Bit by Bit: August 2014

As the weeks pass, we continue to inch ever so closer to the end of the summer.  For most including yours truly, the end of summer means the beginning of school.  With a new school year, I move from the craziness of managing two jobs, this blog and life to insanity of managing four university courses, a volunteer position at the university newspaper and a co-op job search on top of everything else mentioned above.  Before all that awesomeness becomes reality, there are two more weeks to relax and make the most of the summer.  Among the large list of things to do in these two weeks, I am going to Fan Expo Canada this coming Friday, August 29th.  It has been four long years since I last went to this event and things have really changed especially on the video game side of things.  Expect plenty of impressions on Fan Expo and all the games I get a chance to demo at the event in the weeks to come.  While all that amazing content is going to coming to Silver Bit in the near future, it is that time again to take our monthly trip down memory lane in Bit by Bit.

Game of the Month
License games do not have the best reputation among gamers.  Most of these projects do a poor job in translating the properties they represent to the video game medium that many have soured to license games altogether.  Every once and awhile, there comes a diamond in the rough to show us the great potential of coupling a huge license, be it a movie, comic or television show, with this interactive medium.  The latest diamond comes from the fusion of Broforce, a side-scrolling action game made by Free Lives that honours and parodies 80s action films and unabashed American patriotism, and the Expendables, Sylvester Stallone's action movie franchise that plays with nostalgia for a bygone age of blockbuster action movies and their larger than life stars.  From this match made in heaven came the Expendabros.

Expendabros is a free standalone expansion to Broforce which gives players a taste of Broforce's hectic gameplay with bro-ified versions of the Expendables 3 cast.  To describe Expendabros' gameplay as anything short of insane would not do the game justice.  Destructible environments, bombastic weapons, buckets of pixelated blood and enough explosions to bring a tear to Michael Bay's eyes kept a grin firmly planted on my face throughout my time with the game.  As much fun as I had with with the Expendabros, I did run into a good amount of slowdown especially when there were lots of explosions on screen and while loading new levels or cutscenes that took away from my experience.  While Expendabros has a few problems, the game has put Broforce on my radar of games I need to play and I highly recommend those who own a PC to give this free game a try because it is loads of fun.

Most Anticipated Game of the Month
I try not to have many repeats for Most Anticipated Game of the Month, but Azure Striker Gunvolt is the exception especially considering the game is less than a week away from release.  Comcept and Inti Creates' spiritual successor to Mega Man Zero will be available to download from the Nintendo eShop this coming Friday, August 29th for 15 dollars.  Those who purchase Azure Striker Gunvolt within the first three months of its launch will receive Mighty Gunvolt, an 8-bit side-scrolling crossover between Gunvolt, Mighty No. 9 and Gal Gun, free of charge.  From the brief gameplay trailer, Mighty Gunvolt looks to be modeled after the NES era Mega Man games with some new gameplay twists such as character specific abilities.  Seeing as Capcom will be sitting on Mega Man aside from re-releasing past games on new platforms for the foreseeable future, I am glad that Keiji Inafune, Comcept and Inti Creates are taking it upon themselves to fill the void with quality successors to the Mega Man name.  I cannot wait to get my hands on the fruition of their hard work later this week.

Video of the Month
When was the last time a game legitimately scared you?  For me, it was BioShock.  The dark, unsettling setting of Rapture combined with its disturbing residents caused me to debate whether or not to venture further into the level or shudder over the haunting screams that echoed through those halls many times.

While I personally hate horror movies due to their predictable plots and over reliance on blood and gore, I find survival horror games and games with significant horror elements very engaging because I am directly involved in the horrific events rather than a passive observer.  With the drop in quality among survival horror games (Resident Evil and Alone in the Dark) and the need to give players an overabundance of firepower and strength in action games with horror elements (BioShock Infinite and The Last of Us), games that truly scare are few and far between.

Konami looks to change that situation with its new additions of Silent Hill, which will be developed by Kojima Productions with the help of horror movie aficionado Guillermo del Toro and starring The Walking Dead's Norman Reedus.  With a lot of big names behind these projects, it seems like Konami is finally taking the Silent Hill franchise serious once again, but that is not all Konami did.  To show the new direction for these Silent Hills, Konami released P.T. (Playable Teaser) as a free download on PS4.  The one-two punch of the announcement trailer and playable teaser has generated an incredible amount of excitement for these new installments in the Silent Hill franchise.  I strongly encourage everybody to try out the unique yet incredibly scary P.T. for themselves or watch a walkthrough online if you do not own a PS4.  While P.T. may be more of an interactive experience than a game, it is something that all gamers mature enough should take the time to experience.

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.