The Inquisition on PC

You know I had a lot of doubts going into this game considering what EA has done to a lot of good games over the course of the past few years. I lost faith in Battlefield, Mass Effect, Dead Space and numerous other franchise titles just because EA corporates couldn't get their heads out of their shareholder's asses. I would risk the damage to my reputation to say that most long time franchise fans would agree with me.

But, I'm not here to talk bad about EA. In fact I think they did right by a lot of fans and critics with their newest installment of Dragon Age. Sure it has it's issues but, I think for once they're actually starting to listen to what their customers want and not looking at the bottom line.

Story: 

It's cohesive, yet mysteriously confusing. Some of the story points don't link up a lot as a whole, but that's largely ok the most important points are generally well grounded in well versed story telling. I'm not an expert in Dragon Age lore nor do I care to be but, everything I experienced matches the lore of the past Dragon Age games I've played and haven't deviated much from solid expansionism.

Romance options feel slightly stilted. They're still just as awkward as before, but this time they have more meat to them. However, romance options that could have been were instead ignored. I'm looking at you Cassandra x Female Main Character. Bioware has also fully embraced the whole equal rights role by giving lots of same sex options. Although in my opinion it still has a long way to go. The idea would best be served if every option had male/female romance lines. Maybe it's a fling or a deep relationship either way it could be fleshed out more.

It follows the old hero archetype and offers a grand experience from multiple viewpoints (Mostly Varrics.) Banter is well timed and meaningful offering a change of pace in the serious attitude in the game.

8/10

Gameplay:

I was expecting more fluid action what I got was more reminiscent of an antiquated FFXII combat system. Still fun nonetheless but, It was lacking that true action packed feeling like its sister title Mass Effect. The open worlds are rife with standard rpg quests to do. Each of them seems to provide lore and appropriate rewards for doing them. They made it similar to the collection of Last Fight readiness meter like in Mass Effect 3. I thoroughly enjoyed that system as every little thing amounted to something. No quest felt like a throwaway, maybe-don't-need-to-do-this-one quest.

However, cameras really made me sad, like literally fetal position crying sad. They're just that bad I'm not sure how it is on the consoles but the PC version of the game's camera controls were just flat out terrible. Sometime it's too close, sometimes it's too far, sometimes I'm flying somewhere out in the middle of nowhere.

Tactical inputs don't really seem to matter in my opinion as all your friendly AI never seem to react in time. Making it more like a 1 man demonstration of skill with 3 meat shields. Having a double front-line often serves purposes better than have 3 DPS characters making for a very linear combat system in a sense. You aren't limited to doing this. But, in order for aggro to be held you almost need 2 tanks as 1 just dies far too fast.

Moral choices are not well defined. However, thematically it works. Just like in any large holy war there's bound to be ambiguous context you don't understand not having definitive good/bad options makes for a more convincing dialogue system.

7/10 


Graphics:

No one practices hygiene in Dragon Age. Seriously everybody's hair is shiny as fuck. For 0 reason. Dorian's mustache is like color of my Honda Accord, Metallic Gunmetal. You would think walking under a waterfall might fix the hygiene issue, but no, I think it makes it worse for an extended duration, until the water dries.

Animation could use some work. Mouth and facial movements make me cringe a little. It almost feels amateurish compared to current gen work but given the large scope of the game it can almost be forgiven. Hopefully in the next title the facial rigging and bones will be improved enough to demonstrate this.

Now that I'm done complaining about the graphics the rest of the game looks utterly stunning. Locales are all extremely well polished. Traveling around the world you really can get immersed. Models are amazing and textures are extremely high fidelity. Leather and metal look to be of actual quality not just haphazardly textured on.

7/10

Sound:
Again quite stunning. The soundtrack fits every single time and Sound FX are well rounded. They don't sound out of place or overly muted. The audio reel is actually well varied giving it hyper realism. Metal clangs could use some work especially in cutscenes. They sound muffled and underwhelming to a degree like the recording equipment were too far away.

All in all the game's sounds are well done with only minor room for improvement with various cutscene audio syncs and the metal clangs. 

8/10

Final Verdict:

Long time fans of the series will enjoy this game. Newcomers to the franchise should feel right at home with a solid experience. The clunky systems are far overshadowed by the overall open world ability to explore and create your own story.

7.5/10

Baoynetta 2: Not as Sexy Without Amnesia.

Happy Halloween folks. I'm here to bring you in the spirit of Halloween a review on a sexy witch. One who uses hair as her costume and dazzles us all.

Bayonetta, Cereza whichever you prefer to call her is back this Halloween season and she brings with her much of what made her fantastic in the first installment. Yet at the same time she's missing a few things that would send her into Climax.

Story:
As ludicrous as both the first and second story are they're a delight. It's purposely filled with odd one liners and cliches up the wazoo, yet it works. Both games delivered wonderfully on this over-the-topness. However, in this installment Enzo becomes more annoying and the addition of another character sort of takes away the dynamic she had with previous character from the last installment. Almost to the point where it gets a bit repetitive luckily the story is delivered in short chunks with good pacing such as it won't suffocate you with it.

If you're looking for some oddly deep meaning, I suppose it's there but this game doesn't have one of those take it to heart serious stories. It's more like a melodramatic comedy. 

For delivering a fantastically over the top experience Bayonetta 2 scores a solid 9/10 in this category.

Gameplay:
Unfortunately this part disappointed me the most being a diehard fan of the first I found this version lacking in a few of the gameplay categories. Her combos while they have been expanded don't flow nearly as well as they did last game. Most of the techniques and combos are back from the last game with a few additions here and there so the overall fight experience for someone starting fresh with Bayonetta 2 will be most enjoyable. However, for those that played the first game and loved how the combos flowed into each other some of that is lost with the new additions and more rigid combos.

