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thessalian · 3 years

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Thess vs Sticker Shock

So I’m having The Debate right now. You know the one - the “I may end up spending money” debate.

See, thing is ... Horizon: Forbidden West is out. And it’s Playstation-only. Like so many other games I’ve wanted. Now, it may come out as a PC port eventually, but that’ll be years if ever - Sony’s got really weird about that. And I really do want to play it now. Now, my usual thing is to let my executive dysfunction fight it out with my impulsivity to keep me from buying anything I don’t need on a whim while logic decides it. So I have my list of reasons I can’t have the game yet, and logic keeps pulling them down, one by one.

PROBLEM: I cannot get a PS5. Even if I could afford a brand new next-gen console (and yes, I consider it next gen until it has an actual decent-sized list of games worth a shit), availability here is worse than it is in the US, given the whole thing where Brexit is fucking with our trade agreements and customs paperwork with literally everyone.

SOLUTION: Get a PS4. The game is on the PS4. The PS4 is still a perfectly good console. Plus I can get it second-hand. The second-hand place in Peckham have several for under £200 and they even deliver. Plus I could have all manner of games that I’ve never been able to play because of console exclusivity.

PROBLEM: Controllers are an issue. No, seriously, I haven’t been comfortable with a controller since the original Nintendo Entertainment System. They’re too heavy, they have too many buttons, and they hurt to hold up for extended periods, particularly with the whole fibromyalgia thing. I am currently hardwired to keyboard-and-mouse in that regard. So owning a console is probably a waste of godsdamned money.

SOLUTION: Use a keyboard and mouse on the PS4. Yes, that is possible. It will involve tweaking some key bindings, but it’s definitely doable. Just get a cheap wireless keyboard and mouse and get the hell on with it.

PROBLEM: Reviews have been iffy. Metacritic score aside, there have been some concerning things in the reviews. Not so much the story parts - I mean, those have been iffy too but the reviews for the last one were about the same because people seem to just want to get on with the shooting instead of having to actually think all that much. Also ignoring the “SJW CUCK” screaming and the fact that people are pissed that they rendered the peach fuzz on Aloy’s face when they were perfectly happy with Rockstar rendering every individual hair on a horse’s tail and coming up with algorithms for the dropping of horse manure. Apparently there were some issues with the climbing controls, and the graphics on the PS4 were apparently a whole lot worse.

SOLUTION: Do more research. Thing is, not all of the reviews complained about that kind of thing on the PS4. Also, most of them have talked about those things getting fixed in the first big patch. Guerilla have been pretty damn good about that kind of thing; keep an eye out patch notes and other more considered reviews. I’m not going to do the thing for a few more days anyway. A lot happens in this industry in a few days. Also, people may be blowing up their expectations because hype does that to people. Reviews are quite often things to ignore because they’re subjective as fuck. As to the climbing controls - using a keyboard. I can switch to whatever key combination is best for me.

PROBLEM: My living room set-up won’t be good for gaming forever. My current situation is temporary. Or it’s supposed to be. It’s complicated. Point is that at last check, I’m only staying in this flat until the necessary renovations are done on the other flat down the hall, which was mine until we finally moved me to someplace I could live until the renovations were done. The sitting room of that flat is arranged in a wonky sort of way and the TV connection point is far away from anywhere reasonable to put a sofa. And even if I do get to keep this one, I’ll still have to move out of this one for awhile because this place also needs serious renovations to be properly liveable. Again, it’s complicated.

SOLUTION: Procrastination. No, not mine. I moved into this place over the May bank holiday last year. In those nine months or so, my stepfather, who is responsible for seeing to the renovations, has not so much as touched the other flat. At all. Even a little. Not the tiniest shred of work. Or at least so says my mother. And in all fairness, that’s not even the time the whole thing actually started. We’ve known for years that the other flat needed a new boiler and the floor redone and probably the windows replaced and a whole bunch of other stuff, but the solution to where I was going to live in the meantime kept changing and the date it was all going to happen was pushed back for about three years before the move in May. Summary: at the present rate of progress, I’m not moving out of this place for at least another year. I can figure something out about the position of the sitting room furniture for gaming when the time comes; in the meantime, if I have to live in a flat with a leaky kitchen faucet, minimal bathroom sink water pressure, no shower and a decor on the theme of “1970s grandmother seriously into peach”, I may as well make best use of the little perks, such as “being able to sit close enough to the TV to play video games”.

PROBLEM: Frugality. That amount of money could go on useful things! Like, I dunno, clothes! And it’s not like I lack for video games!

SOLUTION: Perspective. My working from home is imminent. As in, they’re setting up my laptop as we speak. So I don’t need as many work clothes and I’ve got enough T-shirts and jeans. My commute costs have not entirely gone (because I will have to go in a couple of days a week) but they have reduced immensely. Food costs will also go down as a result, as I can have an actual lunch at home. As to the other, why even have a living room if I barely use the damn thing? I’m not going to stop buying video games; this just gives a change of venue. Yes, the buying a new game at new game prices is ... unfortunate, but think of all the other games I can buy at that same second-hand shop in Peckham! A little bit of enjoying myself is not the end of the world, and is actually worth money.

This is the kind of thing that happens in my head all the time, in case you were ever curious. I still haven’t made the decision yet; at the end of the day it’s all down to whether the sticker shock overwhelms the overall advantages, and whether I really want it or not. Not just the game - I know I want the game - but the choice is whether to gamble on it being ported to PC sometime before I turn 50, wait until I can actually reliably get a PS5 (where it’s apparently better in terms of graphical fidelity), or get a PS4 and get to play games I never had a chance to, like Until Dawn or The Last of Us. Though apparently that’s getting a 2023 remake? So I don’t even know.

#Thess plays video games

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wocfics · 5 years

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Eyes Of An Angel

Jeon Jungkook Series

Part Of the Arranged Marriage Series

Arranged Marriage Series

Main Masterlist

JJK x Poc Reader

Warnings: None

Word Count: 2k

Those big brown eyes stared at everyone in the room when he walked in, he was shy and caught off guard by your appearance. His long hair was pulled back behind his ears and his white t shirt clung to his body in sweat. You could see every detail of his body from where the material was sticking to. You were sure that you had to be the only Hispanic person in general to be here. Although you had a thick accent, your Korean was perfect. It was just hard for people to understand you sometimes which was understandable but you made it this far with living here for over two years already.

When you first moved here, it was to pursue a teaching career since you studied world cultures in college and fell in love with this culture, more interested than anything. Teaching didn’t work out too well the first few months because of the misunderstanding of weather they thought you were speaking Korean or just straight up Spanish. You didn’t want to leave just yet so you became a bartender at two different bars in Itaewon, Seoul. You got paid more than enough in tips alone and your other co workers were surprisingly very nice.

The dating life however, consisted of a few hookups and pointless dates. Although the bartending was nice, you ended up doing some photography as well for extra money. If there was anything you loved more, it was taking photos of anything, especially scenery. You always made a trip to the Han River to capture moments just before sunset or even of the night life when you went to buy street food. You had stopped dating after picking up so many photography gigs, having no time to waste time.

You were somewhat fit, if you had more time you would work out more than what you were already doing but you made sure to have somewhat of a healthy diet, dark hair that was straight most of the time or in a bun, full lips, big brown eyes, and an outgoing personality. You did have a big of a nurturing nature, which your few friends loved especially when you invited them over whenever you were in the mood to cook one of your traditional Mexican cuisines, which was often.

Today, you wore a long sleeve crop top, black leggings and black boots. You had your signature black winged liner and red lip, your hair was pulled up into a high ponytail. When Jungkook had walked in, you were already in the middle of signing papers and had a big black bag sitting on the side of you. He was nervously chewing on his lip as he sat down, listening to his manager and lawyer and Mr. Bang, nodding his head while looking over the paperwork.

If it wasn’t for your last photography job, you probably wouldn’t have even been here. You got a call, asking to photograph for PSY and his new line of artists that he signed to his label. He gave Bang PD a call, after hearing about what was going on and recommended you afterwards. You had never thought about arranged marriages, but then again the dating life wasn’t the best for you and you couldn’t think about wasting your time doing that again.

After finishing up with the paperwork, made your way to the apartment, which was amazing in itself. From the outside to the inside, it was quiet and secluded almost. Of course it was private, gated community. You left your shoes at the door, turning to Jungkook. “I got you something, just so nothing is awkward or anything and I know you like video games so..” You held up the black bag out to him and he smiled. “Thank you.” He nodded his head while taking it and carrying it over to the living room area and setting it on the table to see what was inside. It was the PS5 which wasn’t even released yet but with the strings you had to pull and the price of the damn thing, you were able to get it right before the meeting. There were a few games for it as well and Jungkook’s eyes went so wide you thought he was frozen with how still he was. “Wh- wow. What!” He was excited, taking it out of the bag and looking it over.

You smiled wide, seeing how happy he was and giggled a little. “You can set it up while I put my stuff away.” Moving towards the boxes, you picked up a few and carried them into the bedroom, pausing in the doorway when the smell of vanilla hit you. Everything smelled good and everything was pretty neat in here as well. It didn’t take you long to put your stuff away with the space he provided for you.

Walking back into the living room area, you saw him sitting on the floor in front of the t.v, finishing his set up of the console before he looked back towards you and stood up after putting the games and controllers away and grinned. “Thank you. Are you hungry?” He asked. You nodded and looked towards the kitchen. “I can cook and please, Jungkook, you don’t have to speak English for me. I can speak Korean too, it’s a little hard to understand but I’m very fluent.” He nodded.

Leaving him to finish up some laundry that he was supposed to do the night before, you made yourself busy in the kitchen, you had managed to go grocery shopping before hand and you had put the stuff on the counter. You wanted to make him something that you made often for you and your friends. Tamales and empanadas. Speaking Korean with Jungkook was a bit challenging because anytime you said anything in Korean he would tilt his head to the side until you said it in English to him and he did that ‘o’ face. You knew it would be a little difficult but hopefully you would get better in time.

