Let's address the elephant in the room. I know I promised to have things back to normal by the end of March and it's now three weeks into April. I am sorry for the delays, but school consumed my entire life until last Wednesday. Between writing close to 20 pages for final essays and studying non-stop for exams that involved copious amounts of writing, I wasn't in much of a mood to write anything else at that point in time.
Although I originally wanted this edition of Bit by Bit to be the first post back from the hiatus, I am very happy that I got the Launch Station for Xenoblade Chronicles 3D up in time for its release this past Friday, especially considering my reverence for the Wii original. Since school is winding down for the year (only one exam left!), I will be able to once again post to Silver Bit on a regular basis. With all that being said, let us rewind the clock to last month and look back at the best and worst of March 2015.
Shame of the Month
Typically, I highlight the best game I played in the past month, but I think the game I am talking about today deserves an exception. While I critique games, I don't usually review games I find middling or bad because I don't spend enough time with them to justify a review. Personally, I like to experience everything the game has to offer before writing a review, including playing through the single-player portion and spending a good amount of time with the multiplayer. It is a time-consuming commitment that I don't usually make for a game that I despise playing. Now, I want to start playing a greater variety of games, in both genre and quality, to widen what I talk about on Silver Bit. Although too much time has passed for me to give a full review justice, I will still honour this game as the very first Shame of the Month.
In the middle of all the craziness that was March, I decided to download a little free-to-play game that was popular among everybody I met through StreetPass—Pokemon Shuffle. At the core of Pokemon Shuffle, there is an okay match-three puzzle game. Sadly, that core is wrapped in frustrating gameplay mechanics that are only in the game to make players shell out their hard-earned cash.
Unless you have a gripping need to spend real money to play Shuffle for hours on end, it is best to play for the short amount of time offered through the five regenerating hearts. You will see everything Pokemon Shuffle has to offer in the first 30 to 40 stages, leaving you over 100 stages of recycling the same challenges with increasing difficulty. What makes the game even worse are the mechanics, such as the catchability meter and enemy disruptions, that are tweaked in such a way that it forces players to pay money in order to advance in the game. Yes, there are ways around these frustrations by hording jewels until absolutely necessary, but the game continually tempts the player to use them for five more turns or 20 more seconds to catch their desired Pokemon. These deceitful freemium practices just put a bad taste in your mouth.
Hopefully with Nintendo producing games for mobile platforms, these cash-sucking titles will be exclusive for those markets instead of infecting the 3DS and Wii U eShops. Pokemon Shuffle is pretty much the exact same game as last year's Pokemon Battle Trozei with new Mega Evolution screen-clearing combos and tons of devious ways to steal your money. Pokemon Shuffle may not be that fun, but it is perfect start to Silver Bit's Shame of the Month.
Most Anticipated Game of the Month
This past March, Nintendo pulled the curtain back on Splatoon and does it ever look good. About midway through the month, Nintendo brought video game journalists from media outlets like IGN and Gamespot and Youtube personalities like ProJared and The Completionist to play the game at their American headquarters. The onslaught of videos and articles that came from this event highlight Splatoon's various single and multiplayer modes.
Back when the game debuted at E3 2014, I initially thought Splatoon wasn't anything special as it looked like a neat little downloadable title. I can say now that I was totally wrong and I am glad to be wrong in this case. Splatoon looks to be a very comprehensive game with a Mario Galaxy style Octo Valley single-player campaign and fully-fledged suite of online multiplayer modes like Turf Wars and Ranked Battles. I am especially looking forward to spending lots of time in Octo Valley launching from floating island to floating island, using ink in unique ways to battle enemies and finding interesting ways to traverse platforms with some cool ink-squid combinations.
If you would've asked me about Splatoon at the beginning of the year, I would've shrugged the game off as Nintendo giving the third-person shooter genre the good ol' college try. Now, all I want to do is play it. I know I overuse this saying, but I seriously can't wait until May 29th to play Splatoon. I am that damn excited.
Video of the Month
In 1987, Hironobu Sakaguchi was a young video designer for Squaresoft that just wanted to finish the final game in his contract to pursue the greener pastures of hip hop. Unbeknownst to Sakaguchi, his "final fantasy" spiraled into the long-running franchise many gamers know and love and a seemingly never-ending extension to his contract. How did the success and popularity of Final Fantasy affect the legendary game designer? Watch Mega64's totally real behind-the scenes look at the making of Final Fantasy to find out.
Showing posts with label Mega64. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mega64. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Bit by Bit: April 2014
With school coming to an end for another year, April serves as the start of more free time to relax and do things that were pushed aside during the school year like video games. While I did get some time playing games between studying and working, it seems like the floodgates have just opened in these last couple of weeks. Funny enough, the end of the school year coincided with finally completing Bravely Default after spending the last two and a half months working on beating the game. Spending so much time with one game felt very limiting that now this feeling of freedom and choice is almost overwhelming. The spring and summer months should be fun as I will be bouncing between games from my ever-growing backlog and brand new releases. It should be a fun journey that will be chronicled right here on Silver Bit. So stay tuned.
