The Rumble Pack Posts

LTTP! Overall, I enjoyed my time with Danganronpa. It felt enough like playing a demented Professor Layton/Phoenix Wright game, with enough wrinkles in the formula to propel me to its conclusion. I do have a lot of minor complaints that start to add up over time but simply getting to the end of a story gets a game high marks in my books nowadays.

The first couple of cases are straightforward and the climactic trial sections generally feel too straightforward. I played the game on a middle difficulty so I suppose they could have placed more red herring choices in the “bullet time battles,” but I usually knew exactly what I wanted to choose before the choices appeared. The only time that I was ever stumped was when the obvious choice was obfuscated by poor wording. Ultimately the trials felt more like going through the motions than a climax in the story.

Hongry for more plastic instruments and action-less figures? Well, you’d better be! This week, the Pack weighs in on the growing mountain of plastic stuff that is quickly overtaking your local GameStop. Afterwards, ample love for Affordable Space Adventures and a race through favorite “Fast and Furious” moments inspired by the Forza Horizon 2 deluxe demo-thing.

Smashocracy in action! After last week’s Smash Bros.-heavy Nintendo Direct, the Pack can’t help but get excited for Mewtwo, Lucas and the potential for more. Later, Tom and Kaz share their Bloodborne frustrations and small victories; Justin excretes bridges in Box Boy; and Tony and McFadden drop some Hearthstone knowledge.

NEWS FLASH: This episode contains 10% more excitement than you can handle! This week, the Pack takes a look at the cryptic new Halo 5 trailers and April’s free game offerings. Later, Justin gives in to the pain in Bloodbourne, Tony swings his executive branch in Saints Row IV and Kaz joins the “Furious 7″ crew in Forza Horizon 2.

You may have seen some comments from a GameSpot interview by one of Final Fantasy XV‘s directors, Hajime Tabata:

“Speaking honestly, an all-male party feels almost more approachable for players. Even the presence of one female in the group will change their behavior, so that they’ll act differently. So to give the most natural feeling, to make them feel sincere and honest, having them all the same gender made sense in that way,” Tabata said. The game certainly doesn’t shy away from the theme of male intimacy, with the party sharing a tent, protecting each other in battles, and holding no qualms about showing open concern for one another.

For Tabata, the journey will have the cast adopting what he dubs a “boys will be boys” type demeanor. “It was the story we wanted to tell and what we wanted to show players,” he explained.

“The world might be ready to see the curtain lifted on what boys do when girls aren’t around, when they come out of the tent all prim and proper. That’s kind of the idea behind it… we think, male or female player, that everyone will feel a certain connection and bond with the four characters.”

Digital versus Physical: it’s the debate that continues to define this generation of consoles. Starting with the game trade-in debacle of the Xbox One announcement, all the way through the reality of needing to install every game - disc or otherwise - the impact of the new reality of game distribution is significant. Don’t get me started on how boring my unboxing experiences were for both consoles…

So what have people done in this new era of game ownership? Did the masses remain resolute in their preference for physical media? Did everyone switch to the bold new future of digital “ownership”?

I’ll start with what I ended up doing. I’m a pretty big proponent of digital media; just take a look at my extensive (shameful?) Steam library. But now that we’re over a year into these new consoles, what did I end up really doing? Here’s a picture of the top shelf of my current DVD rack:

A decent selection, but you’ll see these titles fall into two different categories: launch window and gift.

So many multiplayer games, not enough time! This week, the Pack looks at its co-op backlog and shudders a bit as dozens of online-focused games go unplayed. Is there any hope? At least some single player gaming is getting done, as Neil confronts the horrors of This War of Mine, while Tony sets sail for Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag.

Few games are focused on executing basic mechanics as much as Ori and the Blind Forest. The attention to the fundamentals of a platformer result in an identity that is reminiscent of classics - Metroid, Castlevania and the like - but still uniquely, fiercely its own. Attacking enemies is automatic; the glowing spirit following you, Sein, lances out targeted attacks at the press of a button. The lack of precise aiming says everything you need to know about the game: Ori is about the platforming.

Life is Strange is a Telltale-style adventure game from the same studio that brought us the instant classic Remember Me. Remember that game? No?

I’ve completed the first episode and had a couple thoughts I wanted to write down before the second hits, mostly concerning the hits and misses of the game. The gameplay and controls are standard fare for modern adventure games. You walk around a three-dimensional world, talk to other characters, inspect items and make “difficult” decisions.

What makes Life is Strange unique is what I find so compelling and repulsive.