blipfling

The Plight, Indictment, and Death of the Casual-Hardcore Gamer

Casual, Hardcore…Those 2 terms are among some of the most loathed in all of gaming, for all kinds of reasons. Many people think they are mutually exclusive, maybe because they seem so polar opposite. But let me explain what I mean when I say “casual-hardcore” and see if I can point us toward some much needed middle ground in the debate as well as in the current console generation’s gaming catalogue.

Quite simply a hardcore gamer is someone who prefers “hardcore” games. The word really just refers to the kinds of games that contain greater depth, variety, strategy, and all around content than their causal counterparts, which I’m sure you wouldn’t need me to explain, tend to be more basic (though not necessarily less fun).

Due to their high content-and-depth nature, Hardcore games tend to have a steeper learning curve, and a greater time investment. Casual games on the other hand are typically a pick up and play affair and sessions can be played and even finished (if so desired) in minutes. I call them “hit it and quit it” games. Gamers who tend toward these kinds of play sessions have been termed “casual gamers”.

So, what happens when a casual gamer accidentally wanders into hardcore territory? If the “hardcore” is nice, they probably get scolded, a wrist slap for even thinking about playing a hardcore game, and sent on their unwelcome way back to the arcade, short a couple quarters after dropping money on a title where “they just don’t belong”. Truthfully, not all hardcores are like that. On rare occasion you will have a hardcore who actually wants to help casies (pronounced “cazjies”– for casual…yeah, it’s a nerdy gamer word…).

On the other hand, a true casual gamer tends to be disinterested in too many layers of depth. I had a friend who couldn’t handle us watching cutscenes or even trying to pick up ammo when we played Halo… He just wanted to blow stuff up… I should note, this does not mean he is unintelligent. He is a well read scholar in the field of theology and one of the most committed conversationalists I know. Intellectual depth wasn’t his problem, he simply wasn’t interested in depth of the video game variety.

But there’s a third phenomenon that happens, typically over a larger span of time, that neither the pure hardcore player nor the true casual tends to appreciate. The casual-hardcore.

It usually plays out something like this. You grow up playing deep hardcore games like RPGs or strategy and simulation games, and LOVING them. As years go by, college and career demands your time, and you start missing out on titles you would have bought on day 1 before, even though you still make time to play. Then you find yourself madly in love, and let’s be honest, if your more interested in a video game than your lady…You’re not hardcore, you’re a bit off… And maybe a little bit of a jerk. Wedding, honeymoon, and marriage happens and then–BLAMZ, kids… Look at all that, the real world just ate you up, you gots a life now… Wait video games? What are those? I remember liking dhem! I remember that one RPG I loved, and they have a new sequel!! I’ll get this one!!

Plight

This story typically continues with the gamer purchasing games that suit the desires of his/her childhood memories, but not his/her current reality or schedule, and you end up with a frustrated gamer, spending money on games he/she doesn’t have the time to play, or tries to play in such short increments that it’s not enjoyable, or worst of all, plays to the disregard of higher priorities. It’s a sad day when a husband or dad is sinking hours into a game at the expense of his family.

Behold, the plight of the casual-hardcore gamer.

Indictment

It’s sorta sad huh? For a lot of reasons… Well a lot of people are in this boat, and too often neither the hardcore nor the casual can really appreciate it. The hardcore lumps the casual-hardcore into the category of casuals, who they often view as having no place in hardcore gaming. The casuals can’t seem to understand why anyone would want to play a game with greater depth, because depth is an annoyance to them, and to want more depth in a game seems like childish immaturity, especially when you have so many more important things going on in your life…

Death

A good point… But our question is….why we can’t have both? Why can’t there be a game with the great depth and strategy and variety of hardcore games, but that can be played in accessible short play sessions like a casual game? Because games like this don’t come around in the gaming industry very often… and games with these kinds of values don’t get hyped like other big time-sink titles…

The Bottom Line:

We need more next-gen titles that are just as accessible as they are deep…. examples:

Dragon Age Inquisition (multiplayer), and the up-and-comers For Honor, and Battleborn… and possible Paladins… sadly… I can’t even think of any more… so let me paint a picture for our next-gen devs out there… (I would do it myself if I had any of the necessary resources to create a video game… seriously I would)…

THIS IS WHAT CASUAL-HARDCORES WANT:

Seem like an impossible list? It’s really not… many games do all of this and do it well, except for the “Hit it and Quit it” part… Is there really any reason there couldn’t be a game with WoW’s depth and longevity that removes the grind? It’s a simple altering of the developers values when making the game… and my goodness, SOMEBODY DO THIS ALREADY!!! YEESH….

