Tag: Games

Gaming, Meaningless Ramble

Sonic the Hedgehog: Let’s Talk About Springs

Some time ago I made an attempt to answer the age old question: How fast is Sonic the Hedgehog? based entirely on evidence from that spiky fiend’s first outing on Sega Mega Drive. I’ve decided to revisit the theme, but today I’m going to take the magnifying glass to the disturbingly common item in the Sonic-verse; Springs.

Anyone with even a passing knowledge of Sega’s wayward mascot will know that he can use the liberally placed springs to propel himself skyward and that in the first game (which is what we’re working from here) they came in two flavours: Yellow & Red. The latter being a turbo charged version for special occasions and the former the average spring for day-to-day bouncing. To keep everything extreme and with sufficient …erm… attitude… to do justice to the “fastest thing alive” I’ll be focusing on the red springs. Continue reading “Sonic the Hedgehog: Let’s Talk About Springs”

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Gaming, Meaningless Ramble

This Sword is Degrading…

It was an offhand comment on the superb Later Levels GameBlast Stream two weeks ago (Well done again!) about my dislike of QTE’s that got my thinking about game features that rub me up the wrong way. Surprisingly it isn’t the aforementioned QTE that bothers me the most. I can’t say that I’ve ever been sold a game on the promise of QTE; let’s face it, “NOW FEATURING QUICK TIME EVENTS!” isn’t the kind of thing that makes it in to the clipart rosettes featured in game box-art. Having said that, there are times when it is at least ‘functional‘ as a method of player interaction if not fireworks-in-the-sky-amazing. What does almost universally annoy me is weapon degradation; at best I tolerate it, at worst it will make me stop playing. With this convoluted train of thought in mind I decided to pick apart what I dislike about this increasingly common feature, but more importantly try to understand why designers feel the need to include it. Continue reading “This Sword is Degrading…”

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Editorial, Gaming, Meaningless Ramble

Editorial: March – Late

My vacation of the week before last rolled in to a pretty intense work week with two days of travelling to meetings before I could even begin to work out what had been happening whilst I’d been away. Couple that with a few other bits and pieces that have been going on and … well… what I’m trying to say is that I missed both last week’s regular post and the Friday slot for this editorial…

… and yeah, I’m not going to beat myself up about it. This whole blogging malarkey is a hobby so having an off week doesn’t really bother anyone but me from a content creator point of view. From a personal point of view however it’s a little frustrating that I couldn’t find an appropriate time for a hobby, and that’s nobody’s fault; it’s just the way that things fall sometimes.

On top of this I’m also down on community engagement; I know loads of great posts have been going up in the past few weeks but I’ve been out of the rhythm of reading them. Continue reading “Editorial: March – Late”

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Gaming, Meaningless Ramble, Review

Apex Legends: A Mythical Geometric Vetrex

… and then a few weeks ago Apex Legends landed without any warning and made lots of people go “Waaahhhh!” – So why was that?

I originally wrote a whole dull paragraph here about my chequered past with PU:BG and Fortnite:BR, but that was far too long and can be summarised by saying:

“I like the concept of Battle Royale games, but I’m just not very good at them” 

That’s not to say that skill or ultimate placement correspond to fun, but playing a game that you can’t feel improvement or just generally show up to be an extra notch on someone else’s frag counter is rarely a rewarding experience. I want to feel as though I can at least hold my own, so my infatuation with both of the above titles gradually tarnished until I gave up and uninstalled them. Then Apex Legends showed up (apparently having something to do with Titanfall) and I got sucked back in to that Battle Royale play-loop; firstly out of curiosity but sticking around because it turns out it is actually fun. Continue reading “Apex Legends: A Mythical Geometric Vetrex”

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Gaming, Meaningless Ramble

Backlog: Embracing the Beast

… as I find myself in a post-Resident-Evil-2-Remake-World I’m floundering a little for another game to get stuck in to. The RE2Make has taken up a big chunk of my gaming enthusiasm recently from the pre-release streaming of the original, writing a number of Resi-Related pieces, and finally running through the various scenarios of the actual release. I think I’m at a point where I’m happy to put it down for a while; sure, I haven’t yet completed the 4th survivor, but for me that was never a big attraction (even on my well-worn disks of the original) and now I just don’t have the patience to work out the best strategy through each area looking for that elusive perfect run. So what now?

Well, it seems like a fitting coincidence that the wordsmiths of LaterLevels and LividLightning have announced that this is the official #LoveYourBacklog week 2019. It’s a week to embrace the unplayed titles on that ol’ waiting list in an effort to transform what is often considered a negative in to a celebration of your gaming passion. Continue reading “Backlog: Embracing the Beast”

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Gaming, Meaningless Ramble, QotM

QotM*: The Protagonist

*Question of the Month is a stack of pancakes whipped up by Later Levels and drizzled in Maple Syrup by OverThinker Y!

2019’s ‘Question of the Month’ format has been shaken up. Instead of individual gaming conundrums the dream-weavers in charge of this community chaos are focused on a much bigger goal: Coming up with the Ultimate Video Game over the course of this rotation around the sun. Each month they’re asking for entries to add to the growing structure of this fantastical game covering different aspects. For February the community have been charged with adding the main protagonist to the existing setting.

… still not entirely clear? Head here to see details of February’s challenge and read more about the overall concept…

I was thrilled to be picked as the winning entry in January’s challenge to define the setting of this game and, as I’m now part of the team, I’m no longer eligible to win in future months. This doesn’t mean however that I can’t just join in for fun and as I came up with the setting I thought I’d have a crack at trying to put a suitable protagonist in to it.

If you haven’t read my description of the Setting then click here to read that piece as it will give what follows much more context!

Of course regular readers might have noticed that I’m not one for just answering the question and I often take liberties with what actually constitutes an answer so the following is my own meandering extension of the piece I wrote covering the setting; I’m sure that many of you out there are much better at defining characters and I look forward to reading what everyone comes up with… but for now here’s my own take on who the protagonist could be…    Continue reading “QotM*: The Protagonist”

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Gaming, Meaningless Ramble, Resident Evil

Resident Evil 2: The Resident Evil 2 Perspective

Spoiler Warning & a Disclaimer: This article contains discussion of Resident Evil 2 (Remake, 2019) including plot spoilers… it also contains the uninhibited ramblings of my Original Resident Evil 2 fanboy brain compartment. Please note that I do consider the remake to be a darn fine game and excellent re-imagining of the original.

The Resident Evil 2 Remake…

Henceforth known as the Re2Make… not to be confused with the REMake referring to the GameCube version of the original, or the HD remaster of that game the REMakeHD….

… is excellent!

It handles the original content with the care that such a widely beloved title deserves whilst managing to be an enriched journey back to that RPD Police Station. I have been captivated by the new experience; to see these locations brought back to life in such chilling ways, to see the characters grown though excellent writing and acting, and to see the genre of survival horror so clearly the core of the gameplay has been a delight. It’s difficult to shortlist highpoints of the experience as such a fan of the original: That first rainsoaked approach to the Police Station was jaw dropping, the Lickers (undoubtedly my favourite enemy in the series) are terrifying, The original locations that have been recreated are full to the brim with detail and atmosphere are beautiful…. yes, it’s quite the experience all round. As a full package it does something I almost thought impossible; it pleases old fans, new fans, and total newcomers. Continue reading “Resident Evil 2: The Resident Evil 2 Perspective”

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