Julius

Yeah, that’s true. Activision’s decision was probably based on striking while the iron is hot in terms of this genre which is still far from saturation, so I can understand why they’d make the move financially, but from a PR perspective, I can’t see many fans being happy about the absence of a campaign. If I recall correctly from what I was reading about Battlefield V, their Battle Royale is supposedly coming post-launch, which I definitely think is the smarter move (assuming that the game will launch with a campaign).

Oh, for sure. Don’t expect much less from Activision I do think that choosing to have this over a campaign (as opposed to having a Battle Royale Mode added later on, either for free or as DLC) could hurt sales, though, at least initially. I know plenty of people who only dip their toes into the multiplayer aspect of CoD and enjoy playing the campaign much more. I also have to wonder if this could make it more difficult to review, at least from the perspective of a reviewer? I’m sure this will still sell amazing and probably pass 10m units sold, but the lack of a single player campaign in a game releasing on October 12th likely plays into Red Dead’s hands when it releases two weeks later on the 26th, at least for those who prefer an offline, single player experience.

As you might recall from last year, dbrand had some major issues with their skin adhesive when it came to the Switch, causing them to pull out of production and go back to the drawing board. Well, they’ve sorted that problem now: their Nintendo Switch skins will be available as of tomorrow (here).

Adam Koralik has revealed a few more tidbits about Shenmue I & II: • there will not be a collector’s edition of the game. • if you purchase a physical copy of either the PS4 or XBO version of the game in North America or Europe (and potentially in Australia), the game will come bundled with a poster. • interestingly (but also somewhat unsurprisingly), Japan is only getting the PS4 release of the game. He also revealed that he knows what the planned release date for the collection is, but, for obvious reasons, cannot share that information at this time.

I just wanted to go a few weeks without wanting to rip my hair out, that’s all Definitely think a Konami that cared would be trying to make a Soulsborne Castlevania game, though.

Oh dear. Guys, it’s Kotaku-confirmed... Here I was thinking that this might be the first Call of Duty that I’d ever own and, if rumours are to be believed, Modern Warfare 2 Remastered is apparently not going to have an online multiplayer. Really odd moves by Activision...

