Darrah are out at Bioware. Again.
02:41:22 – F Google

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Allyson – @writerserenyty twitter.com/writerserenyty
Andre – @coolsl4w twitter.com/coolsl4w
Erica – @airehcuh twitter.com/Airehcuh
Pat – @pjcplays twitter.com/pjcplays
Sam – @sgch twitter.com/sgch
(Alex doesn’t have social media)

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 149! (Mario Kingdom 2077!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 28 Nov 2020 18:44:04 +0000

A game-light week means we get more time to talk about bad movies, good trends, and weird fandoms! You’ve heard us talk about Fuser, Yakuza, Assassin’s Creed and BLOPS; but we have a lot more to say about Among Us, The World Ends With You and more in the news section! There’s also a quick peek into a new set of podcasts coming your way soon from us!!

Links mentioned during episode:

Bernie Sanders on Cheese

Series S Emulation

PS5 Thermals

Timestamps:
00:14:08 – Yakuza: Like A Dragon
00:30:53 – CODBLOPSCW & Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
00:48:60 – Fuser
01:08:13 – Coding Fyx is inbound
Newwwssssss
01:12:13 – AOC & Jagmeet Singh raised a bunch of bucks for charity via Among Us
01:24:39 – New game! The World Ends With You!!
01:31:43 – Squeenix is letting people WFH permanently
01:42:21 – Cyberpunk 2077 retail copies have gotten out there
01:50:17 – Avengers hasn’t recouped its development costs yet
01:52:15 – Xbox Series S is a rad emulation machine
01:56:25 – PS5 Cooling might not be so cool
02:00:54 – Game and Watch Mario can play Doom now
02:05:43 – Red Dead Online is coming as its own thing
02:13:48 – Hitman 3 is going to Chongqing!

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 148! (The Hummus Zone!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 21 Nov 2020 19:21:19 +0000

Blend up your chickpeas and zest some lemons, we’re going on a voyage this week on Gaming Fyx! We take to the seas with both Spiritfarer and Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, to the land with Bugsnax and CODBLOPSCW, and to the rad with Fuser and Prodeus! News this week isn’t as chipper as last week, but there are some good discussions to be had about topics we care about!

(Audio note: Alex’s computer was having some issues so there’s a bit more cross-talk than normal this episode)

Links Mentioned:
The Uncanny Valley of Culture:
https://medium.com/@damonreece/the-uncanny-valley-of-culture-9d035a3c1776

Timestamps:
00:14:28 – Spiritfarer
00:25:55 – Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
00:42:55 – CODBLOPSCW
00:54:50 – Prodeus
01:02:48 – Bugsnax
01:17:53 – Fuser
Newwwsssss
01:36:38 – Fleet Fatales!
01:37:40 – PS5 Saves – Not particularly portable
01:40:36 – IO’s new game!
01:44:50 – The Game Awards Noms
01:59:57 – Apple does a good thing, Google doesn’t
02:12:20 – Nintendo does a not good thing. A few of them actually.
02:22:38 – Non-Americans finding success outside of America
02:28:18 – Star Wars Squadrons is getting stuff!

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Umineko When They Cry Review

Alex Gelinas — Thu, 19 Nov 2020 18:26:35 +0000

Umineko When They Cry Review

Without Love, It Cannot Be Seen

Note: This review is wholly spoiler-free, and tries to keep details confined to what is relevant within the first episode. If folks are interested in a more spoiler-y review, leave a comment, send us a tweet, or an email and I’ll write one as a supplement!

In my opinion, one of the most genuinely heartfelt praises one can bestow upon a work of fiction is “I don’t want this to be over.” I had this feeling hit me pretty strongly about three quarters of the way through Umineko When They Cry—which is saying a lot, given that the game took ~130 hours to complete. It is possibly my favourite work of fiction I’ve experienced, and cements my opinion that creator Ryukishi07 is a genius. Well… A genius who could benefit from an editor; but a genius nonetheless. It is a complex, mystifying, emotional tale which has more layers than I could even begin to break down here. Rather than immediately trying to sum the game up, let’s instead start by talking about what it is.

Spin The Board Around

Umineko is part of a genre which writer/creator/director Ryukishi has dubbed the “sound novel.” That is to say it is essentially a visual novel which focuses heavily on its use of audio—voice acting, soundtrack, foley and atmosphere all play a huge part in his works. The entirety of Umineko is fully voiced by incredible voice actors (especially Miki Ito, the voice of Eva) who deliver each of their lines passionately and perfectly for each scene. Their performances are further elevated by the game’s exquisite soundtrack, which has close to 200 tracks—some of which only get used once or twice in the whole experience, which does an incredible job to invest readers in the scenarios with a crescendo of intensity. The impeccable audio work is one thing, but what about the rest of it?

While some games can tend to leverage strong voice acting in order to make a mediocre story appear better than it actually is, Umineko is an example of top tier voice acting bringing an incredible story to a whole new level. The dialogue is spectacular, the storytelling is divine, and the English localization for the official release is second to none. My screenshot folder for this game is bursting at the seams purely due to all of the beautifully written and often insightful text emblazoned upon the screen. There were some passages which stayed on my screen for minutes on end as I contemplated their meaning—not in the sense of me trying to parse their meaning; but rather coming to the realization that it was putting words to feelings I’d never been able to properly articulate, and in ways which left me teary-eyed and introspective. That kind of meaningful impact is just one of the many things which makes Umineko so special, and it would be impossible to ignore one of the largest vectors for these particular moments—the characters.

My first reaction upon starting Umineko was “dang, there are a lot of characters to follow right off the bat.” The game starts and there are eighteen people to keep up with. The majority of them are all members of the same family, with the remainder being the servants and friends of said family. As you could likely glean by the fact that they have servants, the family is quite wealthy, and we join in on their story as they’re all meeting up for their annual family get-together. A conference where the kids get to be kids and play with their cousins, and the adults talk about adult things like inheritance, upholding the status and honour of the family, as well as a multitude of schemes and plots surrounding which of the siblings will become the family head once their father dies. While there is initially a bit of sticker shock by seeing those eighteen characters right off the bat, you quickly get a feel for each of their individual personalities, quirks, and motivations.

Ryukishi does an amazing job controlling the pace of the story, and gives every character an appropriate amount of time in the spotlight. Since it is such a long game, he is able to explore each character with nuance and depth. As the story carries on, you learn so much about each of them—critical and defining experiences from their pasts, their fears, their aspirations for the future, the things they love, the people they love, and much, much more. Each of them is so layered that they start to feel like real people, and within a few hours you will easily know them all by name, and care about each and every one of them. Once you feel comfortable with these core characters, you are slowly introduced to new ones. They continue to be added for quite some time, until we reach a final character count of 46. While this sounds absurd on paper, they each get the same treatment and love as the core eighteen (all while those eighteen continue to get excellent development), and at this point I could easily recite all of their names to you simply by seeing images of them—there are no bad characters, and they all matter to the story. Which makes it all the more affecting when they start dying.

Never Stop Thinking

Oh, by the way, Umineko is a horror story. A brutal one. To be more verbose, it is a profoundly twisty psychological horror with an extremely intricate mystery throughline. The mystery is so masterfully woven into every aspect of the story that, if you were so inclined, you as a reader could potentially solve it yourself within the first few “episodes” (we’ll get back to that term). In fact, though I sunk so many hours into it, part of me wants to go through it all again just to pick up on all the details I had missed the first time. It’s the kind of story where you will be invested in the story beats, reach a revelatory moment, say “wowwww” out loud, and need to go for a walk as everything which came before is wholly recontextualized. Those who know me are likely aware that I’m fairly stoic while gaming, but there were many events which left me pumping my fist in the air, others which left me welled up with tears, and many more which took my breath away.

But what about those “episodes” I had mentioned? To put it another way, think of Umineko as a single story broken up into a series of eight books. The first four of these books are considered the Questions Arcs, and the latter four the Answers Arcs—each of these books is an “episode.” If you are familiar with Ryukishi’s other major work (Higurashi) this format is likely familiar to you; but to sum it up, the Questions Arcs set up the mystery within a horror construct, and the Answers Arcs, as you’d probably expect, answer those questions. This is extremely oversimplified, but is a basic overview of the format—in practice, there are questions raised all the way until the last few episodes. The ending itself is extremely satisfying in a way I can’t in good conscience even begin to describe here. It is sufficient to say that in my opinion that the ending is worth experiencing, and worth the significant time investment.

A question I have been asked by some friends has been “why is this considered a game?” While I could sidestep the issue and say that the last episode does actually have some gameplay, that doesn’t explain the other 7. Ultimate, the answer is: honestly, it isn’t a game. But that isn’t a bad thing. It is a series of episodes which each use a game engine to provide visuals, animations, voice acting, and music to make for an immersive experience. While the manga is supposed to be excellent (and the anime is baaadddd), I think that this format is the ultimate way to experience Umineko. Gratefully, each episode is broken up into smaller chapters which generally work out to ~30 – 45 minute chunks (with a few notable exceptions during particularly climactic story beats), so you will naturally have resting points to save and come back; but man is this book a page turner. I spent a lot of nights up until 2 or 3am on weeknights because I could not put it down.

One last thing I haven’t really mentioned are the visuals themselves. If you intend to play Umineko on PC, I absolutely recommend installing a community-created mod called 07th mod. It patches the game to have high fidelity visuals, music, and audio compared to the original release. It is how I played the game, and it is amazing. The art and voiceover come from the PS3 remaster of the game, which makes both the character and background art more dynamic and beautiful. There are also some pieces of art (called Character Graphics, or CGs) which I genuinely want to make into backgrounds for my computer. I couldn’t imagine the experience without these touches, and can’t sing enough praises for this mod. Without it, the visuals are okay, but the mod demonstrably improves the experience.

Sleep peacefully, my most beloved witch, Beatrice

If it isn’t abundantly clear by this point, I feel that Umineko is an unrivaled masterpiece. It has simultaneously taken my top spot for both all-time favourite book and game. It might seem absurd for me to say I want to experience even more of this story given that ~130 hours is not a small investment of time; but as the final moments were unfolding and the conclusion was drawing near, I felt genuinely sad about the notion of saying goodbye to these wonderful characters, the amazing world in which they inhabit, and their incredible story. While it is indeed a horror story with a tightly woven mystery tying it all together, ultimately it is also a deeply affecting story about love, loss, trauma, catharsis, feminism, family, the value of living, and the importance of our relationships with fellow humans. “Without love, it cannot be seen” is the core message of Umineko, and one which I’ll carry with me for years to come.

Pros

Exceptional story and characters
Some of the best voice acting in a game
Dynamic, high quality soundtrack
Beautiful art (with 07th mod)

Cons

Very long (~130 Hours)
Requires a mod for ideal experience

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 147! (The Dark Lord Tigger!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 14 Nov 2020 19:18:48 +0000

New consoles are here, and we’re talkin’ about that there PS5!! Also, holy moly do we have a lot of games this week – and most of them are new! A few old ones, but hey those ones are finished now. But no matter if they’re old or new, they’re all pretty great, so join us for a pretty positive episode overall =D

Timestamps:
00:07:05 – Hades
00:16:22 – Trails of Cold Steel 3
00:28:07 – PS5! And also Astro’s Playroom
00:37:20 – Miles Morales
00:44:17 – Bugsnax
01:09:40 – CODBLOPSCW
01:26:30 – Umineko (is finished)
01:31:00 – There is No Game – Wrong Dimension
01:37:29 – Yakuza: Like A Dragon
Newwwsssss
02:13:18 – New consoles exist
02:20:07 – Deathloop’s new release date
02:22:45 – More Atlus gams might be coming to PC (thanks P4G)
02:29:40 – Nvidia figures out how to SAM
02:32:26 – Nioh & Nioh 2 are comin’ to PS5

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 146! (Krogan Daycare Simulator!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 07 Nov 2020 19:22:26 +0000

This week we actually have… Mostly good news?!? That’s unexpected, but certainly welcome. Not a ton of game talk this week, but we do dive into Atelier Ryza and Little Hope, give Umineko a few minutes, and talk about some of the games we hope to be checking out for Game of the Year! But dang, check out that news section. We got to say nice things about Bioware! And representation in games!! And the state of the United States of America!!!

Much love y’all.

Links mentioned in episode:
Underpaid and Overworked: Being an Animator in Japan

Is Madeline Canonically Trans?
https://maddythorson.medium.com/is-madeline-canonically-trans-4277ece02e40

Timestamps:
00:07:45 – Atelier Ryza
00:23:18 – Umineko & what to play next?
00:37:27 – Little Hope
00:47:55 – Caves of Qud
Newwwwssssss
00:54:00 – Extra Life!!
00:55:30 – PS5 and Xbox reviews are up
01:08:57 – THPS 1+2 got a biiiiigggg update
01:09:58 – Mass Effect Trilogy coming in 2021
01:22:03 – Anthem – it’s still a thing
01:29:48 – PSA: Destiny 2’s original Campaign will be leaving soon
01:33:10 – Gears POP! RIP
01:41:13 – Fortnite is back on iOS! Kinda
01:44:17 – Codemasters got bought up by Take Two!
01:46:47 – Sony’s got all the anime now
01:51:44 – Source code for Watch Dogs Legion got leaked yo (also Capcom)
01:54:05 – AMD! The new CPUs are wild
02:03:03 – Celeste writer pens a wonderful article about Maddy
02:11:25 – Miles Morales knows sign language
02:14:05 – There is a new United States President. Dogs will be in the white house again.

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 145! (La Cowabunga!! ft. Jeff Davis)

Alex Gelinas — Sun, 01 Nov 2020 00:47:49 +0000

Jeff Davis! They’re here! And we’re talking all about spoooky halloween things on this week’s episode, such as a brief history of Spanish nightmares as they relate to Blasphemous, the horrors of catching gods in Pokemon, running to/from/as ghosts in Ghostrunner, screaming at the top of your lungs in Holdfast, cowering in the dark in Amnesia: Rebirth, questioning existence with Umineko, and also Watch Dogs Legion is forgettable despite existing. We also have a terrifying discussion of crunch, work/life balance, and the importance of understanding what is involved in making a game.

Also, and for the last time, if you are able as a US Citizen, please vote for Joe Biden in the upcoming election.

A Developer’s Thoughts on Crunch – In Games & Beyond

A Developer’s Thoughts on Crunch – In Games & Beyond

Timestamps:
00:08:42 – Pokemon SwSh: Crown Tundra
00:27:03 – Amnesia: Rebirth
00:41:01 – Ghostrunner
00:53:00 – Holdfast: Nations At War
01:04:30 – Watch Dogs Legion
01:26:07 – Blasphemous & la leyenda negra de España, y una canción de culpa
02:11:55 – Umineko
Neeewwwwsssssss
02:18:10 – Cyberpunk 2077 got delayed. Again. We wrote about it.
02:54:36 – Rapid fire news!
02:54:57 – Far Cry 6 & Rainbow 6 Quarantine delayed
02:55:15 – New Miles Morales suit looks sick as hell
02:56:10 – Halo Infinite has lost another director
02:57:04 – Everwild Creative Director left Rare
02:57:38 – Hackers jailbroke the Quest 2
02:58:33 – Sony patched a bunch of PS4 games and now their load times are significantly better
03:00:12 – New entry in the Steins;Gate series comin’
03:00:45 – AMD’s new GPUs seem pretty kickass

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A Developer’s Thoughts on Crunch – In Games & Beyond

Alex Gelinas — Wed, 28 Oct 2020 20:37:23 +0000

2020 has been one hell of a year, and as we reach its final stretch, a topic on lots of folks’ collective minds is crunch in game development. While it is not a particularly new topic (see LA Noire, The Last of Us (Original & Part 2), Doom (1993), etc), the catalyst for the current outburst regarding this prickly subject is the looming release of CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077—a massive open-world game from the acclaimed developers of The Witcher 3. It should also be noted that the release of The Witcher 3 had also been plagued by reports of toxic crunch culture, which is ultimately what led to CDPR saying “Cyberpunk 2077 won’t have crunch.”

And then Jason Schrier reported, “well, yes, actually it will—for 6 weeks.”

This report showcasing the dichotomy of words to actions lit social media aflame, and there have been many takes from multiple angles. Folks lamenting the cruel nature of crunch, the human cost, the willingness for developer participation, et cetera.

And then they delayed it again.

This has led to a lot more social media discourse and outrage questioning how genuine CDPR is with their PR, the necessity (or lack thereof) of crunch, if delays actually help, etc. It is a tough subject, and one which people have a lot of feelings on.

With all of that being said, an angle I’ve not seen being given much light is that of a working developer. So… Hi.

I’ve been a professional software developer for the past 7 years, and a hobbyist developer well before that. I currently hold a senior development role with a large company, and spend the majority of my working week tapping buttons on my keyboard and making programs come out. On top of my everyday development roles, I have also been a project manager, hiring manager, and software architect. While my current position is not in games, the first few years of my working career were, and I have also made games as personal projects.

That’s the short version. The even shorter version is that I’m a developer, and have thoughts on dev cycles, mental health, burnout, and crunch both in the game industry, as well as outside of it.

I would like to preface all of this by saying that, from here on out, this is largely my opinion based on experience, as well as consulting with other professional software developers. I will do my best to link to concrete examples where applicable, but because a lot of things I’ve worked on are NDA’d, any specific examples I give will likely have been abstracted, or have their details changed. If you are reading this and have feelings, I urge you to tweet at us, leave comments on this article, or generally get in touch with me—feedback and criticism both are very welcome here.

Development 101 – What it means to be a dev

Before jumping straight into my thoughts on crunch, I’d like to try and contextualize what it’s like to work as a developer—at least at a high level. If you are already familiar and comfortable with development terms, please feel free to click here and jump directly to my thoughts on crunch.

In an idyllic society, everyone would be able to work as much as they want within the hours during which they feel able. Their needs would be met, there would be no looming anxieties due to lack of health insurance, lodging, nor salary. Deadlines would be fluid, and whatever project is being made would only come out when the creators are satisfied. This theoretical world applies to software/game developers, musicians, authors, artists, or those working in any other creative medium.

For a lot of solo creators, this can be reality! (Well… The deadline part, at least…)

If it is your own project (for the sake of this post, let’s stick within the coding world and say it’s making a game), you set the pace, goals, and standards. If you feel that you need an extra few months to polish up one of the core mechanics, or add a new level, or fix this one part that’s broken and crashes the game—all of that is wholly at your discretion. Of course, there are always going to be tradeoffs to any of these decisions. While we are currently ignoring any kind of monetary obligations, there is one resource which every human has a finite amount of—time.

After several months of development, perhaps you come to the realization that you’ll need to implement a new feature which requires expertise you don’t currently have. In order to do it yourself, you’ll need to spend a few weeks or months learning how to do that. Is that time well spent to you? Maybe, but what if your best friend is already an expert on it and is willing to help? Great! Let’s invite them to the project.

So now your project has a team of two! One is the loneliest number, after all—so thank you, friend. This change comes with a problem, though. The moment a project adds any amount of people beyond the solo creator, the dynamic changes immediately. No longer are you able to be as fluid and freeform as before because you now have certain inherent responsibilities to which you’re beholden.

For example, if whatever part you’re currently working on blocks the progress of your other teammate(s), they are left waiting until you’re done—and vice versa. This brings us to one of our core tenets in software development—accountability.

Accountability is arguably one of the most crucial parts of any team. Without getting too didactic, it ultimately boils down to knowing you can trust your team to accomplish a goal which has been set. A programmer is accountable for creating code which works. An artist is accountable for creating assets which fit the aesthetic. A sound designer is accountable for making high-quality audio. A narrative designer is accountable for writing a story which makes sense for the characters involved. Et cetera.

This accountability is a core part of development because, on top of making sure you’re getting things done, working on a team is an extremely social activity. Communication is paramount because you need to interact with your teammates, clearly and confidently make decisions, and describe the ideas for what will be created in a way which will be understood and executed upon. For the last point, there is a big difference between “make that character jump real cool” and “give the character a double jump, wall run, the ability to grab ledges, and do backflips.”

This naturally brings us to the concept of tasking. When it comes to code, you rarely implement a full feature such as “character movement” all at once. It gets broken down into smaller, more digestible tasks. One could be tuning the walk and run (speed, how long it takes to start/stop, etc), another could be adjusting the jump (height, velocity, etc), another could be figuring out how a character lands (fall damage, etc), and so on. It’s best to take care of these tasks discretely because then you can tune each part individually, and have the codebase reflect it. After all, it’s much easier to have multiple smaller files/classes/methods to make changes within rather than one giant monstrosity which is impossible to traverse. It is also much harder to fix a bug if everything is all in one blob.

To think of it another way, consider what happens with strands of old Christmas lights versus more modern ones. Lights which are wired up in parallel give you a clear indication of which bulb is burnt out because it’s the only one which is dark; but if they’re wired in series, one bulb knocks out the whole strand and then you have to go through the whole thing just to find the culprit. The more modular approach is how most teams choose to approach coding because it is the one which facilitates both accountability and communication the most.

Okay, that’s probably low level enough. To bring us back to speed, we now have a team, and we are aware of the concept of tasking. By creating tasks, this helps us communicate which exact part of the game or code someone will be working on, and that ultimately means it will be easier for that team member to be able to tackle the task with accountability.

Being organized and tasking with clear intent alleviates a lot of problems which can quickly become overwhelming as a team’s size increases (though, honestly, also for solo devs). While our initial example had a team with 2 members, let’s bump that up a bit. If we are now in a team with 15 members, communication is huge because small changes have much broader impact.

If we are working on an action game, maybe our character can use multiple weapons. If our player starts with the ability to use a sword and a bow, let’s also give them an axe. Easy, right? We have a weapon system in place, no problemo. Except… Maybe problemo.

There are multiple decisions which need to be made. How big is the axe? How fast does it swing? How wide is the swing? Do the enemies get knocked back? How much damage do they take? Does it ignore armor? What does it look like? What does it sound like? While “giving the player an axe” seems like a pretty small task on paper, it’s actually pretty big because now this will be radiating through multiple members of the team. Our artist, coder, sound designer at the very least—and if the team is big enough to have a gameplay designer, then it will include them too. Extrapolated a bit further, any future changes you make to the axe will also radiate. If it’s decided that the swing was too fast and now it needs to slow down, there will need to be changes to the code, animation, and sound.

As a game gets bigger, these seemingly small changes radiate further and further. It is what makes the best RPGs so impressive, the multitude of systems which interact with one another and the ways in which they are balanced. However, without some kind of direction, things can quickly get out of hand and become confusing for team members—especially if their particular purview is relatively limited in scope. Again, this brings us back to accountability and communication; but this time, a step higher.

There are a multitude of ways to manage a team of developers. Generally, in modern software development, the two most common methodologies are that of Waterfall and Agile. These days, it is safe to say that Agile is the methodology of choice, and one of its major benefits is that accountability comes along for the ride. So what does it mean for a team to use Agile?

Agile splits work up into “sprints.” Rather than running one extremely long marathon where we have a final product at the end, by breaking it up into smaller sprints, we cover the same distance but have iterations of our game all along the way. Each sprint typically lasts anywhere between 1-4 weeks (the most common among places I’ve worked at being 2 week sprints), and within each of these you are bringing in a certain number of tasks which a project manager feels the team can reasonably complete. Team members are able to judge how big or small a task might be, and ultimately voice their opinions for whether they think the amount of work assigned is possible in the amount of time allotted.

Hey, remember time from 15 paragraphs ago? Welcome back, old friend.

By breaking our tasks up into sprints we are no longer looking at a macro timeline with one big scary deadline right at the end, and instead are looking at one with multiple smaller deadlines along the way. This helps us predict how much work is feasible based on the bandwidth of each individual team member, as well as what milestones we aim to hit by the end of each sprint. Maybe the first milestone would be “having good character control,” then the second is “adding a weapon system,” the third is “adding the sword and bow,” et cetera. This gives our teams direction, and we can start to have a clearer vision for when our game will come out!

But remember back when we were a solo developer? Wasn’t it great having the freedom to kinda take however long we wanted? Well.. Maybe for some people; but in my opinion, I’d say no. The best work I’ve ever done has been when there are deadlines attached to it. An idiom you start to clash with without deadlines is that “perfect is the enemy of good.” Something you’re working on might already be good, but if you keep tweaking because you want it to be perfect, you may never actually finish it and focus way too hard on the minor details (even though “good” is often good enough). Without deadlines, without accountability, without communication, without tasks, a lot of amazing ideas end up never seeing the light of day because the scope gets too huge, the developer sees no end in sight, and they burn out while trying to chase perfection. Again, said from experience.

As mentioned, the moment a team grows to have more than one member, we as developers need to trust and respect our teammate(s), just as much as having them trust and respect us. This applies horizontally (with other members of our team), and vertically (those managing our team, and those we manage).

So what about crunch?

Crunch is a difficult topic because multiple people might have multiple interpretations for what it means in practice. The broad interpretation I most often see conveyed on social media is that it’s working hours well beyond your expected workload. In other words, if you’re supposed to work 40 hours in a week, but you’re routinely working 60, 80, or even 100 then that is crunch.

There is validity to this interpretation, but as a developer I see it a bit differently.

To me, crunch is somewhat comparable to the feeling of cramming the day before a test. It is the looming stress you feel with a rapidly approaching deadline, and the internalized anxiety that if you don’t put in a bunch of extra effort, you might not be ready in time. It is a very negative, and not overly productive feeling. However, crunch isn’t something you can boil down just to that feeling, it’s also a question of responsibility. Let’s say the online service I manage goes down and none of our 500 000 users can access our application. It’s 7:00 PM on a Saturday, which is well outside of work hours. Do you address this issue on Monday morning, or do you fix it now?

If you are the only one who knows how to fix it, chances that are you’re going to fix it as soon and as fast as possible. That spike of effort and anxiety, that looming urgency—that is crunch.

Spikes like that are pretty much impossible to avoid, and they are largely unpredictable. For the most part, that’s not what people seem to be talking about when crunch enters the dialogue. They are usually talking about a more sustained crunch. In the case of CDPR, a crunch of six weeks. Or, at this point, likely more.

While the “spike” version of crunch can be extraordinarily stressful, it is also fairly short lived. The fix could take a couple dozen minutes, maybe a day or two at the most, and then it’s over. Sustained crunch is far worse. Sustained crunch subjects you to that level of stress and pressure for weeks, sometimes months at a time. This is the kind of stress which makes people quit, leave the industry, burn out, and tragically, take their own lives. It is an extremely serious topic, and a systemic issue which disproportionately plagues the game development industry.

To speak relatively coldly, sustained crunch is a symptom. Respect and trust amongst teams go both horizontally and vertically. Oftentimes, sustained crunch is due to a break in this chain from the vertical direction. In the case of CDPR, it is impossible to say where this break is due to it being a black box.

For context, in the development world we have what is known as “black-box testing” and “white-box testing.” Consider a black box to be like your TV. You push the power button and the screen turns on, but you aren’t really expected to pay attention to how the electricity is crossing the circuit board, capacitors, resistors, and ultimately making the LEDs (or OLEDs or whatever) create images on your screen. If you ever run into a time where the TV doesn’t power on, chances are that you will black box test for the reason. If we can deduce that it isn’t the power cable, then we have to assume it is because of something inside which we cannot see. Due to that, we likely can’t guess at which stage it is breaking, and will have an expert inspect it. White box testing would be the opposite, where we know all about the internals in question and are testing it with full knowledge. Basically, whoever you call as the TV repair person can pull the back off of it, and with their tools do some white box testing with a combination of expertise and tools available.

So to the majority of us, CDPR is a black box. I cannot reasonably assume at which level the failure is happening, but I feel strongly about two things regarding their instance(s) of crunch and delays:

It is likely a failure in some level of management, not in those directly working on the game
It is a systemic problem in the games industry

To start, let’s address our first point and also reference back to some of our key terms.

Firstly, it is a matter of time. The original release date was a set deadline, a deadline which has now been moved back multiple times. If proper time and sprint management is in play, signs of this should have shown up early—for example, if milestones were being missed or pushed back (However, to play devil’s advocate, it can be quite difficult to properly estimate complex software from an early stage, and the act of consistently underestimating the complexity of tasks can lead to what’s called “scope creep,” which can snowball into delays down the road). To compensate for that, sprints can be used to build in a small spike of crunch in predictable ways. For example, if Milestone 3 missed its due date at the end of its associated sprint, maybe Milestone 4’s sprint requires the team to put in a bit of extra effort to fulfill both milestones 3 & 4 by the end of it. That might mean some team members will have to put in a bit of extra time during that sprint, which is certainly not ideal, but it happens (and a good company will compensate that time by either being flexible with future time off, or fiscal compensation).

It is also a matter of accountability. Just like a programmer needs to be accountable to an animator, and an animator needs to be accountable to a sound designer, etc, the managers need to be accountable to their teams. The game’s director is the one who has the highest level view of everything, including timelines. This should be passed down the chain. I do not have any idea what the internal structure is like at CDPR, but let’s say that there is a manager for each team (code/programming, audio, animation, modelling, story, quest design, etc). So each of those managers report to the game director. Then each of those managers might have project managers below them managing sub-teams (maybe the code teams have subteams for combat systems, character ability systems, dialogue, UI, audio integration, animation integration, etc). Each team is given their tasks, and they trust that their managers are respecting their available bandwidth, while also being mindful of milestones and deadlines.

Evidently, there is a failure somewhere within that chain because there is a history of sustained crunch, a current period of sustained crunch, and numerous missed deadlines. Again, due to CDPR being a black box, I can only speculate. Maybe it is tech debt, maybe it is scope creep, maybe it is perfection being the enemy of good. I don’t know. I can’t say why the TV isn’t turning on, but I can say that it is absolutely a failure on some link in the management chain.

Now for the second point, and this one sucks.

The video game industry is extremely volatile, and has little to no respect for its developers.

This is said as a fact, not an opinion.

There are indeed exceptions to this rule, companies like Iron Galaxy are extremely respectful to their employees; however the exception unfortunately does not define the rule.

The game industry is wholly unique among software development because it has normalized (and, in some cases, glorified) crunch culture, which is the expectation that sustained crunch will be a part of every project. It is exhausting, and as mentioned at the very start of this article, it is not new. I recommend reading Masters of Doom, and reading about the “death march” crunches which Id Software went through all the way back in the early to mid-90s. It is very, very difficult to convey just how taxing this is on one’s mind.

The thing is, there’s always fresh talent. Students dream of breaking into the game industry, working for giants like EA or Activision become people’s goals. They may have heard about how crunch exists there, but they imagine that it won’t affect them—they are passionate, driven, and they can’t give up on their dream. Then they make it. They get the job, and they’re living their dream life. Congratulations to them! They have reached their Valhalla, and they are going to prove to everyone around them that they’re worthy to be there. They work hard, they put in dozens of hours beyond their salaried time, and they push themselves to their limits. Again, said from experience.

The games industry chews these people up and spits them out. These workers set their intense pace, and the moment they falter from it, they will trip and they will fall. This leads to burnout. This leads to exhaustion. This leads to reconsidering their goals. This leads to them realizing their wage doesn’t reflect their work. This leads to looking at what it would be like to be a developer in a less volatile industry. And so after a year or two, they leave the game industry altogether with an acrid taste lingering in their mouth, and a few more bags under their eyes.

But you know what? There’s always another passionate kid out of college who is eager to gobble up the position they left behind.

It is a brutal industry. The deadlines are harsh. The time management is bad. The respect for the developers is oftentimes non-existent (with some exceptions, love you Dave Lang). There are no unions. In fact, the people slinging code and generating assets and providing their voices and writing stories cannot unionize, and this is mandated from the top down.

However, while I am and will remain adamantly critical of the crunch culture perpetuated by the game development industry, as a player I am of the opinion that you should not avoid or dismiss a game simply because crunch was involved in its creation. While burnout of the devs involved is something we ought to address, and bearing in mind that those working on the game may have been exhausted during its development, they likely put so much time and effort into the finished game due to being wholeheartedly passionate about what they were working on. We need to change these practices for the health of the humans behind these games, but we shouldn’t let their passion go to waste.

There’s a reason I no longer work in games. It’s the same reason I know very few people who have continued working in games (of course this is not to cast shade on those I know who have stuck it out, much respect to you all). CDPR are not the first to do this, and most unfortunately, they certainly will not be the last.

As we reach the end of this journey, I’m left pondering a question. “How do we fix it?”

I don’t know. I sincerely don’t know.

One thing I do know is that “giving them an extra six months / year / other arbitrary amount of time” is very likely not the solution. This issue will not be resolved with extra time alone, it will continue happening again and again. Teams will continue being worked to the bone because of poorly thought out timelines, and young devs will continue to burn out only to be replaced by a revolving door of new devs. It is a fundamental problem which needs to be addressed which requires a deeper solution.

