Guerilla935

This blog is dedicated to opinion piece articles written by myself about things that I am knoweledgable of and have a passion for. I am not affiliated with any media groups and all of my opinions are my own. If any game or material has been provided to me by its creator I intend to fully disclose that information along with any relevant articles. I'll keep any articles that I write announced on my twitter as well: @Guerilla935

[guerilla935]

New Blog For a New Year

For the past year I have been grappling with an issue where I cannot seperate this secondary blog from a primary blog and I very much wish to emphasize this account over others. I thought about opening a web domain and writing there however I still only do this as a hobby and cannot justify the cost of renting a web host. I also thought about moving my content to Medium (which I still might) however anyone who has tried that knows you have to pass their trial period that I just simply have not done yet. With all these I decided just to open a new blog that will become a primary blog on Tumblr and eventually expand to Medium and possibly a website if I meet like-minded writers. I thank all the people who have shown interest in my articles and even more thanks to those of you that actually decided to follow my work. Unfortunately I have decided not to bring any of my work to my new blog but I feel really good about the things that I learned in the 120 posts that I made on this blog. If anyone would like to follow me past this point my new Tumblr is here: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/nathan-kelly-935 Thank you again for taking interest in something that I do as a hobby.

[guerilla935]

32. Diablo III

Diablo 3 is an ARPG developed by Blizzard in 2012 which has received regular updates and one-ish expansion pack since launch.This game is about getting loot, and lots of it. The main premise is that you are some explorer that travels to Tristram to find the fallen star and are instead introduced to pivotal characters that lead you to hell and back. The story is sidestepped for gameplay in this game so it isn’t all that important however the CGI movies that play between every chapter are absolutely stunning. The main draw of the game is to do larger and larger numbers and get gear to allow you to do that. The game suffers from the “higher difficulty means jack up the enemies health bars” problem which is more prevalent in post game and beyond. This game remains infinitely re-playable in my opinion with only a few parts in the middle that are a big drag to get through. Diablo 3 is a grind and all about getting gear, however its addicting combat and fun aesthetic make this game still one of the best ARPG games this generation.

[guerilla935]

33. Ratchet & Clank

Ratchet & Clank is Insomniac Games 3D Mascot Platformer developed in 2002 for the PlayStation 2. The game starred a duo of a Lombax (an alien fox?) and a small robot. The plot saw them in their journey to find galactic hero Captain Quark and stop the corporate overlord Chairman Drek in his conquest to profit off the continued destruction of planets. The games main appeal at the time was that it was part of a wave of AAA video games that were the medium equivalent to animated films. Insomniacs unique spin on this was weapon design, every gun had a different application and a quirky set of abilities. From an open tesla coil to dispatching explosive robots the combat was practically limitless in variety. This only upstaged by incredible art variety, a killer soundtrack, and level design making every environment new and exciting. Even with a great big handful of sequels and remakes in my opinion Ratchet & Clank 2002 is the definitive way to experience this game.

[guerilla935]

Review: Alien (1979)

Alien is a science fiction horror film directed by Ridley Scott and written by Dan O’Bannon. The movie stars Sigourney Weaver as Ripley, a crew member of the Nostromo, a commercial  space freighter carrying its haul back from a mining operation in another system. Her and her crew are safely making their way home when they are awakened from their cryo-sleep to investigate an alien signal. The crew is ordered to investigate or be denied payment for the entire trip so they detour to the desolate world. Upon reaching their destination they discover a terrifying life form and accidentally harbor it on their vessel. The consequences of that decision make up the majority of Ridley Scott’s masterpiece, Alien.

Alien is a film that develops a classic science fiction trope and matches it with an art direction and story concept that is both fantastical and terrifying. Really the concept is simple, in the age of space travel we find a species of alien that is definitely not nice. And the idea of some kind of “hive” or “insect-like” swarm of alien creatures has been a staple of science fiction for longer than I have been alive. The spin is that these these aliens are not just “not nice” they are hunters and their practices of survival involve doing especially messed up things to a host and behaving like a parasite. I think it is a shame that in my generation you have most likely heard of alien and pretty much know exactly what the alien is and the whole stomach thing and the face thing and the two mouths. Watching this for the first time I knew exactly what I was getting into however if it were 1979 and I were watching this film with no clue what was going to happen I probably would have been absolutely stunned and excited about the twists the movie takes to reveal exactly how the alien works.