It's been far too long since I've posted an update here, but I think I have quite a bit to say about the games I played in February and March, and have had to put it off writing this up for quite a long while because of how long I thought it might take. After this update, I might not be around in this thread for a while so that I can focus on my exams, but afterwards I plan to return with more detailed and frequent write-ups of the games that I've been playing. Anyway, let's get to it: February 3. Pokémon SoulSilver Version (2009) Pokémon SoulSilver is the 2009 Nintendo DS remake of Pokémon Silver, which was originally released in 1999 for the Game Boy Color. You know the drill for Pokémon games at that point in time: standard coming-of-age affair, with gym leaders to beat and an evil team to take down while catching and raising your own Pokémon. The remake features a great number of enhancements (such as the popular walking Pokémon feature, as well as the introduction of a Pokémon sports mini-game tournament in Pokéathlon) over the original versions, a number of which make a return from Pokémon Crystal (2000). Somewhat infamously, SoulSilver and HeartGold came bundled with a Poké Ball inspired pedometer - aptly dubbed the PokéWalker - which would allow players to earn experience for a Pokémon transferred from the game to the device, and also gave them the opportunity to find items and catch Pokémon on the go. Who said gaming couldn't be healthy? Growing up with the special anime episode The Legend of Thunder, I became especially intrigued by the Johto region and its inhabiting Pokémon, but, due to circumstances at that time (and with the Game Boy line being phased out entirely in favour of the DS), I was unable to take my first pixelated step in the Johto for the longest time. However, in my final year of primary school, this was put right by the release of the DS remakes, which hold a very special place in my heart. Returning to this game for the first time since launch (after making sure that all of my Pokémon had been transported to a different game!) was something that I was eager to do, but also worried about: how would one of my favourite games hold up nearly eight years after my original playthrough, with that rugged layer of nostalgia having peeled away with my own maturity? As I would go on to find out: quite well, but by no means perfectly. These games have a lot of issues, many of which arise from Game Freak's seemingly stubbornly intent on keeping almost everything the exact same as they were in the original games when it comes to remakes. Level scaling in particular could be very frustrating, going from being overpowered in one battle to severely underdeveloped in the next, and this was especially noticeable in milestone battles such as those with gym leaders and Team Rocket higher-ups. Though these could be easily worked around through some smart battling or a little bit of grinding, it doesn't make sense to be feel so tamely powered, considering that I battle every trainer I can. Likewise, there is an almost condescending over-dependence on HMs, as was the case with many of the early main series Pokémon games, which at times brought my journey to a standstill, requiring me to do some backtracking and, occasionally, to swap out a now core member of my team late on into the game. How was I to know that Slowpoke can learn Surf and Whirlpool, but not Waterfall? The game's writing also seems somewhat generic and bland when compared to Diamond, Pearl and Platinum, which accurately portrayed the conversational tone of NPCs (Cyrus' unrelenting anger, frustration and eventual madness comes to mind), and having a cover legendary have virtually nothing to do with the main story (and have no worthwhile backstory, either) seems something of a waste. The allure of visiting a second region in the post-game in Kanto has also lost a lot of its appeal, with the above problems becoming substantially more noticeable here, meaning that you're likely to be underlevelled by the time that you reach what is presented as the game's true final battle. Those things being said, this game does have a lot of good things going on, too. The most noticeable, for me, is that seeing Kanto and Johto in Generation IV's 3D engine with new sprites/models and hearing new takes on classic Pokémon music means that this game - as much as any other Pokémon game - is filled with heaps of visual and musical charm, meaning that you'll likely find your character just standing around in a park or in a building being taken over by the evil team just to take in the positive atmosphere. Your rival, Silver, has an excellent arc in the game, from Pokémon user-and-abuser to someone who has found his own peace and purpose by realising the wrongs in his own actions by the end of the game. The optional side/post-game is also very extensive, ranging from learning about ancient ruins to competing with others in an Olympics-inspired group of events in the aforementioned Pokéathlon, where it's surprisingly easy to lose track of time. Overall, while by no means a perfect game, Pokémon SoulSilver manages to capture some of the charm of the original games, whilst adding a slew of new features for its audience to make the game feel like something a bit more than a bog-standard remake. Rating: 7.7/10 4. Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia (2008) The other game that I played in February was Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia, which was originally released on the Nintendo DS in 2008. As with the first game, players make use of the stylus to draw rings around Pokémon in an attempt to calm/temporarily capture them, in the role of a Pokémon Ranger, this time set in the region of Almia, though this time around, the player begins their journey at a school for budding Pokémon Rangers. The game introduces the majority of the 107 Pokémon first seen in the Sinnoh region in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl to this spin-off series, as well as having Pokémon available in the previous game make a return. I believe this was my third playthrough of the game, and it is a relatively short game (clocking in at around 13 hours, almost double the time that I spent playing its predecessor back in January). However, with some evolution evident in all of the major mechanics when compared to the first game, and with the addition of optional side quests to increase your advantages during a capture, the game certainly felt much longer than that, and I think that goes to show that this game is very tight mechanically, and has a great feedback loop. The game also has a main story which, in my experience, is far superior in writing and plot points when compared to the original game, with a number of well-written characters and sequences springing to mind, though some parts of the story might be very predictable. It also features a number of callbacks to the previous game, which is always a nice touch in Pokémon games, as it offers a great sense of continuity. There isn't much that this game actually does wrong, besides having a soundtrack which seems great while playing the game but is easily forgettable otherwise. Rating: 8.0/10 March 5. Donkey Kong Country Returns (2010) 2010 saw the release of Retro Studios' first attempt at a Donkey Kong Country game - fittingly titled Donkey Kong Country Returns after a series hiatus of 14 years - on the Nintendo Wii. This is a game that I played with the Wiimote - which is what I would argue the game was designed to be played on - with my little brother, and we had fun playing it. Levels are challenging; there are tons of things to collect outside of bananas, and a fair share of subsidiary challenges besides the goal of just completing the level; the music, at all times, adds another layer to levels; and, for the most part, it's got some very well designed platforming areas. However, there are quite a few issues that I have with this game, first and foremost being the controls - in particular, shaking the Wiimote to roll. I lost count of the number of times that a relatively simple platforming area meant that we would die simply because the Wiimote mistook a very, very slight motion for a shake, and we would perilously roll to our dooms. Some levels require navigation of a vehicle, which is perfectly fine in a mine kart - feeling deservedly and fairly challenging - but extremely annoying in a rocket cart. Perhaps it's the