NekoJonez’s October 2018 Update

Dear lord, is it already October? This year has been flying by and it was extremely nuts. So, I think it’s time to update you guys and girls on what’s going on in my life and what you can expect for the future of my blog. This is quite a lot to talk about so, here we go. Also, feel free to leave a comment in the comment section down below. 

Personal life stuff

In a previous update, I talked about a few things. Let’s first start with my final project. That’s currently in full swing. Researching and writing this out takes up a lot of my time. For those who don’t know, I’m a college student and I’m doing Computer Science. I have finished all my subjects and now I have my final project to write. I’m taking the networking classes. My final project is upgrading and monitoring a school network. It’s quite a challenge and I’m learning quite a lot.

Because of that, I don’t always have the time to play new games to write about on my blog. In addition to that, I sometimes feel burned out on writing and then writing something for my blog is just a bit too much. So, if I skip a week, I’ll always announce it on my Twitter.

Besides my final project, my theater group started in the new season. Currently, I’m working on some things for our open stage next week. It will be quite a lot of fun and I can’t wait to see it when it all comes together. But that has been eating my free time as well.

On top of that, my family and I are raising two adorable little fluffballs. Since Sparta died in July of 2018, I really missed having a cat around to hold me company. In August of this year, we adopted these two little kittens. They are brother and sister. The left gray one has been named by my sister and this lady is called Dobby. The right brown one has been named by me. I named this man Troy. His name has been chosen as a reference to Sparta. Our bonds are slowly but surely forming. Currently, they have grown enough to learn to explore outside. That’s fun. It really melts my heart when Troy starting to meow when he doesn’t see me for a few minutes when we are outside. They rarely sit still, so I won’t be flooding my Twitter with pictures of them, but I’ll try.

So, it’s quite clear by now that I’m quite busy. I’m still working full time as well. In my last update, I also talked about my bad mental health. Currently, the situation hasn’t improved a lot. But, huge changes are happening. Because of privacy reasons, I won’t be talking about them in public.

Before I start talking about the blog related things, I want to talk about the games I’m playing. Currently, I’m playing a lot of games I have reviewed in the past. Games like The Legend of Zelda – Breath of the Wild, Europa Universalis IV, A Hat in Time amongst a slew of others. I mostly want to wrap up those games so I can cross a few games on my backlog list. But, I’m still playing some other games I want to review or talk about.

Blog stuff

So, something strange is going on with my blog. For some reason, my views are all over the place. While I have days that my blog is doing very good, I have also days that I barely get any visitors over.

That said, if anyone can explain to me why my views are so low, that would be welcome. Any feedback on my work is welcome. Also, if you ever have a suggestion for a review or a topic you want me to talk about, feel free to contact me on my Twitter or contact page.

A project I have currently running on my blog is the Tomb Raider project. Currently, we are extremely close to finishing it. I have to finish two articles, which I might do next week. I’m aiming to release it somewhere this year. I’ll update you guys on the release date on my Twitter.

In almost every update I talk about wanted to update my blog with new categories and updating older articles (Mostly removing typos, fixing broken links and images). For now, I won’t be doing that. I’ll mostly be focusing on the currently running projects. The whole restructuring and updating of my blog will be for 2019.

What else can you expect from me in 2018? Besides the Tomb Raider project, I don’t have any crazy plans. I have a few games I still want to talk about on my blog before the year ends. There are a few Switch, PC, PSP and PS2 games I still want to review.

I do have some plans for 2019. I have a few ideas for collaborations and other projects. But, I’ll only be able to work on them when the new year starts. Simply, because I don’t have the time for them now.

And that’s everything I wanted to talk about for now. This article has been a summary of my tweets in the past few months, so, if you want to know these things hot from the press; you should follow me on Twitter.

Thank you for reading this article and I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I hope to be able to welcome you in another article but until then, have a great rest of your day and take care.

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Gamer’s Thoughts: Super Mario Odyssey isn’t a perfect game.

