Strategy Guide Reviews

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The Corner of Randomness: Hello Destiny 2

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Destiny 2If the news of hurricanes, wild fires, droughts, and other horridness has kept you busy, then you should know that Destiny 2 is out now. Well, it’s out on consoles now with the PC version having to wait another month before that version will see the light of day. Yet, I’m not snagging Destiny 2 right away. I’m a bit sad by this, but not that sad.

You see, what made the original Destiny fun for me was playing with friends and family. There were the times I’d get up at 4AM so Blake and I could play through a new expansion. Just as we would finish and he’d head off to work, my brothers would be jumping into the game and I’d play through the expansion again. This would inevitably lead to various friends getting home from work and, wait for it, I’d do it all over…again.

That is what I will miss from not being able to snag Destiny 2 right away. I have heard the story is much improved over the first game. Not that it would take much as the story for Destiny was pretty weak. From what I’ve watched on Twitch.TV, it seems like there is quite a bit more to do. That is always a good thing. The game does look like the developers listened to some of the gripes of players, and made changes for the better.

Yet, as I watch streams of the game, it just looks like more of the same thing that I’ve already played. If you liked the first game, then this sequel should be great for you. For me, the part that I’m missing the most is just joking around with people, catching up with my brothers, and simply being able to play video games with friends that are hundreds of miles away. I guess I could always just call them to talk…psh, that’s such a 90s thing to do.

The Corner of Randomness: Back Into No Man’s Sky

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No Man's SkyNo Man’s Sky is surrounded by so much controversy that you could basically cut it with a knife and serve it on a platter to all the haters. There really is no middle ground when it comes to this game. People either enjoy the game, or they just crap all over it. I get it. No Man’s Sky promised a lot, but fell flat at launch. It was essentially a $60 early access title. Well, a year has now passed since the game released. Patches and content have trickled out in that time. So, I decided to see what all has changed.

To start, I enjoyed the game when it launched. It was more of a relaxing kind of game for me. Now that there is more content to it, the game is even more fun. I decided that I’d delete my old game and start anew. Might as well experience what all has been added.

I can say that the game is vastly improved. Simple things like refilling your life support systems, or adding fuel to your thrusters, is simplified and streamlined. There is still that annoying part where inventory management is a constant battle. Yet, there is more spaces to store materials, and it’s pretty painless to now send and retrieve stuff from your ship. Speaking of your ship, the ability to just call the ship to you as opposed to trying to find it is a welcomed addition. There is even a decent photo mode, and I love a solid photo mode!

No Man’s Sky now has a few new modes as well. There is a hardcore mode where when you die, that’s it. There is also a more relaxing creative mode. No more storage management issues as everything is available to those that just want to explore the universe, or build whatever their imaginations can cook up.

At this point, I don’t think anyone is going to change their mind on the game. Like I said earlier, I enjoyed the game at release, but these improvements make the game much more enjoyable. I know there is still some broken promises when it comes to what No Man’s Sky promised and what it delivered. However, it’s nice to see Hello Games continuing to support this game with new content and improvements, even with all the crap they have gotten over this title. If you own the game, patch it up and take a look at it. You might just be pleasantly surprised by how much the quality of life has improved on this game.

The Corner of Randomness: Randomize All the Things

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A Link to the Past randomizer tournamentI’ve noticed a big upswing in various games getting the randomized item treatment. Maybe it’s because I’ve been watching a lot of A Link to the Past and Super Metroid randomizer runs as of late. Of which, the latest Entrance Shuffle mode for A Link to the Past is stupidly fun to watch. If you haven’t watched one of the Entrance Shuffle runs, you should seriously consider giving one a watch in the not so distant future! Yet, these are not the only games that now have a random item location mod.

Recently I was watching one of my favorite Dark Souls streamers playing two different types of mods for Dark Souls 1. There was an item randomizer run where the game had all the weapons, armor, and items randomized. So you never knew if he was going to get some sort of badass weapon from a boss, or if he was about to get trolled with some crappy item that really wouldn’t help him out.

The second run he did, he used a mod that made it so every three hits he scored on enemies/bosses would “level” him up. It would also assign some random gear to his character and level his stats appropriately to use said gear. If he got hit, he was back to level 1 with absolutely no gear outside of some basic weapon. This run was extremely entertaining to watch due to just how much skill went into trying not to get hit to lose an overly powerful setup.