fact that this is my first Donkey Kong Country game, but it is difficult enough to fly in a straight line in one of those things - let alone successfully arch up and down through a sequence of looping flames - almost to the point where it feels unnecessarily frustrating to navigate, and play becomes tedious more than it does rewarding. Perhaps it's the fact that I played with a Wiimote - or on the Wii at all - so I'll be aiming to return to this game again one day with a different control setup to see if the problems I have with the game persist. I'm excited to play through Tropical Freeze at some point, so I was gutted that I didn't have a better experience with this game. Rating: 6.5/10 6. Pokémon White Version (2010) The dark and foreboding grunts of an organ are loudly shrugged off, before a golden castle - brightly lit in the surrounding darkness, with a pinkish-red halo - emerges into your view. The vocal chords of a choir continue to rise and fall as we hear three notes from a piano repeated again and again, each time closing with a brief pause to allow a bell to ring. A large man draped in regal robes in a light gold hue, with long green hair and a crown between his hands, slowly steps - purposefully - across a rich blue cloth as he approaches an elevated throne. His peers, with their long headpieces, kneel before him, each in a different colour of robe to one another but all appearing just as noble. His noble peers are old, each with some combination of snow white hair, moustache and beard. Sharply edged and with five points, the golden crown works its way closer to the throne, the large man carrying it having one eye red, and the other eye hidden behind an angular monocle with a red viewing glass. The throne is empty, and the man turns, preaching to his six peers, who rise to carry the cloth of the golden robe gathering behind their Chosen One as he stoically proceeds to the throne. With similar green hair to that of the large man carrying the crown, the blue-eyed man closes his eyes for a brief moment, memories of playing with his friends in his childhood vividly appearing in his mind. The large man now lifts the crown high above the Chosen One's head, the choir getting louder now, as his pink- and yellow-haired carers watch from afar as the crown is carefully placed atop his head. Rising, the young king raises his hand, silencing those around him, as a drum is beat and the strings of a violin eerily screech to a drawn out halt. You'd be forgiven for thinking I'd described the opening to a JRPG with a medieval setting. What I am actually describing is the prologue sequence players first saw when opening Pokémon Black & White for the first time back in 2010, which set up the darker and more mature tone - relative to previous and consequent main series entries - of the game perfectly. That should have been the first sign for Pokémon fans that this was - simply put - a different type of Pokémon game to what had come before. Yes, gym leaders are present as always, and remain the milestone battles of your journey, but they're integral to the story more than they have ever been before, which pays off in spadefuls at the end of the game. The typical coming-of-age Pokémon story is present, but this time around - as a sixteen year old as opposed to a ten year old - there are some heavy handed questions for the player about the morality of Pokémon: is it right to use Pokémon to battle? Do Pokémon even want to battle? Or Pokémon be freed from the shackles that are their Poké Balls? This is the goal of Team Plasma, who wish to liberate Pokémon from their trainers, and we learn about their goals - and of N, who I'll get onto in a moment - very early on in the game, and encounter them on such a frequent basis that it doesn't feel like our journey as a trainer is entirely separate to our duel with Team Plasma. It doesn't feel like a total change in direction for the story when they turn up, and, as a result, we get what I think to be the most cohesive Pokémon experience (as a trainer) to date. The newly crowned king you see in the above video is N, a mysterious man around twenty years old, and he serves as something of an anti-hero in the game, and to great aplomb. He makes the player and other characters in a stellar cast question their own motivations - and can even supposedly talk to Pokémon - but, ultimately - even though he is the king of a seemingly evil team - he simply wants what is best for Pokémon, and is willing to do whatever it takes to ensure their happiness. You have two rivals in this game: Cheren and Bianca. Cheren starts out as your typical Pokémon rival akin to Blue and Silver, wanting to become the Champion and to be the strongest Pokémon trainer there is, whereas Bianca sets out on her journey unsure of what she wants. Both of these characters develop and find what they're really after, even if they were (or weren't) certain of what that was at the outset of your journey. What this game does so well is that its focus is purely on storytelling and developing these characters, giving them an arc that is difficult to not find some part of yourself in, and it guides you through this story in an almost entirely linear manner to allow for these stories to be told. I think this is where some most main series Pokémon games stumble: the entire game is a toss-up between story and adventure, as opposed to a focus on just one. It's difficult to invest in monotone, one-beat characters, and I applaud Game Freak's decision to risk creating multifaceted and complex characters with these games (and, as I hear, their sequels, which I've yet to play). This game is paced superbly. As soon as the game starts, you're in your bedroom choosing your starter Pokémon, and within minutes you'll have battled your rivals and started on your journey, and the game pretty much steamrolls to the end, but it isn't a constant thing: it's a slow build which pays off in dividends at the end of the game. Battles - of any variety - are fast. The experience your Pokémon gains is tied toe the difference in level between your Pokémon and the opposing Pokémon, with a Pokémon of a higher level than your foe's receiving less than a Pokémon that is a lower level than the foe would, meaning that grinding is kept to a minimum. The user interface throughout the game is incredibly intuitive. Whilst HMs are still present in the game, at no point did they feel like a hindrance to the journey that I was on: I taught Beartic Surf because I wanted to, not out of necessity. Perhaps most importantly for the pacing - and for the sake of the story - something of consequence happens on almost every route, landmark, or settlement, whether it be an encounter with your rival, Team Plasma, or a gym leader - in fact, more often than not, you're running into all of them in the same area! Music is something that's very important to me, especially when it comes to films and video games. Sadly, the music in this game isn't that strong in the first third or so of the game, but the score, like the story, slowly builds, and it crescendos - just like the story - in the most epic of ways at the end of the game, thanks to the compositions of Shota Kageyama, Junichi Masuda, Hitomi Satō, Gō Ichinose, Morikazu Aoki, Minako Adachi, and Satoshi Nohara, and the arrangements of Shota Kageyama, Hitomi Satō, Gō Ichinose, and Minako Adachi. The final third of the main story in particular is where I would argue the strength of the score really comes to the fore, and it accents the events playing out to near perfection. The game also has excellent art direction, with fluid animations, wonderfully animated sprites and models, with drawings sometimes being preferred to character models throughout the story (such as in using the Xtransceiver, or during an important story moment), which only serves to realise Ken Sugimori's art style more than ever before. All of this means that the game has aged incredibly well. This game has some minor issues at times - I ran into a Pokémon every 2 - 4 steps in Chargestone Cave for a while, which seemed a much higher encounter rate than was evident elsewhere in the game, or even in other Pokémon games, and was somewhat annoying - but, beyond that, I have no reason to not implore you to pick up either Black or White if you haven't yet. I hope to play White 2 later this year, and will return to the Unova region with extraordinarily high hopes for what comes next. Rating: 9.5/10

