Extra life as in Mario? Yes I got it.

Still gonna yank your controller in Mario Kart cause that's how I roll.

Do it

Who never did that back in the day tbh? If you didn't then it's just you didn't have any friends to play with.

Many a time I did.

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Marvel's Spider-Man

If you were to ask me a year ago if I was going to be talking about a Spider-Man game, I'd think you were crazy. But, here we are. Talking about the new Spider-Man game. And what can I say? I agree with pretty much everyone praising this game. It also just further justifles my purchase of a PS4 among other games of course.

Now, what makes it good? I probably don't need to tell you, but I'm going to anyway. Marvel's Spider-Man is what happens when you take all the good things about the open world esque setting with collectibles and stuff and combines it with a true feeling of what it means to be Spider-Man. I'll be honest, I was skeptical because whenever a game or series gets revived, there's usually the chance for it to fail. But we also live in a time where the bar for superhero games is pretty high. The Arkham games made this possible with how great they ended up being. Though I've heard they can get stale in the later games. Thing is though, I would definitely agree that Spider-Man does have that Arkham quality be-it not exactly the same.

The combat, the webslinging around New York, **** even New York itself looks like it took every inch of creativity and originality that this developer had, and boy it shows. The further you level up, the more combat abilities you get, which in turn allows for more creative combos. I think one of my favorite combos to do right now (and this is with only doing about 15% of the game so far) is punching somebody up in the air, shooting a Web at them, spinning them around, and slamming them on the ground. The satisfaction you feel from the combat is definitely much the same as it was when I played through Arkham Asylum and Shadow of War. It's not exactly the same combat system, but it's definitely the best Spider-Man combat system I've ever played.

I've mentioned graphics before this entry, but I want to mention it again. In general, New York City looks amazing. The amount of detail that goes into every building, every street sign, etc should know be ignored. It certainly helps the game a lot when you websling around New York City and the sun breaks through the sides of two buildings making you realize it's morning. There is a day and night cycle and it's used very well. Fits into the game nicely.

I know so many people have already beat this game and more often than not, it's met pretty favorably. I've been lucky to stay away from spoilers for the most part so I'm definitely seeing everything for the first time minus a few story details. It's nice to go in blind and not know what to expect, then to have it exceed expectations.

Don't get me wrong, Spider-Man 2 is fantastic for its time, but Marvel's Spider-Man is definitely the best of the two. Hell, in my own honest opinion, this is probably the best superhero game ever made, and that includes Arkham. If you weren't sure or totally sold on buying a PS4, now is the time to do it. This among other great games will be available and I urge you to play them, if not them, then this one specifically.

Speaking of Spider-Man 2 specifically though, I remember having many many good memories playing it as a kid and there's a reason it's known as one of the best games released in that time. I feel like that was just a start to what we'd eventually get from Marvel's Spider-Man.

I literally cannot wait to play this whenever I'm home. Same infatuation I had with Shadow of War. There's just something about truly feeling like Spider-Man that really pushes this game through the envelope and thoroughly raises the bar for what a superhero game should be.

Now...let's get a Superman reboot.

Fallout 76: First Impressions

When it comes to video games, I find that I'm pretty easy to please. If the game is fun and it works like its supposed to, hell that's really all I need. There are times obviously where my expectations are so high that I end up disappointed in the long run, but in other cases that's not really a factor. I think Fallout 76 falls into that category quite comfortably.

I was part of the hype for Fallout 76 all the way to when obscure article titles were hinting at a new Fallout, and along that road I followed update after update all the way to when the game was released. I held off on buying my own copy for a couple reasons. 1, I unfortunately got into the habit of taking a majority of the reviews at face value which I really shouldn't do when it comes to video games. I feel like every game at least deserves a chance. I ended up enjoying No Man's Sky in the very same way. Fallout 76 in my opinion delivers were it should and doesn't do much to minimize the feeling of a Fallout game. And 2, I just didn't feel like getting into a Fallout game again after being slightly underwhelmed with Fallout 4, but again, I felt like it deserved some of my time as I'm a big fan of the series. What I wasn't prepared for is enjoying the game way more than I initially expected.

