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Do you like Bloodborne? If yes feel free to watch me doing a let’s play of it. :)

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Simta’s best games that he played in 2017

2017 has finally ended. I truly hope that everyone had a wonderful 2017 and that 2018 will be even better for any of us. As for gaming 2017 was remarkable. It started off really strong with games like Gravity Rush 2, Yakuza 0, Resident Evil 7 in January and was followed up immediately by amazing titles such as Nier: Automata and Horizon Zero Dawn. The year even got better with Nintendo’s highly successful new console the Switch. With an amazingly drop fed release schedule and top of the line quality of games it became one of the most seeked out system. Of course thanks to some companies who just couldn’t resist to spread some bullshit over the last months of this year we got some let’s just say underwhelming and disappointing titles too.

But this day is not for those games! Today I only intend to talk about the best games that I have played in 2017. There’s only one caveat. Because of the incredibly huge amount of amazing games that came out last year I just simply wasn’t able to play with all of them. Of course those games that I missed will have their own list. There are going to be some older titles because as mentioned before and my line-up is about the best games that I have played in 2017. So even if a game came out in the ‘80s but I only played it for the first time only now, it will be on the list. Let’s get started and see: what were my top games that I’ve played last year.

Dark Souls 3

I am a huge Dark Souls fan. Anything that is closely Souls Like I am going to jump upon it, but when Dark Souls 3 first came out I intentionally didn’t bought it. Mainly because I was waiting to get the inevitable GOTY edition of the game so I can power through all of that the title can offer in one or more painful weeks without touching anything else. So after a year of going completely dark and avoiding anything that is Dark Souls 3 I jumped into it knowing nothing and let the game surprise me. And oh boy it had quite the surprises! The whole game was a wonderful journey and not just in-game wise. I don’t know if it makes any sense but traversing through Lotrich showed also how the series evolved since Demon’s Souls. Meeting the Not Maiden in Black in the Not Nexus, fighting against the undead on the High Wall of Lotric, going into the Catacombs to get murdered by skeletons and every area of the game had that nostalgic feeling of you have been there, you have seen this. But From Software not just simply recycled previous ideas and maps from their games but evolved them, and learned from them, so the next time you came across something similar it won’t just be bigger and flashier, but better and more challenging too! And that is true for the game mechanics even! Every swing with my trusty Broadsword felt so right, every fight and even the spell casting felt for some reason better. No more gimmicky mechanics, no more overpowered stat, every build is viable! So it is only up to you how you are going to try and beat the game. Dark Souls 3 in short was a collection from the best elements of the Souls series, from Demon’s Soul, to Dark Souls and Bloodborne. The dev team picked all the parts that stood out of, and cranked them to eleven. It was a nice way to say goodbye to the Dark Souls series and I just simply can’t wait what they are going to come up with next!

PRAISE THE ART

Doom

You know whenever I see some YouTubers or other gamers talking about how their first game was Mario, Zelda, Sonic or Dizzy, I always find it funny when my time comes to talk about it and my response is: Doom. Yep my first game that got me started was Doom. So after the lacklustre Doom 3 I just kept waiting for a true successor and finally a true heir came in 2016! This game embodies everything that a Doom game has to be. It’s fast phased, filled with action and the story takes a backseat, because it knows that we are here not the get lectured or have life changing experience. We are here because we want to shoot, punch, blow up, and tear apart everything that stand in our way. This game truly understands what made the first two Doom games special and doesn’t shy away about it. It knows what we want to see and delivers on it with high octane! And you know what is funny? That it is able to deliver bombastic action while having one of the best story and main protagonist that I have ever seen. Doom Guy doesn’t say a word nor does he need to. You completely understand him simply by his gestures! Spoilers are coming up about the story so if you haven’t played it than please do so it worth your time. The whole plot is simply about your bog standard big evil corporation wants to get its hand on new ways to generate power for humanity. Obviously the best decision is to go to hell and use its energy to do so. Than shit hits the fan and that is when Doom Guy comes and saves the day. It is just so funny to see how your ‘boss’ tells you that you shouldn’t break some machines as those provides the power for humanity, and Doom Guy just takes a second to think and punches it and destroys it! These kinds of actions show that he not just simply doesn’t give a single fuck, but show that he understands hell the best. It’s bad, you shouldn’t touch it, okay you did it I’ll fix it by murdering everything that is demonic. I could go on and on about the game but I think that I have already carried away, so I just stop and you should go and play it.

I forgot to press the screenshot button during the whole campaing... So have this.

Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight

What more I can say about this game that I have already did in a few weeks ago in my review? Momodora is a true Metroidvania in every way or form. You play as a priestess armed to teeth with a leaf and your duty is to lift the curse of a city. With tight controls and a surprisingly deep customizable fight styles thanks to the items you found through the game you are in for a nice ride. It has a beautiful pixelated art style and an atmosphere remembrance of Bloodborne and the challenge you would see in games like that. You ought to yourself to play this little gem.

