The Batlord

Yo mama.

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Mr. Charlie

Welcome back, man.

Key

I think it's about time to conclude my thoughts and feeling towards Fallout 4. And believe me, there are some surprises in here that even I am surprised that I thought of, but unfortunately, certain things do happen and thus certain opinions are made that aren't exactly agreeable. Let's get right to it, I guess.

So, Fallout 4. It's the sequel in a line of games that we've been waiting for for a long time, and honestly, the wait was worth it. Bethesda evidently did everything they could to make the game as good as it could get, and some parts of it although were not the greatest, it's still a great game in the end of it all. I've not always really been big into the stories of Fallout 4, but the story in this one was very well thought out and the fact that you could get different endings depending on which road you took was a really nice touch, as it did add a bit more depth to your gameplay. A lot of criticism about the story was mostly based on the fact that it's super cliche and something people have already seen before. In my opinion, so what? If the story idea is being recycled from other games, and it can still make the game great, what's the problem with that? Not every new game that comes out, no matter what company you are, will have a brand new idea every single time. I don't see an issue with the fact that the story is a bit cliche. It was good for what the game was going for and that's really all that's important in the long run.

The gameplay mechanics were also done very well in this one in relation to the previous games. I felt like the gun play specifically was very polished and felt much more responsive and immersive than the other games did. I remember playing Fallout 3 and was never really satisfied with the way shooting a gun worked. I remember always going into VATS because I could never really tell where my gun was going to shoot, and even if you made the shot, it never felt like it made much of a difference. It just felt wonky and thankfully, Fallout 4 fixed that. Hopefully in their next release, they will use the same mechanics as Fallout 4 for gun play specifically.

Another popular criticism of the game was the fact that the map seemed way too small and lazy. Again, I have to respectfully disagree with that. Although the map did seem a bit small at first, there was enough to do wherever you traveled that it really didn't feel like you weren't going to have something to do. In Fallout 3 and even New Vegas, you seemed to walk through the wasteland a lot with nothing in sight for miles. Fallout 4 changed that by making sure there was at least something to run into in a short distance of time, which is fine with me, because I like to spend more time looting buildings and finding guns and ammo and whatever else I was looking for at the time. So yeah, maybe I agree that the map did feel a little bit small, but the fact that there was so much to do made up for it. And man, there was a LOT to do. Also, I don't want people to think that walking the wasteland for countless hours is necessarily a bad thing. I just find it refreshing that they sort of went a new route with the way Fallout 4 had more to offer in the wasteland as opposed to the other games.

Now, onto the part people are going to hate reading, my personal criticisms about the game. I'll try to keep them short and sweet and i'll even bullet point them for easy reading:

• Graphics were not up to par to what I thought they were going to be. DIdn't really ruin the experience as a whole, but I miss the dark green hue of Fallout 3. Fallout 4 just seems way to bright and sunshiny.
• Glitches upon release were a real problem. Especially for PC users, like myself. It was disappointing when I got the game and I immediately ran into game breaking glitches that required me to restart my game multiple times.
• After 50 hours of gameplay, I didn't really feel much urge to keep playing. Fallout 4 is great and all, but it didn't feel like it had that depth like Fallout 3 and New Vegas had. Maybe it has more to do with the fact that it didn't really feel like a survival RPG like the previous games felt like. It felt more like the game was focused on making sure you knew that they knew how to make guns work in the game.
• The whole idea behind the crafting system should have been scrapped before it even started. I get it, they wanted to try out a new mechanic, and even though it worked for what it was trying to do, I really don't feel like going from settlement to settlement to make sure that the people roaming those parts are safe. It really takes away from the fun of essentially being alone in the wasteland. Which brings me to my next point...
• In Fallout 3, and New Vegas, there was a big point to make about being alone in the wasteland and the game really wanted to test you and make sure you knew that you were the only one left, give or take a few people that you'd run into. In Fallout 4 however, I felt like even though there was a nuclear holocaust, a lot of people still somehow survived. I mean...there are cities filled with people, and to me, that doesn't really strike me as post-apocalyptic. Maybe that's just me, but hey, I did say it is my own criticism.

So, what's my final rating for Fallout 4? If I were to rate it, it'd get a 3/5 for me, which to some may seem disappointing, but the game didn't really offer what it promised it would, and although the game wasn't the biggest disappointment of the year, it just felt like the essentials for a Fallout game were no longer evident and I feel like Bethesda sort of went the easy way out and wanted to make a game just to say they made a game. Here's hoping to a brighter future though, because Fallout 4 definitely did do some things right, but after 50 hours of gameplay, I don't see myself going back to it anytime soon.

Key

Added disclaimer: I will also be covering early access games this month.