I may very well be the only person that has anything good to say about Fallout 76 because the popular concensus is that it sucks the big one. The many hours I've spent playing it so far, I really don't see where those people are coming from. It's to the point where people are just complaining to complain. Not really surprising as Bethesda is known to not know how to make an online game. For me though it doesn't even matter. I could care less about the online aspect because I've so far not be hindered by it. I've been able to happily and successfully play the game solo and have run into literally no issues. Yeah the thing about not having NPC's is odd but again, it doesn't cause so much of an impact that it actually matters. It really doesnt. It still feels like Fallout and that's all I wanted. Anything else is just extra.

I wouldn't say Bethesda hit it out of the ball park with this release but they definitely made it into an enjoyable experienxe. They promised a Fallout experience and that's what it is. They've definitely done a great job of portraying a post apocalyptic West Virginia. I haven't explored a lot of the map yet but it is humongous and I've always found something to do in my time playing so far. And again, that's without the help of NPC's and other players. I have run into players during my playtime but they've all genuinely been cool so far. Some guy let me use his weapons workbench at his base and I told him to have s good day and just continued on my adventure. When there is social interaction, it is pretty cool. Doesn't happen all the time which I prefer. Very rarely breaks the immersion of survival.

Graphically and performance wise I've also had no issues and I'm playing the PS4 version. Maybe a few times I've run into lag but that's more of the problem of having too many things on screen at once. Otherwise when I'm walking through towns and forested areas, I keep a pretty consistent FPS which Bethesda hasn't always been great about.

With all that being said, the game is not without fault. But those faults literally play no effect in my enjoyment so I don't even find it worth reading about. People are complaining that the world feels empty. But again...you're in the post apocalypse, of course it's empty. I've probably only put about 8 or 9 hours so far but my impression is that this is going to be a genuinely fun Fallout experience. Because that's what it is. Nothing feels too different from the other games that hinders the experience. Gun play is really fun. Enemies are unique. The perk system is cool. It's definitely got my recommendation. And honestly, I'm glad I picked it up and at least gave it a chance. Now to explore everything.

I'm going to be doing a full look at the game awards for this year but I want to express my excitement for Dead Cells winning Best Action Game. Very well deserved. Great game. Great devs. I'm glad it won something.

Just say God of War is GOTY and be done with it.

*shrug*

The Game Awards 2018

I was at least lucky enough to catch the final parts of the Game Awards for 2018, and from just the little bit that I saw, I can take away from it that it was a pretty good show. Evidently I missed a lot of the announcement trailers etc, but at the very least, I got to see the orchestra play a medley of songs from my favorite games of this year. Genuinely, it was really cool the kind of medley that they did. They featured behind them gameplay of Marve's Spider Man, Assassin's Creed, and all the other game of the year nominees. Pretty cool way to set the stage for the announcement.

Anyway, while the most important part about the Game Awards is obviously discovering which game becomes Game of the Year. Last year it deservedly went to Breath of the Wild, and now this year I would say the game that won it is a well deserved win, be it kind of surprising given the other games released this year. But alongside the Game of the Year award, there are several other awards that are handed out to games that exceeded the criteria for that specific category. I won't be going over all of them because most of them were received by the same game several times. So I just want to point out my personal highlights.

Best Ongoing Game
Winner: Fortnite

Now, honestly this doesn't come as a surprise. While I don't play much Fortnite these days, I have to recognize that not only is the game great, but the team behind it is also great and delivers on most of if not everything they promise to the players. They're constantly pushing out new content for Fortnite and the game continues to rise in popularity. In a world of battle royale taking the scene several times throughout the year, it's definitely impressive for a game of the genre to stick out enough to make an impact as big as Fortnite has.

Best Independent Game
Winner: Celeste

This one I am entirely fine with. I'm a big fan of indie developers, and when they make a game that really stands out, it's amazing to see it get the recognition it deserves. I didn't play Celeste myself but I watched others play it and I can definitely see why it won this award. Let's not sell the other nominations short though. Dead Cells, Into The Breach, Return of the Obra Dinn, and The Messenger were all up for winning this award. Good variety of games here.