Official website

I wanted to write a review of this game for quite a while. I have finished this game over a month ago and I haven’t written a first impression or a review about this game. I want to fix that today. But, instead of writing a review I wanted to do something special. While the game got praise from other bloggers left and right, I want to point out some of the flaws and issues I have with the game. Disclaimer, I don’t think this is a bad game but I want to explain my reasoning for why I wouldn’t give this game a 100/100. So, let’s get critical and look at this game again. As per usual, feel free to leave a comment in the comment section down below with your thoughts on the game and/or the game. 

Mini-review

So, what do I actually think about this game? While it’s a very unique and enjoyable game, I found the game quite repetitive.

The music and sound design were amazing but I sometimes had trouble with the controls and more advanced moves.

The visuals are amazing and I loved running around in all the different kingdoms but I found the story lacking and I expected a lot more from the hype and praise it got.

If I would have to give my score for this game it would be an 80/100. Since in my eyes, the game could have done so much more and it left me disappointed in some areas of the game.

This game has a lot to love. Like I said, the visuals, the music, the concept… they are all amazing. The attention to detail is amazing. Cappy is one of the most helpful companions I have seen in a while. Yet, I felt like I enjoyed this game less then the other 3D platformers I played like A Hat In Time. So yeah, personally I felt that there was something lacking. Something that kept me from fully enjoying the game and that thought exercise resulted in this article.

Breath of the Wild did it better

The story has one big issue and that’s the open world and the overkill of moons you can collect. Now, not too long before the release of this game, Nintendo released The Legend Of Zelda – Breath of the Wild. In this game, you were also able to run around freely and gather the things you need to finish the game.

Now, there is a big difference in how the story is handled in the Zelda games and in the Mario games. The big difference is in how the ending is handled. And if you don’t want either of these games spoiled, just start reading when the text is black again. If you don’t mind the spoilers, just highlight the next part in order for you to read it.

So, in each kingdom in Super Mario Odyssey, there is a story quest you can complete to easily get enough moons to advance to the next kingdom. But, this is an open-world game so you can skip this story quest by collecting other moons. Fair enough. You can do the same thing in the Zelda game. You don’t have to defeat the divine beasts in order for you to go to the final boss. 

Now, here is the difference between the two games. If you don’t defeat the Divine Beasts in Breath of the Wild, you will have a harder time before you go and do the battle with Ganon. Since you will need to defeat them before you can fight with Ganon. The more Divine Beasts you beat, the easier you make it for yourself during the final battle. Since they bring down Ganon’s health to half if you have beaten all 4 Divine Beasts. This is not only good story writing, but it’s also an amazing reward for the player. You helped free the souls from their prisons and they came back one last time to help the hero in his quest to defeat evil. 

In Super Mario Odyssey, this doesn’t matter at all. I haven’t finished the story quest in three kingdoms and it doesn’t have any difference in the ending scenes or on the final battle at all. So, why should I bother saving or helping people in a certain kingdom? When I entered a kingdom, I felt like I was dropped in a zone and if I found enough goodies I was allowed to go to the next zone. 

Another thing Breath of the Wild did better then Super Mario Odyssey are the Korok Seeds vs Moons. Now, you get both items as rewards for solving puzzles or doing small challenges in the world.  At some moments I felt like Super Mario Odyssey was the whole Korok Seed quest with a Mario skin. Now, I felt rewarded when I found a Korok Seed. Even when I had beaten the game. It gave me another chance to upgrade my bag so I was able to carry more equipment in the game and experiment more.

Now, besides needing them to continue in the main story, there are no additional rewards for collecting moons. Besides unlocking one more world/level, and maybe two small completion bonus things at the end of the game, I didn’t feel any incentive to collect these moons. I felt like I was on a fetch quest for them just because it’s a video game.

The final thing that Breath of the Wild did better is the towers and map mechanics. Yes, the towers. I loved climbing towers in Breath of the Wild and looking over the whole zone trying to find interesting areas to visit. I felt a lack of that in Super Mario Odyssey. Also, the mechanic where you could pin beams of light on the map as markers for you to visit later… man, that would have been great in Super Mario Odyssey as well.

And it would fit the visual theming of the game extremely well. The map of each kingdom is a travel brochure of the kingdom. And let’s be honest, how many times you wrote on the map of a travel brochure to mark certain areas you still want to visit.

