All Good Things…..

I started this blog over two years ago, and i’ve had a blast working on it. However, it’s now time for me to move on. I’ve now got a PS4 and am going to start trying to do more reviews for games that are more current, and thus I can no longer take on the moniker of “poor mans geek”. By the time you read this i’ll have started my new pages, “Ludophile Lab” and “What William’s Watching”. I’ll still be doing reviews, trailer impressions and editorials, but i’ll no longer be doing them on this site.

If I’m following you, then I enjoy your content and for the first few hours, days or however long it takes, i’ll go about re-following everyone I follow now so that I may keep up with your content, and I hope that, if you follow me now, you’ll follow me on my new pages as well.

Cool Stuff From Around the Web: Eli Roth Directs an Animated Dark Souls Trailer

Actor and Director Eli Roth has just released this gory little trailer for Dark Souls 3. While the overall trailer feels more related to Dark Souls tonally more so than anything else, i found this to be a fun watch. Just know before watching, this does get pretty gruesome.

TMNT: Mutants In Manhattan Gameplay Trailer and Impressions

I know i’ve said this before, but i’m not the biggest TMNT fan. I don’t dislike the franchise, but i wasn’t raised on it the same way others were so it just doesn’t mean as much to me. I don’t know who most of the characters in this trailer are, i don’t know how accurate any of this is to any of the turtles previous incarnations and to be honest, i don’t care enough to start digging. And yet here i am thinking i’d really like to get my hands on this. This just looks like a lot of fun and simple fun is something games have been missing a lot lately. For christ sake, you get to play as a turtle with a jet pack. When was the last time a game featured a jet pack? 2010’s “Dark Void” is the last one i can think of and….i’d rather not think of 2010’s Dark Void.

My only concern is the price. This (and Platinum’s Transformers game as well) look like budget games to me. While i’m fine with that (in fact i think it would be an overall good for the industry to bring back mid-tear, lower priced games) but if it’s not priced like one, then my good will wont be able to outweigh my wallets apathy and i think the same could be said for a lot of people. And seeing that Transformers: Devastation is $50 on steam still doesn’t fill me with much hope.

Resident Evil 4,5,6 Next Gen Trailer and Impresions

I am of the mind that one of the most useless questions anyone can ask about a piece of art is “who asked for this”. It places audience desires above artistic expression and it limits the range of any creative medium to only what an audience thinks it wants without ever considering that what they really want is something new and out of the ordinary. But the more i think about this, the more that question keeps popping into my mind: “who asked for this?” who wanted a remake of RE6? It has to have been someone at Capcom, as i don’t know of anyone who actually enjoyed RE6, so i doubt it was included here due to fan outcry. So i want to know: who asked for this, and why do they still have a job?

RE4 i get. It was released back in the early 2000’s for PS2 and Gamecube, so i can see why Capcom would chose to remake it as it was fairly well received both critically and commercially from what i recall. And as both games were more action than horror, i could even see this being used to celebrate this period in the franchise or just shine a light on the good in  these games even if they did start moving away from the franchises core.

But why add RE6? I can’t recall a single good review from either critics or fans. So why not just…sweep this one under the rug?

Salt and Sanctuary Multiplayer Gameplay and Impressions

Ever since i beat Dark Souls (and made the stupid decision to trade it in) i’ve been looking for new games to fill the whole in my Hollowed Heart. Because of that Salt and Sanctuary has been on my radar for quite some time now. And once you look past the painfully awkward voice over here, i think you’ll see why. with the sole exception of the perspective shift this could almost be made by using a “find an replace” creative tool. But i’m okay with that. As much as i love the Souls games, i’d like to see more developers try their  hand at creating a similar experience as that brings new perspectives too each game. I’m still hoping someone eventually makes a Souls-like game with a non-western setting/mythology, but for now i’ll take what i can get.