By the time the food was done, you places everything on plates, along with the rice you made and placed them both on the table. Pouring two glasses of water, you set them next to the plates and waited for him to join you. Once he sat down, you explained the food to him and let him dig in. He hummed when the food was good and you took note of that. Once you saw how much he enjoyed the food you ate your own portion.

He showered after dinner, once he helped you clean the kitchen and put the leftovers away that he said he would take to the boys tomorrow to try. You were glad he loved your cooking. After taking the too tight ponytail out of your hair and removing your lipstick, you glanced up at the bathroom door when you heard it open and your eyes wouldn’t leave his upper body. The towel he had on his lower body didn’t do enough to hide the v cut he had. You could tell he hits the gym hard, his abs and pecs were so prominent that you just wanted to bite him, especially with the water dripping off of him. The veins down down his arms, sitting well with the ink on his left one while he dried his hair with another towel.

You blinked when he made eye contact with you. “Oh. Sorry.” He went into panic mode and quickly made his way around the room, grabbing a few things before walking out and into the spare bedroom. Taking a deep breath, you blinked a few more times, shaking your head and grabbed your towel to head into the bathroom.

After washing your hair as your last step, you stepped out of the shower, went into the room to change into an oversized shirt since you hated wearing pants to bed, and brushed out your hair while Jungkook made his way back into the room right after you climbed under the blankets. He moved so close to the edge of the bed, you thought he would fall off.

“I don’t bite you know. You can sleep normally, or I can sleep in the other room if you’re uncomfortable.” You shrugged. He shook his head. “No, no. It’s fine. Let’s just sleep.” He said, moving slightly closer to the middle. You shrugged, laying on your side, your back facing him and quickly fell asleep.

He woke before you, still on his side of the bed, with room still in between you two. Glancing over his shoulder at your still sleeping body, your hair a mess over your face as you sighed into the pillow. His fingers twitched as he reached over to move some of your hair out of your face to see you better. Feeling his fingers graze your face, you slightly stirred before your eyes fluttered open and your surroundings settled in before you realized where you were. Stretching your arms over your head, you turned over in bed and saw him sitting up.

You did the same and scratched your head, your cheeks puffy which they usually were in the morning. You rubbed your eyes and stood up, your hair sticking up and tangled in some areas as you walked into the bathroom and back out in a few minutes after you brushed your teeth. “Morning.” You spoke and yawned, walking over to the window as he made up the bed. “Good morning.” He said back, watching you stare out the window.

You put your hair up in a messy bun before heading into the kitchen and sat at the counter while he cooked you both breakfast and made coffee. You attempted to hold his hand but as soon as you reached for it, he moved it away, grabbing his mug instead and taking a sip of the hot liquid. He was still nervous. You didn’t know how long he would be but you hoped that he would at least hold your hand eventually. Instead of trying to decipher why he was still nervous, you ate your breakfast, washing it down with your coffee and cleaned up.

After you both got dressed, you in black sweats and a crop sweater and him in all grey sweats and sweater, you sat on the couch after you were finished untangling your hair and watched him sit down on the opposite end of you. “So, once we get our schedules figured out, I figured maybe we can set up a few dates so that we can get to know each other.” You spoke in Korean to which he nodded and fiddled with the strings on his sweatpants. “Jungkook.” You called and he looked up and over at you, raising his eyebrows. Smiling, you shook your head. “I want you to be comfortable around me, okay? I know this is..a lot, trust me, but I do want to at least try. I know you’re nervous and that’s not a bad thing but can you at least try with me, please?” You scooted closer to him until your legs were touching and he took a deep breath and nodded.

“I’m really nervous. I don’t want to push anything onto you and this lifestyle might get hard for you and I want to be there. I’m just not ready for certain things yet.” He said quietly and you were confused until you saw the pink spread across his cheeks and you nodded. “Oh, that. Listen we don’t have to do anything unless you’re comfortable. I’ll understand. Slow is always better.” You nodded. “I’ve been with girls before, you know.” He said matter of factly and you laughed. “I wouldn’t put it past you but I know this is new territory because we’re married now, to each other. So if you want to take this step by step then we can. I don’t have a problem doing that at all.” He nodded and smiled.

This was going to be one long adventure.

#jeon jungkook #poc bts #bts ot7 #ot7 #bts fanfic #bts imagine #jungkook imagine #jungkook fanfic #bts x poc reader #bts x poc #pocreader #pocimagine #kpop poc

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amisbro · 5 years

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Soooo Broccoli

Apparently the boys over at Brocc decided it was a good idea yesterday to drop some big news on us and then ,like they are apt to do, walk out of the room and leave us a speculation NIGHTMARE Fortunately for y’all...I’m here so we are going to go over the items that Broccoli mentioned and things are going to be interest going into the next DECADE and there is a phrase we need to learn the meaning of So in the immortal words of QUARTET NIGHT at the beginning of “The Dice are Cast” READY... SET... GO!!

10th Anniversary focus So according to a translation I have from a tweet here they said they will be focusing on the TENTH Anniversary which is next year. I don’t THINK they are gonna leave us hanging on the 9th because that would be pretty bunk but the big anniversary is 10 years so they are going to want to put a focus on that. If we don’t get A LOT of big time announcements this year I don’t think we need to be too upset (Like I was last year when it was all music related) but what will they announce for this Anni? WELL New Mystery game and console decision So its been announced that they have a new game coming out which...is interesting and its even MORE interesting because the console/device has not been decided. To sort of understand this we have to go back almost THREE YEARS to when Broccoli announced “Dolce Vita”. This is important because remember at the time when they announced the game on the SIXTH Anniversary the characters that would be in the game are the Senseis ,Shining and then QN and STARISH respectively right? Well when 7th Anniversary happens it gets announced that they were making an update to the cast and that update would BE...Raging Otori and the 7 “Renegade Princes” from HEAVENS so there was THAT announcement. Remember though that this was in 2017. For two years there was no update or even a screenshot for the game and I want to say when we got close to 2018 it would be announced that the VITA was stopping production in Japan. THIS is a big deal because of the fact that the game was to be on that system AND there was supposed to be a “port project” where all the games UP TO DOLCE were supposed to be released in sequential order starting with Repeat and ending with After Secret. SPOILER: That project got abandoned Well...there was a good reason...kind of We have to remember that around August in 2017 Japan was starting to get Shining Live. That game would end up coming out IN ENGLISH in 2018 in January. I remember that because it was around then that I had to get my current computer when it completely crapped the bed on me which sucks but what can you do right? Now this still led us to a situation because in 2018 we still didn’t get any update on Dolce right? WELL... 8th Anniversary becomes a thing and when it happened it was focused solely on the music (which DOES kind of make sense since the series’ literal translation is “Prince of Song”) but we hadn’t heard much about Dolce and at this point we are at 1 year since the HEAVENS announcement and 2 years since the game was announced AT ALL...what was going on? To be honest I don’t know but if I had to completely speculate what happened with the game it was a # of things and one was writing and recording HEAVENS’ parts (not sure about routes) for the game. Well during the time they were doing this Sony announced stopping the VITA and the game card production outright. Because of THIS I think this caused them to pivot and they started to figure out if they were going to take the project and move it to a console or just outright scrap it! I THINK when we get to 9th Anniversary we might learn the fate of Dolce and I think it has to do with this new game. If I HAD to hazard a guess the console it was going to be on...THAT’S TRICKY! See the PS4 is on its way out (or at least games will slow production probably for 2020) so the idea would be to put it on the PS5 when that releases BUT they also could drop the game on the switch and make the game the first that I think would be on a Nintendo system (NOTE: There WAS a theme for the 3DS but no actual games were made for a Nintendo console I don’t think) so we have to think about that. I think it would do Broccoli well to put the game on the PS4/5 AND the Switch because UtaPri has been a staple in the Sony library in Japan so if it just up and left then I don’t know how fans in Japan would feel. It would also be an interesting situation for HEAVENS fans because ,if we assume that this game will have them in it, then how many fans will get it for the switch beit domestically OR Internationally (NOTE: The Switch is NOT Region Locked so importing is easy to do) so that is something to look at. There are a lot of questions to deal with JUST on this subject and its why it took a bigger bulk of this post because of ambiguity but I am going to guess we will learn more at 9th Anniversary and I think it WILL RELEASE before the 10th Anni! Now another interesting part of the notes is that they are going to be focusing on Seiyuus and Lives...not sure what that means yet but we will find out in time This next part is SUPER IMPORTANT After the 10th Anniversary they will focus on making UtaPri “Everlasting Contents” Alright...I THINK I need to explain something I forgot to at the beginning here So when this tweet came out that someone was kind enough to translate EVERYTHING I am mentioning here was going UP TO 2022 so that’s a little over 3 years or so from now right? Things have started to get more interesting here! So NOW the question becomes this “What will the plan be as far as an Anime goes?” If I am 100% honest...I don’t know...I know what my plan would be for 2021 and 2022 if they wanted to put one final bow on the Anime and wrap it up with one more 2 season arc but MY IDEA would be drastically different probably than that of the fandom...but I’ll share it in the future. You know what’s crazy about all of this as far as the timing of the news goes? THIS It had recently been announced that ,at the showing for “Maji Love Kingdom” (Or I guess more appropriately now called “Maji Love LIVE Kingdom” if you saw the second PV) they will have the cast there for a special talk...usually when something like that is gonna happen some stuff is gonna go down and IT MAKES ME WONDER if there isn’t something behind this...could we get a 5TH SEASON ANNOUNCEMENT or could it just be for a social thing? If there is one thing I have learned about Broccoli’s methods in the years I have watched what they do with April Fools and so forth I wouldn’t put it past them to do that...it should ALSO be noted that at this time (and for the past 3 years) the 4th season website is still up! There is a part of me that STILL BELIEVES if they were done with the Anime Project they would have outright taken down the website and used the official site to redirect to the movie...that hasn’t happened yet! Now someone will say (and I can see this in a reblog ,reply or message already) that “Doing a 5th season AFTER doing the Tokyo Dome in MLKingdom doesn’t make sense from a story perspective” and I hear that...but not quite right! IF we are to assume that I’m right and they do one more two season arc what could they do? WELL I’ve been told there is a place BIGGER than the Tokyo Dome called “Nissan Stadium” and so they could do THAT but if they did THAT then the idea would be “Well next for them would be a world tour” and then you run into the idea of “Do we do ANOTHER TWO SEASON ARC (although that might be 3) or do we finally put the Anime to bed?” Remember the current plan is for AT LEAST 2022 but they ALSO want to create “everlasting content” too right? I have wondered this Since the “STARISH Solo Series” was announced was that Broccoli’s way of “closing the book” on that group? If it WAS (and I don’t think it was objectively speaking) then you could do a two season arc with HEAVENS and QN and the STARISH boys could make cameos? Hell I think I proposed an idea once where Otoya took over the school from Shining and then QN would become HEAVENS’ mentors but that part requires HEAVENS to break off from Raging and I don’t know if that would happen considering that the universe is currently built to have two different Agencies so...there IS that! Here is another interesting tidbit that might interest you I once looked up the largest stadiums in the world and like EIGHT OUT OF TEN OF THEM ARE IN THE US! YES KIDS IF YOU WANTED TO DO THE BIGGEST STADIUMS A BUNCH ARE HERE?! Gets better too because like a bunch of them were College Stadiums...ponder that! (Although real talk: I wouldn’t mind seeing UtaPri in America for an episode...THAT’D BE COOL!) So now we have to ask this question at the end of ALL OF THIS “Alright Joshua...WHAT do you make of all of this?!” Here’s my answer Broccoli has like ZERO intention of killing off the series! I know the plan is up to 2022 but I have a feeling in the next 3 years they are going to really work on building it up even more and making the Lives that they do reach farther beyond the boundaries of Japan. I think that was their plan from the start when they announced “Expanding the world of UtaPri” and they knew that was going to take some work. They are just revving up the engines and stopping it cold NOW would make a lot of people upset as far as fans IN JAPAN and OUTSIDE of the country. Broccoli HAS to know that their properties are getting popular outside because it wasn’t that long ago that they took off the lock for their YT channel in the US! I think they are starting to see the value in expanding to the west and they are now looking at what to do to keep the “Foreign Market” interested. I will also say this DON’T be surprised if the next game gets some kind of localization with how SL has done outside of Japan. Okay its about 100K people that downloaded the game in the US but that might have given Brocc some pause and go “Wait a second...maybe we got something here” And who knows...MAYBE they have a plan to get the game over here! We probably WON’T KNOW until maybe a little past 9th Anniversary but I’ve been surprised before Alright alright one more thing With Idolish7′s second season looming in the distance and with I-Chu getting an Anime Adaptation soon I could see that as a big reason that Broccoli DOESN’T want to kill off the Anime Project yet. They know their stronghold that they have and giving up the spot of “King of the Idol Anime” is NOT something you do without a fight and by God they have a plan to do it and now we are going to be in for one of the craziest 3 year periods (and beyond) in the history of a genre that I stepped into back in 2014 and now here we are in 2019 and its looking like a good fight kids...I’m just happy to have a front row seat! NOW...Imma ask you guys and gals Based on the announcements we got from Broccoli now what directions do you think UtaPri could go into and where do you WANT to see it go? I got a lot of ideas in my dome for sure but the question is...what say you Oh and I almost forgot to link the tweet that was the source of all of this so do be a friend and check out the tweet...here’s the link https://twitter.com/ohayaho_news/status/1117801981517627392 take care lads and lasses

