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As of my freshman year, I will be posting content centered around a certain topic. You can expect my blog posts to feature well-written sentences.
Katana Zero is an 2d side-sidescrolling hack-n-slash platformer video game. It is about a post-war samurai who is hired by an organization to hunt down major criminals in return for a time-stopping drug which the main character is addicted to. The game is available on all consoles and is short enough to complete in one sitting, although DLC is planned for release sometime this year.
The plot is intricate to say the least. Without spoiling the game, the nameless protagonist is forced to slay enemies in return for a drug that was created during the war that led to the destruction and desolation of the city. Without the time-stopping drug, the main character suffers from mental breakdowns and addictive impulses which cause him to hallucinate Throughout the game, the main character becomes more and more addicted to the point where he will act out irrationally and jeopardize the mission should the player choose an option that directly conflicts with his orders. He deals with new characters that both idolize and despise him for his past actions in the war, taking a toll on his mental health. The soundtrack is reminiscent of the neo-punk setting in that it uses many futuristic-sounding instruments such as synths to create electronic dance music and dubstep tracks. The songs vary from level to level, and there is even a level set in a dance club where the music is credited to the DJ of the club on the official soundtrack. The gameplay is typical of action-platformers such as Ninja Gaiden and another indie game known as Neon Abyss with the exception of a sword being the main form of combat instead of guns. Other weapons include grenades and fire cocktails, though they are collectibles in each level and are not integral to the main character's kit. As I mentioned before, the player can make choices that affect the progression of the story. As a result, it is possible to reach an alternate ending by ignoring all of the orders given to you and skipping over the dialogue between you and the psychiatrist. The only demerit the game has is that it ends in a most unsatisfying way. The ending is abrupt and leaves many questions unanswered, especially right after the most climactic part of the story. The credits roll and the player obtains a new sword that they can use should he want to replay a previous level. Another mode is unlocked, though it increases the difficulty greatly. Sure, it leaves room for speculation, but it does not excuse the sudden ending that leaves the player with a sour taste in their mouth. The fact that DLC has not been officially revealed yet does not help either. Despite the sudden ending leaving the player wanting more, Katana Zero is a great game with a plot worth investing in, crisp, clean visuals and excellent sountrack, and fun, intuitive gameplay. Score: 4/5 Recap:
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Brady Bryan
This is a question as old as time. What makes any form of media a 10/10? What must be considered in order to score a video game, movie, book, song, performance, or any other form of art. Should we score them relative to other similar works, or should we evaluate the work purely based on how well it was executed. Everyone seems to have their own way of grading a certain work, making objectivity even harder to abide by. Everyone has their own unique way of analyzing content due to several factors; the most common ones being media that they have familiarized themselves with as they grow up as well as their age. Each form of media has their own content-defining traits that set them apart from other forms of media. For example, video games are known for their interactivity whereas movies are known as the type of content that is purely visual and is readily available to a wide audience at one time. Games are typically remembered for their soundtrack, gameplay, characters, visuals, and plot. While most other forms of media contain these to an extent, games hold a certain weight to them due to the direct interactivity upon which the player forms a connection to the game. If the player does not feel any sort of connection to the game, let along a personal connection, they will regard the game as lackluster or unappealing. Unbalanced gameplay mechanics, poor visuals, a generic soundtrack, and uninteresting plot make for a 0/10 video game or a similar score. This is the universal truth for games that display a lack of care for execution, and this gets even more convoluted when factoring what is expected from various genres. JRPGs are notorious for having a generic plot and linear gameplay, but featuring some of the most well-renowned video game soundtracks ever. Fighting games are especially taboo as the plot is extremely lackluster and the soundtrack merely serves as background music. Gameplay leans towards heavy use of "hidden mechanics" which are unexplained feats unintentionally created by the developers. In taboo cases such as these, reviewers will either compare one game of a certain genre to another game of the same genre, or use their bias to evaluate it. Scoring and evaluating any form of media objectively is a difficult task, and at the end of the day, what matters most is your opinion. Recap:
Brady Bryan