Pokémon Sun & Moon Reveal Trailer and Impressions

As a celebration of the twenty year history of the Pokemon franchise, this is a really sweet video. As a reveal trailer for the new games, this is a huge wast of time. And that’s the core of my main issue here: this is clearly labeled the “Sun and Moon Reveal Trailer” but the first half of the trailer is little more than nostalgia bate.

But it is damn good nostalgia bate. I’ll admit, i haven’t played a pokemon game since “Sapphire and Ruby”, but this really made me want to go find a copy of X or Y and reintroduce myself to the franchise. But i still wish the trailer had something more too say than “hey kids, a new pokemon game is coming out soon, get your wallet ready”

UNCHARTED 4: A Thief’s End Story Trailer and Impressions

Due to an over a flood of school work the last few days, i haven’t been able to post as much as i would have liked. So i’d like to personally thank Naughty Dog for giving me a nice and easy trailer to talk about just before i began to hate myself for staying inactive as long as i have.

As much as i’d love to just gush over how excited i am for the game (and don’t get me wrong, i AM excited), this trailer mostly serves to point out how little the stories in this franchise really matter. Sure, the writing and characters are great (for the unfortunately still low bar set for video game writing) but with the sole exception of each games macguffin the plot has been pretty much the same. This doesn’t tend to bother me in game as the characters and the writing mask this just enough to go unnoticed in the middle of the games well paced action and set peaces, but give just this the games well worn motifs start to shine through. Most of the big moments seem almost ripped strait out of the previous games. This would bother me….

But damn this looks good. For all the issue i have, Naughty Dog have proven time and time again they know how to make a good game and have earned my trust. Well, they have more earned my benefit of the doubt.

 

The Walking Dead: Michonne Extended Preview and Impressions

I’m currently working on my review for Season 2 of telltale’s Walking Dead game, and since finishing the game i’ve had one question on my mind: where’s season 3? This might not have answered that question, but it’s done enough to hold my interest. While i always felt on of the greatest strengths of this franchise was that it didn’t rely to heavily on callbacks to the comics (or the god awful TV show), i’m not bothered by a game focusing on Michonne. I stopped reading the comics shortly after her entrance (my last memorize of the comics was her getting revenge on someone with a spoon), but i always found the katana welding, zombie enslaving bad ass was a good addition to the cast. So getting some more of her is hard to argue against. I can’t lie, i want more of Clementine and her story, but a break from the childhood trauma simulator might be a nice change of pace for the franchise.

Like i said, Michonne is a bad ass

Dark Souls III Opening Cinematic and Impressions

I don’t think i’m going to be alone in saying that the story is not what really draws me to Dark Souls. I’ve watch more than my fair share of lore videos about the franchise, but the game play has always been the real point of focus here. Because of that, you’re going to have to forgive me for not having much to say about this particular trailer. There are really only two things that pop out at me: 1) This is a much better opening that Dark Souls 2 had (but that’s not hard to pull off) and 2) this just looks stunning. If you’ve been reading my stuff for any amount of time you’ll know i hardly talk about how a game looks as i just don’t think graphics matter as much as others do, but god damn this looks fantastic. The Souls games have always had really beautiful vistas in them, but this blows them all out of the water. Maybe that’s just due to this being made with more powerful hardware, but this is a game i just don’t want too stop looking at. If you hear any weird stories in the coming months about some idiot trying to sell his soul for a PS4 and a copy of this, there’s a chance that might be me, because that is a tempting offer right now.

LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens Trailer and Impressions

I have long since stopped caring about the Lego video games, but this trailer does remind me why i use to love the games so much. The use of lines from the films trailer mixed with the franchise trade mark humor works well and instantly makes me more interested in that more than any of the other of the spin offs there’s been over the last decade (jesus christ has this series really been around for that long?). I probibly wont be piking this up, but i can’t say i’m too upset too see it being release. Now lets just wait for the inevitable “Lego Batman Vs Superman” and all this enthusiasm come crashing back down again.