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[extraquarterblog]

Ok I finally admit it, Overwatch is a great game

One year ago, almost to date. Blizzard released a new IP, Overwatch. A  wacky, vibrate FPS that carted to the middle of the road of an MOBA and FPS. 

Overwatch being completely different from anything Blizzard has previously done. Compared to Diablo or Starcraft, it's the furthest thing away from it.  Being heavily compared to Team Fortress from Valve or League of Legends from Riot Studios. Blizzard was entering new territory.

At first glance, I was heavily opposed to Overwatch. It wasn't the art style, the pace of the game, or the difficulty. It was the fact, on release Overwatch is strictly a Multiplayer game online. There zero single player campaign action. Charge $60 for a multiplayer game only stung me a bit. Not to mention the modes available for multiplayer was incredibly thin. For a multiplayer game only, I was expecting the kitchen sink of various game modes. Instead, it released with only 2-3 game modes. 

Then to top it off, the loot system in Overwatch, the main attraction for many, can be obtained by leveling up, completing special events, or...by purchase. 

So a title that was multiplayer only, microtransactions, and charging full price. I was out. Yes, I looked the other way and didn't bother putting a single min or cent into it. 

Now, I knew Overwatch was going to be popular. Blizzard studios have one of the largest, most dedicated fanbases around. Not to mentioned Overwatch appeal was so vast that pretty much impossible to escape it. Despite seeing Overwatch growing ever more popular, I remained on the sidelines. Stubbornly but I still didn't want a bite of it.

That all changed when the free weekend dropped. Last year, Blizzard ran a free weekend event. Allowing anyone to download Overwatch and enjoy. So, like so many, I downloaded it and gave Overwatch a spin.

Getting my first taste of the Overwatch universe was surprisingly delightful. At the time I have been playing so much Uncharted 4, that a multiplayer title with dedicated servers was almost life changing. Uncharted 4, despite how much I love Naughty Dog, was plagued with so many p2p issues that going over to Overwatch stability was shocking. 

The matchmaking was pretty quick, easy-going, and incredibly enjoyable. However, I can't say were surprised by any of that. Knowing full well the biggest appeal of Overwatch was the enjoyment level. The learning curve starts off pretty low and easy. You don't have to be a pro FPS gamer to really grasp the game. As I continued to put more time into Overwatch, I could see the depth involved with mastering each character. Slowly beginning to see the true appeal of this title.

Each character is greatly fine tuned. Their animations, voice acting, style, approach to each map and firefights. Rarely do you find a sweep of characters, so balanced and unique to each map. Observing pro players, running on their favorite characters, shows the depth this title has. Reminding me, of a different game. Super Smash Bros. Seemingly incient game, with charm, is filled with a bottomless pit of depth and technique. Overwatch shares much of that.

Continuing through that event, I died, I killed, I won, I lost and I got a taste of the grind. The game was fun, but seeing how to reach the Rank Competetive mode was level 25. The grind felt real, with very little desire to continue further. I stepped away from Overwatch once more.

Now, to confess, it was pretty easy to step away from Overwatch. Last year some great FPS titles released. Games like Doom reboot caught me by surprise. A fantastic, action-packed game, that had me easily hooked. Then later that same year, Titanfall 2 dropped, which is easily last year most underrated title. Its a damn good game, not perfect, it had its flaws but I definitely got my money worth out of it. Then you have the stable of releases like Battlefield and CoD. There's no short supply of First person shooters in the gaming market.

As time passed, going through the holiday season of titles and a personal backlog of games I needed to catch up on. Overwatch remained in the back of my head. One thing that only time could prove was Blizzard word. While the game had microtransactions Blizzard promised that all updates would be available for free. This proved to be true, with new character releases, events and maps. Throughout the year Blizzard gave me new confidence that this could be the title worth investing in. 

I returned back to Overwatch, with cash in hand. Almost a year after the title released. I finally purchased Overwatch, and I was happy to do so. There's this unique appeal to it. It's hard to first describe. Yes there frustration, the forms can be toxic, and depending on the map and team setup can be either heaven or hell for the next 10 mins. 

Despite those typical issues. Overwatch gives a fantastic experience. Yes, its visual appearance will repel certain people away but I don't fault them for that. Overwatch isn't for everyone but for me, setting aside my stubbornness, taking the time to embrace it, becoming familiar with the Overwatch Universe. I have to finally admit it.

Blizzard, you made a great game. Just took me awhile to warm up to it.

Though I still refuse to buy loot boxes....

[extraquarterblog]

My Wallet is safe for now, Nintendo

I couldn't believe my eyes. Standing paralyzed inside a Target, next to the gaming/electronic section. There laid behind a glass case, a Nintendo Switch. Were my eyes deceiving me? Was this a trick? Are hidden cameras closely watching my every movement? Regardless what was truly up, I stood next to a Unicorn. I've heard rumors of the Switch actually reaching store shelves but never did I expect to actually see it.

The impulse buyer inside me was raging. I could feel my heart race, my palms becoming sweaty. I totally had the cash. With no effort, that Nintendo Switch could have been mine. I stood there, glancing it over, filling my heart with temptation. I slowly moved my eyes away to glance at other Nintendo accessories, and seconds later, my heart stopped racing, reality came back to me and I continued my shopping. 

It was the prices of the Switch accessories that took me back from the sudden impulse to buy.

More I thought about it, the more I realized how I truly don't need a Switch currently. I already own a Wii U and most of Switch library are remastered Wii U titles. To pick a Switch up now, would offer little at best. Also, I only planned to keep the Switch mostly in docked mode. I see little reason to ever take a Switch around. Unlike Pokemon Go that literally had people running across the city to catch a few Pokemon. For me, there isn't a title that really takes advantage of Switch mobility, or making full use of the Joy-Con controllers. 

Speaking of Joy-con controllers, that was another issue that worried me. I've read the claims about Joy-con quality and even Nintendo made a statement about the Left Joy-con having the syncing issue due to manufacturing variations. A small issue that's been resolved, I didn't want to chance it. I've been burned far too many times being a day one buyer. Patience pays in the long run.

Now I understand, Nintendo, like any company needs to make money, but damn those prices on accessories are hard to swallow. $70 for the pro controller and $80 for the Joy-Con set isn't the easiest thing to cough up for. Not to mention I often have people over to jam out on multiplayer games, each controller adds up easily. 

So, with what will power I had left in me. I managed to leave the electronic section and continue on my shopping. Despite regaining my clarity and confidence in my choice, I still had lingering thoughts. Was I wrong? Is this a steal? Maybe third party's have been releasing their version of controllers and other accessories? So later that night I fired up the interwebz and dug ferociously, looking for answers. Hori, one of my personal favorite accessory brand, had a sparse Switch selection. No docks or pro controllers. Looking at other brands, there's very little options for early adopters. 

Then came the online fiasco that I'm still puzzled by. I'll admit, I've been out of the loop on the smaller details when dealing with the Nintendo Switch, but I had no idea that the Online Lobby and Voice chat wasn't available yet...or even their competitor to PlayStation Network and Xbox live isn't available either. Planned for Fall 2017. Sounds...promising. Further digging, it looks like that Nintendo is still on course for all their matchmaking and voice chat to be done through their app, that will be available on mobile devices. Not natively done through the Switch itself. 

After reading through the weeds about everything. I felt more comfortable with my stance. I can easily avoid the Switch. For now.

I say that because, despite the current library or lack of robust online features, Nintendo somehow managed to make a very tempting device. It's a slick damn handheld hybrid, also running on Nvidia platform, I'm sure we'll see some promising titles soon enough. While I did read Nintendo won't be holding a Press event at E3 (no surprise) Nintendo will be continuing their Nintendo Direct stream. Which rumors are already overflowing with anticipation. 

For Nintendo systems, I've always been a year or two behind. No doubt this trend will continue with the Switch. Yes, Nintendo, you will undoubtedly capture my cold hard cash.

Till then Nintendo, till then. 

[extraquarterblog]

In-depth look at Nioh

Publisher Koei Tecmo are no strangers to the gaming scene. Famous for titles as Dead or Alive, Ninja Gaiden, Dynasty Warriors, *coughDOAXcough* and others. It's a stable name in the eastern gaming scene. One of the key studios under their belt, arguably the most famous, is Team Ninja. With a long history and previous famous director Tomonobu Itagaki. Team Ninja is a fan favorite. So when news broke out that Team Ninja was returning to develop the forever in limbo project Nioh, fans got excited. 

Nioh has easily been Team Ninja most ambitious title in years, not to mention being a risk from continuing to rehash DOA or Ninja Gaiden content. Team Ninja decided to go all in on a new IP. Based during the Sengoku period, originally set to use an unfinished script from filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, to serve as the base for the story. Though much of the script Akira Kurosawa made with later removed, due to the long development period, various changes had to be made. Nioh announced in 2004, comes to no surprise that many elements behind it were changed over the course of development. 

The main protagonist William, who is based off an actual person William Adams. This guy was the real deal. A Sailor, one of the first to ever reach Japan from England, played a large role in Japan trading with the British trade during the 1600s. Even achieved the title Western Samurai.

" He was presented with two swords representing the authority of a Samurai. The Shogun decreed that William Adams the pilot was dead and that Miura Anjin (三浦按針), a samurai, was born"  -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Adams_(sailor)#Western_samurai

The story is basically this; William has his Spirit Guardian stolen from him by the game main antagonist Kelley. Who he too is based off a real person Edward Kelley. William travels to Japan to retrieve his spirit while a civil war has broken out across the land. William story is briefly weaved through Non-fictional characters, but with a heavy dose of Anime flair. 

You'll often find yourself quite, alone, and dropped into new locations with little reason or explanation. While it's fascinating that the majority of the game's characters are all loosely based on real people, and some historical  events. Albeit the demons and Kelley stealing crystals for his nefarious schemes. Nioh tries its best to push you through the events in a warring time in Japan as multiple successors attempt to conquer/unite Japan after the fall of Nobunaga. Sadly the story never really connects to you. 

Though Team Ninja does a gorgeous job through artwork, voice acting, brief climactic to explain the story behind each character. Perfectly nailing the aesthetics of an eastern style title that fans have been craving. The character designs, locations, music, the overall atmosphere is refreshing from the dark, colorless worlds from the Soul series.

