#'what happens next is between you and the pc modding gods'

[ilikedetectives]

The good side: you can edit pose in-game The unhinged side:

[jessecrust]

We must stop being surprised

The studio that made one of the best games ever is currently imploding. ZA/UM, the studio that made Disco Elysium, is laying off 25% of their staff, including the last remaining credited writer for the hit video game. It's rare for a game to move me as much as Disco Elysium did, it's even rarer for the main creative forces who made the game to thank Karl Marx at their acceptance speech at The Game Awards. It is a breathtakingly beautiful and gorgeous work of art that made me laugh, slip into depression, cry, and smile so big my entire face hurt. After struggling through so many overlong, pretentious, AAA slogs like The Last of Us and God of War sequels, I never wanted to leave doomed Revochol. And it seems that, once again, the reward for surprise success and bringing something unique and wonderful into the world is misery and ruin.

The point of this is not really to document the facts of this sordid business, the legal battles, the documentary made about the studio, the drama, etc. All of that matters, and I'm sure others will cover it, but what matters to me about this is how unsurprising it is. We must stop being surprised that this keeps happening. We can no longer be surprised when the next surprise work of genius made by passionate, idiosyncratic people is slowly and fatally smothered by the financial criminals. There's a basic incongruity between creatives and financiers that, in the best of times, seems like a mutually beneficial relationship. But please understand that these soulless piles of money are all scorpions that will inevitably dig its stinger into your frog back the first chance it gets. Netflix was always going to charge you more to watch ads. The line on the graph must only go one way, the system proposes infinity in a finite world and tasks CEOs, HR departments, and mangers to make the impossible possible.

What I find the most grating is the inevitable reply: "profit is the only reason that these things exist". I truly wish I could experience life through the brain stem of the person who believes this. It must be fascinating to be so dull. Even worse, there's a non-zero chance that the person saying this has downloaded--for free--a PC mod for one of their favorite unoptimized, unprofitable to patch, forgotten games that fixed most of the major bugs and issues. The money, hustle, profit, business obsessed mind cannot comprehend the joy and pleasure of creation for its own sake. Nor, I suspect, can it comprehend art, preservation, aesthetics, history, etc.

I wanted to end this with the Jonas Salk quote about patenting the sun, so I looked it up to make sure I wasn't misremembering it: " There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?" And, sure enough, as if the universe reached out its fist to burying it into my gut, I stumble upon a Slate article titled "Jonas Salk: Good at Virology, Bad at Economics". The human race survived thousands of years without Economics, consultants, and private equity firms. If only we could go without them again.

[socio-png]

The Sims – A personality-filled escapism

I logged onto the Sims on a Thursday after a full day at uni. Next thing I know, 3 hours had passed; my Sim Maya had advanced to the next stage of her career; she attended a party, met a guy and went on a few dates. I would have continued playing hadn’t it been for my growling stomach at 9PM calling out for the dinner I had skipped. In the span of 3 hours, I was completely immersed in a world of my own imagination. And that instance got me thinking of why I got into Sims in the first place. And why this game has attracted so many players and keep them engaged in its world for decades.

I took to Reddit and Tumblr to find out the answers and came back with various types of responses. I asked: “What  got you into playing the Sims in the first place? Would you consider it as a portrayal or extension of yourself/ your mind?”

The question was set out to explore the dynamics between the players and the play, to discover the initial attraction of the Sims and whether it provides its players with a mirrored world that they can escape into. The answers were varied, but there were certainly re-emerging themes (access via my other blog post to see all the responses). The initial gateway that leads players to play Sims is generally objective: some were given as a present, some started playing because a relative/partner/friend was playing, some were simply bored. There was one instance where a player stated that the Sims was a part of their mental healing from family issues and that the game helped them “cheer up” .  

However, the reason for their stay and their long-term commitment to the game was the ability to escape and immerse one’s imagination into the gameplay. The responses I get back majorly included the words “creativity” and “escape”, proving that the Sims allows their players to be freely creative and be completely engaged with their own simulated world. The Sims, as its genre falls into sandbox or simulation game, is designed to let people project their wish fulfilment and be in total control of their own “digital” lives. Many instances of the Sims modding community on Tumblr who offers expansion packs of celebrity-look-alike, vampire mansions, futuristic alien decors, etc are all created to satisfy players’ desire to escape in their Sims world and live out an alternative life. Myself included, though I did not engage in the modding community, I found myself designing my Sims to be the better-looking version of myself, making her have all the attributes and artistic ability that I wish I had time for in real life. The Sims has allowed me and many other players a space to fulfil one’s desire and goals they might never think they had.  

