diemondgaming-blog

[diemondgaming-blog]

SPOILER FREE REVIEW OF DARK SOULS 3. Story: Dark Souls 3 is a continuation of the already established "Souls Series" known for being insanely challanging and heavily rewarding as a result. Due to it being a continuation, the story takes place thousands of years after the events of Dark Souls 1 & 2. The story so far is there's a curse upon all human beings known as the Dark Sign. This curse enables people to live eternally resulting in those whom are immortal to eventually lose their sanity for having no purpose in their existence. You are one of those immortals known as "Chosen Undead" or "Unkindled Ash." You're job is to find a cure for the curse as well as an end to yourself if it comes to that. Gameplay: Before I talk about the gameplay, I would like to say that if you've played previous Souls games you shouldn't struggle too much on this one. If you haven't then yes it's hard but you can do co-op. The gameplay of Dark Souls 3 is a mix of all the good elements of the previous Souls games. The core concept of the Souls games can really be boiled down to timed blocking and attacking. Any class you pick can be made to be the way you want it. If you want a tank for a mage, you can do that. If you want a thief that can use trickery spells, you can do that. The game is very diverse in how you can build your character. Personally I never ran into any game breaking glitches, but I have heard people say that their versions of the game have crashed on them. Another thing worth noting is that you really should play this game with a controller because the game really wasn't designed for keyboard and mouse. Even the HUD shows everything in an XBOX controller format regardless of controller type. Characters: The characters of the Souls series have lacked enthusaism and movement. I'm speaking for myself when I say this but the characters are not really that memorable. You'll remember what they do for you, like threaten you or sell you items, but for their personalities or actions you won't remember them. Sound: FromSoftware has stepped up their game when it comes to the musical soundtrack of the game. When the tone needs to be epic, it's epic. When it needs to be calming, it's calming. The characters on the other hand have lack luster sound quality. For the majority of the characters no matter the environment it always sounded as though they were talking in a cave. There was ALWAYS an echo. The sounds for the attacks and environment are also pleasing to the ear. You can distinguish the diffent types of weapons based off the sounds they make on impact. For example a greatsword the size of Cloud's Buster Sword sounds different from a Roman styled straight sword. Personal Enjoyment: As I've previously stated, I'm a souls fan and I've played for some time now. So it doesn't take much to say that I enjoy the game. I personally play for the pvp primarily due to the fast paced nature (Excluding Dark Souls 2). While I enjoy the game I still see flaws in it such as the inevitable DLC that's gonna add OP weapons or Magic that everybody's gonna use. Along with a part of the story FromSoftware decides to hold out on (I think we all hate pay for DLC). Aside from the flaws involving a laggy pvp for those in other countries I personally love this game because it uses the best mechanics from all the previous souls games and puts them into the melting pot known as Dark Souls 3. Final Verdict: If you've played the previous souls games and want a conclusion to the story, Buy this game. If you like the Souls series for the pvp, Buy this game. If you are on the edge about buying this game and you KNOW what to expect, buy this game. If you're not into a boss hunting formula type game and you don't care for pvp, Don't buy the game.

[diemondgaming-blog]

BEYOND: TWO SOULS REVIEW

        Beyond: Two Souls is a very special entity. I can’t give this game to a movie reviewer because they’ll sit there saying “why is this movie 9 hours long and why do i have to hold this controller the entire time?” Spiritual successor to Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls is made by Quantic Dream and directed by David Cage. If you care this company and director have made other video games known as Fahrenheit and Heavy Rain. The company prides itself on making really cinematic games and I’m here to tell you if what they did was actually entertaining. 

Story:

        Beyond: Two Souls follows the life story of Jodie Holmes, who has the ability of being able to interact with spirits. This ability has been both a blessing and curse on Jodie’s entire life. While she’s able to interact and communicate with the dead she’s also able to be attacked by them. To make matters worse, Jodie has been attached to an entity since birth known as Aiden. This spirit has acted as a hindrance and protector to Jodie throughout her whole life and without it she would’ve either died or went insane long before her adult years. As you play through the game you will learn along with Jodie the possible joys and horrors of being able to connect to the other side. With that said there is one MAJOR complaint I had with the story. Not the story itself, but how it’s structured. Beyond: Two Souls does not follow the traditional beginning, middle, and end format. Oh No, this game constantly makes random jumps in and out of Jodie’s life. One moment you’ll be playing as a child version of Jodie when she was still trying to cope with her fears of the unknown and the next in a war zone as a full-grown adult. The problem with this style of storytelling is that you WILL be broken out of immersion when it happens and that’s TERRIBLE for a game that prides itself on an immersive experience.

