Strategy Guide Reviews

A Strategy Guide for your Strategy Guides

The Corner of Randomness: Taking in the Wild

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Well, I cracked the other day. Yup, I snagged Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Much to Keri’s dismay though, I got it on the WiiU and not the Switch. As much as I want that shiny new Nintendo hardware, I just can’t justify buying it for one game currently. I also really want to play the new Zelda now and not in a year! So, this was my best option at this time.

Breath of the Wild is absolutely fantastic. The open world aspect of the game is a nice change of pace. I like that I am free to go explore the world in hopes of finding new temples or little towns. The clichéd phrase of “if you can see it, you can visit it” applies here as well. I’ve climbed up small mountains, scurried up big towers, and glided to little islands. All in a quest to obtain more heart containers so I can finally get my grubby hands on the Master Sword.

There have been complaints of performance issues, lack of music, and little hand holding from the game. I can confirm I’ve run into the dreaded frame dropping. The frame dropping is pretty infrequent, which is both nice and horrible. It’s nice because I run all over having fun. It’s horrid because when it does happen, it is extremely noticeable and a bit of an immersion breaker.

As for the lack of music or little hand holding, I’m not bothered by either of these complaints. The music that the game does provide is of the standards we’ve come to love and expect from this series. I feel music playing all the time would just drown out other immersion factors like hearing your gear clank as you run, or the rain falling, or birds singing in the forest. The lack of hand holding doesn’t bother me either as I’ve played plenty of games that make you explore and learn the game mechanics on your own. It’s really not a terrible thing.

Hell, now I wanna jump back into the game and explore some more. Oh, and if you’re curious, I did beat Horizon Zero Dawn. I absolutely loved that game. The world was well crafted, the story was pretty solid, and the game play was on point. Heck, I’ve even gone back to hunt down an extra trophy or two, and I never do that. I really do hope some DLC comes out for that game because I’d love to explore that world even more!

The Corner of Randomness: I Kind of Want a Switch

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Sometimes, Twitch.TV is a terrible thing to be addicted to. Thanks to various streamers enjoying the bejeezus out of the new Zelda game, I am seriously starting to want a Nintendo Switch. Even worse, I know I can get the game on the Wii U, but new console hotness is addicting.

What also doesn’t help is that I’m starting to see more friends snagging a Switch and then boasting how much they are enjoying it. That whole taking it with you and being able to play your games wherever you want is just so friggin’ appealing. Heck, even Penny Arcade totally made me want one with their recent comic of them playing the Switch while on a plane.

Yeah, I know. I already have a Vita and a 3DS. I don’t really NEED a Switch to get my portable gaming on. But….but…ZELDA! Okay, maybe a $400 Zelda box isn’t the smartest investment under my current financial situation. Yet I really don’t care.

I do believe I will be able to hold out a bit longer. Like, maybe kinda sorta, until Nintendo gets their act in gear and puts some virtual consoles in place. I am also curious what this paid online service is going to bring with it. Hopefully with a bit more time, the Switch will become a much more robust gaming device.

Some days it is hard to be a gamer. The Nintendo Switch intrigues me. From the friends I’ve talked to, they love it, but it does have some caveats to consider. I’m starting to crack. MUST GET THE PRECIOUS!

The Corner of Randomness: HackerFight VI

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Ahhh, it’s that glorious time of year again. That time of year when players come out of their homes for the first time in months, because it is almost actually warm. The sounds of fight sticks start filling the air. The smells of gamers packed into small and overheated hotel conference rooms penetrates your nasal passages. The cheers of the upsets, and the tears of the masters falling can be heard far and wide. Yes, the fighting game season is kicking into high gear.

This weekend marks the start of the CPT (Capcom Pro Tour) with Final Round 20. Sure, the CPT isn’t the end-all-be-all of the FGC (Fighting Game Community), but it is a pretty big force behind making fighting games a bigger deal when it comes to e-sports. This is but one part of the machine that is the FGC as players are also ramping up for the madness that is EVO. Craziness.

Yet, last weekend I watched a tournament I had not heard of before. It was called HackerFight VI and it was hosted by Facebook. Yeah, that Facebook. Sadly no, Zuckerberg didn’t make an appearance as some sort of special guest or anything like that. However, ninety teams consisting of three players each did make an appearance.

What really got me about this tournament wasn’t so much that it was hosted by Facebook, it was the fact that this was a tech industry invitational. Teams from companies such as Sony, Oracle, Google, Blizzard, NVIDIA, Apple, Cisco, and so many others all sent teams to participate in this tournament. I don’t know why, but it just blew me away to see players representing Tesla make it into the Top 16. It was quite the enjoyable time.