The biggest question that I had was how Nioh plays? The first demo released had a slogan "Ready to die?" Which I had mixed feelings about. The hardcore and unforgiving genre have already been eclipsed by Dark Souls success with others quickly following the trend. I wanted Nioh to be something more than just a game that mocks your attempts to scrap by.

Thankfully after that demo, Team Ninja was hard at work.

Nioh nails so many points, it's easy to see why Nioh is so coveted. The amount of detail, features, rich combat and RPG elements makes this a robust title hard to pass up. While the game looked good and had a decent following, no one was expecting the review scores to be constantly in the 9s and 10s. Currently, Nioh is an 88 on Metacritic with 99 professional reviews chiming in. It's damn impressive.

For a new IP that been in limbo forever, quickly became 2017 breakout hit. 

"Nioh has a deep, rich combat system that rivals the complexity of Devil May Cry or Ninja Gaiden. It's a shame the game never lets you go that far. "

The biggest accomplishment with Nioh is how it manages to maintain its own self-identity, in a market with Dark Souls and countless other hack n slashers. But also over comes the crown of action Samurai demon slaying games, Onimusha. Released back in 2001 as a launch title for the PlayStation 2. Onimusha was ground breaking. Consider one of the best launch titles for any system, received multiple awards. Holding the bar high for Samurai mythology games.

Combat is key and Nioh presents a wonderful and refreshing take, with its Stamina gauge that applies to both you and your foe. A wide range of elements to add to your arsenal, summons, and a massive tidal wave of weapons to use. Capturing that Diablo loot addiction has you constantly wanting to slay just one more monster and see what drops. It's also the game biggest missed opportunity. Nioh has a deep, rich combat system that rivals the complexity of Devil May Cry or Ninja Gaiden, it's a shame the game never lets you go that far.

The shallowest point of Nioh is the cast of villains you'll face. With in the first two levels, you will encounter 90% of the opponents in the game (if you include the sub levels). Unlike Dark Souls series, where almost visiting each area, you are met with an entirely new cast of enemies to face, forcing you to change your style, weapons, and skills. Nioh, after a few levels, you will have the routine down on any foe to fight. By midway in the game, I felt the grind become real, encountering the same demons just gave no real excitement, nor required any change up in my style of combat or approach.

In the end, the biggest impact that Nioh achieved was really giving a wake-up call for Koei Tecmo and other Eastern Studios. For what seems forever, the Western market has been foaming out the mouth for a damn good Onimusha successor. Team Ninja overly ecstatic with its success, will no doubt pursue this new world they've opened up. 

And I cant wait for more. Lucky me, I wont have too. With the recent release of the first DLC Dragon of the North, I find myself back in the action. 

Game on. 

[extraquarterblog]

Discovering all the Rage about Darkest Dungeon

Darkest Dungeon claim to fame is an unforgiving, turn-based, explorative game that the best way to describe is Oregon Trail meets Dark Souls with a dash of Rogue Legacy. Made by the company Red Hook Studios, using a successful Kickstart campaign to develop the game in full, released early 2016. 

I've always stood on the sidelines watching this title. I heard of high praise but also hearing how it's a title not for everyone. Patience and grinding are the two biggest keys to this game. What convinced me to finally jump on was the recent sale on Steam and the new updated radiant mode. A mode designed to be slightly more forgiving and requiring less grinding to get ahead. 

Now don't get me wrong, I love a good challenge. Just stopping every min to make sure Jimmy has eaten his sandwich, Sam has bandages to fix his bleeding, and Nick drinks his holy water to stop his madness, doesn't really invite me into the experience. I want to slay demons, not constantly throw my team into the medic ward till they regain their sanity. It's one of the games where you spend time managing your surplus of supplies, making sure your characters have food, bandages, and torches to keep the darkness at bay. Hence the Oregon Trail part, cause I learned the hard way what happens when your knee deep in a dungeon and suddenly everyone needs to eat, and you don't have a scrap of food.

So now seemed to be the time. I pull the trigger on the Steam sale, fired up the Radiant mode and jumped right in. 

Yup, it was everything I was expecting. 

Entering this world for the first time seems a lot to take at first. The town Hamlet, the mainstay of the game, is filled with a plethora of shops, like a Blacksmith, Guild, Church etc. All with their own options, leveling up, abilities to unlock. A top of all that, you can level up each of those places as well. While I loved the charm, I also found myself frustrated trying to discover where the hell some items are located, how to equip a trinket, where the hell is the map to continue? We're just a few examples of the confusing layout at first glance. 

The atmosphere is dead on. I absolutely love the visuals, the character animations, and music. Also, the narrative really adds to the experience. Hearing the narrator, voiced by Wayne June is absolutely fantastic and really draws you into the experience. Good or bad events could happen to you but hearing the narrative speak makes it so damn cool. You slay a random skeleton, the narrator kicks on, making you feel 10x more bad-ass about it. 

"Great is the weapon that cuts on its own! "

At first, being on radiant mode didn't seem so bad. I got through my first dungeon run, feeling more confident I decided to go in for another try. 

That's when everything went sour.

I was only two rooms deep, a battle appears against a few spiders and my team suddenly leaped into madness. My tank became fearful and started to pass up on turns. My healer in the back became paranoid and fell to a heart attack. My two attackers both became depressed. Within what seemed only 1 min, my team was down to just 1 person left. My opponents, the two spiders, had hardly done anything. It was my team losing faith, humanity, hope, that quickly fell to their own demise. 

Just like that, I lost my first 4 players to a permanent death. 

That's when I realized, they're not kidding. If you expect to go wade deep into the darkest pits of a dungeon, you're going to need supplies for everything, from shovels to torches. Oh, heaven forbid you forget food. Never, ever, under any circumstance go without food. The second your teams become hungry and you can't feed them. It's like giving them all a death sentence.

There's an element of luck to this game. Sometimes your characters gracefully dodges, overcome their challenges, keep their motivation up. Other times they run to the back, petrified in fear to do anything. It's one of those games, where keeping a constant check on your character's sanity, plays a bigger part than their health bar. 

With each attempt, I gained more money, more emblems, more items. Slowly my team began to grow, I became wiser, better at the game. Giving the game a few hours is when it really started to grow on me. Understand the mechanics, the roll of luck, and a better idea of their sanity is when this game really start to shine for me.

Yes, of course, I enjoy the game. It's fresh and can be both incredibly fun or frustrating. Even at your best, things could still turn sour unexpectedly. Though, the more experience characters you have, the better you overcome trivial matters. The game has a lot to offer with new dungeons to explore, foes to slay and yes, there's lots of grinding. You could easily put +50hrs into this game. 

Darkest Dungeon, at its core, is an excellent game, for what it aims to be. Could I recommend this game to my friends? To answer that, I had a good friend of mine give it a go. He's more of a casual gamer but always open to exploring new genres or niche games. I let him give the game ago. 

He didn't last 2hrs.

Within those first 2hrs, he had graveyard filled with his fallen heroes. Unable to grasp the game mechanics. After I sat down with him, giving the lay of the land, how to properly play this game. He just looked at me and said: "Why?". 

That's the best way for me to sum up Darkest Dungeon. It's a game that requires preparation, foresight, planning. It offers a great sense of gambling, risking for reward. With death being permanent, its always keeping you on your toes. Depending on the type of player you are, you will either love it or hate it. 

For me, its a love hate relationship. That I keep returning too.

[extraquarterblog]

The art of saving money when buying video games

Playing video games is easily my favorite hobby that I heavily invest in. I have found no other past time more enjoyable than booting up a system, connecting with a friend online, and jamming out for hours. It pulls me out of the normal routine that I live every day, into a fantasy world where I lose all cares and grind through waves of endless monsters. 

It's a hobby that almost anyone can get into, that can fit almost any budget. From special holiday discounted sales on consoles to high-end PCs. For the most part, Gaming isn't an overly expensive hobby compared to where else you can be burning your cash on. 

That is until you start own multiple systems.

That's where things start to get tricky. We now live in a world of Season Passes, Preorder goodies, Special Editions with Limited in-game items, etc etc. For a completions purist, it can be stupidly expensive trying to indulge in every piece of content for a single game. I like so many others, rushed down that rabbit hole. It seems fine at first until the holidays come around and before you know it, there are 4-5 games you want to own. You total up the prices of Season passes or DLC, special editions, and suddenly you're flat broke and you still couldn't afford to buy each of them.

Then, there's the whole day one burn aka beta testers. Sadly, they don't make games like they used too anymore. Almost any game that's heavily dependent on online functionality is plagued with issues easily for weeks until the studio resolves the problems. God have mercy on your soul is the game is dependent on P2P connection. 

There's also all the additional content through patches that drop afterward, that tend to resolve players complaints, crashes, improve frame rate drops or just add new UI, change features, improve the quality of life the game. A great example was the Witcher 3. Don't get me wrong, the game is phenomenal, but the studio, over the course of the title release made enormous improvements to the game. 

Getting to my point, buying a game on day one release, just isn't the grand bonanza that it used to be. Not to mention becoming increasingly expensive if you're trying to game on multiple systems.

However, were gamers, we will game. Cash must be spent, games will be played, and our wallets can hurt less, depending on how willing you are to wait or chose to shop.

Console

Amazon Prime - If you have Amazon Prime, then you're in luck. If you Preorder a game before release or with-in the two-week window of the title launch, you will receive a 20% discount on the game. It's about one of the best deals for day one releases and also allows you to dip into the preorder goodies. On average, a $59.99 game will cost about $50 after tax.

Target - This is going to sound odd, but for some reason, somehow, Target will do crazy good sales for 48hrs on newer releases. Generally after 2-3 weeks when a big title is available, Target will do a special 20-30% price drop. Sometimes requiring to preorder a game to get the special discounted rate. But in the past, I was able to pick up The Witcher 3 for example at $39.99. Target also includes other great deals, such as buy 2 games, get 1 free.

eBay - Obviously, a no brainer, Ebay is the land that covers all. From rare titles to the latest, if you're looking for any game, there's a 99.9% chance you can pick it up on Ebay. Now, if you've used eBay before, you know the pitfalls of bidding and how expensive trying to buy a newer game can be. The trick is to be patient, I typically look at new titles that have been on the market for over a month or so, around that time prices have dropped 30-40%. I picked up Nioh, with shipping, for $38, basically bran new. I know Ebay isn't something everyone wants to put up with but for those who are willing to put in the effort, will save extra cheddar.