These observations led me to discover a concept often mentioned when discussing game media: escapism. The term is used to describe the tendency to seek distraction and relief from unpleasant realities (Oxford). Particularly in media studies, game has been a prevalent medium for escapism because of its immersive nature (Guan – Vulture)

We turn to games when real life fails us – not merely in touristic fashion but closer to the case of emigrants, fleeing a home that has no place for them.  (Guan – Vulture)

This is also where video games gain its bad reputation, for escapism is often discussed to be the factor for video game addiction and it is scarcely mentioned as something positive (Calleja, 2010). Video games are often viewed as being inherently escapist for two main reasons: its offer of an attractive alluring virtuality as opposed to reality, its play and games as opposite of seriousness and work from the ordinary life (Calleja, 2010).  But this negative notion of addictive gaming culture is challenged and argued that digital games are escapist, but not any more than any other engaging activity. If we consider movies, or volunteer work, or simply reading are experiences necessary to a person’s enjoyment and fulfilment, then video games are merely a form of simulated experience in which their distinct escapist trait is “their ability to provide such a variety of designed experiences” (Calleja, 2010). This is especially true to the Sims, as there are few instances of Sims addiction but more of Sims engagement. The god-like nature of Sims gameplay opens up a vast rays of opportunities for self-portrayal and self-fulfilment that may be a better alternative of escapism when compared with drugs, alcoholism and gambling addiction (UNILAD). Thanks to its reality-simulation nature, the Sims is perfect for a person to escape social normality where pressures and chronic stresses are prevalent. In the SIMS, the gamers are free to create a perfect reality in which they have full control over the outcome.

This is where the term “escapism” meets it complication. What exactly are we escaping from? The binary notions of virtuality and reality separated by our computer screen is arguably being blurred out by modern technology and the on-going debate over ‘what defines reality?’ (Calleja, 2010) . It might be because of the game’s spatiality: a digital game can, for now, only be accessed via a certain technology medium (laptop, phone, PC,…) as opposed to others types of escapism such as books, or DJ-ing where the experiences are enjoyed in real life. But escapism is an important and unavoidable aspect of our culture (Tuan, 1998), and video games just so happen to allow for such escape in a spectrum unlimited and forever broadened by technology. Playing into this notion, the Sims stands out as “a better reflection of who we are as humans today” (Crecente, 2013).

Here’s an excerpt from my random thoughts while playing the Sims:

Date N/A –

Maya is pursuing her hobbies of playing guitar, being an Art person while maintaining a relationship with her boyfriend. I try to let her go to work for half a day, then let her socialise, practice guitar and hang out with her boyfriend for the other half. She’s pretty much set until I can access another chapter for her. But looking at her stories laying out like this, I think she’s a better version of myself. These are all the thing I have always wanted but does not have the time or resource to do. Wishing I could go out tomorrow and just get myself an electric guitar just cause.

I was jealous of Maya, in a weird way, since she turns out to be what I projected personality and hobbies and desire will be like in the future. When I log onto the Sims, I’m living the life I want to live. When a Redditor play the Sims, all their Sims tend to be offshoots of their personalities. When a Simblr (Tumblr blogs dedicated to Sims) started playing the Sims when she was 8, it helped her with mental health issues and gain the feeling “when someone goes through whatever you been through but they have figured out to escape the issue before you”. When a Success writer wrote about the Sims, she said it “taught her to really live” (Friedlander, 2017). Not only does the Sims allow for an escape, but it allows for an escape filled with one’s own personality and traits, filled with freedom to create another chapter in one’s imagination. It’s a creative outlet as well as a mirrored image for its players that hardly any other game has the ability to recreate.

[brothermouzongaming]

Your favorite pub/dev is shady

I spend a lot of time dragging Publishers like EA, Activision, Ubisoft, and others. As warranted and deserved as it is, we can’t become too dreamy-eyed even in the cases of our favorite faces in gaming. So with this post, I wanted to take a rock to the stained glass windows of your favorite companies and some of mine. In the words of Run the Jewels “Kill your masters”.

Bethesda

Creation Club is one of the biggest issues beyond the more notorious faults of the infamous Bethesda. Creation Club is paid mods. I don’t care what Pete Hines says, when you pay money to modify the game it’s paid fucking mods dude. This is a direct encroachment on one of the best and most pure aspects of PC gaming. Modding turns games into different experiencing, fixes the bugs that a lot of their games ship with and never get fixed because it’s “part of the charm” or “just works”. Which brings me to my next point: Bethesda is the only studio in gaming that gets away with this every single time. Ubisoft put out AC Unity and was grilled for months after release about facial texture issues and whatnot. Everyone gets railed while Bethesda gets a pass every time. Also, can we talk about how one year ago from this E3 Bethesda was waving the single player flag as high and hard as they can? Only to bring out Fallout76 and it’s an online shared world game. I have no problem with doing things differently or moving in a different direction for a non-main title game. Perhaps maybe you should’ve held off on this for another year or two? Made it less of a surprise? I think a lot of fans will come around to this title but the sharp pivot is understandably jarring and Bethesda maybe should’ve anticipated that.  Alongside the mighty shitty practice of pre-ordering for a beta code....what the fuck kind of “money now” bullshit is that. That literally defeats the purpose of a beta for a lot of people. Getting to test out this wildly different experience is important to people that care about the franchise but just aren’t willing to pay for something they aren’t sure they’re going to enjoy. A reasoning that is perfectly understandable in my opinion. I love Bethesda but holy god do they get away with murder without so much as a strange look from the majority of people. 

Microsoft

I’ll get the obvious issue of console exclusives out of the way. This is straight up disgraceful the way they do the loyal fans of Xbox. Sea of Thieves, State of Decay 2, Forza Motorsport 7, Halo Wars 2, and Cuphead. Remove Cuphead from that list and it’s a little pathetic especially considering some big name exclusives they had for the 360 (Saints Row, DoA4, Fable 2, Lost Odyssey, N3). The Xbox One’s initial reveal and release state were woefully tone deaf. A sad attempt to pander to gimmicks that shouldn’t be the focus of a console: motion sensors and television streamlining. Yes, they eventually corrected that mistake but to even consider such a poor decision was clearly a poor attempt to reach everyone but gamers. This entire generation was a bit of a misstep, unfortunately, outside of the impressively powerful Xbox One X there is next to nothing for Microsoft to actually boast about outside of the new console benchmark. What games have they contributed to their fanbase and loyal customers? This aspect isn’t so much shady as it is dumb. From the release of the One X with no games. To the games they backed so fervently only for them to flop hard. It’s clear they’re working on it given the recent studio acquisitions and the shift in focus some studios are going to be making. Why they had to forsake an entire generation for this to happen is simply beyond me. 