Read my review: http://mlpsimta.tumblr.com/post/168403269727/simta-reviews-momodora-reverie-under-the

Simple and beautiful

Persona 5

This year’s best game without a doubt for me easily. The Persona series always has been close to my heart and now after years and years of waiting I was finally be able to play a new one! I got this game just before the spring break and I completely no lifed it during the vacation. After exactly 108 hours later that took me one and a half week to achieve, I was looking at the end credits with a huge smile on my face and tears in my eyes. The game has an amazing cast of characters who you are genuinely care for and root for. The best designed menu system and visuals that you have ever seen! No joke! I often founded myself just moving from menu options from menu options to see every little detail that was purred into it. Also the game has a wonderful soundtrack too. From calm and relaxing music that plays during rainy days, to rock that just bursts and makes you pumped up during a fight! It has everything for every occasion and all of just clicks together so well. Now add all of it to a classic JRPG fighting system and you end up with turn based game that never feels slow. With the music mixed in, every battle can turn into a rhythm game where you try to keep up with the music, and paired all of this with the visuals it just simply looks and sounds amazing. I have to say it makes me really sad that I simply not literature enough to be able to make coherent sentences. Every time when I think about this game is just overflow with emotions of how great of a game it is. I just hope that everyone will get a chance to play it even if you are not a fan of Japanese games you ought to yourself to try this game and see through it. Believe me you are going to experience something wonderful.

YOU NEVER SEE IT COMING!

Tearaway Unfolded

While Sony tries to forget the PS Vita there are still some truly amazing games on that little machine that are begging for attention just like this one. Once a PS Vita launch title it got re-released on the PS4 so it can be finally played by more than a handful of people. The whole world of Tearaway from the trees to the houses, the animals even the water, everything looks like that it was handmade only and just only using paper. But not just the visuals even the controls have a unique twist to them too. You can swipe left to right on the controller’s touchpad to make the wind blow in the world, or press it to make everything jump. I’m not really into controller gimmicks because most of the time they just get into the way and make everything less convenient, but in this game this is not the case. Every function feels very natural and good to use. You can seamlessly move around, do your stuff, and interact with the world via the touchpad without you having to stop for a second, which is crucial as you have to use the wind during a lot of jumping sections to make you reach further platforms. The whole world is just filled with joy and happiness and it is simply a fun adventure that you should try. If you are looking for a third person platformer and for some reason missed Tearaway I urge you to try this one as it is one of the best that the genre has.

Read my review: http://mlpsimta.tumblr.com/post/158588857952/simta-reviews-tearaway-unfolded

Simply adorable and lovable

Undertale

Undertale became a huge hit in 2016 and while I was interested in it I decided to skip it. For some reason there are some types of games that I just simply prefer on a handheld device. Luckily the game got released on the Vita so I immediately purchased it, and I have to say it is truly as good as everybody says. With the premise of you can spare or kill anyone that you come across in the game which ultimately decides how every character will interact with you and the narrative to. Undertale has much more tricks up its sleeves, a game that remembers every decision of yours and adapts to it and judges you for them. It can deliver one of the most heartbreaking scenes that I have ever had the chance to experience. A well thought out world filled it loveable characters and truly unique game mechanics Undertale is tale that you have to hear. Go and play it!

It is possible that you should play this game

Wolfeinstein: The New Order

Besides Doom the original Wolfeinstein 3D was among my first games that I played as a child. While it had some good games since 3D for some reason I never really cared about them and ended up missing all of them (I should really play Return to Castle and the 2009 one) but not this one. While the game is old enough that a sequel just got released this year I kept putting this one into my backlog as one day I’m going to finish it. Well this summer I had a week off after my exams so I download it and decided to finally finish it, and it was a blast to play! Surprisingly this game just like Doom has an amazing storyline with a colourful cast of characters -who are depending on what timeline you decided to pick- and bombastic action that even takes you to a Nazi Moon base. This is another game that understands why we love this series so much and expands it. From one scene where you are planning with the resistance to another where Blatzko is silently taking out guards while monologing about his past, to another where you dual wield two automatic shotguns and mowing down even more Nazis, this game delivers in every way. Let it be story, a very well and tastefully done romance, sneaking or balls to the wall action this game has it all. If you love a good story, choosing your own play style (sneaky or loud) or just simply want to shoot some nazi bastards this game have you covered.

BJ is back!

Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Last year I got my very first home Nintendo console a Wii. The main reason for buying the system was to try and show my family that there are games that even they can enjoy. While the system didn’t become a huge hit, and I am still the only gamer in my household it is still used time to time for some good old fashioned Mario Kart and Wii Sports which I consider as a success. But when it is not party time the Wii become a Zelda machine for me. Besides Mari Kart and Wii Sports I got a copy of Twilight Princess for it and as someone who has never played any Zelda games before was very excited to see what is all the fuss about. While I haven’t finished the game as of writing this (I think I am close to the end) I have to admit this is a really good game, and it is not just because I love games that have motion control gimmicks in them, but it has an interesting story that I want to see through to the end, and some brilliant level design. Maybe it will sound odd but I felt like I was playing a Souls game during my adventure. While the combat is not as unforgiving for errors as a Souls game would be, but traversing Hyrule and especially the dungeons made them feel like you are playing a Souls game, as you not try to beat the enemies (they are not challenging the least) but as you try and beat the levels itself. Thinking about how to use every item in your arsenal, how to combine them and what to look after is really exciting and keeps you engaged. Also the boss fights are stunningly good! The feel when you finally got the key to the dungeon’s boss after figuring out every little puzzle and looked under every pot, you go and open the final door to reveal what is the last obstacle, and go against it is the same that I have whenever I beat a tough boss in a Souls game. Twilight Princess is another extremely well put together game with clever level and boss designs with motion controls that don’t get in your way. I hope that Nintendo will port it to the Switch.