Goodwill Auction - This is piratically the underrated gem in the world of physically collecting games. Much like eBay, but with far less selection but also far less attention, meaning, less battling with others on trying to get the winning bid. Avoiding prices skyrocketing in the last 30 seconds. The biggest assumption people make that the latest titles wouldn't be available. While its true, there's less availability of newly released titles, you can still find them. I've found both Wii U and Switch versions of Breath of the Wild available at Goodwill Auction.

PC

Steam Holiday Sales - No shocker here. Steam is basically famous for it's over the top sales that it presents 4 times a year. Generally once per season, however, it seems the most famous is typically the Summer and Winter sale. Summer sale typically happens in June and Winter sale in December. If you can hold out for those times of the year, you can come across huge savings, not to mention deep discounts on DLC or other expansions.

Humble Bundle - This is a unique service, dedicated to giving back to charity. The company works with studios on presenting games in a Tier packaged. You basically pay what you want. Typically unlocking all the games available for $15 or more. Its a great deal to pick up older titles that you might of missed. I always keep an eye out on what new bundles drop. 

Gog.com - Much like Steam, its a popular service that offers a wide range of sales constantly throughout the year. Gog claim to fame is being DRM free and Fair Price Packaging. A popular growing service that shouldn't be over looked. 

Green Man Gaming - A popular site that's always running sales, even for newer releases. At the time of posting, Mass Effect Andromeda was already having a 27% discount. GMG is also popular for caring titles not found on Steam or Gog. Filling in the gaps for your library. Another nice site to add to the collection.

Tracking it all

It's 2017, were no longer cave men. There's a world of apps, websites and other services that you can use to keep a track of when a sale emerges. Sites like cheapshark.com or isthereanydeal.com are nifty little sites that help track any deals happening. There's even software services like Razer Cortex that constantly monitors pricing on popular sites. 

This is however just tip of the iceberg, there's plenty of other deals to find. Places like Gamefly often offer great sales, that you can even get further discounted if you're a member. Also, you never forget nationwide holidays, retailers are always having sales, most famously black Friday held on the day after Thanksgiving is when basically every store is having more sales you can shake a stick at. 

Hopefully, you'll save a buck or two on your next game. 

[extraquarterblog]

The Wii U just became the must-have for collectors

Nintendo Wii U, a collectible piece of gaming

Switch ushers in a new age for Nintendo. New hardware, new titles, new accessories. You get the picture. While this is exciting, eagerly awaiting new hardware to drop, its also curtains for Nintendo lesser popular predecessor, the Wii U. A system that was built to continue on the Wii novel success and remain unique compared to its rivals, the Xbox One and PlayStation 4.

While the Wii U was short lived, it had a solid library of titles. From Pikmin 3, Bayonetta 2, Super Smash Bros, Xenoblade Chronicles X, Splatoon and more. Also who could forget Nintendo interesting choice of adding collectible statues, aka Amiibo. Which had scalpers foaming out the mouth for. 

The Wii U was an interesting system, even by Nintendo standards.

Sadly, the Wii U was plagued with a mountain of confusing business practices from Nintendo. For example its price. Releasing on the more expensive side of $299 and $349 for deluxe. The Wii U was considered pricey compared to the previous Nintendo consoles and also kept the price high throughout its life span. Fans waited on the fence for years, hoping for a steep price drop that never happened. 

Nintendo also had a confusing supply and demand practices going on. A new big title would release, then seemingly vanish from store shelves for weeks, if not longer before restock. Even then stores would be lucky to receive additional copies. Games like Pikmin 3, Pokken Tournament, Legend of Zelda Wind Waker HD for example. Were all pretty difficult to get around release, making the Wii U the prime choice for scalpers. 

Online retailers would often give notices of limited stock and encouraging to preorders. They weren't joking. With-in a few hrs stock would run out and who the hell knows when to expect more supply to arrive. 

Don't even get me started on Amiibo. Seriously. If you thought stores trying to keep stock of a popular Wii U Title was bad. Amiibo takes it to 11. 

For Nintendo fans, the Wii U was often both the best and worst of times. Making it a polarizing system that many simply decided to skip.

That is, until recently.

When discovering late last year, that Nintendo was slowly removing Wii U stock from shelves and discontinuing the Wii U production. Nintendo even confirming that Zelda Breath of the Wild, will be its last first party title. It was like music to my ears, as a collector that is.

For Years Nintendo has been brewing the perfect collecting stew that will ignite the gold rush for game collecting once again. 

All the key ingredients are there; a system that sold less than 13 million world wide, keeping it scares to find compared to other systems. The price remained higher too, further excluding ownership. Many Amiibo were impossible to find due to limited store exclusivity, add a dash of limited game stock and you have yourself a giant bowl of collector stew.

Now obviously, this wont happen over night. But make no mistake, like all gaming collectibles, you never see it coming immanently. 

Its clear Nintendo is making a massive push for the Switch. Already moving past the Wii U, with their newly debuted Super Bowl Commercial, and announcing a deep commitment to marketing the Switch, even longer after its release. Nintendo going all in. 

While I'm excited as the next guy for the Switch. I'm also excited to see the temperature rise for the collecting scene on the Wii U.

Still kept those Target exclusive Amiibo's? 

[extraquarterblog]

Nintendo continues to be Nintendo

Nintendo continues to repeat its history

By this point, you are well aware of Nintendo newest system releasing in March, the Switch. Nintendo approach to a console/handheld hybrid. We got our first sneak peak at Switch last year but now details are finally coming out, showing Nintendo continues to be both the best at what they do, and at their most confusing.

Now no video game system is ever perfect. Let alone at release. It takes several years of software releases, system updates/patches before any hardware is able to live up to the image it's pitched as. A pretty standard routine. Sony went through the same phases with the PS4 and lord knows Microsoft was hustling to get the Xbox One to meet fans expectations.

With Nintendo however, it's always a different approach.

The Switch continues one of Nintendo core beliefs, to be different. Nintendo is famous for pursuing a different direction than rest of the industry. Shigeru Miyamoto is a shining example of this. Often stating his focus is on the experience and gameplay, over visuals. This approach by Nintendo can be seen over the past few decades, from the Gamecube, Wii and Wii U couldn't be more different compared to their rival counterparts. 

When watching the full unveiling of the Switch, I both cheer and cringed at the same time. I often love the unique approach that Nintendo brings to the party. Constantly testing the boundaries of what a game can be, and how can a player interact with that experience. The thought of my console could also be a mobile device certainly opens the realm of possibilities. It's a thought that has teased gamers for decades. 

To be direct as possible towards the Switch, despite some of the backlash at how people feel towards it. I stand firm that Nintendo has made a fantastic gaming tablet. It's sleek, the removable Joy-Con controllers are a neat approach, it easily connects to the stand, and having Nvidia as the beating heart of the hardware is a solid choice. 

Ever Since Apple released the iPad, fans have been wondering what a robust, dedicated gaming tablet could look like. Nintendo answered that. 

So you would think, that the Switch looks to be a grand success. Being different compared to its competitors, being impossible to compare to Sony PS4 or Microsoft Xbox One. What could possibly be its most challenging opponent?

It's Nintendo itself. 

In Nintendo pursuit of being creatively different, Nintendo often pushes itself in a direction that fans never asked for. So desperately, that Nintendo often alienates its fan base, rather than converting to new players into fans.

Let's say you invited Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo to a Cake competition. As you would imagine, both Sony and Microsoft would arrive with their best cake. Nintendo, determined to be unique, would arrive with a cake flavored milkshake. Sure, it's tasty, but the competition is to see who can bake the best cake. Not who can make a milkshake. 

That's Nintendo in a nutshell for the past decade.

At this point of the article, I've tried time and time again, on how to best describe the confusing, questionable, downright odd choices Nintendo has made with the new approach for the Switch. It's hard because I don't want to sound like this insufferable asshole who's on an endless complaint.

So, to the best of my ability, shall briefly touch on a few key pieces that I found hard to swallow. 

- The requirement of Nintendo Smartphone App for Voice Chat

- The same App will also be required for Match Making

- Absurd pricing on accessories, controllers, additional docks, etc

- While Switch does support SDXC cards, will only release with 32gb internal at release

- Still heavily cryptic on many details, such as pricing for online multiplayer service

- Only 1 NES or SNES game per month will be made available to those who pay for the online service, as a rental for 30 days

I truly could go on, though what is the point of that? My intent is not to write a scathing piece against Nintendo to add to the pile. That's not the point here. As I mentioned above, no system releases perfectly, there's bound to be hiccups, adjustments, updates that go along as a system ages. 

It's Nintendo choices that make it so difficult. I constantly feel as if Nintendo has separated themselves from the rest of the world, wrapped in bliss to what's going on. While I do, and I mean this, do appreciate the different approach Nintendo takes, their not the only one. Sony and Microsoft aren't pushing out the same refreshed dribble anymore. Hell, last year Sony released PlayStation VR and added HDR support, and Microsoft continues to evolve their cross-game platform from Xbox to PC, not to mention their Hololens project. 

While Sony and Microsoft may not appear as innovated as Nintendo. Both companies have made great strives to give gamers more than just more powerful hardware. Though, it was pretty funny writing that, knowing Sony released PS4 Pro last year, and this year Microsoft is releasing their Project Scorpio, which, are just literally more powerful units...

That actually highlights my struggle with Switch and Nintendo. Hardware only, I adore the Switch. I truly do feel it has a great place in gaming history and could see millions of people racing out to get it. I don't mind the display is 720p, or the fact it's not the most powerful system, but same could be said about Pokemon Go. Hardly a game at all, yet it swept the world. 

Switch has that very same potential, the IPs are there, the gamers are at the ready, the possibilities could be groundbreaking.

It's Nintendo, who's making this so difficult. Come this March, we'll find out. Is Nintendo brilliance so magnificent I fail to grasp it, or will reviewers point out, that Switch continues the same trend of Nintendo, being Nintendo. 

Add to Flipboard Magazine.

[extraquarterblog]

Five Nights at Freddy's saga continues with Sister Location

Five Night at Freddy's has become a stable for the Horror genre. A simple, straightforward point n click game, that's riddled with clues to the lore behind the events of the game. Created by Scott Cawthon, the Five Night at Freddy's series has amassed a huge cult following, where fans spend more time chewing on every clue, trying to piece together the story, drawing them deeper into the abyss than actually playing the game itself. 

Sister location, the latest to release in the series, continues the addiction.