That being said, the public facing “it’s done when it’s done” mentality is much healthier, and one I can certainly advocate for. While that would have the downside of keeping their audience (but hopefully not investors) in the dark, it at least alleviates a bit of pressure. I would still encourage devs to set internal deadlines (via sprints, milestones, whatever they like to keep them on some form of track) so they don’t run into the perfection/good problem, but sure, it’s a potential way to make things a bit better. Another option might be that of early access, getting out the MVP (Minimum Viable Product) as soon as possible, and iterate on it in response to fan demands.

Other industries centered around software development have evolved. They provide great benefits, fair wages, respect for employees’ time, accountability from the top down, and the peace of mind in knowing crunch for them will at most be a spike—not an expectation to be sustained for the length of their tenure. The games industry needs to stop wreaking havoc on the wellbeing of their employees, and this change needs to start with management stepping up and taking this issue seriously. Iron Galaxy did it, and we should learn from them. We need to work towards making the exception the rule.

Until then, follow your passions. Do what you love. Make your game as a solo developer. Invite a friend while having both trust and respect for each other. Take as much time as you or your team need while keeping that relationship healthy. Be accountable. Respect yourself enough to recognize if the trust and respect you show to yourself is or is not being reciprocated by those around you. Communicate with care. Find reasons to smile. Neuter and spay your pets. Drink water. Vote for Joe Biden.

You can listen to the Gaming Fyx podcast at https://www.fyx.space. We discuss this article in detail on Episode 145 (timestamps in the description)

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 144! (It’s Apocryphal!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 24 Oct 2020 17:09:49 +0000

Bend your body at a 90 degree angle and taunt the void as we go on a spooky journey for this week’s Gaming Fyx!! We’ve got a horror game four-fer with Phasmophobia, Amnesia: The Dark Descent, Amnesia: Rebirth, and the end of the Questions Arcs for Umineko. We then get relatively deep into some politics, along with some other goings on with a relatively light news week! Also the tall pie is the worst.

Also, if you are able as a US Citizen, please vote for Joe Biden in the upcoming election.

Timestamps:
00:10:24 – Umineko Questions Arcs
00:30:25 – Phasmophobia
00:54:54 – Amnesia: The Dark Descent
01:04:40 – Amnesia: Rebirth
Newwwwssssss
01:27:09 – AOC & Ilhan Omar got out there, playin’ games on the Twitch
01:42:24 – Sony put out a BLM Theme for PS4
01:49:12 – We give like a minute to that Alex Hutchinson thing
01:50:06 – Croteam and Devolver are in love now
01:51:38 – Frost Giant, ex-blizzard folks, are making a new RTS
01:54:45 – Quibi. Yep.
01:58:54 – Tom Holland is one heck of a Drake
02:01:22 – Avengers. It’s being delayed. For next gen.
02:02:38 – Our two last news stories

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 143! (Game Dump!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 17 Oct 2020 16:48:04 +0000

It’s all about puns, cats, and cheese on this week’s Game Dump! Er… Gaming Fyx! Not a ton of new releases to talk about, but we dive into Ikenfell, Cook, Serve, Delicious 3, Genshin Impact, the CODBLOPSCW Beta, and Umineko – along with some older games like Umineko, Runescape, and Dead By Daylight!

Also, if you are able as a US Citizen, please vote for Joe Biden in the upcoming election.

Timestamps:
00:01:51 – Show Start
00:06:47 – Genshin Impact (Co-Op)
00:17:39 – CODBLOPSCW Beta
00:33:09 – Dead By Daylight
00:45:01 – Runescape
00:49:19 – Alex’s Update – FFXIV & Umineko & Crunch
00:53:49 – Cook Serve Delicious 3
01:09:14 – Ikenfell
Newwwsssss
01:17:24 – The biggest piece of news in all time
01:19:43 – Modern Warfare (PC) allows you to uninstall parts of it
01:21:19 – Sony showed off the PS5 UX
01:26:43 – Rockstar bought Ruffian. Now that’s a knife.
01:31:08 – Facebook is bricking Quest 2s
01:35:18 – Spider-Cat
01:39:42 – Phasmophobia is gaining lots of momentum
01:44:12 – Annapurna is doin’ a big ol pack

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 142! (Go Fish Yourself!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 10 Oct 2020 17:10:18 +0000

Come get uncomfortable with us as we talk about horror, brains, pasta, and weird replacements for your PS5 fins! We dive into some new games like Baldur’s Gate 3, Solitaire Conspiracy, and 13 Sentinels while also paying homage to some less newer things such as Hades, Umineko, and both the Higurashi animes & visual novels! The news this week was mostly good, surprisingly! Though we still found ways to make profoundly stupid jokes throughout.

Also, if you are able as a US Citizen, please vote for Joe Biden in the upcoming election.

Timestamps:
00:12:26 – 13 Sentinels
00:22:28 – Higurashi 2020 & Umineko
00:33:25 – More Higurashi (Visual Novel)
00:44:35 – Hades
00:50:01 – Baldur’s Gate 3 (Early Access)
01:11:58 – Solitaire Conspiracy
Newwwsssss
01:24:00 – WWE & Twitch
01:27:58 – More PS5 News!
01:40:30 – New Ghost of Tsushima patch with dog petting
01:44:39 – Bugsnax is comin’ out November 12th baybee!
01:47:24 – xCloud might come to iOS next year
01:51:38 – Avengers on PC is losing steam
01:56:18 – Crucible is gone
02:03:08 – AMD had an event
02:08:23 – Gamespot layoffs

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 141! (Anime Star Wars!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 03 Oct 2020 18:36:54 +0000

Enjoy this Mouth Dream of an episode as we bring the hits and yub nub our way into games like STAR WARS™: Squadrons, Genshin Impact, Final Fantasy 12, Hades, SMT: Devil Survivor, and 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim. We also yahoo about a bunch of news, and have a brief chat about politics at the end.

Also, to that end and with all joking aside, please vote for Joe Biden in the upcoming election if you are able to as a US citizen.

Higurashi On Hidive:
https://www.hidive.com/tv/when-they-cry
https://www.hidive.com/tv/when-they-cry-kai

Modern Vintage Gamer on the Xecuter arrests:

Timestamps:
00:09:33 – STAR WARS™: Squadrons
00:39:02 – Genshin Impact
01:09:42 – Final Fantasy 12
01:24:17 – Hades
01:29:09 – SMT: Devil Survivor
01:35:17 – Higurashi
01:51:48 – 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim
Newwwsss!!!
02:11:22 – Cyberpunk 2077 is back in the news! Is it good? Is it bad? Well…
02:24:07 – New Smash character
02:29:12 – Nintendo takes down a major modding group
02:38:38 – Nexusmods saying NO to political mods
02:44:58 – Series X is out in the world with some media folks
02:47:32 – Spider-man. His face is different.
02:50:47 – Farmville is saying arrivederci
02:52:27 – RTX 3070 has been delayed
02:55:14 – WoW Shadowlands has also been delayed
02:56:17 – The president of the United States has covid

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 140! (Who Fixes the Fyxers?! ft. MC Fixer)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 26 Sep 2020 18:23:04 +0000

This week we are joined by the effervescent MC Fixer from the My Xbox And Me podcast! He joins us for a lengthy chat about the state of Microsoft, Xbox, and 2020’s gaming landscape in general. We continue with a whole bunch of hot news, and even a handful of games. This episode is (somehow) under three hours!!

(… just barely, but it counts)

MC Fixer:
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Brigitta Rena (When The Past Was Around art):
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Timestamps:
News w/ Fixer!!!
00:07:10 – Microsoft bought Bethesda & a ton of MS talk
00:51:00 – Series S/X Preorders went up
00:53:31 – Sony came out and apologized for the preorder debacle
00:58:40 – Sony, Spider-Man, upgrades and the like
01:09:10 – Japanese price quiz!
01:19:35 – Fixer & thoughts on running a platform-specific community
News without Fixer!!!
01:30:09 – Amazon is all up in game streaming now
01:40:40 – Cyberpunk 2077’s campaign will be shorter than The Witcher 3’s
01:43:12 – TGS is goin’ on, and NieR Replicant gets a release date!
01:48:29 – New American Girl Doll. It. A. Gamer.
02:01:57 – Destiny 2 Beyond Light has some fun requirements
02:02:54 – Runescape finally gets a release date
02:04:19 – Previous Lab Zero devs have started a co-op
Games!!!
02:07:09 – Trails in the Sky
02:09:54 – No Man’s Sky Origins
02:18:16 – Hades
02:29:36 – FFXIV Heavensward (Finished)
02:32:54 – Going Under
02:43:29 – When The Past Was Around

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 139! (Creative Business Unit 69!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 19 Sep 2020 18:56:10 +0000

Join us for a news-heavy one! Seriously. This week had a lot of really weird, relatively high-profile stuff that happened. And we didn’t even talk about all of it. But holy crap that PS5 event, and the RTX 3080 Launch… However, before that, we have a bunch of games, shows, channels and peripherals to swoon over including Hades, Fantasy Life, High Score, and Super Mario 3D All Stars! Oh yeah we also talk about teeth for no less than ten minutes for some reason.

Timestamps:
00:01:53 – Episode Start
00:12:02 – Fantasy Life
00:24:55 – Super Mario 3D All Stars
00:36:57 – High Score
00:49:37 – Oddheader
00:53:17 – Monster’s Expedition
00:56:48 – Hades
01:21:11 – Razer Kishi
01:29:07 – Andre’s quick update on games (Wasteland 3, Star Renegades)
Newwwwsssss
01:36:05 – RTX 3080’s release and subsequent… Kinda not release?
01:47:27 – The new Oculus Quest seems like booty
02:00:07 – Playstation had a big ol’ event!! Wow!!!
02:47:30 – Monster Hunter Rise is comin’
02:49:53 – DMC5SE ain’t comin’, at least not to PC
02:50:32 – Michel Ancel is working with animals now!
02:51:52 – CDProjekt Red shows more Cyberpunk, and the representation comes across as rough
03:01:41 – Hot Pursuit Remaster coming?
03:02:45 – Blaseball went weird this week

Peter Molyneux Video:

Oddheader – Craziest Discoveries of the Nintendo 2020 Leaks

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 138! (Damn, Brendan Fraser THICC!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 12 Sep 2020 19:25:56 +0000

Tell us your fantasies and prepare yourself for maximum dragon as we discuss our love for Brendan Fraser yet again. Oh and also a whole whack of extremely awesome new games such as Tell Me Why, Star Renegades, A Monster’s Expedition Through Puzzling Exhibitions, and As Far As The Eye. Also some extremely awesome books, documentaries, and not-so-new games. A whole bunch of news this week too, this episode’s got all of the bases covered and shelled!

Timestamps:
00:03:02 – Tell Me Why
00:14:22 – Star Renegades
00:37:02 – Stormlight Archive
00:42:12 – FFXIV Heavensward
00:49:57 – A Monster’s Expedition Through Puzzling Exhibitions
01:00:27 – As Far As The Eye
01:15:42 – Allyson’s grab bag of games! P5R, Yakuza 0, Avengers
01:17:57 – High Score (Netflix)
Newwwwsssss
01:30:32 – PS5 Event happening on Sept 16th
01:38:42 – Online shows like PAX and EGX 2020
01:40:00 – Hyrule Warriors 2 got announced
01:44:02 – iOS open to game streaming! But, uh… Hey about that…
01:47:20 – AMD announces two events for their CPU and GPUs
01:52:32 – Control Ultimate Edition for everyone! Haha just kidding
01:58:17 – Delayed into 2021: No More Heroes 3, Kena
02:01:06 – New Crysis remastered news
02:02:38 – CODBLOPSCW had an event about multiplayer
02:09:23 – The Ubisoft Forward thing
02:20:31 – EA is shoving full screen ads in UFC
02:24:17 – Microsoft is a leaky ship about the Series S
02:41:47 – Art Sqool coming to Switch, Mixolumia is coming to Steam
02:42:44 – JESSICA TELEPHONE AND NAGOMI MCDANIEL ARE SHELLED

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 137! (It’s Tony All The Way Down!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 05 Sep 2020 18:05:36 +0000

This week we are joined by Tony, Tony, Tony and Tony as we talk about Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2, The Avengers, FFXIV, Wasteland 3, and Crusader Kings 3! We are also joined by Tony in the news, where there are some super exciting highlights from Nvidia, some conversations about Nintendo, and much more. Lastly, spend lots of time talking about Tonys across games!

Timestamps:
00:04:11 – Show Start
00:08:10 – The Avengers
00:32:42 – THPS 1+2
00:48:15 – FFXIV
00:58:23 – A random tangent about Crusader Kings 3
01:07:10 – Wasteland 3
Newwssss
01:23:18 – RIP Vlambeer
01:28:13 – Nvidia reveals their 3000 series cards
01:44:48 – Sony might bring more first party stuff to PC
01:49:39 – G4 Doing a crappy marketing stunt
01:56:48 – Mike Z from Lab Zero lays off entire studio
01:59:59 – The Witcher 3 and its upgrades (for free)
02:06:34 – Mario turns 35
02:34:30 – Tony Talk

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 136! (Get In The Corn Cob, Shinji!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 29 Aug 2020 18:27:59 +0000

We’ve got all the 90s cartoon & boy bands you could want in this week’s episode of Gaming Fyx! Our trio of hosts talk about games new and not from old favourite series’, old favourite developers, and a great new board game! We then spend a significant chunk of the show talking about Gamescom’s Opening Night Live, along with a buncha other news.

Timestamps:
00:06:58 – Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time
00:22:07 – Tell Me Why
00:39:37 – FFXIV
00:50:04 – Warframe
01:13:27 – Root
News!!
01:24:16 – Epic vs. Apple (Hopefully for the last time in a while)
01:41:03 – The DC Fan Dommmeeee
01:53:25 – The Avengers & Their Suits ‘n stuff
02:00:07 – Gamescom’s Opening Night Live
02:42:12 – WiFi 6 on PS5
02:44:52 – The Exodus of Lab Zero
02:47:12 – Left 4 Dead 2 getting an update in 2020
02:50:27 – Nintendo partner direct

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 135! (Alan Rickman in Dogma!! ft. Monti Velez)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 22 Aug 2020 19:05:24 +0000

Monti Velez of Uppercut Crit joins us for an action packed episode of Gaming Fyx! She brings the anime with chats about Tokyo Sinks 2020, which leads directly into way more anime in Persona 5 Royal. Still sort-of anime is FFXIV, and the most anime is Microsoft Flight Simulator!! There is a whole load of other games, news, and chats which meander in all directions – boy howdy, this is a big one folks (… we will probably make them less long).

Timestamps:
00:04:14 – Japan Sinks 2020
00:31:09 – Persona 5 Royal
00:49:29 – Alex’s Mystery Game (spoilers it’s FFXIV)
01:03:44 – Some talk about crunch in development
01:12:04 – Microsoft Flight Simulator

Brief Foray into News While We Still Have Monti
01:41:29 – Burger King what are you doing
01:50:04 – Nintendo Indie Showcase

Back to Games
02:05:29 – Remnant: From The Ashes
02:19:42 – Mortal Shell

Hey It’s News Again
02:39:13 – SGDQ! It’s been happening!
02:48:10 – Oculus VR headsets will require a Facebook account
02:56:09 – Fall Guys coming to mobile (in China)
02:57:06 – Also Fall Guys, they’re raising money for charity
03:00:29 – Rocksteady’s sexual assault / harrassment allegations
03:05:19 – Long time no see, Epic.
03:14:39 – Master Roshi though baybee, at least there’s some good news

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10 Hours With EA Sports UFC 4

Chris Edgerton — Sat, 15 Aug 2020 23:03:59 +0000

EA Sports UFC 4 finds itself in a unique position as it kicks off the 2021 season. It’s also the only game in the EA Sports catalog that does not come out on a yearly cycle. This presents a unique position for the team as they have longer to work on it which is something many of the Madden, FIFA, and NHL players clamor for; for the development teams to get extra time. In some respects that extra time is helpful and in other respects not as helpful as you might think.

To really understand the DNA of the EA Sports UFC franchise we have to go all the way back to 2009 when THQ tasked wrestling game developer Yukes with also making its newly-acquired UFC license into a video game. The series pioneered the Tekken style controls (one button controls one limb) that still stands today. While a failed project, EA Sports MMA leaves in some of the DNA from the once-popular Fight Night series. While THQ and Yukes were able to produce a follow-up in 2010 they missed 2011 and instead called the last game in the Undisputed line Undisputed 3. In 2012, THQ announced that they would give over the rights to EA who would begin their current franchise in 2014.

So where does that leave us in 2020? What you end up with is something that is slowly becoming more of a fighting game and also a gigantic brawler with a WWE 2K game size roster. Because of this, even signature fighters can begin to feel somewhat homogenized. Sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn’t. In EA Sports UFC every type of move is assigned to the same button input no matter what fighter you’re using. You know what buttons are going to do what. While not a pure fighting game in the traditional sense, this is probably the easiest pickup, play, and “do cool shit” type of fighting game you will find and for that, it has my praise. Spinning kicks and punches, while difficult, can create a satisfying feeling. These might not be viable for an entire fight, but allow you to feel powerful for a brief moment. You use these bigger strikes by holding down the button, while this does simplify combat, as a person with slight motor function impairments, I find it difficult to switch between tap and hold commands when the game wants me to and while not a deal-breaker it is something that I’m not sure that I can overcome.

The developers have spent the majority of the cycle on one of the forgotten elements of the game: the clinch. In previous titles, it was this weird stop-gap between the standing and the ground where you had to use the standing punches and ground transitions to get into an ultimate position to lay down knees to the head. This time around it looks much closer to what you are likely to see in a televised fight, much closer to dirty boxing and scrambling today. As opposed to the standard grab the neck and knee their head over and over; techniques that you might see in past UFC events, this is maybe the last bastion of adding ‘realism’ to the game. Now it’s much easier to get in close and handle a variety of strikes inside the clinch. And much much easier to trip fighters and get them on the ground.

When you decide you want to take someone down in UFC 4 the new simplified grappling control will help you get a faster understanding of what’s happening on the ground. This is where real-life knowledge of the sport can come in handy. But if you’re completely unfamiliar it shouldn’t take more than a couple of rounds on the ground to understand the hierarchy of positions. Color coding for escaping, advancing, and getting submissions makes it much easier to understand, even for returning players. The submission system is maybe the sweet spot that the series has been hunting for, for nearly a decade. Joint submissions like armbars and leg locks are simpler to understand and easier to pull off while more complex chokes might take longer to sink in, both systems are understandable and this is the most I’ve been able to submit people in an EA Sports UFC game

In somewhat of a bold move the team has decided to get rid of an EA sports staple; instead of presenting an overall rating they now present a 1 to 5-star rating with half-star increments. This improves readability and can lead to a greater understanding of what a fighter’s best discipline is. Additionally, they have taken out the EA Sports Ultimate Team mode. While it is popular among the rest of the franchises, the developer cited low player engagement and an inability to produce content over the life cycle of the game. Instead, they have opted to give players Overwatch style progression based on cosmetics. The Cosmetics are outlandish to some extent but not fully out of line with the old EA Sports Tiger Woods, NFL, or NBA Street series and while I’m not overly invested in them, some of the goofy holographic effects get a slight chuckle out of me.

The other major upgrade in EA Sports UFC 4 is the career mode. It starts off strong and unique, in media res your MMA coach explains how you two met each other. The tutorial is a solid hour of Coach Davis introducing you to the different disciplines in MMA as you go through tutorial fights that show you how to play the game. It’s a good tutorial but sadly coach Davis takes a backseat to the rest of the action thus far throughout my 10 hours in this game. While I understand why EA doesn’t want to commit the resources of a FIFA Journey or a Madden Longshot mode there’s a part of me that wishes they would because when they actually try I believe that they tell good stories and I believe the authored stories should have a bigger place in sports games.

Thankfully, the progression is much improved and it uses my favorite system; ‘to do it, you do it.’ Want to level up leg kicks? Use them in a fight. Want a big boost to your secret weapon strike? Land a knockout blow with it. Moves upgrade on a 1-5 scale. They also reward you with evolution points which can be spent on your stats. In order to min-max your gains, each fight camp should be focused on one single discipline and while the system generally feels right, sometimes the game can hit you with what seems like an impossible objective; asking you to hit a move that you don’t own. So you hire a fighter to teach you the move, which then leaves you without enough time to go train with that move. It’s an interesting balance and one that thankfully feels intentional and meaningful rather than frustrating. What is frustrating though is if you get used to having specific moves on your own fighter you can’t use those moves necessarily in ranked mode as create-a-fighters have a limited and balanced moveset for ranked. Again, while not a deal-breaker it can be perplexing to be using a specific moveset for 30 hours and then not have access to that moveset anymore just because you’re going online.

In an effort to centralize the admittedly smaller player pool, ranked matches will have one division every hour (In a late-breaking update during the writing of the piece I discovered that the divisions will switch every hour instead of every 24 hours based on community feedback). This seems like a smart change, though with 13 different weight classes in the game, finding your favorite will be a little bit more difficult.

I want to take a moment to talk about something that is separate from the mechanics and technical quality of the game. The community built up around this game is not my favorite. The community coined the term “wrestle-fuck” to describe what happens when someone is expertly denying your transitions. Because of the way stamina costs work in this game, too many transition denials in a row can leave you at a disadvantage for the rest of the fight. Rather than adapt, many players would rather scream obscenities at anyone bothering to use the ground-based options the game provides. You often see players knock an opponent down and refuse to go into ground-and-pound with them because they want a ‘clean’ knockout. This to me is the ‘going for it on 4th and 10’ in Madden type of play. I understand why it’s done but personally, it frustrates the hell out of me. Thankfully EA has decided to use a Clash Royale type system where only short messages can be shared between fighters so now we can no longer scream obscenities to each other over microphones and no longer add players after matches to message them terrible things about their mothers.

I don’t feel comfortable giving a full review until after career mode has been completed and after I’ve gotten at least 50 ranked fights in. However, I can say with some confidence, EA Sports UFC 4 is an improvement that I hope the developers get to continue working on as no next-gen port has been promised. If you have $5 and a PS4 or an Xbox One, you too can play EA Sports UFC for free for 10 hours with EA Access. (You’ll also be able to play Madden for 10 hours within that same 30-day period.) I think that is the best way to decide for yourself if EA Sports UFC 4 is for you.

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 134! (Ejecto Seato!! ft. Jan Ochoa)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 15 Aug 2020 20:23:49 +0000

This week we are joined by the always affable Jan Ochoa from Giant Bomb! He graces us with tales of the Peloton bike, and joins us for talks about the new Fast & Furious game, JRPGs, Puzzle Games, Board Games, Walking Sims, and Dragon Ball Z! After that, we go deep on a lot of news which is leaving large swaths of the industry feeling a little shaky; but also no less than 10 minutes talking about burritos. Throw your socks directly in the toilet and stay single and clean for this one, gamers!

Timestamps:
00:03:26 – Show Start
00:04:29 – Fast & Furious: Crossroads
00:18:01 – Cold Steel 3
00:26:26 – Peloton
00:39:19 – Twinfold
00:46:07 – Mixolumia
00:52:04 – Into A Dream
01:01:19 – Unmatched
01:20:00 – Persona 5 Royal
01:31:11 – Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot
01:38:45 – Bye Jan!!!
01:46:24 – Halo Infinite Delayed
02:06:32 – Xbox controller box leaks Series S?
02:15:51 – Tony Hawk Burrito & THPS 1+2 Remake
02:28:06 – Fortnite, Epic, Apple & Google huh? Oofa doofa
02:48:53 – Mozilla laying off 25% of their staff & its impact on games
02:54:51 – Blaseball is taking an extended siesta
03:01:41 – Control & their upgrade paths to next gen
03:10:08 – Oh No, Ono is leaving Capcom

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Drag Early Access Impressions

Pat Cotter — Fri, 14 Aug 2020 17:44:56 +0000

2020 has been a pretty good year for racing games. Between Trackmania, F1 2020, and upcoming offerings like a new Dirt game, racing enthusiasts are really spoiled for choice right now. When I first started playing Drag I thought a lot about those first two games. This is a game that is, in many ways, the polar opposite of F1 and Trackmania (funny because they very much oppose each other as well). In spite of that, Drag is also a game that has these two racing game greats baked into its DNA in more ways than one.

But let’s back up. What is Drag? Drag is a simulation racing game designed to simulate open wheel off-road racing vehicles that seem just over the horizon from reality. Think Warthogs and military prototypes. This approach to simulation racing has served developer Orontes Games well. Without the constraints of licensed cars, this developer has been able to tailor the simulation to their vehicle design and vice versa. It further helps this tiny German team get around the need to pay for expensive licensing. The result is really quite something.

The eternal carrot that sim racing games (and even other vehicle simulations) chase is a connection to the vehicle. The goal here is to give you the feeling of driving/flying/sailing/whatever-ing a vehicle and letting you translate that feeling into realistic control inputs. This is usually very difficult without expensive equipment. What Drag does is combine gamefeel, animation, sound, and rumble to connect you with these cars on an impressive level, even on a gamepad. Part of why this works is that the cars require you to adapt to them, rather than the other way around.

When I pitched this game to the rest of the Fyx team, I said I found the Dark Souls of racing games. That’s because Drag is hard. Really hard. This opening Early Access salvo features two vehicles and three tracks. This may seem thin from a content perspective, but it’s easily a set of options that could keep you busy for hundreds of hours. This is because these vehicles and tracks are just so challenging. After several hours of play I feel confident enough to try full time trials of tracks, but I barely feel in control. In this way, Drag perfectly captures the thrill of real life auto racing.

The tracks themselves feel carefully built to create truly challenging racing lines that are insidious in their nuance. Visual spectacles these are (largely) not. The environments have a sort of Death Stranding aesthetic, with two of the three offerings featuring the same tileset with totally different layouts. The third track feels like the Trackmania track from hell, or like a terrifying raised highway from Hideo Kojima’s open world deliver-em-up. This is where my earlier comparisons to F1 2020 and Trackmania come in. The star here is the way these specific cars interact with the tracks, much like Trackmania. At the same time, the precise physics at play feel like F1 in their adherence to complexity (even if the feel of these cars is totally different than a Formula 1 car).

But so far I’ve fawned over the physics and track design without touching on structure. This is, unfortunately, where Drag achieves mixed results, through no fault of its own.

The game features time trials, daily challenges (described as “special events”), and single player challenges. The latter of those actually serve as an ingenious tutorial system designed to teach you the tracks. Over a dozen or so challenges per track, you’ll set medal based times through specific track sections. The final challenge on each track is to put it all together into a lap. It’s a simple but effective way to teach you the tracks turn by turn.

While all of that is enjoyable enough for a few evenings, the real draw here is multiplayer. This is also, unfortunately, where a crowded marketplace has impacted the game. I have no doubt that the combination of Drag’s incredible physics engine, slipstream based jockeying, and simple boost mechanics translate to an excellent multiplayer challenge. What’s more, this is a game that practices a “when you’re out you’re out” mentality that applies to the absolutely brutal physics based damage that can pull your car apart. The problem is that the game has a painfully small playerbase. This has made getting into a multiplayer match challenging.

My hope is that Drag catches on. This is a promising multiplayer game that feels great to play and should have a bright future. Unfortunately with Steam existing as it does, tiny games like Drag often get buried in a deluge of releases. The other piece of this puzzle is Drag’s high price tag, which is a tough pill to swallow for many players ($34.99 normal pricing on Steam in USD at the time of this writing). I can unquestionably say that I think the game is worth the price of admission, but only if there’s a playerbase to play with, and therein lies the rub.

Drag is available now in Early Access on Steam.

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 133! (Big Himbo Energy!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 08 Aug 2020 21:16:23 +0000

Bring your biggest himbo energy for this week’s episode of Gaming Fyx! This time around we’re joined by one of our favourite folks, Jeff Davis!! They’re joining us to talk about some hot video games, including Fall Guys, The Avengers, Frog Fractions, Mixolumia, and more! Jeff also guides us through some fascinating philosophy chats which swap between technical and mindful, and then we have a bunch of news (most of which will make you go “that’s dumb”).

Timestamps:
00:01:48 – Fall Guys
00:24:23 – Frog Fractions DLC
00:37:00 – Trackmania
00:38:18 – The Avengers
01:16:08 – Yakuza 2
01:33:53 – Mixolumia
01:43:58 – Jeff Davis Teaches – Moscow State University & Epic Games
02:20:46 – Jeff Davis Teaches – PSO2: New Genesis
News!!
02:35:48 – State of Play
02:46:43 – Spider-Man is Exclusive to the PS Version of Avengers
02:48:48 – Rocksteady’s new game
02:53:12 – Pikmin 3
02:55:48 – Riot Games continuing with LWC in Shanghai
02:57:23 – US Executive Order
03:01:43 – iOS & Streaming
03:05:56 – Xbox Series X – All the controllers will work! PS5 though….
03:10:33 – Fast & Furious Crossroads

Links:
Development of Mixolumia

idk what this is yet but I had an idea pic.twitter.com/w9JbNxZ0Zt

— davemakes ? mixolumia ✨ (@davemakes) January 29, 2019

The Intimacy of Everyday Objects

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Before I Forget Review

Alex Gelinas — Tue, 04 Aug 2020 00:37:10 +0000

Before I Forget Review

Discovery, Rediscovery, and Undiscovery

It is difficult to properly convey the struggles of mental illness through media—be it games, movies, books, or otherwise. There is a delicate balance to be struck between portraying these very real struggles as relatable and sincere. If the balance is off, it can be tough for audiences to truly empathize with the story. If it isn’t relatable, they may believe it is an exaggeration of what people really go through (especially if they have never encountered it themselves), and if it doesn’t come across as sincere then it may be perceived as pandering. Before I Forget is a rare example of perfectly executing on this balance, and sharing a sincere, relatable story about mental illness.

Real life isn’t always black & white

Dementia is, put simply, a waking nightmare. For those who have to endure it, it is exhausting and existentially confusing. For those actively supporting anyone suffering with it, it is painful to see someone you care for struggling so deeply. I have been among the latter, and can wholeheartedly attest to the pain of watching someone you’ve known your whole life slowly lose sight of both who and where they are. It is easy to feel despair when in these situations, however something which I appreciate about Before I Forget is the fact that – despite the subject matter – it is not a dour game. In fact, its story is one brimming with hope.

The game was brought to life by Three Fold Games, which is primarily a two-person team composed of Chella Ramanan and Claire Morwood out of England. They clearly put a lot of heart and soul into the creation of Before I Forget, and it shows. For ensuring authenticity, they consulted with mental health professionals (psychiatrists Dr. Donald Servant & Dr. David Codling), and released the game alongside the Alzheimer’s Research UK charity. There’s a lot of care, thought, and passion visible in every aspect of the game, and that effort certainly doesn’t go unappreciated.

The format of the game is essentially that of a “walking simulator” (not unlike Gone Home, Edith Finch, The Unfinished Swan, or Everybody’s Gone To The Rapture). You experience the world through the eyes of Sunita, an older Indian woman who is living in her home in the UK. Suni is a notably brilliant woman, one with many accolades to her name in scientific fields, and clearly beloved among her friends and family. You enter the game to a drab, mostly monotone world wherein you join Suni in adding colour & detail to the world around her. As you inspect items, they regain details and dynamically change the room around them. It is an effective motif, and one which feels satisfying every time you experience it.

Sometimes these interactions will be a short story from a memory where Suni (voiced by Anjali Kunapaneni) interacts with any number of people in a variety of situations. Sometimes it will be recent, other times it will be from her youth, and everywhere in between. As you continue down the path, you’ll note that when exiting these short stories you won’t always be in the room you started in. It might be nighttime now when it was certainly daytime when you started it. Wait, how many days has it been? Huh.. I don’t remember the lights being off. Were there always these notes in the corner? Is this the first time we’ve been through this content?

Let the colour wash over you

Subversion is a core mechanic in Before I Forget, and it is an important one. It is what so clearly and effectively conveys the real-world consequences of the condition Suni battles every day. While we are finding all of these items, notes, and stories for the first time as a player, it feels like it’s Suni’s first time too. However, the further we get, the clearer it becomes that these moments of discovery aren’t the first time Suni has encountered them. By taking control of the character and having agency of the character, we are given a sense of combined discovery, rediscovery, and undiscovery. It is not the first time Suni has seen all of this, and it is likely not going to be the last—It just happens to be where we, the player, happened to gain a window into her life.

It is easy to Empathize with Suni and her story, and there are a number of scenes which effectively convey exactly what the authors intended for you to feel. The thing is, as was mentioned with the “balance” near the start of this review, it feels even-handed through and through. Nothing ever feels didactic, and the whole experience comes across as a personable, believable, single-sitting story.