#Amisbro #uta no prince sama #MAJOR SPECULATION POST #but its always fun to do this when Broccoli drops a lot of announcements #so here we go!

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tapatapreview · 4 years

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November 14, 2020 at 07:40AM https://ift.tt/2UrL8gm Gaming

Sackboy lastly has a recreation to name his personal. The smiley mascot for LittleBigPlanet and, sometimes, the PlayStation model has at all times been handled as extra of an icon than a personality, a cutesy tabula rasa by way of which all video-game-related issues are potential. In Sackboy: A Big Adventure, his purview is way more conventional. He’s a jumpman, a platformer within the custom of Mario, Sonic, Crash, and all the opposite mascots that got here earlier than him. Sackboy, each the character and the sport, rises to succeed the mascot platformer mantle effectively in lots of respects. Though its aesthetic usually feels bland, its stable platforming makes for a worthy problem.

Like many platformers, story is just not Sackboy’s robust go well with. You’re leaping round Craftverse, the world of LittleBigPlanet, to put it aside from a villainous jester doll referred to as Vex. Though you will get a reasonably regular stream of updates reminding you of Vex’s evil presence, there’s not a lot it’s essential to know. You might say the story is a waste of Sackboy’s surprisingly compelling cuteness. On the opposite hand, you possibly can argue that Sackboy’s cuteness retains your curiosity within the recreation afloat, even and not using a compelling story.

Sackboy repeatedly evokes LittleBigPlanet’s arts-and-crafts visible aesthetic. Sometimes, the motif works effectively. There are nice visible particulars in lots of the ranges, like hard-drawn cutouts of animals within the backgrounds or platforms constituted of stacks of books, which suggest that the degrees have been arrange in a toddler’s bed room. More usually, although, it results in generic “imagination-world” design. Most of the enemies are multi-colored animals or blocks with cute however offended eyes. And, even with these craftsy particulars, the fundamental stage settings–space, the jungle, beneath the sea–all really feel obscure.

Sackboy: A Big Adventure’s visible design on the generic aspect, however the artwork itself is beautiful on PS5.

While the visible design is usually uninspired, the artwork itself exhibits off the spectacular technical capabilities of the PlayStation 5. The vibrant and colourful ranges, filled with spinning platforms, lasers, and every kind of shifting components, make for a visible feast in 4K. The actions of the gracefully weaving digital camera really feel notably easy. Lasers and metallic surfaces–like ruby armored crabs–shine. It could not give Craftworld a powerful sense of place, however the artwork appears to be like lovely.

It additionally helps that the sport has a terrific soundtrack to maintain you shifting. Each stage’s catchy, upbeat observe feels good to leap alongside to. Some of them function riffs primarily based on pop hits and classical scores chances are you’ll acknowledge. I not often take a second to cease and simply take heed to recreation music, however I steadily discovered myself eager to take these tracks in, both as a result of they have been songs I acknowledged or as a result of they merely had me bouncing my head alongside.

Sackboy’s core competency, platforming, is sort of robust. All the strikes in Sackboy’s core arsenal–a bounce with a secondary flutter, a punch, and a roll–all really feel responsive and exact. Like the LittleBigPlanet video games, Sackboy’s bounce is just a little floaty with a full button press, however having a flutter capacity offers you extra management over when and the way you land. Despite its storybook look, Sackboy does function sequences that current some vital challenges, notably when you’re making an attempt to gather each merchandise alongside the way in which. But the degrees are constructed round Sackboy’s explicit bounce, and the sport’s calls for are primarily based round it.

Sackboy’s multi-faceted ranges are the actual stars, although. It looks like each a part of every stage serves up a brand new problem, which retains issues contemporary. Some areas are easy, pushing you to string collectively jumps as when you’re operating an impediment course. Other areas are extra self-contained. In some ranges, you are compelled to look a bigger space for a set of hidden keys to advance. Some are constructed round gadgets you discover initially of every stage, like a boomerang, which lets you hit enemies and acquire gadgets from afar, or anti-gravity boots, which allow you to float on the top of your bounce for an prolonged time frame. There’s an unbelievable quantity of selection inside every stage and from one stage to the following.

Not each idea stage works, although. Each world has a musical stage, the place all the weather of the world–enemies, platforms, and background objects–move in time with pop songs like “Uptown Funk,” that are enjoying, lyrics and all. It’s an attention-grabbing idea, however in the end jarring. Different stage components transfer in time with totally different components of the music, which made it laborious to trace at occasions. There’s a second of recognition when every stage begins, which is fairly neat, however that rapidly falls away. By the top, the lyrics are so distracting that it may be tough to maintain observe of the whole lot occurring. Obviously, that is in stark distinction with the usual soundtrack, which is spectacular with and and not using a pop connection.

Gallery

Sackboy is a hoarder’s platformer. Every stage is chock-full of issues to select up: rating bubbles, a LittleBigPlanet holdover; collectibells, which you employ to purchase costumes between ranges; dreamer orbs, which it’s essential to acquire to unlock the ultimate stage of every world; and costume components. Bounding by way of every stage, you are always grabbing gadgets and scouring the degrees for extra. To discover all of it, it’s essential to maintain a watch out for alternate paths, further areas, and hidden rooms housing self-contained minigames and puzzles. At the top of every stage, you are given a trophy primarily based on what number of rating bubbles you bought. (It takes an image of your Sackboy with the trophy. It’s cute.) While you’ll be able to technically full a stage with little or no, the expectation is that you’ll make an effort to seek out most, if not all, of it.

And reducing your rating is the first type of punishment. You begin every stage with 5 lives, which you lose by getting hit by enemies or falling in pits. When you lose a life, you lose a share of your rating bubbles, making it tougher to get a excessive rating. When you lose all of your lives, you need to begin the extent over. Having a restricted variety of lives is never an issue–even whenever you die steadily, further lives begin popping up steadily from enemies and breakable gadgets the second you lose one. The actual affect is the way it impacts your rating.

So the purpose is to grasp every stage, finishing it with the very best potential rating, amassing all of the essential gadgets, and with out shedding a life. It appears pretty attainable at first, however by the midway level within the recreation, Sackboy ramps as much as supply a reasonably vital problem, even with out the rating chase. Mastering most ranges ought to take a pair tries, and there is at all times room for enchancment. That stated, the sport kindly avoids penalizing much less aggressive completionists; apart from rating bubbles, when you purchase an merchandise, you have got it for good. Even the dreamer orbs and costume items you’ve got acquired earlier than dying mid-level depend as acquired.