Nintendo

Between their online service and the interesting terms/ conditions of said service. The shitty pre-orders they offer for said internet service which is one of the most insane requests of a company I’ve ever heard of. Can we talk about the vice grip on their content/IPs? Ever notice you don’t see much Nintendo content on YouTube? Seriously look up anything Nintendo and the new games many videos don’t feature unique gameplay. I’m not saying there aren’t any videos but it’s known that Nintendo can and will take down any video they see fit. Yes, it’s well within their rights as a company to do so. However, when Nintendo is doing it to fans, people who are trying to celebrate and appreciate what they’ve done, it comes across as wildly ungrateful. Especially when ya know, they wouldn’t be anything without the wildly enthusiastic customer base. Prime example: a YouTuber recreated the Bomb-omb Battlefield stage in Unity. It was nostalgic, beautiful, and kind of funny. What did Nintendo do? They order a DMC Takedown on the video. A harmless recreation video this wasn’t even any kind of playable game and wasn’t going to be. What was the point of this? Who benefits? They could’ve capitalized and got to work on a remake, tell me that wouldn’t sell. Instead, they insist on hurting fans for what boils down to free advertisement. I think Nintendo is so focused on being Nintendo that they’ve lost what it means to be...Nintendo. If that makes sense.

Sony

Sony has been hacked so many times I genuinely think Paul Blart runs their cyber security department. Sony needs to get their shit together in this area of their service ya know the cornerstone of the console in the modern era. Alongside that, Sony is very pressed on keeping their system and IP, and everything about it very isolated. Xbox and Nintendo are down for cross-play and Sony is sitting in the corner arms crossed not wanting to join in. When they know damn well that’s where all this is going anyway. Not to mention their strange aversion to modding on titles that lead to strangled communities in games like Skyrim and Fallout4. I’ve also already talked about PSNow v GamePass and how much better GamePass is despite it coming out years after PSNow. Yes this section is short but the problems are very big and potentially damaging to Sony and their reputation. They need to get on the ball or find themselves in Microsoft’s position come the next generation. 

Take-Two Interactive (Rockstar and 2k)

TTI as a publisher is deceptively devious. They lay low and in the background unlike EA making sure everyone knows when a subsidiary works on a game that it’s also theirs. Take-Two owns two very prominent developers in the industry (2k and Rockstar) and they know it because at every turn they are monetizing them. GTA 5 is amazing, GTA online is a pay to win crapshoot. Planes costing an upwards of 20 to 40 real-world dollars. The in-game currency is difficult to earn in massive quantities required to pay such exuberant price tags. The shark cards were so well implemented it made GTA the most lucrative entertainment franchise of all time. They were so successful that games like NBA 2k and Red Dead Redemption 2 will feature them. Games that do not need them at all and only make the games a lifeless money hole. RDD2 isn’t out but the publisher already stated that monetization was going to be a focus on their games from here on out. 

[returnerofthesky]

So what did you think of E3?

Honestly? It was pretty lukewarm. Nothing spectacularly bad or stupid, but nothing… well, spectacular, either. A lot of the conferences felt really short or underwhelming, and I definitely think that nothing (except maybe Nintendo and maaaaybe Sony?) lived up to the hype people might have had. Definitely a shame, considering it was open to the public this year.

Also I’ll basically use this as my E3 roundup post lol:

EA was… eh. Nothing really terrible, but there were a lot of sports (and sports games just never interest me). Battlefront 2 was nice, but it’s nothing I’m really sold on even with the added content that keeps it from being a complete puddle like the first game. Not much to say there.

Microsoft’s was pretty alright, albeit with one major flaw - they showed off a lot of great games like the Dragonball fighting game, The Last Night (which I wouldn’t really have checked out had The Usual Suspects not thrown a fit over the poor developer dude), and Cuphead and Ori and the Will of the Wisps, and the news of the new Xbox having compatibility going right back to the original Xbox is extremely cool.Unfortunately, most of the games they showed off aren’t exclusive to the Xbox, and between the $500 price tag and the fact that there’s already other Xbones on the market, they didn’t do much to convince new people to get one; it definitely seemed more aimed at people who already had one. Probably not the best move, considering they had a rough start years ago with the original Xbone and all that.

Bethesda… there was a picture I saw on Twitter earlier where Todd basically admitted that it wasn’t their plan to basically release Skyrim on absolutely everything, and it just sort of happened, and he looks mildly sad about it. It’s a fake quote, as it turns out, but despite the fact that portable Skyrim on the Switch does actually sound rather cool, everyone, and I mean everyone, is sick to death of Skyrim, and the fact that nearly everything TES-related that they announced was related to it kind of cements the fact. Skyrim expansion for Legends! Skyrim on the Switch! Skyrim is part of the program for the paid mods that we’re not calling paid mods! Skyrim!!!!!

