Starbound Winter Update Review

So last night I managed to finally play a few hours of the new Starbound Winter Update (as referenced in this blog post), and I thought I could share my first impressions on the update. (Sorry about spellings errors and grammar that is poor, but I'm particularly tired this morning.) Without further ado, let's get into the thick of it.

I Love Starbound

I want to make this point before I say anything else: I absolutely love Starbound. From the moment I saw their first trailer (that I know of), I felt a deep attachment to what I believed would be a soulful game, and I wasn't disappointed.

Starbound carries with it a simplicity rarely seen today in games. You play the role of a... person? Yeah, a person of your chosen race, exiled from their homeworld for some reason or another, with only a space ship and the clothes on your back. From that point on it is up to you to explore the universe and survive. Elite: Dangerous is the game when I want to feel immersed; Starbound is the game I play when I want to have simple, relaxing fun.

I could spend the rest of this review praising it as much as I want, but that's not what I'm here to talk about. When Starbound was released, it was clearly unfinished, and the first major update in a long time was released this week. This review will concentrate on the changes this update has brought to the game.

And it's not all positive.

So before I go about sounding like someone pissed in my morning coffee, I want to restate the following: I love Starbound, and I love it even more since the update.

Pacing, Pacing, Pacing...

I need to adress this point first because-

"Adress"? Is it "adress" or "address"? It's "adresse" in French, so it must be "address" in English, yeah, I remember something about them being different. And the auto-correct seems to agree.

As you can see, changing the pace of a blog article - or a game - can completely jerk you "out of it", and that's my first major gripe with the update. For someone who played the game after the update, this may not be an issue, but if you played before you will find yourself halted, or at least slowed down after the update.

The first major change in pacing is how you now interact with containers, specifically when closing them. Previously, you opened a container by pressing 'E' and closed it again by pressing 'E'. This created a somewhat easy, intuitive and rapid way of going through your containers; you could open one, rapidly glance at it, and then just leave if it contained nothing interesting.

Now, pressing 'E' seems to open another window for the same container, forcing you to press either 'I', 'Esc' or use the mouse to close the container. For someone who got used to just pressing 'E', this halts the gameplay in a very noticeable manner. It feels like when you're riding a bike and someone suddenly punches you in the kidney, know what I'm saying? No? Moving on...

(I hate complaining without giving suggestions on how to improve things, so here I go. My guess is this was implemented to allow opening of multiple containers at once and transferring items without passing through the inventory (I'm just guessing here, I haven't tried yet), so maybe assign a another key for this kind of operation? Maybe one which would simultaneously open all nearby containers? Food for thought...)

Let Me Tell You about the Time I Almost Died

Another major change is the new Ship-based Artificial Intelligence Lattice, or SAIL for short, which gives a little more structure to the player in terms of progression. SAIL offers various quests and upgrades to your Matter Manipulator (another major change).

Among other things, your SAIL gives you some quests to complete before you can unlock more parts of your ship or before exploring the universe further, giving some form of progression. One of these quests has you travel to the centre of your starting planet in order to gather Core Fragments. This forced me to do something I never did before; dig to the centre of the planet... and that made me feel weird.

Not the digging part, I was fine with that, but it felt strange to be forced to do a very specific action in a game which was previously so open and free. Previously, I could always just stumble on everything I would need, but now I was somewhat forced to follow the path laid before my by the game. This is not necessarily bad, and it allowed me to experience something I missed before the update, but I definitely noticed the hand-holding this time around.

Combat has also been changed in the new update, and I must say that I love what they did. It used to feel a little boring - repetitive, if you will - but now everything, from blocking to aiming to enemy behaviour, feels good, responsive, and fresh. You now have 360-degree aiming when using melee weapons, and ranged weapons have been revamped to now be a viable and fun alternative, even from the start of a new character.

Starbound Was Unfinished, but Now It Feels Unfinished

From the get-go, the development team made it very clear that the game they released was unfinished; when you start up the Starbound launcher, a nice warning reminds you that this is an early beta, and to expect bugs and crashes. Strangely enough, the original game, although obviously unfinished, didn't feel like it. It had that Minecraft quality where there wasn't much to the game, but you could still do pretty much anything you set your mind to.

People had complained previously about the lack of content in Starbound. Now, with the Winter Update, the game is filled to the brim with new content, and that is awesome! I think I need to say it again: I love Starbound, and I love it even more since the update. But now that it's has much more content and context, the unfinished things stand out that much more.

Something strange happened yesterday when I played the update. I sat down, was blown away by all the new content, griped at the whole container closing thing (seriously I'm wondering if it might be a bug at this point), and got my derriere handed to me by the lunar base mission (which is awesome by the way). Then, I stopped thinking, and though "that was awesome, but there's still lots of things left to do". The bizarre part was that I hadn't thought that before.