GREAT combat (I personally prefer action)
- This means:
  - cool abilities and classes
  - fluid battles (not sluggish or glitchy… This should really be a given)
  - a system where diverse abilities interact w/each other so you can approach enemies with varied strategies
Local and online co-op mix
- (you gotta get the fam in on the gaming w/you!)
An INCREDIBLE amount of unique looking & gameplay altering loot
- (maybe a loot editor would help with this…. players could create and keep coming back for more)
HIT IT AND QUIT IT!: (PVE and/or PVP modes that can be completed in increments of 15-45 minutes…)
- This is the essence of what it means to be a casual player… it’s required
- Note: these modes should be just as rewarding as any open world experience in the game… if not you’re punishing and therefore isolating your causal-hardcore players…
A great narrative
- This doesn’t necessarily mean non-linear! Some of the greatest game stories of all time have been linear! And linear can be a time saver.
Mounts:
- Ok this one is for me, but I’m tired of being told I have to have a time-sucking reason to have mounts (aka, open world)… Dynasty warriors does it… just CUZ dude… and so is Paladins now…. JUST CUZ THEY’RE COOL…. also DOTA2…. So there…. none of those games NEEDED mounts… they could have just make characters speedier…. but mounts are COOL….. so there… give the casies mounts!!
None of that Free to play crap… (unless it’s done EXTREMELY well… which has basically never happened, keep posted for whether dungeon defenders 2 will change that)… we all know that turns into grind, and ain’t nobody got time fi’dat….

Why Fallout 4 Should Have Co-op

I recently read an article explaining why Fallout 4 (officially announced today), should not have co-op. The article proceeded to offer several personal preferences for single player, and while I respect his opinion, I’d like to offer another perspective…

Co-op is awesome. Plain and simple, killing things together is always better to have at least as an option.
Co-op is optional. No one should have to play with others…. But most people who want to play their favorite games with friends can’t do so on many of their favorite games.

That’s all…

(Edit)

Apparently Bethesda thought co-op might be good too– at first. They then felt that it was a distraction to the game’s core values, mainly a secluded experience in a post apocalyptic world… I can respect that on creative grounds. Castaway wouldn’t have been castaway if Hanks had a companion on the island… And the whole Wilson thing would have just been weird at that point…

However, I make my same case… Players can easily maintain their feeling of seclusion by: *gasp* –choosing not to play co-op… There’s still no evidence to suggest that adding options to a game detracts from its value… It simply doesn’t. Some players are more concerned with seclusion and that’s fine, the game can still be played solo… Others don’t care as much about seclusion as having fun with buddies… But those Co-op players are often given no option for this… It’s a developers cop out for running out of time or not feeling their co-op interested fanbase is financially viable enough to to support the investment of development time (and therefore money) it would take to include co-op. In other words, you’re just not worth it. Thanks Bethesda! Love u too… Or not…

House of Wolves Casual Review

I had quit Destiny for a long time under the impression that the game was sucking me into a grind that never ended and was rarely rewarding. For whatever reason, I kept coming back with hopes of rewards that never came. Finally, I got wise and realized Destiny was built on near-rewardless grind, and quit.

With the release of the House of Wolves DLC (which I had already purchased before I knew the game was going to be what it was), I decided to give it another shot, but I’m still not convinced I was wrong.

House of wolves story, enemies, bounties and even the musical score, are all a vast improvement over what Destiny had been to date. But it’s end game content can look deceiving casual-friendly.
Prison of Elders

A 3 man arena that gets you to max level? Awesome! Less time getting a team together, and less time than a raid…right? Only under the right circumstances.

Less people needed to form a team doesn’t necessarily mean less time… Since the smaller team structure means players who already have their go-to team hop in the arena (called the prison of elders) quickly, anyone who doesn’t already have a regular team finds that most of the friends on their list are already on a team, and so yet again you have to use the forums to search for teammates, who for whatever reason feel even more sparse…

“But doesn’t it have matchmaking??” Only on the lowest difficulty, which is nearly pointless to play unless you want to farm reputation with the new prison of elders vendor, or farm special keys dropped by queen’s bounty bosses in patrol, which open a special chest at the end of the prison of elders… But even then that chest is far more rewarding on harder difficulties, which require a significant amount of time…

“Well can’t I just reach a checkpoint and come back to finish it another time?” Nope. While the prison of elders does let you respawn after each round (3 waves of enemies/objectives per round) it does not allow you to resume that checkpoint if you leave the match. It’s all or nothing, in one shot, making the prison of elders an equal or greater time commitment even over raids.

Additionally, there are 4 difficulty tiers each offering different, arguably increasing rewards…3 of which reset each week. If you want to do them all, you’re no longer a casual player, and if you want to do them all each week with each character you’re gonna have to buy an apartment in the reef, Destiny’s new social space.

The most frustrating moment for me came when I got to level 34, and I went after the level 35 boss. We made it past the first 5 rounds in about 2 hours (which didn’t seem unreasonable). We then proceeding to fail for 3 more hours against the final boss (who I’m still not sure anyone could beat legitimately without “cheesing” [a fancy word for overpowering or cheating the system] him). Eventually at around 4 am I had to give up… I had work the next morning… Idiot…

The issue was apparently my weapons weren’t high enough to pull off the “cheese”. I needed a totally maxed arc sniper to overpower the final fight, which means grinding out more prison of elders just so I can approach level 35 again… Boo that.

“Well didn’t you get rewards after each wave like in a raid?” Nope. Rewards only come at the end of the prison of elders. Bungie apparently likes biting causal players in the hind parts just for fun.
Trials of Osiris

The new PvP mode, Trials of Osiris, is not for the feint of heart either, though for casual players with higher skill might find this a better option. Rewards in the trials are based off of the number of wins in a series of 3v3 matches. You can receive every reward up to the tier you achieve, meaning if you get 8 wins, you can buy all the vendor’s rewards from tiers 1-8. Sounds pretty sweet huh? Keep listening.