Punish/Torture attacks are where it hurts most. Given that the game expanded to include demons this time, you'd think they'd animate some new more distinct torture attacks, nope. To make matters worse the lineup of tortures has been watered down in sexiness. It's more gruesome than it is hilarious. Joy's wooden horse is gone along with a number of more livid tortures. Which leaves me a bit upset.

The weapons category is a bit lacking. A lot of medium range weapons were removed from 1st to 2nd installment. The ones that exist have fantastic re-playability and diverseness however missing weapons like shotguns make me one really sad witch. I'm sure Bayonetta is crying too. The added Nintendo themed weapons don't do much to make it better either. So this time around the game just has a smaller weapon roster. I have yet to unlock Rodin's fight to gain the Rodin weapon but I imagine it's similar to what was in the original Bayonetta.

Costumes are back and well they're pretty much the same a few entries missing here and there and a few new Nintendo themed ones making an appearance, but, overall nothing much to talk about here. We all new they'd be back.

They added a more competitive multiplayer this time around. But, I feel like this is more a tacked on unnecessary experience. It's a well polished mode, but my expertise is not in games like Bayonetta and so I found myself losing more halos than I was winning which dulled and soured the experience for me. For enthusiasts of this genre then this might be a welcome break to the single player experience.

I think this game is easier compared to the original. I remember having trouble getting past the 1st stage on 2nd climax/normal mode in the first game. I had no problem running through the entire game on 2nd climax this time around. It could just be I've matured and am better at executing combos though. You should be the judge of whether it's the same difficulty. 

For a still solid experience Bayonetta 2 scores a solid 7/10 in this category.


Graphics:
 From the opening scene it's clearly last gen. We kind of expected it since it was on the Wii U console. So there isn't much to complain about the enemies are still wonderfully designed and an inspiration and pleasure to watch. Animation is smooth and runs at 60 frames solid even when in long complex boss fights. However, I think Bayo broke her spine this game or something she leans in a very unnatural almost forced fashion compared to the original. Maybe it's because I haven't played the first one in a long time or maybe it was the way the costume was designed, either way Bayo's strut looked painful to say the least.

Some of the Nintendo textures weren't nearly as good as the first, but, it wasn't too bad I was concentrating more on the fighting than the scenery this time around. All the locales that are visited are very appropriate thematically and still are a delight to take pleasure in. The most painful thing graphically I had to look at was at the very start of the game Bayonetta's wide brimmed Sunday hat was not even modeled like a hat, they literally cheaped out and just went ahead and performed a texture illusion to make it look hollowed out inside.

The color palette is noticeably different vs. the first game It's much brighter and I don't really care for it. It doesn't fit the Bayo theme but, it does add to the opposing contrast of the game.

Delivering adequate graphics Bayonetta 2 gets an above average score of 8/10.

Sound:
I'm a bigger fan of the first thematic song. Along with this sorta of old school feeling that it exuded. That's not to say the soundtrack of Bayonetta 2 is bad. However, this time around expect a different tune one that doesn't fit the Bayo sexiness as Fly Me to the Moon did. The 2 Songs that really made me happy this time around were in the first few scenes of the game. Moon River (Climax Edit) and Tomorrow is Mine. Everything else sort of paled in comparison.

The Sound FX are well done and varied enough to make it feel natural, there was a lack of clarity in some moments but I'll write it off as my audio tuning being off.

For delivering a spectacular audio experience albeit not to my taste Bayonetta 2 still gets a 8/10.

 

Overall the game scores a solid 8/10. It's a great game but thematically doesn't deliver as well as the first game in a couple of respects. Which for me hurt the score. I wanted Bayo back in all her glory after so many years and while most of her is here. She's not all here :(.

Samsung White vs. Star Horn Royal Club: David vs Goliath Matchup

Now that the last semifinal match has wrapped up I'd like to take a moment to evaluate the World Championship final match up. I'll be going over team strengths and weaknesses as well as contested picks and bans.


Samsung White:

PROS
- They showed a dominating performance vs. sister team Samsung Blue. How much of that is actually Samsung White playing well or Samsung Blue not showing up is up for debate.
- Executes rotations extremely well. However, there is a noticeable patterned dip in decision making in the mid to late game. Sometimes Imp goes too ham and it costs them the game or mistimed teamfights extend the game longer than originally intended. Other times his haminess finds him great success.
-Securing small early game leads almost guarantees them wins. Especially 3-buffing the enemy team.


CONS
-When they fall behind early there tends to be a discrepancy in how well they can play. This was showcased in that STOMP game they dropped to TSM.
-When they lack vision they can be out-rotated. Technically that flaw stands for every team. But, in Samsung White's case this is probably more of a problem as they rely on good vision control to catch one person out then out rotate their opponents after a pick.
-Predictable tendencies. Over the course of the World's games, Samsung White has shown a predictable pattern when gunning for neutral objectives like Dragon or Baron.


Star Horn Royal Club:

PROS
-Extremely good at capitilizing on picks and teamfights and has un-curtailed aggression.
-Extremely good at finding favorable Baron fights even when behind. This team capatilizes on mistaken Baron calls better than any other team.
-Uzi can carry the game.

CONS
-If Uzi falls behind the whole team's effectiveness becomes dwindled.
-Corn has been rather lackluster and against PawN whose champion pool is deep and mechanically adept. It'll be a toughlane to hold on to.
-If inSec fails to make an impact early the hyper aggression he's used to using often backfires on him seen in multiple games vs OMG and EDG.
-subpar rotations and likes to look for teamfights even when behind. This team's best asset is also its worst. Sure they can make plays from behind, but trying to consistently make play after play while behind is extremely difficult and often bites them in the butt.



