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Late to the game - Destiny 2 Beta

I spoke before about wanting to write little second opinion pieces about games as I complete them. Now this could mean I post them potentially years after the game’s release. However having played the recent Destiny 2 open beta I decided to include betas and maybe even demos under this same umbrella. I put a lot of hours into the original Destiny and was pretty excited when I saw that the open beta was starting the weekend I decided to purchase my Playstation. All of my previous experience with Destiny had been through Xbox. I remember seeing the Playstation exclusive content and completely understanding Bungie’s thought process behind the move, trying to appeal to the PS fanbase after years of Xbox exclusive Halo releases. Yet despite this I still felt pretty salty. Well this time around I’ll be getting the full ride as my short time with the D2 beta has effectively guaranteed my purchase of the full game in a months time. In a move I now slightly regret I instinctively went for warlock at the class selection screen, juggling work I barely managed to put 5 hours into the beta. I was a warlock main in D1 and despite now realising this was a perfect opportunity to diversify it did feel good to be back in the game. The gameplay feels just as smooth and the visuals are wonderfully sharp. It seems Bungie have put more focus on story this time around, with several wonderful cutscenes in the Beta’s campaign mission. The main antagonist is a Cabal general so I expect the main story to be very focused on that faction, I am also expecting a Cabal themed raid which I am excited by. The strike mission included was a lot of fun and the large Vex boss at the end was a challenge after a long time away from the game. I really enjoyed the boss arena and how the floor phased out of existence several times, dropping you further and further underground. I was paired up with a hunter and a titan for the strike and grew quite frustrated by the titan especially in the final phase of the boss fight. There is very little cover in this phase and the titan seemed unaware of his ability to deploy a wall shield or use his super to generate the classic bubble shield. However I tried to buff my comrades using the new warlock ability to summon a well of light that heals or boosts damage for those within. In a faux pas on my end I realised that I was using the damage boost ability where the healing would have been more beneficial to the team. I decided to try out the new Dawnblade class for the strike and the super ability was great fun, the character is launched up by flaming wings and is able to cast blades of fire down to the ground with a huge sword. Victory was achieved, a chest appeared, spoils were shared. My next stop was PvP. Ive always enjoyed the multiplayer in Destiny, I played a hell of a lot of Control in the Crucible and loved the Iron Banner. Trials of Osiris was never my thing though, I like PvP but am not super competitive. I had some major reservations going into the Crucible this time round as the format has been changed from 6v6 to 4v4 across all game types (I’m sure Trials will still be 3v3). When I first heard about this I was very concerned it would change the feel of modes like Control. Well it appears I had nothing to worry about, despite matches now being four players lighter the gameplay is just as fast and frantic. I had no problems finding an adversary despite the more sparsely populated map, it was very well balanced. My weapons were my standard go-to primary of a good pulse rifle and in the secondary slot a new weapon type in the sub-machine gun. Jumping into PvP I immediately switched to Voidwalker so i could make use of the returning Blink, but much to my horror it seems that it has been on the receiving end of a little nerf. After blinking the entire HUD disappears for a few seconds including the mini map, this will take some getting used to. The Nova-bomb super now travels much slower but I was still able to get a team wipe with one (video to follow). I have since learned that the Nova-bomb can be detonated into smaller projectiles if shot at by the caster, I’ll have to remember that for the games full release. All in all I definitely enjoyed my short time with the Beta. Destiny 2 releases September 6th and I for one cannot wait.

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On the way to Queenstown, NZ. Blogging in the back.

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Hallowed ground.

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Remote play worked a treat, for about a week. Hey that rhymes. Kinda.

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Remote play in remote places - Week ending 6th August

