Queen Creation

In the grand narrative of life, we should feel lucky to have the chance to echo wisdom wherever we can.


Don’t you just hate when you find yourself agreeing with the
genocider?

As what may come as a shock to absolutely no regular readers, I have reached the end of another day with few moments to spare. I’ve been meaning to attempt to restructure the way my schedule is handled, but alas, I can’t find time in my schedule to schedule in doing so. Tragic irony. With all of that said, I am regulated to once again write more of a quickie involving a thought of note than a full blown article, but that’s just the way it rolls sometimes.


We should all ever be so lucky for it to roll this kind of crazy

Over on Polygon, I was delightfully reminded of how awesome the new Zelda game, Echoes of Wisdom, is going to be, and one I’ve been reporting on and looking forward to for sometime. I attempt not to be a total one trick pony by writing about the same games over and over, but the heart wants what the heart wants, and I love me some of that turbulence the Triforce always seems to be throwing down.


When keeping it real in Termina goes wrong

In any case, the article pulls a choice quote from one of Nintendo’s always choice behind the scenes look at game development, in this instance, the devs talking about how Echoes of Wisdom was suppose to be a full blown dungeon creator, ala Mario Maker:

Terada: We were exploring a few different ways to play the game in parallel. In one approach, Link could copy and paste various objects, such as doors and candlesticks, to create original dungeons. During this exploration phase, this idea was called an “edit dungeon” because players could create their own Legend of Zelda gameplay.

Aonuma: They showed it to me and told me to give it a try. As I played, I started thinking that while it’s fun to create your own dungeon and let other people play it, it’s also not so bad to place items that can be copied and pasted in the game field, and create gameplay where they can be used to fight enemies. That was the beginning of gameplay using “echoes.” The gameplay was shifted from creating dungeons up until then to using copied-and-pasted items as tools to further your own adventure.


Zelda about to ctrl+c & ctrl v Hyrule out of existence…and back into it again?

I had mused myself whether or not we would get such a game (a Zeldaified version of Mario Maker) after spending an inordinate amount of time with the dungeon creator in the remake to Link’s Awakening, as the entire sub-system of creation ended up being quite engaging, and I felt as if Nintendo could probably get a lot of mileage out of the idea very much like Mario Maker in the process. I always figured it would have been a long shot idea, however, and knew that it would only ever work within the vein of a 2D setup anyways, for a myriad of reasons.


Being the maker of your own mischief always felt amusing

Internally speaking, I also figured that maybe on some level, the devs involved with the any of the Zelda titles would be overly protective of their property, as it were, and that making Zelda feel too cookie cutter might diminish some of the “magic” the series does seem to innately have in feeling like a powerfully unique property that should be handled with a certain level of finesse you wouldn’t see with other series, and perhaps in a read between the lines moment, that’s what ended up happening.


I very much look forward to the launch day of Echoes of Wisdom, which is a mere two days out. Get hyped.

~Pashford

King Nothing

Within the realm of human accomplishment, time is the fuel that keeps the fire of the engine roaring.


Which can turn into quite the apocalyptic affair

Which is a sentiment that has relevant pertinence to today’s meager share, as I should be more or less be giving myself a break from such a raucously paced schedule that possesses such a rapid intensity, and one which propels me along the productive waves of overblown insanity. At least, that’s what it sounds like the fatigue is screaming to me from deep within, a boundless howling of “more” dangerously mixed into the irrational tendencies of “never enough”, poured into a metaphysical cocktail of relentless resiliency that when shaken, and not stirred, stings sharply enough on it’s way down, I snap back into reality and confront the beast that is limitation its self.


A concept I’ve been well acquainted with recently

With that flowery compounded sense of self thrown out into the ether, I ensnare the very thought of it made manifest, and jerry-rig it to the back of the broken foundation that sunk the recently failed Sony joint known as Concord, which as reports continue to roll out after the premature demise of the premium hero shooter’s fate laid bare for the industry to witness aghast in horror at, we all begin to understand just how costly the never could shooter’s death ended up being. The number $400 million keeps getting thrown around all casual like in reference to the bottom line, which may have been part of the problem in the first place, as continued hearsay involving the matter suggests Sony thought they could just throw money at a problem in place of thinking about a real solution, and no one involved, responsible or otherwise, could impart the simple idea of no as the right thing to do.