A large part of what makes this movie a classic is the incredible art design and vision of H.R. Giger. His imaginings combined with the direction of Ridley Scott are absolutely stunning, when I wasn’t caught in endless suspense I was blown away by the set pieces and the mood that is set with both the lighting and sound. The set and the mood framed in every shot is 75% of the horror in Alien. If you are really into movies renowned for capturing every shot and artistically crafting every camera angle than this is an absolute must watch, even if horror is not your thing or science fiction you are going to find a movie that is carefully designed to keep you engaged for every second of its 117 minute runtime. The camera work paired with the haunting visuals that Giger has drafted send you to a not so typical science fiction world that feels more ancient and alive.

The actual alien is where the age starts to show for me. The alien has its own alien head technician, notice how I just referred to the head. When the body is slightly discovered on camera you can see the dude in the black body suit and it’s a bit hilarious, for all but some final moments however this is masterfully hidden out of view and lets the audience focus on the nasty two sets of jowls all up in there. I wish that this was amended with possibly a puppet but it is such a small slight that it doesn’t spoil the intensity of the film. During this I also want to give props to the miniature work because for the time I know for sure that it wasn’t CGI however the shots of the space ship from the outside are in my opinion take A New Hope (which was done 2 years prior) and perfect the use of miniatures to shoot the space scenes. Although that alien head technician does a fantastic job of creating an absolutely gruesome alien head and whenever it is on screen the tension shoots through the roof.

Next up is the sound (and I was doing a bit of binge watching so I had “Aliens” to compare this to) and I found that the lack of sound was unsettling. Any decent musician will tell you that you play your rests and transversely any great filmmaker will tell you that you can’t be afraid to sit in silence for a few seconds and this movie lets you sit in a lot of silenced moments. These are not even in the terrifying moments but rather in the moments when you are sure that every character is safe. And this only makes clear the underlying drama of the film that is screaming “our hero cannot trust these other characters to keep it together and do what it takes to survive” which just adds more stress to the moments when you are pretty sure nobody will die. The other moments are filled with, you know, the stress that someone is going to die. In these moments you are met only with this heartbeat noise that escalates my own heartbeat. (This so much so that when I was watching “Aliens” and that heartbeat wasn’t happening it was as if the scene was missing something, but that’s another review) Now it might have a soundtrack but if you were to ask me after the fact I would tell you that this movie has edited in only the heartbeat noise. There is also a scene early in the film where gas is spraying over the characters voices and it’s obvious that it was dubbed but it’s very out of mind by the time the credits roll that I don’t hold the movie back for that.

The performance of the cast is something that definitely needs to be addressed. Sigourney Weaver is incredible in her role and I am really just going to leave it at that because her performance in a horror lead role is possibly one of the best that I’ve seen (of course in my opinion and scope) and every scene that she is in has considerably more life and emotion than the others. Not to say that the rest of the cast has done a poor job. All 6 other members of the Nostromo crew have moments where they are allowed to shine just as bright as the lead. However the death scenes, typically the death scenes in horror movies kind of highlight a monster or supernatural thing, however every single death scene in Alien spotlights the performance of the performer. I think that in my eyes I value these scenes much more than I would have if it had been the opposite because of this, every death is done to highlight atmosphere and performance despite them not having the luxury of modern effects. And also just to make a comment on the underwear scene, they didn’t have to, but they did, sure, it doesn’t really sway my overall opinion of the movie.

I have come to turns that at this point horror movies are one of my things. As a side note I used to hate them however in retrospect I’ve seen so many that I can’t really lie to myself and say that I don’t love them. Alien is one of the greatest movies in the horror genre that I’ve seen. This for the reason that I was actually scared and in constant suspense throughout the entire film and that it has held up for 41 years. Alien is a film that will continue to set the bar for horror films and be a reference for great cinematography and set design well into the future. If you haven’t seen Alien you need to stop reading this and go watch it. And if you’re too scared, good, you’ve already set the mood.

[guerilla935]

34. Katana Zero

Katana Zero is a 2D action game by Askiisoft. The game has you play as a katana wielding assassin in the cyber punk future with the power to see the events of a few moments into the future before they happen. The game plays a lot like Hotline Miami and relies on fast respawns to keep you engaged in a level. The game is short, takes maybe a good afternoon to finish, however the game sticks with you by blasting an incredible techno soundtrack and making your brain process fights at 3x the speed that you want it to. Katana Zero is a short but sweet adrenaline rush with a killer soundtrack and a cliffhanger ending that makes you beg for more and it is well worth the price tag.