Everyone has thought of building their own PC during their life. At the very least, they would like to acquire one by means of either purchasing separate parts and putting them together, or purchasing a pre-built computer. Both means of acquisitions have their benefits and detriments. However, it seems that the most plausible way of acquiring a PC would be by buying a pre-built computer due to a lack of a very crucial PC component in the market: the graphics card. The graphics card is one of, if not, the most important component when it comes to building a PC, especially for hardcore PC gamers. After all, it is where a chunk of the total cost comes from when doing so. The graphics card allows the player to run games at higher resolutions with higher clarity, smoother frames, and provides an overall better experience the more higher-end it is. Of course, they work in tandem with CPUs to create an immersive and splendorous gaming appearance as one cannot function at full capacity without the other provided that one does not outperform the other. However, at the turn of the year, the graphics card market supply reached an all-time low due to a plethora of factors. Demand for graphics cards skyrocketed and supply dwindled, Donald Trump imposed taxes on graphics card imports, leading to an increase in price and limited availability, thus causing GPU manufacturers such as NVIDIA and EVGA to create newer, marginally worse GPUs all for the sake of availability. The problem is, with limited availability, the demand will only increase further, leading to scalpers setting up ways to purchase the cheap (or sometimes, not-so-cheap) cards before other consumers even have a chance of refreshing the purchase page, only to resell them at a higher price to turn a profit. This has been repeated ad nauseum for the last four months, and shows no sign of stopping as there is clearly a lack of generosity and sympathy for those that are unable to purchase one in time. This is also reminiscent of the recent PS5 limited availability in which purchasing one at the exact time of release is virtually a dream (or nightmare, depending of your interpretation). Building a PC at this current point in time is clearly a bad idea, as one could purchase a pre-built PC that comes with a graphics card. However, many consumers and gamers began their PC endeavors as soon as this tragedy began, leaving many stranded ashore without any feasible way to complete their dream rig without breaking the bank, waiting, scalping, or even all three. Recap:
Brady Bryan
It has been three years since the best selling Dragon Ball game of all time was released, and since its debut, Dragon Ball FighterZ has made waves in the fighting ge community. Before released, it was preemptively announced to be a staple game at EVO in 2018, and has become extremely popular since then. With such familiar faces recognizable to millions and arguably billions the world over, the game was bound for popularity. However, it is important to analyze what makes this game so beloved three years after its worldwide release, as well as where its shortcomings lie. While most two-dimensional traditional fighting games can range in terms of music and visuals, FighterZ excels in both. In fact, FighterZ flashy and bright display went on to set the bar for future traditional fighting games in terms on how to balance gameplay with stunning, beautifully modeled visuals as well as clever uses of camera angles to make the characters' inputs feel as thought they carry more weight and hit harder. The use of metal music placed intermittently in each track in tandem with the distant, spacey instrumentals and rock music come together to form an impeccable soundtrack. Aside from the "in-your-face" visuals, another very apparent theme that may have laid the foundation for the overall concept for FighterZ is its accessibility. To this day, the idea of simplifying FighterZ's gameplay in comparison to other popular fighting games such as Street Fighter and Guilty Gear is a topic of debate when it comes to a competitive and professional level of performance. Making impactful inputs simple to perform as well as the inclusion of auto-combos allow new characters to pick up the game and learn the basics of two-dimensional fighting games easier than the aforementioned games. However, certain characters such as Ultra Instinct Goku toe the line between accessibility to newcomers and unbalanced gameplay. He is only one example of a character that has too much in his kit which leads to a cheap style of gameplay, and has many players debating (or more accurately, complaining) about how much accessibility is too much. Comeback mechanics are also featured in this game via certain characters as well as a universal mechanic by the name of "Sparking" in which a character recovers health, has access to different combo routes, and deals more damage. The sparking effect increases in potency as the player loses more characters, meaning that it is most effective when a player is down to their last character, allowing them to potential kill one character in a single combo. This too is a topic of hot debate. As for the story, it's extremely bland and unintuitive, though what else is to be expected of a fighting game? Overall, FighterZ is a very good game for those who are looking to dip their toes into the fighting game scene due to its ease of accessibility and low learning curve. New players will be drawn to the popular characters from one of the most famous series of all time, and will stay for the stunning visuals and hardcore music. However, those looking for a game that will challenge them and force them to strategize may feel underwhelmed by the balance choices and simple inputs. Review Score: 3/5
Brady Bryan