The consequences of saying no carry a heavy cost

The whole heartbreaking affair reinforces the idea that the road to hell is paved with the best intentions, and that no deal with the devil of positively laced delusion will ever negate the harsh reality that will come crashing down from the heavens when trying to defy fate. Even within the means and metrics of how to go about making a new world functional, one can never ignore the purely distilled metrics of how relevant the temporality that helps to create the situation truly is, and that you can’t just manipulate a clock or fill a pothole with a coffer of dosh and say that the roads of rationality are safe to travel on again. I think the folly of human error is the arrogance that comes ignoring the dissent of the wise that you surround yourself with, while then overlooking every reality making up a rule of warning, and forging forward by taking every shortcut in the book in building a system around avoiding the incorporation of fail-safes, all the while dismissing the time constraints involved with cleaning up any messes thereafter.

When time is the ruler of the land, you will be without sovereignty when ignoring the minutes that make real your kingdom.

~Pashford

Radical Disappointment

Slow and steady wins the race…


Especially if you’re challenging this
squawking son of a bitch

Very much an apt adage in many games that have rubber band AI in terms of their racing mechanics, as sometimes, doing too well can actually screw you in your hard fought efforts at success (see above with Banjo-Tooie). I think there is a fun life lesson in here somewhere, as I only hope the applicable idea of slowing down sometimes in order to get some better footing for near future pacing is a key element to successful levels of gratification in everyday affairs. This post is very much in the essence of that idea, and which is about the best silver lining I could muster in the wake of radical disappointment at the generally draining nature of the everyday.


Superman 64 just popped into my head for some
reason. Weird.

Yeah, not everyday can be a banger, and when one is at the end of a work week and feels utterly obliterated, one finds it difficult to operate at a regular baseline, let alone pumping on all cylinders. Figured I could still muster some of my last energy reserves to give it the old college effort for consistency’s sake. I saw something interesting the other day about Nomura discussing the possible end of the Kingdom Hearts series, to parallel his own nearing retirement approaching, which is totally understandable. Any successful game series is long going to outlive it’s creators working life or even their interest in the property, and with so many other visionaries in the industry working themselves to the bone cause they either can’t let it go or feel forced to keep going (see Yoshinoro Ono with the Street Fighter Series, Kojima with Metal Gear Solid, Sakurai on Smash), you’ve got to remember: these are just men when all is said and done. Let the titans find peace in their day, and finally give them a respite as they enjoy their hard earned spoils in the equivalent of gaming Valhalla.


They


Earned


It

This would be the time I would likely have some interesting deconstructionism of the Kingdom Hearts series themes, some wacky tales involving some absurdist challenge involving one of the games, or general insight into it’s impact on the industry as a whole, but much like yesterday with my interest to discuss Half-Life, my desire to muse exists, but the endless frustration that represents my ridiculous levels of exhaustion continue to rear their ugly head. I very much didn’t even want to get out of bed this morning, and I still have a full night of work ahead of me mind you, so needless to say, every last ounce of energy saved will be sanity salvaged in the very near future. I wish for you the very same kind of rest I’m going to be enjoying as my weekend inches around the corner. Having said that, I look forward to the coming days, as The Tokyo Game Show will be happening in the coming week, and I salivate uncontrollably at the idea of all the juicy gaming news that awaits us.

~Pashford

Catching A Breath With Freeman

Sometimes, you’ve got to give yourself a little bit of a breather.