So for the month of May, yes, I know it's the middle of April, shut up, I'm going to be doing entries based solely on indie developers and the games they've made. It should be no surprise to anybody that this was going to become a thing as I've found a lot of enjoyment out of many different indie games, some of which are games I still play today. On top of that, sometimes indie games are far better than AAA games, I know crazy.

You're probably wondering what the hell the term "indie" means. Well, to make things easy, i'll pull a definition for you:

I've done a few month long themes in the past about the types of games that I really like and they seem to have gone really well. This one in particular may be one of the biggest undertakings i've ever done, which will mean more than 1 entry per day. I plan to do this for the entire month, so prepare yourself for a lot of entries during that month. I'm excited for this one because i'll be able to cover games that I've covered before and games I've yet to cover in this journal, like Darkest Dungeon and Titan Souls. Along with that, I will try to do my best to not only make it about the games specifically, but do as I did with Horror month, and focus on some of the little things in video games that don't get as much attention as they should, things like boss fights in indie games, graphics, the development team themselves, favorite genres, favorite characters, etc etc. There's going to be a lot of fun stuff happening, and i'm as excited as you are. So prepare yourselves, indie month is in the near future.

Of course, if you have suggestions for things that you'd like to see during the month of May, feel free to let me know. I can't promise that they will make the cut, but it's always nice to get other people involved especially if they have a lot of indie games like I do.

Indie Month Index:
Week of May 2nd to May 6th:
The Binding of Isaac
Darkest Dungeon
Video Game Music: Indie Edition
Titan Souls: First Impressions
Why I Will Never Play...Undertale
Starbound: First Impressions
Indie Games vs AAA Titles
Viscera Cleanup Detail

Week of May 9th to May 13th
Video Game Music: Indie Edition II
Favorite Bosses In Indie Games
Enter The Gungeon: First Impressions
Dont Starve Together Pisses Me Off

Week of May 16th To May 20th
Indie Games I've Never Played
Let's Talk About...Diehard Dungeon
Let's Talk About...Early Access Games
Indie Games I've Never Played Part II

Week of May 23rd to May 27th
Stardew Valley: First Impressions
Let's Talk About.../My Experience With...Rocket League
60 Seconds

Key

So here to start things off on the right foot for Indie game month is a game that I have talked about countless times, and I don't see any reason why I shouldn't talk about it more, especially with how big of a fanbase it has created.


Feel free by all means to get upset with me by constantly talking about this game, but when there's a game out there that has found as much great success as this series of games has found, you can't help but talk about it. Yes, The Binding of Isaac and all it's DLC's, and even mods, have been nothing short of amazing. When you hear the term "roguelike", instantly you think about The Binding of Isaac. The original man behind the idea, Edmund McMillen, really found something special and went for it, with the original game, that is. The original Binding of Isaac, even with some of it's glitches and faults is still one of the funnest experiences I've had with a game that came out of almost nowhere, I mean...just look at that art:



But as we all know, the hype has to die down at some point, which in fact it did. In it's defense, a lot of people clinged onto this game like nobody's business, like seriously. Once it's release was known, Youtube was filled with videos of the game and the commentators were giving it consistently great reviews saying how great the gameplay mechanics worked, the synergies of different items you can find, and just how difficult the game can be all based on RNG. Truly a remarkable way to start a series of games that continued to find success. Speaking of which, you know it has a successor, right? Of course you do, and i'm speaking nothing other than...



Yes, I am speaking of The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth. It's not every day that you find a true gem like this game right here. First of all, yes, it is the successor to the original Binding of Isaac, and the original developer, Edmund McMillen handed over the rights to Nicalis. Now i'm sure you're thinking what i'm thinking, or was thinking at the time: "great, a new developer, the series is ruined." Well, that proved to not be true when the game was released. The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth ended up being ten, maybe a hundred times better than the original release, and that's not an easy task to do considering the amount of hype this new release had, on top the enormous fanbase that the original had created. Everybody, and I mean everybody had higher than high hopes for this game and it exceeded all expectations. This game brought new synergies that you wished were in the original, on top of an entirely new graphic design, and the gameplay is so much smoother and less glitchy than it's original, but that's more the fault of the original being made through flash. The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, much like the original has consistently brought in new fans, old and young, and continues to do so, and I don't think i've heard one single person say a single bad thing about this game, maybe a few people here and there talk of it's difficulty level, but again, that's all to do with RNG, and maybe some skill. I mean, if you lose all your health to something that can die in two hits, maybe that's more your fault than the games fault, amiright?

In all seriousness though, I just wanted to start this month off by talking about this game because it really is what people say it is, maybe even more. There's a reason people talk about this series and there's a reason it has done so well for such a long time. It's fantastic. I urge you to pick it up if I have convinced you with my constant, and I mean constant discussion of this game. Did I mention they both have fantastic soundtracks? Well, i'll talk about that sometime this month too, because why not?