Unless you have been living under a rock, chances are you've had the chance to hear about something called a "V-Tuber." As the name may imply, a V-Tuber is a virtual avatar that makes videos or streams online. Instead of viewing an actual human, the audience sees a 3d or 2d model moving on screen. Most V-Tubers tend to stream themselves playing games, talking freely, or creating some form of media on live streaming services such as YouTube and Twitch. Since mid-2020, V-Tubers are becoming the new craze. It is difficult to track the history of V-Tubers back to their origin. Despite the definition previously given, considering what can be classified as a V-Tuber becomes a technical task. Since V-Tubers were created and popularized by Japan, the first technical V-Tuber was Hatsune Miku, an A.I. idol created to sing and dance, although she is more of an artist than a primary virtual entertainer. Another early V-Tuber goes by the name of Kizuna Ai, who fits the description more accurately. The recent popularity spike can be attributed to her. She could sing, dance, and play video games, though she stood out mostly due to her excitable and verbally explicit nature which contrasted her cutesy image. She became an icon not only in Japan, but overseas as well, leading to merchandise of her being made and distributed. Since then, more V-Tubers have slowly been cropping up over the years, though the concept of V-Tubers remained relatively niche in the grander scheme of online entertainment. That is, until Hololive, a V-Tuber idol agency, came along and popularized the idea even more. Hololive put their own spin on being a virtual liver by incorporating an idol theme, which is extremely popularly in Japan. While Hololive began with only a handful of idols, it soon become the home to nearly 100 members that stream almost every single day. The company and its members gained a large boost in exposure over this past summer, and inspired many others to become V-Tubers. This led to a new sub-category on Twitch and YouTube for virtual livers being created. Now, V-Tubers are more popular than ever despite having a niche fanbase for years. Many of Hololive's members recently hit 1,000,000 subscribers on YouTube, and other independent virtual livers are growing more popular each passing day. Most fans describe getting into V-Tubers as an inescapable rabbit hole that pulls you in further and further until you have no choice but to become a fan. So far, no one has been able to prove them wrong. Recap:
Brady Bryan
It's no secret that not all video games are developed in the United States. Most popular game companies are based elsewhere such as Canada, Japan, Germany, and other places worldwide. Since games are developed practically everywhere in Earth, each will primarily focus on their intended audience. When considering what audience to hone in on to maximum sales, one must consider more than age, race, culture, and the like. Most aspiring professional game designers may forget that language is an integral factor. While culture was previously listed as though it were less important that language, such a notion could not be further from the truth. In fact, language and culture often go hand-in-hand when determining the primary audience. Those that have played numerous video games will realize that the setting for each video game differs greatly, even if the main concept behind each game is similar. For instance, if two games are both set in an urban setting, one game's urban setting will look different and function differently than the other. One urban setting may be more developed and gaudy where the citizens dress expensively and live lavish lives whereas the other urban setting may be densely packed and industrial where the civilians work every day to provide for themselves or someone dear to them. Between these two examples lie a major difference in culture which adds to the unique identity of the games. Assuming that both games were hypothetically developed using the experiences of the developers, it indicates that their upbringing played a crucial role in the result of their products. While language, in this scenario, is also assumed to be unique to each game as most cultures have their own communication system, it plays a much larger role in localization. If a game is heavily influenced by culture and language, then translating it into another language would be an arduous task. First, the localization team must consider how well the content will be received by a foreign audience. If the norm for the game's origin place is not the norm for a foreign country, then the localization team may elect to omit certain parts of the game, or slightly change the events so as to be understood by the foreign audience while retaining most of the integrity of the original game. At other times, the localization team may directly translate some events of the game into another language, which can lead to confusion. This is often the case for translating Japanese games into English, especially JRPGs, though any sort of correlation to be made has yet to be properly discussed. For those who wish to market their game to a foreign audience, proper translation of both language and culture must be accounted for. Alienating an audience is the last thing any company or producer would want to do, let alone any game developer as it can lead to poor sales and reception. Recap:
Brady Bryan
A game that has been making headlines around the gaming community was the long-awaited Cyberpunk 2077 released for PC, PlayStation, and Xbox. Alongside the newer generation of consoles from Sony and Microsoft, this game sold incredibly fast on all platforms. With John Wick as the posterboy for marketing the game and ensuring a widespread appeal across a large audience at the most recent E3 game conference, alongside the numerous times it was delayed to continue work on it, Cyberpunk 2077 had the anticipation of fans growing with bated breath. It was heralded as one of, if not, the standout title that would pave the way for future next-gen consoles and set a precedent for next-level quality and ingenuity. However, as soon as the game was released, several players encountered unprecedented bugs, glitches, issues, and kinks in the game in record time. While the game admittedly looks