And a final and possibly a minor thing is that Breath of the Wild felt more interconnected. The best way to explain here is, ask yourself this. You can walk over from region to region in Breath of the Wild easily. You need to fly over from kingdom to kingdom in Super Mario Odyssey. And while it’s on a planet, you are able to fall into a void if you reach the edge of a kingdom.

A Hat In Time did it better

Now, I’m certain that people will disagree with me on this but I felt that the controls of A Hat In Time felt better than Super Mario Odyssey.

It’s no secret that I’m not the best in platforming games. So, the running up walls move in A Hat In Time was a godsend to me.

But, the issue is that nowadays, I miss various jumps because I try to rely on that mechanic. It gets better when I kept playing Super Mario Odyssey but I missed that mechanic. Not only that, I got so much used to the dive move in A Hat In Time. I was able to pull off more advanced moves than I ever could in a platforming game. With the 2nd dive/jump, you were able to stop at any time you want. So, if you noticed that you overshoot the jump, you can save yourself easily.

So, at that moment I started comparing the moves I was able to pull off in A Hat In Time to Super Mario Odyssey. And I felt like I was more in control in A Hat In Time. For example, I can’t pull off the Cappy Jump at all in Super Mario Odyssey but I’m able to defeat the hardest jumping challenges in A Hat In Time. I don’t know what’s going on exactly, but I think it has to do with the two things I said above.

Or it might have to do with me being more used to the XBOX360 controller I play A Hat In Time with compared to the first game I had beaten on Nintendo Switch. Maybe when I’m more used to the Switch controller, I might be able to do these more difficult moves.

Other things

Now, remember, I still enjoyed myself with Super Mario Odyssey and it’s still a great game. But, I have seen other games do certain aspects better. Besides that, are there other things I don’t like about Super Mario Odyssey?

The motion controls were also a big issue for me. I played a lot of this game on the go. On the train from and to work. And I think that I’m unable to get a few moons easily without those motion control moves. But, that’s mentioned in almost every review I have seen. And as pointed out by some, why weren’t they able to remap those moves to certain buttons that went barely used in the game like ZL/ZR?

Besides that, I think I have said my main issues with the game. I could go on and extremely nitpick, but that would make this article boring to read. Like I felt each world should have its own Rabbit mini-boss and not repeat them over several worlds with barely any differences…

In the end and I have mentioned this multiple times, I think that this game is wonderful, one of the best games Nintendo has put out in 2017. While it isn’t their best game from 2017, it’s in the top 5. While I feel that this game deserves a lot of praise, it could have done things a lot better and I hope I was able to point that out in this article.

Thank you for reading this article and I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I hope to be able to welcome you in the next article but until then, take care and have a great rest of your day.

Gamer’s Thoughts/Rant: “So, you play game X?”

“Oh, you still play games? Grow up, man! Games are for young children or for people who have no life.” Have you ever said something like this or have you ever been on the receiving end of a question like this? There are a lot of statements that I get annoyed by in the gaming community and today I want to talk about some. Please, keep in mind that these are my opinions and that I’m not you. So, I invite you to tell me your opinions in the comments and/or give me suggestions for other questions to do another article like this. 

Before I begin

Now, in some cases, I’m going to talk in very general terms. And let me be clear on one thing. I’m not going to deny that there are edge cases for everything. Things like game addiction and compulsion do exist and are very real problems.

If games stop being a leisure activity and everything else needs to make way or room for a game, please seek help right away.

In addition to that, parents and friends, if you find any negative change in the behavior of your child, friend or loved one; please help him or her.

Also, in most of my arguments, I talk about the people who can still separate fact from fiction and/or aren’t struggling with game addiction.

“Games are just for little children or are for losers.”

I love turning the tables on arguments like this. I love to ask them if they enjoy watching sports. Technically, sport is also a game. If you follow the definition of what a game is, like the one by Kevin J. Maroney, where games are a form of play with goals and a structure. Well, then you can fit all sports in that definition.

So, if games are for kids, then explain to me why board games have age stamps like “for ages 3 AND UP”. And in addition to that, if games are for little children, why are games like Civilization and other strategy games so popular?