It’s exhausting, and I say that as someone who already has slowly grown to dislike what Skyrim represents (since Oblivion and Morrowind are absolutely better games despite their own flaws). Even Skyrim fans are tired of it at this point. The Evil Within 2 and Wolfenstein 2 were absolutely the highlights, not just because they look great, but because they weren’t… well, y’know.

I didn’t watch the PC gaming show. I didn’t actually realize it was a thing. :V

Ubisoft wasn’t bad at all. Assassin’s Creed Origins sounds neat (it was shown off at Microsoft but it’s Ubisoft’s game so I count it here), and the fact that Mario+Rabbids is basically a lighter, off-brand XCOM game is both hilarious and shockingly better-than-expected (though I’m not holding my breath). I’m also pretty happy that they showed off Beyond Good and Evil 2, even if it sounds like a significant departure from the original in a lot of ways (it’s online, it’s got a lot of the MMO-like systems commonplace in games now, etc).

Sony’s was alright, but how short it was really caught me off-guard. The Shadow of the Colossus remake is absolutely a good thing, Monster Hunter on a console is probably a nice boon for anyone who’s been keeping up with it (it’s mostly been 3DS only before, right?), and Spiderman looks snazzy. The new God of War looks… okay? And Days Gone is another zombie game in an age where zombies are literally beyond the point of a dead horse. So… yeah. Kind of weird, that.I found the VR support stuff to be a bit off-kilter, too. Not that it’s a bad move from one point of view, considering it’s good they’re not going to let their headset become the next Vita, but VR is so upper-echelon right now (aka all VR headsets are obscenely expensive right now) that the people who they’re advertising to with it aren’t that big of a consumer base. Still, not bad.

Nintendo… well, a lot of it was rather vague, unfortunately. Half the announcements were for proper games that are coming out soon (all 3DS titles, Mario Odyssey, Zelda DLC, Xenoblade 2) or games that they just want to let people know are in-development for the Switch (”Yoshi”, “Kirby”, “core Pokemon title”, “Metroid Prime 4″). Though I will admit that it was a solid way to show both the potential of the Switch and the fact that it’s got a lot of support coming up in the next year or so.That said, they announced a Metroid game. Actually, they announced two Metroid games. I’m not even a fan of Metroid, but the sheer overjoyedness of that entire fanbase today absolutely radiated through the internet and into my heart, so I absolutely empathize with how glad they are. Even if I’m not interested, I’m glad that they finally got their wish. Besides, a lot of the changes in the Metroid 2 remake seem to fix most of the problems I have with playing them, so that’s good.

Overall I’d say Nintendo had the best conference if mainly because they showed off the most games coming out in a recent timeframe, hah. It was still kind of lackluster since most of the Switch games were just “in-dev”s with no proper names, but whatever. Overall, an E3 that’s definitely not much to write home about.

[gamerszone2019-blog]

IGN's Top 10 Free-To-Play Games on Steam

New Post has been published on https://gamerszone.tn/igns-top-10-free-to-play-games-on-steam/

IGN's Top 10 Free-To-Play Games on Steam

Gaming can put major stress on your wallet and even with seasonal Steam sales, it never feels like there’s enough money in the world to try out all the games we want. Luckily there are a ton out there that don’t cost anything! We’ve been digging into the Steam library and found ten exceptional free to play games currently available, so save your cash.

IGN’s Top 25 Modern PC Games

10. Brawlhalla

Initial release date: November 3, 2015

Brawlhalla could be described as Smash Bros lite. It’s a platform fighter that incorporates powerful weapons and gadget drops that change your playstyle according to the specific item. One minute you’ll be fighting with grenades, then the next you’ll be riding a rocket spear into someone’s face.

Play in ranked or casual matches that support 1v1, 4v4, and anywhere in between. There’s even an alternate party mode with completely different objectives to mix things up. The roster of 46 legends can be bought with earnable in-game currency in addition to real money, but there are always 8 legends available for free every week in rotation.

Aside from the cute sprite art and animations, every legend has different stats that help to make each feel unique. For example, my favorite Legend, Fait, has increased speed and strength but lowered dexterity and defense. Barraza, on the other hand, is more of a tank with slower movement but a high defense stat. Brawlhalla has something for everyone and might have you coming back with friends to play once you get your first taste of victory. – Stella Chung

9. Team Fortress 2

Initial release date: October 10, 2007

Team Fortress 2 is the grandaddy of hero shooters. But don’t play it for a history lesson. Play it because it’s fun, stylish, unique, and still boasts around 50,000 concurrent players every single day. Choose from nine of the most creative and fundamentally dissimilar classes ever crammed into the same first-person shooter to accomplish objectives with the rest of your ridiculous 16-player team.

Don convincing disguises, eat a sandwich and even drench your enemies in piss. If the brilliant core game modes are too fun for you then why not try the cooperative, wave-based Mann v.s Machine mode? And much like CS:GO, the TF2 community has taken it upon themselves to create even more wacky modes like prop hunt, surf, and trading servers where players argue over who has the most valuable hat. – James Duggan

8. War Thunder

Initial release date: November 1, 2012

War Thunder is an absolutely massive military vehicular combat game, featuring hundreds of vehicles from multiple eras and more than half a dozen nations. You’ll progress through the tech tree of your chosen nation’s arsenal of aircraft, tanks, or naval warships.