A match is won by being the first team to get to 5 points in a single match. A point is won by winning the round. There are up to 9 rounds per match. Sounds like a lot but I won’t take much for you to understand it. Just buy the passage item from the new Osiris vendor and maybe some of his buffs, and you’re in. But be warned, like Iron Banner, stats matter. It’s on a curve so a 33 and a 34 won’t be too unevenly matched, but you won’t want to come in too much lower than that

Oh and also– THORN. Almost everyone is using one. There are some feasible alternatives, but as soon as you get in, you’re gonna fee left out and probably “pwnd” if you don’t have one.

The truth is, the trials require better if not the best gear to be a viable competitor, and even if you have great gear, you’ll need some specific prices to compete in any kind of reasonable way. However, the trials seems to me the causal’s closest thing to “rewarding” in Destiny.
Bounties

The new Queen’s Wrath bounties have been greatly improved. Mini-bosses have been added to earth and Venus patrol that either spawn on a timer or are waiting for you when you arrive. Coupled with public events and the blades of crota spawns and patrol suddenly feels alive.

Killing the timed-spawn bosses grants you access to a hidden chest that spawns in the zone, but you had better find it in 90 seconds or the rewards will be gone. Find it and you could find some coveted prison of elders keys (which open that chest I previously mentioned which can have legendaries and exotics), some currency for the new prison of elders vendor, or even blue and purple engrams. If you leave the zone and make it back to the chest in time, you can grab it again 🙂 (cheeeeese!!). Sky watch seems to be the best place for this though.

The bosses can be farmed even without a bounty, but doing the bounties nets you reputation for the queens wrath vendor, who offers a killer looking ship with some other items.

These bounties are basically optional, but they make patrols so much more fun than they were, and it makes me feel even more strongly that Bungie took parts of this game that should have been available at release and split them into DLC to make an extra buck. And still, having to grind those keys definitely bends the fun aspect of the bounties toward work again… Those keys…
The bottom line of this Fling:

The grind is real. While house of wolves does a better job of covering it up (because it has more moments of fun than any destiny moment before it), it is nonetheless still not built for a casual gamer. My advice, don’t dive too deep into destiny thinking House of Wolves has fixed things, it hasn’t… But if you desperately want to play Destiny but need to know how to use your time… Maybe I can help.

How to Play Destiny Casually

Many people want to play Destiny so badly, but have so little time to really delve into the most rewarding activities. I honestly don’t think Destiny is a great fit for the causal player, there are much better choices in my opinion. Destiny tends to suck you in without you realizing it, and not even reward you for your time. But if you insist on playing Destiny causally, this is the way to do it:

Nightfalls. Go in with a strategy or cheese and get some decent players who communicate or at least know the plan. You can finish a nightfall in 15-25 minutes and the rewards can be epic.

Pvp Special Events. The rounds are short and the rewards can be high if you’ve gotten some decent gear from those nightfalls. Iron Banner is the most reliable of the two since it’s about gaining reputation over time, not about win-streaks. Osiris may be more demanding, and you may finish a trial passage with less wins than you desired leaving you feeling like that time was spent with less reward, but both offer great gear for purchase, etheric light, and the potential for drops from the matches themselves. Max reward for little time potential right there.

Queen bounties/Patrol wolf spawns. These can be genuinely fun and have potential for great rewards, especially in skywatch which is the smallest zone, making it easier to find the chest and cheese it multiple times on a single drop. You can also get a public event there. Not always the greatest rewards, but definitely an option, and can lead to a key for the prison of elders, which can lead to this…

Prison of elders level 28. CAUTION: this is only worth it if you have a KEY! Without that key, the prison of elders on level 28 gets you hardly anything. With it you have a high chance of exotics and purples. Using your key on the highest difficulty grants the best rewards, but again, were talking significant time commitment at that point. However, doing level 28 with a key means a short session with potential for an exotic or purple. Low time, great rewards.

Spot Check Hard raids w/overpowered characters. CAUTION: yet again this is only worth it under the right conditions. You need a guide through raids, it’s not something you can figure out on your own quickly. Look up strategies and find someone who knows what they’re doing to get you through it. Attempt it only when you have reached higher levels, and do the hard raids when you’re character is at least 1 level overpowered for greater rewards. Even vendor gear gets you to 1 level below max now, so save up some vanguard marks and buy your new gear first. Even then, going through a hard raid takes time, so you may want to just “spot-check” it by looking for someone on the forums who has the checkpoint with the gear you want and simply join on them. (This means looking up loot tables before you go for it). You can also find teammates quickly on the forums, but again none of this equates to “quick”. This is not the best option for time, but it can be rewarding once you get used to doing it quickly or finding a specific items you want and just finding players with those check points to play with.

How’s that for a quick blip of a fling?! Eat it Grind!

