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On Monster Hunter World

On Monster Hunter World

Posted by on Apr 5, 2018 in Commentary, featured, PS4 |

Monster Hunter World is my third attempt at getting into the Monster Hunter series. The first two were on handhelds, the PSP and the 3DS. I couldn’t get into them because I struggled with the camera controls. I also felt that the series wasn’t noob-friendly, so it was pretty discouraging. In fact, for years I fostered the belief that the cycle of mission-based games—get a mission, complete the mission, get another mission, repeat—wasn’t for me. I thought it was the reason why I didn’t finish MGS V, Freedom Wars and the like. Who knows? Maybe it’s still not.

Monster Hunter World is a good argument against it though. It’s certainly more accessible than the previous versions I played, which is good. It’s also great to hear that series veterans aren’t turned away by it. In gaming, making something more accessible to newcomers usually means watering down complex gameplay mechanics, the same mechanics that series veterans expect and love. MHW managed to strike a balance, a rare feat in modern gaming design.

So what’s it like being a noob in Monster Hunter? Challenging—sometimes to the point of frustration—yet rewarding and ultimately fun. It took a second character and around 200 hours to get to the point of feeling like I know what I’m doing, and even then I still feel like an idiot when I get my ass handed to me. A key thing that MHW does masterfully is how it delivers progression. The raised difficulty of each new monster feels just right, that the challenges presented are tough but fair. I will say this though: the game requires a lot of investment. I don’t recommend it for anyone not willing to put in the time and effort.

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On Horizon Zero Dawn: The Frozen Wilds

On Horizon Zero Dawn: The Frozen Wilds

Posted by on Jan 4, 2018 in Commentary, featured, PS4 |

New Game Plus on Ultra Hard—those are the settings I chose to play Horizon Zero Dawn and its new DLC The Frozen Wilds. I haven’t played the game for over a year now and found myself needing to relearn some of the game’s mechanics. Most of it was easy to remember but the worst thing that I forgot was being able to notch multiple arrows. That’s what I get for not reviewing Aloy’s skills.

Ultra Hard, the game’s highest difficult, was not much of a challenge when I started out. That changed when I got to the DLC area. The increased health of the daemonic machines presented two problems: they were tougher to kill, which also meant that they cost more to kill. Fights with the new enemies—scorchers, frostclaws and fireclaws—are consistently difficult. They are also a drain on resources. I found myself restocking on blaze and chillwater after finishing a mission or two.

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On Mass Effect Andromeda

On Mass Effect Andromeda

Posted by on Oct 2, 2017 in Commentary, featured, PS4 |

Mass Effect: Andromeda is a half-baked mess. What was supposed to be a new and exciting adventure turned out to be a broken, limited game with lackluster characters and no compelling story. It’s like Bioware suddenly forgot what makes Mass Effect what it is after releasing the original trilogy.

I’m going to start with what they got half-right: the action. Combat in Mass Effect features third-person shooting mixed with the spellcasting. The game does not call it spellcasting, of course, but when characters are throwing fire and lightning from their hands then it’s just semantics. Andromeda got rid of character classes so players can buy any ability they want, which is great because mixing and matching abilities is something the series has never done before.

The problem is that the game limits usable abilities to three. Yes, only three. This design choice does not make any sense. First, what was the point of making all abilities available if you can only use three of them? Second, previous Mass Effect games had no such limit, even while running on last-gen consoles! Dragon Age Inquisition, another Bioware title, also allowed multiple ability usage.

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On Devil Survivor 2: Record Breaker

On Devil Survivor 2: Record Breaker

Posted by on Jun 30, 2017 in Commentary, featured |

 

I went into Record Breaker almost blind. I knew it was a Shin Megami Tensei spinoff and that it plays like a tactical role-playing game. That’s it. Now that I’ve finished one playthrough, my thoughts are a mess right now but I’m going to try to summarize them as best as I can.

I found the Persona elements surprising if a little forced. Once again, the protagonist is almost a blank slate. Choosing the responses that play it cool and make large leaps of logic usually result in a relationship boost. It can be off-putting at times, but the latter can also be said of any Persona protagonist. What makes it rewarding in Persona is the series’ dedication to relationship-building. Record Breaker makes a half-baked effort at it, with matching results.

Demon fusion is fun thanks to the skill transfers. I found myself going back and recreating some of the lower level demons in order to give them late-game skills, ones that they would not normally have access to. I was mostly doing it for the ridiculousness of it.

Demon fusion also feels more important than it is in Persona because I wasn’t only concerned with the protagonist’s demons. I had to make sure that everyone’s minions were up to par. It was tedious at first but eventually got better once the interesting skills started appearing.

The plot was standard SMT fare. That means it’s bleak as hell. But I’ve always found it difficult to take anything chibi seriously. Sure, the characters are drawn like normal people during dialogue scenes, but anytime things switch to gameplay mode then things turn chibi. Or chibi-ish. Chibi-like? Anyway, you get the idea. And yes, I’m aware that horrifying things happen to some of those super-deformed figures. I remain unaffected.

By the way, I only played the Septentrione Arc.

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Persona 5 and Fighting Games

Persona 5 and Fighting Games

Posted by on May 21, 2017 in Commentary, featured, PS4 |

Finishing Persona 5 created a Persona itch so I scratched that with Persona Q. That game was release in 2014. I bought it then, played it for a bit then ignored it until recently. Now that I finally finished it, I now know that Etrian Odyssey-style floor puzzles are not my thing. I don’t have enough patience to figure them out by myself.

Playing on the 3DS led to purchasing two more games for it: Bravely Second and Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2. Since they’re both old games I got them at a lower price so that’s nice. I haven’t decided which one I’ll play first.

As much as I love Street Fighter, my interest in Street Fighter V is waning. I bought it on launch, gave it a year to improve, and now I think not only did it not do that, I believe it got worse. I don’t like the direction that the game is going.

With that said, both Tekken 7 and Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2 are looking good though. I’m also waiting for Ultimate Marvel VS Capcom 3 to go on sale.

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