When the previous title, Five Night at Freddy's 4 released, fans begin to wonder if the series has tapped out. Let's be honest, most horror games, like movies, tend to really lose steam with each release, reaching more comical than actual horror. While the 4th release was enjoyable and (spoiler) going into more details of the bite of 87, for many, it felt like a wrap. Scott next work was FNaF World, a spin-off title. Making fans wonder if the FNaF series was coming to a close.

Obviously, that was not the case with Sister Location throwing fans deeper into the series. Currently available digitally, and under $9 bucks, it's hard to pass up. Like so many others, I dive back into the FNaF universe, preparing myself for the jump scares that it's so known for.

To be quite honest, I was expecting a rinse and repeat from the previous series. Expecting to get used to the mechanics, preparing myself to watch constantly on the monitors, play audio tapes, repetitively checking all the air ducts. But with Sister Location, it throws all that to the wind. While Sister Location does use many of the stable elements known for in the FNaF series, it puts you through a gambit of new scenarios. 

One thing that I found completely refreshing was how each day was vastly different, never allowing you to grow comfortable, keeping the tension and suspicion up. That's the beauty behind the latest title. It constantly keeps you on your toes, and even engages you through the plot. Not to spoil anything, but you'll find yourself in a few unsuspecting situations that really deviate from the previous games. 

"never allowing you to grow comfortable, keeping the tension and suspicion up"

Here I was really expecting the same, I found myself off guard at each part. While the game is short, I instantly craved more and loved the brilliance behind the title. Scott proved the series has far from jumped the shark, but I do have a few complaints. Which really shouldn't come as no surprise. Sister Location brings up more questions than answers. Already the discussions are hot across the forums, but with little answers. Which I have no doubt it's just as Scott intended. Who's know for throwing fans off his trail, to keep people guessing behind each clue, as to what's really going on? 

So, fans eagerly looking for closure, will need to look elsewhere, and as I mentioned, it's a short title, that may not deliver the answers to the story you were wishing for. But for its price and the experience it gives, you really can't complain. As its a fun ride that really goes beyond the typical jump scares, constantly twisting the tension on you, with a narrative that brilliantly foreshadows events to only raises your blood pressure. 

Now I foolishly await for the series to continue...sigh.

[extraquarterblog]

One Year Later, Metal Gear Solid V Still Leaves Me Empty

A year ago, with a mountain of turmoil and drama playing out with Hideo Kojima and famous studio Konami. Metal Gear Solid V released. The next major title in the Metal Gear series, and first major MGS title to land on a console in over 7 years. Ground Zeros, the prologue, directly linking to Metal Gear Solid V, enticed gamers appetite. Hungry for more, fans couldn't wait to get their hands on MGSV.

New to the series or not, at that time, everyone in the gaming scene couldn't wait for legendary director Hideo Kojima to drop his next title. 

Metal Gear series has always contained this unique atmosphere, a mixture of complex storytelling, ingenious outside the box approaches and some of the best boss fights in Gaming, bar none. On the surface, any Metal Gear title can come across as this Military shooter with over the top and confusing trailers. Metal Gear Solid V certainly continued the trend, with its famous Red Band trailers that had this chilling tone of revenge and becoming a demon. 

MGSV was set to be the missing piece, the key to the Metal Gear universe puzzle. I still remember, thinking that this is the game, I play as Big Boss, following beside his every step. Witnessing the Boss transform into the most wanted man on earth, waging war, creating Outer Heaven. It wouldn't have a happy ending, it won't end as the main character being seen as a glorious hero. No, the trailers made it clear, this was going to be a path leading to madness. 

I wanted to inject that insanity directly into my veins. 

As I played MGSV, I was just absolutely stunned at how phenomenal the controls are. The gameplay felt almost as an extension of myself. The movements, pacing, action, shooting. Everything was on point. Not to mentioned the incredible attention to detail. From the song selection that plays in the background as you try to infiltrate, to the animals laying down to sleep at night. Almost no stone is untouched in MGSV. 

Above all this, MGSV is the closest thing you'll get to an open sandbox game for the series. Being a huge MGS1 fan, I never minded linear gameplay, nor do I ever felt it be holding back my enjoyment. I still managed to pour hours and hours into the MGS2 tanker demo. If the game mechanics are solid, to me, open world or linear makes not difference. MGSV however, is exceptional. With almost an unlimited ways to approach each mission, I never cared if I had to revisit the same area.

Or at least, at first I didn't.

Like any game I enjoy, I play relentlessly, late into the night, trying my best to savor every second of it. Avoiding all internet contact, to keep my virgin eyes spoiler free. Everything seemed wonderful, that was until...I reached Chapter 2.

All the rumors, constant arguments, debates on the issues with Hideo, Konami, the game - all came crashing down to my reality. I felt like I was in the most wonderful dream, then realizing it was nothing more than an illusion, slowly drifting back to reality. You do the best you can, trying with all your might to keep yourself anchored in the dream, but it's too late. Once you've seen through it, you float back to the cruel world you tried to flee from.

As I continued my approach through Chapter 2, it was so painfully obvious that there was something wrong, no, deeply, agonizing wrong. Repeating missions, very little new story elements, issues on trying to unlock any new missions or progress the story at all. I often laughed at it, thinking it was all just some clever ploy from Hideo Kojima to trick me. No doubt this is the moment he will pull the rug from under me, revealing his ingenious master plan. I would laugh in amazement then collect myself for feeling like a fool, thinking the game was incomplete. 

The rug was never pulled from under me. There was no plot twist, it was just me, standing on the deck of my base, alone, listening to the sound of construction. Nothing more. 

Incredibly empty, are the only two words I can think of to best describe that moment. When you realize you're towards the end, wondering just what to hell is going on. Shortly after, I watched the credits roll. Diverting my eyes back to the land of the internets to look for closure. All I found was a breadcrumb, of an incomplete loaf that I will never get to enjoy. As I previously wrote about, there were plenty of scenes shown in the trailers that never made it to release. Not to mention the famous Mission 51 and other little pieces of code, artwork, etc, uncovered from the gaming community.

Life is a cruel mistress. The one game, the one damn game I so foolishly, eagerly hoped for, is a title that has the best of moments and the worst of moments. Why this? Why now? Why did MGSV have to suffer like this? Even today, Konami still tries to lure fans back, with MGSV Definitive Edition and Metal Gear Survive. Both do nothing to fill this empty void in my chest. 

The complete MGSV experience will never happen. That ship sailed long ago, the day Hideo left Konami was the pivotal point that would forever change the Metal Gear series and be judging from Metal Gear Survive, it doesn't look pretty, let alone remotely close to the franchise that I grew up playing. For me, it's clear, to move on from the MGS series and close that chapter in my gaming life. 

Phantom Pain, it's a fitting title. 

[extraquarterblog]

Axiom Verge satisfies my Metroid itch

In a growing world of Indie titles, side-scroller shooters are in no short supply. Practically every season, a simple, straight forward, Contra inspired game drops on the scene. Every now and then you'll have something more unique such a Shovel Knight. A game that brought a lot of charm and entertainment to a simple yet enjoyable title. 

However, if you were craving a more Metroid style genre, then today your lucky day, as Axiom Verge is the closest thing you'll get to a Super Metroid style game. 

Axiom Verge was something I heard back in 2014. Many praising it as a Contra meets Metroid approach. At the time I thought the artwork was unique but ultimately passed on it. As time went on and my hunger for some side-scroller Metroid action began to grow. When AM2P released, my appetite was foaming at the mouth. I NEEDED Metroid action and I found myself returning to Axiom Verge. 

With low expectations and not a clue what to expect, Axiom Verge is a delight. The graphic visuals, perfectly capture the alien atmosphere with a great soundtrack that sculpts the tone for each area. Like the Metroid series, you'll uncover secret areas, power-ups and new weapons that help you continue on, opening new areas to explore.

Exploring is a big thing in this game, and ultimately it will be something that will make or break you. If you hate returning to previous areas in a game, then sadly Axiom isn't for you, as you'll continuously return to previous locations, with new power-ups or upgrades in hand to help unlock additional locations or items. You'll do this time and time again. 

Also, like so many other players before me, I got stuck. A lot. Axiom Verge has a great level design but those new to the genre will really struggle to try to uncover how to reach each new location. I found myself stumped a few times, that easily took +30 mins just to reach a higher ledge or move past a blocked wall. Axiom Verge will require a bit of patience, as this is far from a traditional shooter up. 

I was glad that the game does have its own few unique features, power-ups like the Address Disruptor that allows you to experiment and alter enemies, unlock hidden blocks and change stage pieces. It adds a neat twist to the traditional arsenal found in games like this and helps add a sense of identity to the game. 

There's also a basic yet interesting story that helps move you along. You're not entirely wondering around randomly, there is a tad push of direction, leading you to uncover more clues to what's going on. Though don't expect anything robust or quick resolution, you'll spend quite a bit of time before uncovering the games more hidden secrets. 

Thankfully Axiom Verge is a title that will take several hours to complete, taking me around 9-10hrs for the first playthrough. That's still missing out on several items, if you were those completionist elitist type, then this game could take well over +14hrs. There's also a speed running option geared for those who enjoy the speed running challenge. 

Overall, I'm satisfied. Axiom Verge may not be this grand title that you'll be jumping up down for, but it's a great title to explore on a raining day. Developed by Tom Happ and Dan Adelman delivered a strong title into the Metroid fray. For those looking to venture through a complexing, Alien world will not be disappointed.

[extraquarterblog]

Shovel Knight, The Ridiculous Retro Title Actually Delivers

There's a lot of wacky and odd games out there. From Octodad to the numerous simulator games. If you crave something different, there's a good chance a studio, somewhere, has made it.  Studio Yacht Club Games pitched an idea to Kickstarter that stars a Knight who carries a shovel, on a quest to recover his companion, Shield Knight from the clutches of evil. That visually looks like it was stripped from the NES Library. 

Not your typical sidescroller by a long shot. 

The Kickstarer Campaign blew away their expectations, originally aiming for $75k, ended up with over 300k. Pretty respectable from a studio no one has ever heard of. Right after the campaign the guys over at Yacht Club Games went to work, staying truthful to their Kickstarter. Released their game, to critical praise and delivering their promises on Kickstarter. Not only did Yacht Club Games release Shovel Knight, they continue to make it available on multiple systems. A feat that even AAA studios rarely hit across all systems, including PC. 

