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Debaser Uncategorized

Dragon Quest Builders (Demo)

Been pretty curious about this game – I feel like it’s something that will give me the direction I find lacking (for me) in Minecraft – and so was happy that they released a demo so we can take it out for a spin. The first thing to mention is that I love the soundtrack. As for the building, it seems like it could be fun, although it remains to be seen how they continue to make it interesting for an entire game (I guess it’ll come with the raised complexity of what you need to build). It’s also a beautiful looking game. I won’t be buying it on release, but we’ll keep an eye out for deals.

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Fashion Games

New Galak-Z T-Shirt

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My buddy Jake Kazdal runs his 17-BIT studio from Kyoto, and the latest game they launched was the fantastically fun shooter Galak-Z: The Dimensional (out on PC and PS4, with a mobile version on the horizon). I love this new Galak-Z t-shirt that just launched on Fangamer — you can bet I’ll be adding it to my growing collection of 17-BIT tees, that includes the one with the 17-BIT logo, and one for the studio’s first game, the excellent Skulls of the Shogun (released when the studio was called Haunted Temple Studios).

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Games Tokyo Walking

Metanet Tokyo Map

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When you visit Tokyo, it’s always nice to have a bunch of recommendations on places to check out before you get there, and my friends Mare Sheppard and Raigan Burns — otherwise known as Metanet Software, creators of the fantastic N series of super platformers — have done everyone a solid by sharing a Google map of their favorite spots to hang out in, eat in, shop in, and play games in. And speaking of N, the latest iteration, N++, which was previously only available on PS4, has now just come out on Steam.

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Debaser Uncategorized

Titanfall 2 (Tech Test)

I played a few matches in the game’s Tech Test last weekend (and it continues this coming weekend), and was excited to do so because I had never had a chance to play the first game (because I don’t have an Xbox One, and wasn’t interested in playing it on Xbox 360). My first experience was a disappointing one though. The biggest disappointment was that I didn’t get to ride in a mech in any of my matches, which is what I wanted to do the most – I guess you need to rack up enough kills to do so, and I wasn’t doing very well. And the fact that I wasn’t doing very well was because I was finding the gameplay just too damn fast – I had trouble keeping up with people, and myself, running and jumping around felt way more hectic and uncontrolled than what I’m used to (”Crucible” in Destiny). I may give it another shot this coming weekend, to see if I can get better at it. To be honest, I’m more interesting in playing the campaign anyway.

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Debaser Uncategorized

Mirror’s Edge Catalyst

Did you like Mirror’s Edge? Well then why haven’t you played Mirror’s Edge Catalyst? (I say this because it seems to have been criminally overlooked upon release.) Just like the first was so enjoyable for its unique clean world design and parkour first-person gameplay, the sequel takes all that, betters it, and offers an open world that makes it even more fun to get to different story and side missions. Even though you can fast track to locations, I prefer to run and jump myself to the next mission, as the more familiar you get with the city and layout, the more fun it is to traverse it. 

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Debaser Uncategorized

Ratchet & Clank

I was quite looking forward to playing this, as I’m a huge fan of the series, and everything I’d seen so far made it look like a beautiful graphical showcase. I finally played through it last week, and I wasn’t disappointed. I still don’t understand why they decided to remake the first game, in terms of covering the same story, since this is absolutely entirely newly made for PS4, and is just gorgeous from start to finish. It doesn’t really do anything new in terms of gameplay, but I’d still say this is my favorite entry in the series, as it just felt like a fully optimized “perfect” version of a Ratchet & Clank game. I really hope they have another one already in the works, with even more beautiful planets to explore.

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Debaser Uncategorized

Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End

What a game. I played through this over the past 5 nights, which is something I don’t see myself do much. I just couldn’t wait to get back into it, and save for an unfortunately annoying boss fight at the end (a staple of the series it seems), this is absolutely one of the funnest and exciting game experiences I’ve had in quite a while, and is without a doubt my favorite entry in the series. The entire time I played I was blown away by the quality of the graphics and animation, the fantastic portrayal of the characters, the fun and twisty storyline, the insanely choreographed blockbuster action moments, and the super fun exploration you get to do throughout (I’m never a huge fan of the firefights in the series, but they didn’t feel as omnipresent this time). Even now that I finished the game, I’m still blown away by what I just played, and can’t wait to see what this team does next (I’m assuming they’re putting the Uncharted series to rest, at least for a while). Oh, and can I just add that I loved all the vehicle sections so damn much, and that I’d so love to get a spinoff game that’s just you in a vehicle, exploring environments.

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Debaser Uncategorized

The Mighty No. 9

Considering the, well, let’s just be gentle here and say “difficult reception” this game has gotten immediately upon release, I went in not expecting much (I was a backer, and so got my copy for PS4). I haven’t played that much yet, maybe an hour or so, and what I’m finding is that I don’t find it to be as awful as what I’ve been reading, but at the same time, it’s not really something I’m feeling like I want to keep playing. There’s been a lot said against the aesthetics, and to be honest that doesn’t bother me much – I’m not blown away by it, but I think it’s fine. In terms of the gameplay, I’m finding it difficult to get in a good groove – I don’t think I really like the “shoot enemies and then dash through them” technique you need to use. I think it’s maybe also not really the game for me – although I loved playing Mega Man games when I was a kid, I really don’t enjoy playing them now.

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Debaser Uncategorized

Doom (Demo)

I’ve been wanting to play the new Doom game ever since it came out – and the universal praise the game has gotten since its release makes me want to play it that much more. I’ve got so many games on my plate right now that I couldn’t justify buying it, but was glad that they released a free demo this week (you can play the first level) and so I took it for a spin. I’m glad to say that what I experienced was just as fun and good as I expected, and I’m quite looking forward to eventually playing the full game. More than the environments, it’s the movement in the game that I love so much – there’s something fast and fluid about it that feels like no other FPS out there. I actually quite liked Rage when it came out a few years ago, and I think it was also to do with the movement.

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Debaser Uncategorized

Resident Evil VII (Demo)

I’d never describe myself a fan of the series, but I have spent time playing every game (except the 6th one), although I don’t think I’ve ever finished one – and my favorite of all of them was Code Veronica on the Dreamcast. I was curious to check out the demo that was released this week during E3 for the upcoming Resident Evil VII, and having played through it, I have to say that what they’re doing with the franchise – at least in this short peek – is pretty interesting, and it’s really something that needed to happen, before it just continued in the action-heavy direction it was heading. That being said, I won’t be playing the full game when it comes out. Even though I watch horror movies without blinking an eye, there’s something about playing a horror game – I guess it’s the fact that you’re drawn in more deeply, by your interactions and decisions – that stresses me out too much, and so I don’t have fun playing them. I was pretty spooked playing RE7, so I think it’s on the right track.