Best Action Game
Winner: Dead Cells

This one I was a little bit caught off guard by but in a good way. People here know that I'm a humongous fan of Dead Cells. I've mentioned multiple times that I have watched this game grow from the start, and to see it win a game in the Game Awards says a lot about the developers, the game, and the community behind it. As far as making a game its greatest in a short amount of time? Dead Cells definitely takes that by a mile. This game was put in early access and made a full release within the same year. That's impressive. It's also crazy to see that it won when it was up against games like Mega Man 11, Far Cry 5, Destiny 2: Forsaken, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 which to my understanding, all of them have been receiving consistent praise. So well done Dead Cells.

Best Action / Adventure Game
Winner: God of War

No real surprise here. God of War pushed so many boundaries upon its release and with a very well planned out release etc, it's made for a pretty huge impact on the gaming industry. I've put myself through about a quarter of this game so far, but I've had an absolute blast playing it. Those that have beat it have said that the game is perfect in most if not all ways. The way they rebooted this series is well deserving of praise. They didn't just stick with the old style. They went with something new, and absolutely nailed it. Not only from a game standpoint, but a performance standpoint. One camera shot the entire time. No black bar cutscenes. All fluid and one consistent camera that never blinks or stutters away.

And last but certainly not least, the Game of the Year. While again I don't find this to be much of a surprise, it is pretty amazing to see this game get recognized as it truly should. I also realize that I accidentally brought this up literally seconds ago. I didn't plan for that. Anyway, let's get right to it. The Game of the Year for 2018 is

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God of War

And I know, I've already talked a lot about God of War so I'm just going to make this simple. Well deserved. Congrats to the team and to the game for winning the award.

I wasn't expecting much from the ps classic so that's no surprise.

I'm all over an N64 classic just as long as they put the right games on it.

Fuck Classic Consoles. Emulation is a thing.

I can't disagree here. Emulators are fantastic.

Let's Talk About Fallout 76

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It's been well over a month since I've even talked about this game and I feel like it's worth diving into some of the strengths and weaknesses that I've experienced during my play time of this game. Fallout 76 is by no way a perfect game. Honestly, it doesn't even really even come close to the perfection of other games released this year, but it does still bring something to the table that brings enjoyment to players like myself. It's a Fallout game. As much as I'd like to say that I'm not a Bethesda fanboy, I most certainly am. When they teased Fallout 76 I was stoked, and again, that has managed to stay with me all the way to now. But, I'm not going to sit here and tell you that this game is the greatest and you are a fool if you don't play it. No, the game is certainly not even close to perfect. Lag issues, no NPC's, a somewhat fun main quest, and sometimes the combat can be an annoyance. I realize that I mention the lack of NPC's here when back when I was getting ready to play the game, I didn't think it would be much of an issue. However, throughout my roughly 15 hours of playtime, I can certainly say that it has had an effect on my enjoyment of the game. You don't get those witty comments or pieces of dialogue from people that look intriguing. No, you get terminals and text. But again, I understand the need for the change, but I just wish they'd maybe consider adding more NPC's. It would do a world of difference, in a good way I imagine. Everything else I can deal with to an extent which is why those havent really hindered my experience to the most extreme. Maybe frustrating at times and I just don't feel like playing, but I move on.

The reason I wanted to bring this game up today is because today is actually the first time in weeks that I've even been able to play the game since it's been updated a couple times since I last played. And honestly, I feel like the game does run a bit better and the combat does feel a bit more refined in some ways. I know they nerfed a lot of stuff with combat and looting, but I honestly haven't really noticed a significant difference. I've just gotten used to the combat I suppose. The game does certainly look prettier though and I know that's something they touched on. So yeah, I'd say after not playing a while, my enjoyment of the game has gone back up.

I think the strongest aspect of this game right now though is a combination of the world they've built, and the exploration that comes with that. I know that it can be annoying to go from point A to point B all the time, but the holotapes do a good job of setting up a story as you progress through it simultaneously. Keeps the exploration fresh and new and exciting. So I do enjoy that. I've always enjoyed the exploration aspects of Fallout games and really any Bethesda game in general. I think they certainly nailed it again this time, but they really just need to work out the kinks and turn this game into what it really needs to be. A great Fallout game.