Choose your preferred arena, be it ground, land, or sea and queue into matches of up to 32 players. Good news if you’re a Mil-Sim buff: War Thunder offers realistic and simulation variants of the normal arcade mode that boast more realistic damage and flight models in addition to things like having to return to an airfield to reload. There’s certainly a lot of progression to work through, but even at low levels, there’s plenty of pretty fun to be had. – James Duggan

7. Paladins

Initial release date: September 15, 2016

Paladins is more than a little similar to Overwatch, but it does some interesting things of its own. What’s unique about Paladins is that it incorporates a card deck system for your champion that grants amplified attributes and enhanced or modified skills that allows you to build towards a specific playstyle.

All cards are free to use for all Champions which opens up customization to a higher degree. There are three major game modes: Siege (a capture the objective and push the payload type), Team Deathmatch (5v5), and Onslaught (a capture the point objective).

And of course, Paladins boasts a roster of 41 playable champions each with unique abilities. For example, my personal favorite, Seris, is a support character who directly heals teammates but is also able to hold her own in a fight since dealing damage heals her. My favorite ability of hers is that she can slip out of dicey situations with her Shadow Travel which grants immunity from damage for a limited amount of time. Matches aren’t absurdly long and getting kills feels super rewarding, especially if you’re trying a Champion you’ve never played before. – Stella Chung

6. DOTA Underlords

Initial release date: June 20, 2019

Dota Underlords is a Valve-created, standalone version of the popular “Auto Chess” mod for Dota 2. At a top-level, Underlords is a deckbuilding tactics game. And while it isn’t exactly easy to pick up at first, it becomes dangerously fun and addictive once you have a few games under your belt.

Each match pits eight players against one another to see who can build the best team of random units drafted from a shared pool. You’ll have to consider unit placement, synergies, stats, effects, your opponents’ strategies as well as properly manage your gold and experience in order to achieve victory. Every match is a brand new opportunity to try a new and fun build, which makes the prospect of playing just one more hard to refuse. – Miranda Sanchez

5. Smite

Initial release date: March 25, 2014

MOBAs can seem daunting to approach but Smite makes it easy to jump right into the thick of it. Most MOBAs are isometric point and click, but Smite is actually unique in that it’s played in third- person. Gods, the roster of playable characters, are deities, immortals, and mythical creatures from ancient mythology from all over the world.

You can play as Medusa, Ra, or even Cupid if you want. The classic game of Smite is a 5v5 but there are other game modes with different rules and objectives that you can choose from. My personal favorite is Joust, a 3v3 mode that’s on a one-lane map with the goal of destroying the enemy’s defenses and their Titan. Joust, along with a few other game modes, usually last about 15 minutes which makes it super fun and easy to hop into a match without worrying about spending a half-hour in one game. Smite is a fresh take on MOBAs and is beginner-friendly to players who might be unfamiliar to the genre. – Stella Chung

Initial release date: August 21, 2012

The Counter-Strike series has been the gold standard of competitive PC shooters for more than 20 years and the global eSports scene for CS:GO has been going strong since the Major Championships were founded in 2013. While CS:GO’s biggest draw is undoubtedly its core bomb defusal and hostage rescue game modes, it also has a plethora of other modes to choose from including the addicting gun game and a new battle royale that went live back in December.

In addition to the official game playlist, CS:GO allows the community to build private modded servers that allow for a variety of creative game types. Some of these custom servers help you with your aim, while others house surfing obstacle courses, and some even create bizarre story campaigns that you just have to experience for yourself. – Stella Chung

3. Warframe

Initial release date: March 25, 2013

From the outside looking in, Warframe can seem impenetrable. Half a decade of updates, system reworks, and ever-evolving stories have made it a complex game chock full of different mechanics to learn. While that can be intimidating at first, Warframe is so dang fun that it more than rewards the time you put into learning it.

Years of updates also mean it holds a well of content so deep you may not see the bottom even after hundreds of hours playing – all of which can be experienced entirely free, as Warframe has some of the most inviting free-to-play systems on this list. It’s a game that truly never stops getting better, and it’s well worth getting comfortable with so you can craft your own space ninja suits and bullet-jump through waves of enemies with the rest of us. – Tom Marks

2. Dota 2

Initial release date: July 9, 2013

Remember MOBAs? Though they are no longer front and center in the gaming trends spotlight, they’re still immensely popular, and Dota 2’s spot on this list is a testament to that. Dota 2 is a highly strategic MOBA with a reputation for its challenging mechanics. But, if you spend any time with it, you’ll see why people like myself have invested years in this game. Like most MOBAs, Dota 2 pits two teams of five against each other on a map divided up by three lanes.

The first team to destroy a key structure in the enemy’s base, called an Ancient (hence the name Defense of the Ancients), wins. All the matches may happen on one map with the objective the same each time, but the growing list of over 100 heroes and plenty of item combinations to go with them makes each match unique. Valve’s constant updates, some of which completely change the map and key mechanics, usually keep the meta fresh.

Dota 2 can be frustrating at times like with any living multiplayer game, but those narrow (or even crushing) wins make it worth it. Even better, it’s all completely free. All updates and all-new heroes. But if you get sucked in, you might find yourself buying cosmetics and its yearly The International Battle Pass that contributes to the event’s immense prize pool. That being said, if you’re are interested in playing, just be prepared to spend plenty of time learning Dota 2’s intricate systems and heroes. – Miranda Sanchez

1. Path of Exile

Initial release date: October 23, 2013

As of summer 2019, it’s fair to say that Path of Exile is the hands-down best ARPG on the market. In terms of post-launch support, developer Grinding Gear Games has candidly raised the bar for the genre. The most recent content update called Legion is Path of Exile’s 10th expansion.