The story is probably not extremely attention-grabbing, however the lovely artwork carries you thru.

In addition to the usual ranges, you’ll be able to unlock brief however further difficult time trial ranges that actually push you to make each motion depend. Even these ranges function a collectible-hunting component–most have clocks on the earth that shave seconds off your time. Short and exact, these challenges really feel very totally different from the lengthy, winding marketing campaign ranges and provide the probability to combine issues up if the usual circulate ever begins to really feel stale.

There are additionally elective co-op-only Teamwork ranges, which function puzzles that require a certain quantity of coordination. (In the curiosity of full disclosure: I’m quarantining solo, so I’ve solely performed one among these, simply to get a way of how they work. I’ll say this: The puzzles are trickier whenever you’re holding two controllers without delay.) You may play the core Sackboy marketing campaign multiplayer by way of native co-op throughout with as much as 4 gamers. Everyone performs as Sackboy, however with totally different outfits, so you’ll be able to put that wardrobe to good use. According to , cross-gen on-line multiplayer is coming later this 12 months. Personally, I choose to play platformers solo, so I did not see not gaining access to co-op as an actual loss.

Sackboy is a stable platformer and, regardless of its rote artwork type, makes nice use of the PS5’s enhanced visible and technical efficiency. It’s a enjoyable little romp of a platformer, with a lot of attention-grabbing moments. At occasions, the visible design can look a bit flat. Even in these moments, although, the tight controls and attention-grabbing stage layouts create gameplay challenges that make these flaws simple to miss.

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#November 14 #2020 at 07:40AM

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newstanmarshblog · 3 years

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The Average and Unusual Couple: Chapter Ten

About almost ninety minutes later after all of his friends had left from his birthday party, Stan is about to get ready to head over to the Netherworld to see what special gift that Beetlejuice and Lydia has gotten for him. But before he makes his trip, he checks out with his parents one more time to be sure that they won’t bother him for the rest of the night.

Stan: Hey, mom. I just wanna say thank you once again for the PS5, and making this birthday as memorable as possible.

Sharon: Aww, thank you, sweetie. I’m sorry that your father wasn’t as corroborative as I hoped he would’ve been. I tried my best to get him in being a supportive father just for today, but he just won’t budge from his Tegridy obsession.

Stan: It’s alright, mom. You did everything that you could. And besides, all the gifts that I received and having my friends over here outweighs his terrible attitude.

Sharon: I’m glad to hear that. And do you need any help in setting up your PS5 tomorrow?

Stan: Nah, I think I can handle it myself. But if I ever need you, I’ll let you know.

Sharon: Well, I’m all free tomorrow just to let you know.

Stan: Okay. Anyway, I’m about to head into my room for the rest for the night. I wanna check out some of my gifts before I get to bed.

Sharon: Sounds good then. Good night, sweetheart. And happy birthday.

Stan: Good night, mom. And thank you so much for everything today.

He gives his mother one last hug, and then walks upstairs into his room. As he got in, everything was set up for him to make his visit to the Netherworld. His window curtains was shut, and has a candle sitting on his desk. After lighting up the candle, the last thing Stan does was putting on his new T. Rex necklace that Lydia has gotten him recently. He wanted to wear something a little extra for now on whenever he visits the Netherworld, and he thought the necklace would be a perfect fit for that role.

Stan: Though I know I should be wary, still I venture someplace scary! Ghostly hauntings I turn loose…Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice!

Much like from his first experience, a huge thunder sound is heard, the wooden walls of the room tears itself apart, and becomes stone walls. The candle disappears, and some bats begins to fly around in the same large room that he and Lydia has been teleported too before. Afterwards, he opens up the door that enters him into the Netherworld, and it only takes him about a few minutes to reach to the Roadhouse. Over there waiting for him were Beetlejuice, Lydia, and a living yellowish car that was Doomie.

Stan: Hi, guys!

Beetlejuice: Stanny boy, happy birthday!

Doomie: Beep, beep!

Lydia: I see that you’re already wearing that T. Rex necklace.

Stan: Yeah, I thought that I would give it a shot as a little extra something to wear whenever I visit here.

Lydia smiling: I think it really suits you pretty well. Being the true prehistoric buff that you really are.

Stan smiling: Thanks.

Beetlejuice: Tell me quickly, Stan, how would you rate your birthday party overall? Was it like a one out of five chickens that still has their heads, or a perfect five out of five chocolate themed beetles?

Stan: Umm, from my point of view, it was a nearly perfect five star party with my dad being the only nitpick thing about it. And I don’t think you would’ve enjoyed my party anyway as we all mostly chit-chatted with each other instead of any dancing.

Beetlejuice: Pfft, I figured. *talks to the reader* Non-wild parties, you know I hate it.

Lydia: Well anyway, are you ready to find out about your final birthday present?

Stan getting excited: Oh, hell yeah! I can’t wait to see what it is!

Beetlejuice: In that case then, hop on aboard with us, and we’ll take you there way faster than a plane trip to Hawaii!

Stan: Hold on a sec, this is a birthday trip?

Lydia: That’s right. Me and BJ had this planned out for quite a while now ever since your first visit here. And the place we’re heading to will make you feel like a happy kid in a zoo.

Beetlejuice: Let’s not waste anymore time, okay! I’ll like to head on over there as quickly as possible too. Let’s go!

Beetlejuice sat on the driver seat while Stan and Lydia sit next to each other in the back.

Beetlejuice: Okay, Doomero! Let’s ride on over there!

Doomie: Beep, beep, beeeep!

And without any extra thought, Doomie begins to drive fast for the trip to their destination.

Stan: So, what is the place that we’re heading to?

Lydia: It’s one of a few large parks that the Netherworld has to offer, and it’s also the biggest one of them all. It’s called Extinction National Park.

Stan: Extinction National Park? What kind of a park is it?

Beetlejuice: It’s more like a wildlife preserve kind of a place, except this park holds every extinct plant and animal species that used to live on Earth. Its landmass is about the size of Australia and Antarctica put together, and it even has its own ocean.

Stan: Holy shit! I didn’t ever think the Netherworld would never have such a place like that.

Beetlejuice: Well, Heaven and Hell couldn’t accept any extinct animal as they usually take in people and domesticated animals. That’s why the big man himself created such a large continent just for them.

Stan: What is it like over there?

Beetlejuice: There’s no fences or anything like you see in a zoo as you get to explore freely anywhere in this huge park. It’s the ultimate prehistoric wild safari that’ll make Jurassic Park look like a petting zoo. And all the extinct species that you can imagine, you can find them all at Extinction National Park. Prehistoric marine animals, all the extinct mammals, and every single dinosaur that has ever lived!

Stan excited: Fuck yeah! The kind of trip that is fully right in my alley! And how long will it take us to get over there?

Beetlejuice: It’ll take us about thirty minutes to reach the ocean, and then it’ll be an hour fly across the open waters from the beach to our destination.

Stan: I’ll try to get some sleep as much as I can for the time being. What about you, Lydia?

Lydia: *yawns* I’m with you. I need as much sleep as I can get too.

Beetlejuice: I’ll give you two a strong odor from me when we get there.

Lydia: Promise us that it won’t smell too disgusting.

Beetlejuice: I can’t make any promises, but I’ll come up with something. *uses his magic to place pillows behind their heads* Dream something gross for me.

Both Stan and Lydia shut their eyes to get some sleep.

Beetlejuice: *talks to the reader* Love may be the pits for me, but I ain’t gonna lie, they’re literally meant for each other. Just promise me that you won’t say that to them.

After about over an hour and an half later since leaving the Roadhouse, Doomie was flying across the ocean as he and Beetlejuice sees a huge land dead ahead. And as they approach Extinction National Park, a couple pteranodons were flying by near them. One of the pteranodons gets too close to Doomie.

Doomie: Beep, beep!

Beetlejuice: Don’t worry, Doomie. I got something to let out that should scare him away.

He lets out a huge sticky burp to the pterosaur. The pteranodon smells the disgusting burp, and flies away from them.

Beetlejuice: Hmm, I still got some left in me. *chuckles* Time to wake them up.

He lets out the remaining burps he had left, catches some of them with his hands, and then blows the stinky burps towards Stan and Lydia. They both smell the burp that causes them to wake up in a couple seconds.

Stan: Ugh, something smells like a stink bug.

Beetlejuice: That was because I had a small bag of stink bugs as a snack while we were traveling.

Lydia: At least I can tolerate this kind of a smell unlike the stunk deodorant that you use.

Stan: Oh my god! Lydia, look!

Lydia turns to where Stan was looking at, and she sees them. A small group of pteranodons flying from a short distance away. They both reacted in such awe by seeing the type of natural sighting that the Earth itself has not seen in over 66 million years.

Lydia excited: Deadly Vu! Actual pterosaurs right in front of our eyes!

Stan: I can’t believe that I’m actually seeing them. They look so magnificent!

Lydia uses her camera to take some pictures of the pteranodons.

Beetlejuice: If you two thought that was cool, then take a look underneath you.

Stan and Lydia take a look at the mass open water as they see a pod of marine animals that were dark shaded, and looked like something between a dolphin and a marlin.

Stan excited: Ichthyosaurs! This is so awesome!

Lydia: Aww, there’s even some juveniles within the pod. They look so adorable!

While Lydia takes some pictures of them, one of the ichthyosaur takes a quick jump out of the water like a dolphin.

Stan excited: Wow! They can jump just as good as dolphins!

Lydia excited: Yeah, and they’re behaving similarity too despite of them being marine reptiles instead of mammals.

Stan: This is definitely a wonderful example of convergent evolution right in front of our eyes.

As Stan and Lydia were geeking out on seeing the ichthyosaurs pod, Doomie sees something approaching the pod that looked like a huge marine snake.

Doomie: Beep, beep!