The Problem With Newborn Consoles

While the current nextgen consoles have been out for over a year (or more in the case of the Wii U) they are still quite young in their life-cycle. As such, they suffer from some of the common ailments of young consoles…and to be honest it’s making me a little bit crazy.

Hype

Wow is there hype. I can’t tell you how many big title nextgen games had us all rushing out to stores just so we could stand in line in order to grab them on day one, but I can tell you that the vast majority of those were such major disappointments that even just a few months after release they could be purchased for 50% or more off from bargain sites.

So much of this hype is closely related to this phenomenon: amazing graphics but poor gameplay and quality assurance execution. In other words the game looks great but is either bug infested or gameplay systems that sounded impressive are no fun when actually played– or both.

Destiny is easily the most guilty of this. We’ve said it elsewhere, Destiny may be the best shooter ever, but the worst RPG of all time (arguably, but hey it’s up there). No game has ever hype as legendary as Destiny, only to show off new heights in its hype to delivery deficit. Maybe if we all knew what Destiny was beforehand it might not have been such a letdown… But this is the pattern for games on young consoles- lots of hype with little delivery.

Lack of Content

Still related to hype is the phenomenon of games touting incredible immersive experiences on to find the core game is over before you could experience said immersion. Once again Destiny is suspect here for more reasons than one, but another AAA hyped title is on the ropes for this one: The Order 1886. Fans are sorely disappointed over the short campaign, and with a lack of any kind of multiplayer and no new game plus mode, there is literally no replay value whatsoever. You’ve spent 30$ on what is essentially a rental (once you take that garbage back to gamestop for some horrific trade in value). Another young console let down.

Cash Grabs

These are never going to go away, but it doesn’t mean we can’t raise the bar on them. In other words, stop buying crappy games that try to pass as acceptable because they have a famous name on them. The greatest current example I can see here is the new Battlefront. Once again, the graphics look stunning, but compare the upcoming Battlefront to its predecessor of 10 years prior and the gameplay systems will immediately sound like hollow shells of what once was. I want to clarify, this is NOT because the game isn’t finished yet– I’m talking about the choices DICE (the game’s developer) has already made about Battlefront. Instead of controlling cruisers where 30 or more players could be battling inside your hull to either destroy or protect you, we now come to “No space battles, walkers are ‘on-rails’, and split screen is offline only.” Sounds really nextgen huh? Not at all.

For years, Lord of the Rings has suffered from the same shameless treatment- passing off subpar games as AAA titles and trading on the Lord of the Rings name. But again, just because cash grabs exist doesn’t mean we have to settle for bad quality. The best example of this is Shadow of Mordor.

The game is absolutely a cash grab: it’s a tie in to both LOTR movie trilogies, it’s part of the ongoing open-world obsession in gaming, it’s graphical quality are impressive, and it’s yet another in a long line of LOTR games published by the notoriously glitch-ignoring Warner Bros interactive. Yet, after an outcry from the fans over the horrific game-breaking bugs in their last 2 LOTR games, Monolith and Warner Bros finally scored us a high caliber Lord of the Rings game that, while it’s story is fantastic conjecture at best, is 100% fun and engaging on almost every front….and no unpatched game breaking bugs.

The Right Paradigm

Another prime example of the changes we want to see as these nextgen consoles mature is Dragon Age: Inquisition. It’s the game that keeps on giving. I mean I can’t even exhaust all the content that’s there with my busy schedule, and every bit of it is engaging. I’ve never explored an open world that was more interesting. Even Skyrim felt like a hike, especially in early stages, but DAI feels like there’s a discovery or some beautiful vista or world immersing monument around every corner. On top of that, the gameplay systems are well designed and executed. Pop in a stellar story with quality voice acting and top it off with some multiplayer and you’ve got what is easily one of the best games of the year.

When you compare DAI to it’s predecessors, it feels vastly improved, and not just in terms of graphics but in almost every way (though I’m sure some old school fans would disagree on some points out of personal preference). That is what a nextgen game should be.

Bottom Line:

Ps4 and XB1 and even the older Wii U are all still babies in their life-cycle. So far it’s games have been focused on maximizing profit with minimal effort from the developer (all the lastgen remakes are proof of that). But the patterns we as consumers display in our spending is going to determine how game developers and publishers build their games. Keep buying half finished, sub-par, DLC hungry, games like the ones mentioned above and companies will keep making them that way.

Demand more from your games, from your cash, and from your developers. Oh, and buy these down here if your interested. They are the games that keep on giving.

Shadow of Mordor
Dragon Age: Inquisition
Awesomenauts
Smash Bros. Wii U
Mario Kart 8

Destiny is a Failure for Gaming and a Triumph for Capitalism

I’m going to make this quick. Destiny is the best gunplay on new consoles. You can debate it on grounds of personal preference if you want, but you can’t argue with the countless call of duty die-hards that I’ve converted just by giving out Destiny beta codes. The resounding sentiment is this, “CoD is boring now.” Ouch. But true.

So why, if Destiny is clearly a top notch shooter, have I and so many others stopped playing? I’m glad you asked!

While Destiny’s shooting gameplay mechanics eclipse others with the gratifying beefy feel of its guns (among other shooty related things), Destiny’s RPG elements are frustrating, annoying, and downright disrespectful.

