windsock

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

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RYM
Last.fm

Key

*shrug*

Key

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


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.

Mindy

Im returning this weak ass playstation classic

just wasting fun enough, only RayMan was nice. graphics for metal gear solid... werent solid. it was hard to see because the graphics were all dark. just overall crappy system.


n64 classic though with golden eye and mario kart and nfl blitz, plus a baseball game. id pay 150$ for that.

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Key

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.

debaserr

Fuck Classic Consoles. Emulation is a thing.

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Key

I can't disagree here. Emulators are fantastic.

Key

Let's Talk About Fallout 76



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.

Key

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.

[MERIT]

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.