Steam Sales and Such

We had a nice little hangout on Saturday evening, talking about steam sales, fighters, a little bit of E3 and other news.  I finally managed to get the hang of camera switching, so hopefully this will be a regular feature for a summer podcast, as it's easy to put together.  Tell us what you guys think in the comments.

How Square-Enix Can Improve PvP in Final Fantasy XIV

PvP as it currently exists in Final Fantasy XIV leaves a lot to be desired. Hostile to newcomers, one dimensional and incredibly grindy. I feel that if Square-Enix wants to fix their broken system, they should take a few queues from existing PvP competitive formats in games.

My opinion is heavily influenced from a near10 year history participating in, and running, fighting game tournaments. I began by playing Super Smash Bros. Melee back in 2006 and moved over to arcade fighters like Street Fighter IV thereafter. I also have been playing MMO’s beginning around the same time as well with Final Fantasy XI and afterwards dabbled in other games such as WoW and Guild Wars 2. I also have experience with other genre’s such as MOBA via League of Legends and competitive tabletop games.

The first issue I mentioned is that the PvP mode Wolves’ Den is hostile to newcomers. If a new player were to jump into PvP, of course they should not be expected to do incredibly well. However, 10 or 20 matches into the game, this trend does not tend to change save for the occasional win.

Implementation of Gear

There are several facets to this problem. PvP has it’s own skill progression where players have to effectively “Rank up” to add perks to these abilities to make them more effective either by giving them reduced cooldowns, bonus effects or other traits, also there exists and extreme raw attribute gap where players can equip themselves with specialized PvP gear that gives them a bonus to a PvP unique attribute named Morale.

The issue with these systems is that instead of allowing a player to customize how they are able to play, it instead boils down to a numbers game where the vast majority of the time the team which has the best gear or the highest rank simply wins despite player skill. And this is the main thing I take issue with, a PvP format should highly emphasize player SKILL. A skillful or experienced player should have the advantage over those who are less skillful. This is the basic mandate that many if not all competitive games, even those outside of video games, relies.

To mitigate the damaging nature of these problems, I feel that the statistics placed on gear should be uniform by class set. What I mean is that this gear there should be several sets of PvP gear per armor or class type and potentially even have variations in armor type therein (For example a Tank set that has higher STR alongside a tank set that has higher VIT) and that this gear should have Materia Slots to further allow a player to customize their gear’s statistics via the fusion of material.  This would allow player skill to have priority over character attributes while still allowing Materia to emphasize certain build types and avoid the basic numbers game where flat item level  tends to be the major factor. Guild Wars 2 does a good job in this respect where all gear is given uniform statistics relative to the class while allowing players to modify those statistics with the use of Runes.

As far as class skills are considered, I like the idea of having your character grow the more it is played with more PvP ranks to modify skills, and Square-Enix have regarded this as an important function of the design as well (The recent patch gives access to All PvP skills from rank 1). This system would benefit from a more streamlined leveling experience where players would not need to spend literally spend hundreds if not thousands of matches to gradually increase their rank.

Making PvP More Dynamic

Many have described the Wolves' Den as brief and one-dimensional. While my above suggestions do help alleviate much of which plagues the existing status of PvP they do not change the actual game play. Square-Enix could take a queue from the existing and thriving Fighting Game genre. In most games, any match is divided into rounds where a player has to win the majority of a series of matches (best 2 out of 3, best 3 out of 5, etc.). If they integrated this functionality into Wolves’ Den then it would greatly improve the playability of the content.

Why is this so important? The reason is because of strategy. In all fighting games, two players spend the first rounds of a match “learning” and “adapting” to their opponent. It is this dynamic nature of fighting games that makes them so completely engrossing and exciting to watch. To see when a player learns the habits of the opponent or their reactions and adapting to it is where the best players excel over good players and is a timeless feature of fighting games.

Practical Rewards for Skillful Play

I have seen many players moan or become unreasonably irritated due to a healer dying in the first few moments or the enemy executing a dirty tactic. Allowing best 2 out of 3 matches would not only extend the playtime for PvP (allowing DPS classes more time to play relative to their queue time) but also allow these teams to react and discuss strategy in the 1 minute “Preparation” timer before each round. 