Let me be more specific: I am not griping about RNG, and I’m not a rage quitting 13 year old who gets mad if he doesn’t score a legendary on every strike. In fact, RNG is not the enemy. Surprised? Let me explain.

Random Numbers Generators- a big fancy way for saying that literally anything could drop from almost any enemy. The result- maybe you get a legendary from a level 3 dreg- hey ok cool… OR you get shards (a relatively undesirable item) from Atheon (a major boss in the game). That’s a sucky feeling. So but wait, didn’t I just make an argument that RNG, IS the problem?

**In a Luther Heggs Voice**

“Let me clarify this…“:

While RNG is not without its issues, games like Dragon Age: Inquisition have successfully implemented RNG, by structuring their loot table to include a layer of usefulness to every item you can find in their game both single and multiplayer. How? Crafting. Nearly every item in the game can be broken down into component parts. This may not sound impressive at first, but when you see the kind of things those components can do, you won’t be balking then… balking… That’s a thing, right?

Materials can be used to craft new weapon and armor enhancements, customize colors, and even craft brand new armors for multiplayer classes which will subsequently unlock access to that class. In other words, you will never put time into DAI that went to waste. You will always be acquiring something useful and desirable.

Destiny, on the other hand, has one compelling issue that drives all its other problems, lack, of, content. RNG sucks in Destiny because by the end of the game, most of the things you loot have become obsolete or far inferior to what you’re really looking for.

Instead people spend hours farming caves, praying for purple rain (see what I did there?), or they spend their time tackling the most challenging content in the game in order to increase their odds of landing something worthwhile. Sure they eventually find stuff, but each time you don’t, well the last several hours of your gameplay (and your life) have yielded no progress for your characters, which feels like a waste of your time and a drain on your energy. And that because the overall result of this system, is grind…. Lots of it, and I’ve found that people are happier when they leave the game…

On more than one occasion I’ve seen players on the forum, or spoken with friends who, while they greatly enjoy the gameplay, they just feel frustrated and annoyed by the unrewarding progression system. When Destiny first released I said to a friend, “It feels like a free to play game that we paid for… But come on, it’s bungie were talking about, they’ll fix it, just watch.”

But Bungie’s disrespect for the player really shines when you look at their efforts over the timeline of updates since release. 6 months after launch, and we’re just now getting features that players have been asking for since before launch. But nothing has fixed their horrible lack of loot content, an issue which is absolutely deplorable for a game that’s been in development for 10 years.

Bungie had a grand opportunity to fix some of their more glaring issues with the first DLC. Their promises touted a new approach to storytelling (ha!), new maps and missions, and most importantly an infusion of new loot in the tower… The result? A swap of old loot with new loot. The SAME AMOUNT OF LOOT. Not only that, but we got some additional grind-city for our already maxed out exotic gear. I started to realize, that free to play feel was never going away… Why? Because Bungie has no intent on fixing their content issue. In fact, it’s not an issue for them. It’s a business model.

The sad reality is, the people who made the Bungie of the past what it was, and who did a great deal of the work in crafting Destiny, are no longer with Bungie. They’ve left for other things (like Destiny’s Lead writer) or have been let go, (like Bungie pillar Martin O’Donnell) and the remaining few have been overshadowed by Activision’s horrific business practices.

And this is where we come to it. When you look at the way Destiny has been so poorly handled since its launch, it’s not so hard to detect that this doesn’t seem like Bungie at all. But it does seems an awful lot like something Activision would do.

Release what is essentially an unfinished game by splicing the already completed narrative up into microcosms so that it can be slow dripped to players in the form of DLC? Check-Activision.

Turn a premium title into what is, for all intents and purposes, a subscription model (via DLC drip). Check- Activision.

Bottom Line:

Destiny is the best shooter around. It’s also arguably one of the the worst RPGs around. It’s honestly just not worth my time anymore, or yours either probably.

Blip—FLUNG.

How Sony Can Rescue the Vita, and Knows it…

It’s not a secret that Sony’s Playstation Vita isn’t exactly winning any popularity contests. There’s no shortage of explanations as to why either. Whatever the reason, I think that Sony could still make a killer device out of the Vita. Whether or not they will… That’s another story.

Button Problems

The Vita has a sleek design, and Sony even integrated the Playstation style button style, triggers and all really well, with one exception, the rear triggers of the dual shock 4 (L and R 2) have been delegated to touch pads on the back of the console. Most of the time a good button scheme can allow you to mostly ignore them, but a poorly planned one or getting stuck with a PS4 scheme during the remote play feature can mean that you will be forced to use the touchpads regularly…

As additional salt in the wound, PsTV and Remote Play enabled phones allow you to sync and use a Dualshock 4 controller… Vita does not, even in spite of both devices utilizing the same bluetooth tech.

Bottom line here is that the enjoy ability of the remote play experience is significantly diminished by the button shortcomings.

The Solutions

1) Allow Dualshock 4 syncing on Vita.