Image from: http://en.stargame.com/201511/0536855363.html

Doki Doki Literature Club

Doki Doki Literature Club is your basic visual novel dating game that you have probably saw countless times already. You play as a shut-in guy whose childhood friend makes him join a Literature Club. From there you are going to meet with four (j̨̛̛̀ù͘͘͜s̕͠t̨̛̀͟͢ ̴̸̨̛͝M͡҉o̸̵n̵͟i̧̕͡k҉̷a̸̴) girls who ask you to stay and help them with the upcoming school festival while learning the ins and outs of poetry and writing. On the surface level this might sounds boring but as you are getting to know the girls better (p̸̨ĺ̵̶͘è̴́̕à̕҉͠s͘̕͜͟͠é̵͘ ̢͟l͜͠o̵͜҉̴v̨̕͏é̸̵͡ ̸̵̸̸ḿ̴̷̷͢e͞͏̛ ̡͠t̶͟͢͠o̸̧o̸̴̢) you realise that Sayori, Yuri and Natsuki have some real problem not just accepting the other members opinions and viewpoints but also themselves too. So from here your job is to not leave them hͣ͊͏̱̜̼̹͇͚̥̞a͛͊ͤͤͤͭ͛҉̸̛̤̤n̷̬ͭ͒̄̋̓͡g͚̦ͫ̇̈́ͭ̒̾͑̉i̢̪̩̖̣̼̝̤͋ͫͫ̋ͦ̇ͯn̨̙̼͍̬͎̩̮͖̿̔͟gͩ͛̈́̆͗̋ͩ̑͏̪̼̮̻̙͎, try and c̸̛͇̖͉̏͒͡ǘ͕̜̜̗̌̅̊̌̂̀ẗ̵̹̠͚̉̃ͩ͐ͫ̚͘ͅ corners in your life while not b̨͚̊̌͆̔͛̽͠͞ŗ͙̣͓̖̔̌̄̔ͪ̽͝ͅe̫̞̗̜ͩ̓͢a̷̵͉̩̱̽̈̅́͂͛ͅk̮͔͚̖ͣi͈̯̙̩̱͉̗̎̇ń̪̗̣͖̍̀͟g̦̬͇̻͉̦͆͊̒ͥ͌̀͝ ̵̳̖̲̦͙͎̣̀̎͞y̶̰͉̮̙͑̀͠ͅo̼̭͔ͥ̐̊u̴͖͇̭͔̬̯̞ͬ̊͆͒r̛̤̘̭̣̮̩̭̲̓́̎͐̈̈ͧ̍͜͝ ̰̻̞̪̫ͨ͂̀͛͒̄̅͡n̢̗̳͚̣̣̻͎͋̐͌̓ͫ͐́͟e͔̪̰̬͔̬̤͙͓͒͐͗́͒̄̅̎ͬcͭ̄̀ͧ̈̊́͘͏̗̪͙̣̯͙̞̟k̊̎̏҉̢͎̪̙̫̭̕ while helping them to make sure that not just the plans for the school festival but their lives too to get back on track. Doki Doki Literature Club while short is an amazing game that can delve into some truly horrific moments while you try and save each of the girls and unravel the mysteries behind their hatred.

What a cute and depressing game at the same time

Katawa Shoujo

This year I tried and played a few visual novels. This genre of gaming never really interested me as I found the concept of them is simply boring. How naive and stupid I was... Me! Who can love a well crafted story and characters enough to suffer through some janky game mechanics or grind countless of hours to make sure that I can see the best ending possible. So after some research and reading online what visual novel should I try out everybody pointed me towards this little free game. Just like in any other visual novel your main job is mainly consist of clicking next and reading while occasionally make a decision. Depending on your actions you can become closer friends to a girl or become her boyfriend, or achieve the opposite of it and you’ll start seeing her less and less again. As for the girls in the game I was surprised how well written they were! You see them how they interact with each other, how their own disability affects their relations, their everyday lives, and most importantly how they deal with them. And it is true for the main hero too! He who never had anything life threatening condition to care for suddenly finds itself in this new situation, and his journey is also remarkable. Seeing him interacting with the girls in the school as they teach him that just because he has a disability he shouldn’t let it get into him and he can still have a normal life. A truly beautiful game with important life lessons that everybody should at least give it a try.

Read my first impressions: http://mlpsimta.tumblr.com/post/156280048037/games-from-my-backlog-katawa-shoujo

I still love her

Splatoon 2

There’s gotta be a Switch title on the list. That little system became really popular and most wanted among gamers and rightfully so. While many people bought it to play the new Zelda (I really want to play it too) I was waiting how the system will hold its ground, but most importantly I wanted to see if Splatoon will be on it. Time moved on and summer came and with it Splatoon 2 hit the Switch. So in December when I was able to afford the console I bought a copy of it alongside my new console. Online shooters and any other kind of shooting games have been always amongst my favourite. So to see something vastly different that is not just simply about firing towards one and other got my attention. In most online shooters your only worth is mostly measured in K/D, but Splatoon 2 breaks away from that tradition by rewarding players the most who went after the objective. While players who prefer hunting down the opposite team’s members still will be appreciated as they make sure the keep the bad guys away while the rest of the team can peacefully paint the map. Just this little simple idea of using paint instead of bullets not only makes the game family friendly but opens up a lot of possibility game play wise. Painting the map not just gives you scores, but the more map you cover the faster your team will move around it. A simple but brilliant idea that turns every match into a game where map knowledge and controlling it is a must if you wish to succeed in the game. Not to mention playing for the objective also builds up your ultimate faster that lets you use powerful attacks that can turn even a losing match into a victory. A very fast phased, well balanced, fun game where you always have to keep your eyes open as in every minute the table can turn. Not to mention that all of this with regular free updates and events! So if you have a Switch and don’t have this game go and buy it! It’s well worth of your money. And for the others who already have I have a question for you: Are you a squid or a kid?

Why thank you Marie!