The breadth of unique and replayable content at this point is absolutely massive with depth to match when it comes to character progression and loot. What’s more, all of this great content is free. Its monetization system is more altruistic and less intrusive than many $60 AAA games in 2019. If you’re looking for an ARPG with hundreds of hours of unique gameplay and no signs of slowing down its post-launch support in the near future then look no further than Path of Exile. – James Duggan

Source : IGN

[terryblount]

Mortal Kombat 11 – Review

Mortal Kombat is more than a game: it is the closest thing we as gamers have to a counter-culture. It is an I.P. that has consistently laughed in the face of censorship boards by never compromising on giving fans the unfiltered carnage of close combat. This was literally (part of) the reason why there exists an ESRB rating system today.

What’s more, this violence is not just for looks – it is also about skill. The genius of Mortal Kombat’s formula has always lain in demonstrating the player’s fighting ability through how sadistically they can crush their opponent. You don’t just K.O. an opponent in this game; you FINISH THEM!!!

Is it weird to admire the way blood is animated in a game?

I am quite pleased to say that this 27-year-old spirit of Mortal Kombat is alive and well within the eleventh arrival. Let’s not beat around the bush here. This is essentially the perfect fighting game, and players and pros alike will surely regard it as one of the best this series has ever produced. This is because Mortal Kombat 11 manages to include every modern convention that works, while being mindful of the old-school novelties that cemented the I.P. in gaming culture.

Time and time again

In the single-player ‘kampaign’, Earthrealm yet again comes face to face with an apocalyptic threat. The story opens with a now corrupted Raiden (see MK XL) decapitating the elder god Shinnok as a message to anyone who dares to threaten his domain. This was was a most serious error in judgement as Shinnok turns out to be the son of a new character, Kronika – the guardian of time itself.

“But know this–the arc of the universe bends to my will.” – Kronika

Needless to say, Kronika is rather unhappy not just about her son being reduced to the usefulness of a bowling ball, but also due to the balance of good and evil now being uneven. She vows to restore equilibrium in the timeline up to the events of her son’s beheading, but is also aware that Raiden and the Earthrealm gang could present a troublesome thorn in her side in any dimension.

Kronika therefore merges the past and present together, and teleports an army of Netherrealm’s most formidable villains, like Baraka and Shao Kahn, from the past into the present as her insurance policy. As per usual, the player will represent the fight for Earthrealm’s fate from the perspective of Johnny Cage, Kotal Kahn, Kung Lao, and other classic and contemporary characters.

I get that the whole time travel motif has been done to death, but the team at NetherRealm have once again shown their practiced hand for storytelling. They have wisely used the motif of temporal distortion as a McGuffin to re-imagine and bring back some of the franchise’s most beloved figures for the modern gaming climate.

Johnny squared!

This makes for a deeply interesting plot with some exciting and unexpected alliances forming or breaking between characters from different time periods (because their major clashes haven’t happened yet). More than that, Netherrealm sets up the opportunity to introduce characters like Cetrion and Geras who have fighting abilities centred on the manipulation of time.

Overall the story really oozes the kind of cinematic quality that would make Marvel Studios sweat bullets. The combination of excellent graphics, captivating voice acting, and the return of favourite characters will most definitely have new fans engrossed, and old fans spiralling into nostalgia.

In with the old, out with the new

Objectively speaking, Mortal Kombat 11 plays it extremely safe. This game demonstrates the old adage that players are bound to enjoy what lies in their comfort zone, and it is not necessary for sequels to reinvent the wheel. Instead, MK 11 goes for the ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, but make it a whole lot prettier’ approach.

Indeed,  MK 11 plays just as slick and precise as every game Netherrealm has developed thus far. What can be perfected has been tweaked, but a whole slew of small changes collectively add up to an experience that will still feel fresh and engaging to long-time players. Not much is new here, and I am very happy about that.

You get to see quite a lot of Sub Zero’s face in this game.

So aside from the single player campaign, the ‘Klassic Towers’ mode also makes a return in which the player must defeat a sequence of opponents to ascend up the tower. Except for infinite modes, these always end with Kronika as the final boss. Defeating her also gets you a brief cut scene that fills in some story details specific to the character you happen to be playing much like Tekken or Street Fighter.

You will not find the ‘Living Towers’ of the previous installment as Netherrealm has ditched this mode in favour of the ‘Towers of Time’. These differ from Klassic Towers in that opponents get more challenging as you approach the top, and players are also permitted to activate certain modifiers (they unlocked as loot) either for one match, or for the duration of the entire tower.

As an example, you can assign Jade one or two of Cyrax’s cyber webs to fire at her opponent stunning them momentarily. Alternatively, the match might have a vampire modifier in which the player’s health bar drains constantly to the opponent’s, so it is best to finish the match sooner rather than later. These towers can certainly get infamously punishing, but the game drowns you in rewards for completing them.

Lemme smash! This is who you will be playing in the Krypt. Note the three currencies in the bottom of the screen.