[guerilla935]

35. Forza Horizon 4

Forza Horizon 4 is the open world racing game which is sisters with the mainline Forza Motorsport series. Horizon 4 was developed by Turn 10 Studios and Playground Games for the Xbox One in 2018. The game is a lot less serious than Motorsport and while still giving you the option to make the cars very realistic you are by default presented with an experience that is much more akin with an arcade racer using a small amount of turn assist, a guide arrow, and a much easier drift system. The game puts a larger emphasis on collecting the cars and using your amassed fortune to upgrade them and tune them up either manually (if you are even just a grease monkey at heart you will find a lot to love here) or you can search for a tune up that other players have created to make your car as competitive as possible. As someone that has never been into racing games I found that this game was very accessible and aims at being just fun with the aim being to provide players the most options to create their ideal racing game and cultivate a love for racing which is what I admire about this game. There is countless hours of content here and I couldn’t recommend this game more even if you never thought you’d want to race I can guarantee that you will after a few hours with this title.

[guerilla935]

Review: Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (PS4 Version)

The newest entry in the annual Call of Duty franchise came out November 13th, 2020 under the subtitle “Black Ops Cold War”. A successor to 2010′s Call of Duty: Black Ops this game is developed still by Raven Soft and Treyarch with the hope to reignite what made fans crazy over the original by making the game a direct sequel in terms of its campaign and zombies modes. The games campaign is another page out of American conspiracy theory aimed mainly at worst case scenarios from the Red Scare. The zombies mode sees you revisit the fan favorite compact zombies map Nacht Der Untoten and the surrounding areas along with a ton of new optional objectives and easter eggs to achieve. This game also features a full multiplayer mode along with the Warzone battle-royal mode from the previous years Modern Warfare.

Let’s start with the zombies mode. The zombies mode is the same as previous except with a few new bells and whistles attached. the biggest of these is the Exfil system that lets you extract and end the game on your own terms for the promise of extra rewards. You have to survive in the pond area and defeat a certain number of zombies within the time limit to extract. This is a cool features that incentivizes players to play a game of zombies without having to block off an entire afternoon. Something else that is added is weapon varieties that have rarities like they do in Warzone, this wasn’t super ideal to me at first but as I familiarized myself with the upgrade system the addition of armor and weapons from Warzone fit right in and added another layer to getting stronger rather than just pack-a-punching. I’ve read up on the Easter Egg and briefly started it and achieved about half of it and it seems like it would be really cool to the fans that are into zombies for the lore however it doesn’t present a huge challenge and looks fairly accessible to most players. Overall, the zombies experience is something that I will continue to play however I am much more excited to see how the future maps take the round based survival mode to the next level.

Ok, now for multiplayer. The multiplayer mode features a host of good game modes including the ones that get played the most from past games. I’m personally upset that realism from Modern Warfare got axed but that’s just the way the cookie crumbles I guess. The new main attraction is the Fireteam Dirty Bomb which is a more casual version of the battle royal experience that allows its players to group up in teams of 4 and load a bomb full of uranium and set it off and the team that sets off the most bombs wins. This game is just a faster paced Warzone, so if you liked Warzone you’ll like this and if you didn’t really like Warzone then you probably won’t like this either, however right now this is the only mode that includes vehicles besides Warzone so if that’s your thing then there it is. The rest plays exactly how you’d expect, not all the maps are all that great featuring a lot of locales that expose players and the large nature of the environments means that you are going to have to study a lot to make the terrain even the least bit profitable. The create a class is really well done this time around boasting the incredibly deep attachment system from Modern Warfare and the equally as well done gun play. If you are a first time player you may not be blown away however if you are a long time player of Call of Duty then this is just another set of maps with different guns which in itself is novelty enough to keep you playing.

The campaign is actually my favorite part of this game, as something that I was expecting to skip I played it and after I was blown away. The level variation and writing go hand in hand with exciting visuals and fun locales to make the story engaging from beginning to end. The most impressive part to me was that the game play was so much more than just rooms of enemies for you to kill, there is espionage, stealth, meaningful decisions, and lots of intel gathering. The intel you gather has to be put together to solve puzzles that determine the outcome of side missions and most of the puzzles are easier to complete with a pen and paper which was really surprising. Some of my favorite missions involve deciding how you are going to get a key in the KGB without being found out to be a mole, returning to a snowy satellite structure and using stealth to take out enemies within, and sneaking through Berlin making decisions on who you can trust. But I was generally excited for every mission and every mission was worth being excited for. Although it’s important to note that this is history altering conspiracy theory stuff so the fact that the writer has decided to continue to rabbit hole the plot into blaming Soviet Russia for orchestrating (in increasing depth) so many events of the Cold War may turn you off (or very much on) if you read too much into it. However if you can put your politics aside this is a crazy good 6-8 hour thrill ride that delivers both action and espionage along with a little drama. And without spoiling too much there is a main plot twist toward the end that is pretty crazy however the option to have multiple endings really wasn’t necessary in my opinion and kind of cheapens some of the final explosive moments.