Stardew Valley

My go to comfort game of the last year. After a long day when I was really tired and I simply wanted to relax Stardew Valley was there for me on my Switch. A simple but somehow surprisingly deep game where your only job is run your own farm the best way you could. There’s just simply something calming for me to go over tiles and tiles watering the crops, cutting down some trees or mining, that helps soothe my nerves. While boring as it sounds wanting to see my farm grow and improve were rewarding enough that I truly felt some pride and accomplishment as I saw my homestead got bigger and better. You don’t also just improving your new home but your character too. On the first day maybe you get tired after watering a couple of plants, but as you go on and on you start to see how your avatar grows too. Simple task that were previously hard to do are becoming more and more easier, you learn new tricks how to make everything go smoother and easier as you start to understand the game mechanics and unlock new crafting recipes. I remember making my first sprinkler. I felt so proud that now I don’t have to manually water four tiles, only the remaining 100, because it was a long way to get there and quite expensive. But now half of my farm has a sprinkling system that saves me a lot of work and in so allows me spend more time with the villagers of Stardew Valley. Going into Stardew Valley you can find a lot of interesting people who occasionally ask you to deliver some farm product, and will offer their services for some of your money. Some will have a steady supply of seeds, some can patch you up, and others can build you new stuff and so on and so on. You truly feel like that you are part of a community, and as you start knowing the people better you understand them more and more and care for them. But not just plants can blossom in this game but friendships and loves too. You can get married and live together with your wife or husband (same sex marriage is completely OK!) and even can have kids too! There’s just simply so much more that I haven’t even see in this game that I can’t wait to go back and experience. If you are a fan of games like Harvest Moon, Terraria or Minecraft I urge you to check this one out and if you happen to have a Switch this game is perfect for it!

Me and best girl in the rain.

There you have it, the twelve games that I’ve played the most in 2017. Sadly a lot of games haven’t made into the list because of me not having the time to play them or the money to buy them. 

If you are interested in what games I want to play that come out in 2017 here’s a quick list for you to see:

-Nier: Automata -The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild -Mario Odyssey -Gravity Rush 2 -Night in the Woods -Ladykiller in a Bind -Yakuza 0 -Horizon Zero Dawn -I am Setsuna -Nioh -Rain World -The Sexy Brutale -LawBreakers -Sonic Mania -Cuphead -A Hat in Time -Xenoblade Chronicles 2

As you can see the list of games that are waiting for me to buy them and play them is quite huge and I hope that I can cover some of them in this brand new year.

I hope that you are going to have a wonderful and successful 2018!

For closing I want to say thank you for your reading my post and of course have a great day!

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Suffice to say but he won easily.

[mlpsimta]

Yesterday Eevee fought against Gladion’s whole team!

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Let me give you your daily morning eevee for today!

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A morning eevee a day keeps the sadness away!

[mlpsimta]

I’m just gonna put this here because I got Stardew Valley for the Switch on Chirstmas and I really like it. Abigail is best girl.

[mlpsimta]

Me: Alright time to create the list for the best games I have played in 2017! Brain: Sure! Here are the games that you liked. Me: Nice. Now just describe them why you liked it. Brain:

I need to get better and writing...

[mlpsimta]

Let's kick off 2018 with a quality eevee post!

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Happy New Year

2017 has ended. I wish that everyone has a wonderful 2018! :) Thank you for everybody who was reading my little blog! I’m truly grateful and honored.

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I wish everyone a Merry Christmas. Have a pleasant day with your loved ones and play some video games if you can. I am honored for everyone who read my blog during this year. Thank you for your kindness.

[mlpsimta]

Simta reviews: Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight

A couple of months ago while I was looking at random YouTube videos at my workplace about speed running through video games one of them caught my eyes. It was a game with cute but still somehow scary pixelated art style where the heroine was fighting with a leaf in a city reminiscing of Yharnam from Bloodborne. The game immediately got my attention with its visuals and to be honest I was just looking for some good old fashioned Metroidvania game. Sadly while the looks of the game stayed with me its the name slipped my mind so I wasn’t able to purchase it once I got home. I nearly forgot about it but luckily this week I just found it on the PSN store thanks to a discount. Suffice to say I was very happy to see that this was the game that I was looking for and bought it on the spot.

From the title screen to the end credits. It look gorgeous.

Because what got me the most was the art style of the game allow me to praise it a little more. I am simply just a sucker for pixelated visuals maybe it is because I grown up with games like that but I often found staring and admiring the craftsmanship and level of details that can go into these types of graphics, and Momodora absolutely delivers on this front. From the Grove through the Monastery to the Castle the game looks stunning. Each area feels and looks different and has its unique theme to them making them instantly recognizable. Even the subsections of them have their little touches making them easy to remember so you won’t ever really get lost in this maze.

One of my favorite area that I constantly went back. I just like it.

Speaking of maze this game as I mentioned before is a true Metroidvania game. As you navigate through the city you face new enemies and challenges, earning new abilities and improve them, and find new items to assist you through your journey. You constantly getting stronger and smarter as you venture deeper into the city and it is really well balanced. You are never going to hit any object that would be impossible to tackle. Maybe you need to swap your item, or learn the move set of the enemy a little better, or even just avoid fighting at all. You are always going to have all the necessary tools at your disposal for any given situation and if everything fails you can always play it like Dark Souls and try and try again until you succeed.