Anyway, welcome to Indie Dev month, and strap yourselves in, there's much more to come. But while you're waiting, why not pick up The Binding of Isaac and spend your weekend doing something fun.

Key

Darkest Dungeon

I've been anxiously waiting for this month to be able to talk about this game, because not only is it a fantastic release in the indie game world, it's by far one of the best indie games i've ever played. I remember a while back I heard about this game from another member here, and I was eager to pick it up, but for some reason it just fell on the backburner. Recently I decided to pick it up because I saw Northernlion playing it, and I was instantly impressed with the game and everything it had to offer.

So i'll try to give you a good idea of what to expect from this game, because although the game looks fantastic and plays fantastic, there is a lot to it mechanics wise that can be difficult to understand through words. Basically, if you imagine a side scrolling dark souls, you pretty much hit the nail on the head. Yes, Darkest Dungeon plays as a side scroller, but it's also a dungeon crawler, you have a party system, you can get loot, you kill enemies in a basic turn based RPG style, and you can level up your party with every dungeon you complete.

The dungeon system works in a way that compliments the game really well. Once you submerge yourself into a not so difficult, or a super difficult dungeon, you have to complete a certain percentage of the dungeon in order to classify it as "complete", but it doesn't only stop there. You can't just get into the dungeon and fight your way through because there are other aspects you have to be aware of environmentally and party wise. This game uses a "stress level" that your party can get effected by. Say your going into a battle and you have a character in your party that isn't doing so well and has a high stress level. There is a chance that the character in question will either start losing their mind, or they'll become more confident in their abilities to allow them to either inflict more damage on an enemy, or decide to stand back and end up missing a lot of their attacks. On top of that, the more the character misses their shots or makes them, it effects the stress level even more until they reach insanity. The only way to fix this is to either complete the dungeon or escape the dungeon, by surrender. However, the surrender choice is not a good strategy because again, that adds to the stress level of your characters due to them feeling bad about not being able to finish the dungeon you submerged them in in the first place. What I like about this mechanic is it really adds a lot of individuality to each of your characters and it makes you want to help them out as much as you possibly can, but when you're unable to do so, you just watch as they go insane and eventually that ends up being their downfall. And believe me, when you lose a character that you have been upgrading and working on for a long time, it's really difficult to get yourself back in the game because you have to choose a character to replace said character but with no upgrades and it's basically like starting the game over again. The nice thing is, you can have a lot of party members in your party, even though you only use four at a time when you go into a dungeon. So you could do the tactic of sending down your least favorite characters to complete a dungeon, sacrifice their stress level in order to get enough gold to upgrade a character that you would like to use in the future. I've started to do this on a few of my characters, and although it's a rough strategy to use, it can be rewarding.

You've also got a sort of a hub world on top of choosing your party and going into dungeons, what this allows you to do is like I mentioned earlier, upgrading your character, sending them to a bar or the church to reduce their stress level (which takes time), and sell some of the loot or artifacts that you have found in your dungeon crawling. You do get trinkets that you can add to your character, and if you're like me and all you want is the gold, some of them can sell for a pretty penny. I did realize however that it may not have been a good idea to sell all the trinkets I got when I started, because as the dungeons get harder and harder, you start to realize that having trinkets on your characters can give you that extra boost that you need.


Photo example of the hub world

Now, let's talk about the difficulty. Given the type of game that this is, you'd probably not expect the game to be too terribly difficult, it being a dungeon crawler, you're probably thinking that all you need to do is complete dungeons and collect loot. But it stretches far beyond that as I mentioned before. I would class this game (and many others have done so as well) as difficult or close to the difficult of Dark Souls. Yes, it can be that difficult and frustrating and some times you'll find yourself just getting so pissed off that you just exit the game and come back later. The fact that it has the difficulty curve on it however is what makes it more enjoyable, for me. I don't mind it when a game is easy or easy to get into, but I also really enjoy the sense of accomplishment and satisfaction of beating a part in a game that is known to be super difficult. That being said, if this game was easier, and not as difficult, I don't think it'd be as good of an experience as it currently is. Darkest Dungeon really sets the bar pretty high for what other developers that are interested in this genre should look to achieve, because it's done a fantastic job at taking some well known mechanics and turning it into something original and fun. In shorter words, if you're interested in a side scrolling Dark Souls, pick this one up.

