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Most Recent: Top Story
I Couldn’t Give Two Loots About Destiny 2
Destiny 2 will probably be upon us this year, assuming there are no delays like most AAA game these days. Bungie recently released the first teaser trailer alongside a rather naff logo. Seriously, the new logo looks like it was thrown together in Photoshop by a bored cat. I even managed to cook up some alternate designs while thinking about this opinion piece. The “2” just seems totally out of place. It could be more flush, using Roman numerals to match the Destiny font, or behind it, using a destroyed font to convey that war is coming, or is here already.
The trailer reveals very little about the game itself, beyond the fact that the Guardian Tower has fallen. It’s a clever story device, similar to Shepherd being resurrected at the start of Mass Effect 2, and it allows the game to shirk off aspects of the original, starting afresh with new adventures not constrained by the previous generation.
One issue Destiny fans never had to deal with was its graphics, as it is one of the prettiest first person shooters to grace the a console. The game’s problems lay in what was promised, or what fans hoped for, versus what was actually delivered. Even with The Taken King expansion, which is where I was introduced to the series, the game failed to truly dig into its own mythology, worlds, and threats, and became more of a slog, forcing players to revisit locations for the hundredth time all in the name of loot.
Yet, I don’t want to rant about failed promises of the original game. There is already an excellent post on Bungie’s Community Forums by “TrueMadnessNinja” that delves into the unfulfilled promises of the first entry. This is more of a wish list of things I wish had been in the first game, and I hope Bungie takes a look and can change my mind about picking up the sequel. (more…)
The Games of May 2017
Nearly a dozen new games made their way onto store shelves in the closing days of April, but it looks like we’ll be showered with a smaller collection of new games in May. Thankfully, there’s plenty of interesting titles scheduled to launch over the next four weeks including Injustice 2, Friday the 13th, and Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia. Did we miss your favorite? Read on to find out… (more…)
Warpback: What We Played in April 2017
The Nintendo Switch isn’t just setting sales records, it continues to dominate any discussion about video games. The Warp Zoned staff were no different, as most of us spent the month of April firmly ensconced in Link’s quest to save Hyrule. But there are other games for the Switch besides Breath of the Wild, and Persona 5 might just steal your heart on the PS4 or PS3.
What else did we play last month, audience? Read on to find out… (more…)
Grand Theft Auto IV: Nine Years Later
The highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto IV hit store shelves on April 29, 2008.
I was a sophomore in high school, and I remember it quite well. My mother totally disapproved, so if I wanted to play violent games, I’d have to ask my dad or grandfather to purchase them for me. In the months leading up to Grand Theft Auto IV’s release, I practically drooled over the latest news coverage and store ads (especially the Special Edition with its neat duffel bag, art book, soundtrack CD, and safe deposit box). I never did get the Special Edition, but my dad did purchase Grand Theft Auto IV for me.
My mother had relocated for work, so I had moved in with my father and grandfather in order to finish out the school year. A few months prior, my dad had made the jump from PlayStation 2 to Xbox 360. So on most days, I’d spend the evenings holed up in my grandfather’s basement, with an extra large bag of Peanut M&M’s in my lap, a bottle of Coke at my feet, and a bulky white Xbox 360 controller nestled between my slender teenaged hands. I’d sift through my dad’s video games, randomly popping in anything that appeared interesting, playing until either my dad came home from the NIH Power Plant, or my grandfather yelled down the stairs for me to turn off the TV and go to bed.
But on that Tuesday in April, my dad came home with a surprise… he’d purchased Grand Theft Auto IV! I finished my dinner, grabbed my go-to gaming snacks, and headed for the basement. I’ll never forget those opening scenes of Niko Bellic stepping off of the Platypus, waiting for his cousin Roman to arrive and indoctrinate him into the American way of life. (more…)
Kickstart This! Safe House
Ever since the release of Playtonic’s Yooka-Laylee, it feels like there has been a bit of a lull over at Kickstarter. Many had hoped that the game, crafted by Rare veterans, would harken back to the heyday of 3D platformers. Unfortunately, a wonky camera and poor level design took the wind from its sails.
Of course, crowdfunding was never the cause of this. Yooka-Laylee was born out of love by game developers, and rather than criticise it for its flaws, it should be celebrated for actually being made and released. Many crowdfunding games fall by the wayside long before they reach a beta test, but then again, many are not even as well-received as Playtonic’s project was.
Whether you consider it a success or a failure, there are other crowdfunding games that need your support. I always think Kickstarter is at its best when it becomes a platform for innovation. It often gets saturated with well-loved genres like JRPGs or retro 2D platformers, but a smaller target can force developers to get creative. Every now and again, someone comes up with a concept that is as novel as it is entertaining, and Safe House is one of those rare gems.
Let’s kick down this door and see what’s behind it! (more…)
Pyre Hands-On Preview: Supergiant Hits Their Stride With This Upcoming Arena Action RPG
Supergiant Games is known for its unique audio work, gameplay, narrative design, and possibly above all, its vivid art direction and worldbuilding. Pyre is no exception to this, but I would argue that it’s the game where Supergiant is finally hitting their stride. With a combination of stylized art design, innovative and intuitive gameplay, and intriguing characters, it feels like they’ve gone to a whole new level of game design. Not that Bastion and Transistor weren’t excellent in their own right, but Pyre feels like a natural evolution from those games to something wholly different – and yet utterly Supergiant. (more…)
The Video Game Canon: Final Fantasy VII
Dig deeper into the Video Game Canon with a look back at Final Fantasy VII and Square’s desire to bring cinematic storytelling to the early days of Sony’s PlayStation. Here’s a teaser…
Since the beginning, every new console cycle has existed as its own separate era that video game players speak of with as much reverence as comic fans who use “Golden Age” and “Silver Age” as a shorthand to represent the different decades of comic production. Ralph Baer’s Odyssey (1st Generation) directly lead to Nolan Bushnell’s Atari 2600 (2nd Generation). Atari’s machine gave way to the rise of Nintendo’s NES (3rd Generation), which in turn lead to the “16-Bit Wars” of the Super NES and the Genesis (4th Generation).
Up to this point, Square had only released three Final Fantasy games in America: 1990’s Final Fantasy, 1991’s Final Fantasy II (released in Japan as Final Fantasy IV), and 1994’s Final Fantasy III (released in Japan as Final Fantasy VI). Even though the remaining three games had yet to make their way across the Pacific, the publisher was determined to unify the franchise’s numbering across all regions with the next sequel. But they still had to find the right home for their game.
Visit VideoGameCanon.com to continue reading this article and to explore the complete Top 1000.
Posted in Features, PC, PS4, Retro, Top Story, Video Game Canon
Tagged Final Fantasy VII
/Reality Review: A Fresh Take On A Controversial Genre
Interactive novels tend to get a bad reputation, but it’s understandable. Because video games are such a young medium, there still remains some confusion surrounding the definition of what exactly a “video game” is. /Reality is not one of those games that further muddies the waters by barely walking the lines of interactivity. No, /Reality is, by far, one of the most “interactive” interactive novels that I’ve ever played.
/Reality centers around a socially withdrawn young woman in her early 20s named Lilya. Lilya, a virtual reality enthusiast, is selected to beta test the Penta, a state of the art virtual reality neural device. What looks to be an exciting weekend spent traversing through the Penta’s Vitalia simulation quickly turns in to something far more complex that forces Lilya to question her own perception of reality. (more…)