Just like in Dark Souls. If you first don’t succeed. Just give up and go join the cat club

The biggest obstacles are going to be the bosses. There are 8 and one boss fights hidden for you to defeat them. I have to say I founded some of the fight a little lacklustre. There are a few that I was able to beat it quite easily via abusing the Tainted Missive item (for some of your HP it increases your power by 100%) and just use some healing items. Once I founded this tactic out this was my first thing to do when I found a new boss. If it worked than I just shrugged and moved on, but some bosses are trickier than the others! Luckily some fights are a real treat participate in it! The fight with Pardoner Fennel is something really a work of an art and stands out a big way! It is simply amazing how many expressions, movement and style the developers were able to brought out from this few pixels. That fight sticked with me through all of my journey because it opened my eyes that there’s something bigger going through behind the scenes and made me look the game from a whole different perspective. From that moment my Dark Souls sense got turned on and started to examine every little crooks and nannies, every NPCs dialogue and their positions to unravel the lore and story behind this cursed city.

 So simple. So breathtaking.

The curse will eventually swallow all lands near and far. But Karst City has one final hope. A lone priestess who has braved the baneful fog... Has the City found its saviour or the Curse will consume her? Wield your leaf proudly priestess Kaho and try to save Karst City from the brink of demise. While the story is something that you have maybe heard before the game still manages to deliver a good narrative. Throughout your travel if you stay and talk to the people you can find more about what has happened and the visual story telling also helps filling in the narrative in. If you return back to previous areas you can even find slight changes to them.

Even Bill Cipher can be found. Maybe he started the curse!

In conclusion Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight is an exceptional game that I would highly recommend to anyone. If you are just like me who likes Yharnam from Bloodborne and anything that resembles a Metroidvania game this game is a treat for you and you should absolutely play it! The game itself is not very long. I was able to finish it in 5 hours and not even touched New Game+ or turned on the difficulty level which I might just do in the future. But with solid controls, amazing visuals, charming music you ought to yourself to at least pick it up and try it for yourself! If you are interested you can play it on PC, Xbone or on the PS4. Sadly no Switch port as of right now but maybe in the future there will be one. I hope.

For closing I want to say thank you for your reading my post and of course have a great day!

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Mimics....

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Tiptoeing into Pokémon TCG

While my main hobbies nowadays contain finishing Undertale twice a week, and watching EA’s stocks falling down recently I really got into (as the title suggest) Pokémon TCG. A couple of weeks ago a Board and Card game shop in the city decided to host a Pokémon TCG training for newbies and offered cards to play with, and for purchase of course. So as a fan of Pokémon I snatched the opportunity and with a friend of mine we decided to attend the teachings to learn the ropes of the game and play some Pokémon TCG.

Once we got there it was really an amazing sight to see a bunch of pokéfans at one place talking about Pokémon, trading cards, playing TCG and even doing the same through their 3DSes (just not in a card form) too. For my surprise half of the audience were kids! Maybe I sound old, but man it was such a delightful sight to see that Pokémon is something that is not only enjoyed by us the first generation that got exposed to it, but the gens after us! That’s the power of this franchise. It doesn’t matter how old are you or what’s between your legs it can appeal to all kinds of audience.

After a half an hour long introduction of the card game it was finally time to play with the others. Shamefully I didn’t have a deck to play with and for some reason they told me that one Eevee card is simply not enough to play the game because I need 30 or 60 cards for it. So after asking for 59 Eevees they showed me the shop to buy a pack. The shop was filled with all kinds of packs and booster to choose from... Well before the training at least. During the teachings the shop went nearly empty and only a training set left that contained 30-30 cards for two half decks. So because of the dangling kids who got away with the Luminous Frost deck that I wanted to buy we settled to purchase the training set that remained.

Maybe it is only a half deck but I can still fly with it

Because I already played Heartstone and even some Magic learning Pokémon TCG was very simple. Heck I would describe it as Magic for kids. It is easy to learn, a mach doesn’t take more than 10 or so minutes to finish, and it is filled with just enough of randomness that I don’t find annoying. Observing some of the more advanced players on other tables was well.... let’s just say different. Seeing what kind of decks they used and watching their games showed how much though, calibration, care, time and money can go into ones deck. You know the saying, it’s easy to get into and learn the ropes but it’s hard to master. So my friend and me decided to mostly play against each other as we agreed that one of us will have the electric part of the deck while the other the rock. Overall the whole event went very well. It was really a great time, played some TCG got some new friends and even the online community that we were invited is really a fun place to hang out.

Still need more Eevees but I’m getting there!

After a couple of days I was able to purchase that frost themed deck I wanted to buy (gosh I love Aloan Vulpix so much) so even I now have a deck to play with. Since that day I founded myself laying on the floor and trying to come up with a better deck at least once a week. How should I mix this electric and frost decks together? What could be a working combination that would allow me to build up my pokémons during a play? How can I shove in as many eevees as humanly possible (Yeah I kinda purchased some more eevess too...)? I don’t know how but Pokémon can still bring out my inner child and I am very glad for it. My wallet maybe not so, but still I love it.

Now that is a majestic fox!

Other then the physical format I downloaded and played some of the Online TCG part. I have to say Pokémon TCG has one of the fairest price models that I have seen. All booster and decks have a little code that you can insert into the online interface and with just a click of a button you can play with your cards on the internet too! This is soooo amazing as it allows me to have my deck not just in my hands but under my cursor too. The fact that I don’t have to pay twice for something I already have is a really customer friendly move and ensures me that every dime I spend on the game won’t be wasted and will be utilized as much as possible. Also it makes me want to buy more boosters... Sadly the online interface is clunkier than a Klang. Navigating the menus is not intuitive and takes some time to get used to, checking out your cards and building a deck is painfully hard and just simply not as easy to do an is in like Heartstone. Speaking of Heartstone Pokémon Online TCG is light years behind to it. It really needs some improvements and a new looks because as of it today it just dull to look at and sometimes it looks like an asset flip.