I was left torn; on one side, I felt like the game still needed some time before being released as Version One-Point-Oh, and on the other side it left me wondering whether it ever will. The game is still marked as beta, leaving the door open for more improvements, updates, and fixes before an official release.

I think that's a bad thing, and will work against both Starbound the game and Chucklefish the developer/publisher. I mean, I get it, I really do; being a developer myself, I understand the need to break free of release dates, to not be restricted by deadlines and commitments, and keeping a game or project in an eternal beta status would achieve that level of freedom.

But then again, what is there to keep this project going, other than sheer force of will? If you're passionate enough, you'll keep the car running for a long time, but what happens once the fuel runs out? I've asked around (I wish I had links to put here to show other peoples' opinions), and I don't think anyone is expecting Starbound to receive an official release anymore, instead receiving gradually-diminishing updates as time goes on.

Chucklefish is a company I love dearly, and I would kill for the opportunity to work for them (I wouldn't actually do that... I mean, I know you wouldn't want me to... right?), but I am nonetheless worried that people will simply lose interest. I won't pretend to know better, but I'm worried, and that's the point. If I, an adorer of the game and its developer/publisher, am worried, what does that mean to the world at large?

En Conclusion

In case this isn't obvious after the above diss-fest, I love Starbound, and I love it even more since the update. I want this game to succeed, I really do, and I am writing this hoping the Starbound team will read it, and hopefully respond to it. The new update gave us many wonderful new things to play with and explore for many more hours, even if it broke the pacing, but now more than ever does the game truly feel like a beta, something which I never really noticed (or didn't pay attention to) before.

But then again, what do I know? Someone pissed in my coffee this morning.

Stay safe, I love you all, hugs and kisses,
Jo

Elite: Dangerous Feels like Coming Home

Happy New Year, dear readers! I wish you all health, joy, and everything nice.

Fasten Your Seat Belt, Pilot

Let's kick off the new year (I'm a few weeks late, I know, just bear with me) with a recent discovery of mine: Elite: Dangerous (or ED for short). ED is a space simulation video game... thingy, and probably the best of its genre I've played so far.

I used to play Freelancer way back when, a game that I still consider as one of my favourites (top 3 no doubt), and I've been looking for a game that would inspire that same sense of awe and adventure ever since the Freelancer servers closed up. I looked around and tried a few, including the popular X series, but none managed to satisfy me; they were either too restrictive, or so complex as to be inaccessible to new players. I feared that I would never again experience a game like Freelancer, and I started to wonder if I was maybe remembering my own undertaking through rose-tinted glasses. Then I learned about ED (I swear I ain't talking about the other ED).

The Sidewinder Mk. I is a good ship to start, but you'll want to replace it as soon as you can afford something more specialized for your needs.

In ED, you take on the role of YourFirstnameHere YourLastnameHere, commander and pilot of a brand-new Sidewinder Mk. I, a small multi-purpose ship capable of trading, exploration, combat, and even mining... if you outfit it properly. You're thrown into space and from there, the galaxy is the limit. No, seriously. ED takes place in our own Milky Way, and contains approximately 400 billion procedurally-generated star systems along with many (can't find a number on that) real systems, such as our own Sol.

Let that sink in for a moment. The game contains approximately 400'000'000'000 systems to explore.

Get Ready to Crash... A Lot

ED is a hard game, and the initial learning curve is probably the biggest obstacle any new player will have to face. I would compare the type of difficulty to that of Dark Souls, although not nearly as intense. New players find themselves at the mercy of an unforgiving universe, and the game will hand your ass to you on a platter if you don't respect its difficulty.

The first time I got destroyed was while undocking my ship from the starting station.

Pictured: a successful undocking procedure. NOT what I'm about to talk about.

The game leans heavily on the "realism" side of the "realism vs fantastic scale", and some rigorous protocols need to be followed sometimes. As I learned later, the reason I was destroyed was because I was loitering around the landing pad after I had been cleared for launch. This is illegal, as it keeps other ships from docking, potentially keeping a distressed pilot from getting some much-needed aid. To be fair, the game gives you 5 minutes to clear up the pad, but I was still figuring out the controls at that point (since I stupidly chose to skip the "pre-flight check" tutorial).

The second time I got destroyed was coming out of a space station. At that point, I had a few hours of flight behind my belt and I felt confident in my skills (once you understand pitch, yaw and roll controls, flying becomes somewhat easy) and accelerated quickly to leave. However, another quite large ship was coming into the station, straight in my path. I panicked, veered out of the way and straight into the station itself, destroying my ship.

