Key

This is the end of the Fallout 3 multi-parter, at least for now. I'm quite satisfied with how I've handled this but it'll be nice to talk about another game either today or tomorrow. Really depends. Who knows, maybe i'll do a Fallout New Vegas multi-parter. Again, really depends.

Anyway, how do I wrap things up here? Well, I did mention previous that I wanted to mention the DLC's, in this game, but before I do that, I want to talk about one of most defining moments in Fallout 3, and that is of course the end of the game when you get to watch Liberty Prime crash its way throughout the wasteland. It's by far one of the coolest climaxes to any game, and for it to be done to this extent in a game this old, well it's very telling of the developers motivation to make Fallout 3 great. I mean, the design of Liberty Prime is just fantastic in every way:



It literally just screams "i'm a badass, don't **** with me." I mean, it doesn't scream that but whatever.

The nice thing about Fallout 3 though is definitely the DLC's, and once you beat the main game, you'll come to realize that perhaps the game may be over and done with. At least until you realize that Broken Steel adds a whole new line to the story and you get to continue onwards. While that's great and everything, I do have to say that one of the most fascinating DLC's that I played personally was The Pit.



I know we've got other DLC's but this one in particular resonated with me in a way that the others didn't. First off, genius idea placing land mines on the bridge even before you enter The Pitt. Sort of gives you the impression that things are really ****ed up here and you best prepare yourself. Or so I thought until they decided to take all my belonging and leave me to be a slave in this forgotten city.

As I've said many times, the atmosphere of Fallout 3 has a lot to do with my overall impression of the game, and The Pitt does this fantastically. Even though I played Fallout 3 first, The Pitt definitely gives me the same feeling that Far Harbor did for Fallout 4. A whole new place to explore and discover. While maybe not as vast, The Pitt still offers something extra and puts you into situations that you're not familiar with. And although some of the quests for The Pitt are pretty monotonous and annoying, the overall experience of it is truly remarkable. Definitely one of my favorite DLC's in any game.

Other than that, everything else pretty much falls into the same category. "What makes Fallout 3 great for me?" category. And well, there really isn't a whole more I can discuss here that I haven't discussed before. It has been quite a blast to go more in depth with Fallout 3 because honestly, I did forget a couple things and perhaps there'll be another part in the future to fill those in? Maybe. But for now, yeah...those are my overall thoughts and opinions of Fallout 3. I think until the day I die, this game will remain in my top 3 games of all time.

Key

There is somewhat of a stigma that revolves around open world games - they all feel the same. And in a lot of cases, they do. So why do I continuously look for more to play? Well, everybody has their genre that they fall back to, and open world games are that genre for me. Don't get me wrong, I have a lot of love for other genres like roguelikes, FPS's, etc etc, but something about the continuous exploration of open world games really sells it for me.

Every time I've played an open world game, I always set the goal to try to do as much as I possibly can. I don't think there's necessarily anything wrong with that given that the game is giving you access to all of this awesome stuff. Now, while I tend to break away from open world games for a while, it's something I always fall back to. It's especially exciting when I see a game series I know and love go toward the open world genre. Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey are both great examples of that. And those are great just because nobody really expected Nintendo to go the open world route, but they did, and it worked out wonderfully each time. Especially since both games came out the same year. Pretty incredible, Nintendo.

Now, what is it about them that I like so much? Well, I've stated before that a big part of it is the exploration. But another part of it is the RPG aspect. A lot of open world games come tagging along with a bunch of RPG elements to make your character into the walking nightmare that you want it to be. And I find that to be a joy to do because making a character progressively more powerful is an amazing feeling. And even better when it's done with 4 characters simultaneously like it had been done in Divinity Original Sin 2. Never felt dull or overly complicated. Most times it never feels too difficult. But...don't even get me started on Path of Exile. I could look at that skill tree for hours and still never figure it out.

Another thing I like is just seeing the beauty of the world unfold. I mentioned also previously that I find joy when the game tends to let you zoom out and see the whole map. That it and of itself sets a very inviting setting that makes you want to travel every inch of the world. And many times I have. I completed Breath of the Wild, Spider-Man, Shadow of War, the list goes on. Graphically, most open world games I've played really showcase what can be done with graphics. And some turn out amazing while some fall short.

Now, I want to get into the real crux of this whole thing. Do I remember what set the stage for my love of open world games? Yes, I think I do. It may sound silly, but the many years I spent playing Runescape was a big eye opener for me. It showed me the potential of video games and for it to show that potential way back in the day is impressive in its own right.

I mean...c'mon. When you were younger and you saw this map, you just knew you were in for a treat.