“But Lex!” some will cry “What about the long grind for the awesome animal themed gear!” I agree, that the new PvP gear Square has introduced in recent patches are amazing, I think they should also be subject to the gear change I suggested. This gear should be reasonably priced and SHOULD NOT have a statistical advantage over lower tier gear sets. The reward should be the amazing aesthetic, not promoting the ever-increasing gap between veteran and amateur players, using the term “veteran” loosely as many of these players do not actually participate in PvP legitimately and instead win trade to divert the game play just to revel in the gear. Its these players that make the PvP content infinitely worse as they undermined the spirit of competition and seek to destroy newcomers and their weak equipment. 

What about Frontlines?

Square seems to have acknowledged many of the complaints I detailed from the rather loud response from FFXIV players. As a result, Morale will not have an impact on Frontlines. I have a feeling that Frontlines will turn out to be a much more rewarding experience as the format consists of three teams of variable uniform sizes (i.e. 8v8v8, 16v16v16, 24v24v24) and be much more political in nature. Frontlines seems to have more similarities with the MOBA genre as it is concerned more with objectives rather than just the killing of opponents. 

Here's Hoping!

July PS+ Preview

July is bringing a bunch of changes to the PS+ Formula. Beginning in July each platform (PS3, PSVita and PS4) are gauranteed 2 games each at no extra charge for PlayStation+ subscribers. Another change is that all of the games will be available for acquisition on the first tuesday of the month (July 1st). Read on to see what games are available for each console!

Dead Space 3 (PlayStation 3)

 The third installment of the main Dead Space series. This game makes a transition from the more suspensful formula of the first two games and transitions into a more "Action" take. In order to appeal to more fans, the silent protagonsit was also given a voice and it also includes a new multiplayer co-op that you have to do to access some hidden content.

Vessel (Playstation 3)

An indie game released in 2012 from developer Strange Loop Games, Vessel is a Puzzle-Platformer with a steampunk theme. The puzzles are physics based and generally require intuitive uses of water to progress.

Muramasa: Rebirth (PSVita)

Muramasa: Rebirth is the Vita port for the well received Wii game 'Muramasa'. In the game you choose between a possessed princess or a rebel ninja, each with their unique storylines, and topple gods and demons to fulfill your quest. The game features replayability in the form of Wave-based survival modes and a content grind which unlocks powerful and unique weapons. It is renowned for its beautiful hand-drawn artwork as well as the simple yet free-form combat.

TowerFall Ascension (PS4)

 TowerFall Ascension is a competitive multiplayer arena game where players fight each other on a 2D plane. The game is inspired by games such as Nintendo's Super Smash Bros series and features power ups and special abilities that players can use to destroy each other.

Strider (PS4)

 Stider is a 2014 update to the classic title of the same name. In this game you don the role of Hiryu, a cyber-ninja tasked with bringing down an evil power in the distant future. The game features a metroid-vania style of dungeon and ability progression.

Doki-Doki Universe (PSVita, PS3, PS4)

Doki-Doki Universe is a dynamic game with cartoon-visuals in which the player tries to discover and understand humanity. The game is unique in that it ivests much of the players personality in the discovery process as they discover and develop the main-character and the world around them.

Sony Press Conference E3 2014 Review

You've...uh...got some dead person...on your...ok then...

FANCY DUAL REVIEW TECH IS GO

DJ and I managed to catch Sony’s press conference at the same time and figured we’d do a back and forth on their press conference as it happens.

KEVIN: This is how you start a press conference, an M-16s on Mars

DJ: Peter Dinklage sounds different

KEVIN: He was such a troll on IGN, check that out

DJ: I did, probably contractual obligations.

KEVIN: I’m just glad we are looking at something than Old Russia finally.  Looks like a lot of new stuff to see, trailer hounds will have a field day with this one.

DJ: 1 year ago, he obliterated Microsoft, well all of Sony did.

KEVIN: Andy da Brick House, also finally where is that Beta?  July 17th on sony stuff.  Lots of Betas today.

DJ: Beta is such a loose term in todays market. It’s a demo.

KEVIN: Psch, screw that, have a damn alpha!  Eat it other betas!

DJ: New ps4, It’s friggin pasty white. As white as milk on a paper plate in a snowstorm.

Ubisoft E3 2014

-I dunno if it's just because it's 3 years running, but I'm starting to warm up to Aisha Tyler as an E3 host.

