A Fight Through Eternity (Nioh Beta Review)

Quick Facts:

 Developer: Tecmo Koei

Planned Release Date: December 31, 2016

Platforms: PS4

Rating: RP (Rate Pending: Contains Intense Violence, Blood and Gore)

Disclaimer: This game is currently in development, and this review is only of the beta demo released recently over PSN (Playstation Network). Some features may differ or not work entirely due to the nature of this being an unfinished product. Therefore, this is not a review of the game as a whole, but of my impressions of it's current state.

WARNING: THIS GAME IS NOT APPROPRIATE FOR CHILDREN.

He was alone. The wet caress of the ocean's tide lapped against his still body as he started to rise. Everything was silent, except for his beating heart. A sudden, nasty smell took over his body as he coughed and glanced over at the dead body rocking back and forth in the tide. Flies buzzed around it in a cloud of darkness. Little streams of blood flowed into the ocean as the body lie motionless before him.

The cause of death was immediately apparent. Most people wear swords in sheathes on their sides. This deceased individual was holding it through the center of their body. It wasn't a convenient place to carry a weapon, since he probably couldn't even reach the sword from back there, and pulling it out would be quite painful. He stopped letting his mind wander, and stumbled over to the body. 

Strong odors erupted from the corpse as he managed to slowly draw the sword from the recently departed. It was a nice blade, sharp and light. With a few quick slashes he became accustomed to the weight of the beautiful weapon he held. This will do, he thought to himself and washed off the blade in the water. 

The cold night air bit at his lightly clothed body. After the incident, all he had was the tattered and torn clothes on his back. Somehow, the wind found the perfect angles from which to freeze his body through the holes in his clothes. There must be a house, or some place for warmth, he thought to himself as he shivered and stumbled down the beach.

With each step, he left a deep impression in the sand beneath him. He held his sword, shaking in front of him as he surveyed the area. The last thing he needed was an ambush from people who might have wanted him dead. The next to last thing he needed was the sudden realization that he wasn't alone. His body spun around to face the torch that just lit up. Someone was watching him.

He could feel the presence of two piercing eyes glaring at him from the darkness, and he readied his sword. This fight would be short. Suddenly a person yelled and slashed at him from the shadows. He blocked and attacked him with a few strikes of his own. With each strike, he tried to gauge his energy. If it got too low, he'd be at the mercy of his attacker in a pitiful, weakened state.

Sparks flew off the weapon as the two pieces of aggressive metal collided in the night. The assailant said nothing as he continued striking. Blood splattered on the walls of the straw hut as he slashed into his attacker, but the violent man was not greatly affected by the loss. With each strike the man started to notice that a ring of white surrounded his body. What was that? Suddenly, he focused on recovering energy. In the blink of an eye he was back up to full stamina, and a ghostly form overlapped his own. 

What was this power? A new confidence overtook his weary body, and the conflict continued. With a series of careful blocks and slashes of his sword, the assailant was finally wearing down. Silently, his sword finished off the attacker. He sheathed his sword as the aggressor's body hit the floor. This was one of many battles he knew he'd face. His eyes glanced around the beach and noticed fiery swords sticking up from the sand. These were the signs of others who had fallen. As he approached them, a small circle rose above them like a ghostly apparition, showing him their name, level, and what weapon they were using when they died. He could challenge them to a duel, to see who was a better fighter, but he wanted to rest from the previous encounter. Tonight was just beginning, and there were a lot more fights to be conquered if he wanted to survive.

This all happened within the first few minutes of my experience of Nioh. Think of it as a mix between Ninja Gaiden (because of the pace of it's combat) and Dark Souls (due to it's unforgiving difficulty). Although the combat may not seem deep, due to it's lack of complex combos, it is very intricate. You have access to three different stances, low, medium, and high, that change the game play drastically. Each has their own series of special moves to learn throughout the course of the game, and to master by using different weapons in each stance.