Now onto the story. So i'm not the biggest fan of listening to the story or following a story especially when the game is a dungeon crawler, because all I really want to do is fight monsters and collect loot, so I can't say much about the story in general, however I do enjoy the consistent dialogue from a sort of commentator that speaks while you play the game. He talks about your characters and how they are doing and he enlightens you when you do well. It's a very interesting aspect to add into a game like this, because you wouldn't think that extra dialogue from a voice over the game would add a positive atmosphere, but it really does. It basically works as if you're playing a book. I know that sounds weird and boring, but it's tough to explain it any other way. It does its job well though and again, it adds to the dark gothic atmosphere of the game, which brings me to my next point...

Graphics! Alright, so the graphics for this game are absolutely amazing. Excusing the fact that this game is already dark and has that gothic / medieval feel to it, the graphics compliment the game so well that you often forget that it's a side scroller, because not only is it a side scroller, its a 3D side scroller. You can see the depth of the characters and the enemies and the dungeon designs are so well done and done with such depth that you really forget that your playing from side to side, which is really nice because some side scrollers can get really boring if you don't have something captivating to look at as your exploring through a dungeon. So they really hit the nail on the head perfectly with the route they took graphics wise, and I hope other developers take note.

So, if I haven't gotten you interested in this game yet, well that's your loss. This is a fantastic release and one that I will probably continue to put hours of gameplay into, mostly because apparently the story mode is extremely long and the game only gets harder. Certainly an enjoyable experience though.

The Batlord

To spend $25, or not to spend $25, that is the question I pretend to ask myself until I finally dispense with the bull**** and just buy this game like I was planning to all along. **** you, Ki. My wallet doesn't need this ****.

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Key

You'll enjoy the game a lot. I feel like it'd be right up your alley. You'll get your money's worth the minute you start playing.

Key

Let's change things up a little bit, let's talk about music. And no, not just any music...


I have to say before I start posting video and video of songs that I find rather enjoyable in indie games, there are a lot of fantastic composers out there that have made games for indie games, and I really feel like those composers have some serious talent, to the point that I have no problem calling them 'talented musicians'. It's an art and a talent to be able to make the music that these guys make, on top of making sure that the music fits the game just right, and it always does, so let's get started.

First up we have a song or two from a game I like to call "Dodgeball on drugs", or under it's true name:



Yes, Robot Roller Derby Disco Dodgeball has got such a killer soundtrack. And how can it not? We're talking about a game that not only comes with the ability to knock the **** out of your opponents with dodgeballs, but you've got strobe lights, people on wheels, and dodgeballs. And you know what kind of music they made for it, the perfect combination of techno, dubstep and electronica.

But just like any album, the entire album has some really strong tracks, and some that I don't really favor too much, not to say that the tracks that I don't favor much aren't great, but they're just not up my alley. But here are some of the tracks that are just fantastic:



Now listen to those tracks right now and you tell me you don't feel the urge to get this game and start knocking the crap out of your opponents. You don't feel it? Well just look at this GIF to give you an idea of what to expect when you pick the game up:



Not convinced? Well, your loss. You're missing out on a great experience here.

Anyway, next up we have...



I've done an entry on Cryptark before, but I didn't mention much, or at all, about the soundtrack that goes along with the game. Now, what's the first thing you think about when you just hear the name Cryptark, without knowing what the game is about, the first thing I would think about is sci-fi, and if that's what you thought, you'd be correct. If you want to know more about the game, you can check out the entry I did, but just know that the soundtrack with it's sci-fi, mysterious feel, really adds to the atmosphere of the game, in short terms, it fits in perfectly. Especially considering this game came out of nowhere, the guys that made the soundtrack did a phenomenal job at just adding that little touch that makes the game so much fun.



On top of that, this is a soundtrack that I could easily listen to while i'm out and I wouldn't even think twice about the fact that it's from a video game, but like I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I consider musicians for video game soundtracks to be legitimate musicians. So that's a given that I would listen to things like this regularly with my other music that I listen to.

The last soundtrack for this post that I would like to talk about is from a game that unfortunately has fallen on my backburner, but is still fantastic just for the feel that it adds to the game. And don't worry, there is more soundtrack magic coming, I'm just limiting these to 3 per post just so I don't overwhelm you with all this great music. So, what we have up is...



Yeah yeah yeah, another rogue like soundtrack. But honestly, I don't think this game would be nearly as immersive if not for this fantastic soundtrack. It's got so much depth and throughout the entire game, you get to different stages in it and the music just adds to how deep the game really is. Truly a remarkable job from the artist that made the soundtrack. There's a lot of talent in this and big kudos for making sure that it fits in with the game nicely.



I'm only adding this song because this is one of the first songs you hear in the game, and it just adds that extra depth and immersiveness and blood pumping sound that gets you sunk into the game right away.

The Batlord

I'm gonna have to search for that entry on Cryptarch. Everything about the name and pic you posted are awesome.

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