So what about the game itself? It's a love story to all old school Gamers. From the opening sequence, overview map, inventory windows, and game-play, came straight out of my childhood. Growing up playing games like Super Mario 3, Castlevania, Ducktales, etc. Shovel Knight is right at home with those titles. 

Now, Retro pixel looks isn't anything new. Hyper Light Drifter was stunningly beautiful for what pixel art can deliver. But Shovel Knight nails the aesthetic perfectly for that dead on NES look. 

Shovel Knight also has a great deal of content to explore and enjoy. Every stage has its own unique mechanics. From ice stages, underwater levels, to haunted mansions. No two stages are the same. Not to mention a great cast of enemies. Rarely will you encounter any copy n paste content. Each part feels new and engaging. 

A key point of Shovel Knight success is pacing. So few games today get pacing right. Never at any point do I feel it's a chore to press through. Random events will happen on the overview map, unique challenges will appear, and every stage keeps the design fresh. Shovel Knight also encourages you to use all the items you'll acquire as well. Keeping the experience rich and never the same as it was an hour ago. 

Yacht Club Games also nails another key point and that is support. Shovel Knight has continued to receive so much love, listening to fans, and ensuring they deliver on every Kickstarter promise. Continuing to release DLC content, such as Plague of Shadows, and on the way Return of Specter Knight. 

It's easy to see why Yacht Club Games is so admired. 

While Shovel Knight does have its flaws, and by no means would I consider it ground breaking. It's a great enjoyable title, that's practically on every platform. It's fun, easy to pick up and once you complete the game, you can fire up again playing as the Plague Knight. 

After spending a couple of days addicted to this, I made the mistake of watching a few professional speed runners play. Showing me, just how bad I am at this game. For those who don't know, Shovel Knight is a speed runners paradise. Built with pros in mind, Shovel Knight is easily a must-own title for those who seek to impress and throw down the speed running gauntlet. 

For Shoverly

[extraquarterblog]

Project AM2R - a love for Metroid

When it comes to Nintendo more popular titles, fan made games are nothing new. For the past decade, Gamers have been making their own spin-off titles based on Mario, Zelda, and especially Metroid. Games like Hyper Metroid, Super Metroid Z-Factor and Project Base just to name a few. 

Though every now and then, the most dedicated will completely remake a game. Metroid 2 is a great example of such. When AM2R first appeared on the scene, it quickly grabbed a lot of attention. Its visuals were near to the visual quality of Super Metroid and a demo at the time showed a lot promise. However, like all fan projects, very few actually see the light of day. Even AM2R has been in development for ages.

January 3rd, 2008 to be precise. As mentioned in the very first blog post at metroid2remake. Milton, the magnificent person behind this wonderful project, details every step of the way, showing off progress and changes of creating AM2R.

"This is my own remake of Metroid 2, one of the most important chapters of the Metroid saga. I always wanted to play the game with the graphics and physics of Metroid Zero Mission. So, I decided my next game would be a remake."  -- Milton

That's some serious dedication. For almost 8 years, he continuously writes in great detail of all the effort put into this project, personal life details, and struggles. It's truly astonishing to see someone with such dedication and passion to continue developmont on a project, that I know many would of quit long ago. 

Such as life for most fan made projects. But AM2R is the exception. For its truly a breathtaking game when you account that a single guy created this. 

For the game itself, it plays just as you hoped it would. It feels and plays almost like Super Metroid. Its graphics and details, such as the sound effects, music, transitions are pretty much dead on from what you expect from the older Metroid titles. 

To be quite honest, at first I never expected much. I always have the lowest expectations when it comes to fan made games. AM2R completely caught me by surprise. Being such a huge Metroid fan, I was completely hooked. Hours rolled by, I cant stop. The joy of revisiting a retro Metroid title is too good to pass up. 

While it is a shame that Nintendo did send metroid2remake a DMCA notice, requesting him to pull his download links. I do respect Nintendo actions, as their clearly in the legal, Metroid is their I.P. Naturally any company would want to protect their image and products. But in this case, this is quite possibly the best fan made game for Metroid I've ever seen. 

For those new to Metroid or for those who never played Metroid 2. What Milton did, was display how important and canon Metroid 2 really is to the series. Don't let its original Gameboy release fool you. Metroid 2 is easily one of the top must play for Metroid games and AM2R just made it all that better.

[extraquarterblog]

Discovering why the Dreamcast is so loved

I don't know if my growing nostalgia or my impossible love for gaming, but over the past few years, I've been aggressively collecting older games, consoles, and accessories. Be it picking a game up from a pawn shop, garage sale or off Ebay, I always keep an open eye out for anyone letting go of their collection. I do, however, more than just collect, I actually play the games I find. From start to finish, I revisit each classic title, traveling back to the past, revisiting my childhood. 

As my collection expanded, my eyes slowly wavered towards systems I never experienced growing up. Now previously I was always more of a Nintendo guy up til the point when the devilish sexy PlayStation released, tempting its way into my heart. Sega though was always on the sidelines. Early 2000 when the PlayStation 2 was on the verge of releasing, I was beyond hyped. So blown away, that my young, feebled, teenager mind completely forgot about the short-lived Dreamcast. How could I not? Let's be honest here, the PS2 was a behemoth for its time. Considered to be cutting edge tech, that not only played next generation of games, like Onimusha, Metal Gear Solid 2 and Devil May Cry but you could also play DVDs. It was easy, by a mile, the most desired system for its time. 

So here I find myself, decades later, older, wiser reflecting back on previous console generations. I delved into research towards what system I should invest in next. Through my hours of pondering, I constantly kept reading about how the Dreamcast is the system to get. The praise for the last Sega console is found all across the internet. As I began to dig deeper into this mysterious world that the Dreamcast was, I had little clue that I was about to fall into the rabbit hole. 

Discovering how the Dreamcast is so much more than a collecting piece.

On the surface, the Dreamcast doesn't appear anything remarkable, It's specs have it as the weaker system of Sixth generation. It life span was short lived, it had limited software support from studios, making for a sparse selection of games. It's not till you start to peel back the first few layers, do you start to discover the Dreamcast true beauty. Like a bottle of wine, with age, it continues to refine, becoming better.

When I first picked up the Dreamcast almost a year ago, the first thing I did was take it apart, clean it, giving it a fresh coat of paint. It was then I started to first dig into the many online communities around the Dreamcast. Surprisingly, there were still active communities to be found. Each displaying this immovable love for the Dreamcast, how people displayed their collections and modifications they accomplished with pride. 

As I started to collect a few games, is when I discovered a long lost flavor to gaming. The Dreamcast had this sort of Japanese Funk vibe to it. Games like Jet Set Radio, ChuChu Rocket!, Space Channel 5, Samba de Amigo, and who of course could forget the most bizarre title of them all, Seaman. These are just a small handful of colorful and funky games, that you do want to crank the music up for. You really do get a strong sense of heavy Japanese development and influence for the Dreamcast library, which I personally found very refreshing compared to today's modern titles.

One thing that caught my attention, unintentionally and I have to admit, I really knew very little about it, but as I was playing Jet Set Radio, there was this section in the menu, where you could create and share your graffiti tags online.

Online.

It caught me completely by surprise. A system that debut back in 1998 had online features baked in, no special service to pay for to unlock, or accessory you had to buy to slide into the system. No, the Dreamcast from the get go was ready for the internet. Now I did know that the system had phantasy star online, but I really didn't expect so many titles to actually feature any online offering at all. So for Jet Set, while small use of online, had taken me by surprise.

So I dug feather into this wonderful rabbit hole and discovered that not only that the Dreamcast had grand schemes for online gaming, they even had an upgrade accessory, a broadband adaptor. Released back in 2001, Sega already had faster internet speeds in mind. Ok, yes, I'm totally geeking out by that. Sure on the surface, it seems completely irrelevant but the reality was, the Dreamcast was leagues ahead any of its competitors. 

That's what continued to fascinate me about the Dreamcast, the more I learned about it, the more it continued to surprise me by how actual future proof it was. Another great example was it's video hook-ups. Now during this point in time. A vast majority of people were using composite cables for their game consoles. If you were lucky, you had S-video cables. Component cables really wouldn't come into play until HD TVs really started to arrive on the scene and for some systems like the Gamecube, had a very limited run for Component cables. So realistically, for most gamers, you'll be waiting for the following generation, PS3, 360, Wii, to actually have support for Component or HDMI. 

But when it came to the Dreamcast, it had another Ace up its sleeve. VGA.

Who knew right? It really gives more credit that the Dreamcast basically was a computer, hell it could even run Windows. So having the Dreamcast with VGA support really opened the doors for far better cabling options and giving a far superior image quality to what was available on the market at the time. Sega had several VGA cords and also sold VGA boxes that allowed you use VGA cable but various outputs to be compatible with TV's that didn't have VGA support. By this point, I'm so far deep in the rabbit hole, I had no intentions of looking back up, it was around then I discovered beharbros.com. An entire website dedicated to various VGA boxes to help support any Gamer setup. Such as the Kuro that many hold to be the best VGA box for the Dreamcast, or even the Kenzei model is made just for upscalers, such as the XRGB. 

This is a blessing, a major blessing for me. As I'm one of the video purists who go to great lengths to get the best possible image quality. And as anyone who can contest to trying to get the best image from HDTVs today for older systems that had 3D games, such as the PlayStation or N64, really did not age well. Making it damn near unplayable on modern television sets. So to have a VGA box, giving a clean crisp image, that also had a limited library of games that supported 480p. Again, I'm completely taken by the fact that this system had 480p supported games and VGA output. 

Then we move on to the controller itself, another piece of gaming history that was ahead of its time. Go head, take a moment to stare at it. Tell me if anything seems similar...

Looking past the open window for the odd memory card with a tiny little screen. The Dreamcast controller pretty much laid out the foundation of what we are gaming on today. It had featured Triggered style R2 and L2 buttons. It had both an analog stick and D-Pad. Pretty much all it was missing was a second analog stick and lose a bit of weight and you would have called it modern. It's no surprise that Microsoft would borrow heavily from the Dreamcast. I mean, Microsoft did help make it. So no surprise that the famous Xbox controller is a striking resemblance of the Dreamcast controller. 

By this point, I'm deep in the abyss. The rabbit hole has gone so deep, not even light can reach me now. What else was there to discover? I uncovered so much about the Dreamcast and quickly grew to love its library, appreciate all the effort Sega did to future proof it. I figured this was where my Journey ended. 

That was until new games keep being released for it. 