Contested Picks

Ryze- This has been a generally solid pick all around. Both Cola and Looper have performed well on this champion over the course of World's and is an overall strong scaling pick. This will likely be a pick for contention

Janna/Thresh- I've lumped them together simply because if one of them is picked up the likeliness of the other is being picked jumps substantially. Yeah there were games where that wasn't case but they stand to be the fewer and farther between. Both of these picks bring great teamfight potential and are generally all around good supports.

Rengar- we haven't seen a lot of inSec on Rengar, but Dandy has been picking it up and the games we did see inSec on were impressive ones. This will likely be a contested pick for either jungler leaning more heavily in Dandy's favor. I predict SHRC banning Rengar at least once or twice.

Lee Sin- when you have a champion play named after you, you know it'll be a contested pick. Both junglers have shown proficiency on this champion. However, during most of World's inSec's Lee Sin play has been fairly lackluster. However, if they wanna shutdown mid lane synergy and scary ganks SHRC will likely ban this.

Jayce- I originally wasn't going to include Jayce in this since PawN has really been the only user of him. But, after Cool pulled out Jayce to great effectiveness against SHRC in the semifinals, this became a contested pick. SHRC has shown weakness to well played poke comps and out rotation. PawN is significantly better at playing Jayce than Cool. Expect to see Jayce banned at least one game.

Rumble- this top lane menace has shown himself once again and proven that midgame effectiveness outweighs late game scaling. Looper has shown proficiency on Rumble in one game which is technically hard to quantify as data. However, the impact he provided that game was second to none so. If SHRC chooses Maokai top this is a likely counter to it and vice versa.

Twitch- Both teams' ADCs have favored this champion heavily. Both Uzi and Imp have single-handily carried games with Twitch. The assassination and catch potential on this champion is extremely high and favors teams that use teamfight comps or can out rotate their opponents after a pick. Both teams can do this and therefore this will be a fought over champion.

Lucian- the power this champion brings to the table is amazing. There's a good scaling curve on him and he doesn't have any particularly weak phases in the game. He will fall off toward the end game vs say a Tristana. However, it's not nearly as bad as some other ADC picks.

Series Prediction:

Samsung White 3-1  70/30 in favor of SSW.

Honestly Samsung White just look much stronger and more stable. In my opinion if OMG hadn't dropped the ball in the last game in the Bo5, they would have stood a better chance since they rotate better and can curtail their aggression when need be. SHRC plays poorly when behind and SSW is extremely good at catching early game mistakes. SHRC does have a chance to take 1 or more games off of SSW, but, the only way that will happen is if SSW start to get overconfident and play sloppy.

Super Smash Review: If it Ain't Broke Don't Fix It

This needs to be Nintendo's slogan or something because that's been their attitude toward most of their main titles in the last few years. Super Smash Bros. for the 3DS certainly doesn't break Nintendo's latest streak.

Story: N/A this category isn't really available. I can't really judge what wasn't there from the very first installment. Nintendo never meant for this game to focus at all on story and I don't penalize them for it. The mish mash of characters wouldn't result in any cohesive, interesting story.  Sometimes less is better.

Story receives a 0/0

Gameplay:

Where the bulk of this review will focus. Super Smash Bros. 3DS is as fantastic as its wonky predecessors. The combat is silky smooth and while I suck at using circle pads, for most people this won't be a problem; especially for those gamers who are familiar with playing other fighting games on Playstation consoles.

Final smashes for the most part haven't changed and the game has been fine tuned from the last entry in the series. Most fighters have the same memorable move sets as in the previous title. The meta has shifted and certain fighters have received buffs and nerfs accordingly. I think changes have been made to the amount of damage taken before fighters can be knocked off. It certainly feels easier in this installment, making this version pace much faster. But, my judgement may be skewed since the last Super Smash game I owned was for the N64.

Modes: Surprisingly numerous and challenging. Target Blast, Home Run, 100 Man Smash all pretty classic stuff from the last title. Making the normal story grind less mind numbing. Labyrinth mode is pretty tough and I'm still confused about the intricacies of it.

Online: This mode is really for the hardcore or if you're a glutton for punishment. I have been emasculated several times already trying to compete in online mode. The competition is seriously tough as with all other arcade fighters. There's some noticeable lag in games I have played, with occasional network issues. I'm not sure if this is due to the processing power of the 3DS or just the severely outdated Nintendo network play.

Still the local 4 player smash is still very fun and in tune with the oldest title. I fondly remember all the neighborhood parties/play dates I'd host with friends to play "Smash." The fact that I'm now able to enjoy this local 4 player without having to lug around a console is seriously fantastic. Like the commercial slogan: "SETTLE IT IN SMASH"

Gameplay/Online receives a 9/10

Graphics: About what you'd expect from a Nintendo game. It's certainly not pure HD, but extremely well polished nevertheless. The battle FX are really crisp and well designed. The characters look good up close. I give credit to the design team for making really beautiful maps and giving us an innovative tool necessary for the handheld platform. That is character outlines. Given the screen size of even the largest, 3DS XL, it was absolutely brilliant to give us an easier way to track characters on the map. Especially with how chaotic 4 person smash can get.

I will say that this game definitely needs to be played on the XL handheld. I have the standard 3DS and not only is it uncomfortably small and difficult to wrap my hands around. But, the smaller screen size means when fighters are on opposite sides of the map they become incredibly small.

Graphics receive a 9/10.