Aww shucks. I grew up on PES as opposed you FIFA, and I used to adore it. After getting custom kits and ground names out of the way (never knew how to patch stuff in when I was playing them, as I was considerably younger), I’d spend hundreds of hours in Master League with my own completely customised team winning every trophy out there, and I spent plenty of time in Become A Legend as an Italian with an English surname. Those were some fun times. The game’s also had some great cutscenes (be it in the background or foreground), such as being able to see your players in training as you skipped ahead on the calendar. There was also an excellent Owner mode in 12, if I recall correctly, which allowed you to bring in new managers, sanction big signings, etc. I think the last one I played was 13, which is when I made the swap over to FIFA; seeing how transfers were much more accurate to how they are in real life, and the licensed kits, really won me over (even if the players were oddly proportioned and their kit numbers abnormally large). In my mind I always built it up as UEFA not wanting anything to do with FIFA, but those days are long gone with Blatter and Platini out of the way. It’d be interesting to see the official licensing make its way over to FIFA, but they haven’t even managed to incorporate the Club World Cup (if I recall correctly, even PES has had a version of that - and official rights to the Copa Libertadores) into the game at this point, so it’d be interesting to see how they coped with it. It’d be a shame for Konami - and for everyone who plays these games, because there’s no other substantial competition for FIFA around these days - but they’ve been in what seems like freefall since everything came to light a few years back.

