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The Corner of Randomness: For the Love of Indie Games

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Party HardOne of my recent gaming addictions is Party Hard. This is a game that Keri clued me in on one afternoon. I watched a small bit of a stream of it and was instantly hooked when I saw the streamers use a bull to run over a bunch of people at a party. A few moments later the game was downloading to my PS4.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve noticed I am really enjoying the Indie scene when it comes to video games. Between Party Hard and Axiom Verge, I sometimes have a rough time figuring out which game I’d rather play. It’s not a bad issue to have by any stretch of the imagination. If only I could bring my lightning gun to the party!

Indie games prove that you don’t need multi-million dollar budgets or big flashy visuals to be a great game. In fact, most Indie games are far from spectacular looking. What they lack in AAA gimmicks, they more than make up for in actual game play, challenge, and enjoyment. Heck, I still go back to play The Binding of Isaac or FTL from time to time as they are just good challenging fun.

The other item I have noticed that is common among a fair amount of Indie games I play is that they are usually easy to pick up and play, but offer a great challenge that takes some serious dedication to master. It is really enjoyable to go back to a game like FTL and feel as though I never stopped playing it. I can easily play the game for a small chunk of time and walk away satisfied with what I did in that game session. Usually because I managed to get just that tiny bit further to beating it than I did my last time playing it. It’s that hook that pulls so many people in. Well, that and the usual small price point that almost all Indie games command from your wallet.

AAA titles still have their place on my plate of addictions. Between Dark Souls III, Battleborn, and (hopefully) soon Doom, I’m still loving what the bigger developers have to offer. Yet, it seems as of late that I just really dig what the Indie scene is pumping out. With that, I think it is time to go party…..really effing hard!

Monday Gaming Diary: Why Does She Have to be Named Linkle?

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I actually have been working my way through Hyrule Warriors Legends, believe it or not, and I continue to be amazed at how much tweaking Nintendo and Tecmo have done between the Wii U and 3DS releases. For starters, I love that they now have all of the chests available the first time you play the Legends mode and allow you to switch to the appropriate character to open the chest. Before, the chests would only appear with certain characters. The game always told you which characters had a chest for them, so you didn’t have to guess, but now you don’t have to replay them several times. You only do if you want those damn Gold Skulltullas, which are still a beating to retrieve.

The biggest change is the addition of Linkle, a female Link. She has her own set of side adventures that I don’t know are optional or not, because I’m playing them anyway. She’s always believed that she was supposed to be the Legendary Hero of Time, and she always kept a green tunic for the occasion. She’s a fun fighter with her dual crossbows, and I like that she actually talks. Link always lets fairies or others speak for him, which was cute at first and annoying several Zelda games later.

linkle-fan-art-proves-the-internet-loves-her-719887

Aside from the fact that she’s bound to run into some disappointment when she realizes she wasn’t tapped with Triforce tattoos on her hands or the Triforce of Courage, (or maybe she doesn’t run into Link and Zelda at all) her name bothers the absolute crap out of me. Nintendo, I get that you wanted to make it absolutely clear that she is the female Link. But there are hundreds of ways of making that clear and keeping “link” in her name without making it rhyme with”tinkle.”

Linkalla. Linkalie. Linklie. Linkan. Linkanna. Linkara.

Any of those are thousands of times better than Linkle. I feel weird even typing that.

That said, I’d still buy a Linkle amiibo, because I need all the Links.

The Corner of Randomness: The Joy of Just Being a Gamer

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Gamer

So many ways to play video games!

Every week it seems video game fans are subjected to some sort of drama. People are constantly getting called out as XBots, PS Fanboys, Console Peasants, or PC Master Race just to name a few. While I try to steer clear of the comment section in various gaming related articles, sometimes curiosity gets to me and I venture into that unholy land. I am then quickly reminded why it is a bad idea as the hate and vile quickly hits within a few comments. It’s sad when you think about it. Don’t even get me started on the battleground that is known as social media.

When did we become so divided amongst ourselves? Why can’t we just enjoy games of all kinds? Even better, why can’t we recognize that we all have different tastes in video games, gaming platforms, and so on? It is such a waste of energy to be so angry all the time. It destroys the fun and excitement that are video games. It also makes this industry look like a bunch of whiny little brats.

I am a gamer. I am not an XBot. I am not a fanboy of this or that console. I’ll be damned if I ever label myself as a Master Race of anything. I am a gamer, and it is glorious! I experience the vast expanses of space while playing Elite: Dangerous on my PC. When I need a break from my ever growing Steam library, I jump into some Destiny on my PS4, or load up Dark Souls III when I feel I need to be punished, or whatever the new hotness on my consoles is that week…looking at you Party Hard! When I travel, I capture Pokémon or attempt to conquer my ever expanding stack of shame on the Vita. At the end of the day, I’m having fun and isn’t that what video games are all about?