-Farcry 4 was pretty, confusing, pretty confusing.  Doubling down on the crazy antagonist that was Vaas from 3 was ironically the safest move they could make, here's hoping they actually do a better job following through.

-Does Just Dance's free app also come with a free fancy phone harness?

-It's odd how The Division's gameplay got split from a CG trailer.  Company politking I'm sure.  It's still looking pretty ambitious and cool, but if Watch_Dogs has taught us anything it's to temper our expectations from what Ubisoft shows us, so put me down for cautiously optimistic.

-The Crew is getting a Beta, we'll see if the extra months have been worth it.  Unfortunately at the time of writing, Ubisoft's site prep for the slam was not as well handled as Hardline, so we'll see if that gets up and running soon.

-I'm hard pressed to levy any criticism towards Unity.  It looks super pretty.  There's some new mobility on display, most obvious in how an Assassin gets down from a high spot (not just jumping into straw carts).  I only have one question:

WHY IS UBISOFT MAKING A GAME IN FRANCE WHERE ALL THE FRENCH TALK IN BRITISH ACCENTS!?!

But more dark remixes, this time it's Tears for Fears.  Spiff.

-Exercise is boring.  But Shape Up actually looks kinda neat, I'm always down to see more usages of cameras on our current gen systems.

-Another UbiArt engine game that also looks gorgeous,  Valiant Hearts looks amazing.  How we turn this into a game though is currently beyond me.

-And finally we have Rainbow Six on the return with "The Siege."  Gameplay looks a little too good, probably more of a target render with that structure teardown, but we'll see we'll see.

Overall a pretty strong showing for a company that's had notoriously lackluster showings last year.  Patrick Klepek sums it up for me

"I hope you're telling the truth."

E3 2014 Microsoft Press Conference reaction

I am pleased to report that Microsoft's E3 press conference this year was much improved over last years arguably disastrous presentation. Nothing relating to kinect or t.v. was mentioned at this years press conference and Microsoft finally seems to get the picture that games should always be the center focus of E3 and they came to the show guns blazing this time. I will comment on various games shown off at E3 in order starting with COD: Advanced Warfare.