Ripping and tearing is hard work: be sure to pace yourself
Today’s going to be a short one, as a (fortunate) schedule hiccup, while overall positive, has left me positively ghoulish as a result of a lack of sleep. Which works out well, as I’m predictably short on time , and the industry itself seems to be in a bit of a lull in terms of big gaming news, which is understandable: you can’t have world shattering events occur every day. One of the few points of interest I saw worth mentioning was that someone discovered a Half-Life beta dated October 1998, which was a mere month before the game launched to the gaming public and changed the gaming world…


…one crowbarred smacked headcrab at a time

Wild stuff, and super groovy we were able to salvage a piece of important gaming history on an accidental whim. The build is still playable if you follow the directions involving on how to boot it up for anyone of you feeling nostalgic enough to kick it with good old Gordon Freeman in celebration of the game’s upcoming 26th anniversary, which feels appropriate as the game represents a benchmark in FPS history for the entire game industry as a whole. As for other good time sinks you could check out, I wrote a few articles of note this week, one involving finding inspiration for writing about video games, the eventual release of Elder Scrolls VI, gossip and rumors involving many subjects including the Switch 2, and even a first look at the charming Zelda like The Plucky Squire. As always, cheers for stopping by to see what’s new, and I hope you get some good gaming in this weekend.

~Pashford

How The Sausage Is Made

It’s fun getting into trouble!


It’s obvious no one at Milton Fucking Bradley ever played the
Outlast series, which I can assure you, is an example of a time it
is not fun getting into trouble…

Keeping up with my ridiculous self-imposed challenge of writing everyday has certainly been an endeavor, to say the least. The irony of writing about games that I’ve found was true in the past and remains true now is that the more time you dedicate to the practice of writing about games, the less time you have in actually playing any of them, which is such an obtuse thought it becomes itself dizzying in it’s very nature and rapidly more nauseating as one continues to process the idea. I take this moment now to point out the obvious truth that it isn’t a 1:1 process: I can’t just put an hour into playing a video game and out pops an hour of equivalently interesting writing ideas mind you, as if that were the case, I could write blog posts rivaling the girth and depth of The Silmarillion on the regz.


Fairly surprised this was the first image that came up when I
googled “Silmarillion Girth” just for shits and giggles

That’s where the creativity comes in, of course, and boy one is always crossing their fingers that juice will be worth the squeeze on any given day. I think there is something to be said of thinking about the machinations and context of the games themselves, rather than maybe just the idea of discussing the distilled elements of gameplay, as it comes off to me as the difference of gawking at a muscle car passing by vs discussing what’s under the hood. Stroking one’s metaphorical willy about the aesthetics of a souped up beef machine have their time and place, but you wouldn’t even have had a chance to wag your absurdist pickle at the beast on wheels had it not the power of what’s pumping under the hood to get it there.


Some engines more impressive than others

I’ve realized I should clarify: this is more of an exposition about how the sausage is made, not really a complaint about the meat at hand (really gotta get off this phallic word play roll). I do attempt to deliver beyond regurgitating headlines, mind you, though the real world enjoys trying to intervene in the creative process with things like “jobs” and “sleeping” which really fuck up my whole ebb and flow on the matter. To the point of just throwing headlines out all willy nilly just for the sake of it, I had no idea that Netflix was trying to get an inside horse into the world of gaming so bad, even going as far as to announce several new video game based adaptations they announced at one of their own events in the past day. I am completely indifferent to this news however, so trying to get myself into a creative tizzy about this revelation, or the one where Netflix offers dozens of games you can play on mobile devices if subscribed, leaves me utterly muted in response.


Far out, Netflix

And that’s the thing, I don’t mind going on about headlines when I’m really lit up with energy or feel incredibly impassioned about a particular piece I see making the rounds in gaming circles, but I am merely mortal, not everything is super enthralling or life changing news. I am always thrilled when the perfect storm coalesces, and both interesting idea meets a fervent mind to deliver on an awesome idea, but no one bats a thousand.


The face of a man who is familiar with what a poor batting
average looks like

I remember once recently when I wanted to come up with some kind of article idea involving playing a game, I tried booting up Pokémon Scarlet, and was reminded of why I never forced myself through the title, and that’s because the game is fucking rough to play. I know Game Freak wanted to go all Breath of the Wild on us, but Pokémon really didn’t need to do that, and it reflects poorly on the whole experience as a result. But obviously, I’m not going to want to play a game that is like that, which means I am not going to want to gather any more ideas on the title, and ultimately that entire piece was just surmised into a single sentence in this very paragraph, so so much for that fucking idea.