The experience is not a long one, it will only take you a little over an hour to get through; but the short playtime feels like a deliberate choice from the creators, every moment feels curated. The world of the game feels lived-in and carefully considered, with much lore surrounding each interaction. There are likely many other stories from Suni’s life which could be told, but the ones we experience in the game are the ones which carry us through the story being told. Said another way, Before I Forget never overstays its welcome, and has absolutely zero filler.

There is also a DLC for the game, however it is wholly unrelated to the story of the core game. It is a radio play called The Garden written by (and starring) Chella Ramanan. It is a fun, pulpy listen which left me smiling by the end. If you are a fan of short stories delivered with good acting and a compelling/weird mystery, it is also worth giving a shot.

Sincerity carries a lot of weight in games, and I can’t think of many games who come across as more sincere than Before I Forget. While it isn’t perfect in execution, it is doing a lot with a little and carries more weight than one would expect from first glance. It is cathartic, moving, hopeful, witty, and affecting all wrapped up in a relatively short experience. It is a game I have no problem recommending, and one I won’t soon forget.

To hear us discuss Before I Forget, check out Episode 130 of Gaming Fyx!

Pros

A mature, sincere, hopeful approach to Dementia
Beautifully written & acted dialogue
Reading the written piano music along to the game’s audio

Cons

Occasionally ran into some triggers needing a few interactions to trigger
Random sound bugs (emitter coming from wrong area, etc)

Steam

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Gaming Fyx Presents: Necrobarista Spoilercast

Alex Gelinas — Sun, 02 Aug 2020 16:34:49 +0000

Pour yourself a coffee and cozy up with this special episode of Gaming Fyx as we talk in detail about Necrobarista. We dive in deep to its story, world, characters, and the feelings it filled us with. This episode is very, very spoiler-heavy and is intended to be listened to after completing the game; but if you are curious about Necrobarista and haven’t yet played it, we encourage you to check out our review which can be found here: https://www.fyx.space/2020/08/necrobarista-review/

Thank you to Route 59 Games & Boss Battle Records for allowing us to use tracks from the OST for the intro & outro of this episode. And for making such a wonderful game. We love and appreciate you <3

Timestamps:
00:02:17 – Side Characters
00:05:47 – Story DLC Thoughts
00:09:34 – Visuals & Thoughts on Visual Novels
00:19:32 – Chay, saying goodbye & Ned
00:32:47 – Ashley, dealing with death
00:41:37 – Realism – Arguments & Normalcy
00:52:32 – Lessons & Wisdom
01:15:22 – Assorted favourite moments, and in conclusion…

Song Credits:
Intro – Duet by Kevin Penkin & Jeremy Lin
Outro – Optimism by Kevin Penkin & Jeremy Lin

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Necrobarista Review

Alex Gelinas — Sun, 02 Aug 2020 16:07:58 +0000

Necrobarista Review

More Espresso = Less Depresso

I experienced a wholly unique feeling when playing Necrobarista. Putting it into words has proven difficult, but the closest, most succinct way goes something like this: after my first few hours I felt as though I needed to put it down—not because I wasn’t enjoying it, but rather because I was enjoying it too much. In the moment, I was able to recognize just how deep of an impression it was making within me, and actively wanted to savour the experience. That feeling persisted throughout, and amplified as its closing scenes drew closer. Now, as I reflect upon the experience holistically, any words I may have to adequately express just how much it resonated with me fall flat. It is, easily, one of the best games of the year.

“Validation. Chocolate. Coffee.”

The game comes from Route 59 Games, an indie effort out of Melbourne, Australia. It has been in active development since 2016, and has gone through many iterations, delays, and reimaginings up until its release in late July 2020. Through the developers’ own admission, the game was delayed for so long because they’d felt as though they needed to choose between either overworking themselves to exhaustion in order to get it out fast, or valuing their mental health, delaying it, and releasing it when it felt “right.” As a developer myself, I must applaud the team’s restraint and maturity in doing so. As a gamer, though the delays were difficult (I was excited for the game ever since the announcement trailer in 2017), I feel as though they absolutely made the correct decision. The product of their journey is a refined, impactful game which showcases the team’s mastery in each of their respective crafts.

It’s difficult to say which part made the strongest impact first, but one of the pieces which blew me away was the music. It consistently stood out as being a suite of high-quality compositions for every character/scenario, each with top tier production values. There were multiple times when the music made me say “yeah” aloud, to the point where I alt-tabbed away from the game to see if I could find a copy of the soundtrack. That quick search revealed all I needed to know—seeing Kevin Penkin’s name as the composer connected all of the dots. For followers of the site, Kevin composed the music to Florence (winner of our 2018 Game of the Year award for Best Music), and we have actively talked about the soundtrack to Made in Abyss multiple times on the podcast. I can’t tell you just how many times the music alone in the game made me smile, and I’d like to take a second to call it out explicitly: Kevin, we love you and your music.

Another aspect which is gripping from the first moments are the visuals, art design & cinematography—I have so many screenshots saved from this game purely because of how stunning it looks. Lighting, camera angles, set design, models, characters’ expressions, text effects, colours, background art—everything about the visuals work seamlessly together. And when I say “seamlessly together” I don’t just mean amongst themselves, but with the experience as a whole. Voice acting isn’t even needed with how effectively the visuals bring the characters to life. The world these characters inhabit feels real, and every scene feels as though it was curated and hand crafted by an expert cinematographer. The marriage of the impeccable visual design, the perfectly tuned music, and story make for a cohesive experience through and through. On that note, the story…

“It Was Always About Time”

While I had saved many screenshots for the visual impact of numerous scenes, I saved even more to capture dialogue and story beats. There are very few games which compare to the standards of writing found in Necrobarista. The only one which feels immediately comparable is Disco Elysium, and it should be noted that we found that game to be especially notable for its writing. The moment-to-moment dialogue in Necrobarista is second-to-none. It can go from uproariously hilarious to soul-crushingly melancholic in just a few mouse clicks. Each character feels distinct and as though they have had months and years of history together. Their lives feel lived, and their interactions feel real. Everything they say feels like we’re seeing the genuine feelings of real human beings (and other creatures), and ultimately, the story they go through has all the more impact because we care about them as people.

While the story itself covers a broad gamut of topics over its playtime, the core of it is ultimately about two things: Death and Failure. They are two very real, very raw human experiences, and it is an extremely difficult feat to convey their true weight in a game. The ways in which these themes appear throughout the story are conveyed with the sensitivity of one who clearly knows their true impact, and for a player who has had ample experience dealing with both, it hits very hard. The reason these parts of the story are so impactful is because, while the setting is somewhat fantastical (a café on the way between life and death), the human experience feels incredibly grounded. While it is a story about these dark, painful topics, it remains optimistic. It is not aiming to tell a story to leave you distraught, distressed, and fearful of these dark shadows, but rather, it offers strength and reassurance.

With all of this glowing praise, are there things to criticise? Sure, absolutely, and the developers themselves have even acknowledged some of the criticisms I would offer by talking about how they’re reworking one of these systems. There are moments here and there where something like a cup will be floating above a counter, or some clothes will be clipping through an object, or a short animation might be a bit janky. I found one or two words in some of the side content which were grammatically off; but, genuinely, none of these criticisms negatively impacted my experience in any way. They didn’t pull me out of it, they didn’t make any scenes less effective, and in some ways, their presence blew me away even more. These moments of imperfection serve as a reminder that this game was indeed created by a small team, and they gave me a deeper appreciation for just how polished and premium the other 99% of the game is.

“I’m Gonna Miss You, Mate”

Necrobarista is a gripping experience, and one which cannot be recommended highly enough. It is a game built with passion—a passion which can be felt across every aspect of every moment. It is one of those games that I wish I could erase from my memory to have the opportunity to experience it again for the first time.

There is beauty to be found in darkness, and Necrobarista shines a gentle, heartfelt light on it.

If you are interested in a spoiler-heavy look at Necrobarista, we recommend checking out our Necrobarista Spoilercast

Pros

Writing leaves a powerful, lasting impression
A soundtrack to add to your library
Many visuals worthy of being wallpapers

Cons

Occasional jank
The end-of-chapter activities

Steam
Apple

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 132! (American Scuba Warrior!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 01 Aug 2020 17:47:57 +0000

The Commissioner is doing a great job at bringing you this week’s Gaming Fyx! Join us as we spend just an absurd amount of time talking about the cultural phenomenon known as Blaseball, the newest American Scuba Warrior game Fall Guys, and a whole whack of other awesome games!! We wrap that up in a warm hug known as news, and there are sprinkles of the awesomeness known as Jan Ochoa throughout.

Timestamps:
00:01:16 – Show Start
00:00:44 – Blaseball
00:19:52 – Umurangi Generation
00:27:39 – Call of Duty – Modern Warfare
00:38:24 – Fall Guys
00:53:29 – Unmatched
01:06:44 – Paper Mario: Origami King (Finished!)
01:17:34 – Necrobarista
News
01:23:24 – Talking about streamers in popular media
01:34:32 – Ninja Does Hollywood – The actual story
01:40:34 – Halo Infinite Multiplayer will be Free to Play
01:50:22 – Cuphead PS4
01:52:50 – Microsoft Flight Simulator
01:59:56 – Luigi’s models & sound files found in M64
02:08:22 – Frog Fractions now on Steam – WITH DLC!
02:10:42 – Necrobarista is getting post-launch DLC
02:19:44 – Fav Jan Ochoa Memories

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Umurangi Generation Review

Pat Cotter — Thu, 30 Jul 2020 22:59:25 +0000

Umurangi Generation Review $14.99

Watch It Burn

The concept of the world ending is one of the most tired tropes in video games – and media at large. We have seen an utterly unending slew of different-but-the-same takes on how the end of the world will look, and how humanity will hold on after. That’s why the vibrant, hopeful, and colorful take on the apocalypse presented in Origame Digital’s Umurangi Generation is so effective. It dares to be different.

Picture of a Red Sky

Umurangi Generation is a photography game at its core. Over the course of several levels you’ll comple “photo bounties” – sets of criteria that form a list of photos to take to move on. In one level you might need to take a photo of a disposable camera, a cat, 4 birds and the word “human”, among other objectives. In a different level you may need to take a photo of a shark, though what that means might take some critical thinking. By completing levels you’ll earn new equipment like lenses and a flashbox to light up scenes. Each level also shares a set of secondary objectives, which ask you to find collectibles, get your friends in a group shot, earn a certain amount of money, recreate a postcard, and complete the level’s bounties in a set amount of time. Completing secondary objectives gives you extra equipment and photo editing tools that won’t affect your score, but do provide more creative options.

As you work through this list of bounties you’ll move through spaces showing the stages of an apocalypse in motion. From the first inkling that something is wrong through a sometimes harrowing set of scenes, you’ll see the world fall from a different point of view. This unique perspective gives you a fascinating peek at what everyday life looks like as the world falls apart. Through the lens of your camera you’ll see the despair and pain of a world staring down the barrel of an impossible gun, but there’s more there than misery.

Umurangi tells its story entirely using the environments it drops you in. There is no dialogue, and text is limited to the glowing neon signs, discarded newspapers, and ever present art in the environment. Graffiti, movie posters, notes, and signs all paint a vivid picture of the world’s descent into the unknown, but the thing that is just so wonderful and special about it all is the style with which it conveys all of it.

Going Out In Style

Umurangi Generation leverages an incredibly stylish lo-fi aesthetic most reminiscent of Playstation 1 and Dreamcast games. It combines this visual style with gorgeous lighting, bright colors, and dense environmental design. The result is a staggering visual assault that brings back alley dance battles to light alongside desperate fights for survival. It’s a stunning palate that begs to be documented, which propels you through its levels.

While completing each set of bounties can be done in a couple of hours, the game’s levels beg to be replayed. Finding the collectibles (film canisters) in each level can be on the frustrating end of the spectrum, but they also force you to take in every angle of each space. After you’ve wrung out every side objective, the levels become canvasses for unleashing your creativity. I can say, even as someone who would normally scoff at the idea of spending hours in a small level just taking photos, Umurangi Generation’s art direction and visuals really pulled me back. Despite a complete lack of violence on the part of the player, its structure reminded me of Hitman. I’ve played dozens of hours of each level in Hitman because there’s just so much to poke at. While Umurangi doesn’t feature the same degree of moving parts, its spaces still have so much to explore and photograph.

There’s a delicate psychological balance in Umurangi Generation to want to see where the story leads, but also stick around and bask in each level’s glow. I think this speaks to the core of what makes this experience so special: It’s a game about the art that people would make in the face of annihilation. So many pieces of media about the end of the world show humanity’s fall in greys and browns. Umurangi imagines a different apocalypse, one where musicians, painters, poets, dancers and yes, photographers, go out with a bang, not a whimper. This is a game that asks you to revel in the end of the world, and do it alongside your best friends. It makes for a really profound experience as you see how the story ultimately concludes.

Odds and Ends

Unfortunately, not every piece of the puzzle falls perfectly. The levels themselves are gorgeous, but moving through them can feel clunky and frustrating at times. You have a double jump and a crouch, but neither feel quite right and the jumps never quite felt consistent to me. I often found myself mashing the space bar to try to cheat my way up to a ledge by jumping on a person’s head or a thin pole. While in some ways this adds to the DIY feel of getting the perfect shot, it can lead to frustration as well.

The game also fails to define its objectives in some ways. The photo bounties often provide a distance or lens requirement for the photo. “Very close” means right up on top of a subject, which makes sense, but there is a specific moment when you’re asked to take a photograph of a moving object from “nearby” that caused me quite a lot of frustration. The game also provides you with a telephoto lens for longer distance shots, then asks you to use it in tighter spaces to frame awkward subjects in a way that just didn’t compute for me. I’m sure a serious photographer could talk my ear off at how a telephoto has more close up applications than long distance ones, but it still felt counter-intuitive to me.

And finally, there’s those dang film canisters. While I appreciated the way the game forced me to explore every nook and cranny, the barrier the canisters present is a little daunting. This is because to unlock the bonus, non score related equipment in the game, you have to complete all of the bounties and bonus objectives (one of which is finishing everything in under ten minutes) in a single playthrough of a level. While this is enjoyable at first, the levels quickly grow to a degree that makes the prospect less than pleasant. On top of all of this, the game grades your photos with a cash payout, but that payout only serves as a bonus objective in each level, and a final score for each level, with no progression tied to that score. I would have loved a shop that offered the editing tools in exchange for that cash with bonus objectives providing extra money, rather than the way it’s actually structured.

Wave Goodbye

But in the end all of those negatives pale in the face of what Umurangi Generation is. It’s a stirringly unique look at the end of the world. It’s a creative toolbox that presents you with an endless stream of inspiration. It’s a story that resonates deeply with the world we live in. It’s a damn good video game, and you should play it.

Pros

Unique photgraphy gameplay
Fantastic style and aesthetic
Powerful environmental storytelling

Cons

Clunky movement
Frustrating collectibles
A couple of unclear objectives

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 131! (Too Many Teeth!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 25 Jul 2020 19:35:19 +0000

Light your favourite candles and enjoy the warmth they bring, as well as the warmth this week’s Gaming Fyx will bring your heart! We are joined by Super GG Radio’s own Joel Dewitte in this episode all about some legitimately amazing games. These include some old favourites including The Outer Wilds, Superliminal, and Lonely Mountains Downhill; but also some new favourites like Paper Mario: Origami King, Necrobarista, Carrion and Moving Out! There’s also a lot of chat about the Xbox Games Showcase and other news! And some very stupid jokes. Like a lot of them.

Timestamps:
00:02:30 – Show Start
00:09:50 – Superliminal
00:16:15 – Lonely Mountains Downhill
00:22:00 – The Outer Wilds
00:31:50 – Paper Mario: Origami King
00:47:30 – Necrobarista
01:10:42 – Carrion
01:25:50 – Moving Out
NEWS!
01:33:50 – Xbox Games Showcase
01:35:40 – Pre-show Games (DQXI, Exomecha, etc)
01:39:10 – Halo Infinite
01:47:50 – Some quick thoughts on the overall event but we get back to it later
01:51:37 – State of Decay 3, Forza Motorsport, Everwild, Tell Me Why
01:58:50 – Ori, Outer Worlds: Peril on Gorgon, Grounded, Avowed
02:05:05 – As Dusk Falls, Hellblade 2, Psychonauts 2
02:13:15 – Destiny 2, Stalker 2, Warhammer 40K Darktide
02:18:30 – Tetris Effect Connected, The Gunk, The Medium
02:25:50 – PSO2, Crossfire X, Fable, Final thoughts on the event
02:40:50 – Nintendo Mini Micro Tiny Direct
02:42:32 – Ghost of Tsushima selling like crazy in Japan
02:46:32 – Rocket League – Free to Play, later Steam!
02:48:07 – FFVIIR Part 2 is in active development
02:51:12 – Junji Ito & Hideo Kojima are working on a game
02:54:05 – Ubisoft
02:54:58 – G4 is back?

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 130! (Ghost of Tsushima & Knuckles)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 18 Jul 2020 18:47:37 +0000

Grab your Beazy Cheens and join us for a hot and fresh episode of Gaming Fyx! This week we are reunited with the all-time great known as Erica!!! We have some talks about accessibility and Superliminal with her. After that, we have some spectral chats about Ghost Recon Breakpoint and Ghost of Tsushima, get back to reality with Before I forget, and have lots of in depth talks about SUPERHOT: Mind Control Delete, Trackmania, Paper Mario: The Origami King, Ooblets, and Yakuza Kiwami!

Timestamps:
00:02:03 – Show Start
00:03:22 – Erica’s Back!
00:07:37 – Superliminal & Accessibility
00:24:27 – Ghost Recon: Breakpoint
00:35:55 – Ghost of Tsushima
00:53:12 – Superhot: Mind Control Delete
01:08:25 – Before I Forget
01:18:11 – Trackmania
01:25:58 – Ooblets
01:49:30 – Paper Mario: The Origami King
02:08:42 – Yakuza Kiwami
News!!
02:19:18 – Ubisoft Forward
02:26:42 – Devolver Event
02:30:18 – Google Stadia Connect
02:33:00 – xCloud Comes to Gamepass Ultimate
02:35:42 – Flight Simulator monetization and also holy crap discs
02:51:15 – Twitch Vs. US Army
02:53:45 – Taco Bell what are you doing?

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 129! (I’m Chiefin’ ‘Ova Here!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 11 Jul 2020 19:05:36 +0000

We’re back to your regularly scheduled Gaming Fyx this week with plenty of game talk! We spend a decent chunk of time waxing rhapsodic about Trackmania, and then Pat brings us further down the racetrack with F1 2020. Allyson is all about being the best teacher in the lands while revisiting Fire Emblem: Three Houses, and being super considerate in Kuukiyomi 2. Andre brings about puns which can only have originated from the depths of hell, and also talks about Hades! There’s also some Avatar: The Last Airbender gab, and a bunch of (thankfully not terrifying) news!

Timestamps:
00:11:13 – Trackmania
00:32:28 – F1 2020
00:51:51 – Fire Emblem: Three Houses
01:05:13 – Kuukiyomi 2
01:15:08 – Hades
News!!
01:46:56 – Sony & Epic
01:56:52 – Xbox Event coming up on July 23rd
02:13:43 – Andy McNamara’s Magnum Era at EA
02:23:46 – Nintendo Treehouse Event (Bakugan & Paper Mario Origami King)
02:42:00 – Far Cry 6 Leaks
02:46:33 – Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Leaks
02:48:18 – Superhot: Mind Control Delete
02:51:32 – PS5 Boxes
02:53:37 – Drew Scanlon wrapping up Cloth Map

Links Mentioned:

How Pokemon Was Changed Around The World

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 128! (The Magnum Era!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 04 Jul 2020 18:04:08 +0000

It’s been a heavy week, so we start this episode with some heavy talks. We’d like to issue a content warning upfront, further details can be found in the timestamps so you can choose to engage with it or skip it, whatever feels appropriate for you. After the heavy talk, we dive back into normal gaming industry news, make some very stupid jokes, and even finish off with a tiny bit of talk about games we’ve played right at the end.

Timestamps:

Serious Topics (Content Warning)
00:04:17 – The Gaming Industry continues to be awful with regards to the human element
00:07:42 – Evo Online has been cancelled due to co-founder’s abuse
00:19:52 – Smash Bros community imploding due to abuse
00:30:35 – Ubisoft employees being suspended and removed (Direct Sexual & Physical Abuse Talk)
00:39:27 – Jim Sterling put out a potent video
00:43:20 – Byron “Reckful” Bernstein (Direct Suicide & Mental Health Talk)

Game Industry News
00:50:44 – Amazon’s Crucible came out. Now it’s in closed beta.
01:04:29 – EVE Online community gathering behind terminally ill player
01:09:57 – Microsoft banning certain symbols in Forza
01:15:12 – Harry Potter game and the developer’s feelings on working on it
01:23:59 – PS2s can play burned DVDs now
01:27:30 – Crash 4 microtransactions & cost of games
01:46:27 – Andy McNamara leaves Game Informer after 29 years
02:01:24 – IOX-2 & Upcoming events
02:27:25 – Actual GAMES talk?! (at least for like five minutes)

Links mentioned in episode:

Frankie Ward Article – On being a woman in esports
https://www.pcgamer.com/on-being-a-woman-in-esports/

Smash Bros – Context for community fallout

Summary of sexual and non-sexual allegations Megathread from smashbros

Jim Sterling’s Video – “A truly fucked up industry”

EVE Online Link – Celebratory war for terminally ill player
https://www.pcgamer.com/thousands-of-eve-online-players-go-to-war-in-celebration-of-this-terminally-ill-players-birthday/

PS2 Hack
https://kotaku.com/ps2-hack-runs-games-on-burned-dvd-discs-no-mod-chip-re-1844197947

IOX-2
https://indieobscura.com/article/2521/all-16-indie-games-shown-during-iox-2

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 127! (Swift Whinny!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 27 Jun 2020 18:00:27 +0000

Hey so the first part of this episode is a bit heavy. If you aren’t comfortable with open conversations about sexual abuse, as well as talking about both the perpetrators of these actions and the effects they have on their victims, please check the timestamps to find a section you can comfortably continue on with.

Otherwise, please join us for some chats about a whole bunch of games, news, and a fairly deep (and spoiler free) talk about The Last of Us Part 2.

Timestamps:
00:01:47 – Abuse in the Gaming Industry
00:17:58 – Pokemon Cafe Mix
00:26:13 – Pokemon’s Isle of Armor DLC
00:39:27 – ARK: Survival Evolved
00:52:58 – Rapid Fire Round (Monster Train, You and Me and Her, Evan’s Remains, Terraria)
01:00:23 – The Last of Us Part 2 (No Spoilers)
News!!!
01:40:10 – Crash Bandicoot 4
01:48:03 – Star Wars Squadrons
01:55:08 – Pokemon Unite
02:01:45 – Nintendo is getting out of mobile game dev
02:07:06 – Sam Barlow has a new game
02:11:24 – That Avengers game had a video
02:13:03 – Cyberpunk 2077 also had a video
02:21:01 – Microsoft shutters Mixer
02:31:15 – Dr Disrespect – Permabanned
02:36:23 – TGS Online 2020

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 126! (Where’s The Swamp!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 20 Jun 2020 17:30:20 +0000

It’s time to talk indies!! We’ve brought a whole slew of games from Steam’s Summer Game Festival and are happy to give them some (very deserved) time in the spotlight. We also have a completely spoiler-free talk about the first handful of hours of The Last Of Us 2, Xenoblade Chronicles, getting a load of hot dog fingers, Pokemon, EA Play Live, and all about bundles supporting the fight for racial justice!

Production Note: Alex’s audio is messed up for the first ~20 mins but is all good after that

Timestamps:
00:03:45 – EA Play Live
00:17:39 – Steam Summer Game Festival
00:25:07 – Grounded
00:29:23 – Iron Harvest
00:33:42 – A Space For The Unbound
00:40:47 – When the Past was Around
00:47:12 – She Dreams Elsewhere
00:55:35 – Skatebird
01:02:38 – Garden Story
01:05:59 – Cris Tales
01:10:52 – Greak: Memories of Azur
01:14:01 – Shores Unknown
01:15:22 – The Last of Us 2
01:49:02 – Xenoblade Chronicles
News!!
01:59:23 – Pokemon Snap
02:10:20 – Cyberpunk 2077
02:16:54 – Persona 4 Golden
02:20:47 – Humble Fight for Racial Justice Bundle

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 125! (Cloudy With a Chance Of PS5!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 13 Jun 2020 18:21:05 +0000

This week we are going on a journey – one where we are accompanied by Joe Zack, host of the excellent Coding Blocks podcast! He guides us through some chitchats about getting back into modern JPRGs, as well as sailing into the recent PS5 unveiling event – where we dive deep into some of our favourites from the show, as well as our hopes and dreams for the future of gaming!

Timestamps:
00:02:24 – JPRG Recommendation Time
00:20:22 – Sony’s PS5 Event
00:21:24 – GTA5 (Again)
00:24:54 – Launch Games – Pack-ins?
00:28:39 – Deathloop
00:31:44 – Bugsnax
00:33:59 – Ghostwire Tokyo
00:41:49 – Solar Ash
00:43:44 – Kena: Bridge of Spirits
00:44:44 – Resident Evil 8 / Village
00:51:49 – Hitman 3
01:06:49 – Returnal & Jett: The Far Shore
01:15:29 – Little Devil Inside
01:17:54 – Spider-Man: Miles Morales
01:32:44 – Stray, Pragmata, Project Athia
01:35:23 – Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, and Tech Talk
01:44:54 – Demon’s Souls, Goodbye Volcano High
01:46:49 – PS5: The Console
02:20:49 – PS5 Event Overall Thoughts
02:37:32 – Itch.io bundle

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 124

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 06 Jun 2020 15:56:01 +0000

Spawn on Me
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/spawn-on-me/id804065256

1619
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1619/id1476928106

So You Want to Talk About Race
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35099718-so-you-want-to-talk-about-race

White Fragility
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43708708-white-fragility

Resource Guide
https://medium.com/@micahherskind/resource-guide-prisons-policing-and-punishment-effb5e0f6620

Donate to Multiple Organizations
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/ab_mn

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 123! (Rocko’s Modern Jet Set Radio!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 30 May 2020 17:37:59 +0000

Hold your DualSense directly to your ear, it’s time for Gaming Fyx! And also Home Appliance Fyx? No matter the case, Allyson brought along a really unique game which makes us go “… wait what?” in unison, Pat gets all up into RPGs starring Sharks, Shulks, and Steves, Alex brings the latest from Anna Purna, and Andre brings you his chipper attitude and wonderful hosting abilities.

Note: The top of this week’s episode addresses a topic that we here at Fyx take seriously, and one we collectively felt needed to be talked about separately from the show itself. Fyx stands in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, and strongly opposes the systemic racism which black people in America have had to endure for days, weeks, months, and years. If you would like to show support, there will be a collection of links at the end of this episode’s notes

Timestamps:
00:10:50 – Sludge Life
00:20:12 – Bravely Default
00:34:45 – Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition
00:48:50 – Maneater!
01:00:12 – Minecraft Dungeons
01:06:50 – If Found
01:16:55 – Newssssssss
01:17:15 – PS5 Event coming June 4th
01:40:08 – Wholesome Direct
01:41:50 – Blizzcon is cancelled
01:44:45 – Take-Two CEO dunks on Stadia
01:47:10 – Steam Cloud Play enters beta
01:53:29 – Sonic movie getting a sequel
01:56:13 – League of Legends Wild Rift
02:03:25 – Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid first hella crossplay game
02:04:48 – Update on The Culling: Origins

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———————————-

Spawn On Me – Episode 336 VOD:
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/635019638

Places to donate:

Fundraiser for George Floyd’s Family
https://www.gofundme.com/f/georgefloyd

Brooklyn Bail Fund
https://brooklynbailfund.org/donation-form

Black Visions Collective (Minnesota)
https://www.payit2.com/fundraiser/98548

Northstar Health Collective
https://www.northstarhealthcollective.org/donate

Louisville Community Bail Fund
https://actionnetwork.org/fundraising/louisville-community-bail-fund/

Columbus Freedom Fund
https://www.paypal.me/columbusfreedomfund

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Pixel Ripped 1995 Review

Andre Cole — Wed, 27 May 2020 23:38:50 +0000

Pixel Ripped 1995 Review $19.99

3.5

Where we're going, we don't need roads.

Pixel Ripped 1995 transports you back in time, to December of 1995 as the release of the Ultimate 32 game console looms. The game is a nostalgic journey through all the tropes of growing up as a gamer in the 90s and earlier.

As you don your VR headset, you’ll take the role of David, a 9-year-old boy who just wants to play his video games. Little does he know, he’s deeply entwined with the protagonist of his game, Dot. In the world of Pixel Ripped (the game inside the game), the Goblin King seeks to steal the pixel stone and wreak havoc in and outside the game. The story itself isn’t much to write home about. But, the flavor of David’s world makes playing through Dot’s story worth it. While you play, your annoying neighbor will start taunting you with all manner of classic “I’m better than you” type taunts and lies, your mom will attempt to stop you from playing, and your dad is just generally clueless.

How this manifests in the gameplay is where things begin to get interesting. While you play games as David, you’re sitting on the floor, or the couch, looking at the screen, or wherever else you feel like looking. Quickly elements of the game start to encroach on the real world. Early on, you can use a blaster gun to knock over things to keep your mom distracted long enough to not turn off your console. Each level changes up the way you’re interacting with or mitigating real-world elements. While the games David plays are less than stellar, changing consoles, shooting distractions, and the other interactions make it worth it.

The boss battles are also unique and fun. Each level ends with an enemy bursting into the real world somehow, and David needs to use whatever is available to help Dot defeat the various minions of the Goblin King. The checkpointing can be less than stellar, however, as the game uses a Sonic style rings system. Well, they’re gems here, but it’s the same idea. You get hit once, and you lose the gems you’ve collected. Get hit again and you’re dead. In the multi-stage fights, it can be annoying to get hit by a stray attack and find yourself restarting from the beginning of the fight. Especially when there is a limited amount of background dialogue to listen to.

The games that you play through are dull, although if I went back to many of the games I played in the ‘90s I’d most likely think many of those are dull as well. They’re not super fun and are mostly there to evoke nostalgia for the idea of a thing, rather than trying to create a good version of it. The levels aren’t exceptionally long at least, so you won’t be dealing with them for long. There are occasional twists on classic games to keep you on your toes, but you shouldn’t be visiting Pixel Ripped 1995 for faithful recreations of your childhood favorites.

The experience of playing on the Oculus Rift S is excellent, and imagine it translates just as well to other platforms. You can use a gamepad to play the game, but I found it best with the Oculus Touch controllers which enable you to quickly interact with the world in a natural way. You don’t need a lot of space either, you can easily play the game in a stationary position standing or sitting.

The music attempts to evoke nostalgia but doesn’t attempt to be anything more than a general nod towards the games that you’re being reminded of. I’m struggling to remember the music at all, as it’s so easily replaced by the more iconic music of the era.

As a VR-focused experience, Pixel Ripped 1995 feels more novel than essential. The games you play over the course of the story are shallow while leaving the 3D levels for the final act of the game. The build-up to that moment feels like it should result in a much bigger section of the game and would have allowed for more unique experiences, rather than playing another bad side-scrolling brawler. If you own a VR headset and want to delve into some childhood nostalgia, Pixel Ripped 1995 is a great way to do a bit of time traveling.

Pros

Delivers strong feelings of nostalgia
interacting with the “real world” and “game world” simultaneously is fun.

Cons

The games you play are poor facsimiles of the real thing.
Background dialogue can be repetitive.
Hand-tracking can be finicky.

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 122! (Every Villager Loves Raymond!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 23 May 2020 16:55:21 +0000

We won’t leave you on ‘read’ with this week’s latest episode of Gaming Fyx! Pat, Andre and Alex are here to talk about the hottest, newest, most relevant games with Crucible and Left on Read – then a deep dive into some news about industry practices, Animal Crossing, Reggie, Charity, Indie Games, and way more!!! Also hopefully you can sneeze. And be well!

Timestamps:
00:05:30 – Crucible
00:35:19 – Left on Read
News!
00:56:38 – IOX
00:58:42 – Doom Eternal removing Denuvo
01:08:10 – Terraria
01:16:04 – Animal Crossing hackers making the game better
01:25:21 – Gary Whitta’s Animal Crossing Talks
01:29:34 – Phil Spencer on Reggie Fils-Aime’s “Talking Games” show
01:33:19 – Xbox Game Pass is Popular! PSNow is also popular; but less so
01:43:39 – Mafia Trilogy Remaster stuff
01:50:34 – G2A getting its just desserts

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Dead Or School Review

Eric Gettinger — Sat, 23 May 2020 16:31:48 +0000

Dead Or School Review $29.99

Grab your toast and run out the door!