Beetlejuice: Hmm. *sees the big marine animal* Oooh, looks like we’re about to see a hunt being carried out.

Stan: A hunt? Then where’s the predator?

Lydia: I see it! Pull over for a second, Doomie!

Doomie stops flying, and is now floating so that way they can all see the hunt. The predator targets one of the juvenile ichthyosaur that was having a tough time keeping up with the rest of the pod. Stan looks closer to identify what type of animal it was. Its body looked so much like that of a snake, but it had front flippers, and at the end of its tail was a whale like fluke.

Stan: It’s a basilosaurus.

Lydia: Oh, yeah. The prehistoric whale that looks like a slender version of a mosasaur.

Beetlejuice: Oh, thank god. For a moment I thought it a was a giant seaworm.

The basilosaurus opens its jaws, and lunges them into the young ichthyosaur. As its teeth grips into its prey, the basilosaurus moves its head around for a bit, and then makes another bite into the ichthyosaur. The prey dies immediately from the second bite, and there was a lot of blood everywhere at the scene of the hunt. The prehistoric whale then swims away with its meal while leaving behind a trail of blood.

Stan in shocked: My god. It feels so surreal to actually see that kind of a hunt in front of us instead of seeing it in a nature documentary.

Lydia: Yeah, same. I just wish that the victim didn’t had to be that poor juvenile.

Beetlejuice: That’s nature for ya, Babes. They don’t carry out any rules like how we all do. And frankly, that’s my most favorite thing about it.

Doomie feeling unease: Awww.

Lydia: I know it was hard to watch, Doomie, but that what happens in nature everyday. Let’s try to move on, and see what exciting things that this mega park has to offer, okay?

Doomie: Beep!

Doomie starts to fly again as they getting closer to Extinction National Park. About a minute later, they’ve finally made into land, and Doomie lands into an open field on the beach. Already they see some big scorpion like creatures hanging around.

Beetlejuice: Well, well, looks like we got some sea scorpions.

Stan: Or eurypterids as the paleo community calls them. Although sea scorpions is a pretty cool nickname for them, they’re not true scorpions. They mainly spend much of their lives in the sea, and only have to come into land during mating season and laying their eggs. And from what we’re seeing here, those guys must be laying eggs.

Lydia excited: Nice! I’ve seen fossils of them during my trip at the Field Museum, and it’s so awesome to see them in person. Especially since arthropods are my favorite group of animals. Stan, can you take a picture of me with those eurypterids?

Stan smiling: Sure!

Both Stan and Lydia get out of Doomie, and head towards to where the eurypterids are at. Stan first takes a picture of Lydia with the eurypterids, and then Lydia does the same thing for Stan. And while Lydia takes a few close up pictures of the big arthropods, Beetlejuice does a staring contest with one of them.

Beetlejuice: If I win, I’m gonna make a barbecue out off of ya.

The eurypterid uses one of its pincers to pinch Beetlejuice’s nose.

Beetlejuice: Owwwww!! Let go of me, you fucking scorpion!

He uses his hands to pull the arthropod’s pincer off of his nose, but his nose gets pulled off along with it.

Beetlejuice frustrated: Give me that!

He physically grabs his nose back from the eurypterid, and then puts his nose back on. He can feel the pinching pain on his nose.

Beetlejuice: Next time, I’ll be sure to use duck tape. *magically holds a duck head with tape coming out from its mouth, and the duck makes a couple quacks*

Stan: Come on, dude! We’re ready to see some dinosaurs!

Beetlejuice: Keep your noses on, I’m coming!

They begin to move within the huge park. Along the way, they drove by a big cotylorhynchus, some small pterosaurs, and some extinct horses. And as they get closer into the forest, they’ve spotted an interesting creature. It looked like some kind of a dog but with a long tail, and it had stripes on its back.

Lydia: That must be the Tasmanian tiger. They were once the top predator of Tasmania until humans came into the island and wiped them out.

Stan: It’s a shame that they’re no longer with us, but from the looks of him, he seems to be having a peaceful lifestyle here. I’m glad to see that at least. Hopefully the wolves in America won’t end up like him.

Lydia: Agreed.

Beetlejuice: That critter wouldn’t happened to be named Ty, would he? *turns himself into Ty the Tasmanian Tiger*

Lydia: *laughs* I doubt it, but who knows.

The Tasmanian tiger notices them, and for a few brief moments it was staring at them. And then after Lydia takes a quick picture of it, the small predator moves on into the forest.

Stan: That was amazing. The way he was staring at us like that, reminds me a bit of a wolf.

Lydia: Exactly what I was thinking too. They were also called a Tasmanian wolf due to how they behaved similarly to them despite on being a marsupial.

Beetlejuice: And you know what, I’m also surprised that Doomie here didn’t go crazy during that moment. That critter really did looked like a dog after all.

Doomie: Beep, beep!

Lydia: The skull on his hood is also his nose, remember?

Beetlejuice: Oh, right. I can’t believe that I actually forgotten about that.

Stan: I didn’t know that you could smell, Doomie. You were able to tell that the Tasmanian tiger that we just saw was a marsupial instead of a dog?

Doomie: Beep!

Stan: *laughs a bit* Good to know then.

They then drive on into the forest. There, they’ve encountered many different type of prehistoric animals such as a group of small planet eating dinosaurs call leaellynasaura, a small meat eating dinosaur call ornitholestes, and a huge ape call gigantopithecus. About a half hour later, they come across into an open field where there was some big trees, and a huge watering hole. And also in the open field were some of the largest animals to ever lived. The whole group couldn’t helped but gasped in awe by witnessing the type of natural beauty that’ll never happen on Earth.

Lydia: Deadly Vu.

Stan: Unbelievable.

Beetlejuice: Even for a gross guy like myself, I gotta say, this is one hell of an awesome sighting.

In the open field, there were many different type of dinosaurs such as a couple Argentinosaurus feeding on the big trees, a group of brontosaurus roaming in the field, a herd of parasaurolophus, some pachyrhinosaurus, and a single stegosaurus drinking at the watering hole. But dinosaurs weren’t the only animals in the area. Other extinct animals in the open field includes a large paraceratherium along with its young calf, a small group of lisowicia, and a traveling herd of Columbian mammoths.

Stan: I’m a lost for words here. I’ve never ever seen anything like this in my entire life.

Lydia: This is like the ultimate safari sighting unlike any other. A one of a kind that’ll never happen in human existence, and you and me are the very first living human beings to ever see it.

Stan smiling: Well said, Lydia.

Beetlejuice: Anyway, are you gonna take some unforgettable pictures, Lyds?

Lydia excited: You bet your ass that I’m gonna be doing that, Beetlejuice! Let’s do it!

Beetlejuice: Woah, I haven’t seen you this excited in quite a while, Babes. *talks to the reader* And you know me, I really fucking love it when she gets this excited! It makes things even more fun! *laughs*

They start off by flying for some close up pictures of an Argentinosaurus eating from the large conifer tree, along with one picture of Beetlejuice sitting on top of the sauropod’s head. Followed by a couple pictures of the brontosaurus herd. Then took pictures of the Columbian mammoth herd, including a close up one of the little mammoth calves. And took pictures of the watering hole area where many animals including the parasaurolophus herd, the stegosaurus, and the paraceratherium were having their drinks. But Lydia wasn’t done taking pictures yet. She wanted to take some group photos next.

Lydia: Okay, Stan. Since it’s your birthday, how about we start off by having a picture of you along with the animals in the background.

Stan smiling: Alright.

Stan sets himself up by standing up while smiling towards the camera along with so many prehistoric animals such as Argentinosaurus, pachyrhinosaurus, and lisowicia in the background. Then Lydia gets a picture of herself with the brontosaurus herd. And finally a group picture of Dommie in the center along with Stan on the left side, Lydia on the right side, Beetlejuice floating above them in a lying pose, and the many prehistoric animals drinking at the watering hole in the background.

Stan: You guys, this has been the most exciting birthday moment that I’ve ever had, and I don’t think anything else will ever top this moving forward. I can’t thank you all enough for giving me this kind of an adventure. I feel like the most happiest person in the Netherworld right now.

And then suddenly without warning, they begin to hear stomping noise coming from the forest along with a sound of a loud booming noise.

Doomie feeling nervous: Uh-oh!

Beetlejuice: Sounds like the king himself has arrived to find his new meal.

Lydia: King? You don’t mean it’s…it’s…

Coming out of the forest was a dinosaur that they all knew too well. It was a very large bulky theropod dinosaur, with small arms that had two fingers each, big head with excellent binocular vision, and had banana shaped like teeth.

Stan: Tyrannosaurus rex!

Stan was having all types of reactions going on in his mind right now. On one hand, he was so extremely happy in finally seeing his all time favorite prehistoric animal in the fresh. So much in fact that he wanted to get up close to it really badly. But on the other hand, he also knew very well on how dangerous a T. Rex can be, and he needed to be cautious even though he’s afraid of being eaten. A Tyrannosaurus can run up to at least 17 mph, had wonderful eye vision, strong sense of smell, and its bite force is so powerful that its job was to crush bones within its prey. One bite, one kill.

The T. Rex sniffs into the air to locate its next meal, and it didn’t take too long for the predator to find one. It spotted the group, and starts heading towards them.

Lydia: Crap, it’s coming for us!

They all up on abroad into Doomie.

Stan: Take us out of here, dude!

Doomie tries to get moving, but he’s not able to move for he had just ran out of his gas.

Beetlejuice: Had to run out of gas at the wrong time, you bucket of bolt! Good thing I keep a fuel can in your trunk for situations like this.

Lydia: You keep the T. Rex busy, while me and Stan get Doomie filled up.

While Stan and Lydia go get the fuel can to fill up Doomie, Beetlejuice appears floating in front of the large predator. The T. Rex stops moving as soon as it sees Beetlejuice.

Beetlejuice: Yo, Mr. Rex! I was thinking about putting on a new head to scare off my future victims. What do you think of this? *he transforms his head into a head of a spider with big fangs* Pretty scary, am I right?