The “games are just for little kids” argument is so easily debunked if you simply watch to our community and how much money it brings in. So, please, if you are still convinced that games are for little kids, please explain to me why games aren’t for older people.

“But older gamers are people who don’t grow up or can’t let go of the past.”. Oh, please! If you give that argument, you have already lost the debate. I can give many arguments to point out the flaw in that statement. For example, there are a lot of extremely complex games on the market like Civilisation and Europa Universalis 4 who tend to be pretty complex to younger children. And if games would be created for younger children, why would they put effort into developing a game like that?

In addition to that, “can’t let go of the past.” Man, I hate that argument with a passion. So what, that I’m nostalgic? Why is that even an issue? I have grown up playing video games and I love playing games since it brings me back to my childhood or gives me new and interesting experiences.

Making the statement that games or for certain demographics of people. Please, don’t be so close-minded. It’s like saying that football (soccer) is only for men and ballet only for women. If you find enjoyment out of a certain hobby or profession, why would it matter which gender, age, nationality…. you are?

Making the statement: “Games are just for little children or are for losers.” just proves that you are ignorant and that you are pretty close-minded. So please, be a decent human being and don’t say things like this when you mean it.

People who play games sit all day in their room and do nothing else than stare at a screen.

And to be honest, so what? Is it a problem that we sometimes do nothing else than stare at a screen all day and play games all day? I’m sorry that I engage in an activity I enjoy in my free time.

But did you notice the keyword in the previous paragraph? “Sometimes.” While I’m not going to deny that there are people who devote their whole life to video games and do nothing else, the same can be said about people addicted to something else, like movies and books.

Take me for example. I see myself as a pretty big gamer. I play a lot of games in a week. But besides that, I fix people their computer, I work full time in the education sector, I’m part of a folk theater group… I can go on for quite a while, but I think you get the point.

To counteract this statement, I love to bring up the argument of mobile phone games. There is an extremely huge player base for those games and those are also being played by people who don’t really play games but have some time to kill on the bus, train or while waiting on the doctor.

But the best debunk for this is the issue of generalization. It’s like saying that every metal lover is an aggressive person and similar things like that. Nothing everybody is the same, and thankfully so.

Aggressive/the violence in games make your youth more aggressive and/or train them to be killers.

I’m going to keep this brief since this statement really boils my blood. But, I wanted to talk about this one for sure.

First, violent movies, violent books and such… why are they left out of the argument? Because they aren’t interactive? Or is it because games are the new kid on the block and haven’t got the respect that movies and books have?

Two, if a game is very violent or aggressive; shouldn’t you be the responsible parent and talk to your kids why they aren’t okay to play at their current age? Or at the “M for mature” or “18+” label just part of the artwork on the front cover? Why would Steam age-gate these games?

Three, while I’m not going to deny that there are people who are sensitive to violence and get introduced to these things by games, the same can be said for movies and other violence in media too. Thankfully, not everybody is like that and those people are a minority.

Four, isn’t it possible that the youth has another stress reliever? That they can vent all their frustration from their daily lives without harming a fly.

And my final point, there has been done quite a lot of research on this subject. And the results are quite divided. An interesting overview can be found in this amazing piece by TechAddiction: http://www.techaddiction.ca/effects_of_violent_video_games.html

“Nintendo games are for kids” / “PC is the master race and should be the only way to play” / …

If you say things like that to me, you will hear a heavy sigh. Let me first start with “Nintendo games are for kids.”.

First of all, family-friendly doesn’t mean “for kids”. A lot of Nintendo IPs are family-friendly and they might have a childish outlook, but they are far from that.

Secondly, if Nintendo games are childish, why do so many adults play games like Pokémon GO? They grew up on it and makes them nostalgic. Okay, sure. But, aren’t you generalizing here too much?

Thirdly, just this Reddit thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/nintendo/comments/1kge42/why_do_people_think_nintendo_games_are_childish/

On that page, there are so many arguments why Nintendo games might seem childish but actually aren’t.