The other part that made this so enjoyable was the commentators. Because this is not an official tournament for any game or company, there is nothing really holding people back. The commentators were able to joke around freely. This made for some great conversations. I’m pretty sure the free beer also helped with that.

HackerFight VI caught me by complete surprise. I’m glad I stumbled upon it on Twitch.TV as it was a blast to watch. It also has me ready for the FGC season to get into full swing. With Final Round 20 this weekend, I am ready to be a bum and sit at my computer and take in all the action!

The Corner of Randomness: Horizon Zero Dawn

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Happy Nintendo Switch release day! To those who have snagged this new console, I hope ya enjoy it. I’m stuck to sticking to my policy of wanting three games before I invest in a new console. That means I probably won’t be on the Switch train until they release some themed version that I MUST have, or there is some software that makes me salivate to a point that I must go shopping. Then again, I hear the new Zelda game is totally legit! We’ll see how long I last on holding off.

While I am only watching people enjoy their new Nintendo Switch console, I’m in PS4 land enjoying Horizon Zero Dawn. I really shouldn’t have picked this game up, but I am weak…and money is just a thing…and screw being an adult and making adult like decisions. So I preordered the game on PSN last week and then watched a countdown clock tick away until the game unlocked at 11PM CST on Monday. Thank you pre-loading! Little did I know just how addicted I would become.

Horizon Zero Dawn is an interesting mix of genres. There is a bit of fantasy blended with sci-fi. It might sound weird having a hero that hunts mechanical animals with a bow and arrow, but the story works well to make this a believable thing that could actually happen. Yes, you still storm bandit camps and find old towns, but you also go spelunking in nifty machine hideaways. There are times that I feel like I am Neo and I’m about to save all of humanity. Other times, I feel like I’m Red Sonja and the spear is the only way to resolve conflicts. Like I mentioned, it’s a wonderful combination of fantasy and sci-fi.

The other aspect of the game that has me playing into the wee hours of the morning is the photo mode. The game is stunning to see. The lighting, weather changes, and how the time of day changes the visual presentation is just fantastic. If you know some fundamentals of photography, you’ll even get more out of the photo mode. I often find myself roaming the lands looking for a spot to pose for a selfie.

I’m roughly twenty hours into Horizon Zero Dawn. I have no idea how long the game will take me to complete. There are just enough side quests to keep me going from one campfire to the next, but not so many that I feel oppressively overwhelmed. The story is enjoyable. The combat feels solid and challenging when it needs to be. The whole package is just well done. If you haven’t snagged anything new lately, and you’re in the need for a new world to check out, give this title some consideration.

The Corner of Randomness: When Developers Get Chatty

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Last night I was making my usual rounds of various Twitch.TV streamers that I follow in an attempt to relax before bed. One of my favorite streamers was playing a new game I had not heard of before. Intrigued by this new title, I jumped into their channel to see what the new hotness that is Dye was all about.

Dye turns out to be a pretty interesting little game. It’s one of those difficult platformer games in the same vein as Super Meat Boy and I Wanna Be The Boshy. If pixel perfect jumps, spot-on timing, and countless deaths are not your thing, then this game is probably not going to float your boat. I don’t know that I’ll play the game, but it looks neat and it was made by just two people. Crazy, right?

As I’m watching the streamer struggle bus their way through the game, they made a comment about how the developers of the game were in the chat. I am not one to keep Twitch.TV chat open for reasons, but I figured it would be interesting to see how the developers interacted with chat. Ultimately, this lead to a long night of chatting when I should have been asleep. Yet, I actually learned a bit about what all goes into making a game. Even one that appears to be rather simple, yet is fairly complex.

This is why I enjoy Twitch.TV so much. When smaller games release, oftentimes the developers can be found on some stream talking about the game they just released into the wild. You get access to ask the developers what they were thinking when they went with a specific art style, or control scheme, or what made them want to make a game, or where you can obtain their totally chill original soundtrack. I’ve seen bigger developers attempt this same type of interaction, but those often devolve into vile and stupidity because chat just can’t enjoy video games.

This is not the first time I’ve witnessed this phenomena. I once caught the CEO of ROCKFISH Games sitting in a tiny stream in which the streamer was playing Everspace. They were very interactive with chat. What was really nice about this interaction is that at that time, the game was still in the beta stages. If you bought the game and sent the CEO a message with your order number, they would get you right into the beta without having to wait for weeks or months. I’m pretty sure they sold quite a few copies of the game just based on the almost instant beta access. Also, the game was totally worth it as it is a good bit of fun.

It is crazy at what all you can actually find on Twitch.TV now. Being able to interact with developers is still a fairly new thing, but one that I hope we continue to see happen more frequently. Twitch and chill?

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