Truly the Dunsparce of gaming article ideas

I’m enjoying The Plucky Squire, which I was proud to get a preview up for on launch day, but as I had foreseen already as a problem I was going to run into by not getting the product early enough to play through, as this isn’t an official operation as you may have noticed, people already have reviews out. Playing through the whole game would take a hot minute anyways, so how much motivation or interest would be left for the final article seems non-existent

I throw my horns to you, Plucky Squire, even if I am unable
to afford you all of my time

I’m not done writing about Castlevania, mind you, as it regularly holds a firm grasp upon my spirit as an ephemeral source of interest for me, but as the more clever readers have already deduced, it is just another piece of collateral in my war against time, and fighting in the trenches of my everyday to do my best to combat it. I think it’s fitting this post follows me last one, which was all about discussing expectations involving the eventual launch of The Elder Scrolls VI, and how Bethesda should find comfort in the fact that the game will just have to go back to basics, and just be the most Elder Scrolls like it can be to end up making people happy. In essence: it’s success will lie within it being itself.

I think this write up is very much in the same spirit.

~Pashford

Elder Scrolls VI: The Game of Expectations

I think it’s a fairly standard observation that holds weight on a regular basis that we all end up being our own worst critic.


Unless you were Richard Nixon. Hunter S. Thompson
definitely hated that son of a bitch more than he hated
himself, which is impressive

You see it all the time in creative works. Hell, there are days where I start attempting to work myself up into a mind space just to approach an idea to write an article for ATE…which is followed by me unceremoniously throwing every idea I have directly into the metaphorical bin as not good enough, and these are just goofy little write ups involving the state of the video game industry. Imagine if you had to work on something that one could consider a generationally defining piece of art?


Talk about needing Hulk like strength just to bear the burden

Enter: the Elder Scrolls VI development team, who most certainly have the unenviable task of doing just that. In an interview making the rounds in the regular gaming circles of conversation recently, one of the designers at Bethesda who worked on Skyrim, Bruce Nesmith, was doing an interview for Youtube channel Kiwi Talks, and touches upon a number of subjects under the sun, one of which was developing the next Elder Scrolls title, and made mention of what he calls “The game of expectations”, which is how he explains dealing with not just video game development, but everyday affairs:

“I do an entire talk on it, that I do at universities and other places, it’s called the game of expectations, and I’m…I won’t say famous, but I’m well known for parading that phrase out, it’s uh the game that’s played in real life, and it is one of the most important games you’ll ever play…everywhere, forget game development, everywhere, because you are always judged by your expectations.

One of the things I do in my talks, I give a little bit of a scenario, you know your five year old child comes to you and shows you a drawing, and it looks amazing and you’re like wow, this is really really cool, you put it up on the refrigerator, and you show your neighbors, yeah look my kid did this, isn’t that great? Now if that same picture was given to you by a 30 year old professional artist, you would start to wonder what’s going on here? Are they having a nervous breakdown? Is there an issue? And it’s the same picture, the picture has not changed, the only thing that’s changed is your expectation based on who gave it to you.

We almost never evaluate anything based on it’s absolute worth, it’s always it’s relative worth. Even things you consider hard currency, like gold or gems, it’s their relative worth, they’re expected value, that becomes it’s true value. So everywhere you look in life, you’re being judged on your expectations, you’re not being judged on the actual content.”

The smile of a man who knows how to deal with stress

The entire interview of Nesmith’s is worth a listen if you’re a fan of game development or writing in general, and does kind of hone in on the reality vs expectation argument many have to contend with when one is defining themselves creatively, and how to move forward inspite of the fear of failure, or just a general anxiety of the “not good enough” mentality. I think there is a lot of different interesting aspects to deconstruct here, and a lot of it does just boil down to avoiding elements like analysis paralysis, and even ego on some level, as I think it’s way too easy for a mind or even a team to suffer from either too much or too little egotism when it comes to delivering on a project of any magnitude, let alone one as big as ESVI.


Look: you’ve already done this five times over, guys. Just add
one more, it’s right there in the title. Simple.

