With no Assassin's Creed release this year, brings opportunity for other studios to show their place within the industry. I for one, am relieved and excited. While others may have found this year's E3 rather low key, I believe this gives us as the players opportunity to experience fresh game experiences. Activision's Call of Duty series and Ubisoft's beloved Assassin's Creed series are good but are in great need of new ideas. With that being said, here are my top 3 upcoming games of 2016!
1. Horizon Zero Dawn
2. Dishonoured 2
3. We Happy Few
Please check out the collector's editions for these titles. They are amazing! But what games are you guys looking forward to?
For this months review, I fancied a change of pace, environment and game mechanics. Games such as Child of Light are not usually high on my must play list. Despite this, I wanted to explore this area of games regardless of previous taste. Plus the curiosity got the better of me! Once completed, I found appreciation and satisfaction for this style of gameplay. So, the important question you may asking yourself is... 'Should I purchaseChild of Light?'
To put it simply, absolutely! There is great potential for these types of games for they give the player the opportunity to experience new game mechanics, players learn to appreciate and observe their environments in greater detail and allows the production studio to stylise the game more illustrative and dream like as opposed to life like titles such as Battlefield.
The next question you may be asking yourself is 'What's it all about?' Imagine the storyline to Cinderella, except there's no prince charming or late night balls! In the game you play as a beautiful, red hair, little girl named Aurora whose a princess to the Duke of Austria. After the new stepmother attempted to kill Aurora, the main character wakes up from a magical alter deep in the forest near a monastery. The story is about personal character development, emphasising to the player that personal growth is possible when we are alone and vulnerable, especially while we are young and naive. Over the course of the game, the player as Aurora grows from a vulnerable young princess into a wise, strong Queen. These changes are noticed physically through-out at certain points.
'Will my child be able to play the game?'
Of-course! One of the key details I like about Child of Light is that the characters interact with one another in a rhyming context. This gives the game a more fairy tale effect. Depending on your child's age, they might be ably to read along! They would certainly be able to play as the controls are easy to master. In combat, there is no blood nor decapitation. Combat itself allows both adults and children alike to think strategically while being entertained as the same time. It's easy to bond with the side quest characters. Finn (the dwarven character) is my favourite!
What I love at Child of Light (recap)
The art style
Music
Side Quests
Storyline
Puzzles
One of my favourite artists, Yoshitika Amono did the artwork for Child of Light!
Listening to the narrator.
Game performs smoothly.
Combat offers players challenge and entertainment.
The variety of enemy types.
Stunning environments!
Animations of flight and combat gameplay.
It appeals to both adults and children.
The variety of environments and interiors.
You can play co-op. One to play Aurora and the other to play the spirit that aids her.
What could have been better (recap)
More side quests!
Music in combat grinds after awhile.
I wanted all the characters to have voice acting.
The ending seems rushed.
If you enjoyed the review and would like to ask me a question or would like further information, please don't hesitate to contact me on this blog! Feel free to like, share or leave suggestions in the comment box below! Helps me out a great deal! Thanks!
The collector's edition for The Witcher 3 was by far in my opinion, one of the best presented collector's editions of 2015. In honesty 2015 has seen better days; a year of broken games released too early on the basis of keeping up with competition release dates. One of the things I have noticed about CD Projekt Red's games is that there is much depth and attention to detail. Companies such as Naughty Dog, do well in the industry for they recognise the importance of finishing their games to an impeccable standard, full of content while ensuring their games work.
On the whole the collector's edition was beautifully made, sturdy and certainly well worth the price depending on your country's currency. The amount of protection used for this edition will put your fears to rest if your concerned about conservation and protection. After removing the outer packaging, you'll find:
A hefty black box with the Witcher symbol display from one end to the other. To open, simply pull sideways gently.
Underneath this smaller box, is a second black box, significantly larger containing the statue. Made from polystone, the quality is second to none. The skill shown is impressive. You certainly feel Geralt's presence during this captured moment. Making the Griffin's tail detachable was a wise choice as this makes it much easier to protect and package it when needed. Let's not forget that these are hand painted pieces which adds to the appreciative value.
The first thing you will see is the hardback art book. Excellent quality paper, brilliant finish, beautiful artwork and it smells great! If you are an artist or illustrator, you can learn a great deal from this book. Although it's not exactly a tutorial guide, it combines a mixture of painting styles with themes of mythology, cultures and history.
Next up is the Witcher wolf school necklace, game with compendium and soundtrack. The necklace itself is well made, has a good weight to it and comes in a secured, small black and red box with a plastic cover. The necklace is perfect to wear for cosplay conventions, everyday or if you daring - weddings!
If you open the game disk, you will find stickers, a paper coloured map of the Witcher world (would have preferred a cloth option,) codes, the compendium and a little card from the developers themselves thanking you for your time, money and faith in the Witcher series. I don't know about you guys but I haven't seen this touch before. It was a pleasant surprise making me feel more appreciative as a fellow artist and gamer. Simple, small touches such as this go a very long way.
Last in the box is the steel book casing. I'm not a huge collector of these but the cover art soon won me over, with Geralt and Ceri taking pride of place in an art nouveau sort of style.
The game...
To cut a long story short, this is to me is one of the finest
made games out there! The characters, environments, the rustic music, cutscenes, costume design, voice acting and everything between is so rich and intricate. The Witcher 3 is the sort of game that caters to a wide variety of gamers - some may like character building, some may prefer the combat elements, others the travelling aspects, quest structure, experience and storyline. And if your fortunate, you may come across gamers such as myself who love every detail and aspect of it.