My mind was blown, how and why was this even able? Quickly discovering that the drive Sega chose to use for the Dreamcast, GD-Rom, was designed in hopes to help prevent pricey, in reality, it actually did the opposite. Making it a cake walk for people with nefarious plans. Causing the Dreamcast to be an easy target for piracy. So why is any of that relevant? Simple, CD-R, super cheap and readily available, made it simple to make illegal rips on the Dreamcast. 

Using the same methods, you could take your own game that you made, and easily burn it to a disk that the Dreamcast can play. Thus - the Dreamcast system keeps on giving. Naturally, the selection of newer games is limited, mostly titles you find off Kickstarter or super niche indie studios, like Retro Sumus and Hucast Games. Still rather impressive for a system that released in the late 90s

After my long and vast journey, I've come to a new appreciation for the Dreamcast. It's a great a system, that really was the last of its kind. With a rich story, interesting titles, and die-hard fanbase.  It's sad to see how cruel fate can be, making this Sega last system. 

[extraquarterblog]

The Ultimate Pokemon Go Guide

The Ultimate Pokemon Go Guide

Pokémon Go is the phenomenon that overtook the smartphone gaming world overnight. Soon, the entire media was engulfed with the Pokémon Go frenzy. Stores blessed with PokeStops quickly started to capitalize on the surging foot traffic by their doors. People of all ages started to run around parks, malls and every nook you can think of- battling at Gyms, capturing Pokémon and taking pics to share online.

Naturally, everyone wants to be a part of it, dip their toes in the water, see what it's like. Be they in the closet about it, or out in the open, shouting every time they catch a Rattata. Pokémon Go is a free game for all to enjoy, though, exciting as the game may seem, no one wants to be caught being completely clueless about it. What's the point? Why do you have to travel around? How do I find an Egg, let alone hatch it? What are PokeStops?

Well, rest your weary head, as you’ve arrived at the best damn place online to satisfy all your questions. While Pokémon Go is an easy game to jump in, it's weak on explanations or giving additional details to its mechanics. Well lucky you, you’ve just arrived at the best guide available for you to enjoy, teaching you how to become the greatest Pokémon master alive.

First thing first, how to capture a Pokemon

Now this seems the most obvious but for those who are completely out of the loop, basically, as you travel around in real time, you may come across a Pokemon near you. If the Pokemon is close enough, you can click on him to enter a scene where you may have the chance to capture it. By simply flicking the Pokeball at the Pokemon, if it successfully hits the Pokemon, the Pokeball will capture it, adding to your collection.  This is also the opportunity to take a picture by clicking on the camera. So if you're wondering why your Facebook is being filled with Pokemon running around everywhere, this is how you do it. 

Pro Tip - before you flick your finger to toss the Pokeball, move your finger around  the Pokeball in a circle, causing the Pokeball to spin, you'll see a sparkly effect showing if done correctly. As the ball continues to spin, quickly toss it at the Pokemon. If done successful and you capture the Pokemon, you will receive additional xp.

DISTANCE OF POKEMON NEAR YOU

This is a commonly asked question. When there is any Pokemon near your location, it will show in a panel at the bottom left of your screen. You’ll notice a few small footprints next to each Pokémon. The more footprints shown, the further away the Pokemon is. Fewer prints, the closer and if there are zero prints shown, means the Pokemon is right next to you. If the Pokemon doesn’t appear imminently, give your phone a second to run, most Pokemon will appear in a min or two once you’ve reached their location.

Pro Tip - When pursuing a Pokemon on your map, it's best to avoid the Pokemon with the three-foot prints. They could literally be any direction next to you, causing you to run around in circles. Without any clear direction or indication to where a Pokemon could be, your better off investing your time with Pokemon closer to you. 

Candies, Stardust, and Capturing every Pokemon, regardless if you already have it

With Pokemon Go, the rules have changed a bit. To level up a Pokemon or evolve it, you will need to collect that specific species of candy.  Each Pokemon in the game has its own Candy. So for example, if you caught a Pidgy, To Power up a Pidgey, you will need 1 Candy and 200 Stardust. To evolve it into a Pidgeotto, you will need 12 Candies. To get a Pidgeotto then, you would need to capture 4 Pidgey, using those candies from their capture, to evolve one of them. This is the same process for the rest of the Pokemon available.  Also, you may find some Pokemon having a higher level Combat Power “CP” than others you’ve previously collected. Giving you stronger Pokemon to invest in. So don’t pass up any Pokemon you come by but if your inventory is completely filled, you can transfer your Pokemon to Professor Willow who exchange a candy in return but keep in mind. If you do this, you lose that Pokemon forever.

Whats with this Ring around the pokemon when I try to capture it?

Another mystery for early users. It’s a tad tricky to explain but basically when you go to toss a Pokeball at a Pokemon, you see this ring appear. Think of the ring as a dart board, and the Pokeball is a dart. If the dart hits the board, great! Closer to the center the better for bigger points. The Same concept loosely applies here. When you press on the Pokeball, the Ring grows smaller, if you manage to hit the Pokeball with in the ring, you get various words appearing such as Great or nice. Closer to the center of the ring, higher your rating will be to capturing the Pokemon. The debate on this is still up in the air if getting the perfect toss on the Pokemon helps improve your chance of capture or just leisurely hitting it. It's all still up to chance, even if the Pokemon only has say a  5% chance of escaping, it still has 5%.

Visit PokeStops often

When you look across your map, you will notice two types of 3D objects near you: Gyms and PokeStops. Most will be PokeStops, generally at locations where people often congregate, such as malls, parks, monuments, transportation stops and commonly found around apartment complexes. Once you visit close enough to a PokeStop you’ll notice the 3D object will animate, letting you know you're close enough, clicking on the PokeStop will open up a window showing a giant circle featuring a picture of the location, submitted by users. At this point you can close the window or spin the image, will cause it to twirl and bubbles of various items will appear. These bubbles can contain PokeBalls, Potions, Revive or Eggs. Generally, you’ll get 3 to 4 items, and after you collected them, you will have to wait 5-10 mins before the respawn time is done. You can rinse and repeat this much as you like.

Visiting and Fighting at Gyms

The other place you’ll notice on your map are Gyms. Gyms near you will feature 4 various colors. Red, Blue, Yellow or Neutral Grey. Each color represents what team currently controls it. Now, before you can enter any gym you have to be level 5 first and you have to select 1 of three teams. Valor (red) Mystic (Blue) and Instinct (Yellow). Each having one of the legendary birds as its mascot. Once you’ve reached level 5 and picked a team, you can either chose to fight the current gym if it's an opposing team or add your own Pokemon to the team. Basically, at each Gym has a roster of Pokemon, if space is available, you can place your Pokemon in a slot to defend it from opposing teams. Each player is allowed 1 Pokemon, up to 5 slots available. Now doing this, you temporary lose that Pokemon for the time you allow it to remain at the gym.

Currently, Gyms are the only location where you can battle and this is where the game really deviates from the previous titles. The days of the turn based battles are completely gone. Instead, you have your Pokemon randomly attack by tapping on the screen. A single tap causes a basic attack and holding down a press allows for a special attack. You can also swipe left to right on the screen to dodge the opposing Pokemon attack. However this isn’t the smoothest thing, often the screen freezing, skipping frames and lagging. Making the fighting one of the weaker parts of the game. It will take some adjusting too, but personally I’d recommend avoiding Gyms until you reach higher levels, as most Gyms are filled with far higher level Pokemon now.

So why all the effort? You are rewarded for having a Pokemon defending a gym through PokeCoins, longer you hold a gym you get more PokeCoins you obtain. This is pretty rewarding for players who are cash strapped as the only other way to obtain PokeCoins is through the cash shop. Making for a very competitive battleground for players.

What are Combat Points? Can I increase this?

In the previous games, each Pokemon had its own level, each level represented the strength of your Pokemon. Higher level it was, stronger you were. In Pokemon Go, the traditional levels have been replaced with CP (Combat Points), higher the CP points are, the stronger your Pokemon is. This will be your bread and butter, especially related to fighting other Pokemon. With each Pokemon you capture, their levels of CP will vary and also depends on your trainer level as well. The Higher level you are, higher CP Pokemon you will find.

BEST PLACES TO FIND POKEMON

During the promotions of Pokemon Go, you see people running all over, through the woods, dancing in the parks and hiking trails. Well truth is, it’s not quite like that. If you want to hunt the best ideal areas that is, you need to seek out higher denser populated areas. It's been speculated places with higher cellular activity can yield higher amounts of Pokemon. I’ve gone on several jogs, at various popular trails, parks and even ran around a few random fields. Barely a damn Pokemon insight. I go to the nearby mall, and there’s Pokémon everywhere. 

To narrow down the best results is to look for a location that has several PokeStops near each other. For me, I found 3 PokeStops with only a few meters apart at an apartment complex near a shopping center. Once you find a location like this, see if any PokeStop has a lure activated. In Pokemon Go, there’s a consumable item called Lure that when activated at a PokeStop, shows pink petals (cherry blossoms) flying around the PokeStop. This is an indication that for the next 30 mins, this location will be luring Pokemon. Instead of having to run around everywhere, you can stand or sit if you like, next to the PokeStop. To further increase your odds, during a Lure is activated, use an incense as well. Having both a lure and an incense activated is pretty much the best chance of multiple Pokémon in your area without having to run a great distance.

Now, despite the Milk Shake method above, it still won't bring all the Pokemon to the yard. Some Pokemon will be tied to specific geographical features, such as water-rich areas like Rivers and Ponds/Lakes near you will have a far higher chance of water type Pokemon, like Magikarp or Staryu. Other Pokemon RUMORS can be more commonly found at night, like Cubone or Ghastly. Rumors even state that Ghost Pokemon are more present around cemeteries. I tried this and experienced zero difference, but I have gone to a nearby lake and found more Magikarp I can shake a stick at.

Pro Tip - for all Pokemon hunters out there, its best to actively shutdown your app and reopen it when moving around a great distance. I found the GPS and radar of Pokemon around you always pretty wonkey. Basically, what I'm trying to say is that it's not very accurate and often after restarting your phone, you can find an entirely different set of Pokemon near you. I actually found doing this presented more accurately of what Pokemon were near me. Now don’t go restarting the Pokemon Go app every step, but after a couple of blocks, if nothing seems to be moving on your screen, or the distance of Pokemon hasn’t adjusted, then I’d restart the App. Unfortunately, depending on how well your signal strength is, the GPS in your phone, will play a big part of your experience trying to track down Pokemon. I had to adjust several settings to prevent any interference or the GPS cutting out every time my phone went to the lock screen.  