Some other notable randomized games I’ve watched have been Mega Man X1, Pokémon Red, and even Super Mario Bros. Currently, all these randomizer runs exist due to mods or changing some code in the ROM that the people are playing. Yet, it has me wondering if we will soon see a developer take note of how much fun these types or games are and actually develop a game around this idea of randomizing where items appear in the game. I think it would be fun while adding a new level of challenge to video games. Hmmm, I wonder if SpeedGaming has anything on right now!

The Corner of Randomness: Gen Con 50

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Gen Con is currently in full swing. For longtime readers of this site, you know this is usually my yearly pilgrimage to Indianapolis for four days of sleep deprivation, gaming, photography, forging new memories, and tons of laughs. Unfortunately, this is the second year in a row that I’ve had to cancel my plans to attend. Friggin lack of money and having to be an adult about it.

Not going this year is pretty hard for me. This was to be my last Gen Con that I’d attend. Not because I’m bored of it, but because the event has grown so much that just trying to secure a hotel close to the venue has become a massive pain in the ass. Gen Con has grown so much over the years that it’s practically out grown Indy. This year is the first time they have completely sold out. That means roughly 80,000 nerds, geeks, dweebs, and whatnot have descended upon Indy to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Gen Con. Crazy, right?!?!

I have a lot of great memories of Gen Con. From my first year going at the encouragement of a friend, my first time being an artist and sharing my toy photos with hordes of people, to just having a beer at The Ram. It’s been a fantastic convention to attend. Indy might not have been ready for this event when it first showed up, but the city has adjusted and adapted to the massive influx of visitors.

My first Gen Con was the first year they were in Indy. I believe there was something like 27,000ish people that attended that year. My last time attending was two years ago and they had crossed to the 69,000 attendee mark. That’s some healthy growth. Heck, some of the businesses in the area make 25% of their yearly profits over the four days that Gen Con is there. That just amazes me.

While I can’t be there in person, I am there with all my friends in spirit. I wish I could be there, but a small part of me is also thankful that I’m not smashed into that gigantic crowd. Here’s to you Gen Con. Thanks for all the memories and great times!

The Corner of Randomness: Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice

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Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice released this week, and it came with a few surprises. Now, I’m pretty broke so I’ve all but stopped looking for new games to play. Besides, Warframe and ESO are keeping me plenty busy. Oh, and that Stack of Shame is still there…being ignored. Yet, I was watching a bit of Twitch.TV over lunch on Monday, and the streamer I was tuned into mentioned how excited he was for Hellblade to release on Tuesday.

Tuesday rolls around and the game is finally available. Then the angry mob gathered their pitchforks and went to the internet. People are upset over two things they deem as issues with the game. The first is the all too common complaint that the game is too short. To that complaint I can only answer that people should be used to this by now. A lot of games that release these days only have a campaign that lasts a few hours. Take Resident Evil 7 for instance. That game can be completed in under four hours. Heck, there is even an achievement for beating it under that time.

The second issue was the bigger problem for people. You see, the game will delete your save file if you die too many times. Yup, all of your progress is wiped clean and you have to start over. If you die too many times that is. You can’t turn this off. There is no option to not play by these rules. It just happens and the only way to keep it from happening to you is to either play on an easier difficulty, or just get good at the game.

Now there are plenty of people arguing about this chosen design feature. As with anything, some are for it and some are against it. Thus I’ll keep my take on this short. I’m fine with this. If/when I play this game, I’ll just play on easy and have less worry of my save file actually being deleted. No big deal. I can still earn trophies/achievements, even though I opted to play on easy. These are the rules the game has set in place for me. I actually kind of like it as it means I’ll play a lot more cautiously. Dare I say, it even deepens my bond with the main character as I don’t want to see her story come crashing to an end just because I was playing recklessly.

All this complaining about various game features is really getting old. Either buy the game knowing what design decisions were made, how long the story is, and if it’ll be more of a multi-player type of game, or just don’t buy it and move along. It’s totally just that simple. Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is $30. In the grand scheme of gaming, that’s a decently cheap game for four to eight hours of enjoyment. Yet, we now live in a time where people want to complain about everything and anything. So please, if a shorter story or the possibility of your save file being wiped clean bothers you, just move along. Let people enjoy the games they find fun. Is being angry over a video game really worth your time and energy? Yeah, I thought not.

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