The Nintendo Switch has arrived! Now that I've had the console for almost two weeks, I thought I'd share a few thoughts while I take a break from Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
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Impressions
Historically, one of the main differences between developer Naughty Dog's two flagship series was stealth: the "Infected" (i.e. zombie)-filled world of The Last of Us required quiet and careful sneaking, while the pulp fiction swashbuckling action of Uncharted relied mainly on loud, flashy shootouts.
With Uncharted 4, however, those worlds have collided, and Nathan Drake now has some honest-to-goodness stealth abilities. The result is a set of levels that could be pulled straight out of a really great James Bond game. (Beware: some light spoilers ahead).
Quantum Break, released on April 5, 2016, is finally here! For those keeping track, it was one of the big Xbox One exclusives unveiled during the original Xbox One reveal event back in May 2013, so it's been a long time coming (and time itself, of course, is a major component of the story and gameplay).
As I've just started playing through it, I thought I would share some initial thoughts and screenshots. This post chronicles the early moments of the game and some of the story along with my impressions as I played. Think of it as my personal game commentary track in written form.
Despite my growing collection of Nintendo's amiibo toys, it's hard to ignore the obvious fact that they don't contribute much to the on-screen action in any particular game. And, while both Skylanders and Disney Infinity figurines offer the ability to bring characters in and out of the game, this also feels like a somewhat unnecessary (albeit cool) method of purchasing DLC content. So, I wondered, can this whole toys-to-life genre really go beyond the gimmick of watching a character "magically" pop up on screen when you scan in a figure?
Enter LEGO Dimensions , which answers this question with a resounding "yes."
It's been nearly nine months since I first posted about Amiibo. At that time, I had four lonely figures: Samus Aran, Wii Fit Trainer, Fox McCloud, and Link. In the time since then, things have changed. I now have a collection six times that size (24 total figures) that spans Nintendo's core franchises, niche series, and even third party characters.
Let's check in on it, shall we?
Fire Emblem was always a bit of a mystery to me. Apart from a few a characters that had appeared in various Smash Bros. games, this strategy RPG (think chess meets Final Fantasy) was a Nintendo series I had squarely ignored.
And then, back in early 2013, Nintendo released its latest game in the series, Fire Emblem: Awakening. Suddenly, it seemed like every podcast and gaming site was talking about the 3DS game. After two years, I finally purchased this game during this year's E3 sale on the eShop when it dropped to a rare, low price of $27.99.
So, was it worth all the the hype?
A lot of Sony's E3 press conference opening focused on games we knew about or otherwise hoped we knew about: The Last Guardian got re-confirmed, a Final Fantasy VII remake is happening, and a Shenmue 3 Kickstarter got started. But it was one of Sony's completely new franchises that really caught my eye—Guerrilla Games' Horizon: Zero Dawn .
Fox McCloud is back! Yes, we'll all be to "do a barrel roll" when Star Fox Zero releases on Wii U later this year, and I'm pretty excited to jump back into an Arwing.
Nintendo led into the formal unveiling at the beginning of their Nintendo Digital Event video by way of an amazing introduction during which muppet versions of Satoru Iwata, Reggie Fils-Aime, and Shigeru Miyamoto gradually turned into muppet versions of Peppy Hare, Fox McCloud, and Falco Lombardi of Star Fox fame.
It was as weirdly charming as it sounds.
Back in 2013, Sony's Japan Studio released an extremely unique platformer called Puppeteer for the PlayStation 3 console. I knew it looked really interesting, I heard some good things about on gaming sites and podcasts, and I even bought the game digitally. But I didn't play it.
The game didn't get much of an advertising push, it wasn't heavily promoted on the PlayStation Network, and it quickly faded out of the public consciousness—and, apparently, mine as well. For well over a year, it sat in my PS3's games list unplayed and largely forgotten.
This weekend, I realized what a terrible mistake I'd made.
The Evil Within, released in October 2014, marked Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami's return to his survival horror roots. Since Mikami's last RE game, the near-perfect Resident Evil 4, that series has hit some stumbling blocks, so I was glad to see that survival horror fans would be getting a new outing from the man who defined the genre.
While reviews for the game were good, if less-than-perfect, I have been having a fantastic time with the game. Here are five things that are keeping me positively freaked out.
Last month, Nintendo released the latest iteration of its 3DS handheld console series, the clumsily-named "New Nintendo 3DS XL." I've had mine for about a week and a half (after stewing for a few weeks about not getting the limited Majora's Mask edition), and I think I'm ready to share some impressions of the device and whether or not it's worth your cash to upgrade from an existing model or join in as a first-time 3DS owner.
It's probably not news to you by now that Alien: Isolation is a little bit of a divisive game. Some loved it, some didn't. Really, such is the case with many games. But, usually, I (like most people) would fall on one side the fence of these opposing views. The strange thing about Sega's interactive take on the 1979 space-horror classic is that I genuinely love and hate this game simultaneously.
While not the oldest game I'm currently playing, The Swapper is hardly a new release. If you're not up-to-speed on the game, picture a Metroid-esque 2D platformer with a "swapping" gun mechanic that allows your character to create four simultaneous clones (all of which move together) and then swap freely between them. While the atmosphere would make Samus Aran feel right at home, the gameplay has more of Portal than of Power Bombs.
Check out the full post for my initial impressions on this unique indie title.
After months of anticipation and speculation, Nintendo's amiibo figures, announced earlier this year at E3, have finally arrived! Of course, they accompany the release of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, but they are designed to be a cross-game accessory that will work with current and future Nintendo titles. I got my first four today, so let's take a look!