I think on ground level, Bruce Nesmith is taking a safe approach to his precautions involving the next Elder Scrolls game, as the build up to the title will have been generating for more than a decade, and I hope his colleagues and Todd Howard’s team echo that careful sentiment without getting over-encumbered with stress by complicating their goals of what looks like a successful execution. If anything Bethesda can look at both Starfield, and most certainly Fallout 76 on just how not to do launches. With Starfield, I felt like people were genuinely disappointed with the depth of the title, specifically more in reference to the shallowness of the mechanics that lent themselves to what felt like maybe a too bare-bones basic RPG experience. The list of Fallout 76’s failings are exhaustive to say the least, but to speak to the most detrimental of issues, was the idea related to a bizarre lack of fundamentals intrinsically tied to what made up the classic Fallout series formula work.


It was not the lack of bag, guys, though that didn’t help any

So, on some beautiful level, all Bethesda really has to do is go back to basics. While the phrase “soft reboot” doesn’t necessarily apply here, as the Elder Scrolls games are loosely connected and each acts as it’s own redefinement of the formula on some level, the general idea of wiping the slate clean is a great launching point. The next Elder Scrolls title works safely being a refresh of sorts, with the games before it always helping to lay the new ground rules of what is to come, so if anything, Bethesda’s team should feel a sigh of relief. Since they’re dealing with an institution of sorts, and with a generational reset approach in mind considering the length of time it has been since the last title, all they have to focus on is a back to basics approach with Elder Scrolls VI, and by virtue of both the cultural and technological progress we’ve made as an industry, it would benefit them to not over think this, and not try to reinvent the wheel in the process, and they’ll be golden.

I guess in summation: Elder Scrolls VI doesn’t have to be this amazing, grandiose, mind blowing, bedrock shattering, unbelievable experience- it just has to be Elder Scrolls VI.

The rest may follow as a result.

~Pashford

The Plucky Squire: Armed To Charm

Sometimes, you just got to stop and smell the flowers.


Maybe just don’t get too close

I’m not always topical here on ATE, but that’s just the way the cookie crumbles for any number of reasons. However, and inspite of a lack of time, I thought it would be fun to challenge myself a bit, and in the brief moments I had, write about a brand new game, on the very day of it’s launch no less, something I think I’ve never done before on ATE? So while it will still be a bit sized write up, at least we both get to experience some brand spanking new content together. And how!


The Pluckiest of Squires

Enter: The Plucky Squire, a new top down action adventure romp from developer All Possible futures. The whole game has the basis of an old school isometric game akin to Zelda, and a properly cute aesthetic to boot ala a story book. You’ll be guiding your main hero Jot through the Land of Mojo in kind of a classical style hack and slash, as you make your way through the various areas to defeat the evil Wizard Humgrump, as you encounter various whimsical creatures along the way.


I figured including a screenshot without any whimsical creatures
would help heighten the mystery of just how whimsical we’re talking here

The visuals are definitely a standout moment for the title, as it blends a lot of cute imagery to help enhance the story book flair. Both the on screen action and the mini-cinematics being enhanced by visual flair utilizing various aesthetics to create cutesy eye candy throughout your adventure, which the music compliments quite nicely. The whole title kind of just screams cozy, which is most certainly the vibe you will found throughout your adventure.


Nothing screams cozy like slashing a rat to death

Cozy being a keyword that will be close at hand when describing most of the game, as The Plucky Squire is definitely geared towards more casual gamers, as the title is extraordinarily simple in it’s approach to design as a whole. The game will switch from an isometric viewpoint often, to provide some platforming goodness, but both the combat and the side-scrolling jumping sections are about as user friendly as you can imagine. The Plucky Squire, while endearing, will provide little challenge to any seasoned gamer from any walk of life.


Super Meat Boy, this is not

In my brief time with the title thus far, I only fought one boss of sorts, which ended up being a fun riff on the old Punch Out! game, where the camera is affixed behind your main character (Jot), who you can then use to give a good old one two punch to an overly zealous honey badger, though I think that may be being a bit redundant with that description.


The honey badger wanted to catch a break with a free meal ticket,
now he is going to have to catch these hands for being a thieving freeloader

There are some light elements of puzzle solving, as you’ll encounter areas that won’t be navigable until you up your “wordplay” skills, by physically swapping out words in sentences you come across in order to change the context of the scene. One example was needing to transform a forest into some ruins, so you could safely transport some well needed snacks to a cute kitty friend across the map. Charming.