If I can remember correctly, I spent close to 15 years on one account on Runescape, and that account still exists today. I still get the urge to play it again but I know if I do, I'll not be able to stop. but it definitely put me on the right path as far as gaming is concerned and I'll never forget that.

The Batlord

There can be no peace between 3 and NV fans.

__________________

Key

When it comes to open world games or just widely expansive RPG's, something that tends to stick with me the most over most other things is the music that plays in the background. Sometimes you're met with something so beautiful that the entire game would probably feel different had it not been in the game. I've talked about video game music many many times, but specifically open world games tend to get themselves overlooked. In regards to music that is. There's so much to open world games that the music does take a back seat sometimes. So, let's go over quite a few of them.



I give Breath of the Wild a lot of praise because of how amazing it truly is. And the music is something I feel got overlooked when people made their reviews of this game. Just this overworld theme that plays as you're running from point A to point whatever, it really does wonders for getting immersed into the world. Very calming and easy listening. I'm honestly glad they went this route because it also brought this:



^easily one of the best songs in any video game ever. it's seriously so good.

Anyway, before I get myself all wrapped up in Breath of the Wild, let's talk about perhaps a more simple track from a game I also absolutely love. Typically, it seems like it anyway, in open world games, the menu screens seem to have pretty calming soundtracks. And yeah, I notice them. Don't you? The one that has always stayed in my mind even after months of not playing the game, is this one from Shadow of War:



There's just something about it that makes it great. Maybe it's the feeling of adventure tied behind it? I don't know. It's great though. Made exploring the map that much more satisfying.

And I think we'll leave this part off on a high note with still one of my all time favorite tracks ever. It's of course from Fable III and I know it seems random, but when we're talking video game music, this is the one I instantly think of every time. Plus, it's kind of nice to hear it after not hearing it for so many years.

Zhanteimi

The mods are quite polarizing, especially Saerileth's (probably because she's romanceable and yet only 15 years old, and talks like a Shakespeare character). A lot of people love her mod, and others despise her. I even got hate-mail and death threats over her.

__________________
Zhanteimi

LetsTalkMusic

Key

Subnautica

I knew before long, this game was bound to make it into this theme month somehow. Yeah, I consider Subnautica to be an open world, don't you? It's a survival style open world game much like Minecraft and all those. Not necessarily a bad thing though seeing as Subnautica does a lot more than just being a simple explore and crafting style game. It brings an atmosphere to the player that hasn't really been done to this extent before. Yeah, I'm talking about being underwater. It's such a great idea for a game and I'm glad it was this team that did it.

Ever since Subnautica was in early access, I was on board. However, in its earlier stages, the game was nowhere near complete nor was it anywhere near the game we see today. It had a lot of issues, more specifically the performance issues. But, luckily that's been fixed for the most part despite a few hiccups. But you can't always expect perfection.

Subnautica takes everything you know about survival and throws it out the window because surviving underwater is its own beast entirely. The game comes with a day and night cycle again, much like Minecraft or any game in general to be fair. With that comes the change of atmosphere underwater. Y'know, because there's no light when its dark. And exploring the depths with no light above you or from your flashlight, it can get pretty terrifying. Just check this out:



I'm not lying when I tell you that when you're swimming underwater in this game at night, the amount of fear that comes from just the atmosphere alone is terrifying. It can definitely be considered a horror-esque survival game. It's honestly that creepy and sometimes it's tough to even progress because you really don't want to explore the dark depths. Which sometimes you do have to do if you're not equipped properly. But it's still a **** ton of fun.

The game really opens up when you start building your habitat and can basically stock your base up with all kinds of materials and quality of life improvements. It's nice to be able to go to your base and then continue to progress as you get deeper and deeper into the ocean. And yeah, you can go pretty deep eventually. I hear it just gets more and more terrifying but I've yet to get to that point. Building your habitat is a lot of fun to because there's so many different ways you can go about it. Really allows the creativity to shine.

Here's a pretty good example. This is not mine, though I do like mine:



And it's never a bad time to hop on the Subnautica bandwagon, but now they've released a standalone DLC with Subnautica Below Zero, so perhaps its the best time to get into it now before it really starts to evolve into something even more than it is now. And trust me, its current form is amazing. Both the main game and the DLC.

Key

Nier: Automata

Whether or not you consider this a true open world game, I don't know. I certainly do. The way the gameplay and mechanics work, Nier: Automata to me certainly feels like an open world game. Hence, why I'm talking about it here.

Nier: Automata is a game that I actually held off on for a while because while the game to me looked awesome, I just didn't have enough time to really sink into the game and see what it has to offer. I bought the game a few months ago and I have played a fair bit of it, but I still haven't gotten to the real core of the game, and I do plan to do that at some point.