Sound: Pretty fantastic. The soundtrack system is ingenious since it allows you to freely access the  beautiful, memorable scores from each of the separate titles the characters come from. Character voices and sound FX are on target and wonderfully done. Sound can get drowned out from the fighting due to the hardware limitations of the 3DS, but it is forgivable.

Sound receives a 9/10.

Is there a reason not to get Super Smash for 3DS? I can only think of a few, REALLY don't want a 3DS, have no money, suck at fighting games. Even if you're not hardcore this is just a fantastically fun game. Totally worth the 40$.

Final score: 9/10.

League of Legends: NA's chances at being Champions

What an amazing weekend this was, the battles on the rift were so crazy I'm still utterly speechless.

 

Writing once again from the land of apple pie and freedom, I'm bringing you an end of the week wrap up and some thoughts about both NA's chances at Worlds.

Group A (Samsung White, Edward Gaming, AHQ, Dark Passage).
Group B (TSM, Star Horn Royal Club, Taipei Assassins, SK Gaming).
Group C (Samsung Blue, OMG, Fnatic, LMQ).
Group D (Alliance, Cloud9, Najin White Shield, Kabum Gaming).

The eternal question of which region is better NA or EU I think has been solved during the most recent World's Group Stages. Both NA hopefuls have made it out of group stages while EU's respective No.1 and No.2 seeds have both been knocked out.

Quick Roundup

 Rounding out this week, In Group C Samsung Blue showed exactly how dominant Koreans are only dropping one game to Fnatic. Similarly OMG starting off the week 0-2 showed exactly how much determination and some quick fixes can go a long way in securing the second spot in Group C.

In Group D Najin White Shield limped through to secure first, dropping a PERFECT game to EU's Alliance and one to NA's Cloud 9. Cloud 9's week has been tough overall but they secured the second spot by beating Najin White Shield once and losing in the tiebreaker for first.

What are TSM and C9's chances at worlds?

Both, rather slim unfortunately. I'd hate to say it but Cloud 9 looked really bad in the group stages. Yeah they came out ahead and even beat Najin White Shield, but, to be honest Hai dropped a lot of stupid kills in every game and Meteos's jungle pathing has been lackluster if not predictable. I understand that Hai is C9's only shot caller but if the midlaner can't perform then Dade will surely overtake him. Balls should be able to trade evenly with Acorn, but, post lane phase Acorn seems to currently have more of an impact in teamfights. When Balls falls behind though he can't seem to recover so that may be another thing C9 has to watch out for. If they don't fix these issues I envision a tough time against Korean powerhouse Samsung Blue.

What Cloud 9 need to do if they desire to survive:

• Sneaky needs to focus on playing more aggressively we've seen him get bullied out lane and lose plenty of trades in the laning phase, resulting in lower CS. This really shouldn't happen as LemonNation has really been stepping up and delivering some key aggression on to the enemy carry. There may also need to be some champion pool expansion as the most promising games he's played has been on Corki and Lucian. Both of which tend to fall off toward the end game compared to champions like Tristana; his one Tristana game was also really lackluster.
• Meteos needs to diversify his jungle pathing and become more efficient. I've seen him waste a lot of time deciding which lane to put pressure on or get caught in predictable jungle pathing. He'll also need to step up his lane presence as the meta continues to shift away from him being able to farm.
• Hai needs to clean up his post laning phase. He's usually able to keep even during lane phase. Throughout the games played in group stages, he has been making some really uncharacteristic roams and dives post laning phase. Some of which you'd ask why even try? This has put his team farther behind when they're already losing. In tow with Sneaky, Hai may need to expand his champion pool as he's been target banned a few times. Majority of his best performances has been on Zed, but, against Koreans, they may not let him have it.
• LemonNation had some issues with positioning in laning otherwise he's doing well. If he can fix his laning issues and trade more efficiently they have a better shot. Improving
• Balls has been doing consistently throughout he'll need to get some more Korean Solo-Q time though as he has been prone to early ganks and once he loses lane Balls becomes rather irrelevant going forward. 

If you haven't read the article on TSM I've included the link here. Pretty much all of what has been said holds true. Comparing the two teams, C9 has played stronger opponents but performed poorer. While on the flip side TSM has played no Korean teams, but, has performed better. It's tough to say if the Korean team really made a difference as NJWS has looked about as strong as SHRC if only marginally stronger. Bjergsen has also made less potential game losing errors than Hai. While TSM's problems may seem more serious, I feel like they have a better shot, as Hai has really been under-performing on everything but Zed. As their main shot caller and midlaner this is definitely going to impact their upcoming games.

IF C9 fix all their issues and play perfectly. If Dade and Deft don't show up like they did against Fnatic then C9 has a 40-60 shot at making it out of quarterfinals.

Included below are videos of all of C9's games.

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Tiebreaker

League of Legends Group A/B Recap; TSM's Chances at Worlds

This week's group stage at worlds has been intense. Group A (Samsung White, Edward Gaming, AHQ, Dark Passage) and Group B (TSM, Star Horn Royal Club, Taipei Assassins, SK Gaming). Teams have laughed, cried, and struggled to grab a position in the quarterfinals.

Writing from the country of Apple Pie and Freedom I'm here to bring you an end of the week wrap up and some thoughts about TSM's chances at the Quarterfinals, Semifinals, and Finals.

At the end of the week, in Group A, Samsung White and Edward Gaming have secured their spots for the Quarterfinals. In Group B, Star Horn Royal and Team Solo Mid have secured their respective spots as well. Arguably each team, with the exception of SSW has fought hard to qualify for their quarterfinals spots with fairly decisive performances all around in Group A; SSW and EDG  are definintely leading the charge as we move forward into quarterfinals. Showing that they have a command of the game and revealing little of their secrets to other competitors. However, SHR and TSM have put on equally powerful performances showing the home crowd of Taiwan why they deserve to go over TPA.