I would also like to reiterate the fact that I am playing this game as a solo player. I'm not a huge fan of playing online with other people in this kind of game because I feel like it ruins the immersion. I play Fallout to be immersed into the world. Fallout 3 did that fantastically. Fallout 4 with the Far Harbor DLC also did it really well. And of course New Vegas was excellent at it as well. While Fallout 76 may not have as exciting of a world to explore, it's still beautiful and fun to explore and find new buildings to loot and potentially get new quests from. I mean, I went into a capitol building and found a quest to learn the history of an old manor. Now that I really like because it's definitely interesting and not some simple looting quest. Which to the games credit, the quests do all feel unique and interesting and I've not really had much problem with grinding etc. It's a tough game, but it can be rewarding.

So yeah, I guess i'm sort of in between right now when it comes to Fallout 76. I like a lot of parts of it and I hate a lot of parts of it and I don't like how Bethesda handled themselves during the launch and the criticisms that came after. I think they dropped the ball many times and it'll take them a while to bring themselves back up. But, they are trying to make this game what they want it to be and I can respect them for that. I just hope Fallout 76 doesn't fall into a hell hole of never being what it should be. It's very close. It just needs that special something to pick it back up.

I have to admit, this is a first for me. I don't think I've ever talked about an Assassins Creed game in this journal. At least not for an official First Impressions or whatever. It's pretty interesting because while I did have pretty good experiences with Assassins Creed in the past, especially the first two games. I kind of lost interest in the games as they looked as though they were getting more and more stale. Then I passed on Assassins Creed Origins despite people telling me that the game was legitimately good. When Assassins Creed Odyssey was announced, I felt like it was finally time for me to jump back into this series, and boy what an experience this has been thus far.

To give just a tad bit of background, I saw this game was on sale on the PS Store for half off and I decided to buy it. I knew prior to this however that I was actually interested in buying the game, so I would've paid full price regardless. And that's how I started playing it honestly.

Again, I reiterate that this is probably the first time since the first two Assassins Creed games that I've ever even touched an Assassins Creed game. I definitely chose the right one. There are a lot of things that this game is doing right, and right from the get go. First off, the combat. They've turned Assassins Creed Odyssey into an Action RPG and I ****ing love it. It's why I loved Middle Earth: Shadow of War so much. Really good combat, a leveling system, and enemies that can be tough but if you're smart, you can pretty much kill anything. The world is humongous and the focus on exploration is so very clear that it's very much the same feeling I got when I played Breath of the Wild for the first time. Just the world in front of you, and you have the freedom to go wherever you want. The game even gives you the option to play the game as exploration or more linear. I obviously went the exploration route as most others did I'm sure, since the game tells you it's recommended and that's what the game was made for. And it definitely does a good job at it. So far, I've only put a few hours into the game, but I've had an absolute blast experiencing the combat, seeing all the little towns that lay on the land, and of course the dialogue and NPC's. That's another big strength of this game. Right off the bat I felt like I was playing Knights of the Old Republic I and II in regards to dialogue. You have a choice to be a really good guy, or just a straight up *******, and it's really fun to choose who you want to **** with. There's definitely some freedom to experiment, and certain things in the game will change based on how you present yourself. Or so I've heard anyway. But just in general, the dialogue between your main character and the characters around the world, it's actually a lot of fun to listen to them talk because you get so immersed in their world. At least that's how I see it.

On top of all this, the graphics are amazing. The games performance is spectacular and I've not had a single frame drop. I'm playing on PS4 for those curious. Not a single unnecessarily long loading screen, and everything feels nice and smooth. It's possible that this may very well be the best Assassins Creed game ever made. That's what a lot of reviewers are saying right now and I can certainly see why.

I'm very excited for this game to be my new time sink and I'm also very much looking forward to talking about this again once I have more time in the game. But as of right now, I'm absolutely loving my time with Assassins Creed Odyssey, and if you've been wanting to get back into the series for quite some time like myself, give this one a shot. It's fantastic.

The PlayStation Classic was a HUGE letdown! Just a money grab by Sony. I have a PS2 that rarely gets played and the Sega Genesis Classic that got released last year, which I never use. My mom got me the Atari Classic for some reason for Christmas this year. Gonna take it back.