Pro Tip -  incense is more effective if you move around. If you remain in a single location, an incense will pop 1 Pokemon every 5 mins, however, if you move around, estimated at 200 Meters (656 feet), will pop a Pokemon for you at a faster rate. Sure, you gotta run around, and it will take a few mins to get that distance, but the pay off is worth it. This, combined with an area with several PokeStops that have Lures activated, will have Pokemon raining down!

GREAT BALLS, ULTRA BALLS OH MY!

Just like the previous games, there are other Pokeballs available. Once you start to level up, you’ll come across Great Balls and even higher up, Ultra Balls. In the main series, when trying to capture Pokemon with higher level CP, it was best to reach for a Great or Ultra, vs using the stash of PokeBalls you have. This applies here. You can risk losing the chance to capture the Pokemon if your not quick enough, as they can and will escape. So for the more rare, higher CP point Pokemon, don’t hesitate to reach for the better balls. You get your first Great Ball at level 12. Ultra Balls once you hit level 20.

Also, there's this neat little Razz Berry, this wonderful item makes it easier to catch a Pokemon once fed. When you come across a Pokemon you’ve been eagerly hunting for, give it a Razz Berry! The Pokemon will be more calm, less eager to escape, remaining still, giving you a longer chance at capture.

So whats up with these Eggs?

Just like in the previous games, you can come across Eggs from any PokeStops. You are able to hold up to 9 Eggs at a time. The goal is to hatch the egg soon as you can. First, place the Egg inside an incubator. Then, start walking! Every step counts towards hatching your Egg. Distance on each egg can vary from 2km to 10km! Rarer the egg, higher the distance it is. So prepare to put some miles on those sneakers. Now every player gets 1 incubator that has unlimited uses but can only hatch one Pokemon at a time. Other Incubators are available, but can only be used 3 times. Try to use many as you can at a time to maximize every step you take.

WHATS THE FASTEST WAY TO LEVEL?

Naturally, just playing the game will gain you xp through almost anything you do. Every Pokemon you catch will give +100xp but Pokemon you capture for the first time will give greater xp amount. So regardless if its a rare or common Pokemon, if you haven't caught one yet, you should. Also, hatching Eggs give a great amount of xp, giving more reason to start running around. The biggest xp maker that you can really bank on is evolving Pokemon. So all of those Pidgeys or Rattatas you've caught, evolving them can easily help you gain several levels. The best way to maximize this is using a Lucky Egg. Unlike other Eggs, the Lucky egg gives you 2x xp for 30 mins. So let's say evolving a Pokemon gave you 450xp regularly but when using a Lucky Egg, you can double that to 900xp. So suddenly having an army of Pidgeys don't look so bad. Save up catching an army of them, then use the Lucky Egg, start evolving and watch the xp starting pouring in. 

Pro Tip - Try to hold off on evolving long as you can. You want to maximize the amount of Pokemon you can evolve during the duration of a single Lucky Egg. So, the higher level you get, the more exp required. The amount greatly increases at level 20. The max level being 40 which requires an insane amount of XP. So keep in mind of that, and save those Lucky eggs for later. The grind is real. 

Shiny Pokemon? Legendary Birds? Mewtwo? And wheres Ditto?

Naturally, when it comes to Pokemon, everyone is dying to capture the rarest of rare, the legendary Pokemon. Since this being the first 151 Pokemon. Everyone is looking for Zapdos, Articuno, and Moltres. Not to mention Mew and Mewtwo, but oddly enough, Ditto is on the list. Currently there is no way to capture or even spawn them. I don't care what websites claim, there is no mysterious method, nor is there a special location where these legendarily will pop up ( I'm having flash backs of Pika'Blue rumors back in the day)  I have no doubt that these Pokemon will be available, but only through special events. Just like how Nintendo used to do special events for all the core Pokemon Games, the same will apply here.

Though why Ditto? It's possible that Niantic Labs is planning on adding an update that will allow breeding and Ditto would be the perfect fit for that since Ditto is a neutral Pokemon, meaning he/she can mate and create an egg of any type of Pokemon. Though a popular fan theory is that Ditto could be a region specific Pokemon. Current forum discussions have concluded that there's a small list of Pokemon that are region locked. Tauros for NA, Mr. Mime for EU, Kangaskhan for AUS, Farfetch'd for JP. So its possible that Ditto may be a Pokemon exclusive to a region that Pokemon Go isn't available yet. 

 The Servers will Crash many times over. 

Unfortunately, there's nothing you can do about that. Due to such a heavy load, the poor servers stand no chance during peak times, not to mention the game struggling to keep up as you play. You'll have to be patient and avoid playing during peak times of the day. Typically 12pm - 6pm are the worst times to be playing. You'll be lucky to even login. So until Niantic Labs fixes all the issues, its going to be a rocky trip for now. 

And now the fatigue begins to sink in...

Whew, ok. I'm absolutely beat now. I've drank my last cup of emergency coffee stash and my fingers feel like they're going to explode. It was a lot of work making this guide for everyone, but felt it was well worth it. So I hope you really enjoy this article, may it improve your poke' game. If you did enjoyed this article, then give me a shout out by sharing this page on Facebook, Twitter etc. Share with a friend or two or follow/like Extraquarter. 

Best of luck to you all and keep an eye out for your rival. I mean, whats a Pokemon game without a rival right?

[extraquarterblog]

Pokemon Go, Nintendo Best Idea in Years, Still has a lot to Evolve

Right now there's two types of people, people who play Pokemon Go and those who don't have a clue about it. Pokemon has always been one of Nintendo strongest IPs that has without question one of the largest die hard fanbase any studio could wish for. Create by Gamefreak studios, Pokemon is a franchise that continues to win the hearts of every generation and keeps luring back long time fans. 

Pokemon Go in many ways, is a unicorn. A myth that would never see the light of day. For years people have been crying for Nintendo to step out of their closed eco-system and embrace smartphone gaming. While Nintendo has done well with consoles in the past, it's their handhelds, such as the Gameboy and DS that have sold like hot cakes. Many of us grew up with a Gameboy glued to our hands, always near us, be it in our backpacks, glove box or by the sofa next to the remotes. Nintendo has captured its fans by taking the opportunity to be mobile. Where ever you may be, on a plane, at a friends house, or in the middle of the woods camping, Gameboy was there for you. 

Now obviously the mobile game has changed. Long are the days I kept a case of AA batteries to toss in my Gameboy. I now keep a USB-C cable handy for my OnePlus phone, as with most people across the world now. There's no escaping it, smartphones dominate the mobile market. 

With Smartphones being the number one choice of device to carry, fans have been waiting with baited breath that Nintendo would embrace the new mobile world and start to release their titles on Android and Apple markets. Sadly such a dream was easily the worst bet you could put money on. Nintendo, abandoning their closed environment to release anything major on a platform outside theirs? You had a better chance throwing a rock and hitting the Moon, and yet here we are. 1 out of Billion, Nintendo decided to embrace its fans. Testing the waters, giving us Pokemon Go. 

Developed by Niantic Labs, took a great approach to the world of Pokemon and the smartphone gaming world. Giving fans a wet dream come true. To go about the world, capturing Pokemon, and using augmented reality to throw Poke'balls at em, made the icing on the cake. Free to download & Play, supported on both Apple and Android, has really opened the doors for Nintendo and Pokemon.

This is no spin off, no random worthless Pokemon shuffle game, or forgotten Pokemon Apps. No, this was a Pokemon game for those who grew up playing Pokemon on a giant Gameboy that devoured 4 AA at a time and also embraced those new to the addicting world of random monsters for your to capture. Pokemon Go very existence is a major surprise as studio Gamefreak is infamous for NOT listening to their fans. Ever since Pokemon Stadium released on the N64, fans have cried for Gamefreak to make a full fledged game on a console, to step aside the handheld gaming scene just once and see what magic they could make. 

It never happened.

You could say Gamefreak is easily one of Nintendo more stubborn studios. Never rocking the boat, the studio has continued to release unsurprising, expected Pokemon games on Nintendo handheld devices (DS, 3DS etc). Now, not to say there's anything inherently wrong with that, it's that for many, felt it was holding back what Pokemon could become. Though it would seem that Nintendo had decided to test the waters with Pokemon Go and let Niantic Labs give it ago. 

Pokemon Go is now a top of the charts across the board. With-in days Pokemon Go has captured the entire smartphone market, dwarfing its competitors by a long shot. 

Easily becoming one of the best ideas Nintendo has debuted in a long time. 

Pokemon Go itself is simple, clean, clever and fun. It has everything you come to expect with a few twist. You jump into your world, creating a character, capturing your first Pokemon, as you set off across your neighborhood in hopes of capturing additional Pokemon to grow your collection. 

There's also teams you can join up, Red, Blue, and Yellow, giving a call back to the old Gameboy days of the first original Pokemon games (sorry Green, apparently you don't count) and each mascot being one of the legendary birds, Zapdos, Articuno, and Moltres. As you begin to roam, you'll notice various PokeStops for you to visit, that act like a Pokemon center where you can replenish Poke balls, Potions, and possibly Pokemon Eggs, and generally, have other Pokemon lurking around it. 

Off in the distance you'll notice various Poke Gyms for you to challenge other people, having to be level 5 first, you can then enter to challenge opposing teams. Being one of the few places to actually battle. Gone are the days of the traditional turn based, you find yourself tapping the screen, going for a more live action battle than awaiting each other turns. 

Right off though you'll notice several changes from the traditional days of Pokemon. Gyms are the only places right now where you can battle, and the method for leveling your Pokemon is through Stardust and Candies. Which is a bit disappointing to see, that leveling Pokemon has become just a click away. Also, I was quite shocked to see just how limiting the game is. 

The best way I can describe Pokemon Go, is as if you jumped into a new MMO that has no endgame, there are no raids nor is there any epic loot. You kind of just roam around, with little to do, besides the rinse and repeat. Pokemon Go, despite literally using the earth as its playground, it's quite empty, deprived of much activity. 

There's so much missing from the game, you could argue there's not much of a game at all. I can literally be standing next to a fellow Pokemon Go player and there's jack shit we can do to interact with each other through the game. Can I trade? No. Can we battle? No. Can we form a team/guild? No. It's mind numbing that a game built on people going outdoors and exploring would completely forget the possibility of what if fellow gamers would run into each other.