During this time of social isolation, we have been instructed to keep our distance, and in doing so maybe one day we will all be able to go back to school or work with our friends. For me, it’s being able to go back to work with those who I need to directly manage. Having those social experiences though is something we might not miss until it’s gone. In Dead or School, the main character has never known that experience.

In the not so distant future, humans have been forced underground by mutants. The story starts 78 years later, miles under the surface of Japan. While this is technically an action RPG, there are visual novel cutscenes that pander to the targeted audience, which trust me, you know if you are the correct audience. The story opens with a group of girls wanting to explore the surface which no one has seen. The scene progresses to the group making it to a higher level near the surface but encountering a mutant attack. That’s where the main character makes her stunning entrance by sticking her whole arm through a monster.

Up until this point, there is no action but rather a longer back story where Hisako, our heroine, visits the village elder who is her grandmother. With the gift of a traditional Japanese schoolgirl outfit and legends of a place called school Hisako is sent out into the world with a sword, gun, and rocket launcher to find friends and a way to the surface to experience a school. This is where the action starts as you use a train (decked out with circular saws, chains, a plow) or rather a murder train to move between the different underground areas. This animation is particularly funny to watch since coming into the first station you plow through a dozen mutants.

Now is where we get into the real meat and potatoes of this beast. Your combat takes place on a 2D plane with enemies jumping into the fray or appearing around you. Combat can be done with the aforementioned items. I personally like to go through combat with the sword but you need to vary your attacks as each weapon has durability with limited use before its damage is reduced or runs out of bullets. At the same time you will lose stamina from repeated attacks, so be careful. Items drop from combat or chests which allow you to replace or upgrade your weapons. This adds some depth to this particular game but the skill trees add a lot more.

The skill tree can be used to improve your overall attack power with some of the weapons, durability for your sword, ammo for guns, etc. However, in order to get the skill points to improve Hisako, there are a number of different things you can do. First and foremost is killing mutants. As you progress from area to area more and stronger enemies appear with a boss at the end. To give Hisako a much-needed boost of power you have side missions and bonus hidden items around the map that will increase your character’s stats while adding to the overall story. Sometimes you can find other survivors to join your crew and other times it’s seeing something from Japanese culture like a fancy dress from Harajuku, Tokyo’s fashion district.

Let me be straight forward here, there is a target audience here so fair warning the capture gallery and visual novel elements can be fairly lewd. When your HP is low Hisako’s school clothing will slightly explode off of her body to show battle damage but also boost attack and defense. Even more in your face are the provocative ways the stand or their positions during a brief scene. It certainly has a way of presenting itself that I have become familiar with but also not the most tasteless display as there is no nudity.

So here’s the skinny – the combat can get very repetitive and there are different models of weapons to help overcome some of that. You can also try to vary your play style but it can still get a little stale after a while since I picked to focus on sword combat early on. Some of the visuals are dated as it looks like the shadows of the action happening in the foreground appear as 8-bit models. If you can make it past some of the surface issues with the visuals and the combat being repetitive there is a pretty interesting story to be told here. With the current climate in the world, maybe disappearing underground for a while would be interesting, where someone is craving and carving a path to the future to have something we take for granted, that’s worth playing right now. I am currently enjoying it with the plan of seeing how Hisako makes it to the end of her story and hope everyone else is staying safe while we make it to the end of ours.

Pros

A driving story keeps you invested in the main character.
The capture gallery is worth exploring more of the sidequests.
The train animation is really funny to watch each time you pull into a new area.

Cons

Repetitive combat makes the gameplay stale at times.
Combat gating occurs even in areas where you are severely under-leveled, leading to death.

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 121 (Geoff Keighley’s Whole Ass Creed!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 16 May 2020 20:03:06 +0000

Join us around the metaphorical campfire as we spin yarns of Assassins, spacefaring folks, sexy snakes, and Geoff Keighley’s whole ass. Lots of game talk, and lots of feelings on the next gen as inspired by Unreal Engine 5 and their impressive showing! Also, hey, don’t forget to drink water and get some fresh air! Stay healthy out there, friends.

Timestamps:
00:03:28 – XCOM Chimera Squad
00:15:38 – Legend of the Galactic Heroes
00:24:08 – She-Ra
00:33:53 – Assassin’s Creed Syndicate
00:48:31 – Assassin’s Creed Odyssey & Origins
01:09:13 – Total War – Warhammer 2
01:17:23 – Rune 2
01:30:50 – Newwwsss
01:31:28 – UE5 Showcase & Demo, also Next Gen Feelings
02:01:55 – Tony Hawk 1 & 2
02:07:13 – Mafia Trilogy
02:08:51 – Paper Mario Origami King
02:14:50 – New Playstation Studios branding / logo
02:19:23 – Ghost of Tsushima Gameplay
02:26:56 – SpaceX ISS Docking Sim
02:31:31 – Alan Wake is back baybee
02:33:38 – Gravity Well (ex-Respawn leads’ new studio)
02:34:48 – J Allard is back baybee
02:36:47 – The Culling is back baybee

When will The Culling die?
Andre – end of Summer
Pat – 31 days (from May 14th)
Allyson – mid-August
Alex – July 1st

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Gaming Fyx Presents: Final Fantasy VII Remake Spoilercast

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 16 May 2020 19:08:55 +0000

Join Andre, Pat, and Fyx friends Chris Edgerton and Jeffrey Davis on a journey through the twists and turns of Final Fantasy VII Remake. We’re all about the spoilers this episode, so if you’re avoiding spoilers for the original Final Fantasy VII, FFVIIR, Advent Children, or… ahem Kingdom Hearts… Consider yourself warned! Now let’s mosey!

3:45 – start
7:00 – Our history with FFVII
15:50 – Early game reactions
26:50 – Cloud’s Agency and Jenova
30:03 – Difficulty
40:45 – Music
49:20 – Combat
1:05:05 – New Narrative
1:10:50 – Barrett
1:21:30 – Red 13
2:24:10 – The story goes off the rails
1:30:50 – Advent Children (seriously)
1:41:00 – It’s not the full story
1:46:30 – Fighting Fate
1:55:50 – What’s up with Aerith
2:07:25 – Anticipation
2:20:00 – Wall Market

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 120! (A Camera Aperture!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 09 May 2020 17:51:59 +0000

We’ve got a bit of a different format for you on this week’s Gaming Fyx! Just a teeny tiny little bit of chat for games we’ve been playing, and a whole lotta discussing news and industry goings-on! Full chats about Inside Xbox, Doom Eternal’s OST, Valorant’s anti-cheat (Vanguard), Nintendo, SKATE, The Last of Us 2, Charity events – and much, much more. Grab onto your camera apertures and join us on this journey!!

Timestamps:
00:08:52 – Podcast Start
00:04:30 – Ghostrunner (Demo)
00:12:50 – Fortnite
NEWS
00:22:30 – Doom Eternal OST / Mick Gordon
00:34:12 – May 2020 Inside Xbox
01:09:32 – Vanguard – Valorant’s Anti-Cheat
01:24:33 – Nintendo Leak of Wii Source Code
01:27:13 – New Skate Game!!!
01:34:42 – The King of Kong Strikes Again
01:37:58 – Super Mario 64 Fan Game RIP
01:45:28 – The Last Of Us 2 Leak Methods (No Spoilers)
01:59:34 – Conference Cancellations
02:00:34 – Square Enix Charity Bundle
02:05:16 – Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order Is A New Franchise
02:07:19 – Cyberpunk 2077 Gets an ESRB Rating

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Final Fantasy VII Remake Review

Andre Cole — Sat, 09 May 2020 12:57:44 +0000

Final Fantasy VII Remake Review $59.99

When Midgar's in the sky like a big pizza pie, thats amore

For nearly as long as I can remember, when following video game culture it feels like there has been a call for Final Fantasy VII to be remade with modern technology. I found this sentiment somewhat absurd, why would you ask for a remake of FFVII when Kingdom Hearts 2 ends with such a cliffhanger???? Well, having played last year’s Kingdom Hearts 3 and this year’s newly released Final Fantasy VII Remake, I can say, I was a fool.

There will be spoilers in this review

There are so many things to talk about with this Remake that it’s hard to know where to begin. I could talk about the way they’ve poorly communicated what this game is, (merely the Midgar portion of the story) or about the amazing combat system, or even the ways they’ve expanded and changed the story. If there is one thing I can confidently say about this game, it’s that SquareEnix has justified its existence. Will I eat my words when the next installment releases? I hope not, but Nomura has hurt me before.

One of the most ambitious but misleading aspects of this release is the fact that it is only a fraction of the original game, despite no clear messaging in the naming. A story that takes about six-to-eight hours in the original game now takes upwards of 30 hours to completely unfold. It’s a bold choice that leaves more unanswered questions than you might have expected for a game that is more than twenty years old. This game is setting the scene for a bigger adventure, much like the Midgar Section of the original game did. We just don’t get to play that bigger adventure. At least, not yet.

Instead, we get to spend a lot of time developing characters, and relationships. Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge, members of Avalanche who were bit characters in the original, become deep and complex characters worth spending hours of game time with. Breaking into Jessie’s parent’s house to steal a keycard from her comatose father helps bring the stakes and motivations of individual characters into perspective. And it’s a brand new piece of story that wasn’t in the original release. It puts a human face on the abstract issue of Shinra using Mako energy and lets us see the consequences and dangers of what Shinra does early in the game. Because they decided to expand and focus on the Midgar section of the game, I feel a connection to the world and characters that I never got from the original game. At least not from Midgar alone.

While the expansion of the story does add new depth to our relationships with characters it can also occasionally drag things down a bit in terms of pacing. While racing to stop Shinra from enacting an evil scheme, Cloud and friends need to fight their way through a haunted trainyard. It added nearly nothing to the story but took a significant amount of time to do. Thankfully these moments of poor pacing are few, and mainly minor blemishes on an otherwise interesting story.What makes the story stand out is the same thing that I believe justifies this game’s existence. It’s the changes, not additions. During your first mission as Cloud, bombing a Mako reactor along the edge of Midgar you start having hallucinations and flashbacks. Some of them scenes which will be familiar to fans of the original and some of them created whole cloth for this release. For newcomers to the story, many of these will lead to unanswered questions. But what is truly interesting is when we catch glimpses of the future. Again, these will mean nothing to newcomers, but for those familiar with the story, they reveal that this is not a simple retelling of the events you know. I was shook when I saw the first glimpse of Aerith’s death, as well as the final shot of the original game. But the seed is planted, telling us that things don’t have to unfold the same way they did back when we first played the PS1 game.

An exciting and interesting new story doesn’t mean very much if the experience of playing the game is a slog, though. For the most part, playing FFVII Remake is a good time. But, some moments call back to the original Playstation game in frustrating ways. Pushing boxes is painfully slow, as is anything regarding hanging from a ceiling fixture. Animations are painfully long and drawn out for no real reason. Late in the game, deep in Hojo’s lab in Shinra tower, Red XIII will assist you by pulling levers on unreachable platforms. It just takes him about five seconds to slowly walk into position and sit down before you can instruct him to do anything. Why do I need to sit through this whole animation cycle? Why do I need to hold a button to open a door or flip a switch? It feels unnecessarily cumbersome for no reason, especially for a game released in 2020.

What makes it all the more surprising is that the combat is incredibly fun and fluid in comparison. Attacks are quick, and Cloud’s iconic buster sword feels as heavy as it looks, even if he does wield it effortlessly. And each character in your party can fit into distinct roles depending on how you think they would best perform. This is aided by the materia system which is largely the same as it was in the original game, at least to how I remember it.

Materia is crystalized Mako, the lifeblood of the planet. By slotting it into weapons and armor, wielders gain the ability to cast magic – like fire or cure – or other special abilities that could mean life or death in battle. Evenly distributing your materia among your party members is a tricky balancing act, as you gain new materia but lack any new slots to slot it into. You can upgrade your weapons to gain more materia slots or find new armor with more slots in it. Materia, paired with the new weapon upgrade system, gives you many options for customizing your character’s role throughout the game, without ever feeling like you made an irreversibly bad choice. Every weapon is viable throughout the entirety of the game. Each one caters to a different play style so you can outfit your party as you see fit.

The ability to freely switch between characters during combat is the highlight of the system, as each character controls distinctly and has individualized characteristics and abilities that make them suitable for different encounters. Cloud’s abilities focus on his iconic oversized-sword; Barret has a mixture of ranged, melee, and defensive abilities; Tifa’s abilities power her up, or can be mixed into her standard attacks to create something similar to fighting game combos; Aerith has a variety of magical abilities that aid the team and crush enemies.

Most standard combat encounters are too short to warrant much strategic thought (although later battles will require you to consider weaknesses), the boss battles are where the combat system truly begins to shine. Each one brings a unique mechanic for you to learn and overcome. A somewhat early example of this is the Airbuster fight. As Shinra security forces prepare the Airbuster for combat against Avalanche, Cloud can divert components like bombs or AI cores from the boss to weaken it in the approaching fight. By doing this you reduce the lethality and speed of the Airbuster, giving you a better chance in the fight. There are plenty of other great bosses too, especially ones that feature human-sized enemies. There’s nothing scarier than a boss that’s the same size as you.

Another integral part of the game is the music. Throughout the game are reimagined versions of the original soundtrack and an occasional outburst from Barret as he triumphantly bellows the victory fanfare after battles. While I, personally, don’t have an overabundance of nostalgia for the original game or its soundtrack, certain tracks and moments did bring me back to that original game. You can unlock the soundtrack in-game by receiving tracks from shops or characters around town. Then you can play them on whatever jukebox you happen to be passing by.

But as good as the music is, the visuals are uneven. The main characters of the story look phenomenal. Some of the best animation and detail I’ve seen in a game. The hair is especially impressive. The set-piece moments and skybox are also second to none. From the slums of Midgar, the plates overhead are simultaneously beautiful and oppressive, while making you feel small. On the other hand, environment textures around the world are rough. I thought Unreal Engine 4 was supposed to fix the issue with texture pop-in, but SquareEnix somehow found a way to bring it back. Many textures look flat, or low-res. This is especially apparent whenever the camera is too close to a door, which happens often in cutscenes. We’re talking PS2 levels of fidelity here, and I played this on a PS4 Pro. It’s a tiny nitpick, that doesn’t impact the enjoyment of the game, but it was still jarring to see heavily aliased door textures next to an immaculately rendered character model. Although sometimes the NPC models don’t look that amazing either, any character that gets any notable amount of screen time is mostly exceptional.

I started Final Fantasy VII with a lot of assumptions. Quickly the game forced me to cast those aside, and approach it on its terms. Final Fantasy VII Remake as a project is not a simple retelling of the story that people fell in love with back on the PS1. It’s a sequel. In many ways, it’s a response to the decades of fandom and cries for the game to be remade. What if we got the game that people have fantasized about since the games original release? That certainly isn’t what this is, nor could it ever be that, but it’s all the better for attempting to recognize its history.

Pros

Engaging combat
Re-imagined soundtrack
Added story elements to flesh out the world

Cons

Cumbersome animations
Occasionally poor pacing
Many unanswered questions for newcomers

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 119! (Ich Bin Ein Shadowlancer!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 02 May 2020 17:54:07 +0000

The meme is over, the episode Alex has been waiting over two years for is finally here – we dive deep into Danganronpa V3. But there is a whole normal episode before that! Pat slips and slides his way around SnowRunner, Andre contrasts & compares Final Fantasy 7 Remake to the original, and we discuss the finer points of misremembering city names in the news!

Timestamps:
00:07:10 – SnowRunner
00:30:30 – Final Fantasy 7 Remake & Original
01:06:40 – Newwwwwwsssss!
01:59:00 – Danganronpa V3 Spoilercast

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 118! (One Pair of Krogan Shoes – Never Worn!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 25 Apr 2020 19:21:18 +0000

We are joined (again) by a very special guest!!! Jeffrey Davis joins us in our neverending quest to bring content which will make you think, ask questions, tilt your head in confusion, and dab. Allyson is nearing the conclusion of her Danganronpa saga, Andre gets deep into VR and Resident Evil Resistance, Pat is all about 1970s Spain, Sam will forever be talking about Cold Steel, Alex has Visual Novels and Anime, and Jeff gives wonderful insight into the workings of leitmotif and the power of a great musical score.

Timestamps:
00:05:14 – Trails of Cold Steel 3
00:36:53 – Sakuya Izayoi Gives You Advice And Dabs: Nitori Kawashiro Offers You Advice In Exchange For Cucumbers And Eats The Cucumbers
00:44:57 – The Fox Awaits Me
00:46:26 – A Summer’s End – Hong Kong 1986
00:48:57 – XCOM: Chimera Squad
00:59:42 – Danganronpa 2 & Danganronpa V3
01:18:17 – The Flower Collectors
01:38:04 – Resident Evil: Resistance(?)
01:46:17 – Pixel Ripped 1995
01:54:27 – Final Fantasy 7 Remake: Leitmotif and What a Remake Means for Music
02:37:42 – Newwwwssssss

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 117! (Four-to-five nipples!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 18 Apr 2020 19:04:35 +0000

We’ve got an extra-large episode of Gaming Fyx for you this week to keep you company in these trying times! Pat brings a lot of chats about a brand new game that’s still in beta, Andre is all about that remake life, Allyson’s been trapped with monokuma, and Alex talks all about the IOX!!

Timestamps:
00:04:41 – Danganronpa 1 & 2
00:29:46 – World of Warcraft
00:39:57 – Spin Rhythm XD
00:48:50 – Valorant
01:35:37 – Final Fantasy 7 Remake
02:07:40 – Totally Reliable Delivery Service
02:16:00- LotGH
02:17:17 – IOX
02:25:15 – Newwwssss

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 116! (Gotta Love the Glove!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 11 Apr 2020 16:13:30 +0000

We’ve got a short but packed episode full of games, anime, news, snack, and time travel talk! Who would our favourite Saints Row guest stars be? Find out on this week’s episode!!

Timestamps:
00:06:39 – Animal Crossing
00:09:09 – Kuukiyomi: Consider It!
00:17:40 – Final Fantasy 7 Remake
00:39:40 – Legend of the Galactic Heroes
00:49:45 – Newsss

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MLB The Show 20 Review

Chris Edgerton — Thu, 09 Apr 2020 19:24:33 +0000

MLB The Show 20 59.99

Step Up To The Show

Reviewing Sports titles is typically harder than reviewing most games. Who exactly are these reviews supposed to be for? Are they supposed to be for new fans who know nothing about how the game plays? Or are they supposed to be for die-hards, to tell them if the game has improved and how much time should be spent with any specific part. This task is especially hard in a year where major sports might be canceled due to a global pandemic. That’s ironic considering that the 15th anniversary of Sony San Diego’s MLB the Show franchise is probably it’s best to date in terms of actual mechanics. The issue lies in the fact that this game, like so many others, has become a live service. It’s a live service that in particular depends on actual baseball to happen.

If you need a quick one paragraph answer to “should I get this game” the answer is if you like baseball, yes. This is because that is the core of what you will be doing for thousands of hours. Looking at a strike zone and swinging a bat or throwing a pitch. So if you can manage that then the Show is for you. If you need an experience that feels constantly new you might be left wanting for something that just might not be there this particular year.

It might be slightly reductive to say this but buying a modern sports game is a bit like buying an MMO expansion. You are buying the game because you support the platform and not necessarily because what you have is the best version. Part of this is the fact that these games are built on an 8 month dev cycle, which can take its toll. At least at the time of writing this I’ve seen a couple instances of players getting locked into animations, or even balls that bounce up against walls being called ground-rule Doubles, and while the core of MLB The Show is more solid than I think most games on the market it’s clear that the edges needed a little bit more work. Who knows if they are getting that time post release.

One of the reasons I’ve always been drawn up to MLB the show is its increased focus on accessibility. Not just an options menu – that’s been a staple of the SportsCenter for years – but also in controls. MLB the show lets you play almost the entire game with just a single analog stick if you want to.There’s a dynamic difficulty slider that will let the game decide to move you up or down in difficulty based on how well you are performing. There can be arguments made about what is the best lesson for playing each side of the ball, but the team clearly makes it a focus. You’re in and you’re out to make sure that all of them feel playable and responsive in the same way. Ultimately it’s about making players the most comfortable so they can focus on decision-making. Don’t like the default speed of the throwing? Well there’s an option for that. They’ll let you use a simple button press and base success on a fielder’s stats. Like the pitching meter but find yourself mistiming that second button press? Switch to analog to use a pinball plunger like motion where you pull the pitch back and fling it up to the part of the plate you would like the ball to go. It all feels incredibly equal and yet deeply personal in a way that feels meaningful when you are the sort of person who will dedicate 1000 hours to this game this year.

So remember, when I talk about this game as a platform, this is the year the people who control the platform decided to focus mostly on tiny little game gameplay improvements.

Things like catcher blocking, better tagging for fielders, hitting feedback that has made me personally make huge strides in a very short amount of time, and some key upgrades to the game’s major modes makes this feel like the best realized version of everything the game wants to be. Licensed minor league rosters add a layer of authenticity to Road to the Show, the game’s create a player mode. These newly minted official players will let you form relationships with them that will either give boosts to you and your teammates or take away key stats from your rivals. March to October enters its sophomore season with upgrades to player development and acquisition as you try to forge a one-season campaign to win the World Series. It’s a great mode to jump into for beginners because you always play the season in Franchise mode anyway, and if you like your team in the end you can transfer your save to that mode. Sadly, given the number of on the field improvements this year, traditional franchise feels like it’s lagging behind its fresher sibling.

When you finish a March To October you’ll be rewarded with Team Affinity points. These are used in an event in Diamond Dynasty. Diamond Dynasty is the game’s card collecting mode, which have been proliferating among sports games in the last 10 years. Unlike most sports games baseball cards have an actual history and are digital versions of actual collectors items. The mode can be a gratifying collecting experience for that aspect alone. If you find yourself wanting to avoid spending money on cards you probably won’t have to. With the game’s XP path system – which regularly gives out both currency and exclusive cards – just playing the game nets you plenty. If core design idea number one is that this game is for everyone, core design idea number two is that all levels of play are valuable. That includes all levels of the real life players. One of the more unique aspects of Diamond Dynasty is the weight ratings are handled typically in a sports game. Typically the overall rating is meant to reflect a player’s ability in every single situation, and the closer to 100 the more perfect that player is. Like baseball, Diamond Dynasty doesn’t often use that metric, instead opting for a system in which all you need to do is be good at one thing. For longtime fans of these types of modes it can feel a little bit jarring to want to use a player that’s only 68 overall, but their skillset might make them the perfect match for the right hander you’re about to face at the plate. This approach makes it so that when you find a 74 rated picture you’re not disappointed because he happens to actually have a 89 Stanley rating which in most online environments means he’s going to give your Bullpen a night off. That’s important, because this year’s Diamond Dynasty mode features an energy system that works like a real world pitching rotation.

In past years you would field a lineup of pitchers and the game would randomly pick one to start for you. This meant you could spend four or five games with the same pitcher because every game was treated like an exhibition. This year feels more like a real baseball season, with an added layer of depth from that energy system. While it is admittedly intimidating, it pays off in the long run especially as you become more comfortable actually working with each pitcher as a player.

If you feel the need to test drive some of these cards before you invest your heart and currency them you can try out the new Showdown mode. This mode allows you to use these cards against the CPU in very specific (and sometimes frustrating) challenges. While these challenges may not be too problematic for veteran players, for me the game starts to get a bit tiring when it asks you to do very specific tasks. Failing a challenge simply because I have one batter to get one strikeout but the batter only got a dribbler that barely made it past the catcher can feel very frustrating. These challenges are at least balanced by the rewards, which are genuinely worth the hardship. Runs of Showdown can quickly turn into a frantic search to fill up the worst spots in your roster before facing off against a final boss in a home run derby style up elimination. This high-stakes style of gameplay can be frustrating to players who struggle with losing the time and energy spent on the mode, even if the rewards for winning are worth it.

Perhaps it is poetic that the 15th anniversary of one of Sony’s most consistent franchises is also the end of its exclusivity. A few months ago MLB announced that in 2021 the show will be allowed on other platforms, making it a game developed by a Sony first-party studio that will theoretically be on Xbox and PC. Perhaps it’s poetic this is the last year with the PS4 as Sony’s primary console. Perhaps it’s poetic that there may be no 2020 season at all, and that we just remember what we want baseball to be. Because nothing can match that first time you see the camera focusing on only the player as he looks up and acknowledges that he whacked a homerun 440 ft. Perhaps there is no better feeling than throwing a lingering curveball that drops to the knees, the pitcher pumping his fists as he walks off the mound to finish a complete game. Perhaps there is nothing better than whatever you decide to make it.

Current events aside, this stands as the celebration the Show deserved at a time when it could see a larger audience than years past. If you don’t feel the need to slay demons or manage a virtual island perhaps you can step into the batter’s box and take a swing at something new, or return to the pitcher’s mound just one more time. MLB The Show 20 is a damn good video game.

Pros

High degree of customization and accessibility that everyone should model.
Better blocking animations lower the number of wild pitches, making sure games keep pace.
New sound effects for a ‘perfect’ hit provides satisfaction in a sport where you are meant to fail 7/10 times.
March to October gets the bulk of the upgrades.. now giving rewards throughout a season.

Cons

Fielders get locked into animations sooner than ever, leading to situations where plays are missed for no reason.
Breaking balls tend to magnetize to the middle of the plate and get smacked around the yard a little too much.
A suspended season means that ‘live series’ players don’t gain or lose stats making daily play less dynamic.

PlayStation Store

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Resident Evil 3 (2020) Review

Andre Cole — Wed, 08 Apr 2020 05:47:58 +0000

Resident Evil 3 Review $59.99

Bring an Umbrella.

For me, few games are as iconic as the Resident Evil series. Specifically, the first three for Playstation. While I was too young to play and enjoy them at the time, I’ve developed a healthy respect for the series and love their blend of puzzle-solving and campy stories. Last year’s remake of Resident Evil 2 floored me with its reimagining of my favorite game in the series. The developers managed to make a game that felt true to the original but updated with modern sensibilities. With Capcom’s track record over the past few years, I was excited for the remake of Resident Evil 3, but with slight apprehension due to the fact that it was being made by a different team than either RE7 or RE2. Now that it’s here, I can finally tell you whether or not it’s one of the better entries in the Resident Evil franchise.

Set months after the events of the original Resident Evil and at approximately the same time as Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 3 has players take control of S.T.A.R.S member Jill Valentine as she escapes the zombie-infested Raccoon City. All the while she is being pursued by living a bioweapon named Nemesis, whose sole purpose is eliminating S.T.A.R.S operatives. None of this has changed in the 2020 remake. The tools with which creators can tell a story have evolved, and you get a gorgeous cinematic experience that still maintains much of the camp that early Resident Evil was known for.

Where this remake does differ and carve out its own niche is with the gameplay. While it retains the core mechanics of the Resident Evil 2 remake from last year, it introduces some new mechanics, much like the 1990s version did. A dodge has been added which lets you nimbly (or clumsily) roll or duck pass enemies. If your timing is spot-on and you manage to execute a perfect dodge you’ll be able to enter bullet time and fire off a few shots on your pursuers. I found these perfect dodges to be unreliable though, as I was never able to activate the dodge when I meant to. I’m sure that there’s a trick to getting it more often than not, but it wasn’t readily apparent what sort of timing you need to aim for. I was often knocked or pulled out of my dodge animation. It makes the combat feel much more dynamic like you’re in an action movie, or an action movie outtake if you fail to perfectly dodge.

Also changing from the previous game is the use of sub-weapons like the knife and grenades. While the weapons are still in the game, the way they work has been changed. You select and equip them like any other weapon, and you can’t use them to defend yourself and fend off a zombie attack. With the larger hordes of zombies you face in RE3, I found myself missing the ability to easily stuff a grenade in the mouth of a zombie as they attempt to chow down on my neck.

While the combat gameplay is much of the same, with a few welcome additions, the journey through the world has been compromised. The game is much more linear than I expected and leaves little room for the player to backtrack. My first trip through the main area of the game had me leave two rooms unexplored because I fully expected to be able to make my way back later. Unfortunately, I was wrong. Instead of being a large, interconnected world like most of the early Resident Evil games (and the 2019 remake), you’re going through a series of short, self-contained levels. The levels aren’t bad, but they don’t feel like a cohesive city. The game is a victim of my expectations, as I was hoping to get a more fleshed-out version of Raccoon City, where Nemesis could be lurking around any corner. Unfortunately, that’s not what happened at all.

Speaking of the big guy, I also found myself a little disappointed with how he was handled in the game. Because the zones are so small and completed within a relatively short period of time, there are few opportunities for Nemesis to be a real threat. Early on he may make a few dramatic entrances, but those are the highlight of the monster’s presence in the game. While he is much nimbler and quicker than Mr. X from last year’s RE2, he feels less threatening because of the increased mobility you have with the dodge, and the larger areas where you encounter him. Much like the original release, if you can take Nemesis down, you’ll be given items that may make the game easier for you. But if you plan correctly, it becomes trivial and doesn’t even feel like a challenge.

Everything I’ve mentioned until now hasn’t necessarily been out of character for the franchise, just a slight let down compared to last year’s phenomenal Resident Evil 2. However, I found myself constantly taken out of the experience by the amount of swearing used in dialogue and documents scattered throughout the game. Now I’m not one to clutch my pearls and gasp when a naughty word comes out, and a zombie outbreak certainly merits the use of vulgarity, but parts of dialogue and documents feel like they were written by a teenager who just mustered up the courage to swear, but doesn’t know the right time or way to insert it into their language. Jill delivers some decent one-liners laced with swear words, but often, I felt puzzled by the use of vulgarity.

Unsurprisingly, Capcom’s RE Engine continues to do amazing work creating grotesque fleshy blobs that are unpleasant to look at. The art, across the board, is solid. What little we do get to see of Raccoon City has hints of life left in it, with pops of color that stand out against the bleak starkness of the zombie outbreak. And other times it shoves you into some sewers where you’re suddenly reminded of scores of games from the days of the Xbox 360 and PS3.

So. Much. Brown.

While it is not long, the game does leave players with the ability to unlock weapons and items with points earned for completing challenges over the course of the game. These include things like attack and defense boosters, as well as extra hip pouches to give you increased inventory space from the early moments of the game. Additional difficulty modes are also a nice addition as they remix item placement and enemy encounters to truly be more difficult, and not just a tweaking of damage numbers. For those that like to replay the game over and over (to speedrun or achievement hunt), these things are great motivation and ways to improve the experience. For those who only want to experience the game once, you’ll be fine to pay it no mind.

This remake of Resident Evil 3 is a different experience than I expected, and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t slightly disappointed. While I had fun playing, I hoped for an interconnected city with a constant threat breathing down my neck. Instead, I got discrete levels with a threat that only occasionally showed up for set-piece moments. I was also surprised by how quickly I was able to wrap things up in the game without deliberately speeding through. I played at my normal pace, and only missed a handful of items on my way because of overlooking some minor things. A lack of rewards for completing with a high rank, and barely any costume choices make subsequent playthroughs less enticing. If you’re not a die-hard of the franchise and or looking to play the multiplayer component that is included in the package, Resident Evil Resistance (review coming later), you’ll be fine to hold off on playing Resident Evil 3 until you can get it cheaper later in the year.

Pros

Builds on gameplay from Resident Evil 2.
Excellent sound design.
Great (and disgusting) visuals.

Cons

Too short.
Discrete levels.
Few alternate costumes.
No alternate single-player modes.

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 115! (4 [four] 20 [twenty]!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 04 Apr 2020 17:42:52 +0000

It’s double four twenties all up in here as we dive deeper into the hot mess which is known as 2020. We’ve got a whole bunch’a newly released games to chat about, as well as some old favourites! Also a bunch of news chat, and thoughts about THE FUTURE.

Timestamps:
00:05:40 – Podcast Start
00:02:05 – Cat Girl Without Salad: Amuse-Bouche
00:09:30 – Good Job
00:13:28 – Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord
00:28:20 – Hotdogs, Horseshoes, and Hand Grenades
00:45:16 – Google Stadia
01:02:20 – Dogurai
01:05:21 – Crossniq+
01:07:10 – Animal Crossing: New Horizons
01:26:40 – Half Life: Alyx
01:23:20 – Resident Evil 3 (Remake)
01:51:40 – News

https://www.fyx.space
Tweets by fyxpodcasts

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Cat Girl Without Salad: Amuse-Bouche Review

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 04 Apr 2020 02:01:12 +0000

Cat Girl Without Salad: Amuse-Bouche Review

April Fools!!! But not.