2) Allow butting remapping (edit: as of the most recent playstation 4 update button remapping for Dualshock 4 has been added, but I haven’t tested it for the Vita controls on remote play yet…)

A Hurting Game Catalogue

The Vita has yet to land a major title that can’t be found elsewhere. Arguably, the vita has yet to land a major title, period… I mean sure some big name games, mainly crossovers from it’s big cousin PS4, have made their way over, but people go out and buy a 3DS console for Monster Hunter 4… Nothing like that has come to Vita.

But it’s not like Sony doesn’t know this: they’ve successfully managed to nearly corner the exclusives market on the PS4 and they’re absolutely smashing the XB1 with timed and or totally exclusive games. In other words, like all of these suggestions, it isn’t inability or technical difficulty that is keeping Sony from dealing with their Vita issues, it’s disinterest in some form- the mostly likely of which is financial investment.

The Vita needs a unique but gargantuan sleeper. I understand that many could argue that game “whatever” is what I’m so blindly talking about, but let’s face it, a universally desirable (and high caliber) AAA game that utilizes the creativity of the Vita’s touchscreen but doesn’t the limit gameplay because of it, and finds a way not to feel frustrated by cramming a game that requires more than the portable system can handle, has yet to appear.

Most of the Vita’s successful games are PSP or other classic playstation ports, or (as previously mentioned) PS4 crossovers. Again, nothing wrong, but there’s little (or no) incentive there in favor of the Vita.

The Solutions

1) Invest in at least 1 (but more realistically 2-3 All-star Vita exclusives). Nintendo is doing it, and their handhelds are their most viable branch for it. Even if Sony doesn’t publish or develop it, contract someone great for it and reap the benefits Sony!

2) Work hard to try and land other portables’ exclusives. It may not be enough in itself, but trust me, PS4 owners on the fence would be much more likely to buy a Vita if a copy of Monster Hunter 4 were coupled with the already “fire” (=another way of saying cool, or so I’m told) Remote Play feature.

Struggling Wi-fi Grumping Remote Play

The Vita has an onboard wi-fi adapter that makes me feel like I’m carrying a sniper rifle that only has the range of a water pistol. In other words, the range stinks. This can make remote play a frustrating endeavor. The Vita can connect directly to the PS4 without a router, but don’t try to go more than 6-7 feet. Additionally, wifi signal in my house seems to get crippled by something so I had to buy a signal booster, which cuts connection speeds significantly. Bottom line here is that you need a hefty speed on a strong wi-fi connection for un-interrupted play.

The Solutions

1) A software update that could find ways of boosting connectivity would be immensely useful, but the second option is much more likely….

2) Release updated hardware. This is much more likely a) because it means more revenue for the company, and b) there are many cases where software doesn’t make a huge difference in the hardware dept.

FIN

Sony wouldn’t have to do a ton to save the Vita, and it is, in my opinion, far from un-salvageable. But if you ask me, there’s probably a new generation of Vita or even a new device to replace it just around the corner.

Why Evolve is Going to Fail (and Eventually Be a Ps+ Freebie)

No one can argue with the fact that Evolve is one of the most unique games out there. It’s part moba, part sci-shooter, part…Godzilla? Odds are it’s at least caught you’re eye over the past year or so, but if you’re wondering whether or not to invest your cash and time into this co-op beast (get it?), let me dissuade you. Not on grounds of its gameplay but for the simple fact that there will be a much better time (probably soon) to snatch it up. AKA we fully expect it to be on the Ps+ freebie list or on sale at the very least, some time in the near future. Here’s why:

1)Unprecedentedly Disrespectful DLC
– there is literally a free to play store superimposed on this AAA 60$ title. No joke.

2) The Progression System
– it’s a grind second only to Destiny (don’t get me started). So many developers trip up on this one. I really can’t figure out why. Progression in any game should feel like a reward and not like punishment. Especially in a game rife with moba elements, the progression seems more like a frustrating annoyance than a cool addition. There were definitely better ways to excite players about progression… Including but not limited to character appearance… But instead, all but one appearance per character is locked behind a paywall… Which for the life of me I still can’t figure out.

3) Little or No Customization
– this is kind of a misnomer… It’s actually the same issue as before just spritzing poop scented febreeze all over all the otherwise awesome parts of the game. You CAN customize your character if you want to buy visual changes. And gameplay perks are part of the core game so if you consider ability adaptations customization then you might not be so upset about this one.

4) Poor Replay Value
– this one is debatable but just hear me out. The replay value in Evolve finds itself relying heavily on variability in gameplay style, which is throttled by wait time from the progression system. Yes, because the game is mostly player controlled there will be variations each time you play the game, however there are distinct patterns of gameplay that emerge that you will eventually feel locked into without new perks from the slow progression system. Even in a world where the diverse character classes aren’t locked behind evolves grindwall, the replay value is still significantly low due to the fact that gameplay is fairly predictable. Nearly every player finds themselves wanting a break after a few rounds because even with new perks and characters, the gameplay is still essentially the same thing over and over again.

5) Imbalance Issues and Poor Graphics to Controller Relationship
– in other words combat leaves the monster with a feeling that lacks payoff. Comparatively it’s like comparing Borderlands guns to Destiny’s gunplay– Borderlands feels paper thin, while destiny’s guns feel bulky and powerful (though destiny suffers from some other serious issues– again don’t get me started…)

Bottom line:
Evolve is ambitious, creative, and fun… But short lived. It’s essentially an excellent arcade title, not the AAA hard hitter we were hoping for. Hopefully you find it in your psn library soon for the low price of a Ps+ subscription.