The T. Rex looks at Beetlejuice with a confused look on its face for a moment, and then heads toward him to make a bite out of him. He quickly flies backwards to avoid those deadly teeth.

Beetlejuice: Not impressed, huh? Okay then, how about we put your nose to the ultimate test to see if you can withstand the most disgusting feet that the Netherworld has ever seen!

He takes his shoes & socks off, revealing his filthy feet that was covered with rotten eggs, dead cockroaches, and dirty toe nails. The smell of Beetlejuice’s dirty feet goes into the T. Rex’s nose. The predator takes a few sniffs from the filthy smell, but the smell only encourages for the T. Rex to hunt down Beetlejuice.

Beetlejuice: Aaaaahhhh!!!

While Beetlejuice flies away from the large dinosaur, Stan was filling up Doomie with the fuel can and Lydia was sitting on the driver seat.

Stan: Okay, that’s all of it. Give it a try.

Lydia uses the car key to get Doomie running again, and as she does it, the motor was starting to work in full strength.

Doomie: Beep, beep!

Lydia: All right! Now, let’s get the hell out of here!

Stan hops onto the front passenger seat, and then Doomie starts to fly into the sky.

Stan: Beetlejuice, hop on!

Beetlejuice: You got it! *turns his attention to the T. rex* It was fun talking with you while it lasted, but right now, I must be hopping off. *magically puts metal springs onto his feet, and then take a huge hop from the ground* Smell you later, big guy!

He lands into the back seat of Doomie. And as he got in, Stan, Lydia, and Doomie all can smell Beetlejuice’s dirty feet.

Lydia disgusted: Beetlejuice, put your shoes back on for us, would ya?

Beetlejuice: Fine, but if something tries to attack us again, I’m taking them off. *he puts his shoes & socks back on*

Meanwhile on the ground, the Tyrannosaurus rex turns its attention to the herbivorous animals, and moves towards them.

Stan: Hold on a second, guys. I wanna see the T. Rex doing its hunt. Especially since it’ll be something that we’re probably never gonna see again.

Lydia: Yeah, and I do want to take some pictures of the Rex before we leave. However, if that predator tries to kill a calf, we’re leaving no matter what. I just don’t want to see something so young getting killed again.

Stan: I understand.

As the gang watch from the safety up above, the T. Rex makes its pursue for a kill. First it tries to go after the parasaurolophus herd, but they were too fast for the large predator. Next it tries to go for the Columbian mammoth herd, but they put up an aggressive defense by forming a straight line with the calves behind them. The T. Rex knew better than trying to attack the large sauropods and an over protective paraceratherium mother. And the pachyrhinosaurus, and lisowicia herd were fully gone as soon as they saw the large dinosaur. The last animal in the area was the single stegosaurus. It was moving very slowly as it couldn’t run. The T. Rex locks its eyes into the plated dinosaur, and then moves towards it.

Lydia: Looks like we’re about to see an epic fight here.

Stan getting excited: Whoever wins, this fight will be worth remembering for the rest of our lives!

Beetlejuice: It’s showtime! *pulls up a music player, and plays The Rite of Spring song from Fantasia*

As the T. rex comes closer, the stegosaurus positions itself in full defensive mode to make sure that its thagomizer can get a good hit of the predator. The Tyrannosaurus stops close enough to be in a safe distance from those spikes, and the two are now in an intense stalemate. The T. Rex makes the first move by trying to make a bite in the legs, but stegosaurus swings its tail hitting the upper thigh, and the Rex backs off with only minor wounds. Next it try to move sideways in order to get a better shot in biting the neck, but the plated dinosaur was moving along with it, and the two stopped moving. The Tyrannosaurus then tried to get the stegosaurus move back by making a fake attack display, but the opponent hold its grounds and swings its tail again, almost hitting the predator’s head. The T. Rex decided to move backwards a little, and makes a head butting move against the stegosaurus. The predator successfully head butted its opponent before it had a chance to use those thagomizer again, and the stegosaurs falls into the ground. The tyrant lizard makes the final fatal blow by using its powerful bite into the stegosaurus’s neck, resulting in an immediate death. The Tyrannosaurus rex had won the battle, and begins to feast onto its prize.

Beetlejuice: The king sure dose know how to put on a good show.

Stan: That was so fucking awesome! Now that’s what I call an epic prehistoric fight for sure! Even way better than those shitty fights done in Jurassic Fight Club. Did you get some really good pictures, Lydia?

Lydia: Not only did I get some really cool pictures of the T. Rex hunting, but I even video recorded the whole fight too.

Stan: Nice! Be sure to send me that video whenever you can.

Lydia: Sure thing.

Stan: And by the way, since this is the second animal kill that’ve we seen in this trip, do they actually stay permanently dead for good unlike how the rest of the Netherworld works with its death rule?

Beetlejuice: In Extinction National Park, whenever an animal dies, they’ll be reborn back into their juvenile body with their old memories wiped out, and have to start all over from scratch. In a nutshell, everything works here like a recycling routine. *turns himself into a recycling symbol*

Stan: Interesting.

Beetlejuice: So, Stanny boy, anywhere else in this mega park you like to visit? There’s a snowy area that has all the ice age animals such as woolly mammoths and cave lions, a swampy area where all the carboniferous giant insects live at, or even a desert area where you can see all the dinosaurs that once lived in the gobi desert. Actually, now that I think about it, let’s not go to any region that has deserts. I don’t want to be eaten up by any sandworm.

Stan: I seriously would love to see them, but I need to be heading back home to get some sleep. It’s almost 1:30 am.

Lydia: Me too. I plan on talking to Bertha and Prudence on Skype during the afternoon, and I don’t want to look tried in front of them.

Beetlejuice: Yeah, I’m getting sleepy too. How about you, Doomero?

Doomie: *yawns* Beep!

Beetlejuice: You and I can sleepover at a cave in the nearby mountain that I know of.

Lydia: Just be safe from any dangerous animals when you two leave in the morning.

Beetlejuice: Don’t sweat it, Lyds. We’ve faced situations worse than this. Doomie and I will make it home without a scratch.

Lydia: Okay then. And Stan, you must be feeling like a happy camper right now. *chuckles a bit*

Stan smiling: Again, I can’t thank you all enough for giving me this unforgettable adventure. This will go down as the greatest birthday experience that I’ll ever have. And I’m so happy to have you all as a part of my life now.

Lydia: I have a little extra gift that I want to give you before I leave. Can you close your eyes for a moment?

As Stan closes his eyes, Lydia suddenly gives him a kiss on his right cheek. Stan immediately blushes on having his very first kiss from a girl in serval years. He really didn’t expected for Lydia on making the first move to express their true feelings for each other.

Lydia smiling: I’ll see you at school, Stan. Sleep well. Home, home, home! *she disappears*

Beetlejuice: Well, well, looks like Lyds was trying to tell you that she loves you.

Stan: *sign* I honestly didn’t think she would do something like that so soon before I had the chance to tell her about my feelings for her. I love Lydia very much, but I also want to tell her at the right moment without acting too quickly about it.

Beetlejuice: Just do me a favor though, when you two convince your love for each other, don’t do it when I’m around because I find that kind of stuff too disgusting. *closes his eyes and sticks his tongue out*

Stan: Umm, okay. But anyway, thank you for the exciting adventure, BJ. And same goes to you too, Doomie.

Doomie: Beep, beep!

Stan: Have a good night sleep, you two. Home, home, home!

He is then teleported back to his bedroom, and everything still remains as the way he left them.

Stan: I can’t believe that she kissed me in a way to say that she loves me without even saying a single word about it. That was totally unexpected.

While getting himself ready for bed, he was thinking about on when to tell her that he loves her too. Then he remembers that he and Lydia are planning on going to a Halloween party together along with Beetlejuice that’s gonna be held at the South Park community center. And then when the two are truly alone together during Halloween night, he’ll finally make his move to convince his love for her.

Stan: I’ll tell her on Halloween night. Especially since it’s her favorite night of the year, it’ll be the right timing for it. I’m gonna make damn sure that it’ll be the best Halloween night that she’ll ever have.

He then heads into his bed, and closes his eyes to get a good night sleep.

In the next chapter, Stan and Lydia have some fun at the Halloween party, and convince their true feelings for each other.

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aion-rsa · 4 years

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Marvel’s Avengers Beta Doesn’t Deliver Superhero Spectacle, But There’s Hope

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There was a moment while playing the Marvel’s Avengers early access beta on the PlayStation 4 when I had to ask myself whether this slice of the game was the best way to showcase what was supposed to be a major spectacle for Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Following two of the biggest movies of all time, Marvel’s Avengers should feel like a victory lap for Square Enix and a grand return to video games for the superhero team. Instead, the beta showcases a low-key affair that never quite feels all that fresh or unique.

While the combat, traversal, and all of the game’s other mechanics generally work just fine, the title’s dependence on long-established trends and design concepts, as well as a very dull group of baddies, render Marvel’s Avengers sort of ordinary. The game’s arcade-y co-op gameplay feels like an over-the-shoulder upgrade of the Marvel Ultimate Alliance series, which is undoubtedly a major inspiration here, while the loot shooter elements don’t really add anything new to that particular genre, either.

It’s important to note that these are my impressions after only playing the game’s beta build, a small portion of a much larger whole. This is in no way a final verdict on Marvel’s Avengers.

Before we jump in, you can check out some gameplay footage from the beta below:

I spent three days with the beta, playing through the “A-Day” intro mission that Square Enix has previewed plenty of times before as well as several main story missions (called Hero Missions in the game), a handful of short Drop Zone and War Zone missions, an Iconic mission focusing on the Hulk, and three HARM Room Challenges best described as the game’s take on a horde mode. While the beta was a varied sampling of the activities that Marvel’s Avengers has to offer, it was also a brief one that I wouldn’t consider a full view of the final product, and I definitely left the beta with the sense that there was way more to see.