WARNING: DO NOT STAND TO THE LEFT OF TOPSY

I decided to stop my initial half hour dust up with the title during a pivotal twist, in which the main big baddie had “read ahead” in a book that represented the very adventure you were progressing through thus far, and utilized a magic spell to eject your character out of the book itself, which transformed the visual aesthetic into a 3D terrain representing the real world, of which you will have to navigate to try to return to the book itself to continue the adventure.


When the 4th wall breaks you

Though my time with The Plucky Squire was short, it was a charmed experience through and through. I am not one to gravitate towards such easy breezy titles in terms of difficulty, but there are a handful of games with cuter aesthetic and an easy going nature: see Kirby’s Epic Yarn or Yoshi’s Crafted World that sit well with me. The Plucky Squire is turning out to be one in the same. I didn’t see an option for co-op play, which is a head scratcher to me, as this is the ideal kind of game to play with either your kid or a non-gaming partner for a chill session together, but aside from that unfortunate oversight, I look forward to more of the charm that The Plucky Squire effortlessly exudes in the coming days.

~Pashford

The Existential Monotony of Review Scores

The metaphysical sword of care achieves it’s sharpest edge when tempered with reality.


Or with the souls of your fallen enemies…lots of good options

Unlike some of my cold openings, that one has an appropriate relevancy to my post today in a greater context, as I recently saw a new article discussing the always stylish Suda51’s thoughts on Metacritic, and the unneeded obsession with review scores, which is a tale as old as time, really. In a recent interview with gameindustry.biz, Suda provided a not so hot take in regards to the industry’s unfortunate fondness overall with the idea of Metacritic scores in general:

“Everybody pays too much attention to and cares too much about Metacritic scores. It’s gotten to the point where there’s almost a set formula – if you want to get a high Metacritic score, this is how you make the game. If you’ve got a game that doesn’t fit into that formula, that marketability scope, it loses points on Metacritic. The bigger companies might not want to deal with that kind of thing. That might not be the main reason, but that’s certainly one reason why everyone cares too much about the numbers.“

Suda goes on to finish with-

“Personally, I don’t care too much about the Metacritic numbers. I’m not really conscious of them. What’s important to us is putting the games out that we want to put out and having people playing the games we want them to be able to play.”


SUDA51: Focusing on what really matters

I think anyone within a rational mind set can get behind Suda’s words on this one, as review scores have always represented a constant plague upon the gaming landscape by and large, and are usually only touted by marketers and fanboys as being the end all be all of worth. Of course companies want to be praised by in large through the industry overall but sometimes the methods to their madness go a bit too far, as some have even given bonus incentives to developers who hit a certain average review score rating, which has got to add a certain element of frustrating headaches to the development cycle. The flip side is that a lot of fanboys will rally around one game that represents the industry, or part of it, that they want to prop up, so that game getting reviewed well is really an end all be all for them, and will go to extreme lengths to defend it at all costs, even to the point of attacking dissenting opinions.


The Zelda series being a victim of this fact time and time again

Review scores have been problematic on multiple occasions, even going as far as creating controversies within the industry for people literally just giving their honest opinion of a video game. Jim Sterling gave Breath of the Wild a 7/10, and people lost their minds, so much so that they personally harassed him and temporarily made his work and personal life a living hell , for a positive score non the less. Even more famously, Jeff Gerstmann gave Kane & Lynch a middling review score, reflecting the quality of the game itself, and ultimately being terminated from GameSpot as a result.


Even the developers admitted this game wasn’t that great

There have been others of note even, as I’m remembering how X-play gave a 5/5 to Killzone 2 and accused Adam Sessler of misdoings by both the Sony camp and the Microsoft camp at the same time somehow, IGN’s infamous comments on their reviews for the third gen Pokemon remakes claiming that “too much water” was a big reason the game got a less than stellar score, creating a meme in the process, and Gamespot taking GTA V to task about their treatment of women in a review of the game, creating outrage from fans and asking for the removal of the reviewer (Carolyn Petit) responsible.