Game of the Month
Ever since I beat Bravely Default, I have been able to spend more time playing a wide variety of games. In the few weeks since I beat Bravely Default, I have been playing Golden Sun, Resident Evil 6 and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze and have completed shorter games like Rhythm Thief, SteamWorld Dig and Donkey Kong 1994. As great of an achievement beating a long, gruelling RPG is, playing a game for over 100 hours can be exhausting. The change of pace has been refreshing especially with one game in particular pulling me in more and more. That game is Infamous: Second Son and it is the one game that has got me to play the PS4 on a rather consistent basis. I have dabbled with the previous entries in Sucker Punch's superhero playground, but never for any considerable amount of time. Compared to other open world sandboxes, Second Son's setting of Seattle may seem a little lifeless, bland and full of hilarious glitches. Even with those drawbacks, I have had lots of fun just running around, completing side missions, collecting blast shards and beating up waves of DUP officers and drug dealers. The most fun to be had with Second Son comes from the new powers you get to play around with. While the smoke and video powers are cool, the best power in the game is neon. Zipping around Seattle at supersonic speeds, slowing down time to aim and sniping enemies with precise neon shots make for a power players will stick to throughout their entire playthrough. Infamous: Second Son may not be the best open-world superhero game as Batman still holds that honour in my opinion, but it is definitely the best game on PS4 right now. Second Son deserves to be in every PS4 owner's library.
Most Anticipated Game of the Month
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS are easily the two most anticipated games of 2014. A new entry in the Smash Bros. series only happens every four years or more so any news or announcement about the newest entry is an event in itself. Aside from Masahiro Sakurai's daily screenshots on Miiverse, there has not been a major dump of information about Super Smash Bros. since E3 2013. Early this April, Nintendo and Sakurai took some time away from developing Super Smash Bros. to deliver a Nintendo Direct focused solely on the two games. During the nearly 40 minute presentation, Sakurai touched on the release dates, included stages, online play, differences between the two versions, items, assist trophies and returning and new inclusions to the roster among a plethora of additional information. It is impossible to capture the greatness of this Nintendo Direct in mere words. It is incredibly produced, filled with tons of goodies that will make any gamer smile ear to ear and easily sold hundreds to buy a Wii U, 3DS or possibly both. Personally, my excitement for Super Smash Bros. is at unimaginable levels. Even thinking about the games makes me giddy with excitement. Summer and Winter 2014 cannot come any sooner.
Video of the Month
Usually I never have a problem picking the Video of the Month, but this April has been the exception. There has been so many great videos this month from the wacky Tomodachi Life Direct to Screwattack's epic interviews with the creator of Videoball Tim Rogers to Mega64's collaboration with Nintendo on the recent Nintendo E3 announcements. While they are all incredible videos and deserve to your viewing, I have to give the Video of the Month to a video that got me thinking. The Completionist's Final Fantasy VII Retrospective has been a month-long event where Jirard and a crew of Youtubers take an in-depth look at the impact that Final Fantasy VII has had on RPGs and video games in general. This in-depth analysis of Final Fantasy VII really made me see the game in a new light and truly understand why people hold the game on such a high pedestal. While the first two videos were released in March, the majority of this series has come out throughout April and deserves the recognition for how great it is. I will share the first part here, but I highly recommend watching this series in its entirety. It will give you a new appreciation of Final Fantasy VII as it has done for me.
Game of the Month
Ever since I beat Bravely Default, I have been able to spend more time playing a wide variety of games. In the few weeks since I beat Bravely Default, I have been playing Golden Sun, Resident Evil 6 and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze and have completed shorter games like Rhythm Thief, SteamWorld Dig and Donkey Kong 1994. As great of an achievement beating a long, gruelling RPG is, playing a game for over 100 hours can be exhausting. The change of pace has been refreshing especially with one game in particular pulling me in more and more. That game is Infamous: Second Son and it is the one game that has got me to play the PS4 on a rather consistent basis. I have dabbled with the previous entries in Sucker Punch's superhero playground, but never for any considerable amount of time. Compared to other open world sandboxes, Second Son's setting of Seattle may seem a little lifeless, bland and full of hilarious glitches. Even with those drawbacks, I have had lots of fun just running around, completing side missions, collecting blast shards and beating up waves of DUP officers and drug dealers. The most fun to be had with Second Son comes from the new powers you get to play around with. While the smoke and video powers are cool, the best power in the game is neon. Zipping around Seattle at supersonic speeds, slowing down time to aim and sniping enemies with precise neon shots make for a power players will stick to throughout their entire playthrough. Infamous: Second Son may not be the best open-world superhero game as Batman still holds that honour in my opinion, but it is definitely the best game on PS4 right now. Second Son deserves to be in every PS4 owner's library.