Cat Girl Without Salad: Amuse-Bouche is a game with a surprisingly storied history – granted, it’s not a particularly long story to tell. Way back in 2013, developers WayForward put out an April Fools image advertising Cat Girl Without Salad: Amuse-Bouche as their new over-the-top, wacky shoot-em-up game; but it was only ever really intended to be an April Fools joke. Well, that is until the June 2016 Humble Bundle came around, where the full game was included for free and actually published by Humble on PC. This was a very limited release, however – so after June 2016 there wasn’t really an easy/legal way to play the game. That is until now. The game has now seen its first commercial, public release on the Nintendo Switch on April 1st, 2020. That’s right, the game came full circle as an April Fools joke image to a full eShop release 7 years later.

Cat Girl Without Salad: Amuse-Bouche is, in some ways, exactly what it purports to be – it is indeed an over-the-top, wacky schmup. You play as Kebako, an intergalactic bounty hunter (with cat ears) and her faithful sidekick Squiddie. You’ll travel through space on a 2D plane, shooting all enemies in your path as you reach your ultimate bounty which manifests in the game as boss fights. Each level of the game takes place with different themes to both backgrounds and enemies, and there is fully voiced dialogue throughout.

You start each level with a particularly underwhelming, underpowered peashooter of a weapon; but along the way, you are picking up extremely creative powerups to beef up your arsenal. This includes an RPG Gun (which allows you to select Final Fantasy-esque options from a menu), a Dance Gun (where you essentially play DDR to get super-powerful attacks), an Arcade Gun (that basically makes a Pac-Man facsimile show up on screen which you control independently from Kabako), along with a couple more. These are easily the highlight of the game, and the creativity behind them should definitely be applauded.

That being said, the game itself isn’t too much to write home about. For every aspect in which it shines, there are at least two criticisms to be leveled alongside. The gameplay feels pretty good; but a lot of the weapons can feel unintuitive to use, and some of them seem worth avoiding as they can be active detriments. The art is nice and colourful; but it also isn’t particularly interesting, and a lot of enemies are simply palette swaps which were given more health. The music is fine; but the sound effects can be pretty grating, and sometimes the audio stops completely. Kabako is a cute character who is well voice acted; but her dialogue is extremely grating, and if you ever die, you’re going to have to hear a lot of it over and over again.

The game throws its entire weight behind its “omg so random” brand of humour, complete with vocalized versions of memes (I mean, your arch rival is named “Cat Grill”), absurdly awful attempts at being self-aware, trying to make Kabako swap between appearing to be an aloof imbecile and a genius, as well as many other eye-roll inducing moments. She kind of feels like all of the worst parts of Tiny Tina from the Borderlands series; but perhaps even more frenetic. The characters are talking pretty constantly through each of the game’s three levels (yes, three whole levels) and there is no checkpointing.

The game isn’t impossibly hard; but it is definitely hard enough to where you’ll lose enough health while figuring out patterns that you’ll probably die. If you die right near the end of a level, you have to play through the entire thing again, all while hearing the exact same dialogue. They are at least somewhat merciful with the boss fights, however. If you die once you reach the boss, you can spend some of your score to start the fight over with full health (which is a pretty cool idea).

A lot of these criticisms about the game are ultimately dependent on your tastes. Maybe the humour isn’t for me, and someone else would love it – that’s totally valid. Maybe palette swaps are awesome, and I’m just being hyper-critical – could be! However, it has a few aspects which make it objectively hard to recommend. I ran into a few gamebreaking bugs, which is rough when the whole game is so short that it can be beaten in a single sitting (about an hour). On my very first run of the very first level, the game wouldn’t detect my input – I couldn’t move, nor could I shoot. The system-level buttons worked fine, so the joycons had not disconnected. I had to restart the game within the first couple minutes just to play. There were also moments with significant slowdown, along with audio bugs where the audio would cut out completely at random.

Ultimately, Cat Girl Without Salad: Amuse-Bouche is a game with a charming legacy, and I’m genuinely glad it came out; but I also can’t really recommend it as anything more than a novelty. I most definitely wouldn’t have been so critical of it had it come along for free in a Humble Bundle; but when looking at it as a standalone $8 game which is just okay and doesn’t really have replayability (unless you mute it and go for high scores with the post-credits unlock for weapons), I can only really suggest giving it a watch on YouTube and to check out how cool and creative some of those powerups look.

Pros

Solid gameplay
Extremely creative weapons
For real, the weapons are cool

Cons

Very bad writing and dialogue
Extremely short
No real replay value

Nintendo eShop

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 114! (Reggie’s Twin Pools!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 28 Mar 2020 21:43:12 +0000

We are joined by the great, effervescent, and generally ultra-rad Jeffrey Davis this week for an action packed, burnbarner of an episode! Lots and lots of game talk, lots and lots of news talk, a little bit of anime talk, and way too many extremely stupid jokes.

Timestamps:
00:03:49 – Doom Eternal
00:21:41 – Stela
00:38:54 – Animal Crossing
00:43:01 – Good Job
00:53:22 – Beastars
01:01:51 – Nintendo & Satire
01:08:15 – Death Stranding
01:16:34 – Game of Thrones: Conquest
01:29:59 – Asgard’s Wrath
01:41:04 – Black Mesa
01:50:31 – Half Life: Alyx
02:17:49 – Newwwwsss!

https://www.fyx.space
Tweets by fyxpodcasts

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 113! (Show Us Your Ears!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 21 Mar 2020 18:08:34 +0000

The convergence day has finally arrived – both Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Doom Eternal are out, and we’re here to talk about both. As well as some other games! And a whole lot of talks about next gen, the general state of the world, and a bunch of other stuff =D

Timestamps:
00:12:49 – The Cycle
00:28:14 – Doom Eternal
00:37:01 – Allyson is here!
00:47:33 – Animal Crossing: New Horizons
01:15:59 – Murder by Numbers
01:30:00 – Newwwwwsssss!!

https://www.fyx.space
https://twitter.com/fyxpodcasts/

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 112 (Wario Dies in a Podcast.mp3!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 14 Mar 2020 18:09:20 +0000

We’re all working from home, which means we have more time to play games! Which also means we can bring you more material for hot bangers such as this episode of Gaming Fyx!! Join us as we keep things lighthearted while the world burns around us =D

Timestamps:
00:02:20 – Podcast Start
00:05:30 – Call of Duty: Warzone
00:33:10 – Ori and the Will of the Wisps
00:42:00 – Murder by Numbers
00:52:13 – Roundguard
00:59:51 – Nioh 2
01:15:25 – NEWSSS
02:12:00 – Twitter Questions

https://www.fyx.space
Tweets by fyxpodcasts

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 111! (Ball-handling Games!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 07 Mar 2020 17:50:42 +0000

We’ve got a trio-cast for you today for our big one! Actually three big Ones – Episode One-One-One! This one is mostly on topic? Kind of? Yeah let’s say it is, there’s a ton of game talk!! And speculation about the future of humanity. And also balls.

Timestamps:
00:02:16 – Podcast Start
00:03:14 – Trails of Cold Steel 2
00:16:56 – Granblue Fantasy Versus
00:30:04 – Murder By Numbers
00:35:13 – Broomstick League
00:49:12 – The Crew 2
01:11:11 – News!!

https://www.fyx.space
https://twitter.com/fyxpodcasts/

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Publishers and Developers pulling their games off of GeForce Now makes no sense

Alex Gelinas — Sun, 01 Mar 2020 20:34:00 +0000

Since GeForce Now (GFN) – Nvidia’s cloud streaming service – exited its beta on February 5th, we’ve seen a cavalcade of publishers and developers asking Nvidia to remove their games from the service. Big publishers like Activision and Bethesda were among the first to lead the exodus, and today (March 1st, 2020) saw the developers of The Long Dark – Hinterland Studios – asking for the game to be pulled from the service. As a developer, this makes no sense to me.

If GFN’s business model were like that of Stadia or Playstation Now, these moves would be absolutely reasonable and warranted. For clarification, that model is when a user pays for a subscription to the service, and is in return provided streaming access to a library of hosted games. Put another way, think Netflix – you can only watch the content they have licensed with their providers, you can’t watch a copy of a movie you own on BluRay via Netflix since it isn’t licensed by their service.

That model is not what GeForce Now is – GFN is more directly comparable to Plex. If you have never used Plex, it is essentially a service with which you pay a subscription and are able to stream your own curated library of content. If you were to rip a BluRay you legally own, you could host it on Plex and stream it from anywhere, and onto any device using the Plex app (like the Netflix app). It is, essentially, a streaming computer which lives on the cloud, and a client with which to watch this content. That’s not terribly different from what GeForce Now is.

By using Nvidia’s service, you are provided with access to a high-powered Virtual Machine (giving you access to the equivalent of a Ryzen 3900X and an RTX 2080 Ti) with which to play games you already own on Steam. This is, effectively, no different than installing the game to a PC in your office, and streaming it via local network to the laptop connected to the TV in your living room (by the way, in-home streaming/remote play is a service already built into Steam). It is also no different than if I were to go to AWS (Amazon’s cloud provider), pay for an EC2 instance (Virtual Machine host), install a Windows VM onto it, install Steam onto that, and stream the game to my living room.

There is very little legal precedent for any of this, and it feels like a decidedly anti-consumer rhetoric being set. You, as the user, already own a license for the content you’re playing – you’re simply paying Nvidia for access to a machine which doesn’t physically live in your home. Playing games off of this service is just like if you’d rented a console, but Activision said you couldn’t use any of their games on that console. It makes no sense.

To play devil’s advocate, one could argue that in order for these licenses to be installed to these Virtual Machines, Nvidia would need some special “one-to-many” agreement in place with Steam. For example, you as an individual Steam user have purchased a “one-to-one” license – you paid for one license for use by one account. “One-to-many” would imply that Nvidia has access to one license which can be provided to many accounts. If that is the argument to be used, sure, I can see a case for it; but it is a weak one. The Steam user is still using their license to access the content, and cannot access games they haven’t already purchased a license for.

The only other argument I could see on behalf of the publishers and developers in question is if their materials are being used in GeForce Now marketing, but Nvidia didn’t create a partnership to do so. If that’s the case, I don’t see why that would be a mutually exclusive conversation to be had outside of the games appearing on the service.

In short, none of this makes sense, and it is super disappointing to see a smaller developer such as Hinterland making this move. I think GFN is an excellent service, and one which is providing great value to Steam users who may not be able to afford a brand new, expensive gaming PC. Or for those who are frequently traveling due to work and don’t want to/can’t lug around a gaming laptop with them all the time. To block your users – who already bought their copy of the game – from using GeForce Now is unreasonable. It feels as though these publishers and devs are muzzling a great service, and only doing so for reasons which lack both foresight and community focus.

You can hear us talk more about this in Episode 109 of the podcast, which was recorded a few weeks before the writing of this article.

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 110! (Master Podcast Platypus!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 29 Feb 2020 18:20:31 +0000

Our never-ending quest to bring you just the best podcast out there continues on this leap year day!! Join us for a bunch of movies, a bunch of gacha games, idols, world war 2, dota, horror, and much much more!!

Timestamps:
00:06:30 – Podcast Start
00:05:30 – Uncut Gems
00:08:00 – Birds of Prey
00:16:25 – Shazam
00:22:35 – Love Live! All Stars
00:46:15 – Kards
00:52:33 – Underlords (1.0)
01:12:25 – World of Horror
01:22:00 – News
01:39:41 – Twitter Questions!

https://www.fyx.space
https://twitter.com/fyxpodcasts/

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Death and Taxes Review

Andre Cole — Tue, 25 Feb 2020 04:37:51 +0000

Death and Taxes $12.99

In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except sugar and spice.

Few things in life are certain: death and bureaucratic nightmares. Placeholder Gameworks brings these two things to us in their narrative game, Death and Taxes. Following in the vein of something like Papers, Please, Death and Taxes has you playing as a Grim Reaper with jurisdiction over the city of Cosmopolis and the surrounding area. Despite your limited area of control, each life and death decision you make will have an impact on the city and world as a whole.

Summoned into being through dark magic, you and your Grim Reaper start your job administering death sentences at the same time. Your Boss, Fate, guides you through your early days on the job, answering questions you may have, and setting your mind at ease that this is just the natural cycle of things. Each day you sit down at your desk you’ll be given a note with your quota for the day. This includes things like how many people need to die, and what kind of people need to do. Maybe one day you need to kill a mere two people; while on the next you’ll need to kill six people, two of whom have a law background, and another two must be under the age of 35. You can ignore these discrete details, but it will reduce your pay for the day. But as long as you kill the right amount of people you’ll keep the brass mostly happy.

After each day (an indeterminate and flexible amount of time) you’ll have a performance review and little chat with Fate. A man coming to resent his place in middle management. Nevertheless, there is work to be done and he keeps you on task. Once you pass your probationary period, you’ll begin making money which you can use to unlock various widgets for your desk and outfits and cosmetics for your Grim Reaper. Some of these widgets are merely gags, like the fidget spinner, while others give you insight into how your actions are affecting the world, or help you make decisions.

Depending on your choices each day the story can develop in a few different ways. Catastrophe can strike from the unlikeliest of places, while salvation could lay in the hands of the least assuming individuals. You never have direct contact with any of the folks you’re assigning to life and death. You have a short biography and headshot that tells you their age, profession and a short biography about them. Maybe they’re criminal who has started to turn over a new leaf, or a scientist who has devoted their life to researching tuberculosis. Two things you’ll never get, however, are gender or ethnic background. While you can make assumptions based on the pictures of each person, the game instead uses gender-neutral language to help you focus on the personalities and actions of the people, rather than on preconceived notions. It doesn’t feel forced in any way either, with the language seeming completely natural. I didn’t notice this until the game points it out and gives you the opportunity to ask about it.

The system is all rather impersonal, much like bureaucracies tend to be. You’re making life-altering decisions about people based on a small sliver of information, without ever once having contact with the person. Even the way you receive news is impersonal; essentially a twitter feed with headlines detailing the results of your previous day’s work. I was apprehensive when I started playing that the choices would be too easy, and have a clear-cut people who should die, and people who should live. But I was pleasantly surprised that the game made this more difficult by having more complex people appear as time went on. And attempting to follow the day’s assignment can also lead to some tough decisions about who is worth keeping alive and killing, and maybe learning a bit about how you assign value to life yourself.

Death and Taxes is a pleasant way to spend an afternoon or two discovering the various ways your actions and choices can impact the world and find an outcome. There are more characters than you can encounter in a single playthrough, and you’ll hardly if ever, get the same mix of people on your desk. I can’t say whether it’s worth pursuing every possible ending in the game, but there are enough outcomes and narrative shifts that you could play through the game numerous times before finding everything. The game even has a demo on Steam which lets you play through a limited version of the first seven days of the game. Unfortunately, it doesn’t carry over into the full release, so you’ll need to play that section if you end up enjoying it.

Pros

Fully Voice Acted
Excellent presentation
multiple endings
Good music

Cons

Subsequent plays feel overly long
Few characters in the story

The post Death and Taxes Review appeared first on Fyx.

Gaming Fyx – Episode 109! (Invisabelle’s RTX 2077!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 22 Feb 2020 18:29:34 +0000

Little Todd Howard joins us for some business shenanigans on this edition of Gaming Fyx! We dive into many games – some new, some not so new, some debatably new but originally old, some good, some not so good; but there’s one thing which ties it all together: NVidia fucked up.

Timestamps:
00:06:55 – Podcast Start
00:05:00 – Rune Factory 4
00:20:05 – Kentucky Route Zero
00:34:05 – Invisible Women (book)
00:41:38 – Trails of cold steel
00:53:56 – Death & Taxes
01:05:53 – Halo Reach (PC)
01:13:40 – The Newsssss

https://www.fyx.space
https://twitter.com/fyxpodcasts/

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 108! (Parasite 2 – Powered by Dreams!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 15 Feb 2020 18:43:37 +0000

The first half of this episode is basically Movie Fyx; but the rest is games, we swear! This episode also marks the triumphant return of both Harold AND Maude!!

Timestamps:
00:01:50 – Harold & Maude
00:14:20 – Birbs of Prey
00:17:30 – Oscar Movies + Oscars
00:44:45 – Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem
01:00:50 – Bleeding Edge
01:15:15 – Dreams
01:39:40 – News
02:14:01 – Twitter Questions!

https://www.fyx.space
https://twitter.com/fyxpodcasts/

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 107! (Harold and Maudecast!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 17:50:54 +0000

Join us as we always stay on topic and never discuss things other than games yet again this week on Gaming Fyx!! Lots of new games, a few old ones, and a buncha weird industry news this week.

Timestamps:
00:03:41 – LCS
00:09:38 – Scourgebringer
00:17:00 – Tokyo Mirage Sessions
00:37:00 – Them & Us
00:42:39 – Haunted PS1 Demo Disk
00:45:12 – Newwwwssss!

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 106! (Dolla Dolla Bells Y’all!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 01 Feb 2020 19:40:12 +0000

We got an action packed one for you today, ladies, gentlemen, and others! Lots of talk about games, and lots of talk about not-games – all of which is (nearly) fully spoiler free. Also some real terrible jokes. Such as Jeep Handsome. And your Twitter questions!

Timestamps:
00:03:15 – Show Start
00:18:00 – Kentucky Route Zero
00:38:50 – Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore
01:01:01 – Cook Serve Delicious 3!!
01:25:03 – The Good Place Final Season (No Spoilers)
01:38:50 – Bojack Horseman Final Season (No Spoilers)
01:46:12 – Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel
02:00:25 – News!
02:14:00 – Twitter Questions

Find us at
https://www.fyx.space
https://twitter.com/fyxpodcasts/

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 105! (A legally distinct Pokemon!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 25 Jan 2020 17:49:10 +0000

We’ve got a whole lotta podcast for you today as we talk about the newest, hottest pokemon-style game; a shlooter; a remake; a tv show; a ccg; and so much more!!

Timestamps:
00:04:40 – TemTem
00:28:05 – Destiny 2
00:56:16 – The Witcher (Netflix Series)
01:00:47 – TMS:FE Encore
01:17:52 – Legends of Runeterra
01:41:31 – News

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 104! (Joycon Tokyo Drift!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 18 Jan 2020 17:55:43 +0000

Persona fans unite, we have a whole bunch of Persona-alikes for you today! Plenty of news, terrible puns, and thoughts about various potential Smash characters abound. Also, the gradual takeover from Super GG Radio continues as we are joined by the one, the only, Getty!

Timestamps:
00:03:14 – Podcast Start
00:08:46 – Trails of Cold Steel
00:22:26 – Scourgebringer
00:30:40 – Control
00:33:16 – Digimon Story: Cybersleuth
00:43:00 – TemTem
00:52:10 – Tokyo Mirage Session FE Encore
01:06:15 – Lightmatter
01:14:12 – NEWS!

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 103! (Here we go again!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 11 Jan 2020 22:11:46 +0000

It’s 2020 y’all, and you know what that means! Looking forward into THE FUTURE. Joining us in this endeavour is the great Alex Orona from Super GG Radio! Buckle up, it’s a whole new decade of whole new puns.

Timestamps:
New Console Predictions: 15:02
E3: 1:12:38
Hot New Gaming Trends and biggest disappointment: 1:23:27
New Games: 1:56:23

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Fyxies 2019 – Game of the Year!

Alex Gelinas — Sun, 05 Jan 2020 17:33:20 +0000

2019 has come and gone, and as we gathered for our third annual Fyxies, we here at Gaming Fyx found ourselves excited to look back upon the year that was. It was one full of surprises, laughs, and ultimately one which brought a bounty of fantastic games for fans of all genres. Narrowing our top ten down from the 76 we started with was tough – and if you’re so inclined, you can listen to the whole deliberation process (along with some other categories) at this link here – but we have done it! Here are our top ten games of 2019 as brought to you by Alex, Allyson, Andre, Pat, and Sam!

#10) Pokémon Sword & Shield

Pokémon has finally come to a Nintendo home console with its eighth generation, and the Switch feels like a worthy home for Sword & Shield. Hours upon hours of enjoyment were had filling pokédexes in the new Galar region, and it was a delight whether you were at home or on the go.

#9) Slay the Spire

Roguelikes have come a long way with the current generation of consoles, and deckbuilding games have proven to be a force to be reckoned with. Slay the Spire combines the two in a seamless way which makes no two runs feel the same. A success on all fronts, and a game we don’t hesitate to recommend again and again. And again. And a few more times.

#8) Heart of the Woods

Heart of the Woods shares a witty, tasteful, relatable romance story – all while wrapping the whole thing up in a supernatural mystery blanket. Its wonderful characters will make you laugh (and roll your eyes) with their puns, while its story will make you cry. Envelop yourself with the warmth and beauty of this unique visual novel.

#7) Life is Strange 2

One of the best forms of social commentary are when pieces of media hold a mirror up to the world we are living in. Life is Strange 2 is one of the year’s best examples of this, and does an extremely good job portraying life in the United States right now – and especially so for those familiar with the Pacific Northwest. It isn’t for the faint of heart, but it is worth your time.

#6) Fire Emblem: Three Houses

Three Houses is one of the most ambitious entries in the long-running Fire Emblem series, and was a captivating experience from start to finish. Each of the three houses have their own story, and each of them feels just as valid as the other(s). Definitely a Switch game worth adding to your shelf. Even if that shelf is digital. Also Bernadette is the best.

#5) AI: The Somnium Files

Kotaro Uchikoshi (Zero Escape) is no stranger to stories which can be described as “ambitious,” “mind-bending,” or “insanely creative.” His latest effort, AI: The Somnium Files, is perhaps his most cohesive work to date. It is a twisty story which will pull you deep into its narrative, all while falling in love with its cast of amazingly developed characters. The attention to detail is second to none, and strikes a perfect balance between ludicrous and affecting.

#4) Control

The latest effort from the storied studio Remedy Entertainment was a hit among the Fyx crew (mostly). Take Control of Jesse Faden as she dives deeper and deeper into the mystery enshrouding the Federal Bureau of Control. It has a distinct style and feel that could only come from the Finnish masterminds over at Remedy, and some of the Fyx crew count it among their favourite games of this generation.

#3) Resident Evil 2

More than just a remake, it’s a total reimagining of one of the most seminal survival-horror games of the late 90s. It does far more than simply doing justice to the original – in many ways it eclipses it, and that is a feat worth recognizing. It is a carefully crafted puzzlebox of a world with attention and care placed into every minor detail. The path to the true ending is also a worthwhile ride, and one which will stick in your memories. Or nightmares. (sorry)

#2) The Outer Wilds

Possibly one of the best adventure games of our time, and a story which could move mountains. The Outer Wilds is something truly special, and one which may affect you in ways beyond what may ever have expected. It will challenge your views on humanity, life, death, language, and even time. A beautiful piece of work from start to finish, and one worthy of being considered a seminal piece of work among video games. Thank you, Mobius Digital.

#1) Disco Elysium

Disco Elysium is the kind of game which changes things. This thought applies in many different ways, but one of the most profound is just how high it raises the bar for RPGs going forward. While “diamond-shaped” narratives are nothing new, Disco Elysium accomplishes something that few (if any) others have ever even approached, and that is creating an experience which reacts and changes with every minor choice you make along the way. The effect of this is so strong that every moment feels as though it was carefully crafted purely for the path you foraged. But, the thing is, that care went into every possible path. Not only that, all of it is incredibly funny, smart, provocative, and challenging. It doesn’t deal with binary good-or-bad choices, it deals with a broad palate of options, each of which ultimately makes your character feel truly human. It doesn’t shy away from problematic language, taboo topics, or deep dives into politics – it revels in them, and it has a blast along the way. Disco Elysium is Fyx’s game of the year for 2019, and it is well earned.

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Gaming Fyx – Fyxies 2019! (Game of the Year!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 04 Jan 2020 23:24:23 +0000

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! That’s right, it’s Game of the Year time!!! Join us for an extravaganza of deliberations while we talk about some of our absolute favourite games of 2019, as well as some of our own categories to get things started.

00:03:03 – Alex’s Anime-ass moments from 2019
00:37:51 – Allyson games with the best presentation
00:53:11 – The games Sam wish he played
01:17:50 – Pat’s favourite Board Games
01:45:24 – Andre shares his biggest Surprises of the year
01:56:12 – Deliberating our Game Of The Year!

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 102! (Bye 2019!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sun, 29 Dec 2019 07:04:38 +0000

We ring in the end of the year the only way we know how – by separately, individually recording some of our reflections on the year that was! Join each of us as we talk through some of our favourites of the year, be them games, music, and more! Bye 2019!

00:01:57 – Allyson!
00:31:48 – Pat!
01:02:33 – Alex!
01:24:11 – Erica!
01:50:58 – Andre!
02:09:36 – Sam!

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 101! (The night is darkest before the Don Rickles!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 21 Dec 2019 18:41:42 +0000

The holiday season is upon us, warm up with a nice fireside chat this week on Gaming Fyx! Lots of game chat, and also lots of future speculation as we approach the end of this decade.

Timestamps:
00:10:20 – Wattam
00:19:45 – Raging Loop
00:23:50 – Disco Elysium
00:53:47 – Rainbow Six: Siege
01:10:12 – Escape from Tarkov
01:26:27 – Destiny 2
01:45:15 – Xbox Series X Chat

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 100! (Episode 100!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sun, 15 Dec 2019 01:24:50 +0000

It has arrived, the hundredth episode of Gaming Fyx! To celebrate, we will be having a giveaway with a lot of games we like and love – listen in to get more details =D There is also a lot of chatting about some of our favourite underrated and underappreciated games of the decade. And a lot of butt talk.

Timestamps:
00:05:05 – Show Start
00:05:25 – Owlboy
00:09:55 – The Missing
00:11:40 – Sleeping Dogs
00:15:25 – Star Wars Battlefront 2
00:31:35 – watch_dogs2
01:56:10 – 999
01:08:29 – Dungeons of Dredmor
01:26:56 – News!

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Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order Review

Andre Cole — Mon, 09 Dec 2019 14:09:12 +0000

Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order $59.99

3.5

Now thats What I call a Star War

We live in a time where Star Wars media has never been more plentiful and varied. Novels, comics, movies, and shows all come out with such regularity that you’ll rarely be left wanting for more. Somewhat oddly, however, video games have failed to capitalize on Star Wars fever this decade. EA has had the exclusive license for the past five years and has seemed unsure of what to do with it. They revived the Battlefront franchise to mixed success and have started and canceled more projects than you can shake a stick at. And yet, somehow, Respawn’s Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order made it to market, as a single-player action-adventure game. The kind of game EA said the world was done with.

Respawn is known for their pioneering work in the FPS genre, revolutionizing games back in the Xbox360/PS3 era with Modern Warfare, and then splitting off from Infinity Ward to create Titanfall, and Apex Legends in the current generation of consoles. That made the reveal of Jedi: Fallen all the more surprising when we realized the game was an action-adventure game, unlike anything Respawn had made up until this point. While not wholly successful, Respawn shows that they’re not a one-trick-pony and that they’re one of the top studios making games right now.

Jedi: Fallen Order is a lot of things. It’s an action-adventure game, a-la Uncharted. It’s a Metroidvania, and it’s also got some From Software DNA in there as well, by way of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. Though Sekiro released recently enough that it’s hard to say how much of an impact it had on Fallen Order. But its other inspirations are clear as day. For example, the combat tutorial at the beginning of the game is a recreation of Uncharted 2’s famous train sequence. This follows a runnin’ around tutorial that introduces the game’s Uncharted-esque climbing mechanics. You’ll be scaling a lot of walls and walking along narrow pipes and branches often throughout your interstellar adventure.

The game handles these moments well enough. Unlike Uncharted, the game is more forgiving if you fall into some sort of chasm and quickly pulls you back to a safe spot with only a small bit of health missing. Uncharted would do well to remember this. Our protagonist, Archie Andrews Cal Kestis, sometimes doesn’t grab on when he should, or a poorly timed jump can send you plummeting, so the quick respawn is much appreciated here. On the PC version, loads are not overly long, so even death doesn’t leave you out of the action much longer than it takes to google some Baby Yoda memes. From what others have said, the console load times are much more frustrating and detrimental to the overall experience. Turning your difficulty down may be worth it to avoid the extra deaths and loads.

Depending on how strong with the Force you feel, you can adjust the difficulty in some neat ways. The main adjustment that you’ll be making is the window within which you can parry enemy attacks. On the lowest difficulty, you can eat a snack during the parry window, while at the highest you’ll be testing your reflexes. While playing on a Steam link, I found the hardest difficulty to be just too unforgiving. Certain enemies felt like their attacks were heat-seeking and would hit me no matter where I dodged to. After dropping the difficulty down a notch, I felt far more capable but still felt that many enemies were far far (away) too resistant to a lightsaber. But that’s kind of par for the course with games about Jedi. While basic Stormtroopers and other small fodder enemies will fall with a single slash of your blade, as soon as they don a pauldron – WATCH OUT – they’re gonna take at least two strikes to slay.

Paired with the array of Force powers you unlock through the game, it feels a little silly to slow an enemy to the point of being nearly frozen, and then to hack at them and have to hit them three-plus times in order to cut down. Alas, the same could be said about nearly any game that features weapons. Not every game can (or needs to) be Bushido Blade. When you’re able to get a handle on the combat and parry enemies reliably and have unlocked a few Force powers the combat makes you feel powerful until you reach enemies that seem unphased by your attacks. I’m hitting you with a lightsaber, at least pretend it hurts.

Outside of combat, you’ll use your Force powers to open up pathways and shortcuts around levels that will advance your journey. They’re basic object manipulation abilities you expect a Jedi to have, so there isn’t much surprise to be found in the upgrades themselves. Each world you visit has a distinct look and feels like a distinct place with its own history or story. For those enamored with that far far away galaxy, I’m sure it’s an absolute treat to explore and find bits of lore scattered about. For me, as someone who checks in on the occasional game and only watches the movies, I found myself bored with the exploration and the items you find scattered about to be unrewarding. If the game had a fast travel system then I may have been more inclined to go back and explore more, but traversing the same climbing and sliding puzzles multiple times isn’t an exciting proposition.

And how many ponchos does our boy need? Not to mention that I basically found one poncho an hour into the game and then never changed out of it because I didn’t find the rest to be that interesting. You can find paint jobs for your ship, but you rarely see it, much like the lightsaber components. You can customize the appearance of your lightsaber with a wide variety of parts, to make a lightsaber that is uniquely you. And then you’ll barely be able to see it hanging off Cal’s belt as he runs around and fights. Eventually, I started asking myself why I was opening chests because they only contain underwhelming cosmetic items. If you’re someone who likes opening chests (non-microtransaction variety) and seeing a completion number creep upwards, then you’ll probably have a good time hunting down everything. That’s not to say you shouldn’t explore though. There are upgrades that will give you an extra healing item scattered about, as well as upgrades for your force and health meters. You’ll pick up far fewer of those than you do lightsaber buttons, however.

Up until this point, I’ve been pretty hard on Jedi, but there is one thing that stands out and above from the rest of the game. Droid companion BD-1 is a joy to spend time with. He is stupidly cute and incredibly useful in your journey; overflowing with character much like an R2-D2 or BB-8. Cal spends most of his journey alone, only joining up with the crew when he returns to the ship, but BD-1 is always there on Cal’s back ready to pass a healing stim or a cheerful chirp of encouragement. I’d say BD-1 is surprisingly deep as a character, but that would be doing a disservice to the many great droids that have existed in the Star Wars universe before now and to BT from Respawn’s Titanfall 2.

The other characters are where the game shines as well. The plot of the game doesn’t serve to alter or push the fiction of Star Wars forward, but it does provide room to tell smaller more personal stories and develop some fantastic characters. Cere and Greeze are your crew and guides through the galaxy and are usually down to chat. Don’t expect Mass Effect style dialogue trees and depth, but the dysfunctional family you build throughout the course of the game do feel like a family by the end as you get to know each of the characters.

I look forward to what Respawn is able to do with a sequel to the game, as I think this attempt at something outside of their shooter-comfort zone shows promise but lacks a certain amount of polish. Those who are invested in the Star Wars universe outside of the movies will find a lot to latch on to and enjoy in the story, lore, and characters. The game captures and blends the spirit and mechanics of so many games before it, and combines them well, but doesn’t do any one thing better than the games it borrows from mechanically.

Pros

Gorgeous visuals
Force powers provide a lot of options
Great characters
Customizable difficulty
BD-1

Cons

Odd animations
Platforming/Climbing sections are not fun
No fast travel system
Collectibles are dull

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 99! (The One Before 100!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 07 Dec 2019 17:52:54 +0000

Finger F to pay your respects to some great games, some cool news, and lots of questionable content which would get us banned from YouTube’s child-friendly new protocols!