And don't get me started on docking.

It can take some time to get used to the faster-than-light travel; more often than not, you'll end up going too fast and overshoot the target. A tip for beginners: try to keep the "estimated time remaining" value between 0:07 and 0:08, decelerating if you get below that value and accelerating while above.

When you'll die - and you will - you get sent to a screen with the option to either restore your ship (at the cost of 5% its value - your ship is insured so you won't have to pay the whole thing) or start over with a free Sidewinder Mk. I. This may seem steep, but if you plan your things properly there is no reason why this would be a threat to you; even by playing stupidly I never lost a ship because it got destroyed. Despite this, when you're speeding away from a large ship you "accidentally" pissed off and your cockpit is bathed in blinking red lights, you'll always worry about whether you have enough to pay your insurance premium and will end up losing your ship.

From Trader to Miner to Bounty Hunter in under 10 Minutes

In ED, you don't have to commit to a job like in most other MMOs - oh, did I forget to mention this was an MMO? I'll get back to that in a bit.

Like I was saying, you don't have to commit to playing a certain way. You want to be a miner? Outfit your ship with a mining laser and a refinery. Mining too zen for you and want to move on to trading? Replace your mining laser by a basic weapon and your refinery by some cargo space. Since you're already passing through unexplored systems, why not add a discovery scanner to your ship and become an explorer? Want to become a pirate? Just attack passing traders... but not with your trading-slash-exploring ship, that would be suicide.

Planetary rings are a great place to mine minerals, hunt pirates, or be a pirate.

While some actions, such as accruing a bounty, will limit your options in some systems, it is always possible to change how you play the game with relative ease. There is a lot to do in ED, and not much keeping you from doing it.

The Galaxy Is a Shared Playground... Or Not

As I hinted at earlier, ED is, at heart, an MMO.

WAIT COME BACK

Those familiar with the space exploration genre might feel turned off by that fact, as multiplayer has never been a big selling point for most flight simulator-esque games. ED, however, was designed with multiplayer in mind, and the whole thing feels pretty seamless, at least for me. I'm the kind of player who enjoys losing myself in my games, and so far I have yet to find another player who broke that immersion for me. Most of the time I don't know if I'm dealing with another player or an NPC, regardless of the situation (if it wasn't for the "this is a player" indicator I would never even know).

Sights like this are not uncommon as you roam the galaxy.

If you still feel intimidated about exploring a galaxy in what amounts to a steel coffin while being surrounded by people who want to kill you, and no amount of convincing on my part will change your mind, then fear not! The game includes a solo (not offline) mode, which - as the name implies - allows players to roam without other player intervention. The twist is that the universe is still the same whether you play solo or online; any effects online players have on the economy, for example, will be reflected in your solo session (and vice-versa) so you're never truly alone.

Take Me down to the Paradise City

In short, Elite: Dangerous is a good game. In fact, it's probably the best game of its genre I've played so far (as for Star Citizen, Chris Roberts' narcissism project, I may or may not share my thoughts at a later time), surpassing freelancer in scope and things to do. The game is hard, but not inaccessible, the galaxy is big, and the only limits present are those you impose on yourself. For someone who has been looking for a game just like this for years, ED feels like coming home.

On my way to do some miner protection (bounty hunting on pirates) aboard my Eagle Mk. II.

As for myself, I may end up writing more about my adventures in this universe; if there ever was a game which would allow for a fanfic-like "captain's journal", this would be it. Hell, I think I'll write about my epic journey trying to reach our own Sol.

Pictured: not Sol.

That's it for now. As usual, let me know what you think in the comment section. Take care, fly safe, and I'll see you later!

Asserted Review: Bioshock Infinite

Topic: Video Game Review

Play: noun a dramatic composition or piece; drama.

Hey kiddies, just a quick note before I get into the bulk of the review. I'm still new at writing reviews, and I might be doing more in the future based on your feedback, so please comment to give me any ideas/hints/advice! Also, I know I said I would write a review of Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, but I wanted to write this one first. Thanks, and enjoy!
- Snowman

So, Bioshock Infinite. Where do I begin? I bought this game when it came out last week, thinking to give another chance at the Bioshock series. I was mildly entertained by the first game, but quickly got fet up; I found that it got repetitive and bland fairly quickly. When the second game came out, I again purchased it to see how they managed to keep the franchise fresh (despite it taking place in a sunken, rotten city at the bottom of the ocean). While the story was a notch above the first game, it wasn't different enough to merit more than a glance on my part. So why, then, would I risk my money and time again for the new entry in the series?