TSM's Chances at Worlds: After watching some of the games below you begin to understand exactly what kind of shot NA has at becoming the champions, that is, a very slim one. Granted the additions of Locodoco and Lustboy have been beneficial to TSM, the entirety of NA has what I feel been in a slump. Wildturtle has been hit or miss on all picks except Tristana. Bjergerson while having definitely stepped up still has yet to fully master the primary shot-caller role, apparent in their last game against SK Gaming. Amazing has roughly two and a half champions he can really perform on. While Dyrus has also stepped up, he can be prone to tilting; apparent in his first game against SHR.

So while their showing in group stages was a strong one. They have a long way to go before beating SSW who they're matched against first in the quarterfinals.
What TSM needs to do if they intend to survive:

• Get Wildturtle to master one other champion so he isn't completely shut down. Laning phase needs to be buffed or else Mata and Imp will most likely destroy them. 
• Bjergerson needs to be able to focus; more embracing of the shot callers role so that he isn't as distracted when out of lane. Granted he's probably equal or better then PawN in Solo-Q, PawN operates much better since he doesn't have to shot call since DanDy and Mata have picked that up.
• Dyrus needs to play more games in Korean Solo-Q to prevent him from going on tilt against high jungle pressure and mechanical outplays.
• Amazing needs to expand champion pool greatly. His two best performances are on Lee Sin and Lee Sin. Seriously I can't quite recall other champions he has had good success on, other than a mildly impressive Nunu in LCS.
• They have to run some strategy's against SSW. Locodoco should be watching OGN footage to figure out where Samsung White excel currently and tailor plans for Dyrus and Bjergerson especially. Since more likely than not Wildturtle will be the chink in the TSM armor SSW will try to exploit.

Even after doing all of the above the chances of TSM winning are still only 40-60 in my opinion, mechanically SSW is far more sound than TSM still. But, we've all seen dark-horses win before at worlds. I'm looking at you TPA.

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Feel free to comment below on your thoughts and feelings of where TSM stands and how much you'll be screaming your head off if they beat the Korean team SSW.

Svenskeren's Suspension

Broken dreams are kicking off the World Championships this year. Earlier in the day Svenskeren was suspended by Riot, here's the official statement from Riot: Svenskeren Ruling

Below are some images of the offending name change.

I wasn't born in Taiwan, but, I am Chinese and have been to Taiwan with my family many times. I can tell you now that I am a little cheesed that Svenskeren was so racially insensitive. But, that isn't my main gripe. It's that he did it both as a professional and on purpose. If you're a professional at anything whether it be a batter, a shout caster, or even a CEO you should always be aware of what you say and do. If you're going to be a public figure you should act accordingly. I get it players need to blow off steam and have fun, hell even I'm racially biased sometimes. Here's the clincher don't do it in public, you can have an opinion, even vocalize it. Just don't get caught.

The biggest problem with this is the community partially defending Svenskeren. I say partially because they believe the ruling was fair, but should have been postponed. Wake up call people, Svenskeren is a part of SK Gaming, he is responsible for his actions as a pro player. Defenders of SK Gaming believe Riot was in the wrong for punishing the entire team so close to the start up of the Championships by removing their star jungler. If a team can't control a single player's actions, then they should be punished respectively as entire team. Just because they're a starting player doesn't mean they should receive special treatment so that they can have a shot at being Champions.

Just think of the news headlines if they won, Racially Insensitive Player leads team to Victory. Not only would that hurt Riots reputation for allowing it to pass. But, it hurts SK Gaming's reputation for allowing such a player to represent them.

Please post your opinions on this topic below. I'll answer any questions and even hold a reasonable debate if you'd like.

Destiny- GOTY, Possibly?

I might be giving praise too early and where it's unwarranted but over the course of the last 36+ hours I have systematically played through almost all of the story, as well as almost reaching the lvl 20 soft cap (currently lvl 19). I have fallen in love with the game literally. We've even had our first lover's quarrel where I threw my controller down in protest.Sit down, grab some popcorn and enjoy you're in for one hell of a review. (A long one at that)

Story: Eh? Well it's not bad, but I'm not a fan. Why am I not a complete fan you ask? Because, it feels and sounds like medieval space war. I mean for Christ's sake we have the main guidance and speaker refer to impending evil as the "Darkness" couldn't you have come up with something better than that Bungie? Then we also have this weird sense of hey let's include lines like "That Wizard came from the moon," "an evil more evil than all other evils." It feels poorly written in that sense. Hell even some levels reflect some weird medieval space theme (Hive bridges look like old metal rope bridges). Here's what I love about the lore. The integrated Grimoire cards. Seriously in a game that would otherwise be devoid of good lore these bit-sized pieces of story are easy to digest and add tons of depth to a rather ambiguous story and cliche trope. It's far from a perfect 10, I was actually expecting more from the Destiny story team since they gave us Halo. The lore there is vast wide and encompassing with a solid future feel. Here I feel like I'm taking a trip to a distant past before "humanity" as we know it ever existed.  7/10

Gameplay: Some of the best and worst of this game are here. My opinions have also changed within the last 36+ hours. The best part of this game is the leveling mechanic. It's simplistic yet enjoyable giving you a 2 tiered tree to grow you character. Eventually you'll max everything but the growth period is a fun one. It ties both the story and multiplayer customizations to one tree which I find quite attractive since it prevents me from having to replay the multiplayer to unlock "perks". Similarly, I find this system enjoyable for weapons; finding legendary and exotic weapons in the story is already a pain in the butt, I wouldn't really want to have to unlock them again in multiplayer.