Timestamps:
00:05:21 – Days Gone
00:35:39 – Disco Elysium
01:00:43 – League / Teamfight Tactics
01:24:40 – News!

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 98! (Skwovet Permanence!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 30 Nov 2019 17:55:34 +0000

It’s all pizza all the time this week on Gaming Fyx! What do you love on your pizza? We love shiny Wooloos, Wookie fur, and human skin!!

Timestamps:
00:05:06 – Death Stranding
00:16:43 – Pokemon SwSh
00:37:38 – Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
00:56:05 – Dragon Quest XI
00:58:31 – Pizza
01:08:43 – Disco Elysium
01:17:38 – News!

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 97! (BB’s Delivery Service!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 23 Nov 2019 17:49:37 +0000

What’s that flying through the sky? Why it’s Norman Reedus and his Magical Fetus making deliveries on a broom this week on Gaming Fyx! Join us as we chat about a few games, and about a lot of industry goings-ons

Timestamps:
00:04:12 – Pokemon Sword & Shield (news)
00:29:20 – Jedi: Fallen Order
00:45:50 – Layton and the Curious Village
00:49:15 – Steins;Gate Elite
00:51:25 – News!

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The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening Review

Andre Cole — Thu, 14 Nov 2019 03:45:58 +0000

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening $59.99

Stuck between an egg and a hard place.

The Legend of Zelda series rates amongst my favorites in all of games. The worlds are beautiful, weird, and full of surprises. So, naturally, I was excited for the announcement and release of Link’s Awakening, a game which first released just over a month before I was born. After playing it, I’m starting to think that Link’s Awakening would have been better left in the past, recounted only in stories of how weird it is.

From the moment the game started, I was filled with disappointment as the beautiful animation depicting the storm that brings Link to Koholint island gives way to a knock-off Funko Pop style. The opening cinematic is reminiscent of the old art found in manuals for the early games in the series. The art that makes up the game is mostly good, great even, but I despise the design they used for Link. His beady, dead eyes and round head just make me upset every time I look at them. The other inhabitants and monsters of the island cause me no such distress. Maybe the reason Link needs to awaken is that he’s been transformed into a horrible nightmare creature unfit for human contact.

As you wake up in the home of Marin and Tarin, the father and daughter duo who saved you from your shipwreck, the oddness of the island immediately jumps out at you – both figuratively and literally – as a Chain Chomp barks and lunges towards you. You’re in no danger though, this Chain Chomp just has no other way to interact with the world – At least while he’s chained up at home. On a Gameboy in 1993, I can totally see how this would be surreal and unexpected. But in a world where I can boot up my Switch at any time and see three different versions of Link fight Solid Snake in Dracula’s Castle, seeing a Chain Chomp or Goomba in a Zelda game doesn’t feel like it lives up to the reputation of the wacky and wild Nintendo of today.

Perhaps if the game did more to subvert the traditional mechanics players have come to expect in a Zelda game it would still hold some of that mystery and intrigue (Breath of the Wild notwithstanding). Instead, you get a fairly standard top-down Zelda game, with only a few alterations ( that detract from the experience more than they add). Having never played the original release on Gameboy, I can’t speak to the changes that the 2019 remake has implemented compared to the original version, but I can say that there are numerous ideas implemented that just aren’t great today.

One of those ideas is that you can only have two items equipped at a time. I’ve mostly played 3D Zelda games, where you can equip up to three items at any time. Having a mere two feels like playing with an arm tied behind your back, but every ten seconds you need to take a break to change which limb is restrained. One of the main reasons this feels so egregious is Roc’s Feather, an item which allows Link to leap into the air and cross holes and chasms and leap over enemies to gain the upper hand in combat. This feels fresh in this style of Zelda game – at least based on the ones I’ve played – but it also felt like I needed it equipped for 90% of the game. That meant I had basically one slot that I could change items in and out of while still feeling effective. Compare this to the Pegasus Boots, which have TWO (2) whole shoulder buttons dedicated to them. There is no reason that Roc’s Feather couldn’t have also been assigned to one of the L or R buttons, which would save tons of time in menus. Hell, there is a whole D-pad that sits unused which could have had a quick swap for items mapped to it. There are only a handful of items peppered throughout the game in the game, and many you can easily pass over.

In fact, you can pass over a lot in this game because it isn’t interested in holding your hand or giving you detailed explanations of much of anything. You can miss whole mechanics and items for most of the game only to realize in the final leg of the game that you don’t have the tools needed to progress or the game just takes a lot longer to complete because you didn’t happen to go in a certain cave that you were never directed towards. The game is by no means short, but it feels shallow compared to other games in the series. Many of the items you find in the game have a super-limited use case and some will see their usefulness depleted after about 10 minutes. I’m looking at you, Fire Rod. If the island were worth exploring, I might feel differently, but there are only so many block-pushing puzzles a person can feel compelled to do.

The game doesn’t wholly leave the player to fend for themselves, as you can call old man Ulrira who will give you vague guidance on where you should be going next. He won’t tell you what you need to do to do prepare yourself for the location he guides you towards, so you end up sort of lost, you know your destination but lack the means to enter upon arrival.

With all of the negatives I’ve listed about the game, you may be wondering, “doesn’t he like anything about this game?” Of course, the Zelda series comes with a sort of baseline quality that is hard to deny. Exploring is fun, to a point, and as previously mentioned, the aesthetic is cute (even if Link is awful), and the music is good, which feels redundant to say. The Zelda series is synonymous with amazing music. But it doesn’t stand out here.

The combat is decently fun, if not a little simple. Completing the color dungeon about a third of the way through the game allows you to choose a new tunic that will trivialize most of the combat throughout the rest of the game. The jump ability gives new options for finding vulnerable spots on foes, or just avoiding them completely.

Unfortunately, that’s about where all my praise for the game ends. While the world looks and sounds nice, it feels overly padded with obstacles to make traversing a chore. Especially so if you miss the warp song.

Once you get into the dungeons, things aren’t much better. I attribute a sense of interconnectedness to dungeons in the Zelda series. If you follow a path for long enough, it will eventually spit you out in a familiar area, from which you’ll again branch off into a new section of the dungeon. Link’s Awakening, instead, feels like the dungeons lack the cohesion that makes me appreciate the other games in the series so much. Paths through the dungeons often end in dead ends, which means you’ll need to slowly wander back across the dungeon to use whatever item or key you managed to find. This would be alleviated some if I had managed to locate the fish that teaches you how to fast travel much earlier in the game, but alas, I went right instead of left and was left teleportless. The visual language of the dungeons can be far too subtle at times too. I was left stumped in one dungeon until finding a guide that let me know I had to bomb a wall, using clues from an adjacent screen, to open it up. Maybe I’m just unobservant, but the game never once directed my attention to that representation of a bombable wall, so I spent far too long walking in circles and becoming frustrated with what I would normally consider a novel take on dungeon design for the series. All of these dungeons conclude in underwhelming boss fights that are over in a matter of seconds. I’m not expecting this to be as difficult as Dark Souls but I’d like to be challenged in some way, whether that’s creating a puzzling encounter or just something more unique than “hit it with a bomb.”

Link’s Awakening may have been intriguing and weird a decade and a half ago, but every other game in the series has done what this one does, but better. The lackluster dungeon design (not to mention Dampe’s poor excuse for a dungeon builder) is really a shame considering that it is one of the great hallmarks of the series. The small item pool means that the variety of puzzles you’ll encounter throughout the game are incredibly limited, and you’ll be spending a lot of time in menus to swap one item for a single-use than replacing it again. The game feels overly tedious and drawn out because it doesn’t clearly communicate anything to the player. All the magic seems to have left Link’s Awakening as it’s aged, but luckily for you, there are other great Zelda games on the switch. Cadence of Hyrule is a fantastic rhythm game made by the team behind Crypt of the Necrodancer, while A Link To The Past (an all-time classic in the series) is available to Nintendo Switch Online subscribers. Both those games are far more entertaining and worth your time than Link’s Awakening.

Pros

Pleasant art style
Jumping adds a new dimension to combat

Cons

Link’s design is off-putting
Forgettable dungeon design
The critical path is often unclear
Limited item pool
Only a slight variation in puzzles throughout the game.

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 95! (Wario’s Pink Motorcycles!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sun, 10 Nov 2019 07:18:48 +0000

It is finally here. All of those discussions in hushed tones where we asked “what is this game?!” All of those trailers. The speculation is over, and the answer is finally upon is. We can finally tell you about what the game is like on this week’s episode. And that game, of course, is Garfield Kart: Furious Racing.

Oh and also Death Stranding.

Timestamps:
00:05:04 – Luigi’s Mansion 3
00:21:28 – Garfield Kart: Furious Racing
00:26:31 – Mosaic
00:32:33 – Lonely Mountains Downhill
00:35:12 – Borderlands 3
00:36:28 – Alan Wake
00:43:12 – Death Stranding
01:33:42 – News

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Spirit of the North Review

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 02 Nov 2019 17:33:31 +0000

Spirit of the North Review $24.99

A Fuzzy Foxy Friend

Those who know me are likely aware that foxes have played a significant part in my life. I have spent many years volunteering with wildlife, and based on that experience can earnestly say that foxes are my favourite animal. They’re the only wild animal I’ve ever worked with who seem to recognize you are trying to help them during rehabilitation, and will get excited upon seeing you. They’re sweet, playful, and also incredibly clever – on top of being ridiculously cute. Seemingly unrelated, I’m also half-Norwegian, meaning I have a strong connection to these Nordic roots of mine. What happens when you combine Nordic culture with foxes and smush them together into a third-person adventure game? You get Spirit of the North.

In Spirit of the North – the debut effort from Raleigh-based Infuse Studio – you will find yourself in a world inspired by the natural beauty of Iceland while playing as a normal red fox. You run around, wag your tail, are somewhat of a troublemaker while remaining endearingly adorable – you know, normal fox stuff. That is until you meet the spirit of another, ancient fox. While the nature of this spirit ends up being interesting, that isn’t as important as its practical effect on the world. With it by your side, you’re able to affect the world around you in ways no standard, adorable, tail-wagging fox could. You solve puzzles, lend a helping paw to other spirits, explore a deluge of vistas, and change the very world around you. Before we dive too far into the mechanics, it might be worth taking a step back to talk about something which greatly influenced my first impression of the game.

An Unexpected Journey

There is something to be said for a developer who is willing to wear their inspirations directly on their sleeve. It is a noble pursuit when paying homage to the games which meant a lot to the developers, and may garner attention from fans of these inspirations; but also risky as it can welcome direct comparisons to the original materials. My first hour with Spirit of the North was met with many of these direct comparisons, and if I’m honest, none of them went in Spirit of the North’s favour.

In that first hour, the two most obvious connections to make were to thatgamecompany’s modern classic Journey, and the seminal Okami. Spirit of the North swings far more towards Journey with regards to gameplay, pacing, and atmosphere, and takes many cues from Okami in character design, and artistic tone. The game starts by playing so close to Journey that it feels as though the developers were trying to make a copy. Unfortunately, were that the case, it would have been a direct-to-video copy. Reason being, it simply lacks the polish, grandeur, and technical mastery which elevated Journey to being as profound an experience as it is. However, as time went on, my feelings changed – it was when Spirit of the North found its own voice that it truly became interesting.

Once fox and spirit are working in tandem, you will gain access to a pool of abilities which make for some creative, clever puzzle-solving. Where in Journey the puzzles were largely simple to serve as a means to gate the greater experience, the puzzles themselves in Spirit of the North make the experience far better. While they aren’t all exceptional, and occasionally they can be obtuse, I genuinely enjoyed making it to a new chapter and discovering a new mechanic to play around with. Had the game simply stuck with my first impression of being a recreation of Journey, my feelings would not have been so keen; but adding all of these unique flavours served to make something special.

The Real Journey Was the Fox-Friend You Made Along the Way

At its best, Spirit of the North nails that oh-so-nebulous-but-ever-important “flow.” The pace is relaxed, the puzzle design often makes wandering into a new area intuitive to sight read, and exploring areas outside of the critical path rewards players with small, clever, self-contained challenges. I wouldn’t go so far as to say any of the side-puzzles were particularly mind-blowing, but they were often fun despite being relatively simple. And, while avoiding spoilers, seeing how the outcome of these puzzles affected the endgame was a welcome, satisfying surprise. On that note, I feel the last two chapters are triumphant, unique, and elevated the game to something well beyond the sum of its parts.

There are many possible things to nitpick about Spirit of the North – the visuals can sometimes be grungy, the sound design leaves much to be desired, you’ll get lost in some of the more open-ended areas, you’ll lament how it sometimes feels as though you’re controlling a fluffy bus rather than a fox, you’ll run into glitches, you’ll get stuck on puzzles every now and again, you’ll balk at why there’s a dedicated button to barking despite the fact that foxes don’t bark, etc. I felt miffed by all of these at some point or another; but upon reaching the credits, none of them really mattered.

It was as the credits began to roll that I was left truly impressed. The listed credits for the entire game had two names – three including the music’s composer. With how stunningly beautiful the last chapters were, I never would have guessed they were created, designed, and developed by only two people. That in and of itself is an amazing feat, and something wholly worth celebrating. I applaud these developers, and am very excited to see what they do next.

Spirit of the North may have its fair share of flaws, but is ultimately a success in spite of them. It’s a feel-good puzzle game which will leave you with feelings of whimsy, wonder, and warmth. If you enjoyed Journey, it is a fairly easy recommendation – though its price point may warrant hesitation for some. In the end it won me over, and will be a game I’ll revisit when I need a warm hug from an old friend.

Pros

Creative mechanics leading to fun puzzles
Gorgeous final area(s)
Truly impressive given the tiny team

Cons

Some prevalent jank/lack of polish (excusable because of team size)
Unfavourable facsimile of other games

The post Spirit of the North Review appeared first on Fyx.

Gaming Fyx – Episode 94! (One Nut November!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 02 Nov 2019 17:30:37 +0000

Pick your favourite nut as we guide you through the perilous landscape of November game releases! It’s going to be a busy one, folks.

Timestamps:

00:08:58 – The Outer Worlds
00:34:45 – Ciconia: When They Cry
00:46:54 – Spirit of the North
00:06:30 – Luigi’s Mansion 3
01:11:58 – Link’s Awakening
01:33:41 – Lonely Mountains Downhill
01:30:25 – Marvel Champions (Card Game)
01:45:05 – News (01:57:53 loud noise on mine)
02:11:40 – The End

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 93! (Your Butt is Significant!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 26 Oct 2019 18:01:47 +0000

Allyson, Pat, and Alex are here to guide you through some of the best games of this year! And some that probably aren’t! And some in between!

Timestamps:
00:03:52 – Outer Worldz
00:22:42 – League of Legendz
00:34:47 – Manifold Garden
00:42:38 – Ring Fit Adventure
01:16:01 – Little Town Hero
01:25:51 – News! Death Stranding
01:31:41 – Fallout First
01:43:30 – WWE 2K20

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Manifold Garden Review

Alex Gelinas — Fri, 25 Oct 2019 19:21:01 +0000

Manifold Garden Review 19.99

Leave your logic at the door

In my opinion, one of the most gratifying feelings that can come out of playing a game is that “a-hah!” moment of solving a complex puzzle. The catharsis of finding your way to the solution, and being able to put together the creator’s final vision are both worthy of being dubbed top tier experiences. However, it can be tough to strike that “just right” balance with puzzles. One which you can deconstruct and intuit too quickly makes the moment-to-moment execution feel like busy-work. Equally, having the solution be too obtuse makes it frustrating. The best puzzles are those which encourage experimentation, establish and abide by their own internal logic, and creative in a way to make you want to shake hands with the person (or people) who created them.

Also in my opinion, some of the most fascinating puzzles are the ones which require lateral thinking – ones which require you to look at individual elements from angles you maybe wouldn’t have initially considered, or which challenge your preconceived expectations going in. Portal is probably the most popular example of this, as was emphasized by its “now you’re thinking with portals” tagline. Another personal favourite of mine has also been Antichamber, which delves into the world of non-euclidean geometry, and subverts your expectations with masterfully crafted, mind-bending puzzles. All of this preamble finally brings us to Manifold Garden, a game by William Chyr Studio.

Manifold Garden wasn’t really on my radar until it came out. When folks started referring to it as a spiritual successor to Antichamber, I knew I had to go into it as soon as possible, as blind as possible. I absolutely recommend this approach, and if you choose to do so, let me tell you this so you can leave now and feel okay: it is ambitious, well-executed, and a densely packed puzzle experience let down by some performance issues and occasional flaws with control and design. Now go and play it! For those less concerned about being “spoiled,” let’s dive a bit deeper.

What once was up…

Once in the game, one of the first things you’ll notice is the instantly striking aesthetic. It is cut from the same cloth as both Antichamber and Portal in how it uses a minimalist art style and simple environment to great effect. Upfront, everything is made up of simple shapes, and few colours; but it is what happens the first time you step “outside” which will leave take your breath away. The first thing you’ll see out there is a giant tower. No, not just one, seemingly infinite giant towers. This is coupled with your first challenge – your path to the closest tower is impeded by a large gap you need to cross; but you cannot jump. How can you possibly cross it?

Manifold Garden does not abide by the rules we adhere to in our world. It is non-euclidean and Escher-esque, which means you can’t approach solutions by using silly things like “logic” and “reason.” Upon realizing that all of the towers surrounding you are exactly the same, the solution is to let go of logic and jump into the void. Rather than being met by a kill screen, you continually fall further down, entering an infinitely recursive loop. All of the towers are actually one tower, what you perceive as “up” can change in an instant, and the world is both massive and small all at once. Once your mind has recognized that this is how the world works, the real joy in Manifold Garden is seeing just how creative things will be around the next corner.

The puzzles are consistently creative, and will stretch your mind in satisfying, rewarding ways. I never felt the compulsion to look up a solution because the mere act of discovery itself was so gratifying. By the end, the whole experience took me under 4 hours; but it is so densely packed that I needed to take multiple breaks across those hours. No element or puzzle style ever felt like it overstayed its welcome because the whole package felt cohesive and carefully considered.

While solving the puzzles themselves is often enough of a reward to want to keep going, the game continually dazzles you with visual feasts when you complete each discrete area. These moments are both stunning and mesmerizing in equal parts – especially so as you reach the final moments of the game. These spectacles were so ambitious and creative that the programmer in me kept asking “how did they even do that?” while the game-playing-audience-member in me simply reply “shut up and enjoy it, this is awesome.”

Sometimes is down…

All of that being said, there were flaws which were hard to ignore. For one, performance on my MacBook Pro could occasionally only be classified as “abysmal.” Despite having a dedicated GPU, I had to turn the settings down almost as far as they would go just to have a consistent framerate. I encountered a handful of crashes, and overall was sad to have what was an otherwise fluid and engrossing experience let down by single-digit framerates and crashes to desktop.

On top of that, occasionally control itself was an issue. There are points where you need to carry objects with you, and I encountered many situations where the object would get stuck on something and I’d need to go back to the start of the whole puzzle in order to continue. Or I’d be going up some stairs and suddenly start falling through the world because I didn’t realize the floor beneath my feet was perforated with large gaps. While this might be a nitpicky, it happened with enough frequency to be a bit frustrating.

Lastly, while I absolutely appreciate how little the game holds your hand, it is also entirely possible to get yourself into a situation where the puzzle is unsolvable without even knowing it. Not realizing you had to bring something from a previous area with you into a new one is very easy to encounter, which can result in many confused minutes of exploring every inch of a space without realizing there was a puzzle piece missing the entire time. While I wouldn’t advocate for the game to push for hand holding, I definitely would have appreciated feedback knowing that I was missing a vital piece of the puzzle.

At its worst, Manifold Garden is great. At its best, it is transcendent. It is easily one of the best puzzle games of the past few years, and I can’t even imagine how much effort must have gone into designing the majority of its unique, multi-layered areas. While its flaws definitely detract from the overall experience, it is still a game which is absolutely worth experiencing. It will challenge you, leave you saying “wow” aloud, and consistently surprise you.

Pros

Uniquely satisfying puzzles
A world which you want to poke and prod
Beautiful aesthetics
Doesn’t overstay its welcome

Cons

Major performance issues
Lack of feedback can mean getting stuck at a dead end without knowing.
Some control & design issues.

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A Hat in Time’s Switch File Size is Huge – Here’s My Best Guess as to Why

Alex Gelinas — Mon, 21 Oct 2019 14:44:54 +0000

Earlier today I was reading a Nintendo Life article about how the file size for the Switch version of A Hat in Time sits at a massive 16GB (four times larger than the existing versions on other consoles). I broke one of the cardinal rules of the internet by reading through the comments section to see what folks were saying about this, and props to Nintendo Life, your commenters are great!

I did appreciate one comment from a user named Pod who is a graphics programmer in games, and offered a succinct guess as to their thoughts as to why. Basically, it boiled down to how those doing the port work likely didn’t have time to optimize, by re-using the same assets in different places. Rather than optimize and repeatedly use the same asset in a clever way, they may instead have used unique assets for every instance. This is absolutely a likely candidate for the ballooning file size, but I have another hunch.

To quickly contextualize, I have worked as a professional programmer since 2014 and have developed many games in that time (17 by my last count, most of which being small experiences). I have also developed a custom engine, as well as one of the first publicly available VR experiences (back when Oculus Dev Kit 1 came out). With that out of the way, let’s put our detective hats on and see if we can’t sniff out what’s going on.

I do agree with Pod that reusing assets likely contributes to a decent amount of the file size increase, but this also assumes that they are using HD assets for their visuals. It’s pretty common for devs to downscale their visuals for Switch, often leading to smaller file sizes because it has to render things in lower fidelity. However, if they continue to use HD assets and then are dynamically downscaling, then Pod’s explanation is definitely one possible factor.

The one which seems more likely to me comes to mind because of my recent experience with playing AI: The Somnium Files on Switch (you can find my review for it here). In its late-game, there are some heinous performance issues. These issues arose when it would do flashbacks to earlier points in the game. These would dynamically render a scene which happened earlier in the game – often times taking place in a different environment with characters who weren’t currently present on screen. Despite the flashbacks taking place in a very tiny on-screen window, sometimes it would take upwards of 15 – 20 seconds for these one-line flashbacks to finish loading.

From what I could tell by looking at it in a black-box way (meaning analyzing the game from the outside with no access to the source code), this is symptomatic of straight porting the code over from the PS4/PC version and expecting it to behave the same way on the Switch. Those other platforms have access to more discrete threads, a more powerful GPU, and more RAM – meaning dynamic rendering can be more fluid. There are many reasons a developer would want to dynamically render, with a major one being for optimizing localization.

Localization is the act of translating the game’s contents to various languages (usually Japanese and EFIGS – English, French, Italian, German, Spanish). When doing dynamic rendering, if you’re in Japanse, you just pipe in a specific sound asset and animation for that locale. English? Same thing, pipe in the English asset and the English animation; but the rendering of the visuals is exactly the same – it is a shared resource. The problem this avoids is one which is my suspect for what is causing A Hat in Time to be so giant – lots of prerendered stuff.

Usually the biggest culprits for file size hogs come from uncompressed media assets (audio, video, etc). One of the reasons that Nintendo-developed games are so tiny is because they heavily optimize these assets, and often downsample them (for example, with audio, you can think of it as using SD audio instead of HD audio).

If A Hat in Time is using HD, uncompressed assets for every localization, that is probably taking up a ton of space. Couple that with the possibility that they were running into performance issues with dynamic rendering, and the first solution I’d go to as a programmer would be prerendering everything for every locale. This tradeoff would give us better performance in exchange for a larger overall file size.

For the sake of argument, let’s say we did this and then generated ~1GB of prerendered assets across multiple languages (let’s go with the 6 languages mentioned above) which gives us an additional ~6GB on top of our original file size. It’s pretty easy to see how these file sizes can start to snowball really fast as soon as you’re doing localization! And especially why it can be far more space efficient to dynamically render.

This would be my best guess for why the game is so enormous compared to its counterparts on other consoles, but this is looking purely objectively without having played the game, nor looked at the source code. No matter the case, hopefully this quick read could give you some insight into what goes on behind the scenes while making games!

The post A Hat in Time’s Switch File Size is Huge – Here’s My Best Guess as to Why appeared first on Fyx.

Gaming Fyx – Episode 92! (Basically Neo!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 19 Oct 2019 17:29:16 +0000

Get your poop joke quota filled with this week’s Gaming Fyx! Lots of games to talk about, and not just video games!

00:01:42 – Assemble With Care
00:09:00 – What The Golf
00:14:49 – Sayonara Wild Hearts
00:29:20 – Borderlands 3
00:31:10 – Ring Fit Adventure
00:48:23 – Board Game Time! (Spirit Island)
00:59:27 – Gloomhaven
01:07:23 – Destiny The Second
01:19:35 – The End

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 91! (Ride That Slug!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 12 Oct 2019 17:49:40 +0000

We’re here to win your hearts with plenty of new game talk, a bit of old game talk, and a ton of news. Strap in, it’s a doozie.

00:03:16 – Disney Frozen Adventures
00:10:51 – Apple Arcade (OSX)
00:17:03 – Blankspace
00:26:23 – Destiny 2
00:49:28 – Killer queen black
01:02:28 – Valfaris
01:11:03 – PS5 / PSVR2 / General Sony Stuff
01:40:20 – Blizzard.
02:01:26 – The End

Blankspace Demo: https://nobreadstudio.itch.io/blankspace
Episode Image: https://www.deviantart.com/yuumei/art/Mei-the-force-be-with-Hong-Kong-816429176

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Eliza Review

Alex Gelinas — Fri, 11 Oct 2019 01:25:47 +0000

Eliza Review $14.99

Herald in a new era

Depictions of mental health within media can be an incredibly sensitive thing to approach. When handled properly, it can be quite affecting to those who have been through similar kinds of suffering. Empathy is critical for these kinds of stories to feel real – if the way in which mental health is being portrayed within the story doesn’t feel realistic, then it can potentially feel pandering or even dismissive. Zachtronics, developers of the visual novel Eliza, have approached this subject in a way which makes it clear that proper research was done, and even more likely, those who wrote the story have been through similar struggles to the characters they portray.

“Well-researched” is exactly how I would describe the writing in Eliza. By the time you are finished with its story, you will have picked up on vernacular which is used by both professional programmers and psychologists, complex concepts which would normally take significant explanation, and what can realistically be expected of a computer. A particular favourite amongst these researched subjects was one character’s rampant obsession with synthesizers – as a longtime user and fan of synths, I adored seeing direct references to Moog, LFOs, and the TB-303. However, before I get ahead of myself, what is this game?

Meet Eliza

Eliza pulls you into a not-too-distant future world wherein access to mental health services has become ubiquitous. This was accomplished by developing an AI psychiatrist (named Eliza) who reads stimuli from a patient (heart rate, skin temperature, vocabulary used, et cetera) in order to diagnose and offer treatment. What differentiates the Eliza system from other AI-driven counseling systems is how it interacts with its patients. A patient never has to look at a screen or wait for a computer printout of their diagnosis – Eliza clinics hire humans to be proxies between them and the system.

This system is great in concept, and for many patients, great in execution as well. They are given feedback and treatment options for whatever has been plaguing them, and they get to do so by interacting with a real-life human – all while the costs are extremely low for them! But what if the system is imperfect? What if human emotions are too nuanced to be boiled down to floating point numbers put through a series of conditional statements? What about the people acting as proxies, should they have any agency during these sessions? What if Eliza is wrong? These questions and more are what Eliza aims to answer.

You guide Evelyn through a web woven with many deep characters – each with their own history, passions, problems, and goals. The characters are the best part of the story, and by the end, you will genuinely care about what happens with each of them. From minor ones who initially seem like they won’t get much play later, to ones who shape the core of the story – they all get their arcs, and they all get their conclusions.

As expected of a visual novel, the moment-to-moment gameplay is fairly straightforward. However, one differentiating factor from most VNs is that every line of Eliza is voice acted, and done very well – so if you prefer hearing a story rather than reading one, this is an exemplary implementation of voice acting in a VN. There are choices to be made, and as in other Zachtronics games, a well-designed Solitaire game! While the solitaire itself has no story consequences associated with its completion, it is still a welcome distraction (even if the music which plays during it is awful – I had to mute the game whenever I played it).

I would like to applaud Eliza for how well it handles mental health, and the weight with which it affects people. No-one’s plights are made to be any more or less valid than another’s, and all of it feels extremely relatable. I have nearly no criticisms with how this aspect of the story is handled. In fact, I’d say that the majority of the story is excellent. However, that does lead me to my one real criticism of the game.

So, so close

I don’t intend to spoil any story beats nor flow when I say this; but it must be noted that while the tale Eliza weaves about human resilience and our ability to grow and cope with nearly anything, I found the final act of Eliza is quite underwhelming. It has numerous endings, and I wouldn’t say that any of them felt fleshed out enough for me to say they were satisfying. Some had endings which felt entirely incongruous and inconsistent with everything set before it, some felt too black and white for how many shades of gray were in play, and some simply felt like they had nothing to say.

The main reason this was disappointing to me was because of just how good everything was up until that point. It felt as though the story was juggling dozens of balls masterfully, but in its last chapter, forgot how to juggle and instead just grabbed a few from the air and let the rest fall where they may. The main problem across all of them is that they all felt too short – like they needed an extra scene each, at least. Perhaps this is being an armchair game designer, and this was something Zachtronics wanted to do but couldn’t accomplish for whatever reason; but it did deflate the experience for me – especially given how, up until that point, I was loving it so much that I didn’t want it to end at all!

Ultimately, Eliza is a fantastic experience. It dives deep into subjects which aren’t often talked about openly, and does so with expert attention to detail. It is a biting commentary on our reliance on technology in the modern world, and does not use kid gloves while doing so. Along with technology, it is a wonderfully executed think piece on mental health, and what it is like for everyday people to be afflicted by mental illness. Were it not for the story stumbling across the finish line, it would be a wholehearted recommendation without any caveats; but as it stands, expectations ought to be tempered for its conclusion.

Pros

Extremely well researched
Fantastic characters
Voice acting & art is great
Fun Solitaire minigame

Cons

Disappointing final act
Incongruous ending(s)

Steam
Switch

The post Eliza Review appeared first on Fyx.

Patent For New PlayStation VR Surfaces

Andre Cole — Thu, 10 Oct 2019 00:52:15 +0000

There has been a deluge of PlayStation news in the past week. The departure of Shawn Layden, the official launch of crossplay support on PS4, PlayStation Now price cuts, and a more in-depth look at the officially named PlayStation 5. But the news keeps coming. Let’s Go Digital has uncovered a Sony patent for a new VR headset. You may remember them as the group that uncovered the patent that was revealed to be the PlayStation 5 devkit, so there’s a history here.

Eurogamer has translated the report into English, for those of us unable to read German. The details are scarce, but they do give us a look into what the future of PlayStation VR may look like.

The biggest news out of this patent is that the headset may be wireless. It will use Bluetooth to send data to and from the headset, which means no more pesky wires tripping you up. This is easily the worst part of the PlayStation VR in its current form, so this is a welcome change if they can keep latency low enough. No more snagging your move controllers on the cable while you play Beat Saber.

Speaking of move controllers, it looks like a new iteration of the controllers may be on the horizon. The patent shows a move controller with a camera attached. How this will be used is unclear, but it will also be paired with cameras in the headset as well. Two cameras mounted to the front of the headset and one on the back. These could be used to help track motion, as the current headset can easily lose players if they face away from the PlayStation Camera. This patent reportedly also mentions the ability to pair the headset with a camera to improve tracking, like the PlayStation Camera.

Another possible use for the cameras is to allow users to see the world around them without removing the headset. Another shortcoming of the current PSVR. There are also plenty of other uses for cameras on a VR headset, like augmented reality. However, it remains to be seen what the headset will actually be capable of.

Unlike the PS5, there’s no word on when this headset might be releasing. There may be no need to rush the headset as Sony has confirmed that the current PSVR will work with the PS5. Whether games developed with this new headset in mind will work with current hardware remains to be seen.

What sort of features would you like to see in a new PSVR? Sound off in the comments below, or tweet at us, @FyxPodcasts.

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Nintendo Reveals Galarian Ponyta – Exclusive to Pokemon Shield

Sam Harrison — Wed, 09 Oct 2019 20:56:23 +0000

Last week during a 24 hour Pokémon Sword & Shield live stream NIntendo revealed a Galarian variant of Ponyta. With a pastel coloured mane and a horn you could mistake Galarian Ponyta for a My Little Pony character.