Well, I'm a sucker for second chances, and the game got good reviews, so why not? I decided to once more plunge into the world of Bioshock.

I'm so glad I did.

Somewhere Over The Rainbow

The story begins at a lighthouse, where you travel to the sunken city of Rapture — –

Well, not quite. As you may know, Bioshock Infinite takes place in Columbia, a gigantic (and I mean mother loving gigantic) floating city ripe with crazy fanaticism, fantastic racism and American dreams all over the place. The game is set in 1912 in the midst of the American exceptionalism period; very early on you are immersed in this great world which you know will be going to hell soon enough.

"Come one, come all, and see the amazing Handiman! Get it? 'Cause he has big hands?"

You play the role of Booker DeWitt, protagonist/asshole sent to Columbia to bring back a woman in order to settle an undisclosed debt (the arc words "give us the girl and wipe away the debt" are all but shoved down your throat throughout the game). Surprisingly enough, the task is more complicated than it first appeared (</sarcasm>). You are soon treated as a villain in this world and attacked on every side.

Vague enough for you? Well there's more where that came from!

A Novel In A Movie In A Game

Seriously, it's hard to write this review, and I will tell you why. This game has an amazing story. Not "really really good", but amazing. You will be amazed. The characters are believable, the setting is perfect for the story it is trying to convey, and the game keeps you stringing along the plot. At no point during the game do you forget your goals or motivations. But most importantly, the game does an extremely good job at making the player want to finish the story. You get attached to the protagonists and you begin hating the antagonists. Every single character is well crafted, with a very extensive, if only hinted at, backstory. Nothing in this world feels flat or shallow.

The reason it is hard to write this review is because the story is just so damn good, and anything I say about the story would be a spoiler. If you play on getting this game, do not look up any information online. The whole reason to get this game is to experience its story, and ruining it would also ruin your experience.

Story-Driven Gameplay

So, other than the story, what else is good? Well, for starters the gameplay is very solid. It follows the same Bioshock formula of using magic powers (now called vigors) along with weapons in various combinations in order to solve problems (read: shoot them in the face). The game somehow manages to do this better than its predecessors; the combat does not feel as repetitive as the previous games. It is fast-paced, and the rhythm at which combat is present in the game is just perfect. Longer combat segments are usually in larger areas, providing a variety of different strategies to employ, while shorter segments are fast and brutal.

Our lovely deuteragonist, Elizabeth. You accompany her throughout most parts of the game. Don't get confused; you don't have to protect her. She can take care of herself.

The environment is gorgeous, and while you never leave Columbia, it somehow never gets old. The world changes along with the story, and every little detail helps convey the sense of panic and urgency which permeates the later parts of the game. The soundtrack also features a wide range of music, from fast-paced sounds for combat to pleasurable church choirs for the more religious bits.

Overall, it's hard to break away from the story as everything in this game contributes to it. You are constantly reminded of what needs to be done, and the game does this amazingly. You will be walking on a pier, enjoying the sights, for a moment forgetting that your life is in danger, when suddenly Elizabeth will comment on the beautiful skies. Suddenly, you are reminded of her presence, of your mission, and of the grave peril you are in. It sounds like nothing, but it is small, subtle reminders like that which drive you forward. It doesn't give you a pop-up saying "SAVE TEH GURL NAO" every second. It doesn't blatantly say "let's not wait here too long" like many games. It simply strings you along peacefully.

Conclusion

STORY:	11	The best story in a video game I have seen in a very long time, and the main reason to buy this game.
VISUALS:	10	Amazing environment, beautiful landscapes.
SOUNDTRACK:	10	Great context-appropriate music, awesome musical score.
ATMOSPHERE:	10	If there was one thing Bioshock always did well, it's atmosphere.
CONTROLS:	10	Controls are very intuitive and easy to learn.
MULTIPLAYER:	N/A	The game does not offer multiplayer.
LENGTH:	9	Short game to play through, but justified; adding to the time would probably have added useless, dry segments to an otherwise active game.
OVERALL:	10/10

There are some games which you play and then forget about once you put down the controller. Then there are games which stick with you for a few weeks as you play them again and again until you have explored every facet the game has to offer. Then there are games like these, which let you experience a story that will stay with you for the rest of your life.

Stay frosty,
Snowman

Asserted Review: Monster Hunter Tri (recap)

Hey children, I will be writing a review of the upcoming game Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate in the next few days. The review will be a "sequel" of sorts to the following review of Monster Hunter Tri, which I am providing to you, free of charge! Enjoy!

Snowman here, and let us start this blog in force with Monster Hunter Tri, a Wii exclusive!