In many ways the characters have become more and more human - allowing us to see times where they feel strained, how they deal with potentially lethal situations and with one another. My favourite character has always been Triss Merigold but it's very difficult to not like Geralt, Yeneffer, Ceri etc. I believe the reason for this lies in the variety of likes and personalities these characters have. Take Triss and Yen for example. Though they differ in the types of magics used, they have profound abilities in their owns crafts, relish in courtly politics, have great diplomacy skills and are trusted as royal sorceress advisors. Whereas Geralt is more the loner character that's comfortable in his own skin, see things as they are, acts swiftly and has no interest in courtly life.
One of the things that makes The Witcher 3 a pleasure to play is the amount of choice you can make and the fact that each choice will have its pros and consequences. Being able to play Gwent, collect rare cards from defeated opponents, acquire normal decks for your card collection, challenge other NPC's characters was an added bonus to an already realistic feeling atmosphere. Combat was brutal, fast and strategic. The crossbow I felt was somewhat of a letdown due to the very little damage it dealt to my target. Looking back now, I believe the crossbow was a tool to perhaps disorientate and disrupt enemy attacks rather than dealing sufficient damage.
Another aspect I liked was the variety of voice acting i.e. young & old voices recorded in a range of different accents. Welsh for one! With the possible exception of other Witcher titles, I don't recall these sorts of accents featuring in other games which is a great disappointment given how much richer it made the gameplay experience. Ideally, I would like to disclose favourite scenes from the game. However, I wouldn't wish to spoil it for my viewers. Instead, I will share my favourite city... Novigrad.
Noviagrad is the sort of city where we as the players, could ever hope to get close to imagine of what it was like in medieval times - brothels, docks, rich and poor districts, large markets, beautiful architecture, quirky characters, a congregation of different races, huge crowds, the occasional burning at the stake, relaxing indoor baths, coloured glass, street and interiors full of colour and character. If you want more information please see the link below this image from the Witcher wiki.
Thats my review on the game and the collector's edition! It may seem short. If that's the case, my reason for this is simply the following; I want you to play the game and experience what it has to offer. I cannot disclose spoilers for those reasons. As I said earlier, the amount of content for the price you pay is so worth it. And I simply can't condense all that it has to offer in one review. Therefore I would heavily recommend this game. If you guys have any further questions on the game or the review, please don't hesitate to ask!
Here are some links for more information about The Witcher Franchise. Please check out the official website for CD Projekt Red and the toy fair 2016 video from IGN. Enjoy!
Since BETHESDA's release of Fallout 3, gamers internationally were left wondering as to what they could expect from Fallout 4's concepts. Development was done so in secret, with certain questions being dodged during interviews. Despite this, fans knew such a project was already in development, heightening the hype as a result. Since the release of the next generation consoles, this has opened an array of opportunities for graphical enhancements as well as improving performance generally. Certainly, you'd think that Fallout 4 would make the perfect candidate, to really see if such big game RPG's could successfully be supported on larger consoles.
For several years of work, I believe the game in general, has been created to a very high standard. This is evident in many factors from performance to graphics and gameplay - to which I shall discuss in just a moment. To start, I'd like to express how interesting it was to have a taste of pre-war Fallout. Environments are rich, yet they held aspects of historical influences from Witchcraft to the American war of Independence.
Things that I liked:
The construction and customisation of weapons, settlements and power and other armour types.
The personality of companions and NPC'S.
The opportunity to build levels of friendship and romance with companions.
Combat - enemy AI.
Stealth System
Exploring various types of environments, swamps, seas, quarries, forests, pre-war Chinese submarine etc.
The aesthetic of the 'Glowing Sea.'
Voice Acting
Significantly less glitches and tedious loading screens.
Side quest story lines, opportunities and content.
A wide range of allies and enemies.
Weather systems - rain storms, fog, sunshine etc.
Music for the radio, pip boy.
Armour System
Being able to join various factions - The Brotherhood, Pillar of the Community, The Railroad, The Minute Men and The Institute.
Plenty of opportunities to hoard!
Collecting junk is finally seen as a crucial part of customisation elements.
Google image Screen shot from BlackLagoonGaming88 - youtube.
Things that I didn't like:
The building system - not being able to create walls on uneven ground, clear rubble, difficulty in blending defence walls into another to create a more solid, organised structure.
Not having the ability too send followers to Sanctuary Hills (That could be a bug on my end.)
Conversation system - Context is hit and miss.
Compared to fallout 3, being somewhat of a evil character is difficult. While conversing with NPC's, the 'evil' response is seen as not so. Although adding a sarcastic element to the game and having NPC's give it back to you (Nick Valentine for example,) is a refreshing aspect to gameplay. You are forced in a sense to be good. Fallout 4's review score would have been higher if we had the freedom to act as we please with the consequences and rewards to boot. That's not to say Fallout 4 shouldn't be credited for the progress since the third game. Rather than in this regard, Fallout 3 would be better by default. In previous titles, we were able to choose between saving a town and blowing it up. Rewards for both options were somewhat similar yet different depending on your morality and aesthetic style.
All in all, I'd say that Fallout 4 is not as good or worse than Fallout 3. Both are excellent in most aspects but the few things that separate them is moral choice and game performance and graphics.
That was my review of Fallout 4! If you like the review please leave a like or comment as this helps me to improve and such. Thank you for taking the time to read it.
It's been awhile since I have released reviews and being generally active online. For that, I am very sorry. In honesty, I have lacked inspiration mainly because I have been informed by family of a family member being seriously ill. As a result, my blogging and Master's work had to be put on hold until further notice. As I said, I want to apologise to those of you who enjoy reading my work and for the lack of presence.
Now that things are much better, I would like you give you guys control as to which game you would like for me to review for this month... and for March!
Also, I was contemplating setting up another blog illustrating drawings, second book ideas etc. What do you guys think?
Please leave your suggestions in the box below, along with any questions or ideas!
Thank you so much for understanding.