All in all this is a decent Call of Duty that does a great job choreographing great stories while balancing the pressures of becoming a AAA esport. I think that zombies will be much better after receiving more maps and I think that there is no saving multiplayer without adding more of everything to set it apart from its previous installments. But if you can excuse the lack of unique content in the multiplayer then you’ll be rewarded with what should be considered the most definitive version of Black Ops that Treyarch has ever produced.

[guerilla935]

Review: Moxxi’s Heist of the Handsome Jackpot

Moxxi’s Heist of the Handsome Jackpot is the first story based DLC for Borderlands 3 that released in December of 2019. The story has you helping Moxxi take control of Handsome Jacks Casino which is up for grabs after the events of Borderlands 2. This DLC has its biggest draw being the return of fan favorite villain Handsome Jack in the form of his Pre-Sequel doppelganger Timothy. You are tasked with a loosely heist movie based tasks that have you do basically the same thing you always do in Borderlands, go places and kill things.

So my biggest problem with this DLC were how many annoying bugs I ran into. Almost all of them involved mob spawns not working or quest objectives not clearing when the mobs were cleared. At some points this would halt my progress until I went to Sanctuary and back to reload the area. Not a huge inconvenience after I figured it out but the first time it happened I had no idea how to fix it so I just stopped playing it for the week. The other bug made Freddy’s first voice line play through the radio whenever I loaded into any area on the casino. Which wasn’t game breaking but actually more annoying than Claptrap later on. I wish that this wasn’t my biggest take-away from the DLC but this specific area is broken, its playable but requires you to kind of push through a lot of these bugs to do so.

So the game tells the hard truth about gambling which I really appreciate. Full disclosure, I live in Nevada in the US and I’m only a walk away from huge casinos where I live and only a days drive away from Vegas. When you are in Jack’s casino you get the same feeling of money not mattering as you do in a real casino. On the floor all the prices have been jacked up and if you want to open some chests or enter some rooms you have to fork over millions of dollars. You feel scammed but that’s the reality of gambling. I also appreciate what the writers have done taking you to an impound lot and the trash dump but these side areas are largely visually unpleasant compared to the main floor or the vice district. These areas aren’t bad, they are actually some of the better areas, however traveling within them is such a chore only relieved by a few really good jokes. Note also that the bosses in this DLC are no where close to the bosses in the main game. There are a few gag fights that put up a challenge but they lack the better mechanics of the bosses in the base game.

Possibly the best part of the experience is the characters. All the acting is really well done and remains authentic to the Borderlands lore in a lot deeper way than you might imagine. Moxxi has the role of the “boss” and portrays this really well and you can see her ruthless businesswoman personality shine really bright here. Timothy is tastefully done to show how the series has grown through their old tyrant. The new characters are all very well done, Freddy finds new ways to not be annoying, Ember is a reminder that pyromaniacs will never not be funny, and Digby Vermouth is a hilarious portrayal of the jazz guy stereotype. One thing that I wish was more prevalent in the game was the heist part. It gives off a lot of subtle heist vibes but never realizes this. It actually starts to go into a heist montage and then just stops which was weird.

The only thing ironic about the casino is that Jack says “you’ll never want to leave” when of course everyone is trying to escape the casino, including me. Despite its interesting story, the DLC pays too much attention to its drab environments and uninteresting enemy variation. You could actually take a corrosive weapon and melt (literally) every enemy in the expansion without breaking a sweat. This DLC is a little long winded however for fans it is exactly what you want, more Borderlands. If you are entering Borderlands looking forward to this experience I’d say to temper your expectations however for the sake of completing the game it is worth your trip through the Handsome Jackpot to experience good voice acting and lots of looting and shooting.

[guerilla935]

Review: Hades

Hades is a rogue-like action role-playing game that Supergiant released in early access back in 2018 but fully released on PC, Mac, and Nintendo Switch in 2020. Hades is an isometric tale about Prince Zagreus, the son of Hades. Without spoiling too much, the game has you attempt to escape the underworld after Zagreus discovers a sliver of hope for his immediate family. And with the help of his extended family on Olympus and his foster family in the underworld, he takes his leave of the land of the dead. The game features four unique areas filled with new ways to kill you on each floor and enough randomization to make you keep climbing through Tartarus even after you 50th time down the River Styx.