My girlfriend's parents and mine have come to New Zealand to visit. We haven't seen them in 18 months so we decided to go on a little road trip around the country for the next fortnight. This week we're in Taupō on the edge of Lake Taupō. A beautiful spot in New Zealand's volcanic heart. This trip is a great opportunity for me to see some of the country but also a chance for me to test out one of the PlayStation 4's most appealing features, Remote Play. I enabled remote play whist still at home with my console and tentatively booted it up on my MacBook on my first night away, some 230 miles (370km) from my flat in Wellington. And voila! It worked a treat. I was able to get stuck into Mass Effect Andromeda. I’d heard the talk about the strange facial animations in the game and I must say that initially I was taken aback by how poor that aspect of the game is in comparison to the beauty of the different worlds and environs. After a while I acclimatised to the sometimes strange faces, however my gaze was then drawn to the unnatural look of the protagonist’s hands. In both gameplay and cutscenes the hands seem to hinge slightly backwards from the wrist when the player character is standing with hands by their sides. Maybe I’m being nit picky but I can’t unsee it, in fact I can’t look away. However, despite those minor complaints, I am thoroughly enjoying the game. Seeing the familiar alien faces of the Salarians, Turians, Krogan and Asari, hearing the distinct Mass Effect score and seeing the slick aesthetic of weapons and armour has given me a wonderful sense of nostalgia for the original trilogy. The large, explorable planets in this new galaxy are beautiful and the Nomad vehicle makes endless roaming a joy, its a vast improvement on the old Mako. Each planet has a different climate and poses a related environmental hazard, searing heat on Kadara, bitter cold on Veold, extreme radiation on Aya. All of these deplete your life support bar in the bottom left of your HUD and keep you mindful of the nearest warm cave or shaded area. The story is appealing, the allied races of the Milky Way each send 20,000 of their people on a one way journey to the Heleus galaxy to settle worlds and preserve the future of each species. Heleus has it’s own problems though, a massive spacial anomaly known as the Scourge has ravaged a great number of systems and another visiting race known as the Kett are causing havoc with a motive I’m yet to discover. My favourite part of the game so far is the interactions between the milky way races and the native Angara, but nearly 20 hours in they are the only friendly race I have encountered and I am beginning to worry there will be no others. Another problem so far is the characters, when I think of Mass Effect the names Jack, Tali, Garrus, Mordin and Legion come to mind, the current lineup of squadmates are much less interesting so far. My two chosen companions are Cora and Jaal, Cora as her “human trained as Asari huntress” background is mildly intriguing, Jaal because he is the only new species in the group and so I want to hear his dialogue as much as possible. Despite my minor complaints I am enjoying my time with Andromeda, alas, on Friday evening disaster struck. Remote play would no longer connect. I suspected that my Playstation had been unplugged back in Wellington so I messaged my flatmate and asked. The power was on at the outlet and she pushed the power button on the PS4 for me but still no luck. For whatever reason I can no longer connect. It seems I’ll have to wait until I am back home to re-sync. Good thing I have some decent back up for the next week.

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Sad goodbyes and compromise - An introduction

 So after many years of working full time during the day and playing Xbox during the evening, my girlfriend suggested that I get out of my south London comfort zone and go travelling with her. Now to answer your immediate question, no I did not give her the boot. I packed up my Xbox One, gave it to a good friend (for safekeeping) who hadn't yet bought a next gen console and embarked on my 14 month trip. The original plan was to live and work in Sydney, Australia for 9 months, then travel across Oz, New Zealand, the US and Canada. 18 months later I'm living and working in Wellington, New Zealand as we quickly realised we'd need to work for longer to fund our trip.

 Have I been completely deprived of gaming in that time? Of course not. What do you take me for? The only piece of hardware I took with me was my 2012 MacBook Pro, a less than ideal gaming platform. I downloaded several of the Total War series to keep me going. I got really into the 17th century setting and line infantry style of Napoleon TW and Empire TW and put a lot of time into the wonderful Shogun 2 TW. However, it was February 2016 and the release of Dark Souls 3 loomed on the horizon.

 I've been a fan of the series for a while and I knew I had to find a way to play it. A console purchase seemed unwise as I knew I'd be moving on in the not so distant future. So I looked over DS3's system requirements on Steam and decided that was my best option. I purchased a Dualshock 4, upgraded my RAM and bootcamped my MacBook, all the while knowing it might end in tears and wasted money. But it didn't. I was able to play through DS3, battling Lothric's toughest foes as well as some horrendous frame drops that would kick me into offline mode. I got to play it and after 230 hours I was happy, despite the game's lukewarm narrative. Knowing my Mac's capabilities I played through Dark Souls, Dark Souls 2 and Fallout New Vegas again and was satisfied. But then I started thinking about what I missed about having a console. I'd missed out on the release of Overwatch and Battlefield 1 and I longed for the carnage of Los Santos International Airport that I would frequent regularly with my pals.

 After deciding that we would be staying in Wellington for at least another year I decided to set aside some cash and treat myself to a new console. I fought off the temptation to buy a Nintendo Switch and settled on buying a Playstation 4. I remain keen on a Switch but I think I’ll wait until the lineup of titles is a bit more fleshed out. I could have easily bought another Xbox One but went for the PS4 in the end for one reason. Exclusives. I did some shopping around and found a bundle I liked the look of. A 1TB PS4 Slim with Mass Effect Andromeda and a choice of two additional games from a group of six. I selected the Bloodborne Game of the Year edition (easy choice) and The Last Guardian, a game that i knew little about but who’s aesthetic had caught my eye.

 So this my situation. I’d like to keep a little weekly journal of what I’ve been playing as well as giving my thoughts on games as I finish them. As many of these games are years old at this point I’d like to think these are more second opinions than reviews. I hope you enjoy.