Gameplay:

        As previously stated, “Beyond: Two Souls” is a videogame stuck in a movie’s body, but unlike the Uncharted series it doesn’t try to hide that fact. The reason I put the section “Story” before “Gameplay” in a videogame review is because of that fact. The gameplay is VERY cinematic and simplistic. Only having to do one tutorial at the beginning of the game, it drills into your head that all you’re going to be doing is moving your analog stick along the direction of your characters’ movement. For those that don’t play videogames that often, these actions are known as “Quick time events” meaning you must do the following action displayed on screen within the allotted time. If you fail to do so then your character could end up being injured or killed resulting in failure of that level or specific action. There really isn’t a deep and intricate combat system but that was never the point of the game. Despite the fact that there is no complex fighting or leveling system in game there were a few times when the games camera would be pointing at a bad angle to not accurately show you the character’s movement resulting in you failing that current quick time event. This game was meant to tell a story much like all the other games to come out of Quantic Dream’s studio. This company is known for making interactive movies and they did just that.

Characters:

            In my opinion there are two types of forces that drive a story forward. There is a character driven story and plot driven story. Beyond: Two Souls follows the character driven aspect by showing Jodie’s life in detail and having the viewer ultimately choose the path she’ll take to get to the ending of their story. The plot of this game is a driving force without a doubt, but you’re ultimately there for the characters. Due to the constant time skips and the fact that you’re playing through Jodie’s life, you will inevitably meet many types of characters. These ranging from an uncaring foster family, homeless folks with hearts of gold, and of course dead people. While I personally cannot remember most the character’s names due to the constant time skips, I can say that you’ll remember their personalities and what they do for and to you. You’ll remember the characters for how they interact with you. Thus, you play this game for the character interaction between Jodie, Aiden, and everyone else related to them.

Sound:

           This section is going to be divided into two different categories for simplistic sake. First being in-game sound for anything auditory related to the environment, voice acting, and authenticity of the overall sound in your playing experience. Second Section is for Original Soundtracks (OST). This includes all music created for the soul purpose of this game.

           The voice acting in Beyond: Two Souls is spot on and the actors really do sound like their characters. This comes as no surprise due to Quantic Dream hiring voice actors you would see in Hollywood such as Ellen Page (Jodie Holmes) and Willem Dafoe (Nathan Dawkins, scientist that adopts Jodie). Hollywood actors in videogames normally wouldn’t be important due to being an interactive medium, however it’s much appreciated here. The primary reason for this is Quantic Dream’s effort in trying to make the most cinematic games on the market. Thus, I believe the company made the right decision to hire actors like these to get a 9-hour movie to be sold. As for the authenticity of the sound in game, it all felt correct. Nothing in game sounded out of place. For example, in another game known as DayZ, you would hear the ocean in the middle of forests with literally no water around you. Quantic Dream focused on making the game feel correct in all aspects and they did just that here. No sound glitches or out of place ambient noises were discovered during my multiple play-through’s of the game.

         The OST’s in this game were produced by Lorne Balfe. His most popular works are from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Crysis 2, Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, and Assassins Creed 3. These are of course the most popular games he’s worked on but Mr. Balfe is an industry veteran that has worked on video games and movies music since 2004. While his music is impressive for setting the tone and atmosphere in games and movies, they aren’t very nice to listen to on their own (In my opinion). Beyond: Two Souls soundtrack is pleasant in game, but when I listened to the music on its own I didn’t really enjoy it.

Personal Enjoyment:

           Beyond: Two Souls is an interactive movie. The gameplay is very lackluster, but you wouldn’t get this game for an in-depth gameplay system. You’d get it for the story. The game does have a few immersion breaking moments like character faces looking downright dumb during serious moments or the time skips, but overall I enjoyed the game. I loved the story and the interaction with it. Although I enjoyed the game I would not recommend to buy this at the full $60 price. It is an interactive movie after all.

 Final Verdict:

Positives:

·       Well written story

·       Great voice acting

·       Great gateway game

Negatives:

·       Unnecessary time skips

·       $60 price tag for initial release

  � ��D