This game is a great reinvention on the rogue-like genre with a higher emphasis on story rewards and smart ways of letting you feel the boons of permanent and fleeting progression. In each run you are given slightly more story, whether that be inside the main story or even more frequently between Zagreus and the other denizens of the underworld. Some of the more potent moments is going back every time to a boss you are struggling with and starting the battle with them goading you with some line like “so you didn’t learn from the last time I killed you” and then emerging victorious finally and hearing Zagreus say “That was for last time.” The way that these boss encounters interact with you and are able to respond to your progress up to the surface is one of the coolest interactions in all of gaming to me because knowing that until you go kick their ass they are up there laughing at you until you make your way through them makes me want that rematch so much more. Some other longer story encounters involve slowly reminding shades of their abandoned partners and working to reunite them, realizing the gods true nature when it comes to family, and finding out just how much influence the underworld and Olympus have on each other. There is also the recycling of the good old video game friendship system where you give someone enough presents and they will like you more and give you more things. It works great in this game and rewards the player with new passive power and even companions to help you fight along with unique dialogue with your best underworld friends and most worshiped Olympians.

This game is absolute magic on your ears. First of all the soundtrack. A beautifully composed rock medley of screaming guitars and singing lyres that add to the action and every emotional and tense moment. The soundtrack was composed by in house musician Darren Korb who also composed the tracks for Supergiants other games. The music invokes the Greek setting while also adding modern riffs that make for absolutely excellent listening. The voice acting is the next level of the sound in Hades. Every single line in this game is voice acted and it is done very well. From every time that Thanatos, Megaera, or Nyx talk in that strained whisper to Zagreus’s pompous but calm mannerisms to King Theseus’s loud boisterous attitude and to Hades booming voice you are going to find nothing here but authentic voice acting that gives every 2D sprite much more life than most 3D video game characters with full animations. And pleasantly enough every soundtrack is tailor made to make you hear every Zeus lightning crack and every Poseidon wave in combat to ensure you’re making the most of the god’s gifts.

The combat itself feels good, the game does a good job for an isometric game at allowing you to aim an attack whilst aiming your movement or next dash in a way that feels fast and accurate. I still do however find myself dashing straight into traps and lava inside the flurry of dash strikes that dominate the combat of Hades. Whether this is me not focusing enough on where I’m going or whether the game has a small locomotion issue is still a mystery to me so I won’t knock it for that just yet but it is an annoyance even 50 runs in. The Boons system is surprisingly very balanced. In these types of games you see the word “build” thrown around and you see players prioritizing certain loot because it works much better on a specific play style. In Hades I’ve never felt like I could make a wrong choice, as long as I choose boons with a relatively high rarity you are going to be stronger. Whether I choose an attack from Lord Poseidon that sweeps my enemies in tidal waves or a boon from Dionysus that makes all my foes hungover is just for your amusement which is a really awesome approach to a game built on randomization. And there are many many different boon combinations that allow you to mix and match and basically never run out of new builds to try. And they will play with you, fighting over your favor by offering tag team abilities and sometimes even fighting you for their favor. The only thing that bugs me about this system is the Daedalus boons which are so diverse that I wish that you could equip them in the beginning of a run like keepsakes rather that find them along the way because they change a weapons play style that much during runs.

One thing that I really love about Hades is its risk and reward systems. One of the most prominent pieces of evidence of this is Chaos boons. Chaos will reward you occasionally with boons that make you a walking target for a few rooms and then make you significantly stronger. These challenges are engaging and make runs a lot more interesting as well as rewarding. Another type are these chests that contain Hades stuff. Opening these will net you huge rewards however you have to defeat a wave of enemies fast and not always is it a good idea to throw yourself into more danger when you are already trying to get to the end as unscathed as possible. Some other things that are welcome additions is a God Mode that makes the game easier by raising your resistance to enemies that have killed you before. Also the Pact of Punishment that makes the game even harder, but not just “harder”, rather a tailor made difficulty that lets you decide exactly how hard the game is going to be. And some of these are definitely worth doing for fun, such as a Pact that drastically upgrades every boss in the game and a Pact that limits your choices and forces you to adapt to what you are given.