The Krypt is back again, of course. This time the event plays out on Shang Tsung’s island (see MK 2011) during which you open chests, smash vases and crush meteorites for some sweet loot and unlockable goodies. The Krypt also adopts a third person perspective now which only makes the act of swinging around Shao Kahn’s colossal hammer at vases and statues all the more gratifying.

Light puzzle solving is also a way of collecting some treasures, and it is clear that the developers really want the player to enjoy exploring for goodies to make your game more interesting. I have always been intrigued and, a little creeped out by this subsection of Mortal Kombat games, so it’s nice to see it return here. It’s really beginning to feel like a crucial component of the experience.

Kompletely Unreal

I have never been shy to express my admiration for the Unreal Engine, but what Netherrealm has achieved on a visual level in this game is outright astounding. Here we have a super modified version of the Unreal Engine 3 no less, throwing around particles and rendering high definition textures like it is trying to put Frostbite and Unity out of business.

Even though certain sections of the game have been mysteriously capped at 30fps (most of which can now be fixed by a mod), this game flows on the PC like butter down a centrefold’s butt cheek. In contrast to Mortal Kombat XL, the vibrant graphical tone of MK11 really throws the bountiful details of the visuals into sharp relief. I feel like the unique cast of characters that has always defined this series finally get the representation they deserve.

Damn this game is beautiful. This allows for particularly dramatic cut scenes.

The environments and fighting arenas have also been given the deluxe visual treatment through dramatic lighting and environmental effects. I found the arenas to have an enigmatic and refreshing feeling to them, and a particular favourite of mine became the decaying Shaolin temple where the corpses of dead monks observe your match. I clearly have issues.

They are noticeably the tightest fighting planes that Netherrealm has implemented within one of their games, but this has the pleasing outcome of somehow making the action feel closer… more immediate. The close-quarter combat also places more importance on finding openings in the opponent’s technique rather than just  flying from one combo to the next.

Combos are still just as important, but it is clear that MK 11 wants shorter, more potent moves to play a bigger role too. This means that the one guy with supersonic thumbs you always get paired with online is less safe than he thinks this time round. You know who you are!

The fatalities and other post-match tomfoolery have, naturally, also been given an obvious graphical upgrade. Seriously, seeing brains being splattered and bones being shattered in this level of realism is not at all for the faint of heart. Be that as it may, I nevertheless have a hard time imagining a more beautiful, albeit visceral fighting game.

The very definition of fighting chance

As I mentioned, the roster of fighters is a mixed bag of old and new characters including the original 7, but like all the other yobs on the internet, I feel like some characters leave a conspicuous absence. Where the hell is Goro!? I also miss, Takashi who had a snappy and responsive feel in his fighting that appealed to my playing style in the previous game.

Perhaps old Goro will get his chance with DLCs, but the roster is still a bit smaller than I would have liked. It is once again too obvious that most of us will be expected to fork out more of our hard earned cash as extra content later down the line. Netherrealm has chosen quality of quantity, but this rather anemic roster just smacks too much of leaving room for microtransactions.

At least Geras more than makes up for my four-armed favourite being conspicuously M.I.A. His time-travelling abilities allow him to execute a punch, blink back in time, and execute another attack before my opponent could even find a moment to move. I also liked the beefy, warlock look he had going on which looks particularly slick during fights. Definitely my favourite new character in this game.

Geras warping back in time behind his opponent. Cannot remember who the other is… uhm was…

It also helps that the developers have really gone the extra mile to give MK 11 a truly comprehensive and helpful tutorial segment. They even included a lesson on frame times and hit advantages – something I usually ignored and left to subconscious strategy until I actually paid attention to it in this game.

Best of all, for the really nasty combos and chained assaults the game will actually demo the move on screen with button prompts. I am embarrassed to admit that some combos in previous games took me upwards of an hour to get right. With this new system, it was ten tries tops. As such, newcomers to Mortal Kombat, and fighting games in general, will undoubtedly feel more welcome than ever before.

On the subject of techniques, MK 11 has swapped out X-ray moves for a new system called ‘Fatal Blows’. Like X-ray attacks, they are once-off, deadly attacks taking you microscopically close to your, or your opponent’s, cracking jaw and rupturing internal organs. Except there is one crucial difference: Fatal Blows can only be activated in the last third of your health.

In other words, if the player has only been maintaining a slight lead with their opponent throughout the fight, the last section becomes indescribably tense. You can no longer rely on short-distance techniques or longer combos to win because if you allow even one opportunity to have a Fatal Blow performed on you, you’re toast.

Let us have the talk

So what exactly is the deal with this grind getting everyone all upset? Well, the manner in which MK 11 deals with in-game currency makes us all want to gather our raincoats for the inevitable microtransaction storm that is surely going to hit soon. At the time of writing, MK 11 has very little to offer in the way of DLC on Steam.

Still, something tells me that this will change soon not just because this is the nature of our industry, but because fighting games are also particularly lucrative opportunities for monetisation. They always have been because it is so satisfying seeing no grey blocks on your roster, or adding some cosmetic personality to your favourite fighter.

This is my only major issue with MK 11 because it feels like there is simply too much being gated off from the player when you start the game. Every time I completed a fight, the game goes through a huge pomp and circumstance to inform me of all the different currencies I just earned. Not that the handouts are even that generous mind you.