The other argument of “PC is the master race and should be the only way to play.” is such an easy one to debunk. Dear console gamers, do you actually realize what the definition is of a computer?

A computer is a device that can be instructed to carry out arbitrary sequences of arithmetic or logical operations automatically. The ability of computers to follow generalized sets of operations, called programs, enables them to perform an extremely wide range of tasks.

Thank you, Wikipedia for that definition. The difference between your console and computer is the input device. That’s all. So, you are basically playing on a computer with a different shell and operating system. So, technically, computer gaming is the only thing that exists.

Oh oh, wait, I hear the PC elitist gamers already: “You can replace hardware in a console!” Oh yeah? You are sure about that? So, the manufacturer isn’t able to replace any broken parts when something breaks? Or the guides on iFixIt like this one: https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/PlayStation+4+Optical+Drive+Replacement/24720. That is just a hoax?

Oh, and the other argument: “You can’t upgrade a console, so you are restricting the customer!” So. What. Some people don’t have the technical knowledge to do so anyway. Why stop them from buying a pre-built computer that can play games without having to maintain a lot of parts?

“You can build a very strong gaming computer for real cheap if you do the research.” If you do the research. You can also learn a new language if you do the research. You can do everything if you do a little research. If you are actually able to do it, it depends on your skills. I almost have a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science – Networking. And let me tell you, there are people who don’t have the time to do the research nor the technical skills to actually put the research to use. For example, I’m not that good at writing code, I tried various times to educate myself on it but alas. If you don’t get the right guidance, this research can be a big issue.

“But there are many more games for the PC than for console.” And that’s a problem with PC gaming as well. Yes, I call it a positive and a problem. There are too many games and barely any quality control. It’s also a problem for game developers. Just try to get noticed in the vast sea of computer games.

“There are many more options and features like mods for the computer.” Okay, I give you that. But, it’s a problem as well. For example, as a developer, try to optimize a game for literally millions of different combinations of hardware. It’s an extremely difficult task.

Conclusion here: don’t be elitist about a certain gaming platform. I love playing games on as many different platforms. I also love portable consoles like the 3DS and the Nintendo Switch since they have something over computers. I’m on the go a lot and gaming laptops are either extremely expensive or too bulky to play on the train and such.

There is nothing wrong with saying that PC or console is better, but I do have a problem when people belittle others because their preferred platform of games is “better”. Just no. Let people play games the way they like. If it sells, people want it. If there is a better alternative, the market and consumer will find out.

Oh, and a shoutout to BulletBarry. While I don’t always agree with him, his Console Peasant Quote videos are just really well made.

In conclusion

I can ramble about things like this for hours. While sometimes, I wasn’t telling anything new, I do think that it’s important to educate yourself and have respect for everybody. Don’t belittle because somebody has a certain hobby! Also, don’t believe everything verbatim what the news tells you. Read up about it.

If you think all gamers are male, please talk with them. You will be pleasantly surprised that there are female gamers out there. If you think all metalheads have a beard and/are bald, please talk to metalheads. Don’t be close-minded either. Not everybody is the same, you know.

While you could say I’m biased towards games since I’m a pretty big gamer. I honestly think that isn’t a problem in this case. I think it’s good for us gamers that we can give our opinion on the subject you know?

In any case, I’m quite interested in the comments for this article. Remember, I’m the kind of person who is open to civil discussion and I’m always very understanding that not everybody thinks the same way. So, please, if you have something to say or ask, the comments are here.

Thank you for reading this article and I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I hope to be able to welcome you in another article on my blog but until that time, take care and have a great rest of your day.

Rant #003: Tutorials ~ The games that hold your hand.

It’s extremely lovely how games now explain the things in game. Sadly enough you don’t have to look at the manual anymore. For that manuals start to disappear. As a game collector, this makes me sad. But there is one thing that makes me sad too. That’s how games now a days have tutorials. Even if the battle system is extremely simple, the developers feel like explaining the game mechanics to you. Is this needed? Each time you play the game? Well, I don’t think so. Game tutorials are overrated, big time. I’m not against them, but they are certainty overstaying their welcome now.

Want to play the game, here I will help you.