Let’s just say this is not really pleasant to look at.

Also checking out your cards is hard too. Everything is too small if you wish to see more than one.

In summary Pokémon TCG is a really fun card game. Playing with others (who are just as nerdy as you) while talking about Pokémon and other video games is a really good way for someone to spend their free-time. I’m really glad that they showed me this gathering and I simply can’t wait for the next one. In the meantime I purchase some booster, find more eevee cards, and play a couple of matches with my friends on the campus. Also hoping for some improvement for the Online TCG part. Man that program needs some visual upgrades.

For closing I want to say thank you for your reading my post and of course have a great day!

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Let me mumble about Activision’s shitty patent

Today a patent filed by Activision has surfaced and let just say that it isn’t something that is reassuring for anyone who likes gaming. Now before everyone pulls out the pitchforks and the torches this is just a patent. It doesn’t mean that Activision is using it in its games and it is possible that maybe they just filed it so they can patent troll other companies who are trying to do something shity like this.

In case if you haven’t heard about it already this is the description of the patent:

http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=9789406.PN.&OS=PN/9789406&RS=PN/9789406

Feel free to read the whole thing on the link provided

In short they patent a multiplayer matchmaking system that would put low level player against higher level player. By doing this they want newbies to purchase microtransactions so that they can catch up to those who are more experienced or just have better/cooler stuff to play with.

Now if you think that this is an absolutely scummy move than you would be correct. A good matchmaking system should always strive to put people who are on the same level against each other. Doing so allows new players to learn the mechanics of the game, unlock some new gear to be more versatile and obviously help them enjoy the game, for the simple reason that they won’t get their asses handed to them by someone who is much better than them, all the time. Of course perfect matchmaking system is simply not possible, but a good developer always has to go for an extra mile and make sure that the gamers who decided to pick up the game for their hard earn money can enjoy the game and not get fed up with it. Again mistakes can happen but to see that Activision is willingly trying to put together low levelled players against seasoned ones to sell more bullshit microtransactions because of frustration is –and I can’t state is enough- is scummy.

Also it’s always good to remind us that this is the same company who chained a beloved game to another and after that put microtransactions into it and after that some DLC to hurt it more.

For me this patent undermines the legitimacy of every multiplayer matchup that happened with me in any Activision or Activision-Blizzard title since this was filed, and makes me question every upcoming game from them. What is the possibility that while playing Heartstone or Call of Duty I am going to get a fair pairing against someone? I don’t mind losses even from higher level opponents because I tend to learn from those. But what if the lessons from a loss like that is buying more microtransactions so I can keep up? Are they really undermining their integrity for some quick buck? Makes me wonder and vomit...

The face when you realize that your publisher is acting like an ass and you want to pull out

Also I find it extremely comedic that someone thought that making people frustrated and mad at a game would make them open their wallets to support the game. It’s like a bad comic villain who wants to destroy the world but not realizing that he/she need to world to live on. Maybe it is just me but I tend to support games and its developers monetarily if I *gasp* enjoy the game and stop playing or not even purchasing ones that I know will fuck me over.

Finally this document shows me that Activision puts money first and making a good game and ensuring the enjoyment of their customers far behind. I know that game making is expensive. I am a programmer myself and I truly understand what a shit-show can be making a code run, and god forbid work as intended. But scamming your customers can not be ever a good way to earn your money back. (Also thanks’ to Super Bunnyhop we know that Activision also evading taxes and spend less on their games). Maybe use a more realistic budged during development, re-use the engine, some models and most of the code and have more grounded expectation when it comes to sales.

While not perfect, Splatoon 2 can deliver constant updates and contents while not ripping of their player base. Wish it could work for one of the biggest best selling franchise too...

But who am I kidding? Most of them already using cost saving methods, making sponsored deals with pizza places that I have never heard of, focus test the shit out of everything to appeal as many people as possible even if that would kill a game’s identity, charge 90$ for a new game (60$ base + 30$ season pass) and riddle them with pay to win microtransactions because you gotta have to earn your money back. If all that I have stated has to be done to break even or make a small profit that you are doing you business wrong. Other developers already figured out how to deliver a quality product that even has the full experience from day one. So I am going to support them even if that means that I have to give up my favourite franchise, because even if you can’t keep up monetarily than how do you expect me a single (tax paying) person to keep up?

For closing I want to say thank you for your reading my post and of course have a great day!

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It’s time to take the Switch seriously

When the Switch was first announced I was instantly hooked by the main idea behind it. Switching from home console mode to handheld nearly instantly and bring your games wherever you want is pretty amazing. However a console to succeed it need games and not just from first party developers but from third party too, and after reading about the latest Nintendo Direct event it seems like the Big N is on the right track. In case if you missed the show I’ll link it to you to see, but I only wish to ramble about in my honest opinion the two main announcement that stole the show for me.

In case you wish to see the Direct

Firstly Bethesda announced that Doom 2016 is coming to the Switch! Now you may ask why it is a big deal so please hear me out. The latest Doom was one of last year’s best game and we all knew that Doom is about ripping and tearing the demons of hell and this type of game is as far from Nintendo’s comfort zone as it can get. So to see Nintendo opening up and allowing a game with this level of violence on its system shows that maybe they can be open minded and understand that they are not just selling games on one side of the planet. Also as a technical perspective it is a huge achievement to see Doom running on the Switch. While as of right now what we know is that the game on runs at 720@30 in handheld mode with some occurring dips from here and there (we don’t know yet how the game runs docked) it is still the same game is it was on other system. Now yes of course the visual quality is not as impressive as it is on the current gen systems and the 30FPS is a big bummer but it is still Doom on the toilet! To see that the game can run on a hardware that is weaker that the original Xbox One gives me hope that maybe we can see other third party titles to appear on the Switch. Maybe it is only possible because the ID Tech engine paired with Vulcan is this damn well optimizable but if other companies see that there’s an audience on the Switch (and looking at the sales numbers there’s a big one) that would happily purchase even a visually inferior version of their games just so that they can take it anywhere maybe they would start making more games for the system (and if your game is already at 30 why the hell not try it?).