Something that sticked out to me right away was the music. I've mentioned it once before, but I've always felt that the soundtracks for open world games tend to take a backseat sometimes. But when you're going from point A to point B and you hear this, it's pretty amazing:



What I find really great about this game is how it once again showcases how badass it can be to have a female protagonist instead of a male protagonist. It's been done many times now and successfully I might add. With games like Darksiders III, Horizon Zero Dawn, there's plenty more. In regards to open world games though, those are the only two I could think of right off the top of my head. You could consider Shadow of War as part of that category as well since you do have the option to play a female character in that game.

Genuinely a really great game. If you've been considering buying it, I'd say do it. You'll have a blast.

Key

My apologies for the lack of updates as the snow storm that hit basically made me not want to sit at my computer. I did do a lot of sledding though so that was fun. Anyway, I figure we may as well talk about something while we're snowed in here.


It's impossible to deny the absolute godly tier that this song is. I don't even really need to introduce it with what the game is because it should already be obvious as to which song I'm speaking of.



By far, BY far, one of the best things Bethesda has ever done, both Skyrim and the soundtrack.

Though in fairness, we wouldn't really be anywhere near Skyrim quality games if we didn't take a look back at what brought us here in the first place. I'm not talking about Bethesda as a whole, no I'm talking about old school games. And one of my all time favorite songs from an old game would have to be really any of the songs from Banjo Kazooie, but this one especially:



This song not only fits the scene perfectly, but depending on which part of the castle you were in, this song would fit with it. The different variations are all amazing and being in the castle is so much better with this music in the background.

And of course, while we're talking about old games, I want to mention this one as well. One of my all time favorite tracks from Diddy Kong Racing:

Key

See, when it comes to open world style games, I do still consider certain games to fall into that category whether it's purposefully or not. I'd definitely consider GTA V within that style of game. So, what's the problem? Why haven't I given it enough of my time? Well, there's a couple reasons for that, which I'll make brief. Back when GTA V had just released, I had only had experience with San Andreas and some of GTA IV so my excitement for it wasn't as tremendous as it was for a lot of other people, but from my understanding the game delivered. Now, when I picked it up, my experience was just plagued with problems from performance issues to not even being able to connect to the game at all. Granted, this may have been due to having an outdated PC and I guess I could try again on my PC now. But at this point, I've seen many hours of the Online, I've watched people play through the main story at least 3 times, so what is there waiting for me that I haven't seen yet? Yeah, I know a game deserves someones personal time with it to have a personal experience with it, but I feel like I may have missed the window on it by a slightly small amount of time.

It's fine though. I do consider the game to be great because as I said, I've watched the main story a few times, and I still enjoy seeing people's reactions to it. It's well told, the characters are all interesting, and the choice of 3 separate endings is a really good way to take advantage of the 3 character model. I think the game looks amazing graphically and it'll be tough for Rockstart to up their game for GTA 6. But that's yet to be seen.

GTA V is most certainly a game I would've put a lot of time into, but with the release of other games since then and my interests going into a different direction, I just haven't really seen or had any reason to purchase my own copy. I don't think I'd enjoy it for myself as I've seen everything already. Nothing would feel fresh and it'd start to feel like a chore. Right now, like I said, I find the game to be amazing just from a viewing standpoint and I'd rather not sour that outlook.

But, if GTA 6 is around the corner, I'll certainly be jumping on that as soon as it comes out. Because i'd be curious to see the improvements from the previous game.

Key

Man, it's really weird that I'd bring this game up right after I talked about GTA V, but honestly, GTA V influenced me to find this game that I ended up enjoying far more than I ever imagined. Saints Row: The Third basically takes what GTA V did well, and seemlessly improves upon it in its own unique way. Not saying GTA V is flawed in any way, but since I never experienced the game for myself, I can only go based on speculation.

I remember just looking through Steam trying to find games that could fit the sort of game I was looking for, and Saints Row: The Third came up as a strong recommendation, so I bought it and played it. And played it again. And again. And again. Pretty soon I was getting near the end, and just thinking about it makes me remember all the roads I traversed either by motorcycle or car, the cool base that I had, the endless amount of things you could do, and just the overall general feel of the game.

Plus, it looks ****ing amazing:



I know it comes off looking a little bit cartoony, but honestly, that's part of its charm. And you get over it really quick once you realize that it actually fits the game perfectly. The gunplay is also really fun. It basically brings together everything you love about the GTA series, and just improves on it in ways you didn't realize you needed.