I was talking with a friend of mine over Skype earlier and I said that I was giving Call Of Duty a shot. (ha, bad pun.) And he said that past CoD 5 it isn’t worth a play, since the game actually “holds your hand”.

What I mean with this is that you barely have any challenge in trying. The button you need to press flashes on the screen way on beforehand and finishing the game is just as easy as pressing the button.

Don’t confuse these with quick time events. I actually kinda like quick time events, as long as they aren’t overdone in a game. Tomb Raider has the action broken up with quick time events.

A game that’s good with it’s tutorial is Devil May Cry 4. The first part is you having a tutorial of the basics, to refresh and check if your controls are properly set, and after that it’s up to you to play the game. When you get a new ability, the instructions flash on screen once and then it’s up to you to remember them.

That’s the big problem with games that flash the buttons on screen. Back in the day, I knew where the A and B buttons where on the gameboy. But now I don’t know where the buttons are located on my PSP, since the button is flashed on the screen and I quickly peek over or just memorize it for that game. That may be a personal nitpick but tutorials can be annoying as getting the trash out and the bag rips. The first time you might go through with it but the second time you want to say some curse words.

Where is the skip button?

I can understand tutorials to make the games accessible for everybody. But when a battle system is self-explanatory then why for the love of God do we need a tutorial. I’m looking at you Pokémon for example. Is it really needed to say that you can select attacks under “attack” and that your items are under “bag”? Well no, let me try to defeat my opponents Pokémon by trying to run away and let’s try to throw a Pokéball to a wild Pokémon with a Sand Attack.

One game managed to nearly boil my blood. The start of Devil May Cry 4 is a fixed tutorial. And when you don’t do the move or the action required, forget it, you won’t pass to the rest of the game. Lovely.

A game that got it right is Overlord for example. In this game, right after the opening, you get the basics explained but for the basic combat and such, you can take a route. But if you want to skip it, you can go right to the Throne Room. This is how I want my games to be! With a skip-able tutorial.  I don’t want to be reminded each time I restart the game how to play the game.

A game that is a perfect example of how to do it, but make it extremely annoying is The Legend Of Zelda – Ocarina Of Time.

In this game, you have a fairy following you, acting as your tutorial in how to use weapons and your items. But the sound effect to remind you that she has something to say is “HEY LISTEN.” and you hear this phrase a least a million time in the game. It gets on people’s nerves extremely quickly. Luckily they fixed this in the sequel Majora’s Mask where the sound effect is just a tingle.

A game that has no tutorial is Minecraft. This game drops you in a random generated world and without prior knowledge, this game is pretty confusing. And this is the big fun of Minecraft. You get to learn the game by playing it and you feel rewarded if you kill that first Zombie or craft your first bow. Most recipes aren’t far fetched anyways.

Some games have in game menu’s where you can review certain combo’s or actions. I remember some games, and I’m sorry that I can’t bring an example at this moment… I think it might be Age of Mythology for the DS, have a separate tutorial button that you can take outside of the game. That’s also a great option.

I feel retard. 

Yes, I feel sometimes as a retard in a game. The game gets more like an interactive movie where you need to punch in the right button on the right time. There is no real skill involved anymore.

It’s like that coach at the side of a soccer game shouting at their players each and every move they need to do.

In complicated games, no issue, more power to you. But like I said, in a game like Kirby or Pokémon where the things are obvious how they work, it’s not needed. Just scrap that part and use the space for something decent like more levels.

Nintendo isn’t the only wrong do’er in this. I feel like tutorials now-a-days make a game way to easy. They flash the button you need to press or they can’t be skipped. What’s wrong with the challenge in a game. I once heard on a podcast that a developer needed to scrap a puzzle inside a game because there weren’t enough hints and you needed to use your common sense.

Oh, that’s another thing. Gamers don’t use a lot of common sense because of these tutorials. I wouldn’t be surprised if some gamer shouted at their game because “it wasn’t in the tutorial.”. Pathetic.

In conclusion, I think tutorials are welcome to aid the player get introduced in a game. But it’s annoying when you can’t skip it or when it explains extremely easy stuff that makes me go: “No shit sherlock.”.