1. COD: Advanced Warfare- It's no surprise that the next iteration of Call of Duty would make an appearance at E3 this year. Debuting just a month ago, the trailer gave players a sense of high expectations and game play changes with COD stepping into futuristic warfare, exo-suits and all. The game play demo, while certainly looking stunning with a true next gen paint job, it still looked to be the same COD running with iron sights ready. Here's hoping the title has more to offer other than just Kevin Spacey when the full game launches this November; but as always I remain skeptical.  
2. Forza 2- This really isn't my area of expertise, racing games are certainly a popular genre but Ralph Fulton did say that the next Forza would feature a new dynamic weather system along with 200 cars and a full day to night cycle in glorious 1080p. So racing fans will have something to look forward to in September when the game launches for Xbox One and 360. 
3. Evolve- Now this one I am super excited to talk about. From the guys that developed the original Left 4 Dead, Turtle Rock Studios, comes the new ip called Evolve. Now evolve has been announced previously, 4 squad members track and kill an evolving monster, but today they showed off more gameplay along with the announcement of a new monster the Kraken. The Kraken is the first flying monster shown off for the game, basically a Cthulhu with laser beams and force blasts, which adds a new dynamic and new options for players eager to try other monsters other than the Goliath. I cannot wait for this game to launch being such a big fan of Left 4 Dead. They also announced that there would be one more monster in the game along with four more squad mates available when it hits this fall.
4.  Assassins Creed Unity- Ubisoft teased the next installment of Assassins Creed with a very gory trailer followed by some intense 4 player co-op featuring some neat acrobatic assassinations and how Paris is a great location for the next Assassins Creed.
5. Sunset Overdrive- Sunset overdrive is a new ip from the guys that developed the Ratchet and Clank games along with the Resistance franchise. It's nice to see Insomniac games return their roots with wacky characters and fun addicting game play. This game is a light hearted and cartoony zombie mutant slayer fest with big guns, tongue and cheek humor and platforming. This game looks to be something special and much more impressive than the recent flop Fuse released last year.
6. What the...I don't even- DLC was announced for Dead Rising 3 that pokes fun of Capcoms own terrible business practices while focusing on their obsession with fighting games. I would probably find this trailer more funny if it wasn't so satirical. They decide to make fun of their business practices just a week after releasing yet ANOTHER iteration of Street Fighter 4. Many people found this hilarious and while it is over the top, I can't really say that I find the DLC particularly cute. 
7.  Some Lovely returns of franchises- Along with some gameplay being shown from Fable Legends and another trailer shown off for Project Spark, there was also the announcement of a new Dance Central which is the only game that had even an inkling of Kinect associated with the Xbox One. 
8. HALO- This is of course the heavy hitter for Microsoft. Along with the announcement that Halo Anniversary, Halo 3 and 4 would be ported to the Xbox One along with a brand spanking new Halo 2 anniversary. All of these games would hit this fall with a $60 price tag all on a single disk, Blue-ray is a nice thing to have right? Along with this was gameplay shown from Halo 2 Anniversary which looks absolutely stunning and another trailer for Halo 5 guardians which teases a return of the Arbiter. The new character is mentioned and shown off in the trailer with the title Agent Clark if I heard correctly. The collection and Halo 5 looks to be shaping nicely and with the collections comes access to the Halo 5 beta in December!
9. Tomb Raider and Division- Rise of The Tomb Raider was announced. This comes as no surprise considering the reboots success and port to next gen. While no game play was shown, fans can expect Laura to climb, shoot, hunt, arrow and enjoy much needed time in therapy. No, I'm not kidding. The Division looked impressive although I'm still not clearly understanding what this game is striving to be. It looks like the developers are trying to make the Tom Clancy version of Destiny with an open world adventure tactical shooter. The game looks impressive and sounds fun but a short game play demo isn't enough to really sell me yet on what this game has to offer. 
10. Soul Bound- The next game from the developers of Vanish, Platinum Games, comes Dragon May Cry featuring Dante. Just kidding, although the protagonist does bear resemblance to Dante, the game seems to be about a Dragon and his headphone wearing trainer as they tackle kaiju sized monsters reminiscent to Shadow of the Colossus. Platinum always makes quality action games and this looks to be no exception. 
11. Phantom Dust and Crackdown return- Last but not least, Rare revealed that they are resurrecting another franchise from the dead, Phantom Dust. While I didn't play the original it was a mix of action and card game mechanics and had a cult following. Crackdown had some ups and downs in the series. The first game was well received, the Halo 3 beta didn't help at all I'm sure wink wink, the second not so much. The series is back with the original creator at the help so this time it looks to be a good online open world experience. Ow my hand. 

That was the press conference. Much improved over last year in my opinion and we'll try to have more articles up as E3 continues.

EA's 2014 E3 Press Conference

Ehhhhh....it was ok I guess.

Probably more noticeable in EA's conference than any so far is showing off rough, unfinished games.  Seems like a reaction to Kickstarters showing their work in progress.  In one light, sure that's great, more transparent game companies is great, but  Criterion showing a bunch of slides on what they hope to ship, along with the insides of their office just isn't that exciting.  Getting hints of the next Mass Effect or the next Mirror's Edge kind of feels like a cheat at this point for an E3 conference.

Nick from REV3 sums it up best when we did see some of Mirror's Edge:

  "say it. say "no guns" out loud. you are halfway there you're so close JUST SAY "NO GUNS"  OUT LOUD WITH YOUR MOUTHS RIGHT NOW SAY IT"

It was nice to see that EA is bringing some stuff to come out this year.  It's easy to overlook Dragon Age, UFC, even Hardline in a sense.

I'm also admittedly not the guy to talk to about sports games, but it seems like we're still playing the incredibly minor improvement game of the yearly franchise.  Was anybody asking for flags that moved on the pitch?  Does that feature sell the game for FIFA enthusiasts?

Hardline Beta opening up today is cool.  Site is currently getting slammed, but having something to play out of E3 in a fashion is a nifty touch, so hop on that if you like.

Weakest conference so far, but Ubisoft is up next, so we'll see what they bring today.

MORTAL KOMBAT!!!!