The beta opens with the heavily-directed A-Day tutorial mission that familiarizes you with the different heroes at your disposal. You wreck terrorists on San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge with Thor and his mighty hammer while zipping through the skies to lend air support as Iron Man. The Hulk joins the fight on the bridge, too, smashing and stomping his way through gun-toting enemies and tanks. The tutorial gives players only the briefest of moments with Captain America and his trusty shield before switching to Black Widow for a QTE-heavy boss fight with Taskmaster.

The A-Day sequence is fast-paced and exciting, full of Marvel’s signature funny quips and heroic moments to be sure. But while this opening story mission shows how Earth’s Mightiest Heroes can work perfectly in tandem during an emergency, it isn’t really indicative of the rest of the missions in the beta, which feature combat more akin to a brawler or beat em up than the choreographed, more linear fights of the intro.

A time jump after the intro sequence sees the Avengers disband after failing to save San Francisco from the terrorist attack. We reunite with Bruce Banner and Kamala sometime later on a mission to reassemble the superhero team. The beta keeps things largely out of spoiler territory, so I didn’t get to see how the duo first met or what set them on their new mission. But from what I did see, it’s clear that the young Kamala, who is destined to become the superhero Ms. Marvel, is the heart of this story.

It’s her desire to learn more about her powers as well as the heroes she grew up admiring that drive the main plot forward. She brings an energy to the team that’s a very nice contrast to the much more defeated Banner, who is living in exile on the Chimera years after A-Day. We get hints that he’s not really interested in being the Hulk or an Avenger anymore, but Kamala convinces him that reuniting the team is the only way to save the world from the game’s main enemy faction, Advanced Idea Mechanics (aka AIM).

The Hero Missions that follow hit familiar story beats, as Bruce and Kamala first go on a mission to recover an old piece of Stark tech vital to finding Iron Man and then make contact with what remains of SHIELD, now led by Maria Hill. The beta stops short of actually reassembling the team, but along the way, we watch as Kamala interacts with pieces of Avengers history, from finding Cap’s original shield in a silo to walking around the team’s old HQ on the Chimera. It’s nice to be able to experience this story from the point-of-view of a fan who feels as much wonder for these characters as we did when we read our first Avengers comic book or watched the first movie, even if the beta’s somewhat unsurprising and safe missions don’t quite inspire wonder themselves.

The big issue with the Hero Missions and War Zone/Drop Zone side quests is that AIM’s massive army of jet pack-wearing soldiers, evil scientists, and robots aren’t all that much fun to fight or learn about. While some of the robots boast cool, bug-like designs (one class even looks like a smaller version of an X-Men Sentinel), they’re basically just punching bags and bullet sponges that don’t require much strategy to take down.

Running from room to room taking out AIM agents and machines starts to feel repetitive really quickly, and it doesn’t help that the environments sometimes feel really drab — big steel buildings with plenty of glass and high-tech lab equipment to destroy. There were even times when I felt like War Zone missions were recycling the same environment, simply remixing the order of rooms and hallways you traverse. Fortunately, these environments are almost fully destructible, which is a nice touch, especially when you’re playing as someone as chaotic as the raging Hulk. But overall, the level design showcased in the beta felt a little uninspired.

Once you unlock the War Table, you’re pretty much free to embark on missions in any order you choose and with whichever character you want, except when it comes to Iconic missions, which require you to play as a specific hero. The beta featured a Hulk-centric Iconic mission that saw the Jade Giant smash into an AIM facility to destroy the group’s gamma ray research. There’s a bit more storytelling involved with Iconic missions as well as opposed to other War Zone and short Drop Zone activities, which feel a bit less remarkable.

While there are a variety of different War Zone and Drop Zone missions to choose from, the ones in the beta mostly come down to fast sprints from point A to B that require you to destroy AIM research, defeat a robotic mini-boss, gather intel, or hold down a specific position. They rarely feel like unique experiences that could only belong in a Marvel game and are generally unexciting. And although some War Zone missions tend to offer up multiple stages and objectives, usually broken up by an elevator ride into an AIM facility or underground bunker, Drop Zone missions are bewilderingly short. You can finish them within 10 minutes, which makes them feel like filler content most of the time, although it should be noted that the shorter length of these missions is by design.

The nice thing about Marvel’s Avengers is that it won’t force multiplayer on you. All of the missions mentioned above can be played solo with three AI characters at your side or with up to three other players. While I only spent a very limited time playing with others, matchmaking worked well, but the real test will come when Crystal Dynamics opens up the beta to a much bigger group of players throughout August. But if you want to play the game solo, you can do so no problem. I even found the companion AI to be nice substitutes for real players during big fights with AIM. It’s evident that the studio has put in a lot of time into making all of these heroes feel genuine regardless of whether they’re being controlled by a player or AI.

A high point of the beta was the HARM Room, a holographic training area where the Avengers can square off against hordes of AIM enemies. In this mode, which is set on the Chimera itself, the team must survive 10 waves of increasingly difficult baddies. Only three difficulty levels were available in the beta, but it was a nice taste of what the mode has to offer. Whereas fighting AIM grunts in War Zones and Drop Zones starts to feel a little redundant, taking them on in bigger numbers in an enclosed area can get pretty exhilarating, especially when you’re against a wall in later rounds with fewer chances to heal.

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As far as the combat itself goes, there’s a nice flow to the action, which feels pretty polished at this point, as you chain a mix of attacks with Black Widow, Kamala Khan, Iron Man, and Hulk. I particularly enjoyed playing as Black Widow, who uses a mix of batons, gravity-defying flips, kicks, and dual pistols to take down the game’s robotic enemies. She also has a cool grapple that she uses to swing to hard-to-reach platforms or hurl herself at enemies. Switching between her melee moves and third-person shooter gunplay is pretty smooth, too. Black Widow ultimately feels like the hero who benefits the most from Crystal Dynamics’ own experience with the action-adventure genre. At times, I even wished the studio had embarked on a Black Widow solo adventure instead of such a big superhero endeavor.

Unsurprisingly, learning how to play as each hero is the best part of the beta. While Captain America and Thor are notably absent beyond the tutorial, you get plenty of time with the other Avengers. For the most part, each character feels distinct. Black Widow performs as a close- to mid-range hero while Ms. Marvel is all about melee. Hulk not only brings devastating tank-like power to the battlefield and destruction to the game’s environments but also does quite a bit of platforming along the way (a strange choice to give Hulk so much of the platformer gameplay but it mostly works). With Iron Man, you unlock the ability to fly around and wreak havoc from above, although his melee attacks also feel satisfying and weighty.

Special abilities that work on a cooldown timer add a nice superheroic layer to each character. Iron Man can summon his Hulkbuster suit for when he needs to take on bigger enemies and Hulk can clap his hands together to create a soundwave that does incredible damage and staggers targets. Black Widow can activate a camo that effectively turns the entire team invisible for a short time while Ms. Marvel can embiggen. Each hero has three unique abilities that really complement them and their move set. It was a blast learning how to best implement each ability.

A skill tree and a gear upgrade system allow you to unlock new attacks for each hero as well as upgrade gear stats to make your character stronger. As you level up in the game, you get skill points to redeem in the skill tree while the game’s myriad resources can be used to upgrade different pieces of gear. There are quite a few resources to keep track of, mostly found inside giant crates during missions, but I found that you could mostly ignore which resources upgraded each piece of gear. Compared to loot shooters, collecting resources never feels as grind-y or frustrating as it does in, say, the Destiny games.

You can also find different pieces of gear on the field, such as better gauntlets for Black Widow or better armor for Ms. Marvel, that offer perks (buffs) such as a damage boost, health boost, or elemental effects. Some pieces of gear even have two perks that you can unlock by upgrading them. As far as I could tell from the beta, gear serves to boost your character’s stats further but doesn’t offer any cool cosmetic effects, making loot feel a little less satisfying as a whole than in other loot-based games. Instead, cosmetic changes to your character will come from unlocking skins through gameplay or buying them with real money.

While microtransactions weren’t turned on during the beta, Crystal Dynamics did provide in-game currency so that I could shop for some skins, emotes, and themed nameplates for when you want to rep your favorite hero while in the matchmaking lobby. Skins include a Joe Fixit costume for Hulk, a casual winter-themed outfit for Kamala, a very cool black and red suit for Black Widow, and MCU-inspired suits for each hero. There were only a few skins to try for each character but trailers and gameplay videos have already promised way more costumes to choose from.

Some Marvel fans might perk up at the thought of being able to play Marvel’s Avengers as Joe Fixit and I guarantee there’s plenty more deep-cut comic book goodness where that came from. Credit must be given to Crystal Dynamics for just how much Marvel history it managed to pack into just this short beta. From breaking news from Marvel’s number one reporter, Phil Sheldon, to references to Dum Dum Dugan, easter eggs to be found on the Golden Gate Bridge, and classic real-life comics that make up the game’s collectibles, it’s clear Crystal Dynamics has done its research and has a real love for this universe. There are Avengers memorabilia scattered pretty much everywhere in the Hero Missions and there are even one or two villainous cameos I won’t spoil here.

While AIM facilities feel a bit dull as you run around their familiar hallways, the world as a whole feels lived in. The level design in the beta might falter but the world-building in Marvel’s Avengers is on point. It’s just a shame that the gameplay itself never comes together like the world and lore Crystal Dynamics is building around it.

I return back to my earlier question about whether the content specifically chosen for this beta was the best way to showcase a game as big as Marvel’s Avengers. Did Crystal Dynamics play it too safe for the sake of preserving story elements and other surprises? Will War Zone missions have more to offer than the repetitive gameplay shown here? Crystal Dynamics has stressed that these missions could last anywhere from 10 minutes to two hours. It would’ve been nice to see a mission that’s somewhere in the middle, just to get a better look at the scope of the game. For now, missions and levels feel too minuscule for a team as big as the Avengers.