Questing feels intuitive but unfortunately repetitive I often find myself on patrol missions redoing missions and hearing the same audio log twice. That's alright since there's a limited amount of data but, It wouldn't hurt to have different audio logs. On the note of repetition is where this game fails the hardest. There's this sort of rinse and repeat method of facing bosses and doing strike raids. That all result in the same tired mechanic of being trapped with a boss in this tiny room running in circle while doing tiny damage. I get it bosses are supposed to be tough but the problem I have here is the boss fights all feel the same. They need to vary this up with future dlc patches. Like instead of just running around dealing damage. Give bosses some actual mmo type skills force players to dodge one hit KO skillshots. (Even though I hate this mechanic in other MMOs I feel like destiny needs to spice things up)

The weapons system isn't perfect either, it's simplistic and intuitive, but, It feels dumb at the same time. You upgrade weapons and add stats by giving resources. But, that's all there is to upgrading weapons. I don't feel good about it since ultimately I'm not customizing my weapon I'm just enhancing it with powerups making it feel like any old MMO. I wish Destiny had taken the Ghost Recon method of guncrafting and employed it in their game. Would have fit the theme and deepened the weapons systems.

Overall the gameplay is still very solid. Character classes all feel unique, with uniquely fun subclasses. Shooter mechanics are rock solid and incredibly balanced although some weapons feel wholly overpowered in multiplayer coughshotguncough. For producing a solid experience with only real faults regarding repetitive gameplay, the game still garners a score of 8/10.

Graphics: Mmmm. The graphics for a console exclusive game right now these are quite fantastic. Defininently living up to the next gen hype. Water effects respond correctly and crisply. Textures are well done and models while limited are impressive. Here's where I have the most problem with the graphics, the models are SOOOOOO limited. I played the beta and was like, oh ok these are just choices for beta hopefully they'll have more for live. Eh, not really, what we saw in character models from the beta was basically what we got with a few improvements to overall character design. Hairstyles are extremely, limited to short styles with very little emphasis on future. Seriously cornrows? I'm pretty sure we all evolved out of that hairstyle ages ago. The facial animations and everything are fine but customization being limited and what not really made me sad. I was expecting to get something just a little less than Mass Effect level customization. Hell we couldn't even customize the height of our character and how hard is that? Sorry Jason, I lied at GDC, promising good reviews :(. That being said the models that are in the game are all incredibly well done. The animation doesn't break any of the characters and 90% of the time you don't even see your hair or face so it's ok. 

Environments feel varied and lush with nothing feeling overly repetitive (Thank the stars). Unfortunately "dungeons" tend to be repetitive, but it actually ties in with the lore so I'm not so critical of this. Enemy types and models are extremely well done with lots of differentiation and easily extinguishable characteristics.

Giving us extremely well polished characters and environments while skimping out on some really good possible additions I give Graphics a solid 8/10. (Jason I will give you a better score if you guys give us more cosmetic options in future DLC, Longer hair, more markings,etc...)

Sound: I quite love the soundtrack. It brings me into each fight and makes me feel like I'm a certified alien killing badass. Gun firing sound FX reel could use some more variation. (I'm hoping that will improve with more weapons via DLC). Environmental Sound FX are amazing and I'm pretty sure I shit myself whenever I face the Hive. Those ear piercing shrieks are terrifying in the dark. Explosions sounds powerful and commanding and all minute details for reloading and masterfully done.

Seriously also having a commercial with Led Zeppelin totally awesome, amiright?

The sound department gets a 9/10 for almost perfect audio and including a led zeppelin song in the commercials.

Overall the game as an entire package only scores a 8/10 right now, still pretty solid if you ask me. With future DLC this awaits to be seen as it could fix some of my complaints. This game is a definite must have for all next gen console owners. Waiting to see how it pans out over the course of the next "10 years" will be a pleasure all its own.


Social System: For a game that wanted people to do co-op and interact and as an MMO aficionado I find this area rather lacking, but it doesn't factor into my score. I wanted to state it's incredibly difficult to communicate with other players and find friends and instead of being a social game played with others, I've found myself burning through the story alone. That in itself is troubling. There needs to be a system of communication available for players to easily interact with one another, if not in the actual maps then at least at the Guardian's Tower (The only main "town" in an MMO). Especially as the game gets harder and harder.

Destiny Ghost Edition Unboxing

Yup I was lucky enough to get one of these CE editioned Destiny games. Man is it sweet. You can check out the video and be a little bit jealous here on youtube.

 As always I'll try to get a review up soon.

MonteCristo steps down from coaching

I'm sure this isn't really new news, I'm about to bet it's been floating on reddit for a few days now. But, we've been informed of Monte's retirement from the CLG coaching scene. 

MonteCristo is stepping down as the coach of CLG. It became quite apparent during the LCS/playoffs that CLG needed an in-house coach among other things. While Monte has done plenty in pushing CLG forward not being available during key periods makes helping as a coach nearly impossible. The result? Relegation for CLG.

LCS isn’t the same scene it was two years ago, today the players need to work almost around the clock to stay at the top of their game.  Two years ago at the very birth of the League competitive scene  it seemed ridiculous to hire a coach or analyst. But in today’s scene a coach/analyst are so vital; they provide support and guidance that players sometimes can't recognize. Reginald has been outspoken about Monte’s coaching and has made this video in response.

Reginald's video points out the key problems with not having an on-site coach. Having raised TSM to the organization that it is, Reginald, I'm sure knows the pains of managing too many things at once. His Season 3 performance at world was lackluster at best. Reginald points to the fact that it isn't Monte's ability but the distance he has with his players (Quite literally continents).