After the success of the rebooted Mortal Kombat 9, titled Mortal Kombat, it was no surprise that the series would continue anew with creative director Ed Boon at the helm of NetherRealm studios. After the success of Mortal Kombat, NetherRealm decided to tackle the D.C. License again with Injustice: Gods Among Us. Now they are shifting their focus back to Mortal Kombat with the announcement of Mortal Kombat X. According to IGN, some footage from the cg trailer indicates some new game play mechanics that might appear in the sequel. The brutal x-ray attacks from nine will likely make a return along with: environmental hazards, weapon switching, possibly the return of the run button and the oh so gruesome fatalities. After sinking many hours into Mortal Kombat 9 and Injustice, I cannot wait to see what NetherRealm has in store for E3 this year.

Wolfenstein: The New Order Review

 

    Wolfenstein: The New Order is the continuation of Wolfenstein (2009) developed by Machine Games,  a game studio compromised of some former Starbreeze developers. Wolfenstein takes place in an alternate timeline of 1946-1960 where Nazi Germany won the war and are in global control. You once again step into the shoes of Captain B.J. Blascowitz as you begin your Nazi killing spree. On the story side of things Wolfenstein does a great job of introducing the player to some interesting characters both old and new, some of my favorite moments from the game have been the interactions between B.J. and the other characters that he'll meet during the game. Unlike most World War 2 shooters, including Call of Duty, Wolfenstein offers to show a side to Nazism that I don't believe has really been explored in most games and that is how truly terrifying the Nazi war machine was at the time. Sure the game alters the timeline but Wolfenstein does a beautiful job by portraying the Nazis as a terrifying regime and not just endless waves of men in uniforms. A scene with a character named Frau Engel sums up quite well just how vicious and aloof Nazi officers were in caring for the lives of others.

     The game not only gives you a big choice to make that affects the rest of the story, one that came sooner than I was expecting, but it also gives the player a bit of free reign to explore the world. Wolfenstein isn't as linear as I was expecting; the game allows players to explore for things such as: power-ups, armor, health boosts, collectibles and other upgrades. To boot the game also has a perk system that allows the player to upgrade by meeting certain requirements such as 10 kills with grenades or taking out a Nazi commander with a take-down. The game does suffer from some game play contradictions. The game encourages several methods of play styles such as sneaking, tactical combat or some old fashioned dual wielding actions. The problem is unlike the old school shooters, items must be acquired by hitting the use key rather than simply walking over the items. This makes combat out of cover almost pointless as you have little chance of survival even when at max health and armor. To compensate the player can grab as many health packs before a fight as they want and B.J.'s health will go into overcharge, which will deteriorate back down to his max health either over time or when he takes too many hits.

    Overall I think Wolfentein is a strong game. There is no multiplayer and game does suffer from some performance issues both game play and hardware alike but the experience is solid and will keep you entertained for a good while with the collectibles, branching story and multiple difficulty modes. I'd recommend Wolfenstein for a good time but you won't quite find your nostalgia boost if you're looking for it here.

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    New Order ended up being a very interesting surprise for the month of May, reminding me how a good story or concept can help elevate a first person shooter.  I kept getting reminded of games like Half-Life 2 or the Metro series, with an emphasis on characterization, exploration and cool set-piece moments.  It's a pretty different feel from most shooters today and something I have sorely been missing.

   Tonally, the game is all over the place, with B.J. scowling under his breath one minute, sometimes with one-liners, followed by a scene showing the atrocities of newly invigorated Nazi menace in the next.  This ends up playing off to varying degrees.  Rarely it discombobulates and adds dissonance to the story, but more often than not this wide-swinging pendulum plays out with black humor, very reminiscent of Tarantino's Inglorious Bastards.

    Gameplay feels solid with light stealth elements often being optional, and gunplay being a neat hybrid of old and new mechanics.  Blascowitz can take a hit, especially with a retro health and overcharge system.  Just about all the weapons can be dual-wielded, often to comedic effect.  Iron sights and leaning round out the moveset if you find yourself getting low, and it all plays out great, infusing the game with a lot of potential for action.  If you're looking for a shooter to sate your summer, Wolfenstein is a great gem that shouldn't be overlooked.

Let's Play Dark Souls 2

Decided to start doing a Dark Souls 2 playthrough with some commentary.  Calling it a Let's Play when really it's me fiddling with knobs to get the sound and the picture right.  Hope to be updating regularly.  The first episode is kinda quiet so you'll need to turn it up.

Let's Play Dark Souls 2 Playlist