Next week! Great featurette on the 10 year MCU journey:

Ubisoft’s conference has a date and time: Monday 11th June at 13:00 PDT (21:00 BST). I shall amend the original post. I’m really intrigued by the prospect of what Ubisoft might bring this year that they didn't show off during last year’s show: Watch Dogs 3 has been widely rumoured, The Division 2 has been confirmed for the show, and many want to see what’s next for Splinter Cell. Only two major conferences remain without both a date and time at this point: Nintendo and PlayStation.

This game looks better and better with every new look we get at it! The music in the second half of the trailer builds up into an epic climax, and I love the concept of the duality of the Noble and Rogue paths. And just to address the oddly-named-JRPG-shaped elephant in the room... O - Olberic C - T - Tressa O - P - Primrose A - Alfyn T - Therion H - H’aanit

There were some conflicting reports going around regarding the time skip feature being present in both Shenmue I and Shenmue II in the HD collection (it was present in the original version of the latter, but not the former), but VG247 have now cleared this up; in a brief statement, a SEGA spokesperson revealed to them that they’ve “tried to stay as close to the original feature sets in each game as possible, so Shenmue I will not have the time skip feature”. Shenmue II will retain this feature in the HD collection.

This new job listing from Crystal Dynamics seems to suggest that the game will take after the likes of Destiny and The Division.

I don’t care much for Metacritic when it comes to a lot of things, but this game is now the second-highest ranking PS4 game with an average rating of 95, and is also the highest-ranking PS4 exclusive (above it, on 97, is GTAV). I was modestly interested when it was revealed, but after all of the attention that it’s garnered, I can’t help but add it to the games I want to play once my exams are over. Sony’s absolutely killing it yet again this year.

I can’t speak for you guys as I don’t know you personally, but I think I fall into IGN’s demographic quite nicely (I’m 19) and I’m not a fan of anything that they do anymore besides [some] of their reviews. I used to love Beyond and NVC (that period between José leaving and Filip joining was great, as Peer is the right sort of guy to host and control a panel), and even Game Scoop!, but I unsubscribed to all of them a few months back because I had a real problem with how I wasn’t gaining anything (be it knowledge or even a chuckle) from listening to them as opposed to anyone else. I’m only subscribed to EZA (main podcast, Frame Trap, Tabletop Escapades) and Game Informer now for podcasts, as I other find myself learning something/developing my own opinions, or just having a good laugh. I would listen to Kinda Funny, but every other sentence coming from them these days includes some form of profanity (I have a little brother, so I can’t really be playing that around the house). I’ve personally found IGN’s podcasts have become rather soulless over the past few years: no-one is willing to voice an unpopular opinion, they’re not that funny, and a lot of them can come across as uninformed or obnoxious.

Questions really need to be asked of United this summer, I think. Crashed out of the Champions League in the silliest of ways, and they’ve been woefully inconsistent throughout much of the league season.

WHAT ON EARTH IS GOING ON AT OLD TRAFFORD?! A couple of minutes left to stop City from winning the title today.

Interesting video by DigitalFoundry on the matter. Only downside is the constant teasing that they know something not mentioned in the purported leaks.

The collection has been confirmed to cost $29.99 USD (so it will likely have an RRP of £25 over here in the UK). It has also been revealed that the game is being worked on by SEGA in some form of partnership with d3t; the games will feature achievements across all platforms. This was revealed by Adam Koralik, who was invited to Japan for FES by SEGA, and had the opportunity to play the remaster.

The second half of the year is still relatively quiet for now, so I’m stoked for E3: it seems like we’re going to be spoiled with riches this time around I think an Onimusha remake/remaster/sequel (?) would be well timed by Capcom now, what with Nioh garnering some attention last year and Ghost of Tsushima garnering a lot of attention during Paris Games Week. But that does sound like licensing hell material... Elsewhere, Jason Schreier of Kotaku has revealed that a new BioShock game is in the works at 2K. Probably unlikely to appear at this year’s E3, but you never know.

The official Shenmue I & II website is now up. It’s pretty empty for now. The Steam page is also up, but does not yet state the price of the game. I wouldn’t find that too surprising, considering that Shadow of the Colossus was also a $30 release over there, if memory serves correctly. At $15/£15 a pop each (at RRP, at least), I’d have to assume that this would somewhat aggressively lower the valuations online of the original versions of the games?

Talking about Kane...

Tell me about it...which IGN podcast was she ruining/helping to ruin this time?

I think it’s a little different because Kane was claiming it right after it went in. Because of that, if he asks for it he looks stupid, and if he doesn’t he also looks stupid. I think any striker who initially claimed it as a goal on the pitch should stick by it until it’s at least been looked at. Plus, we get amazing things like this because of it: And sure, Ronaldo would be hung out to dry for this; many players would, and Kane has been hung out to dry by fans and other players already. However, like I said before, arguing for a goal like this is within Ronaldo’s established nature as someone who wants to break records. Though, I do think it’s worth mentioning that much of the press held something against Ronaldo after what he did at the World Cup whilst at United, and just continued to paint him in a bad light thereafter. As for Kane moving, you’re right, we’ll have to wait and see; I can’t remember any offers coming in either. Though, I do think that he would want to win the Prem and beat Shearer’s record because of the kind of player that he is, and I don’t see Madrid making a move for him until Ronaldo’s ability begins to dull, because he’s a bit more than your typical 9. Completely unrelated: amazing turnaround by Chelsea, and showed a great attitude in doing so.