Hades is a masterpiece that perfectly blends an addicting story with addicting game play. The game uses its likeable main protagonist to introduce you into a world of lore that has been around for hundreds of years and entertains anyone interested about the Greek Gods. The combination of 6 weapon types and 9 gods each with dozens of blessings to give you along with hundreds of things that could go wrong leave for always interesting runs that will continue to reward its players with story long after the credits roll makes this game worth every death. Hades nails the formula for an ideal rogue-like game and I hope that this game gets remastered from generation to generation because it would be a shame if some future generation of gamers never got the chance to play  Supergiants perfect symphony of action and drama.

[guerilla935]

36. Portal 2

Portal 2 is the 2011 sequel to the valve original puzzle game Portal. The game launched on all major platforms and became an instant classic in the physics puzzle genre. The game follows Chel, a test subject that was forced to do life threatening tasks by an evil robot named GlaDos. She is once again forced to do life threatening tasks with the mind that she will escape aperture science this time. The puzzles in this game are excellent, a perfect blend of new mechanics and ways to test your brain without breaking it. It doesn’t have a lot in the way of story however the game has a great sense of humor and is guaranteed to give you a smile every level. This is one of those Valve classics that we most likely won’t see another of however it has spawned a good dozen other really fun puzzle games that don’t exactly live up to this game but get very close. If you have the means to play this game just know that it is a classic in the halls of PC gaming history and it’s an easy must play from last console generation.

[guerilla935]

Review: The Turing Test

The Turing Test was developed in 2016 by Bulkhead Interactive for PC and Xbox One, Later released for all major platforms. In The Turing Test you play start the game as Ava, a scientist in cryo-sleep that has awoken to news that because of the discovery of a new dangerous life form on Europa, you must go to the moons surface and find the ground team. Avoiding any spoilers, you are confronted with 70 puzzle rooms designed to act as a Turing Test for initially unknown reasons. The game reveals itself slowly with story bits at the end of each of its 7 chapters. It uses an approach to puzzle games similar to portal, however the puzzles don’t have a crazy twist they are just logic puzzles that utilize a power and response mechanics. Meaning that most of the time what you are doing is turning on and off machines with batteries to get to a door.

So, the game itself lacks a lot in originality, the puzzles are all designed to look and feel like Portal, the room aesthetic is actually almost identical (There are even the light bridges). The type of robot vs human story presented is the same ideas in basically all of science fiction since Philip K. Dick and Blade Runner. The difference being that this game presents a number of real writings of Turing. However I believe that the game should be held responsible for the fact that it adds these in knowing that it may have done a poor job in itself to explain its topic. It presents you with the thought experiments for The Turing Test (pretty much that interview they do in Blade Runner) and the Chinese room example and present just about 5 sides to argue whether any of these actually mean that a robot could possess human thought. The short answer according to many in the field is no, and there are many reasons why an analytic mind without the creative couldn’t be considered the same as a human mind but I’ll leave that to your own research if you want to do the digging (or just play this game all the documents are here). So that was a very round about way of saying that the premise of this story really only asks questions theorized in the 80′s and failed to give them any sort of modern nuance or meaning. I will say this about it though, when presented in the first half, Tom letting you know why humans have to solve these physics based problems instead of machines feels like a celebration of the genre and how physics based puzzle games require a good portion of your creativity. A good look at why you being a human has enabled you to come up with weird and outside of the box solutions for problems rather not knowing to throw that through a window, or launch something using a set of stairs.

The meat of the game is good though. Solving puzzles feels good because they are challenging having to double back because you messed up only to then find a solution feels very good in this game. Only once did I get so stuck I had to google an answer and it was just poor explanation of how the machines work. The difficulty in The Turing Test is a very good balance. Not too easy but also not frustrating. The game presents its ideas in ways that make sense (to someone who knows games) and continues to pile together its ideas to create more complex rooms. I wouldn’t say that it gets that hard over time but it gets more complex over time. The side puzzles are very hard and borderline unfair. The first one just gives you a password that you just have to guess, and it could take a while. Another optional puzzle takes advantage of Boolean logic, even using the notations and if I didn’t have a degree in Engineering I most likely would have just had to google it because I would never have known what was going on, it just felt like the barrier to access these places were so high and most of the time rewarded so little. Most of the rewards for the bonus rooms are small pieces of lore or a “cut-scene” with a muddled message. So overall I would say that the game has a very good set of 70 main puzzles with very creative bonus rooms with very little reason to do them.