impressive, especially when viewed on an expensive gaming PC, the graphical issues that occur in the game can and most likely will detract from the player's experience. Examples of such bugs include static animations, lack of people spawning in the overworld, unrigged models, broken textures, and random element spawning. Many players posted clips of the game's programmatical mishaps on Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and other media sharing websites. While games with problematic gameplay are often only seen as material to joke about online and elicit feelings of comedic relief, the sheer amount of bugs the game has during normal gameplay (as in, gameplay without the use of cheating or hacking software) raised eyebrows online. This, coupled with the numerous release delays, raised concern about the ethics of working developers to the bone and the negative effects in has not only on the company, but the game as well. The video game community became aware of the unfortunate yet common practice of "crunch time" which us game art design students have become familiar with over the course of our high school career. As the societal standard becomes more inclusive and less stoic than it once was years ago, so too does the concern for others' well being increase. People on Twitter voiced their concerns about how video game companies should prioritize the health of their employees should they want a complete product instead of a rushed, tacky result. This was especially heartbreaking for fans since the entire game's concept was a dystopian society ran by technology set far in the future (in case the title wasn't a dead ringer already). A provocative yet tactful take on what such a society is like should we let the things we own own us displayed in an entertaining and immersive way may be an ambitious feat as we've arguably yet to have seen any game of this caliber, but is more than worth the risk. Until it wasn't. The game's bugs caused enough issues to warrant a delist from the PlayStation Store for PlayStation 4 users. Hopefully, we may see a return to form in the future in the form of proper optimization. Recap:
Brady Bryan
Most fighting games would have the player fight their opponent by making direct contact with them, most commonly done by punching, kicking, or grabbing them with various techniques. However, there exists such a game in which players attack each other without making physical contact to multiple funky tracks composed by the composer and DJ behind Jet Set Radio and Jet Set Radio Future, Hideki Naganuma. The characters all have various attacks and special moves in different directions; none of which make contact with the opponent. Such a game is known as Lethal League Blaze. Lethal League Blaze is an indie game developed and published by Team Reptile in 2018, and while it may trick you into thinking that it is a sports game, it is actually classified as a fighting game in which the player attacks the opponent by hitting a ball around the stage at high velocity, reaching insane, lethal speeds after numerous consecutive hits. The roster is fairly small, but the character designs are full of the funky, hip-hop vibe that the game emanates both in visual and audio design. The characters all have varying streetwear, ranging from the style of a well-to-do dandy to the ragged, torn-up, short clothes with headgear and accessories that the streetwear style is known for. No two characters come close to looking or playing the same either. There is a story mode, and as one might expect since most fighting game plots being unintuitive and lame, it does not break the mold. The soundtrack is groovy and infectious, though the high quality OSTs are to be expected from the mind behind the futuristic pop funk tracks from the Jet Set Radio series. Although Hideki Naganuma contributed to a few tracks in Lethal League Blaze, the entire soundtrack is well produced and mixed. The user interface, as with much of the game, manages to retain much of the flare and flashiness the game expresses while being easy to navigate and understand. During the gameplay, the necessary information such as the speed of the ball, the health meters, and special gauge are separated from top to bottom with the characters and the stage taking up a majority of the middle of the screen. Everything is easy to understand and locate during gameplay, which is crucial for any game, especially fighting games, to include. The game even has a "10/10" rating on Steam and has received high praises all around for its intuitive and innovative gameplay that can be hardly found elsewhere. While a competitive scene for this game has yet to fully bloom into the mainstream, there just might be enough potential for this game to take flight and garner a wider audience as its current community is quite small. For a comparatively small indie game, the developers did a splendid job making it accessible to all types of gamers due to its release on every platform (barring mobile audiences), appealing to different types of audiences with its diverse character designs, and enthralling those who fall victim to its infectious soundtrack. It is clear that the developers were passionate about this project, which is the most touching aspect of any game created to please an audience. Rating: 5/5 Recap:
Brady Bryan