It’s time we as a gaming collective realize that there are good and bad points to everything. How someone decides to dine on the buffet of virtual worlds is their choice. Instead of fighting about what makes this console inferior to that console, or running to the hills to shout how glorious it is to play games on a PC, maybe we could talk about the games themselves. You know, have a discussion about why a new Zelda game could be a good thing, or what makes some random niche JRPG an experience that a certain group of fans should consider venturing into. It doesn’t have to be all sunshine and unicorns during these discussions. Yet it seems constructive criticism often turns into anger and hate. When someone disagrees with you, they sure like to let you know with some sort of rage filled comment.

I really hope that someday, the Keyboard Crusaders will become a thing we only read about in history books. I look forward to the day that we can celebrate all things video games, and just respect one another. Maybe one day, we can all just be gamers! Trust me, this is a time when the grass is truly greener on the other side of the fence. It’s lush soft green grass. The kind you just want to play in!

Monday Gaming Diary: PAX East Post-Recovery

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I haven’t been to PAX East in three years, and when I went, I was five months pregnant (bad idea, by the way) and wasn’t known to really any of the PR reps. That makes for quite a different experience compared to this round, when I was thankfully not pregnant and now I’m known a bit more by publisher public relations. The upside was I was in a better mood and didn’t have to pee every 20 minutes. The downside is I was so busy, I was just as exhausted as I was when I was pregnant.

PAX East 2016

You don’t want to be part of this pregnant.

However, I really can’t complain because I saw so many amazing indies at the show. I was very excited to see Pyre, the new game from Supergiant Games, who created Bastion, which I loved. Pyre is nothing like Bastion or Transistor, and I think that’s a very, very good thing.

Another favorite indie was Klang, a music-action-platformer, three things you wouldn’t necessarily think go together, but they did really, really well! Most impressive thing about Klang is the fact that it was all created by one man, except for the music. But the game design, coding, modeling, everything else was all on him. It helps that it’s a really fun game to play as well. And I want the soundtrack, which kind of goes without saying.

I actually can’t list all of the games that were so great just yet, especially since I’m still writing about them for work. However, here is my list of favorites thus far:

But you will hear more about PAX East during the SGR Coffee Break this week, and I’m sure I’ll talk a bit about it when we record the Book of the Month Club as well.

I also played a ton more of Final Fantasy and the 4 Heroes of Light. That is one weird, weird game. I enjoy the gameplay quite a bit, especially how they handle magic and skills, but the story is bizarre and yet boring, even for JRPGs. I’ve put in over 20 hours and I need this sucker to pick up and pick up soon before I abandon it forever to Final Fantasy Explorers.

But that won’t happen now, as I have more stuffs to write. So much stuffs.

The Corner of Randomness: Axiom Verge

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Axiom VergeI was recently gifted a PS4/Vita (thank you cross-buy!) copy of Axiom Verge. I’ve known about this game for some time now. I’ve watched plenty of streamers playing it. It’s one of those games that has been on my wish list for months, but I’ve never managed to snag it on a sale. Well, that issue is now resolved!

For those that might not know the backstory on this game, it is a Metroid inspired game that was completely developed by one dude. Tom Happ (developer) did basically everything for this game. Like the art? Thank Tom. Dig the soundtrack? Thank Tom. Love the level design? Thank Tom. This just blows me away so much. Then again Tom Happ is no slouch when it comes to games as he has worked on games such as End of Nations and NFL Street in the past.

The game took five years for him to make, and it started as a side project. Outside of photography, I don’t know that anything I’ve started as a side project held my interest for five years. I don’t even know if a side project lasting longer than a year ever even saw completion. So bravo to Tom for this feat.

The game itself is a ton of fun. I figured I’d like it, but I never thought I’d enjoy it as much as I do. The controls are tight. I’ve found the level design to be pretty fun. While enemy models tend to be a tad slim, and a bit recycled in some instances, they are well done and fit the world rather well. Heck, even the bosses are unique and provide a nice challenge as I try to figure out how to best them. There are times I’ll just sit at the title screen to enjoy the music. My one complaint I have found so far is that the story is the weak point. It’s fairly meh and somewhat predictable thus far in my tromping through the world.

The last I checked, I’ve logged just under nine hours in the game. So far I have uncovered 65% of the map and  found 55% of the items/weapons scattered about. Anyone who loves a Metroid style game will find themselves right at home here. There is a big emphasis on moving into a new area, finding a new weapon or item, and then backtracking to old areas to use their new found powers to unlock areas that were sealed away by various barriers.

There is definitely some replay value here. Once I beat the game, I’ll try it on a harder mode. Looking at the trophy list, there is even some desire to try to beat the game in under four hours. I know I sure as hell will never get the no death trophy, but that is okay with me. Right now, I’m loving the game and wish I had snagged it sooner. And all this fun is thanks to one dude…..CRAZY!

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