Digital Foundy’s take on why Doom on the Switch is an amazing feat!

Finally the new Wolfeinsten game is coming to the Switch too! As of right now we don’t really know any details about how it looks and most importantly runs. You can just read my rumbling about why Doom on the Switch is a technical marvel and apply that here. So instead of wasting your time saying the same thing twice allow me to explain why it is even a bigger deal than Doom. Doom is already out while Wolfeinstein is not. Now why is that important? It shows that there’s a big enough potential for Bethesda on the Switch that it’s worth them putting more money and effort into their games to make them run on the Switch. They’ve realized (or Nintendo is helping them, which is totally fine) that people like taking games with them and it is easier to bring a tablet with you than PC/console with a monitor, and if they only have to put up with some visual downgrades to be able to do it, than a Switch version of a game will have more value for these type costumers. So it is really good to see that the Switch not only getting old games but even upcoming ones and shows that there’s a huge amount of potential in the system.

While we don’t have any info about how the game runs on the Switch, so let’s just appreciate the new trailer of Wolfeinstein II.

In conclusion I am pleased to see what Bethesda is doing (well as long as I don’t see their paid mods stuff) with their games trying to put it on the Switch. Also Nintendo allowing violent games like this not only gives me hope that they are dipping their toes into 2017 and trying to be more open for other type of games but it is a good way to tell the gaming audience that they not just about the family and kid friendly stuff. Nintendo in my opinion has an image problem. Most gamers associate them with kid friendly stuff only so to see the first cracks on this image is highly pleases me.

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The Struggles of Vita

Just a couple of moments ago I decided to browse the PS Store because of the current Summer Sale Deals in hope to find something good for cheap. So after a few minutes of scrolling in the badly designed PS Store I found Mortal Kombat 9 for 10 or so bucks. Now MK9 is my most favourite fighting game mainly because it is the only one that I’m tolerable at so I decided to pick it up. Now from the title you can guess that the version I ended up choosing is the Vita one. I picked this one because it has the most stuff in it and well playing Mortal Kombat on the toilet is a good thing. After dusting of my Vita and recharged it and started to play the game I couldn’t stop myself thinking about how Sony could have fucked up one of the (if not the best) handheld gaming system ever. So why not look at back the sad history of the PlayStation Vita and point out the bad decisions that Sony has made with it!

It is a really good port! You should get it!

The system came out back in 2012 February 22 and it was the most powerful handheld dedicated gaming system that has ever made ‘till that day. With an amazing OLED multi-touch supported display and dual analogue sticks Sony was clearly targeted the more hardcore audience of the gaming community and with a starting price of 250$ it wasn’t a system too out of reach. Heck even the launch line up was massive with a whopping 25 titles to play from day one! Not to mention that Sony promised that you can stream your PS3 games to the Vita to play on it and you can even download PSP and PS1 games from day one! How could this go wrong? Well easily...

Even Kat saw the signs

Because the Vita is a handheld system it needs a memory card to store the games you purchased (even if you bought it physically) which shouldn’t be a big issue. I mean I just store a few games on the internal storage until I go and pick up a memory card. What do you mean that the Vita doesn’t have an internal storage? Okay no problem I just go and pick up a microSD card for dirt cheap and I’m good to go! What now?! Why wouldn’t the Vita use microSD card? What the hell is it using then? Oh they made a design of their own? No problem than I pick up one of theirs. What 4GB for 20$?! Fuck it!

You should have listened to Yosuke Sony!

The first and biggest problem that the Vita still even has today is their overpriced memory cards. For comparison you could pick up a 4GB microSD card for like 5$ or so. Now I wouldn’t mind paying premium for anything especially if for that price the product delivers and take me to dinner but for the plus we have (gosh I wish to say had) to cough up we don’t get a speed boost and sure as hell not a storage upgrade either. Now buying some memory is a hidden cost that everyone who plays games aren’t going to get surprised but with this high of a cost that means you had to pick up the Vita for 250$ a 16GB of memory Card (because let’s face it anything under than that is just won’t cut it) for 70$ and you would might as well pick up a game to play with on the system, so let that game be Uncharted The Golden Abyss for 50$ (50$ for a handheld game we will cover that too) and we just spent 370$! Nearly the cost of a brand new console during that time when the next gens rumours were getting more and more believable. So while the system was fairly priced the necessary overpriced memory card and the nearly full priced games made the system more out of reach for the majority of people.

High memory card cost means less anime waifues that you can store!

Also because Sony was targeted the more hardcore audience of the gaming community the games on the system really had to deliver on that promise. So games ended up costing 50 bucks because studios poured a ton of effort into their games (well most of the time) and for comparison most games on the 3DS -the main adversary of the Vita- only cost 30$. Now back in the old days of 2011 it was unheard of portable games to cost that much so people weren’t that happy about it. Not to mention that all this happened around the time when mobile games started to become more and more popular and most of the games on it are “free”.

Sony also should have listened to Yukiko how to beat competitions!