Monte is a highly profiled analyst in E-sports and is highly qualified. The problem isn’t his ability, the problem is that he is a full time analyst/shoutcaster for OGN.

Monte had this to say :
“For the past year I’ve served as the coach for CLG, and it’s been an honor to work with the team in the thick of the LCS. However, as time went on it became increasingly clear that the organization requires an in-house coach and that I could not fulfill the needs of the players as long as I pursued my work in casting. Since I am choosing my career as an analyst over a full-time position with CLG in 2015, I feel that it is necessary to step back from my role as coach immediately. I am grateful for the opportunity to work with Counter Logic Gaming and wish the team, the staff, and George the best of luck in the future.”

Good luck to CLG in all their future games and here's my opinion on Monte's situation.
Most of what has been said is true and I agree with it. Monte's way too far away, no one, even in regular sports coaches from continents away. It's just not doable. That being said people criticizing Monte's talent as a coach/analyst/shoutcaster need to back off he has the credentials for it. If anyone has ever watched any sports analyst I'd say Monte stacks up quite nicely in his particular field.

DXRacer OH FD01 NR

Chairs the long neglected accessory. As a gamer we sit on our asses about 90% of the time the other 10% is for food, sleep, or other various things. Yet so often we neglect sitting in a proper posture or even in a proper chair. I've sat on everything from floors, to stools, to suitcases while playing games. Well, it sucks hardcore if you have to bear with that all the time. People who do it know what I'm talking about. Lower back pain, sweaty ass, etc... You get the idea. It's just downright uncomfortable or good for you.

A proper chair can really be your ticket to a successful gaming session.I'm here to recommend the DXRacer R-series chairs. I made an upgrade from this

Yeah that made me shudder too.

To this new chair.. You can see my rig here too~

Now I know that not everyone has the $240+ to spare, but let me just tell you to save up. you won't regret getting this chair. For the past 2 months that I've had this chair my posture has gotten better and my back aches are almost non-existent. I get less sweaty in this chair because of the breathable cloth.. (There is a leather option for this chair as well, for those who are able to always have the a/c on.) This is probably the best investment peripheral wise I've made and DXRacer has not disappointed me at all. 

The materials they use are strong and the securing bolts are tightly attached. The chair tilts back 170 degrees with an additional 10degreees tilt from the released hydraulics bar. You'll be able to both sleep and game in this chair isn't the great. Fuck the bed.

The older model I have is no longer in production apparently. You may be able to find some on ebay or warehouse sites. But, the new chairs are at a higher price point with better materials. My chair came with a sturdy plastic base. The new chairs come with metal bases allowing for studier construction and adding longevity to the chair. In my mind that definitely justifies the new price point. You guys will just have to save for a bit longer or ask for a raise XD
http://www.dxracer.com/art26_dxracer-oh-rc01-nr.html

Getting back into blogging with great new deals~

OK, so for the people who are consistently broke like me these past months. This is a great way to probably kill a couple birds with just one stone. Streaming/video capture tools, game deals, save game manager with neat cloud integration and game booster for those pesky titles that just require too many resources.

You can sign up for it here at Razerzone.com/cortex.

Sniper Elitism 3

If you like sniping games this is probably high on your list of games to play. Even if you aren't a sniper lover this should still be high on your list. Next to a few others like Battlefield, Sniper: Ghost Warrior 1/2, etc... Well coming along now is the 3rd game in the Sniper Elite franchise and by god does it not disappoint. The game is rife with beautiful levels, intense objectives, and amazing mechanics. Let's pick our rifles, aim down our scopes, and hold our breaths because we're about to dive into one helluva review.

Story: Your generic gruff man pre-modern military power trip. It's nothing particularly new, but the narration style keeps you entrenched enough to enjoy the game. Really don't care much for the protagonist as he's too forgettable. But, this isn't really the main focus of the game either. Props for not recklessly throwing out a half assed story. But, by no means am I impressed either. 7/10

Gameplay: I had quite a lot of fun and although I'm what people would some likely call a sniping amateur I was still able to enjoy this sniper enthusiast game. How? you might ask? The game offers multiple modes, the hardest setting "Authetntic," stating that you either have to be a sniping purist or a masochist to attempt. I'm inclined to believe them since I've already had trouble with the normal "Marksman" difficulty. The title gives you lots of options to play with in game as well and most times it involves more stealth than actual sniping.(Great for people who enjoy stealth games) There's also the choice to go Rambo and light up the enemy AI, but ammunition for everything but your rifle is limited and it's something you'll probably want to avoid. Kill cameras are highly satisfying and there are sweet rewards for advanced sniping and impressive shots over long distances. The game isn't perfect however, Enemy AI tends to be dumb as rocks unless alerted and when alerted they stop at almost nothing to have your head. This is a problem only compounded by some awkward camera angles for this third person shooter. All in all a good effort by Rebellion and deserving of an 8/10.

Graphics: My oh my this is fantastically done in my opinion. The environments are both rich and satisfying. Every gory shot was also made personable by the fantastic kill cam and its ability to capture all of the bullet physics without faltering. My frames rarely ever dropped below 60 and most of my settings were turned to high with shadows being turned to medium for faster DPI. Character models are on point for the era and not only historically accurate, but well applied. There are some concerns regarding the fact that this isn't a new generation game. But reviewing it with last-gen in mind the graphics are quite well polished. There is one problem and I'm not quite sure where it stems from, but playing this game makes me queasy like with Bioshock and a few other titles. I can't tell if its camera sway, the unpolished graphics, or maybe the gory kill cam. But, for whatever reason I cannot stomach more than 1-2 hr sessions of this game at a time. 8/10 for Decent graphics and exceptional environments.