Posted using Tinydesk blog system app

Secret Panchos Stinks, and It’s No Secret…or does it?

(Edit)

Yep that new title makes no sense, but who cares!!! They’ve updated secret panchos with some bug fixes, some fancy tutorials and a practice mode, as well as some new DLC for those interested, and I have to say it has made the game WORLDS, better! So give it a shot!

(Previous review)

I was really excited about Secret Panchos. The local co-op alone is enough get the attention of anyone who has a couch-co-op partner. Alas, my hopes were dashed at this day 1 ps+ freebie.

The combat is full of potential for great player versus player gaming. However the list of frustrations piled high quickly and the experience becomes so annoying so quickly that only those who enjoy the torture of Dark Souls level difficulty in their controls, menu systems, and matchmaking wait times will find the strength to push through to the gem that is hiding within secret Panchos.

Issues:
-There is no tutorial so expect to die a lot just for trying to learn how to use your controllers

-Each character has cool unique moves, but you won’t be able to figure out how to use them until you get into a match and your enemies are already blasting your face off while you hold left on the d-pad, which brings up a cryptically explained move set (one move said I needed to use “tab”…. For ps4?) for your character– but don’t expect your couch co-op teammate to be able to defend you, because your move list will fill the whole screen.

-Matchmaking takes a while, and when you do get into a match lobby there is no way to jumpstart a match… Everyone just kind of sits there waiting for something to happen. Sometimes it does, and sometimes you wait what seems like forever until someone leaves and you need to find new players.

I’m looking forward to the patch that fixes some of these annoyances so I can get to play the great game that I believe is hiding amidst the code of Secret Panchos. I guess Bungie has emboldened developers to release unfinished games to make an initial profit and patch their horrific errors later. Sad day.

Destiny Is Good, But For All You Haters [Update: Patches & Dark Below]

EDIT: Patches and The Dark Below: Bungie has released a series of patches and DLC “fixing” several elements addressed here. Some would argue their patches and DLC have created a whole new set of issues.

1)Re-upgrading exotics still takes a long time and is ridiculously costly (coins/exotic shards and 7500+ glimmer).

2)Increased legendary walls for new players (commendations) = decreased accessibility

3)Occasionally pay-walling nightfalls/weeklies behind DLC,

4) But more than anything else, Destiny still has the same primary issue: Not enough content, specifically in the form of rewards. The game feels incredibly “grindy” because theres a long list of “To-Do’s” and only a handful of rewards to earn.

This affects all areas of the game– story (adding only a few missions of the same weak caliber), loot (such as having to pay and re-level exotic weapons), and even dumbing down some of the most enjoyable content of the original release, such as the Vault of Glass raid, the rewards of which are now inferior if not obsolete, with the exception of a few high level exotic weapons still earned in hard mode. If bungie had increased light level rewards to 34 or 35 instead of 32, Vault of Glass rewards could have been improved (just like vendor items were), and made more desirable than vendors, but still helpful in preparing for the new, more challenging, raid.

BOTTOM LINE: the game is still very fun, but is grinding away at the patience of even the most faithful bungie fanboy. They need to get more liberal with their giving attitude soon, or their pre-orders will be significantly decreased for Destiny 2.

ORIGINAL:Destiny has gotten a pretty bad wrap lately. But I tend to think the reviews are a bit over-dramatic. The problem with Destiny’s reviews is that many of us wanted Destiny to be something Bungie never claimed it to be; an endless supply of content with no repetition. One of those is arguably true, the other is a near impossibility. Here’s why:

Destiny is a shooter. Shooters involve… shooting stuff… More than one negative review complained of repetition in a manner something like this: “there’s little to do to besides shooting things”. Come on son… Be serious… What did you think you were going to be doing in Destiny exactly?

Let’s look at this reasonably through the lens of another well known example. Diablo 3 is a hack and slash rpg. It is, by nature, a repetitious slash fest with little thought beyond some statistical variances in damage or effect types… Oh, and also how awesome your character looks. Other than that… You kill stuff… And then some more stuff… You put on new stuff… Then you kill more stuff again… Sounds like pure suckage doesn’t it? WRONG AGAIN! Diablo 3 is currently one of the top selling and most highly recommended RPGs for any system, especially consoles. But wait, I thought it was repetitious…. How can this beeee?!?!?! Because it’s fun. It’s time developers, reviewers, and gamers alike learned this lesson, repetition does not have to mean un-fun.

Please understand, for some ADD, gamers repetition is not fun at all, but I would like to suggest to you that for most gamers, they enjoy a specific set of experiences and those experiences in and of themselves are what they are looking to revisit, with some fresh elements included in the package. Rpg gamers want levels and loot and story. Shooters typically want to get into the action and stop having to listen to NPCs. Strategy gamers want to see ideological connections between the choices they control and the response the game has to them. These are all experiences gamers want to have over, and over, and over, and over again, just in a new wrapper with maybe a few surprises thrown in. In other words; Repetition, Good.