Only weeks and days remain before the next generation consoles from the two of the three biggest gaming monolith companies are scheduled for release into the hands of the public. Everyone has been on pins and needles restlessly waiting for the newest hot iterations of the PlayStation and Xbox to drop for months. With the wait almost being over, the anticipation and hype surrounding the consoles has never been more fervent. This is especially true considering the fact that pre-orders for both consoles sold out in a single day. Finding retail stores with available pre-order slots was borderline impossible throughout the months of September and October. As a result, those that has already pre-ordered the new consoles sought to profit from this and offered to resell them for a higher price due to the extremely high demand. Furthermore, the age-old debates about which console is superior have had a flame lit under them as fanboys off the opposing sides quickly clamored to find out whether the PlayStation 5 or the Xbox Series X runs more optimally or has the more impressive gaming library. Immediately, similarities and parallels between both of the consoles can be noticed. Contrary to past releases of previous generation consoles, the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X will have two versions: a digital edition and a disk drive edition. The disk drive edition for both consoles are priced at $500. However, the digital edition of the PS5 is priced at $400 whereas the new Xbox is priced at $300. The topic of encouraging customers to purchase the digital editions by pricing it lower than the disk drive edition is one that can be discussed more thoroughly, but the gist of it is that since the digital version can only play digital copies of games, disks, which are commonly shared by friends and acquaintances instead of being purchased by both people, will be incompatible. This very well may mean the end of disk copies. Clearly, Microsoft is being more competitive by pricing it lower than the PS5's. Both next-gen consoles have faced varying degrees of criticism, though heavily subjective. Many claim the PS5 to look futuristic and deem it to be the epitome of "next-gen" due to the white, blue, and black color palette and surprisingly large size. Harsher critics say that it looks too much like a WiFi router. The design of Xbox Series X, however, even has Microsoft fans scratching their heads as its large, gray, box-shaped structure has been likened to that of a wastebasket or refrigerator. In addition to its uninteresting look in comparison to the PlayStation 5, it is also smaller than the PS5. To any unassuming individual, these new consoles seem like more of the same with a new coat of paint slapped onto it, and while that assumption isn't completely wrong, there are some new innovations that both companies have decided to take with their consoles. Sony and Microsoft essentially continued to improve upon what makes their console great on a unique level. Recap:
Brady Bryan
Almost everyone has heard of Minecraft. After all, it is the top grossing video game of all time with over 200 million sales, even beating out games that span several generations of consoles such as Grand Theft Auto 5 and Tetris. Likewise, there aren't many people who haven't heard of Super Smash Bros. Ever since its initial inception in 1999 on the Nintendo GameCube, the franchise has gained an extremely large following for the last two decades. Smash is well known for being heralded as a "celebration of gaming," featuring a ton of iconic Nintendo characters as well as third-party characters from Capcom, Konami, and the like. All sects of gaming, whether it be traditional fighting games, platformers, or first-person shooters, are represented in this jam-packed action arena party fighting game. Earlier this month, Steve from Minecraft was announced as DLC for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and at the time of this blog post's publication, releases tomorrow. Due to his official inclusion in Smash, there will be a hefty amount of details to dissect. Firstly, Steve has been a desired fighter as far back as Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo Wii U. While he was more of a facetious choice for a character instead of one that was genuinely yearned for, fans rapidly clamored for his inclusion as a playable fighter as the years passed. Therefore, it is understandable as to why Twitter servers crashed on the day that Minecraft's Steve was announced. By no stretch of the imagination, his inclusion was so grand and extravagant that Twitter crashed due to the sheer amount of reaction tweets as a result. According to many other Twitter users, the last time Twitter faced such a crash was back when Michael Jackson died over a decade ago. Watching the announcement trailer felt like a dream come true for many fans, though a vocal minority were quick to voice their disgust and disappointment with Steve's inclusion. Fans were unsure how Masahiro Sakurai, the creator was going to balance the newcomer as staying true to the character's roots could very well make Steve (and by association, Zombie, Alex, and Enderman since they are alternate skins) an extremely overpowered character. However, Sakurai stated that his team had to rework every single stage in order to give Steve a proper chance, essentially changing the entire game as fans were quick to point out and emphasize how game-changing Steve's inclusion was. This post served to merely highlight how monumental Steve's inclusion is. Regarding his actual moveset and the various references included, the level of sheer time and effort put into not only what would appear as a simply designed character is something to be admired as his moves required Sakurai's team of coders to put their all into this large endeavor as he made sure to thank them in the reveal trailer. Steve's inclusion may very well be the most ambitious crossover of the highest magnitude to ever exist in the video game community. Recap:
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AuthorBrady Bryan is quite familiar with blogs since he had to frequently post on his blog in 6th grade. Although its been a long time since then, he still knows what a proper blog should look like. Archives
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