There are a few problems that I have with the story and the first is the Chinese room. The way that the game obsesses over this thought experiment is a little worn in the later chapters, I think at one point even Chris says that he is done with how obsessed Tom is with this Chinese room. I think that the reveal of the creature found on Europa is really cool and interesting to think about. However, the real plot twist in chapter 5 (although setting the stage for really cool and original puzzles) was very bad. It just seemed like an odd addition to the game that didn’t have to be there. Maybe if they wanted to just start with that and let us play with the really cool camera robot possession from the start of the game it may have fit in the story better and let us play cool puzzles a lot earlier on but throwing it where it did feels rushed and added. The quality of the game though is spectacular, the sleek space station aesthetic is well done and the acting in this game is superb (except Tom in the second half is just written in full rambles and is acted in the same manner). I was surprised how much I became attached to the ground crew and their story just through audio logs and how spooky it was to uncover things like a murder and their research. The soundtrack is also pretty standard science fiction stuff but still makes for good atmosphere.

The Turing Test is a good puzzle game, it’s only a shame that it was muddled by all these sideways thought puzzles and weird plot twists. If you were ever interested in this game I’d say give it a try especially if you like solving puzzles. It’s a short enough experience that will leave you satisfied. Also passing the Turing Test lets you know that you’re not a machine so that’s good too.

[guerilla935]

37. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Uncharted 2 is Naughty Dogs second entry in their action-adventure series, the game was originally published in 2009 as a PlayStation 3 exclusive and then re-released on the PlayStation 4 along with the original trilogy. This game to me is a video gamey video game, it features a large amount of dispensable henchmen commanded by a big bald and scary guy. You are in search of another lost city and the plot kind of follows in something similar to Atlantis (Disney) or any other Indiana Jones type film. The parts that I remember the strongest in this game are the slow moments, walking in the village in the mountains or scaling buildings with Chloe and finding that swimming pool are little things that players didn’t expect in video games before 2010. This game gives its players hours of exciting game play and a killer multiplayer, and while you won’t get a lot in the way of story, you are getting incredible scenery and high octane fights with waves of jacked enemies, tight game play and smart puzzles that immerse you in the culture of the area and mythology that you are uncovering.

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38. Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair

Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair is the 2012 sequel to Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, both developed by Spike Chunsoft. The game is a murder mystery visual novel that sees you solving a handful of closed room murders (meaning that the murder is one of only a small group of people). It follows 16 high school kids trapped on a tropical island, forced to kill each other for the amusement of one psychotic teddy bear. You play as Hajime who has to solve murders and execute the killer or be executed himself. What I like about this entry in particular is its phenomenal cast. The characters in DR2 are my favorite by far compared to the other 2 games. The game has a fairly rough ending however the murders that you are tasked to solve are unique and interesting. I was actually impressed by the amount of thought went into the murders and how complex and detailed they were. Unfortunately you would have to go back to the first game prior to playing this one to understand really whats going on however Danganronpa 2 is an incredible VN with a ton of content that sends literal chills through its players.

[guerilla935]

Review: Rent-A-Girlfriend (Season 1) [Sub]

I started watching this show as a joke, I thought I had a chance of seeing something either too perverted to watch or something barely watchable. What I got was a series filled with a lot of sincerity and heart that knew exactly what it was and continued to surprise in every episode. The show follows Kazuya who has just been dumped by his first girlfriend Mami in college. Out of depression he ends up renting a girlfriend off of a website only to then dig himself into a hole of his own lies. This leads him to continue renting his “girlfriend” Mizuhara and attracting the attention of his jealous ex-girlfriend, and even other rental girlfriends in this grand crusade in order to try to get Kazuya a real girlfriend.

In my opinion the shows strong point is its character development, the writer often has spots where they have set up Kazuya to do something indecent or something wrong but in the end has him act in the interest of his friends. He even acts in the interest of his family and friends even if that means lying to them or hurting someone that he felt that he was close to. I wouldn’t call this a Harem (although we are on that fine line) but the greatest success that this show has is making its main protagonist very relatable and very real in both his good qualities and bad ones. Mizuhara (Ichinose) is the shows big second success, her personality is charming and professional and always calm and composed. Though prone to breaking down which ends up being where her character shines, in these relapses where she shows a lot of emotion and conviction in her actions. Her characters stigma of “She doesn’t really like you, you are paying her to be your girlfriend.” fades away during these parts that you can feel are more genuine. This kind of ups the pressure of the main plot as you realize that you care more and more whether Mizuhara is actually falling for Kazuya or not making every episode end in stupid amounts of suspense.