Now, anyone who's been paying attention to my personal life in the past few months will know that I simply adore this game. In fact, I can safely say that Monster Hunter Tri (also called Monster Hunter 3, MH3) has everything I was looking for in the game, and it delivered so much more. The music is good, the gameplay is smooth, and it is simply fun to play. This Wii exclusive is, in my opinion, the first game to use the console's full potential and is definitely a game you will not regret having in your collection.

Before I get too deep in this review, let me talk about the only really bad thing about this game. This game allows you to play using either the Wii Remote and Nunchuk or by using the Classic Controller (CC). In fact, in most gaming stores, you can buy a copy of MH3 that comes with a free Classic Controller. Do just that. The controls for the Remote+Nunchuk are simply horrible, and they are amazing with the Classic Controller. My advice: for the same price, get the one with the classic controller.

Monster Hunter (MH) is an extremely successful Japanese video game franchise; in its native country, MH is a household name like Pokemon or Yugioh. With MH3, this franchise has gotten the solid attention of the world. Like in previous games, you take on the role of a Hunter, a mercenary hired by the "Hunter's Guild" to... well... hunt monsters. In particular, the Lagiacrus, a giant sea Leviathan-class monster, is terrorizing a small village, and it is your job to (eventually) kill it. The first few quests are pretty mundane, such as collecting mushrooms or delivering raw monster meat (yum.), but they get pretty epic pretty fast.

You will not face the Lagiacrus, MH3's flagship monster and "adorable" troublemaker, until very late in the game. These hunters are certainly trying.

Speaking of epic, these monsters are massive. Realistically massive, but massive nonetheless; most stand two or three times taller than you, and some are simply too big for me to give an appropriate scale. The visual style of the game lends itself well to that effect. I can honestly say that this is the best looking Wii game so far. Granted, the graphics aren't what you would see on the PS3 or Xbox 360, but they definitely take full advantage of what the console is capable of. And while we're at it, the soundtrack of the game is as epic as the game itself. All these factors contribute to making every fight memorable, every defeat bittersweet, and every victory gratifying.

This game also requires a great deal of planning and strategy. Let me tell you something that happened to me while playing. I had become a hunter full of pride, having defeated several large monsters, some with ease, some with difficulty, and I was well on my way to defeat the dreaded Lagiacrus. Everything was going well, and I was brimming with confidence. Then came Barroth.

Oh crap.

Barroth (which I had affectionately nicknamed B*tchballs after a hilarious video describing it as a "b*tch with balls") is like a sledgehammer, but without the charm. It rams you for massive damage, it's hard to hit and pretty much impossible to block. Not only that, but his body is covered in mud which he flings around, and if you're unlucky enough to get hit, you cannot attack for a little while due to being covered in grime. It took me 3 failures before giving up. That's when I decided to start forging armors (forging your armors and weapons is an integral part of the game) to pass the time.

So there I was, forging new armor sets, when I realize that one of the herbivores present in Barroth's area, the Rhenoplos, gives materials for a set of armor which grants immunity to Barroth's mud-flinging attacks. After lots of farming and herbivore-murdering, it was time to face Barroth...

...and fail miserably. It took me very careful planning, a touch of luck and a total of about 7 tries to beat the beast. But oh how it felt good to kill that mother f*cker.

But that doesn't mean the game is all serious all the time, oh no. The game can be very light-hearted and cute at times, and the game's pace is simply amazing, with a good balance between humor and urgency. In particular the NPCs are lovable, and some of the monsters you meet make you want to cuddle them instead of murdering them.

They're cute now, but wait until they steal your sh*t. Also, compare these monsters with the ones shown above. This game has a good mix of light-hearted comedy and blood-chilling action.

Alright, this review is dragging on, so let's wrap up. The free online multiplayer supports a solid peer-to-peer network, a thriving online community, and an easy to use game lobby. The game itself definitely has over 60 hours of gameplay (online and offline combined), and is definitely worth the price. In short, I can say that Monster Hunter Tri is definitely one of the most memorable games I have played. If it endures the test of time, maybe it will even get into my top 5 favorite games list.

VISUALS:	10	Best Wii graphics around.
SOUNDTRACK:	10	Epic and memorable tracks, context-appropriate music.
ATMOSPHERE:	10	Simply amazing.
CONTROLS:	8	Horrible with the Wii Remote, great with the classic controller.
MULTIPLAYER:	10	Solid peer-to-peer online multiplayer.
LENGTH:	10	Well over 60 hours of gameplay.
OVERALL:	9.5/10

Monster Hunter Tri is definitely a game worth buying, and I urge everyone who has a Wii to pick up a copy and join the community.

-Snowman