You read that correctly. This time there is not just the Koins  used to unlock outfits, fatalities and modifiers for tower modes. Even in the Krypt, you now have to juggle multiple kinds of currency units like hearts and soul fragments if you want all off the riches the hidden content has to offer. Oh, and the Krypt chests are randomised so your friend may find a liquid metal suit for Sonya Blade in the same place you get concept art…

Playing around with some of the unlockable skins and finishing moves.

Even though I have never really cared much about cosmetic items in the games I play, I don’t like the sense of gaminess MK 11 creates with the endless pop-ups eagerly informing me how much I have earned. I am playing because I am having fun, and this just feels like Netherrealm is trying to force me into some scheme inevitably leading to microtransactions.

FINISH IT!!

In case that last section threw you off a bit, I want to state again that Mortal Kombat 11 is essentially fighting game perfection. This game is completely saturated with the kind of creative vision that has been the worked into the design of my favourite fighting games. This game looks great, sounds great and feels great.

If Netherrealm vow never to turn the superfluous currencies online into an evil plot of monetisation, I will not need another fighting game for the next ten years at least. Combined with an excellent story, this will become an essential classic in your Mortal Kombat collection.

Remember to check out our Mortal Kombat 11 performance analysis!

Tight and refined combat

Tutorial section

Story

Excellent visuals and sound

Design of new fighters

Temporal fighting abilities

Somewhat limited roster

Too focused on currencies

          Playtime: About 28 hours total. 10 hours on the single player campaign with much of the remaining time spent online.

Computer Specs: Windows 10 64-bit computer using Nvidia GTX 1070, i5 4690K CPU, 16GB RAM – Played using an Xbox Controller (Thanks to my friend Niel for lending me his!!)

Mortal Kombat 11 – Review published first on https://touchgen.tumblr.com/

[dragonbornoflegend]

do all the questions

Ah fuck. I can't believe you've done this. 1. If you’ve ever tried drugs or alcohol, what was your reason for first trying it?Curiosity, mostly. I've been drunk once and high once. It was okay. 2. Do you think you could ever have an abortion if you unexpectedly turned up pregnant right this second?Fuck yeah, dude. A pregnancy would fuck my life up. 3. If you were far from home and needed to sleep for the night, would you choose to rent a crappy motel room for $60 or sleep in your car for free?My car(van). I've slept in it before and it's not that bad. 4. Is there a color shirt you’d NEVER wear?Chartreuse5. Is there a situation where you caved into peer pressure and regretted it?Idk probably but I can't think of them off the top of my head. 6. What is your favorite video game console? Why?PC bc I like mods tbh. Also bc of Steam sales. 7. Do you like vanilla candles?Hhhh give me the vanilla fire 8. Have you ever been in a relationship that was going great, and then suddenly something weird happened and you just KNEW it was going to be over soon?I guess?? I mean it sort of happened in both of my relationships so sure. 9. Would you ever bleach your hair platinum blonde?I have before so that I could dye it other colors. 10. What are your plans for tomorrow?Go to school, then check out my school's gaming club. Bouts of sadness in between. 11. What did you have for breakfast?A chocolate filled croissant from my school. Good shit. 12. Have you had sex in 2013 yet?"2013 yet" oh my god how old is this survey?? Also the answer is no. 13. Who last slept in your bed besides you?Probably @stripper-boots14. What time did you wake up today?6:00 a.m. 🙃🙃🙃15. How long until your next birthday? Idk like a little under a month?? 16. What was the last movie you watched?Kong: Skull Island. I watched it with my grandma today. 17. If you could see any musician live, front row, who would you choose?Hhhhhh so many?? My instinct is to say Alesana since they're my favorite band, or maybe BTS since they're my second fave, but also I've been thinking about In This Moment a lot lately bc I have to miss a music festival they'll be at soon ☹️18. When did you last consume something that had peanut butter?I snuck a tiny bite of chocolate and peanut butter ice cream while at work on Sunday. 19. What’s the last song you heard?"Jenny" from Nothing More20. When you say you love someone, do you mean it?Implying that I ever say it in the first place lmao 21. Do you plan on sleeping in tomorrow?I wish but unfortunately I have 7 a.m. classes bc god hates me 22. Do you still talk to any of your ex’s?Lmao no 23. As of this minute, what is going through your mind?"I thought it said this wasn't boring." Also I'm thinking about Craig Boone 24. Where’s the last place you went?My grandma's house 25. Have you held hands with anyone lately?I held my grandma's puppy's paws. 26. Has anyone let you down recently?My depression 27. Does it bother you when people try to make you jealous?No one tries to make me jealous bc I'm already below everyone anyways 28. Whats the next movie you want to see in theaters?Idk man I don't really go to theaters that much. I was thinking about seeing It but if I don't make it then I'd like to see Justice League. 29. Do you have more than $50 in your room?I don't even have more than $5 in my room 30. Are both of your blood parents still in your life?Yes (though one of them is still here rather reluctantly on my part) 31. Were you tired when you woke up this morning?I'm tired every morning but especially this morning because I only got three hours of sleep after working until almost midnight. 32. Who is probably talking a load of crap about you right now?Me. 33. When was the last time you went apple picking?Oh god. It's probably been years. I want to go with my friends this year though. 34. Do you sometimes wake up in the morning, lay in bed and think about life?Lmao no I don't have time for that. I wish I could tho. 35. Are you happy summer is coming soon?Summer just ended and I'm thrilled. Bring me cold weather. 36. Do you have drama in your life?I have constant drama between my depression and my anxiety.