Another thing that I admire about this show is that it is not afraid to make their main cast appear to be cute anime girls then reveal them to be psychos. There is a lot of fan service in this show, and I mean a lot. But it still doesn’t amount to how much crazy is in the show. And that really breaks the normal mold, I can’t really place any of the cast in typical anime stereotypes and this makes everyone feel super unique. The way any character appears on the outside is absolutely not the way they are actually revealed to be. Even the writing of each episode breaks the stereotypical anime mold. Even the beach episode is actually 2 episodes for how long it is and has a lot of substance involving a fist fight and a lot of uncomfortable moments. I’ll always go in expecting something like the bath house or Christmas episode to be exactly what I expect with a lot of fan service and some shenanigans and a cute message. Then what I get is exactly that except that the shenanigans cause me so much stress that l can’t even appreciate some good fan service then the message sends me to bed that night in a pool of my own tears. The way that Kazuya is played against the incredible cast of girls is smartly done to appeal at a much deeper level with its audience and creates more substance to what is shown initially.

Rent-A-Girlfriend manages to give you exactly what you expected (a lot of anime ahoge faces and tripping into promiscuous positions) and then adds a heartfelt story with relatable characters and climaxes that leave you wanting more and more. If what you are wanting is a romantic comedy filled with awkward moments and strong conviction then this is a show for you. Normally I wouldn’t suggest anime to someone that hasn’t seen it before or doesn’t typically like it but Rent-A-Girlfriend is something that I would recommend to just about anyone in high school or their 20′s. Thank god season 2 was approved because I really want to watch more of this show

[guerilla935]

39. Star Wars Battlefront 2 (2017)

Star Wars Battlefront 2 (2017) is the second game in the Star Wars Battlefront rebooted series originally made for PS2, Xbox, and PC in 2004. The 2017 entry is made for PS4, Xbox One, and PC by DICE on Frostbite Engine (Battlefield series). So naturally this game looks and plays extremely similar to the Battlefield series however the weapons and vehicles have been given tweaks to feel more like laser guns and hover tanks rather than real guns and things with wheels. The game had a rocky start, an early statistic released showed that in order to get most of the unlocks in the game it would take about 4500 hours, this or (and this is the good part) $2100 USD. So the business model is bad and the game doesn’t really do an awesome job of “rewarding” its players.However what the game does have is a signature art style and feel that instantly transports you into a Star Wars battle with its one of a kind sound effects and special effects. The game also plays very well and feels very balanced and fair in its main modes. EA would later dissolve the games store and start giving out experience like free samples at Costco, this and the games mounds of generous free updates including free characters and maps would save the game and put it down as one of the industries biggest success stories. You might not really understand what makes the game all that great if you do not like the films (especially the sequel trilogy) however for fans of the space magic and non-stop action of Star Wars this game is an infinite playground that you could lose hundreds of hours in. If you haven’t given this game a shot since we all said that it sucked in 2017 then you owe it to youself to give it another go in its final form in 2020.

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40. Army of Two

Army of Two is a cooperative third person shooter game developed by EA Montreal for the PS3 and Xbox 360. This game doesn’t reinvent any wheels, you play as two dudes who go in and fight tons of minions and save the day. That’s pretty much the plot of every video game though so what makes this game different is that you play as private army contractors that get paid to take out big targets. The game puts a big emphasis on its aggro system, making full use of its cooperative nature by letting one player become a distraction, and the other become like a ghost. This games big downside is that because of this, the game becomes pretty unplayable by yourself, I would only play this game local coop and no other way. Army of Two is an awesome game that uses your normal guns and locations but with a spotlight on the friend sitting next to you and that’s what makes this one of the better games of its generation.

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41. Sonic Adventure DX: Director’s Cut

The Gamecube remake of Sonic Adventure released in 2003 by Sega, specifically with help from the Sega team responsible for a certain number of bass fishing games. The games follow its protagonists all through relatively short story modes. What I think is really cool about this game is that you get to experience the story of this game from so many different angles, and not just the story either. Sonic gets to visit every level as a straight forward sonic level, however, when you start as Knuckles you go to the same level but now its opened up as an open area and you are looking for emeralds, then you start the game as Big the Cat and now you are in the same levels but you’re fishing instead. It’s a clever recycling of maps that changes the game up so much that you don’t even mind that you are in Twinkle Park for the 7th time. There is also this Chao pet raising bit that me and my sister would dump hours and hours into as kids. The game is just incredibly cool and such a classic.