Will AIM be the only bad guys in the full game? Hopefully not. There are hints in the beta that other supervillains may be on the move and there’s even a brief boss fight with a villain that’s appeared in an MCU movie. With all of Marvel history at the team’s disposal, it’s hard to believe AIM was the best choice here over the countless other evil organizations, factions, and races created by the House of Ideas. Hopefully, the full game will offer a bit more variety on the bad guy front.

Ultimately, it’s important to remember that this is only a beta and what does work in Marvel’s Avengers works well. There’s hope in the game’s world-building, character design, and the combat system. And don’t forget that Marvel’s Avengers is a live service title designed to change and improve over time. It’s positioned as a platform that will receive content updates for years to come. Like many online games before it, it’s possible Marvel’s Avengers will face a rocky launch this fall, but if the history of this particular game format is any indication, Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix will have plenty of time to right the Chimera.

Marvel’s Avengers is out on Sept. 4 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, and Google Stadia. It’s coming to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X later this year.

If you’re interested in participating in the beta, here is the schedule of when you can do so:

August 7-9 – PS4 pre-order customers can join the closed beta

August 14-16 – All PS4 owners can join the open beta, and PC and Xbox One pre-order customers can play the closed beta

August 21-23 – Open beta across all platforms

The post Marvel’s Avengers Beta Doesn’t Deliver Superhero Spectacle, But There’s Hope appeared first on Den of Geek.

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entergamingxp · 4 years

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Resident Evil 3 remake review

The Resident Evil 3 remake comes out just over a year after the Resident Evil 2 remake, which is particularly satisfying timing when you consider the original Resident Evil 3: Nemesis came out just a year after Resident Evil 2, back in 1999. Resident Evil 3 launched just before the launch of the PlayStation 2 and a transition to the next-generation of consoles, and the Resident Evil 3 remake launches not long before the release of the PS5 and Xbox Series X – another satisfying parallel. But unfortunately there is an unwelcome parallel: the Resident Evil 3 remake, like the original upon which it is based, is inferior to its predecessor.

Resident Evil 3

Developer: Capcom

Publisher: Capcom

Platform: Reviewed on PS4

Availability: Out now on PC, PS4 and Xbox One

Don’t get me wrong, when the Resident Evil 3 remake is good, it’s fantastic. The remodelled Jill Valentine, if not inspired by Milla Jovovich then certainly developed with the Resident Evil movie star in mind, is a wonderful character. Her desperate attempt to escape Raccoon City with the relentless Nemesis monster on her back quickly turns into a save the city operation – she’s likeable, determined and I couldn’t help but root for her throughout.

I was surprised to find myself rooting for Umbrella mercenary Carlos Oliveira, too – once I got over his spectacularly vibrant bouffant hair. Carlos comes across as, well, a bit of a dick when he saves Jill – early doors – from the clutches of Nemesis. But as the story progresses so does his character. In reworking Resident Evil 3’s plot, Capcom has placed greater emphasis on Carlos, and you play as him in two extended portions of the game. Jill is of course the star of the show here, but Carlos benefits from the extra quality time – and his new hairdo, which I’m convinced has a life of its own.

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And it’s worth pointing out just how fantastic Resident Evil 3 remake looks. There is an incredible level of detail throughout the game, which was built on the Resident Evil 2 remake tech. Capcom’s lighting technicians are wizards, and I love how incidental objects make subtle noises when you are close, just to freak you out. A creaking gate, the crunch of glass under foot, the wind blowing papers around the downtown streets of Raccoon City – nighttime never looked so good.

It’s a shame, then, that the Resident Evil 3 remake is so fleeting. I finished my playthrough in just five-and-a-half hours, and I think it’s worth unpacking why it felt even breezier than that. This is a more action-oriented game than the Resident Evil 2 remake, and while it does contain traditional horror sections, such as skulking through the creepy corridors of a hospital, you spend less time tiptoeing around corners and listening for thuds, and more time blasting beasts to smithereens. Zombies are less threatening because both Jill and Carlos have the dodges they had in the original Resident Evil 3, but if you time a dodge perfectly, you get a free counter-attack opportunity. Jill and Carlos both have access to serious firepower (Jill gets the shotgun pretty early and Carlos starts with an assault rifle), too. It’s not long before Jill gets an assault rifle of her own and then the death-dealing grenade launcher. So, this remake ends up quite the inventory management game as you fuss over making sure you’ve enough room for your weapons and their ammo (the grenade launcher has four types of ammo). The true fear is you run out of ammo, not run into a rock hard enemy.

Pretty much all of the characters in the game look impressively realistic.

Capcom has also made some curious decisions when it comes to the cutting room floor that make the plot pacey. You start in Jill’s incredibly-detailed apartment before Nemesis starts his assault and forces you out into the city streets. You spend the first hour or two in downtown Raccoon City, running this way and that as you try to get a train working. Downtown Raccoon City is more open than the confines of Resident Evil 2’s iconic police station, and while zombies are everywhere, there are plenty of environmental aids to use in your defense, such as exploding barrels and electric shock stuns. But while downtown is more open, its map is modestly sized. And while you can spend the backtracking time it takes to explore some of the shops and building interiors that were closed off in the original game, it’s not long before you’re on the train and, well, as you’d expect – and as you know if you played Resident Evil 3 on PSone – your escape does not go well at all.

The return to the police station is a cool moment for anyone who played the Resident Evil 2 remake, as, timeline wise, you arrive before Leon turns up. Without spoiling things, Capcom has significantly re-jigged how this area plays out, from start to finish. But there are some clever nods to the Resident Evil 2 remake here – an explanation of some environmental damage and even enemies you’ll remember from last year’s game. I got a kick out of retreading old ground – even if I’d seen most of it before.

My favourite area from Resident Evil 3 is the clocktower, its creepy gothic architecture and fun puzzles a wonderful change of pace following the carnage of downtown. The remake relegates this section to a boss fight, played out in the area outside the clocktower. I found this particularly disappointing, as it means the remake sort of hurtles forward into the next section of the game, which, as someone familiar with the events of the original, meant I knew I was coming up on the endgame. Raccoon Park and its Grave Digger boss aren’t in the remake at all, another popular Resident Evil 3 location that failed to make the cut.

Resident Evil 3 is quite the looker – with lighting particularly impressive.

Perhaps the bigger issue is the lack of puzzles. There are only a few to solve, and none involve much work. I love the silly puzzle-solving in the original Resident Evil games, and the Resident Evil 2 remake had plenty of that, too. What happened here? I’m not sure, but more puzzles would have added variety to the gameplay. Resident Evil 3 remake is a relatively straightforward adventure, and while you can spend time backtracking to find weapon attachments, extra resources and Easter eggs, progression is linear.

Which brings me neatly onto Nemesis – Resident Evil 3’s big bad. I won’t spoil how or when he turns up, or his various forms (there are a few, and some of them are fantastically outlandish), but for me he’s not as effective, or as memorable a villain as Resident Evil 2 remake’s Mr X. He works best in downtown Raccoon City, where he stalks Jill in (relatively) humanoid form while wearing his creepy bin bag-style clothes. But his jump scares feel scripted. Sure, there is some sense of him dynamically stalking you once he bursts onto the scene – usually through a wall. But where Mr. X imposed a sense of dread that encompassed the entire police department – so much so that venturing out from a safe room gave me the fear – Nemesis is about inducing surprise panic.

There are moments where this can work tremendously well. In one playthrough, on a harder difficulty, I escaped the clutches of Nemesis by the skin of my teeth (the less said about Nemesis’ new teeth, the better). One more hit and I’d die, and with Nemesis leaping to attack, I made it under a shutter with a millisecond to spare. Safe, sweating, exhilarating! But these moments are by design, rather than emergent. And in any case, after Nemesis starts sprouting tentacles, he ditches his surprise stalker status and settles into a traditional boss fight role. It’s a different feel, and I don’t think it’s better.

Nemesis has some fantastic transformations – and he’s got surprisingly quick feet for such a big boi.

A word on Resident Evil: Resistance

Resident Evil: Resistance, the asymmetrical 4v1 multiplayer survival horror game, comes bundled with the Resident Evil 3 remake. It is a separate download and client, and was once an entirely separate project. We’ll have more to say on it once its servers are live, but based on our time with the game during playtests and the beta, it’s fun with friends but a bit of a nightmare with randoms. If you’re playing as the Mastermind, know this: Mr. X is overpowered – as he should be?

All this – the pacing, the progression, the action and Nemesis’ design, contributes to the feeling the Resident Evil 3 remake is over too soon. I know, the original Resident Evil 3 wasn’t exactly a long game. And Resident Evil 2’s campaign can be completed in a handful of hours, too. But Resident Evil 2 remake’s campaign can be played over with two separate characters, which changes things. Resident Evil 3 remake is one set story, divided up into Jill and Carlos playtime.

So, why play it again once you’ve finished the game? There are a few reasons. There are incredibly hard difficulty sections for Resident Evil masochists. The knife is invulnerable, so knife-only runs are viable. When you finish the game you unlock the shop, which lets you buy a new costume for Jill and other game-affecting “leg-ups” for a virtual currency you obtain by completing in-game challenges. But apart from that, there’s nothing much else to do.

I feel like I’m coming down a little too hard on the Resident Evil 3 remake. After all, my expectations were set with the incredible Resident Evil 2 remake in mind. Jill is a triumphant character, and there are moments of genuine brilliance here. The hospital level, whose tone rekindles memories of Resident Evil 2’s police department, is fantastically unnerving. But for every super cool area in the Resident Evil 3 remake, there are two areas that fail to inspire. Downtown Raccoon City is, unfortunately, not the expansive, multi-layered stalk-fest I’d hoped it would be. There are no alternate endings to chase, no story-altering choices to make, no new game plus mode. The source material is – and I think this is the perceived wisdom – simply not as good as the original Resident Evil 2. But I can’t shake the feeling the Resident Evil 3 remake was rushed – as its original was. Now that’s an unfortunate parallel.

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2020/03/resident-evil-3-remake-review/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=resident-evil-3-remake-review

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