Most Anticipated Game of the Month
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS are easily the two most anticipated games of 2014. A new entry in the Smash Bros. series only happens every four years or more so any news or announcement about the newest entry is an event in itself. Aside from Masahiro Sakurai's daily screenshots on Miiverse, there has not been a major dump of information about Super Smash Bros. since E3 2013. Early this April, Nintendo and Sakurai took some time away from developing Super Smash Bros. to deliver a Nintendo Direct focused solely on the two games. During the nearly 40 minute presentation, Sakurai touched on the release dates, included stages, online play, differences between the two versions, items, assist trophies and returning and new inclusions to the roster among a plethora of additional information. It is impossible to capture the greatness of this Nintendo Direct in mere words. It is incredibly produced, filled with tons of goodies that will make any gamer smile ear to ear and easily sold hundreds to buy a Wii U, 3DS or possibly both. Personally, my excitement for Super Smash Bros. is at unimaginable levels. Even thinking about the games makes me giddy with excitement. Summer and Winter 2014 cannot come any sooner.
Video of the Month
Usually I never have a problem picking the Video of the Month, but this April has been the exception. There has been so many great videos this month from the wacky Tomodachi Life Direct to Screwattack's epic interviews with the creator of Videoball Tim Rogers to Mega64's collaboration with Nintendo on the recent Nintendo E3 announcements. While they are all incredible videos and deserve to your viewing, I have to give the Video of the Month to a video that got me thinking. The Completionist's Final Fantasy VII Retrospective has been a month-long event where Jirard and a crew of Youtubers take an in-depth look at the impact that Final Fantasy VII has had on RPGs and video games in general. This in-depth analysis of Final Fantasy VII really made me see the game in a new light and truly understand why people hold the game on such a high pedestal. While the first two videos were released in March, the majority of this series has come out throughout April and deserves the recognition for how great it is. I will share the first part here, but I highly recommend watching this series in its entirety. It will give you a new appreciation of Final Fantasy VII as it has done for me.
Monday, March 31, 2014
Bit by Bit: March 2014
March has always been a hectic month in terms of both gaming and schooling. March is the month that game publishers love dumping all the games that were not ready for the holiday. It is also the month, universities love dumping projects, tests and presentations on students as the semester comes to an end. Much of this month has been spent studying for a test or working on a project in between classes and shifts at work for yours truly. Even with all the craziness, I have luckily made time to relax by playing a game or watching some television. Although, relaxation was sometimes mixed with school work as I would do my anthropology readings during commercial breaks. While March is almost over, April will be just as crazy for this writer as things ramp up for final exams. Before we move on to the next month, let us look back at the month that was March 2014.
TV Show of the Month
Well, I spent the majority of my game time playing Bravely Default this past month. As it took up the majority of my time, it is easily my Game of the Month yet again. Instead of repeating myself by talking about Bravely Default (I will save it for the review hopefully), I wanted to share another facet of my passions this month--television shows. As I have grown older, my time watching television has cut down to just the shows I want to watch such as Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Persons of Interest and Reviews on the Run. I barely spend time endlessly surfing through channels anymore. As I gravitate to the shows that interest me the most, there a few I do not get to watch when they first run or they never make it to television in the first place. One of those shows is Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is an anime which adapts the story of the original Fullmetal Alchemist manga into glorious 2D animation. Brotherhood follows Edward and Alphonse Elric on their quest to acquire the legendary Philosopher's Stone in order to restore the bodies they lost when trying to resurrect their deceased mother. Ed and Al's journey is not an easy one as they get caught up in a conspiracy that engulfs the entire country of Amestris. I watched the first half of Brotherhood years ago when Funimation started releasing them as 13-episode DVD sets, but never got the second half of the series because how expensive each set was. Then I got the second season of the 2003 Fullmetal Alchemist series for Christmas. After watching that series over again, I got this huge urge to finish Brotherhood. When I found the Complete Collection Two for 30 dollars at The Beat Goes On, I did not hesitate to buy it. A week and a half later, I watched all the 31-episodes included in the set and it was well worth it. While I already knew the entire story of Fullmetal Alchemist from reading the manga, watching the same story play out in motion was just unbelievable. The mix of excellent voice acting, superb music composition and incredibly beautiful animation just made everything feel brand new. The devilish twists and turns of Fullmetal Alchemist's endgame were perfectly adapted for the animation. There were moments in the anime that just work better in motion than in the panels of the manga. I was literally blown away by Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. While I do not watch many animes, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is among the best I have ever seen and I highly recommend watching it.