Today Nintendo shared some more details on Galarian Ponyta:

Galarian Ponyta is exclusive to Pokémon Shield
It can be found in Glimwood Tangle forest
The pastel coloured mane is caused by the “overflowing life energy” in Glimwood Tangle
It has two exclusive abilities – “Pastel Veil” and “Run Away”
Its mane will sparkle when there is a lot of energy in the atmosphere

Galarian Ponyta is exclusive to Pokémon Shield

So if, like me, you fell in love with Sirfetch’d, the hybrid duck and medieval knight Pokémon with a giant leek for a sword and a leaf for a shield, you won’t be able to have both in your squad without trading. Time to make some friends with either duck or pony lovers depending on your personal proclivities!

It can be found in Glimwood Tangle forest

This information was in a very excellent Polygon article you can read here. On the official page for Galarian Ponyta it only says:

“Galarian Ponyta have been found in a certain forest of the Galar region since ancient times. It is said that they were exposed to the overflowing life energy of the forest over many generations, and this is why their appearance became unique in this region.”

The pastel coloured mane is caused by the “overflowing life energy” in Glimwood Tangle

This is laid out in the previous point, but I want to call special attention to how adorable it looks. It’s just so cute. Like a Ponyta but instead with candy floss instead of flames. I don’t know about you but I prefer candy floss to open flames personally.

It has two exclusive abilities – “Pastel Veil” and “Run Away”

Pastel Veil is basically an anti-poison ability. It will prevent the Galarian Ponyta and allied Pokémon from becoming poisoned and can cure its ally when it enters the fray.

Run away isn’t explored in the article, so maybe bigger Pokémon fans than I can leave a comment below explaining how this will work in Sword & Shield.

Its mane will sparkle when there is a lot of energy in the atmosphere

Yeah this thing is just a straight up dreamboat. I was already fairly set on Pokémon Shield, but if anything this has confirmed my previous bias. Luckily I’m part of a pretty strong gaming community spearheaded by my co-hosts on the Gaming Fyx podcast, so I probably won’t have to worry about getting Sirfetch’d. Leave a comment below saying which version you’re getting!

The information in this article was sourced from Polygon.com, Pokémon.com and Pokémon’s official Twitter account. If you’ve got a news tip or have something you think we should be writing about you can reach out to me at sam@box5800.temp.domains.

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Sony Reveals The PlayStation 5

Sam Harrison — Tue, 08 Oct 2019 21:31:57 +0000

Earlier today Sony formally announced the PlayStation 5. While we had known a next generation console was coming soon we now have so many more details. And we also know when we’ll be able to buy it – holiday 2020.

In an exclusive article in WIRED Sony revealed the following:

The next Sony console will be called the PlayStation 5
It’s releasing holiday 2020
Ray tracing is built into the hardware
There will be a new controller with haptics replacing the rumble feature
All PS5s will have solid state drives
Games will be able to install on a modular basis

Those are the headlines on the PS5, but let’s dive a little deeper into the announcements with somore more details below. If you’d like to read the WIRED article you can do so here, otherwise I’ve summarised a lot of the info below.

The next Sony console will be called the PlayStation 5

This one isn’t exactly a shocker. The company that released the PlayStation, then PlayStation 2, followed by PlayStation 3 and finally the hugely original PlayStation 4 is going to continue the naming scheme. I think the bigger deal is with how they announced it. With the PlayStation 4 they held a live event in New York, livestreamed around the world with Joel McHale. This time out it’s a simple article in WIRED. Not even a video. It will be interesting to see how this pans out for Sony. Are they being over-confident or subtle?

It’s releasing holiday 2020

Again this wasn’t a huge surprise. Seven years after the release of the PlayStation 4 we now have a PlayStation 5. Consoles have always tried to ship in time for the Christmas period, as this is their best time of the ear for sales. So having a new system on shelves when the most number of people are looking for something to buy is sort of a no-brainer. Expect Microsoft’s next generation console to release at the same time too.

Ray tracing is built into the hardware

Now here’s where I hold my hand up and tell you that basically all I know about ray tracing is that it makes the lighting in gaming look more realistic. Here’s a much better explanation from my old friend WikiPedia:

“In computer graphics, ray tracing is a rendering technique for generating an image by tracing the path of light as pixels in an image plane and simulating the effects of its encounters with virtual objects. The technique is capable of producing a very high degree of visual realism, usually higher than that of typical scanline rendering methods, but at a greater computational cost.”

And here’s a video showing you the difference between non and ray tracing graphics from excellent British YouTuber The Tech Chap: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n68s9I28AvY

There will be a new controller with haptics replacing the rumble feature

AND IT WILL HAVE USB-C

*ahem*

Sony is debuting a new controller with the PS5 just like with the DualShock 4 and the PS4 in 2013. This new controller will charge via USB-C, have a longer battery life and will forgo standard rumble for more sophisticated haptics.

As an iPhone user I can tell you now that the haptic vibrations that Apple has built into iOS are so much better than the generic rumble. They’re subtler but able to convey different things with different patterns and strengths of vibration VS the rumble we’re getting now. Think of the Switch’s HD Rumble and then just increase the complexity of what they can do. We’ll be able to feel how many balls are in our DualShock 5 whenever necessary.

All PS5s will have solid state drives

Earlier this year Mark Cerny talked about SSDs and how much they improved load time without really going into detail on how they would fit into the hardware for the next generation. But now we know that they are going to be standard in every PS5, which is a really big deal. Some games are now struggling to open menus in a timely fashion, especially on the base PS4, so this is a huge win.

Games will be able to install on a modular basis

Anyone who follows me on social media (Twitter/Instagram/Cat Instagram) will now that I love my cats and I don’t really play multiplayer games. I recently installed Gears 5, which was a huge download, and I will probably only play the single player story for that game.

I would save so much space by only installing the modes of games I am actually going to play, and this is probably even more true for people who are all multiplayer and don’t bother with single player. No need to install a huge open world and hundreds of hours of dialogue if you’re just there for the 4v4 deathmatch multiplayer mode.

If you’ve got a news tip or have something you think we should be writing about you can reach out to me at sam@box5800.temp.domains.

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Photographs Review

Pat Cotter — Tue, 08 Oct 2019 20:55:34 +0000

Photographs Review 11.99

Look at these Photographs

Photographs is a game about choices. Not the Telltale/Bioware kinds of choices, but the regrettable choices that people make in the leadup to tragedy. It’s a strange thing for a puzzle game with somewhat rigid gameplay to have this sort of narrative tied to it, and much like its fundamental misunderstanding of tragedy, it doesn’t offer any satisfying messages about choices, either.

But all of this is getting ahead of what this game is. Photographs is the latest puzzle game from developer Luca Redwood. Redwood’s fantastic body of work includes classics like 10,000,000 and You Must Build A Boat. Both of these games would make a list of my top 20 favorite mobile games, but sadly, Photographs just misses the mark.

The largest difference in contrast to its predecessors is its focus on narrative. Across several chapters, you’ll engage with unique puzzle mechanics. This is the most interesting part of the game, as switching up the puzzle styles really helps keep things fresh and moving. The problem here mechanically is that some of the puzzles just don’t feel particularly great.

One chapter’s interesting pinball-esque mechanics fade away when you realise that the solutions are in fact quite rigid, rather than physics based. Another chapter just provides you with simple jigsaw puzzles. In another chapter, you find yourself drawing lines on grids with some interesting rules, but controlling the pen is so frustrating that it kills any satisfaction from solving the puzzle.

Perhaps the greatest sin committed by these puzzles is that they’re so easy. I solved most of them within a minute or two, and even the most insidious ones felt more frustrating than challenging. On top of this, these mechanics aren’t really given room to evolve and breathe. By the time you get a handle on the mechanics and would be ready for more complex implementations of them, you’ve reached the end of the story, and the end of the puzzles.

The thing I most enjoyed about Photographs is the way the puzzles connected with the stories told in each chapter. While a couple of these chapters missed the mark, the way the game abstracts things like diving, newspaper editing, and even more outlandish concepts into repeatable puzzles is neat. I just wish it all controlled better, felt more elaborate, and were tied to more compelling narratives.

Which brings up the biggest issue I have with the game: its story.

As mentioned above, Photographs is split into several chapters, each telling an independant story. You have chapters like the Alchemist, the Athlete, the Journalist, and a few others. All of these stories are about the central character making poor choices, and fostering tragedy. The resulting trauma in most of these stories feels obvious, gratuitous, and empty.

It’s hard to get into specifics without spoiling the game, but the only story that resonated with me at all was the Athlete’s, which coincidentally is the story that shows restraint when hyperbolizing its tragedy. In every other instance, what starts as a promising look at big, important topics like colonization, corrupt news media, and power structures ends in violent and unjustified tragedy. This gets worse as you reach the ending of the game, which provides you with one of the only real choices you make in the game. Unfortunately, this final choice was immensely disappointing to me.

I hate to say it, because I’m a fan of Redwood’s work, but you’d be better served to revisit one of his classics over playing Photographs. The weak narrative elements combined with overly simple and poorly expanded puzzling segments makes for quite the whiff for me.

Pros

Puzzle mechanics that align with the narrative in interesting ways.

Cons

Easy puzzles that don’t really ramp in challenge or complexity in a satisfying way.
Poorly constructed narratives that lack satisfying conclusions.
A deeply disappointing ending.

Steam

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Supraland Review

Alex Gelinas — Tue, 08 Oct 2019 13:34:10 +0000

Supraland Review 19.99

Supraland is sometimes really great

Supraland is a total enigma. On one hand, it is an extremely well-designed first-person, lateral-thinking puzzle game with a ton of creativity, along with a wealth of satisfying puzzles to be solved. On the other, it has some frustratingly obtuse solutions to some of its core puzzles, occasionally questionable humour, and moments where it simply isn’t fun. It regularly wavers between being a game I absolutely love, and one which I can’t possibly recommend. Now, months after having completed it, I come out somewhere in the middle – Supraland is ultimately a worthwhile experience, but also has some pretty significant caveats.

Supraland comes from German developer Supra Games, a very small team (three developers overall; but most of this game is credited to one person – David Münnich). It has a very distinct look, a hybrid between minimalism and hyper-realism. All of the characters are essentially single-coloured flat shapes which have very simple animations. These characters are super tiny, but live in a big world. This world they occupy is a vibrant, detailed depiction of a sandbox in the middle of someone’s backyard. It makes great use of the UE4 engine, though sometimes its motion blur did get a bit distracting (at the time of playing, it couldn’t be turned off).

Its gameplay is often interesting, and it’s clear that Münnich drew influence from games such as Portal, Zelda, Serious Sam, The Witness, Metroid, and The Talos Principle. While I wouldn’t say it is a perfect hybrid of all of those listed, I would say that it does a fairly good job with using some of the best ingredients from each of them and making a pretty compelling gameplay loop. There are many secrets to be found, upgrades to be had, and puzzles hidden in places you wouldn’t expect. It feels somewhat like Mario Odyssey in that you’ll seemingly glitch your way up some random cliff, and be surprised by finding a chest waiting for you at the end.

Supraland isn’t all about puzzle solving, either. It has a fair amount of combat which ranges from feeling pretty fun to pretty bad (depending on the encounter). Enemy designs are largely fine, though I’ll admit that by the time I was finished, I preferred avoiding the majority of combat encounters rather than engaging with them.

With regards to the more puzzle-y side of things, the game hands out new gameplay mechanics at a steady pace, and has many of them. When you get a new ability, the scenarios it throws you into are a pretty gentle ramp to get used to your fresh, shiny tools. By the end, it is combining all of them in some pretty fantastic ways!

It also isn’t a short game – I spent a decent amount of time working through side content, and had my fill after about 17 hours. It’s good value for what you’ll pay ($20 USD), and has a significant demo if you’re interested in giving it a shot (all progress carries over to the full version of the game).

There are many praises to be sung about Supraland, but I think there’s also many small grievances which piled into a more significant collection of them by the time it had finished. Both the story and humour left me with a feeling of “should I be laughing at this?” at certain points.

But sometimes it really isn’t…

The humour can sometimes be quite funny, honestly. It is very referential, with one dig at Call of Duty sticking out as being pretty laugh-worthy to me; but equally, its referential humour can feel a bit too on-the-nose and leave you shrugging rather than laughing. While a lot of the humour is pithy and innocent, it does occasionally throw in some head scratchingly off-tone jokes which really didn’t hit at all – ones which can come across as glorifying sexist and/or racist rhetoric. If it was just one, I’d say “okay there are some cultural differences between North America and Europe, maybe something was lost in translation,” but given that it comes up a handful of times, I must give a bit of pause when thinking about if I agree with some of the sentiments at play.

There are a few story beats which are interesting takes on things such as religion (“what if all religions are the same?” type of thoughts) but I’d also say that, by the end, the commentary which is put forth by the story falls flat and ultimately comes across as a bit petty. I respect anyone who wants to put their own views within their creative works, but I don’t know if I cared for some of the lukewarm-to-medium-warm takes Supraland tries to convey. Again, sexism and making light of sexual assault doesn’t play well to me (specifically there is a puzzle solution which involves getting women to be attracted to someone purely because he appears to have accolades – they don’t think about it, and instead just blindly follow whoever appears to be most successful).

Compounded with commentary which left a sour taste in my mouth, there were gameplay moments which had me wanting to just be done with particular sections. Puzzles which had such frustratingly obtuse solutions that finding the answers more often felt contrived than clever; busy-work puzzles where the answer was obvious, but the execution took time rather than thinking; combat which feels imbalanced/difficult compared to everything else you’ve done; a very mediocre final puzzle; et cetera. This isn’t made better by the soundtrack or sound effects – the majority of which are forgettable.

There is a lot of good to say about Supraland, and I do have fond feelings for a lot of my time with it. When at its best, it is an impressive feat which is worthy of anyone’s time; but at its worst, it leaves me with the feeling of “I don’t want my friends to think I agree with what this game is trying to say.” In the end, it is an extraordinarily creative puzzle game with a significant amount of content to be explored and experienced; but also one which can be actively unfun to play, and occasionally expresses some feelings you might either find funny, or really gross. I somewhat recommend it, but you should maybe expect to bite your tongue every now and again.

Pros

Clever mechanics
Some great puzzles
Occasional laughs

Cons

Troubling commentary
Some really bad puzzles/encounters

Steam

The post Supraland Review appeared first on Fyx.

Four New Games Hit Apple Arcade

Sam Harrison — Mon, 07 Oct 2019 21:52:01 +0000

We recently talked about Apple Arcade in episode 89, and while I’ve been working my way through a small selection of titles for iPhone and iPad four new games have quietly been added to the service over the weekend.

First up we have The Bradwell Conspiracy, a story-driven first person puzzle game from Bossa Studios Ltd set in the aftermath of a mysterious explosion at the Stonehenge museum. It has music from Austin Wintory and is narrated by British late-night TV legend Jonathan Ross. Here’s their description of the game:

Following a sudden explosion at the Stonehenge Museum fundraiser, you find yourself trapped in a hidden underground complex. Your only means of escape is by sending photographs of your surroundings to another survivor confined elsewhere. But before long, a disturbing truth begins to dawn…

Click here to download it if you’ve got an Apple Arcade subscription: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/the-bradwell-conspiracy/id1458000142

Next is 3D arcade space combat game Redout: Space Assault. The game looks to be fast paced and is definitely pretty to look at, though it might be best with a bluetooth controller. Here’s what they say about the game:

THE NEXT GENERATION OF ARCADE SPACE SHOOTERS IS HERE
Redout: Space Assault puts you in control of a Super Orbital Recon Fighter during the 2395 Colonization of Mars: dive in the fastest, most epic and exciting arcade space battle you can experience on an Apple device. Outsmart, outmaneuver, overpower, outclass your opponents in lightning-fast, adrenaline-inducing single-player space combat.

Click here to download if you’ve got an Apple Arcade subscription: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/redout-space-assault/id1464678372

Next is a new title from the developers of beloved cat-collecting game Neko Atsume, titled in all caps as NIGHTMARE FARM. Normally the caps and the name NIGHTMARE FARM would be put me right off, but based on how cute Neko Atsume was I may give this a shot. Though I’m not a fan of the art style – looks a bit Tim Burton-y to me! There’s no trailer on YouTube, but somebody has uploaded a few minutes of the game. Here’s how they describe the game:

[The story of a painful nightmare spinning in a bright world]
Let’s get along with the characters visiting the farm by preparing food for them and give them toys while growing crops in the field.

Click here to download if you’ve got an Apple Arcade subscription: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/nightmare-farm/id1411211308

Finally what is probably the star attraction of the bunch – Pilgrims, a new adventure game by the team behind Samorost and Machinarium. They boast that it’s designed to be replayed with 45 achievements, and the art style is pretty unique looking. It also has a new soundtrack by Floex, the artist behind the Machinarium and Samorost 3 soundtracks. Here’s what they’ve got to say about this title:

Pilgrims is a playful adventure game, created by the team behind Machinarium and Samorost. Roam the land as you please and make new friends, share a laugh with your fellow travelers and help them complete their little stories, your way. How many different solutions can you find?

Click here to download if you’ve got an Apple Arcade Subscription: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/pilgrims/id1296855328

Leave a comment below telling me whether you’re into these games or tell me what you’ve been playing on Apple Arcade. I’ve been enjoying Assemble With Care, Sayonara Wildhearts, Patterned and Grindstone mostly. I’m intending to put some time into Various Daylife in the near future too!

If you’ve got a news tip or have something you think we should be writing about you can reach out to me at sam@box5800.temp.domains.

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WHAT THE GOLF? Review

Andre Cole — Mon, 07 Oct 2019 12:12:30 +0000

WHAT THE GOLF? Review $19.99

All my life I've been good, but now ooooohhhh I'm thinking WHAT THE GOLF?

While I don’t consider myself a fan of sports or sports games, I do appreciate a unique take on traditional sports that bring something new or innovate on the game. In 2017, Golf Story on the Switch turned a golf game into an open world, top-down RPG with great humor. This year, we have been treated to WHAT THE GOLF?, a wacky and surprising puzzle game with intense disdain for the sport that will have you cracking up almost immediately.

WHAT THE GOLF? aims to put as many spins on the game of golf as it can. Your projectiles, targets, and interactions with the world will all change as you make your way through a surprisingly high number of stages. Things start out simply and predictably, you line up your shot and power before sinking your ball in the hole. Things quickly take a turn for the weird when the next hole sees your golfer become a ragdoll, flying through the air towards the hole instead of your ball. The game continues to escalate from there, before dropping you into a lab-setting that you’re free to explore… as a golf ball.

This is where the game starts proper. You’ll putt your way around the lab, completing a hole here and there to open doors barring your progress. Each area has a theme for the stages, many of which are inspired in some way by a popular video game. Have you ever wondered what Super Mario Bros. would be like if it was a golf game instead of a platformer? How about Guitar Hero? Well, in WHAT THE GOLF? you’ll find out.

It would be easy for a gimmick like “beloved game as golf” to wear thin quickly, but the sections are short enough that they don’t ever overstay their welcome. They are also clever and subvert expectations to the point that you always feel like you’re encountering something new. You never know quite what to expect when you drop into a hole. Will the level be 2D or 3D? What will you be controlling? How will the world respond to your actions?

The only predictable thing is that the game is unpredictable.

You can revisit stages you’ve completed to attempt secondary challenges. Each stage has two additional challenges for you to complete. The first challenge is usually a par challenge, where you have a limited number of strokes to complete the hole. The second could be any number of things; a time trial, a more difficult version of the hole, or something bizarre. Some of these alternate challenges, especially getting par, can be quite frustrating as you get later into the game and the holes become more challenging and complex. The ways that the controls are altered for some holes can be unintuitive, but you move through the stages at a rapid pace. The only time this truly becomes a problem is for completionists who want to wring everything they can out of the game. And there is a surprising amount of game to get through.

The sound design and music are also delightfully odd, albeit a tad limited. Early on they really go for it, with unique music that aims to capture the feeling of the game it is drawing inspiration from. It is largely successful at this but also does so in an amusing way that I was sad to not see carry throughout the entirety of the game.

The art also left me wanting more. At least the art within the stages. It isn’t bad and translates well into all the different ways the game uses it, from varying perspectives and varying styles of gameplay. But the levels look somewhat generic, divorced from the absurdity of what is happening on the screen. The lab that you explore between holes has some fun design that I wish had carried over into the stages. Many of the zones do attempt to adapt an art style akin to the game being golfified, which works far more often than it doesn’t. The saving grace for this is the style and attitude with which everything is delivered.

WHAT THE GOLF? is a hilarious puzzle game that will leave you delighted and make you realize that golf, in its, current state sucks. The PGA should be getting in touch with the developers of Triband because they’ve created a fresh approach to golf that will revolutionize the sport, and then the world. If that doesn’t happen, the game will at least bring joy to everyone who plays it. Its quirky personality and presentation combined with simple gameplay make this game a FORE! out of five.

Pros

Great sense of humor
Surprisingly long
Wide variety of themes and stages
Makes golf interesting

Cons

Music is inconsistent
Art feels generic in much of the game
Some jokes are repeated

The post WHAT THE GOLF? Review appeared first on Fyx.

Gaming Fyx – Episode 90! (Much Longer Than I Expected!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 05 Oct 2019 16:33:33 +0000

We might not have a ton of new games to talk about this week, but boy was there a ton of news. Join Allyson, Andre, Alex, Sam and Toddler Howard as we guide you through this week’s sticky wicket of news.

00:03:48 – Ciconia (When They Cry)
00:08:14 – AI The Somnium Files
00:18:04 – What the Golf?
00:25:22 – Gears 5
00:30:37 – News time! Ms. Marvel in Avengers Game
00:37:24 – Borderlands 3 Drama
00:42:49 – RDR2 on PC
00:46:36 – PSNow Price Cut & GTA5
00:50:02 – Shawn Layden leaves Sony
00:57:54 – Monster Hunter Resident Evil What
01:01:29 – Destiny 2 Steam Complainfest
01:05:20 – The End

The post Gaming Fyx – Episode 90! (Much Longer Than I Expected!!) appeared first on Fyx.

Heart of the Woods Review

Alex Gelinas — Thu, 03 Oct 2019 14:22:55 +0000

Heart of the Woods Review 14.99

Heart of the Woke

Often times I find myself going through the new releases on Steam to try games which I’d never previously heard of. This has led to many surprises over the years – both for the better and worse. Earlier in the year, this exercise brought me to the page for a visual novel from a developer I’d never heard of – Heart of the Woods by Studio Élan. All I knew about it came from what I immediately saw on the Steam page – a few screenshots, and about five seconds of its trailer (muted). That was all I needed to decide and jump in completely blind.

After reaching the end credits, I immediately went to read more about Studio Élan, and was genuinely surprised to learn how small the team was given how incredibly polished Heart of the Woods feels. I am writing this particular review eight months after having played the game; but am taking the time to do so because it has stuck in my mind moreso than most other games this year.

One of my personal favourite types of media (be it games, movies, shows, etc) is one which has realistic, well-developed characters characters put into a thoughtfully considered story which draws you in and wraps a blanket around you. I especially have a fondness for stories which just go for it – ones that defy your expectations, and aren’t predictable. Heart of the Woods is exemplary with all of this, and also does something which I wish more game stories (visual novels in particular) would do – it never overexplains.

When I’ve played through long visual novels (50+ hour ones such as Wonderful Everyday, Umineko, Grisaia, etc) a personal grievance of mine is when they will spend, quite literally, 40 minutes talking about – ultimately – trivial or minor details. Sure, one could argue that they’re weaving an extremely complicated yarn and benefit from a slower pace; but 40 minutes is a lonnnggg time! Heart of the Woods navigates around this problem exceptionally well – its compelling, deceptively complex narrative with a smaller cast of super-well developed characters can be completed in just 6 or 7 hours.

Let these girls take you on a journey

While normally I’d dive into some of the initial story beats to give you a quick taste of the flavour this game provides, I genuinely believe this game benefits from approaching it with the same experience I had with it – knowing as little about it going in as possible. I’ll do my best to dance around anything story-related by saying it’s a great blend of things – it’s fantasy, adventure, and above all it’s a romance story.

As mentioned, the cast of characters is pretty small; but they all play a very important part. It felt very much like the anime A Place Further Than The Universe in its approach to the characters’ whimsical love for seemingly everyday interactions. I was quite attached to all of them by the time the credits rolled, and when it came to the romance, nothing ever felt trite.

One of my biggest problems with romance stories in visual novels in the past has been that they can feel unrealistic. Budding romances progress in an unnatural way, characters who have been together for 20 years but seem like they don’t really know each other, etc. Heart of the Woods never has this problem – all of the existing character relationships feel true to life, and the ones which newly blossom do so with a pace that I’d absolutely see being true to reality. Everything felt natural.

This is also a Yuri visual novel, meaning it is an LGBTQ love story. I was not aware of this going in at all, and while I am not directly a part of that community, as an empathetic ally I felt it handled the queer side of its writing in an impactful and sincere way. It never feels pandering or pithy (like some Dad-based Visual Novels which may or may not have come out last year, cough). It reminds me of The Missing (my personal GOTY last year) in how it isn’t afraid to talk about real-life issues that people who are gay, lesbian, or trans have to deal with. It doesn’t sugar coat them, but it also doesn’t ruminate on them forever. There are parts where characters talk about having been bullied for being gay, or having been rejected by their peers for being trans, and it all feels like real people having real conversations – conversations with vulnerability, and ones which give everyone involved (including the audience) a feeling of catharsis once they’re reached their respective conclusions.

The full package

Aside from the notably affecting story, Heart of the Woods excels in a number of other ways. One which I feel should become the new standard for VNs is the specific attention paid to accessibility options. Fonts for those with dyslexia, described audio for background music/sfx, enabling and disabling sound cues, and far more.

It also has lovingly crafted art for every scene, music which consistently sets the mood, and the developers at Studio Élan have been fantastic at keeping the game updated based on their fanbase’s feedback and requests. The art and music both stand out in particular to me, especially so when bearing in mind that this is an independently developed VN. Often times, indie VNs outsource their art as much as possible (meaning it is usually inconsistent in quality, and has fewer variations), and use licensed music. Everything here is original and handmade for the game, and its cohesiveness makes the experience all the more compelling.

If I were to provide any criticism, it would be that occasionally the writing can be a bit simile-heavy and flowery for my taste. Things such as “… and her hair was as dark as the coffee in my hand.” That’s a purely subjective thing, and truthfully, that is me nitpicking throwaway bits of dialogue in trying to find something critical to say about the game at all.

Heart of the Woods is an exceptionally good visual novel – perhaps one of the best I’ve played in years. I can only hope that Studio Élan continues to put out fantastic, lovingly crafted experiences for years to come. I can’t wait to see the next projects to come out from these devs, and encourage you to check out the Kickstarter launched around the same time as this review!

Pros

Lovingly crafted in every aspect
Strong, affecting story
Accessibility options which should become a new standard

Cons

Occasional dialogue which ends with eye-rolling.

The post Heart of the Woods Review appeared first on Fyx.

Later Alligator Review

Andre Cole — Wed, 02 Oct 2019 07:00:47 +0000

Later Alligator Review $17.99

Too Scared To Die

With a Saturday morning cartoon quality opening cinematic, Later Alligator makes a strong first impression as you’re introduced to the world of Alligator New York City. It’s Pat’s birthday, but it’s not so happy. He may have squealed and revealed some family secrets and is afraid he is about to be “rubbed out.” Well, Pat is afraid of a lot of things, but that certainly isn’t helping.

Making your way around the city, you’ll encounter Pat’s very large family and try to uncover the evening’s plot that has the young alligator so spooked. To do this, you’ll need to complete some mini-games for the alligators you talk to in order to gain their trust. These range from getting a high score on a simple pinball table, to a dating sim.

These mini-games are mostly goofy short breaks in between your interviews, often eliciting a chuckle or two. Some overstay their welcome though. Because the game is primarily played with the mouse it can be a little tedious to drag around the screen during games that require a bit of precision. Two mini-games, in particular, were exceptionally bad; one involving a barbershop quartet and the other a ouija board. What the game asks you to do in these games is fine, in theory, but imprecise controls and lack of clarity make them unpleasant to play.

The barbershop quartet game tasks you with putting a spotlight over each singer to coincide with their solo. The problem is, the placement for the spotlight is very specific on each character, and if you light the wrong one or don’t get there in time you’ll get a mark against you. There was essentially no actionable feedback to use to improve. Time also advances while you do this activity, so it can feel like wasting time when you fail a mini-game without understanding why.

Some of the other mini-games are just annoyingly long, like a sliding puzzle or the aforementioned ouija board. Because they take so long to complete, they start to detract from the rest of the game. Aside from the few instances where the games are overly long or obtuse, they provide a nice way to get to know the characters through their interests.

While the game has its general comedic tone, each character is allowed to breathe and develop their own personality and style of comedy. It feels like a complete cast that you would find in an animated show like SpongeBob Squarepants or Fairly Odd Parents. A personal favorite was Pat’s dad, Two Ton Tony, an alligator who uses dad jokes to distance himself from thoughts of his own mortality. Hi unceasing passage of time, I’m Dad!

The animation and art also help to bring the world to life and make it distinct. In addition to the writing bringing the characters to life, the distinct way they move also develops the personalities, making it easy to understand the kind of character you’re talking to. The game was hand-animated by SmallBü Animation and really stands out from other visual novels because of it. Their experience as animators shows, with every animation and scene being unique. There is so much detail packed into tiny areas of the world it is impossible to find it all in a single playthrough.

Another element bringing Alligator New York City to life is the original soundtrack by 2Mello. The jazzy sounds of the opening set the tone for the game. But the soundtrack also branches out to other genres and styles when the game calls for it, changing tone as the way you interact with the world change. The jazzy sounds of the streets of New Alligator City are very different from the music pounding from the off-brand DDR machine in Adult Bar. It is easily one of the best soundtracks for a game this year.

Later Alligator is a fantastic visual novel for those who are fans of cartoons like SpongeBob Squarepants. It features a wonderful cast of characters that I would gladly watch on TV. The art is superb, and the writing quickly communicates the personality of the characters and maintains consistent humor, with a variety of styles and jokes. I would have loved to have each character voice acted to make them more fully realized. That paired with mini-games that are fine at best and annoying at their worst holds the game back from reaching its full potential.

Pros

Hand-drawn Art
Funny Writing
Excellent Soundtrack
A large cast of characters

Cons

Some poorly executed minigames
No voice acting

The post Later Alligator Review appeared first on Fyx.

Gato Roboto Review

Alex Gelinas — Tue, 01 Oct 2019 16:17:10 +0000

Gato Roboto Review $7.99

Domo Purrigato Meowster Roboto

There is perhaps but one irrefutable truth in this modern era – the internet loves cats. It’s also safe to say that the internet loves video games! Combining these two loves and basing entire games around cats has been a fairly solid bet for many developers up until now. Hits like Cat Quest, Neko Atsume, Catlateral Damage, and Bubsy – among many more – have been beloved by many the world over. Oregon-based developers Doinksoft released their take on a cat game in late May 2019, and its corporeal meownifestation is found in Gato Roboto.

The game has a simple but striking art style – two tones of colour, and somewhere between the original Game Boy and a ZX Spectrum for fidelity. In terms of gameplay, Gato Roboto is a straight-up metroidvania (meow-troidva-nyaa?) while leaning significantly more on metroid than vania. If you have played the original Metroid on NES, then you will feel right at home as soon as you take control. In fact, it is such a clone of Metroid that you can’t help but feel like the gameplay itself is fairly polished! However, it is such a faithful clone that you might wonder if your time is better spent with the inspiration rather than the derivative. Regardless, it does differ from OG Metroid in a few key ways however – for one, you’re a cat.

I’m feline like I’ve played this before…

You play as Kiki, a small cat who gets stranded on an alien world after your ship crash lands. Kiki’s ultimate goal is to save her injured and incapactiated human, Gary. You do so by taking control of a mech (which looks very, very Samus-y) while puzzling, battling, upgrading, and navigating your way through the environment. A neat differentiating feature of the game is not being tied to the mech – Kiki can get her paws dirty and leave it at any time. While she’s more nimble and tiny outside of the mech, she’s also incredibly fragile. Many puzzles make use of this mechanic in some relatively creative ways, such as sometimes sneaking your way into other vehicles – these both maybe being the most mechanically interesting of the few deviations taken from its inspiration.

The game also tries its hand at some humour along the way; but, even as someone who greatly appreciates puns and dad jokes, it very rarely ever hit. On that note, the story largely feels like an afterthought – more like a series of unrelated areas that were tied together with jokes. Granted, bearing the inspiration of the game in mind, that’s fine – Metroid didn’t have the deepest story in its first iterations – but the reason I bring it up is that there’s enough time dedicated to dialogue that it seems like there was some effort given to a greater narrative. I will say, despite my grievances with the story in general, the ending is spectacularly dumb (in a good way).

