The Last Blade 2 (PS4) - Faults & Finds

Consider this a companion piece to my core review. It will include info on things I figured out, encountered, and forgot to include ...

The first thing I want to address is the annoyance that is the item unlock message. At first I didn't know why my matches were being rudely interrupted by a pop-up message that brought up the pause/options menu. As it turns out it was letting me know I unlocked one of the gallery's 29 unlockable images, and that it was saving my progress because of that fact. I'm not sure why SNK thought it was a good idea to do things this way, but it's definitely not a good development decision. Thankfully once you unlock all of the gallery items you'll no longer be bothered by the pop-ups, and can play the game without pause.

The Last Blade 2 (PS4)

Coming in three years after the arcade release of "Samurai Showdown III: Blades of Blood" at November of 1998, the series known as "The Last Blade" returned to the gaming scene with a sequel that was very much like it's preceding SamSho (Samurai Showdown) inspired entry point. This Dreamcast follow-up release, and fan favorite known as "The Last Blade 2" continued onward with the tale of ongoing spiritual warfare waged between a group of select characters which were each explained away in the first installation. Some might say the game was a Samurai Showdown derivative like me while others may argue that it was it's own unique experience altogether. Whatever you choose to believe the admiring fans have spoken out, and in a recently held PSN poll they have voted for "The Last Blade 2" to receive the full re-release treatment. A treatment which has since come to pass. While the core game stays pretty much intact in it's newer version there have been noticeable adjustments, newer options made available, and new additions added in to make this gem of a fighting game more than what it was initially. Not only will you find the game you boasted about through the years along with all of it's secrets in HD clarity, but you will also be able to experience it online through the Playstation network with players across the globe. Whether or not it stacks up to your expectations though is up for speculation ...

Battleborn vs OverWatch

The hype is real folks. The fans have spoken, and most of them seem to favor OverWatch over Battleborn. Whether this hype continues to be validated or not is yet to be seen though. As a gamer, and a guy who has seen the direction competitive multiplayer games take I do have my concerns for both games. Those concerns lying more so with the people playing, and moderating said experiences than with the games themselves. What you have to understand is that online competitive play is nothing like the eSports events that take place in a locally competitive environment. You are actually facing off against random players from across the globe. Some of which do not have your best interest in mind. They usually are not monitored on an eSports level, and often times get away with their cheating regardless of complaints. Cheating aside I feel that both games in question have met with a similar judgment from the gaming community. I've seen, and heard players say that you cannot solo OverWatch, and that the objectives in the modes of play are limited as are the character offerings. On the flip side I've seen Battleborn called out for several things including a poorly implemented reward system, a grindy type of experience that is not in the players favor, and a lack of content. I myself have bitched about it having a mandatory server sign-in. While all of these things are bad in their own right you have to think about which things can be fixed, and which ones cannot.

Life, Gaming & the Pursuit of Happiness

Sometimes in life we need a reminder of why it is we do what we do. Whether it be job related, hobby related, or life related we just have a desire to figure out why it is we were so interested in whatever it was we thought we were interested in. A good Twitter friend of mind tried to explain this to me earlier this week regarding my thoughts on my current review situation. I tried justify my thoughts against what he said which were basically countering what it is I was trying to comprehend. For the longest I've relied heavily upon numbers to get me what I need to be able to provide the reviews for you guys. It wasn't so much that I couldn't do it without the required numbers backing me up, or that I thought numbers mattered, but it was more so that I thought that's what the industry providers were asking of me. To some extent I may have been right, but to rely on such a standard to get me by as a "respectable" journalist was a fool's errand. I know I'm good at what I do no matter who chooses to follow me, or who chooses to trust in me.

Collective Views

I've been trying my hardest to wrap my mind around the fact that my Google+ page gets vastly more page views than my blog. This whole ordeal came into focus recently when Deep Silver turned me down for the third time. They claimed Alexa, a site stat investigator saw that I had inadequate views in accordance to their standards. I've often times said that views come from different sources though, and not so much the direct website or web page. I do understand that Alexa is supposed to take this into consideration, but if they had they would have seen the over 3 million collective views my Google+ page is securing, and building upon. A page which I will share a screenshot of shortly. I do know my blog itself gets up to hundreds of views a day in my absence, but that my Google+ page gets thousands. If this is the case, and it seems to be, I am definitely capable of reaching a significant audience, and have been doing so for quite some time now. I want you, and the PR to understand that my Google+ page which houses posts of only my reviews, and articles does in fact have the collective view count that I manually adjust on my blogs applied stats side bar feature. I offered to share this to any curious PR in my "Contact" section, but have never been hit up for it.