Sound: Perhaps the most impressive part of this game. The soundtrack and Sound FX reel in this title is absolutely stunning. I got addicted to listening to the ping of the M1 Garand's clip popping out. It's almost therapeutic how good this game sounds in comparison to other shooters. The guns actually sound like guns, both powerful and commanding. Splatter, cracking, etc... are all pretty on point as well. No, sound is left unchecked and unpolished and thanks to that this game's Sound earns a 10/10 in the ears of an audiophile.


If you haven't picked up this game already and you're looking to pass time. Definitely get it. You can either download it off Steam or pick it up here through my Amazon link.

Man that was some break

Man that was some break right guys? Well I'm back from my temp job. I'll be returning to my daily routine soon. I should have the next review out by tomorrow look forward to it! Sniper Elite 3 being reviewed before attending the Destiny Beta Phase. Will give you my first impressions of that when it comes around.

Mario Kart 8 Unboxing

Mario Kart 8 Unboxing is up live on youtube. Sorry but youtube wouldn't let me edit the video this time so we've got unfortunately a thin aspect ratio video.

In other news I finished unlocking everything and playing all the modes/ matches just yesterday I'll have a review up for the game soon enough :)

Watchdogs (PC)

Hmmm... What to say about this game? I mean it was fun. But, is it really up to par? My standards overall were far from met and the "next-gen" was lost by try to appease to cross-gen again. Ubisoft even took some slacker approaches in design and I'm not particularly happy with that. Whether it be budget or time constraint. Both of which I highly doubt were the case due to a delayed release. So what went so horribly wrong with Watchdogs and for that matter what did they do right?

Story: Eh, pretty generic, albeit well written. I can't give them any points for creativity on this one. It's a revenge plot and a very generic one at that. However, mechanically its told both through environment and well coordinated characters. Characters, unfortunately feel rather shallow, they're non adaptable and generally only feature one main trait that is fleshed out; given how much openness the world possessed and how much opportunity was lost in developing the characters. There's no reason for this bland story given the extended development time and unfortunately I can't give them any big points in this category because of this. Watchdogs's story receives a 7/10 for being solid but nothing past ordinary.

Gameplay: Perhaps where the game shines most and also fails most. I have a lot of issues with mechanics here. Especially for the PC version. Driving is horrendously implemented. It reminded me of the Mako from Mass Effect. Steering is utterly horrible in the pc version. Acessing weapons will make you want to cry. Changing between the squares on the weapon wheel while fleeing an enemy or driving a car is a deal breaker. You also can't run while shooting like in the old Resident Evils and can't use anything other than blackouts and jams while driving a car. The weapon switching is probably alleviated in the console versions, but for PC players like myself, navigating the UI is just head-bangingly difficult. For a city there's an abysmal amount of people, it's like the apocalypse struck and all we're left with is the survivors; forget hiding amongst the crowd in online modes or fooling people by fleeing when other people panic too, Stealth in this game is a sad joke. Even though its one of the most highlight mechanics throughout the game.  While I don't have any particular complaint about how hard the police are during the chase. It is a bit of a headache to lose people in this game. It's neither easy or fun and with controls that are unresponsive it can be difficult at times. However, I'd like to highlight where it's not all doom and gloom. Online modes are fun (when working). Hacking and controlling the city is an interesting mechanic, perhaps one that was overly emphasized. Skill trees are well developed and entice the player to work in the online mode as well. Fixer contracts and side-missions are plentiful and a vast array of pistols keep you pretty occupied for a while. The Digital Trips are perhaps the best mini-games I've played in a while. For a host of problems and success, I had to give Watchdogs a 6/10.

I don't own the rights to this image

Graphics: What to say about this? Both impressive and unimpressive. Textures throughout most of the game are pretty fantastic, However, problems regarding the look of windows. Really detracts from the city environment. This is probably due to the size and scope of the game. However, it feels slightly inexcusable considering they had extended development time to fix this or at least make it marginally better. Aiden's running animation feels recycled. I can't confirm it but it reminds me almost exactly of the running animations from Assassin's Creed. In regards to that running style Aiden's pants physics were a deal breaker in the graphics department. Character designs were very limited. for the scope of the game. I think there's like ten different city character models total? Highly disappointing. Among the unique characters we do see none of them are impressive except for Clara, T-Bone, and Defalt. That's a pretty limited roster considering how many interactions we're given. Perhaps one of the more refined sections of the game, but it still doesn't come without its own set of problems and I can't give it full score for that. 8/10.

I don't own the rights to this image

Sound: Hmm. I'm not entirely sure there's much to complain about here. I think my one complaint is that all recorded sound is really quiet. I have no idea why. I've played many other games on this computer all with my sound dialed extremely low. But, I can hear everything. Yet when I play Watchdogs I have to crank up my sound to 3/4 the full bar to even hear anything. I even have the master volume, voicing, and sound effects on max in the settings page. So I don't quite get what is going on regards to that. Combat sounds are well mixed and varied, soundtrack is suitable albeit overly reused, and voice overs are generally good. There are some points where lip movements don't sync with their designated voice overs but I can forgive that since the characters don't sound monotone and actually have some vocal inflections as well as emotion. I have to give the sound department a 9/10 for minimal faults and voice acting that doesn't leave me feeling absolutely empty.

If you haven't already purchased this game I'd say rent it. See if you like it before  you buy it. I won't provide an Amazon link for this one since my expectations weren't met on this one. The overall score boils down to a 7.5/10 which is average but because Watchodgs promised to be so much more and had extended development time. I can't full recommend this "game changer" without asking readers to try it before you buy it.