Unfortunately, by playing its hand so close to Metroid, Gato Roboto invites many direct comparisons. More unfortunately is that in essentially every case, it doesn’t win that hand. At the end of my three-hour session with it, my feelings on the game were fairly negative. The biggest issue I had were that parts of it were actively unpleasant and not fun to play. In particular, boss battles were the downfall of the entire experience for me.

The boss battles were never particularly difficult; but each one took far longer than needed due to both your weapons doing so little damage, and the bosses having so much health. On top of them taking forever, if you were to mess up after a pattern change and die, you have to do the whole thing over. It was tedious, and really killed the forward momentum of the game. There were also a lot of them! Again, not necessarily a bad thing given the inspiration for the game; but they weren’t executed nearly as well as they could have been.

My last hour of the game was spent rushing from checkpoint to checkpoint, barely even stopping to fire a shot. I no longer cared about conserving health or searching for hidden paths and/or upgrades, I simply wanted to be done. The cute premise and well-executed lifting of gameplay from Metroid were ultimately let down by instantly forgettable design and terrible boss fights.

Purrfect? Sadly not.

While the game itself is fairly solid mechanically, when it’s firing on all cylinders and working its hardest to bring you the best it has to offer, it is merely okay. Unfortunately, most of the time the experience is pretty lackluster, and ultimately its problem is that it doesn’t do anything new – despite its quirky premise, it feels uninspired. While its price point ($7.99 USD) is pretty fair for a game of its length and size, I have a difficult time recommending Gato Roboto purely based on the experience I had with it. For a three hour game, having an hour of content which feels tedious and frustrating is a pretty difficult ratio to come to terms with. It feels less like the euphoria of a cat café, and more like tending a litter box.

All of this being said, I applaud such a small studio putting in the amount of effort they did and putting out a complete game which will certainly appeal to some. I absolutely look forward to the next project to come out of this studio, and hope they have found enough success with Gato Roboto to bring their talents to a bigger, more ambitious experience with their future releases.

Pros

Mimics Metroid fairly well
A real good/dumb ending
Some neat out-of-suit moments
Solid first effort from a new studio

Cons

Doesn’t mimic Metroid quite well enough
Bad boss fights
Uninspired design

The post Gato Roboto Review appeared first on Fyx.

Gaming Fyx – Episode 89! (Good Fat!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 28 Sep 2019 18:15:45 +0000

Get your pesto fyx as we dive deep into mobile gaming subscription services, obliterating motherboards, and like a billion puns.

00:05:15 – Podcast start
00:01:25 – AI the Somnium Files
00:14:58 – Mega Mall Story 2
00:18:45 – Mario Kart World Tour
00:27:14 – Apple Arcade
00:43:48 – Google Play Pass
00:54:25 – Dauntless 1.0
01:00:30 – Mythgard
01:15:00 – Sayonara Wild Hearts(Mobile)
01:19:15 – The tale of building Erica’s computer
01:31:38 – Borderlands 3
01:36:37 – Untitled Goose Game
01:40:54 – Link’s Awakening
01:52:05 – Later Alligator
02:02:00 – The End

The post Gaming Fyx – Episode 89! (Good Fat!!) appeared first on Fyx.

Control Review

Pat Cotter — Fri, 27 Sep 2019 21:53:36 +0000

Control Review

Take Control

I was 14 the first time I heard the term “the New Weird.” I was a fan of eldritch, supernatural horror already, so the idea of “weird” fiction appealed to me. Standing then, in a bookstore, with a book of stories dubbed as such, felt like the threshold of a widening expanse of fiction. I devoured it. Mieville, Danielewski, Hall, and later, VanderMeer; their work became textbooks for my evolving love of strange, slightly terrifying, always intriguing storytelling. It was from this branch of fiction that I found my way to the SCP Foundation, a collective of amateur writers, all sharing a weird a wonderful universe of stories, and the clear inspiration for Remedy’s newest effort, Control.

Given the above, it should come as no surprise that I was already a fan of Remedy’s work prior to the release of Control. I had played Max Payne, but didn’t quite grasp the weird. Instead, Alan Wake was really the game that made me fall in love with their work. I can safely say that with the release of Control Remedy have captured the spirit of my favorite type of storytelling almost flawlessly, and have even crafted a shooter that I love alongside it.

Welcome to the Oldest House

At first, Control comes across as a third person shooter set in a relatively open, but claustrophobic, office building in New York. The twist here, is that this is no ordinary office – this is the Oldest House. You take on the role of Jesse Faden, a woman with a strange past and an uncertain future. Jesse finds herself on the threshold of the Oldest House in search of her brother, who was kidnapped by the mysterious Bureau of Control when they were children. With a strange intelligence guiding her, Jesse tracks the bureau to the Oldest House. Shortly after arriving, it’s clear that things are not as they should be. An aggressive force called the Hiss is taking over Bureau agents and turning them on one another. Through a strange set of events, Jesse finds herself as the new Director of the Bureau, now tasked with saving an organization she barely understands.

The concept of the Bureau of Control is heavily inspired by that of the aforementioned SCP foundation. This is an organization that goes out into the world to hunt strange objects and capture them for research and containment. To give specific examples would spoil some of the game’s best moments, but imagine the idea of a box that cannot be opened, but has something living inside, and you’re getting an idea of what’s in store in this game. It is at times X-Files, at times House of Leaves, and at times Annihilation. This is a title that wears its inspiration on its sleeve, something Remedy has been known for in the past. It worked out to be like catnip to me.

Ultimately, the plot here is a mechanism to move the player, and Jesse, through the world. While there are elements that fail to deliver the weight you expect, the story of Control does a good job of introducing you to just how wild this world is alongside Jesse. And that world (and the characters in it) really is what drives the game.

From the dingy waste management department up to high security containment, these places all felt very real to me, despite how abnormal they really are. These spaces and the things that inhabit them also look stunning. Innovative lighting, flare, and particle effects makes this one of the most gorgeous games of the year. And the fonts! Oh, the fonts.

Scattered notes and audio logs also give more context and background to the world, and I enjoyed each and every one. Some of them even gave me goosebumps to read, making me rethink my understanding of the game’s world.

Also along for the ride are a handful of charming and brilliantly portrayed characters. While Control doesn’t have a large cast, the writing and acting behind each character, whether in dialogue or in Remedy’s signature FMV sequences, is entirely on point. They’re what give the world just enough life to feel worth fighting for. Jesse herself is a great protagonist as well. She’s smart, capable, and confident, but just weird enough to fit in with the rest of the group. Getting to know her felt natural and enjoyable, and I really hope she returns for future installments.

What’s Next Director?

The gameplay in Control is really what surprised me. I expected a fairly linear shooter with some neat supernatural powers. Instead, the exploration and traversal elements of the game feel like a Metroidvania-lite, if you can imagine what that looks like. Rather than provide a stream of new powers that you’ll need to reach new areas, the game handles opening up the world in a more linear, arbitrary fashion. The elevator starts working, you find a keycard, you open a gate, etc. The map slowly unfolds in the early hours, eventually becoming a web of unique locations and winding hallways. All of this provides a great backdrop to your fights with the Hiss, and fight you will.

Control’s combat is to other third person shooters as Bloodborne is to other third person action RPGs. Rather than snap to cover and pop up to shoot, Control wants you to stay mobile and aggressive. Your weapon, dubbed “the Service Weapon,” is a constant; but its shifting modes allow you to change up your tactics. Standbys like a pistol, SMG, and shotgun mode are clear analogues, but the fact that you never run out of ammo is a joy. Instead, you’ll find yourself managing the reload speed of the weapon, instead of managing ammo reserves. You’ll also need to run over fallen enemies to pick up shards of health, important as Jesse is quite fragile. Add to that a really excellent list of powers (which I don’t want to spoil) for mobility, offense, and defense, and you have a rhythmic experience in combat that is highly mobile and at times quite challenging… When it works.

While I found a groove with Control, not everyone will. Whether it’s the game’s poor performance on base consoles, the occasional lack of precision in Jesse’s movement, or a finicky power not triggering as you were expecting, sometimes the immersion breaks, and gives way to frustration. This isn’t helped by the game’s checkpointing. When you die, you’re sent all the way back to the last save point you encountered. What’s odd is that it’s not the same as reloading a save. Quest progress and inventory items are maintained, which makes sending you so far back even more baffling. It only really irked me a couple of times, but it will prove more bothersome to some. There are also some strange UI choices that make navigating the game’s vast array of collectibles frustrating from time to time. None of this impacted my enjoyment of the game, but it will for some.

Finally, the game’s upgrading and progression may leave you underwhelmed. I enjoyed hunting the Oldest House for crafting materials to upgrade my weapons and craft new mods, but not everyone will. Each time you level up a weapon form it becomes more powerful, and unlocks a new mod slot. These mods have a quality level, and do things like increase weapon reload speed, increase fire rate, and some more exotic effects. You also have personal mods, which can increase your health or power meter, increase move speed, or again, have more unique effects. Lastly, a skill tree provides relatively boring flat upgrades to things like health and power effectiveness. You can earn skill points and crafting materials through completing main story and side missions, all of which were exciting and enjoyable to play through. There are also randomized missions that are both selectable and offered on timers, but these are generally pretty skippable, as they don’t offer any compelling rewards and are just “go here and kill ____” type affairs.

If I have any other criticisms of the game, it’s that some of the optional bosses feature additional basic enemies in a frustrating way. The fights themselves were interesting enough, but having to manage the adds could be a pain. It is also important to note that I played the game on an Xbox One X. It performed well for me, but reports of massive issues on base model PS4s and Xboxes make it hard to recommend until more patches on those platforms.

What’s the Word?

Control is a game that really fired on all cylinders for me. I’ve grown tired of the narrative space that so many third-person action games operate in, but this is a world and story I just want more of. By combining that with combat that encouraged me to fight aggressively and strategically, Control shot to the top of my favorite games of 2019. I feel this is Remedy’s best work, and some of the best weird fiction ever produced in games.

Pros

Inspired world and characters
Exciting level design
Great combat flow

Cons

Performance issues on base consoles
Poorly designed checkpointing
Some frustrating boss encounters

The post Control Review appeared first on Fyx.

AI: The Somnium Files Review

Alex Gelinas — Wed, 25 Sep 2019 07:37:47 +0000

AI: The Somnium Files Review

Everything - including the kitchen psync

2019 has been a year with several games I’ve liked – even some I really, really liked – but none I loved. Games like Heart of the Woods, Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Mortal Kombat 11, and a handful more have all been games which I could see vying for a #2 spot on my personal Game of the Year list; but I didn’t have enough fiery passion for any of them to take #1. Now, having finished AI: The Somnium Files, I feel a sense of cathartic relief knowing that I can confidently put a game in that slot.

AI:TSF snuck up on me. It wasn’t even on my radar until seeing it come up in discussion on its day of release. This was a bit surprising given that it’s the latest effort from developers Spike Chunsoft (Danganronpa series, et al.), and director Kotaro Uchikoshi (Zero Escape series) – two names which I hold in high regard. While Zero Time Dilemma wasn’t my favourite, the Nonary Games were remarkably creative, twisted, and fun to unravel. As I did with 999 ten years ago I went into AI:TSF completely blind, having encountered zero marketing nor story discussion prior to hitting the opening cutscene. (For what it’s worth, that’s probably the ideal way to experience this game)

So what is it?

As is the case with many Spike Chunsoft games, AI:TSF is a Visual Novel with impressively high production values, a lot of interactivity, and significant narrative branching. You play as special investigator Kaname Date as he unravels the mystery of The Cyclops Killer – a serial killer who leaves a particularly brutal, distinctive signature with every body. Date is not a normal detective, however. He is a “psyncer,” one who is able to use a psync machine to enter the unconscious mind of any individual also hooked into the machine. Bearing this conceit in mind is what leads to the two distinct portions of gameplay you will encounter.

Firstly, you have the investigation phase. This makes up the bulk of your time with AI:TSF, and it involves watching cutscenes of character interactions, exploring the environment, looking for clues, choosing dialogue options in conversations, et cetera. If you’ve played other Spike Chunsoft games, this part of the game will feel quite familiar to you. When the investigation escalates and requires Date to psync with another character, entering somnium is where AI:TSF feels unique.

Somnium is a dream world, one where the rules of the real world need not apply. Physics? Throw it out the door. Common sense? Get out of here. You guide your character through these surreal dreamscapes with direct control in the third person, interacting with a multitude of environmental elements to help interpret the subject’s unconscious memories, which ultimately furthers your understanding of both the investigation, and the world around you.

Both the investigation and somnium phases of the game have a distinct set of mechanics surrounding them, and to delve into the intricacies and nuances of all of them would take quite some time. Instead, I’ll boil it down by saying that, largely, they’re good.

The investigation phase has lots of optional, interstitial elements to interact with – I personally loved taking my time with each screen and finding everything which had writing attached to it. Your exploratory efforts are often rewarded with additional information about the world, jokes, and sometimes entire subplots. An impressive part of the investigation phase is just how much additional voice acting can be found by exploring all of these elements – not a small effort on behalf of both the writers and developers!

Somnium is one of the parts I enjoyed about the game, but wasn’t always enamoured with. While there is a ton of creativity in these dream sequences, sometimes the way in which you progress through them can feel nearly arbitrary. Puzzle solutions can feel like an old adventure game – trying different combinations of seemingly unrelated things until you happen upon some internal logic which wasn’t immediately apparent. This wouldn’t be so bad if there wasn’t a time limit associated with the section.

Somnium isn’t particularly difficult, and the time limit is generous enough that you can often make it to the end with plenty of headroom; but every action you take will cost a certain amount from the time limit. Due to these costs, experimenting and seeing all of the content offered in somnium doesn’t feel encouraged. If you want to pick up that rock and see what’s under it, that’ll cost you 20 seconds. Pulling that lever? 40 seconds. Reading that sign? 10 seconds. Time is a precious resource and all of these actions add up. Thankfully there are mechanics in place to cut down the time needed for individual interactions, or to retry at a previous checkpoint; but sometimes it felt necessary to simply restart the entire sequence, which really affects the all-so-important flow.

Go with the flow

The writing is the best part of AI:TSF. Every character matters, every scene matters, every relationship matters. The way one scene flows to the next always feels great, and keeps the momentum going throughout the experience. From the dialogue between characters and flavour text found while exploring, to the overall narrative and core plot, nothing feels wasted.

In my opinion, all of the above were also what set the Zero Escape games apart from most others; but one of its major shortcomings was how Uchikoshi treated his side characters. They often felt one-note, or underdeveloped. That is not the case here, and every character (even seemingly minor ones) get their own arc, development, and personality. By the end, there were no characters I disliked, and I loved every opportunity to interact with them. Also, it should be noted that the English voice cast does such a good job.

When it comes to the overall story, there could be a whole ‘nother article about that; but to sum it up, I loved it. While some parts may have been a bit predictable, their execution was nearly flawless. Also, for every one predictable plot point, there are several others which seem to come out of nowhere but get wholly justified by the end.

In the end, the story in AI:TSF is on a tier of its own, and when it hits, it hits. There were several points where I was left in tears, and I’m generally fairly stoic when playing games. Sensitive topics get handled with grace, character moments had real weight, and the ending… They stick the ending. However, while I loved 95% of the story, there were some parts which give me a bit of pause.

There end up being a handful of scenes (nearly) ruined by total suspension of disbelief, extremely dumb conceits, and unnecessarily crass humour. Don’t get me wrong, I will laugh at a well-timed “that’s what she said” as much as anyone; but when someone says “that’s what she said” every five minutes, “that’s what she said” starts to lose its humour. That feeling of laughing at a joke the first time, but then thinking “okay, yeah, I get it, carry on please” after being overexposed to it comes up a handful of times throughout. There are also a couple potentially intense action scenes wherein you’ll be left thinking “wait… what?” with regards to what propels them forward. While this concession never ruined anything for me, it was annoying enough to where I felt the need to bring it up.

While on the subject of flaws, there is one last thing to bring up – if you are intending to play this game, I may suggest not doing so on Switch (unless they release a performance patch). While having it on the go was a boon, I encountered many technical hiccups, a few crashes which required restarting the game, and the framerate regularly dipping down into the single digits.To my understanding, these issues do not exist with the PS4 and PC versions of the game.

Even with its flaws, AI: The Somnium Files is an exceptional game. As it became apparent that the final hours were drawing near, my biggest problem with the game was that I didn’t want it to end. It is a unique experience which you’ll remember for years to come, and its story highs are – as of yet – unrivaled by any other release this year. Standing on the shoulders of the fantastic Zero Escape series, Uchikoshi has released his most satisfying, complete game to date. You’ll certainly be hearing this game come up again when the time comes for us to talk about Game of the Year!

Pros

Exceptional, creative story
Characters you will genuinely care about
Some moments which need to be experienced
Wonderful voice acting

Cons

Humour which misses the mark
Occasionally obtuse/frustrating mechanics
Poor performance on Switch

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Sayonara Wild Hearts Review

Andre Cole — Tue, 24 Sep 2019 02:00:35 +0000

Sayonara Wild Hearts Review

4.5

Wild Hearts Never Die

I can almost pinpoint the exact moment when Sayonara Wild Hearts captured my heart. It was during the E3 2018 Nintendo Direct, I was immediately charmed by the short trailer shown. It showcased the game’s brilliant art style which is beautiful, distinct, and bold while having fluid animations and cohesion despite the multitude of distinct levels and mechanics that propel players through this experiential album. But a trailer can only tell so much about a game, especially one like Sayonara Wild Hearts.

In the most basic of terms, the game is a combination of Rez and Audiosurf, with so many other influences and homages that it would be ridiculous to list them all. You rocket down city streets and forest pathways to a pop album, breaking hearts and learning to love again. The game constantly builds on and changes the way the player interacts with the world in intelligent and fluid ways which never require a tutorial. The first time I booted up the game I was a little inebriated from a work party, and had zero troubles immediately grasping what the game wanted me to do. Since the controls are so simple nearly anyone can pick up and play.

The artwork is nice in screenshots but stunning in motion. The deep hues that make up the many locales serve as a brilliant backdrop to the high-speed chases of the game. Careening down the purple alleyways of Hatehell Valley in pursuit of the very stylish Dancing Devils biker gang is the moment when the game truly demonstrates what it’s capable of, even though it only just begins to scratch the surface of where and what the game will become.

The songs range from around 45 seconds up to 8 minutes, which also happens to tell you how long the levels are. The strongest tracks are the full songs – in contrast to the instrumental tracks – but each fits perfectly with the world and tone of the game. They range from super upbeat to more mellow or brooding tracks. The closest comparison that came to my mind is Chvrches, but everyone will find their own touchstone to compare it to. The vocals by Linnea Olsson are evocative and powerful. It’s a shame her voice isn’t on even more of the tracks in the game, as she is mostly reserved for the Thumper-like boss battles.

Unlike many rhythm games, you’re able to pay attention to what is happening on the screen in front of you since you aren’t pushing specific buttons, nor are you required to hit a certain score threshold to advance. You can instead focus on being absorbed by the whole experience, and it will require your full attention at times. You aren’t exactly playing along to the music; the game is more like a music video, with occasional instances where you will have quick-time events paired with the beat. This ensures that the action on the screen always syncs up with what you’re doing and you get the perfect effect every time.

While there are no hard fail states that require you to restart a song, you can still be sent back a few seconds if you crash into a wall or other obstacle (the music will also roll back to stay synced with your progression through the level). The game does this quickly and offers you the ability to skip past sections that are causing you trouble if you would rather just continue with the experience. It’s a nice concession to help people who may struggle to keep up with the frenetic pace of the game. The downside to the soft reset is it also resets your score bonus.

Chasing high scores in Sayonara Wild Hearts seems to be at odds with the way the game wants to be played. On one hand, it’s a great excuse to return to the game and play it over and over to perfect runs. But on the other, in some instances, it requires you to take a specific path through the level. This ends up feeling more like a chore as your trial and error your way through the multiple pathways the game puts in front of you. Take the wrong path and you’ve possibly ruined your run because you’ve missed some high scoring collectibles. I’d much rather take what feels like the natural path than try to thread the needle between a streetcar and tunnel wall, just to pick up a single collectible. It’s a small complaint, and I’m more than happy to play these levels over and over because they all offer something a little different to keep you on your toes. Getting a gold rank on every level in the game will unlock a bonus, but the arcade mode you unlock after finishing the game once should be more than enough for most people.

In fact, the arcade mode should have been the main mode for the game, as being sent back to the level select after each song pulled me out of the experience too often. The level select screen also has the tracks for every song, and choosing a song at the opposite end of the tracklist will require you to pass every single song in the game. A way to quickly navigate between themed sections would be nice, but these are just nitpicky things.

The game also features 24 zodiac riddles for players to solve. They really are riddles, that just barely hint at what the game wants you to complete. So far, in my three complete playthroughs of the game, I’ve only managed to complete one of the riddles. You’re free to totally ignore them, or dive deep and try to uncover all of the games hidden secrets.

Sayonara Wild Hearts delivers great pop music paired with a game that truly feels like it was meant to be paired with it. The music and gameplay feel so linked together that listening to the soundtrack outside of the game will immediately bring you back to flying and sword fighting biker gangs no matter where you are. It’s a wild ride which needs to be experienced to be fully appreciated.

Pros

Fantastic soundtrack
Stunning visuals
Constantly shifting gameplay
Very replayable
Easy to pick up

Cons

Not enough songs with vocals
High score hunting feels at odds with the core experience

The post Sayonara Wild Hearts Review appeared first on Fyx.

Gaming Fyx – Episode 88! (Erica’s Back!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 21 Sep 2019 18:31:14 +0000

The glorious return of Erica is upon us, and we welcome her back by talking about stuff we love and stuff we kinda don’t love!

0:00:11 – Podcast Start
0:06:05 – Ericaaaaaaa && Borderlands 3
0:26:50 – AI: The Somnium Files
0:35:48 – Control
0:57:20 – Photographs
1:04:00 – Session
1:15:20 – Untitled Goose Game
1:25:30 – Sayonara Wild Hearts
1:40:20 – Monster Hunter World: Iceborne
1:45:00 – News
1:59:00 – The End

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 87! (Norman Reedus’ Private Room!!)

Alex Gelinas — Mon, 16 Sep 2019 00:25:05 +0000

Andre, Allyson, and Pat chat about Pinball, hunting monsters, and pulling corn from your ass

5:48 – Star Wars Pinball
19:28 – Plants Vs Zombies; Battle for Neighborville
33:38 – SKATE/Skateboarding Games
37:53 – Monster Hunter: Iceborne
56:48 – Resident Evil Resistance
1:03:25 – Death Stranding/Kojima
1:13:53 – Poor game performance on consoles
1:17:36 – Discord Nitro Shutting Down/”Netflix for games” chat
1:22:57 – The End

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 86! (Watch out for that Tree!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 07 Sep 2019 16:19:07 +0000

Join us as we talk about Brendan Fraser – including (but not limited to) his appearances in George of the Jungle, The Mummy, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Doom Patrol, and Scrubs! Oh, also, a lot of games, such as Morphies Law, Creature in the Well, Children of Medan, Tetris 99, Super Kirby Clash, Heave Ho, The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan, Gears 5, and more talks about Astral Chain and Control! Also a bunch of the most recent Nintendo Direct!

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 85! (👌👌👌👌!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 31 Aug 2019 15:46:39 +0000

The season of many games is upon us – join in as we chat about some hot new releases like Control, Astral Chain, A Short Hike, and Metal Wolf Chaos XD. Though also join in as we talk about some terrible games, such as Pokemon Masters. Allyson also shares in some of her adventures in conference-land!!!

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 84! (Pixelate Us!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 24 Aug 2019 15:49:58 +0000

Join us as we pixellate various parts of ourselves while talking about Remnant: From The Ashes, Eliza, Devil May Cry 5, Death Stranding, and more Fire Emblem!! Also don’t forget to check out our pornhub at coolsl4w!

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 83! (Baby Mama!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 17 Aug 2019 15:33:19 +0000

Walk into your local grocer and check out the latest episode of Gaming Fyx! We got a wide breadth of stuff for you this week, including Total War: Three Kingdoms, Rebel Galaxy Outlaw, Kind Words, PictoQuest, a bit of Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Dota 2, “Against the Odds,” Eliza, GLOW, and Bon Appetit!!

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 82! (Stuff other than Fire Emblem!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 10 Aug 2019 16:30:52 +0000

We actually have a lot of stuff other than Fire Emblem today!! (But… Also a decent amount of Fire Emblem…) Including Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3, Steel Circus, Resident Evil 2, Picross: Lord of the Nazarick, Dota Underlords, and Total War: Three Kingdoms.

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 81! (Forty Inches is fine!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 03 Aug 2019 16:26:44 +0000

Hey! This time we have some news! What?? Also far more talking about Fire Emblem, sprinkled in with some other games too – including Warhammer 40k Inquisitor Prophecy, and the new game from FFG, Star Wars™ Outer Rim.

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 80! (Jeralt is my Dad!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 27 Jul 2019 15:33:05 +0000

There’s one game on everyone’s mind this week, so join us as we have a big ol’ chat about the newest Fire Emblem game!! A few others come up, but this one’s >95% FE […]

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 79! (Cat Fyx!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 20 Jul 2019 16:52:35 +0000

It’s time to moisturize with the latest episode of Gaming Fyx! We’re chatting about Dota Underlords, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3, Gato Roboto, Final Fantasy XIV, Baba is You, F1 2019, Forza Horizon’s Lego expansion, The Sinking City, Slay the Spire, Steins;Gate Elite, Attack on Titan S3, and Someone Who Will Love You in All Your Damaged Glory!!! Phweew, that was a mouthful.

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 78! (Kpop cures acne!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 13 Jul 2019 16:47:50 +0000

It’s a jam packed one as we have a full house for you! Many games! Many not games! Including, but not limited to, Judgement, Kill La Kill If, Dr Mario World, Mario Maker 2, Professor Lupo and his Horrible Pets, Atlas, Final Fantasy XIV, Attack on Titan Season 3, Stranger Things Season 3, and a ton of Kcon talk!!

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 77! (Suck It New Zealand!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 06 Jul 2019 15:27:47 +0000

It’s a little bitty cast today as Andre & Alex chat about Mario Maker 2, My Friend Pedro, Cadence of Hyrule, The Outer Wilds, and some of what we’re looking forward to in 2019! Also, some brief chats about Kill La Kill, and Stranger Things season 3!

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 76! (Speaking of Fan Service!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 29 Jun 2019 16:59:52 +0000

Join us as we get super fan service-y and talk all about games like Super Mario Maker 2, Mortal Kombat 11, The Sinking City, BTS World, GTA Online, and Pokemon! But also, strap yourself into the robot because it’s time to sit down for a chat on Evangelion and anime in general.

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 75! (Ten and Three Quarter Inches!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 22 Jun 2019 17:29:05 +0000

Join us in a jam packed episode full of your favourites! Plenty of chats about The Outer Wilds, Bloodstained, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, Mortal Kombat 11, and space sims! Also join us for our feelings on Chernobyl, Mirai, Good Omens, and even a healthy helping of KPop!

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 74! (Let’s Name Sam’s Child!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 15 Jun 2019 16:34:48 +0000

Join us as we spend a full few hours chatting all about E3, the press conferences, and the results of our predictions!!

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 73! (Stadias and E3s and Norted Babies, Oh My!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 08 Jun 2019 16:24:16 +0000

We’re here to chat about a few games, but also more E3 chat, Stadia talk, and general industry feelings! Games include Draugen, MLB The Show, Outer Wilds, Black Paradox, and Bitsummit 7 Spirits!

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 72! (Daddy’s Home!!)

Alex Gelinas — Fri, 07 Jun 2019 03:15:33 +0000

Join us on our second annual E3 Prediction’s cast!!!

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 71! (On a Quest!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 25 May 2019 17:02:08 +0000

Join us on our quest to talk about such games as Umineko, Ciconia, Shakedown Hawaii, Dauntless, Nioh 2, Pathologic 2, and a whole host of Oculus Quest stuff including Vader Immortal!!

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Gaming Fyx – Kingdom Hearts Retrospective – Part 1

Alex Gelinas — Tue, 21 May 2019 23:40:21 +0000

Join Andre, Chris, and Pat on a journey of friendship and discovery in this restrospective look at the universe of Kingdom Hearts.

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 70! (Both of my boys have no balls!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 18 May 2019 16:14:09 +0000

Here we are again, this week we’re talking with you about Steins;Gate Elite, Rage 2, Descenders, Astrologaster, Tetris 99, and Snakeybus! Don’t forget to have your pets spayed & neutered!

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 69/66!! (Andre pulls 12 boys out of his butt!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 11 May 2019 16:07:50 +0000

Don’t even worry about that title as we bring you such rad games as Mordhau, Descenders, Forager, Steins;Gate Elite, and Xenoblade Chronicles 2! Other such hits include Detective Pikachu, The Comic Book Story of Professional Wrestling, and of course, K-Pop.

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 68! (Almost Nice!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 04 May 2019 23:55:54 +0000

The Triple-A crew is here with you again to talk about Supraland one last time (for now), as well as Forager, Sushi Striker, and Divinity Original Sin II. On top of that, join us for a talk about the industry as a whole, and Randy Pitchford’s… Well, him just being Randy Pitchford!

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 67! (Neverending Spiral Staircase!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 27 Apr 2019 23:25:02 +0000

Join us in dunking on Ronda Rousey as we chat about Mortal Kombat 11, Supraland, Forager, SteamWorld Quest, Kingdom Hearts 3, and Sekiro! There are also no spoilers for Avengers Endgame in here; but a spoiler-filled cast will be coming soon

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 66/69! (Bloody Walls Hardcore X2: The Shlootening!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 20 Apr 2019 15:32:20 +0000

It’s Allyson’s birthday!! Help us celebrate by listening to us talk about a whole whack of games, including AFK Arena, Kingdom Hearts 2, Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-Earth, Supraland, Katana Zero, Smash Ultimate, Cuphead, The Surge, Coloring Game, and a whole bunch of weird other ones which probably shouldn’t be named here.

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 65! (Andre’s Back!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 13 Apr 2019 23:52:47 +0000

[Alex’s mic gets all messed up in the second half, sorry for the audio quality!]

Ya boi has internet again! That means we have the dulcet tones of Andre back as we talk about Resident Evil 2, Baba is You, Borderlands, Sekiro, X-Wing, Satisfactory, Totally Accurate Battle Simulator, and Astroneer. We also voice our feelings on the new Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order trailer, and Borderlands 3!

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 64! (Episode 64!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 06 Apr 2019 21:02:53 +0000

Episode 64!!!

We have a balance of game talk and non-game talk this time around, starting with our feelings on some “classic” N64 titles, Kingdom Hearts 2, Islanders, The Elder Scrolls Blades, Star Citizen, and Stardew Valley. Also talkin’ about Mob Psycho 100, Periphery’s new album, Blackpink’s new video, and Star Wars EU!!!

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 63! (What even is this!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 30 Mar 2019 22:29:45 +0000

Join us as we have a nice, cohesive talk about a select few things, including Risk of Rain 2, Cook Serve Delicious 2, Stardew Valley, The Caligula Effect, Phone Games, iPad Games, Sekiro, Star Wars: Clone Wars, The Promised Neverland, Sword Art Online Alicization, Various Marvel Movies/Shows, Comics, and Devin Townsend’s new album Empath!

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 62! (Make it So!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 23 Mar 2019 16:55:46 +0000

Good morning! We gots a whole bunch of games for you! Including – but not limited to – Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Outward, Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2, Kingdom Hearts, Star Trek: Timelines, Persona 5: Royal, as well as chats about The Promised Neverland, Nintendo’s Nindie Showcase, and the Google Stadia!!

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 61! (Moist Shlooters!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sat, 16 Mar 2019 23:26:33 +0000

Cringe with us as we upset Erica with talks about The Caligula Effect: Overdose, The Sims 4, Minion Masters, Devil May Cry (1 & 2), Hypnospace Outlaw, and BanG Dream! Girls Band Party!

Shlooter

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Gaming Fyx – Episode 60! (Anti-Dragon Zone!!)

Alex Gelinas — Sun, 10 Mar 2019 00:15:39 +0000

You’ll have to park your dragon outside this week as we talk about very few new games! We cover Star Wars Battlefront 2 (yes that one), Tetris 99, Divinity 2 Ego Draconis, Trials Rising, Superstar, and Angry Birds 2 – with special guest stars Captain Marvel and Shinsekai Yori!!!

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