What's also surprising has how limited the options currently are. When designing the looks of my character, I was shocked and at there was damn near nothing to select from. Hell, I would have pulled out my credit card to purchased a better look, but instead, I look almost like all the other millions of players out there today. 

Out of all the things with Pokemon Go, the only thing that put a cold chill down my spine was how there was basically nothing online with it. There was no auction house, no battleground, no center to trade or join up to chat with other players. It gave me a bit of trauma as Nintendo is sadly famous for how lacking its online platform is when compared to Sony and Microsoft. I pray, with all my heart, that Nintendo and studio Niantic do not neglect the online side of every mobile device. Yes, this a game meant for you to get out n bout, but the reality is, mother nature isn't bright n beautiful every day, nor do we have the opportunity every day to run around. Having a few online options to connect with friends would be the cherry on top.

Moving past my few cynical criticisms, Pokemon Go is the best step forward for Nintendo and the Pokemon franchise. Previously, Pokemon was nothing more than a meme picture posted occasionally on my Facebook page, the next day its sounds can be heard in every Mall, Park and Public center. 

The good news is that Niantic labs are working on releasing several new updates that could include trading (fingers crossed) I would imagine this is just the start for the studio and that Pokemon Go will have a long roadmap of updates for it. 

Now I just hope they release an update that would allow me to join Team Rocket.

Prepare for Trouble, Make it Double. 

[extraquarterblog]

Dark Souls 3, my Dominatrix returns

As a gamer, what I love and enjoy so much about this hobby, is the massive amount of variation there is to explore. You have your competitive games, you have the in-depth role playing, then you have the awkward and bizarre games, even the indie or retro titles come out a steady rate. There's always something new to try, almost every month, there will be a new flavor to try. 

However, this April, returned a very specific type of genre, that I simply dubbed the "painful" type. 

In early 2009, a small studio, released a game few knew, that for almost an entire year, remained exclusive to eastern shores. That game of course, was Demons Souls. A game that put gamers through the most intense suffering, trail and error, controller gripping, cheering over your accomplishment experience out there. It quickly grew to become an instant classic that made way for the Dark Soul series.

FromSoftware isn't a little studio anymore, they've grown into a major powerhouse and their most recent titles, like Bloodborne for example, considered by many to be some of the best damn games around. Dark Souls 3, the latest in the Souls series and rumored to be the last of the Soul games. Fans alike, will take extra measures to savor every death.

Dark Souls 3 is everything you expected it to be. You start off again as an undead wanderer, tossed in a world which you know very little about, but begin on a quest to link all the flames. But this time, its the previous Lords of Cinders who fail to do their duty and you more of less have to take them down, break them into submission and link the fires once more.

If only it sounded that easy. Dark Souls 3 continues the main stable of the series, its difficulty. Every corner you take, every new area you venture into, will be filled with devilish traps, monsters you can't even describe (A giant worm that's spitting out lightning? Dafaq am I seeing?!) and an endless amount of Bosses await as you press on. Not to mention the occasional invader foolish enough to attempt a dance of fate with me. 

Honestly, I had some doubts, it seemed just only yesterday I was playing Bloodborne, and not long before then I had finished up the DLC for Dark Souls 2. But it seems FromSoftware has the magic touch, despite how fast their able to turn around, and how famous director Hidetaka Miyazaki is arguably the hardest working man in the game biz. Seemingly Directing multiple projects at a time. It's a miracle that all the recent games have released with scores well above +9.0 across many gaming sites. 

Everything in this game is solid, the mechanics just feel natural at this point, the movement is a bit faster, and the start of the game is far more forgiving compared to the other titles, which would make the faithful Git Gud tribe cry a bit, but honestly, I found almost a reversal compared to the previous entries. Generally by halfway into the Soul games, my guy has numerous spells or flames unlocked, far better gear, and plenty of flask to drink, that the game steadily becomes easier. With Dark Souls 3, the game starts off more forgiving but the deeper you go, the steeper the pain quickly becomes. 

From Foes that can decrease your health by the swing of their red glowing lanterns, or Giants flinging spears or arrows at you, constantly being tested as you try your best to reach each and every bonfire. Thou lets not forget at any given time players with more nefarious intentions can invade your world to add to your suffering, continuing the online PVP action, Dark Souls 3 continues to keep you on your toes. 

That's another major draw point to Dark Souls series, or really just any of FromSoftware latest titles, the ability to invade into other people's world, summon a friend for help, or just watch others fight, reading the messages they left behind. At no point do you actually feel alone, and never know when the warning sign may appear, you're being invaded. PVP aspect for Dark Souls is a major point of the series. People joining various cults to work for, while they slay others in the name of their God. Dark Souls 3 continues the online mania with additional tricks and items that making it perfect for Trolling. 

However, I might of mislead you, yes, Dark Souls games are famous for their punishable difficulty, but there also known for another trait, the story. Unlike your traditional game, where the story holds your hand and leads you from cut-scene to cut-scene, Dark Souls world is littered with mysterious for you to uncover on your own, from NPC's who mock you and curse the world they slave too, or the various descriptions on items. Even the very fabric your opponents are wearing all give clues and back story to the events of this game. No item or creature is just randomly placed, there's a reason for everything. 

Would I consider Dark Souls 3 to be the best in the series? I say it's by far the most polished, with frame rates that manage to keep a better stable performance, and by this point, they've managed to get the online system running better. So having fights with invaders feel less laggy and rubber banding across the zone. While Dark Souls 3 may not be visually stunning as Bloodborne was, it does have its moments, the sheer scope and diversity will continue to keep you engage and wanting more. 

While I know DLC is coming later this, I feel complete. That, in many ways Dark Souls 3 was a great send off. Will there be more to come? It's always hard to say, we've heard countless times that Game X,Y,Z  is the last, but yet we keep finding ourselves with more and more sequels. For me, however, Dark Souls 3 topped off my tank, I was glad to visit this world once more, but now I'm ready to see what bran new game they could give us. 

Let's hope it's their most difficult title yet. 

[extraquarterblog]

Hyper Light Drifter, isnt just Great, Its Beautiful

When Hyper Light Drifter first appeared on the scene back in 2014, it was instantly on my radar. The unique art style, beautiful music, mysterious giant robots roaming around. It pretty much captivated me at first glance. Now generally, when I see a new title, I get excited, but when I see its from a new indie studio, Heart Machine, that's running a Kickstarter campaign, I get worried. New Studios combined with Kickstarter, have a long history of failed projects and empty promises. So as much as I wanted to love Hyper Light Drifter and give Heart Machine Studios tons of support through kickstarter, I remained optimistic. 

Thankfully my worries were never necessary. 

Through the following years, Heart Machine studios proved to be hard at work, keeping fans in loop with an occasional art piece or animation. Showing off, that the project was real and moving along. While it was a painful wait, for an indie title, running on Game Maker Engine, it would prove well worth it. Starting up Hyper Light Drifter for the first time, I knew right then, I was in for a good ride. 

Upon entering this world, only seconds into this game, the first thoughts running through my head were What the hell did I get myself into? That's a good thing, within the first moments I wanted to explore, I wanted to learn more of my character, the world and its cast that roam it. For most people, the first thing that will grab you is its fantastic art. Truly some of the best retro pixel inspired art I've seen in a long time, that plays so well for this game. Each area has a great contrast from each other, as you further explore each part of this world, you'll find a great attention to detail. If you ever attempted at making pixel artwork, you can appreciate the effort and love put into Hyper Light Drifter appearance.

Hyper Light Drifter isn't the type of game that holds your hand. It more or less tosses you into this world with very little answers and for you to explore any which direction you like. If I had to compare it to any title, it's what if Journey and Metroid combined together. You'd get this game. There no real spoken language that you can understand, the NPCs are all various animal-like races, and almost all writing in this game is in a foreign language. So you really have to fill in the gaps at times and come to your own conclusion with whats presented. 

It's very much like Metroid in a sense that almost everywhere you go, there lies hidden secrets. You see that random edge at the corner of the screen, with a single lonely bush? Yeah, go over there, check it out, and low n behold, there's a secret invisible air bridge for you to run across. Seriously, practically every location you go, you'll find multiple secrets laying around, giving that very Metroid feel of exploration and discovery. 

My first play-through, I managed to complete a decent amount, beating the final boss around 6hrs. Thankfully to my delight, there was a New Game Plus mode, which I eagerly jumped back in. I would imagine, giving an estimate here, if you were wanting to complete everything, 100%, id imagine it could take you over the +10hr mark, not including multiple play-through for New Game Plus. 

So, it's not the longest game, and it can be a bit repetitive, not to mention pretty straight forward. Here you are, here's the map, and over there is the Boss. Get busy. Rinse and Repeat. I wished that there was more exploration, additional new areas to uncover. Over all, just more content. Because that's what this game does to you, much like Bloodborne, you'll scavenge around trying to uncover any clues to the story, but sadly, desperate as you may search, there just inst much. 

Also I wished there was more to the upgrading or leveling to this game. Most of the game involves around collecting yellow chips that you can trade at various shops to upgrade your abilities for your dash, sword or gun abilities. However even those upgrades are pretty shallow, there's no real skill tree leveling or much in variety. 

Moving past that, though, the game, abate short, it does however deliver a top notch experience. The story details are slim, it hasn't stopped numerous conversations online about it, people desperately scavenging around to find any detail that can help piece together just what in the world is going on. Everyone coming with different conclusions and opinions about Hyper Light Drifter world. 

Typically, when you see a game like this, at first glance, things come to mind like; Retro, Indie, old school, pixel art, ect. But honestly, after diving so many hours into Hyper Light Drifter, I cant imagine it being any other way. The artwork is damn gorgeous and the musical score grips you, shining at the perfect moments to really bring in the scene. Recalling a moment, when almost reaching a top of a mountain on the north part of the game, you see a giant Titan like beast, gripping on the side of the mountain, dead, frozen in place, with the musical score right on queue, kicking it up to eleven. Making you pause, appreciating, then eagerly continue on.  The pacing is done spot on, you never feel you have to grind, nor do you have to constantly deal with the same annoying foes or puzzles. 

The Heart Machine Team have done a fantastic job, not to mentioned much of this sprung forth from a Kickstarter project, being their first go around, I cant really complain all that much and i was able to pick it up for under $20 too. Basically making this game impossible for me to pass up. 

Now I eagerly await for more.