Blood of the Werewolf - "Impressions" (PS3)

I hate to do this to you readers, but I'm going to have to go the "impressions" route with this game. Not only does it look as if Sony implemented the timed trial review codes that I mentioned earlier but I will not be repeating the second stage one thousand times to see what's beyond it, nor will I ever be able to complete the game far past that stage in the timed limit. The fact is that there's a point when a developer's game design pushes the limits of difficulty decency. Making the game difficult just for the sake of making it difficult is not the way to go, period. Unfortunately that's exactly what the developer, "Scientifically Proven" chose to do in "Blood of the Werewolf". A lot of the level design within the game, and the accompanying character mechanics conflicted so much that it made the playthrough truly unbearable for me. Difficulty in that respect was geared solely towards a precisely performed playthrough that gave the player only one viable course of action that was damn near impossible to achieve a majority of the time ...

A Post About My Time Off

For the sake of posting a post I'm going to fill you guys, and gals in on what I've been doing during my time off from reviews. Exciting, right? Anyways ... Destiny has been the go to game for me for a while now. It has a sort of addictive charm about it that I just cannot deny. I've gotten plenty of new games (not to brag), but have found myself returning to Destiny for some relaxing thrills on a frequent basis. In fact yesterday evening a friend of mine (Dee) invited me to a chat in Destiny only to invite me to the "Vault of Glass" playthrough that he intended to do. I knew my level 26 hunter was ill-prepared for the task ahead, but seeing as it was my friend requesting help I could not say no. After assembling a crew of educated, and uneducated Vault of Glass players we took a two hour trek into one of the most nightmarish, and unforgiving environments that Destiny has to offer. With the aid of a level 30, and 29 players though we all managed to muscle our way through the abysmal experience, and come out victorious with plenty of noteworthy perks.

Thanks to an Industry

As a gaming journalist I have scrutinized, and picked apart games in order to deliver my opinions of them. Sometimes I've even taken my passionate rants to Twitter, and other social media outlets expressing my likes, or dislikes about said games. In the midst of all the passionate opinions, and hateful trolling that I've seen escalate on such outlets though I've begun to realize one thing above all else, and that is that we as gamers, and gaming enthusiasts have become so comfortable with telling game developers and console creators their faults that we don't take a second to realize the hard work that goes into such a project. We don't take in account the money, or hours put into game related projects, nor the fact that without the developers' investments we would not have any video games to play at all. It's for this reason I'd like to take the time out of my day to thank the industry innovators who still have the drive to take gaming to the next level even if it is through a trial, and error basis ...

ATTN Devs & PR: "Review Policy Change"

In the past day it has come to my attention that there is going to be a serious change to review codes for journalists such as myself. Apparently Sony is going to start making the codes only valid for a 48 hour time period after the codes have been redeemed. Seeing as most games require over 2 days time for me to complete, especially if they offer a lot of in-game content I will not be able to do a proper review from such a code. As it stands the review code change is set for the "future", but when that might be is anyone's guess. As such I'm going to put in place the new changes to my review policy now. If you wish to have me to review your game I will need a physical retail copy from hence forth. It's just the way it has to be if you want a thorough review.

Smash Bros. (3DS) - "Impressions"

I know I've already gone over this on twitter, but I figure why not make it concrete, and set it in stone ... It has been a couple of weeks, or more since I first nabbed my copy of "Smash Bros." for the 3DS from the local Gamestop. I had actually pre-ordered the game to assure I'd have a copy waiting for me when the launch date came around. Seeing as it was selling like hotcakes in Japan I figured the same would happen here in the US, so it was better to be safe than sorry. After getting my copy of the game, plugging it into my standard issue 3DS, and playing it the first day I was honestly a bit appalled at how dumbed down the game seemed in comparison to the former Wii, and Gamecube Smash Bros. titles. Having played both previous Smash Bros. games the 3DS version honestly looked "Plain Jane". The initial roster was super small, and the offered modes seemed too simple to be of any significance. Thankfully though the more I played, and tried out the various modes contained within the more I found out otherwise, and realized that the game was so much more.

Let's Talk - "PS Vita"

For the longest time now Sony's PS Vita has fallen under the scrutiny of gamers, and like-minded biased journalists who haven't even experienced the console for themselves. Like most products on the internet, one biased, and uneducated journalist/gamer spouts nonsense about what he/she doesn't know about the console, and in turn has all of their followers believing the same damn thing. This act of leading the gamer astray then leads to more of the negative news spreading through other journalistic outlets, and the internet itself. The fact that Sony does little in the way of promoting the underrated handheld through informative ads, and commercials further leads potential buyers to believe what they hear in regards to these rumors/gossip.

There's actually a lot Sony could be doing to improve upon sales of the PS Vita, and they could be thwarting the threat of falsely biased opinions by doing said things, but they act as if they don't want to support the Vita much at all any more. Sure the PS Vita is getting numerous noteworthy releases, and additional content on a regular basis, but without proper promotion, and consumer education it will never be able to rise as the great handheld console that it truly is. As it stands the PS Vita has an impressive game library that outshines that of the 3DS by a longshot, and is one that is being constantly updated with more titles of significance than the PS4, and PS3. Not only that, but it also has superb graphics in comparison to Nintendo's 3DS as well as audio capabilities that push such a console's limits. Coming from a man who owns & plays both said handhelds I can honestly atest to the durabilty, and overall quality construction of the Vita as well. I've dropped my PS Vita several times, and it has yet to break in any way. Not only that, but the applied controls feel much more natural than that of the 3DS. Sadly without gamers admitting to such things though the popularity of the Vita will eventually fade out, and the console itself will eventually die out as a gaming alternative.