Birthdays the Beginning (PS4)

Blending the theories of creationism, and evolution TOYBOX Inc. creator Yasuhiro Wada (Harvest Moon) brings to gaming a somewhat scientific look at the process in which life on a simple to grand scale is birthed, maintained, and managed. Through a brief tale involving a grandchild's fascination with their grandfather's library of books, and the discovery of an otherworldly presence via a map contained therein the developer draws you into gameplay that is both episodic, and uniquely rewarding should you grasp the mechanics at hand. Given an alien avatar to represent your personal being you are ultimately tasked with birthing from a blank slate life itself beginning with the early aquatic stages of simple celled organisms all the way to the Jurassic era where dinosaurs roamed the Earth, and beyond. Guided by Navi, your navigational partner in time, you will change the terrain in unison with temperature through elevation tweaks while throwing in gathered items of intervention to help push along the evolutionary process as time is forced by in cube years. As a god would you will visit the cube world via your avatar persona to influence growth, and change while occasionally returning to an outside point of view to speed up time, and help your applied efforts along. Thus witnessing in their dawn the birthdays of each organism brought to life by your influential additions to an ecosystem that changes at your will, and accordingly so.

Hobby Highlight (April 2017)

Anime / Manga

Anime, and manga have been around longer than you may think. In fact the earliest Japanese animation dates back to 1917 in a commercialized form. It wasn't until the 1960's though that the anime style we know, and appreciate today emerged via the talent of Osamu Tezuka. Since it's early entries anime has evolved into various presentations including that of the theatrical releases, at home viewings, and on the web streaming experiences. Through it's ever growing popularity it has also spawned merchandise of different sorts including high end, and low end series related merchandise, collectibles, and even sub-genres of anime that range from child friendly to adult only. While not all anime makes it across the globe due to censorship reasons viewers from all allowing nations can usually view their favorite anime with fan provided subtitle translations on the internet keeping the original voice-overs, and their accompanying range of emotions intact for a more genuine experience.

RTK13: Fame and Strategy Expansion Pack Bundle (PS4)

This seventy dollar bundle is a nightmare for a simpleton gamer like myself to comprehend, but more than likely a blessing for those of you who are into, and fully understand historical strategy simulators. Supposing you are the latter type of gamer you'll be pleasantly surprised to find that Koei Tecmo's team spared absolutely no expense in regards to the presentation that coincides with the periodic happenings of the continued, 'Romancing of the Three Kingdoms" saga, and that with the accompanying DLC expansion the features are even more bountiful than they were initially. There's plenty of CG cutscenes to enjoy, modes of play to play through, and a new Fame system to benefit your favorite officers. Officers like the infamous Lu Bu who are included in all their glory and grandeur via their Dynasty Warriors, and Samurai Warriors likeness. Not only do you get all of that, but you can also create detailed events which you can then upload, and share with others across the globe. Events which can be as creative, and fan fictiony as you wish. As far as the core game goes your engagements will take you from the 'Yellow Turban Rebellion" forward through a hundred plus year span of political, and diplomatic turmoil in which you'll ultimately be tasked with micro-managing your given resources, your officer underlings, and the civilian populous under your guard.

Hakuoki: Kyoto Winds (PS VITA)

When I first began playing "Hakuoki: Kyoto Winds" something seemed oddly familiar about it. I knew I had seen the plot, and the characters before somewhere. It's at that time of recollection that I realized I had actually reviewed Aksys Games' version of the same game on the PS3 several years back. In comparison to that version of the game this version of the Hakuoki story seems to be more streamlined in delivery, but actually half of the game that "Hakuoki: Stories of the Shinsengumi" was. In fact the press release for 'Kyoto Winds' states that this is the first half of a two part tale. Why IFI chose to divide it up is beyond me, but I suppose memory space does have something to do with it. Regardless of that, this trip down memory lane, and the realization that I'm once again playing through the same game I still found intact the admiration I found the first time around. In my first review I had actually discussed how the game was geared more towards a feminine crowd, and how it was a nice change for those less inclined to buy the more gender specific types of games. Yes, back in the day I was spouting nonsense about gender bias in the gaming industry. Perhaps I'm the one who got that ball of dung rolling (I hope not though) ... For those of you who missed out on that oldschool Inferno nugget feel free to read up on it here (Hakuoki: Stories of the Shinsengumi) as it will mostly mirror what I've got to say about IFI's rendition of Hakuoki ...