Just about no one ends up looking good by the time GTA V is all
said and done, women included, so the reviewer wasn’t wrong in that regard

Video game review scores have probably done more harm than good in the overall grand scheme of things, and ultimately seems to lend itself more to the idea of clicks and controversies more so than to any meaningful discussion about the games as potential art, or a conversation involving the substance of the game industry as a whole, so I most certainly concur with Suda on the matter. Even when I had to review games back in the day, my least favorite part was having to slap an arbitrary number on an entire experience, somehow effectively reducing the entire process into a singular digit manifestation of worth, which always felt lacking on almost every level. Here’s hoping we eventually get to a place with the gaming industry where we won’t have to care about review scores, instead of just choosing to ignore them entirely.

~Pashford

My Kingdom For A Chao

Happy Friday the 13th everyone!


Crack open a cold one using a boy to celebrate

Damn shame the Friday the 13th game went through licensing hell, effectively kneecapping it’s chances at enjoying a regular shelf life. Great asymmetrical multiplayer game cut down before it’s prime. Bloody shame. *I would* suggest playing Dead by Daylight to get your fix in, as it has a similar approach to the Ft13th title in being within the conceptual camp of a survival horror based asymmetrical multiplayer game, but the same litigious disputes have prevented Vorhees from appearing in that game as well, which is nuts, as in Dead by Daylight, you can play as Freddie, Ghost Face, Michael Myers, Chucky, a Xenomorph, Pyramid Head…hell, they just recently added Dracula if I remember correctly.


At least Jason is available in Multiversus I guess?

Go crack some spines in celebration of the day: it’s how his mom would have wanted to remember him. Putting aside the spine tingling delight of a random day of note, I have only a brief moment to spare in discussing video games, but that is how it rolls sometimes. Usually in these moments, I have to utilize a radically reductionist tactic to see what is worth discussing: does it make me giggle or at least horrify me? The answer becomes clear quickly.


Probably why I’ve been writing about Elden Ring so much
recently

To that point, I definitely gave out a slight chuckle when I read that Sonic Team head Takashi Iizuka essentially said a stand alone Chao game spinoff, split apart from a possible Sonice Adventure 3, was not possible (paraphrase). The quote comes from an interview with VGC involving the Sonic boss’ thoughts involving rumors behind a potential spin off, a new Sonic Adventure game, and more.


I very much made the same face as Sonic is making when
confronting the news involving more Chao in my gaming future

The Chao were fan favorites from the Sonic Adventure series, which saw you dive into a massive meta-game involving an almost Pokemon like system involving raising, training, fighting, and competing the Chao against each other, totally aside from the main Sonic experience. You could still gather resources for Chao in the main game, but they felt fundamentally separated in most ways from each other, which begs the questions as to…why one couldn’t just split the two into separate experiences? The Sonic Team boss says it’s just not possible:

“When we talk about Chao Garden specifically, I know everyone’s like ‘I want Chao Garden, I want Chao Garden’,” Iizuka replied (via an interpreter). “But Chao Garden is a piece… it’s part of the whole Sonic Adventure series of games. It’s not a standalone game, it’s integrated into the whole Adventure series gameplay, so we can’t just break it off and make it a thing. And so it’s like, alright, well, if you’re asking for Chao Garden and Adventure 3, then that’s pretty much asking for Adventure 3.“

So the logic he provides just isn’t really there, hence why I giggled when I read it. The whole thing comes off as kind of as nonsensical, as I could think of many ways you could split off the Chao Garden from the Sonic Adventure series itself, turn it into a mobile game, and likely make truckloads of money. But I guess for some reason, in Iizuka’s mind, the “integration” of the two makes it infeasible due to reasons of being packaged together?



It must be just like when you want just the cream in the Oreo,
but not the cookie itself, you know? You just can’t separate the two
entities, because they’re just a sandwiched deal.