What’s un-fun is repetition without reward. My greatest example of this would be World of Warcraft. I sunk hours into WoW with only a few deer pelts and some flowers to show for it… “But wait”, you say, “There is reward in WoW,” you say. Oh sure! My friends were riding flying dragons around me and looked like Sauron’s richer older cousin on crack, and I COULD have all those things… IF I wanted to sift through about 60 more hours of patty-caking with the Tauren medicine man who needed chump-collectors-blooms for his birthday cake…. (Ok so maybe it didn’t go exactly like that… So I can’t remember the specifics of WoW, but I remember it sucking…) Stupid game…

Unfortunately, this is the impression that many reviewers seem to be giving their followers concerning Destiny. Exactly the opposite is true. Destiny is a visually stunning, co-op championing- shooter, with a great dose of rpg thrown in. And it does a fantastic job of it. As bungie has openly admitted to us before, Destiny has achieved their philosophy of 30 seconds of addictive gameplay in a continuous loop; shoot, loot, repeat… And yes, it’s fun. Destiny is a game that = Not Suck. Complaints of repetition are more likely about some characteristic of the repetition in the game that just might not be what that person had in mind.

Destiny has been met with some less-than rave reviews, but interestingly, Diablo 3 was also greeted with some disdain from reviewers at first release. Those reviewers honed in on its flaws. Some claimed “repetitive” and “same old”, among other things, but the proof is in the pudding (as they say) and once people stopped expecting Diablo 3 to fix the repetitious nature of all hack and slash games for the ages to come, most people accepted the fact that they were in fact playing, a Diablo game… and they had a revelation… “Wait it’s still fun.”

Destiny is a shooter. Did it take away the repetitious characteristics and all the negative pitfalls that shooters of the past have had?!?! No… but was that ever really the goal? I don’t think bungie ever said that…

Still, Diablo 3, (like Destiny) was not perfect, and over time, its flaws faded with updates and rebalances. Could bungie improve on Destiny? Absofrootly my friends, ab-so….frootly.

How Bungie Can Fix Everything
1. Loot…we need more of it. Games that have loot, need more of it. Always. Why? Because that is a central aspect of the 30 seconds of addiction approach to gaming. The only problem is that Destiny doesn’t seem to drop loot every 30 seconds…. Now I’m not really suggesting that loot should drop that often…Or am I… maybe…. But if loot is central to the addictive fun of your game, it’s something that should be a regular part of the games “30-second” holding pattern, and will greatly extend the life of the game. Otherwise your looking at a 30-second cycle that doesn’t include your most fun elements… Needless to say that’s less than ideal. We want more loot, more often.

Now, for the specifics of how loot should be patched in Destiny:
….new loot should be distributed across the level spectrum, but primarily focused on end game. It would be great to get some varied loot in lower levels to keep the hunt a bit more interesting and varied, but end game is almost entirely dependent on the possibility of finding something new, which means the more end game loot you have, the higher the likelihood that what you loot will be something new to you.

….end game loot should offer variance to character build or unique abilities to offer diversity in loot rather than statistical tiers. This means hunting for loot is still fun even if I have found the highest stats for my class or equipment preference, because I may find something that offers a unique ability or a focuses on a different build.

The good news for loot fixes is that a simple patch could be enough to make these changes.

2. Varied content.
…..Non-traditional mission goals. I read one article that did Destiny a balanced sense of justice, and the mention it made that I found interesting was the use of non-traditional mission content, like races or no-kill recons. I’m honestly not sure how much of this is fitting for a sci-fantasy wartime game… It’s not like there’s ever really a story-bound scenario where you wouldn’t want or need to kill an alien in Destiny, so maybe some of this belongs more in a CoD or Thief than Destiny, but the idea of variance in mission content is definitely valuable. This concept would also be an applicable tip for public events as well; increasing their diversity, adding new events with higher levels of intensity/reward, and boosting their frequency will keep things fresh… Again, end game is a great place for this too, possibly the addition of an end game patrol map would fit the bill for all of these! It couldn’t hurt.

3. Community Content.

This is a bungie tradition that seems to have been abandoned in Destiny… Where is the “forge-mode”? A lot of the replay value could be fueled by community made scenarios or maps, co-op wave-based modes, or competitive. I know the consistent online world of Destiny seems too….”consistenty” for players to just make stuff in, but maybe there’s a way to create a safe space for this in the lore? A guardian scenario chamber… A loot editor/creator? Nah, that’s probably too much to hope for, and who could keep it balanced right? Yeah… Here’s to dreaming big… Unless they had a budget for each piece of loot like they did for map editors in halo?? Anyone?? Anyone?!?!?!

The Bottom Line
Destiny is a Great game. If your a gaming-snob who just can’t enjoy anything that isn’t blowing your mind, then maybe it won’t be for you, but odds are if you’re any other kind of human being, you’ll quite likely enjoy Destiny. Plus, Bungie still has some great directions they can take Destiny, both in making corrections to old and adding new content. Don’t skip it for the bad media, and don’t count bungie out yet, I’m guessing they aren’t gonna abandon their $500 million baby, and you might just like what they come up with next!