Pricing issues aside any gaming system can become successful if the actual games on it are good and most importantly the ones during the launch because those are the games that will always show what a system is capable of. The Vita launched with 25 games on its release date which in my opinion was kinda a good thing. Kicking of a console with a lot of titles helps people to find one that they are going to enjoy and assures that they want to buy the system for that title. On the other hand launching with that many games also can be confusing for the customers as they find themselves overwhelmed with a lot of options and it makes it hard for them to choose. Not to mention the first party titles always have to be on top quality even if there’s only one (see Breath of the Wild) and if there’s a lot of first party games on development before launch that can divide the attention of the developers. In short trying to make too many games for launch can make developers and publisher lose their focus also working on one game is cheaper than working on many others at the same time. I personally was very pleased with the launch line up that the Vita had to offer. Games like Uncharted: Golden Abyss, wipEout, Plants VS Zombies, Rayman Origins and with other genially good games that every Vita owner should have.

Gravity Rush was an amazing opening game also!

Of course other than the launch titles Sony promised that the Vita is capable of playing PSP and PS1 (why not PS2 too I don’t know) and all of our favourite old games will be there for download from day one, except they weren’t. To this day the Vita still lacks a lot of crucial PS1 and PSP classic and if you are an idiot like me who dared to born in Hungary and have a Hungarian PSN account than your choices are even more limited. Not delivering on the backwards compatibility promise was a huge disappointment for us. Previously I spoke about why too many launch games can be bad, but that same policy does not apply for virtual titles. Those games are already had been made so if your system already has an emulator to play older titles there’s literally no good reason to not put up all of them onto the store for cheap (of course after you did the testing). The good thing about those titles is nostalgia. Who wouldn’t anyone pick up his/her favourite old games if it was on the store? Also they can provide distraction while a new game for the system is on the way so you can play something between releases. Not to mention getting to run games from the previous generations are getting more and more trickier as time passes so having an option to play those games on a modern system would be amazing. Also the Vita is portable so you can play them everywhere! Like on the toilet! But as of 2017 the Vita still misses some crucial old games on its store like all the Star Wars Battlefront games that were on the PSP, the first Persona game, the old Harry Potter titles, the Army Man ones, and I think everybody can point out what is missing.

Well at least P3P is on the HUN PSN.

Other than broken backwards compatibility promises the PS3 streaming is went nowhere either at all. Luckily this feature was nearly perfectly implemented for the PS4 (and I think this is the main reason why the PS3 one was dropped). This feature for me is not something that I miss at all, of course it would have been nice to play more than 27 games but if when your system already stumbling at day one delivering on its promises than maybe you should try to keep as many as possible.

Me and best girl Yukiko looking at the wasted potential of the Vita

Finally there’s one big personal complain that I have to make. Again a reminder the year is 2011 and there’s one franchise that is going strong and its name is Call of Duty. CoD is still a stable of the gaming community and back in the day if your system didn’t have it than what were you doing (in comparison even the Wii and the WiiU had nearly all of them). Now because Sony was promising console like experience on its handheld everybody was imagining and wishing for a CoD game for the system and sadly our prayers were listened. Call of Duty Black Ops Declassified come out in 2012 November and it was a huge failure. The game was buggy, the aiming down sight just simply wasn’t working and it was simply just a broken mess. Heck I got so frustrated that I have even wrote one of my very first reviews just to bash on that game. (read it here: http://mlpsimta.tumblr.com/post/121297005557/black-ops-declassified-review) The quality of the title was so bad that it made me question Sony’s quality control for the system and their faith for it. Luckily Sony delivered some time later with Killzone Mercenaries but Killzone as amazing as that game is (the best Killzone that I have ever played and I highly recommend to pick up a Vita just for it) just didn’t have the recognition and following as the CoD franchise. So failing to deliver one was clearly a huge let down for the majority of the gaming audience back in the day.

I have nothing witty to say. Fuck this game...

In conclusion what killed the system is Sony’s own arrogance. They struck gold with the PSP and they thought that they couldn’t do wrong and the audience would fall for it because of the previous success with their handheld. Which is baffling now that I think about it because this isn’t the first time Sony did such a thing. Remember the utter failure of the PS3’s launch? Sony did the same thing back then and learnt nothing from it and because of it great systems suffered. This is what I like to call the upper dog effect. When you are on the top and thinking that you can’t do anything wrong and start doing everything wrong. Overpricing the unavoidable memory cards, lack of quality control during the start and the broken promises sadly killed the Vita.

It even has an open world Assassin’s Creed on it and it alright!

But could the Vita make a comeback still? Of course it could. Dropping the memory card prices and focusing on bringing more older titles for the system from the PS1 and PSP area as they promised also maybe throwing in some PS2 games for good measure can still be a game changer and could revive the Vita. Also implementing more apps like YouTube (which for some reason no longer available), Crunchyroll, TumblR and other social media stuff could also be very beneficial as it gives more stuff that you can do on the system, and why not try and revive old features like the near app which was supposed to be the Vita’s StreetPass? (It there’s something that I learned from Persona 5 is that there’s every time at least one guy with a Vita on the Metro) Finally why not make the PS4 controllers much easier to connect to the vita? It’s a real hassle to do it.

Just some of the apps that I’m frequently using.

Sadly I highly doubt that would ever happen. Sony clearly stopped caring about the system for years now and seeing how they handle backwards compatibility (they don’t at all) the Vita will not have its comeback sadly. Which is such a shame... From the system that has Persona 4 Golden, Freedom Wars, Soul Sacrifice and now even Undertale it’s really heartbreaking to see a great little console struggling.

You can date a Skeleton in Undertale. With the Vita you can date a Skeleton in Undertale while on the toilet! 

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Like my work space, just mine has eevees :)

I’m a mature person and my workspace is also mature.