I've been meaning to do an entry about the classic consoles actually. I like the idea but I think it's kind of silly to buy one when emulators can do the same thing. Seems a bit gimmicky tho I totally understand why they're appealing.

I played Assassin's Creed on my PSP back in the day. I loved it!

I've always appreciated what the series brought but I'd be lying if I said I was a consistent fan. I'm just happy Odyssey delivers the way I was hoping. It's genuinely a great experience.

I've been playing a bit of Assassin's Creed 2 recently but the Arkham games kinda made them redundant tbh.

Assassins Creed Odyssey: Part II [6 Hours In...That Was Just The Intro?]

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So yeah, I'm still playing Assassins Creed Odyssey and every single time I've played it, I've caught myself saying "man, this is ****ing amazing" at a ton of ****. As you see from the title, I'm about 6 hours into the game right now and my character is almost level 8. I've already done dozens of quests, fought tons of enemies, fought bosses, discovered new places, found amazing equipment, and once I was done in the area I was in (which I didn't realize was just the starting area) I took a bigger look at the map and realized just what I've gotten myself into. This was a combination of feelings much like what I felt when I played Divinity Original Sin II and Breath of the Wild. The fact that Assassins Creed Odyssey started the game with a 6+ hour prologue of sorts, it really shines once you realize how massive this game is. I hadn't zoomed out of the map that much because there wasn't much of it available at the start, but once I was able to zoom out more, this is what I was struck by:



It felt really good and it made me realize how much time I'm going to spend on this game. I want to explore every little nook and cranny and find all the secrets. I've been struck by this game over and over again by just how beautiful it all is. Once again, still playing with zero performance issues or lag spikes. I've been in groups of 6 to 7 enemies before with all the buildings loaded in in high detail, and still no frame drops. Ubisoft really took their time with this and really wanted to make this an unbelievable experience. So far, that's been the case. I'll keep updating as I progress. Whenever I'm not playing this, I'm looking forward to the next time I will play it. There's just something magical here and I'm glad I decided to take the risk and give it a shot. I really didn't know what I was getting into or what to expect because again, I've not played an Assassins Creed game in quite some time. This is truly a wonderful way to get somebody back into the series. I imagine the rest of the game will deliver in much the same way if not better, but that's yet to be seen.

I can't imagine going back to a Ass Creed game after seeing dunkey moan about it haha.

I really wish the shiny computer effects would get the hell off my screen for longer than ten seconds too. Like, I'm supposed to be immersing myself in historical fiction but I can't escape all the bright white lights that remind me this game was made for people with no imagination.

Well usually I try to play games before I give my opinion of them.

Maybe there some graphics tweaks you can mind like the lighting effects or something. I know why you're talking about since I've experienced it in games before.

I mean the intentional effects to make you remember that your character is in a computer simulation.

Ahh. Doesn't happen too often in Odyssey but I know exactly what you're talking about.

**** Nintendo.

2018. A look back.

Yeah it's been a pretty fun year when it comes to gaming. A lot of letdowns but also a lot of surprises. 2018 was the year that I probably bought the most games comparatively with other years. That's probably to do with the fact that I just love buying games. But I also like going out of my comfort zone a little bit to see if certain games will pique my interest. While some fall flat, some succeed. That's how gaming is really.

I will also say that 2018 was definitely the best year for this journal. I focused more on this being a passion project and less of just a journal and that opened the door to so many different things that I can do in this thread. Theme months specifically since I tend to do those a lot more. Not saying it's an original idea at all obviously. Just that I tend to enjoy them.

Now, looking into 2019 I tend to wonder what I could do differently than the year previously and I suppose the only thing I can tell myself is don't give yourself too many projects. Other than that I'm pretty happy with how this journal is continuing to stay afloat.

Otherwise, onto 2019. There will be a special.theme month soon.

Thanks for all the fun in 2018 and I hope I can say the same thing once 2019 ends. I've kept this journal going since 2015 and I have no means of stopping.

Do a genre month. Like RPG's. Or fighting games. Or... RT-****ing-S's!!!

I've been wanting to. I did horror month and loved it so I wanna do something like that.