Most Anticipated Game of the Month
I have shared my love for Mega Man here on Silver Bit on multiple occasions. Among the many Mega Man series Capcom has created over the years, the Mega Man Zero games are some of my favourites. Considering Capcom would rather keep the Mega Man franchise dormant than develop new titles starring the Blue Bomber, Mega Man fans have had to look elsewhere. In particular, they have gone to the Father of Mega Man, Keiji Inafune himself, to get their fix with Mighty No. 9, but it is not the only Mega Man-like title Inafune has in the works. Announced at the beginning of March, Azure Striker Gunvolt is a new 2D action-platformer from Comcept and Inti Creates coming to the 3DS Nintendo eShop this summer. Azure Striker Gunvolt looks very similar to the fast-paced action of Mega Man Zero just with a brand new character to control, psychic powers to acquire and crazy bosses to battle. As somebody who has fond memories of the Mega Man Zero series, I am really looking forward to what Comcept and Inti Creates has in store for Azure Striker Gunvolt.
Video of the Month
Ken Kutaragi was a dashing young man with a dream to revolutionize gaming. That dream was the PlayStation, but Kutaragi's dream was challenged by the corporate powers of Nintendo. The short film Kutaragi's Way from Mega64 chronicles the totally true personal story of Ken Kutaragi's trials and tribulations in becoming the Father of the PlayStation entirely filmed with classic 80s film grain. Enjoy.
TV Show of the Month
Well, I spent the majority of my game time playing Bravely Default this past month. As it took up the majority of my time, it is easily my Game of the Month yet again. Instead of repeating myself by talking about Bravely Default (I will save it for the review hopefully), I wanted to share another facet of my passions this month--television shows. As I have grown older, my time watching television has cut down to just the shows I want to watch such as Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Persons of Interest and Reviews on the Run. I barely spend time endlessly surfing through channels anymore. As I gravitate to the shows that interest me the most, there a few I do not get to watch when they first run or they never make it to television in the first place. One of those shows is Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is an anime which adapts the story of the original Fullmetal Alchemist manga into glorious 2D animation. Brotherhood follows Edward and Alphonse Elric on their quest to acquire the legendary Philosopher's Stone in order to restore the bodies they lost when trying to resurrect their deceased mother. Ed and Al's journey is not an easy one as they get caught up in a conspiracy that engulfs the entire country of Amestris. I watched the first half of Brotherhood years ago when Funimation started releasing them as 13-episode DVD sets, but never got the second half of the series because how expensive each set was. Then I got the second season of the 2003 Fullmetal Alchemist series for Christmas. After watching that series over again, I got this huge urge to finish Brotherhood. When I found the Complete Collection Two for 30 dollars at The Beat Goes On, I did not hesitate to buy it. A week and a half later, I watched all the 31-episodes included in the set and it was well worth it. While I already knew the entire story of Fullmetal Alchemist from reading the manga, watching the same story play out in motion was just unbelievable. The mix of excellent voice acting, superb music composition and incredibly beautiful animation just made everything feel brand new. The devilish twists and turns of Fullmetal Alchemist's endgame were perfectly adapted for the animation. There were moments in the anime that just work better in motion than in the panels of the manga. I was literally blown away by Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. While I do not watch many animes, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is among the best I have ever seen and I highly recommend watching it.
Most Anticipated Game of the Month
I have shared my love for Mega Man here on Silver Bit on multiple occasions. Among the many Mega Man series Capcom has created over the years, the Mega Man Zero games are some of my favourites. Considering Capcom would rather keep the Mega Man franchise dormant than develop new titles starring the Blue Bomber, Mega Man fans have had to look elsewhere. In particular, they have gone to the Father of Mega Man, Keiji Inafune himself, to get their fix with Mighty No. 9, but it is not the only Mega Man-like title Inafune has in the works. Announced at the beginning of March, Azure Striker Gunvolt is a new 2D action-platformer from Comcept and Inti Creates coming to the 3DS Nintendo eShop this summer. Azure Striker Gunvolt looks very similar to the fast-paced action of Mega Man Zero just with a brand new character to control, psychic powers to acquire and crazy bosses to battle. As somebody who has fond memories of the Mega Man Zero series, I am really looking forward to what Comcept and Inti Creates has in store for Azure Striker Gunvolt.
Video of the Month
Ken Kutaragi was a dashing young man with a dream to revolutionize gaming. That dream was the PlayStation, but Kutaragi's dream was challenged by the corporate powers of Nintendo. The short film Kutaragi's Way from Mega64 chronicles the totally true personal story of Ken Kutaragi's trials and tribulations in becoming the Father of the PlayStation entirely filmed with classic 80s film grain. Enjoy.
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