It’s a laughable response, and basically just an obtuse way of saying “we don’t care about working on Sonic Adventure 3”, which is understandable on multiple levels. Not only has the studio moved onto bigger and better things, the Sonic Adventure series, outside of the Chao Gardens, has not aged well, and has held up quite poorly to the test of time, with most having mixed reactions to how uneven the games really were. Having said that, Iizuka does go on to say the equivalent of “never say never”:

“At some time, yes, because we hear the same thing. Everybody wants it! I think at some time I’d like to say ‘hey, yeah, we’re making Adventure 3’, but we don’t have plans for that yet. It’s just one of those things that if, if the stars align and it can all happen, then yeah, we’d love to make it.”

C’est la vie, as the Sonic community continues to await with baited breath for the day that never seems to come. Fingers crossed we will all be able to return to the Chao Gardens revitalized and anew one day, and spend time with our favorite little karate chopping, speed racing, demonic little bundles of joy once more.

~Pashford

Get Ready To Be Converted To The Cult Of The Lamb

Sometimes, you just gotta start a cult.


You know, just to lighten up the day

It would be really amazing if that intro truly was a cold open that had nothing to do with the subject matter at hand, as it would be a clear signifier of me having leveled up my game in the matter. While the sentiment isn’t a non-sequitur, the absurdity involved does relate to a delightful little game I was able to sit down and spend a brief moment with, which I figured deserved at least a bite sized write up sacrificed on it’s behalf.


Cults are really a community building affair, after all. Just takes
some blood, sweat, and tears to do so. Can’t spell cults without *us*!

Cult of the Lamb is kind of an interesting hybrid between a Zelda like and a Sim-esque game, in that the main gameplay mechanics kind of oscillate between dungeon crawling and “follower” management, as it were. Through an unfortunate twist of fate, you’re basically tasked by the equivalent of The Devil himself to start a cult, and so begins your quaint adventure.


Just another Wednesday

The dungeon crawling portions see you hopping from one room to another, as if one was playing an old school Zelda title, but with a far more occult flair and a brooding soundtrack as a backdrop to the whole, rampaging romp. The combat is quite simplistic, providing the player with a basic attack button and a roll to help you evade the hordes of demonic enemies you will be faced to slaughter as you progress throughout the hellish landscape. Eventually, you will go up against a big boss type, in which to more challenge yourself with a fight requiring some greater complexity.


I have the same problem playing Doom; finding enough breathing
room amidst the demon stomping to get a good shot, you know?

The Sims-esque gameplay previously mentioned represents more of your down to earth micro- management portions of the title, as you “tend to your flock”, converting followers to do your bidding. Through harvesting materials found on both your adventure and from your new disciples harvesting them for you, you’ll have the ability to create structures that help build up your following. You’ll construct farming apparatuses to feed your hungering brood, altars for the devoted to pray at, and Temples in which you can preach sermons to the masses, which help you generate devotion points and the like, which can help you upgrade your abilities in the field, as well as enhance the cult you wish to see deface the world on your behalf.


Nothing like some late night hijinx to get the blood flowing

It’s a surprisingly feel-good title, inspite of the demonic imagery, but I suppose the ridiculous contrast of homely comfort vs the imposing malevolent facade is part of what makes the whole package really pop in an interesting manner. The gameplay loop is brisk, so the minute to minute action feels thankfully fast paced, and the micro-management portion of the title doesn’t feel too plodding or overbearing, which is where this whole thing could definitely fall apart, but maintained a healthy level of investment time in my brief, but satisfying mosey of a preview.


Always time to fit in a little bit of hell-raising before a sermon

Like most action rpg’s of the sort, one can gain new weapons, abilities, powerups etc to help you on your quest, and you’re also able to customize your little commune as it were, through customizing your followers, where you place structures, how you bend their undying will to your command etc. Really cozy kinds of feels all around.


Just avoid drinking the koolaide at dinner time and you’ll be good

I didn’t get to spend a whole lot of time with the title, but what was put in front me was charmingly enthralling. The whole experience has a wonderful sense of humor about it, and from the get go, manages to pull off that attractive dynamic of both spoopy and inviting, and I’m looking forward to putting more hours into it, to see if Cult of the Lamb can successfully walk the line of being engaging, without being dragged down by it’s own novelties.

I have a feeling it will be a hell of a good time.

~Pashford