While in most games you get your gear by defeating the NPCs (Non-Playable Characters) in the world, Nioh is a bit different. Although there are enemies that populate your surroundings, most conflicts I had were with other players. It is an asynchronous experience (meaning that you are not fighting another player in real time, but a recording of their play style through the game's advanced AI), but that doesn't stop it from being exciting. In fact, I spent most of my time fighting other players because the enemies in the world were not really exciting in the beta. 

The process for summoning another player to fight is really simple. All you have to do is walk up to a fiery sword in the ground, and hold the O button until they appear. Once they appear, however, you must defeat them or die. You cannot cancel a fight if it isn't going in your favor, so keep that in mind if you want to duel someone. Just make sure yo have at least one healing item, or you will be in trouble. Other players have tactics that will surprise you, like being beaten by a level 1 samurai when I was level 6 because he randomly changed stances and sent a flurry of rapid attacks without warning. They are an unpredictably enjoyable part of the overall experience.

Nioh is a highly addictive experience, from the leveling system, to trying to get in just ONE MORE FIGHT before going to bed. If you like exciting action, strategic combat, and excruciating difficulty, I'd definitely recommend Nioh. The graphics are decent, but the mood outweighs any lack of graphical fidelity. Overall, I suggest that you download and give Nioh a try, even though this comes with a warning. YOU WILL DIE A LOT IN THIS GAME, especially if you are just starting out. It's like an eternity of living the same experience over and over again. Live, fight, die, repeat. If this doesn't bother you, and you are up for a challenge, then go ahead and try it! You won't regret it. 

(This game was in open beta at the time of this writing, and is free on Playstation Network to try for a limited time. I do not know when the beta will end, so it's best to try it as soon as possible before it is pulled from the store.)

Miami Case Files...in Color! (Battlefield Hardline Review)

Quick Facts:

 Developer: EA DICE, Visceral Games, Criterion Games

Initial Release Date: March 17, 2015

Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PS3, Xbox 360, PC

Rating: M (Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Use of Drugs)

WARNING: THIS GAME IS NOT APPROPRIATE FOR CHILDREN OR YOUNGER TEENS

Today was just one of those days. The rain kept pouring down on our backs, soaking us in dark, wet depression. We couldn't let it get to us now. There was a job to be done. A guy to find. Oddly, I couldn't see my feet. Whenever I looked down, all I saw was the beautifully illuminated texture of the concrete beneath me. My partner didn't seem to notice my sudden fascination and kept whispering at me to follow behind closely. Don't let them see you. Got it.

With each splashing step of my invisible feet I inched closer to the fence. Some crazy lady to my right was yelling at nobody and rummaging through a trash can. Weird, I thought to myself. She must be on something. Suddenly, I whipped my head around to see my partner crossing the street, sticking her butt out like a prideful turkey. Did she really need to walk like that? I thought to myself and followed suit. 

There was no one here, except for the crazy lady talking to her trash can. I looked her way and stared in disbelief. Where was my partner going? I moved with an unnaturally smooth grace across the street, not even shifting my weight from foot to foot as I glided. Maybe I didn't have feet.

While my thoughts wandered I suddenly noticed that everything was an odd shade of blue.

"We are almost there. We can't let them see us." A voice whispered to me as I abruptly stopped. Something was wrong here. Suddenly, the realization slapped me as my face flushed red in embarrassment. I stepped away slowly, hoping that my partner didn't realize that my face had been suddenly acquainted with her rear end. Phew, she didn't notice.

I stood up straight, trying to regain my composure as I looked over at three guys talking to each other. The street lamp highlighted them as they carried on a conversation. Little shadows danced around their clothes as the wind blew. For some reason I kept noticing the tiny details this evening, but that's part of my job. I AM a detective.

As time passed I noticed that the three men stopped. Their forms swayed back and forth, making hand gestures but not saying anything. My eyes glanced over at my partner, who was calmly taking everything in. She was silent, looking out at the three men, and then me. Was I missing something?

With some hesitation, I walked over to the three men, calmly floating across the wet concrete. I felt the sudden urge to do something drastic as I approached them.

"Police! Drop your weapons!" I yelled, flashing my badge from across the street in the dark. Immediately two of them ran off, but the third one stood with his hands up. I quickly glided over to the man and then did something that was difficult to explain. Normally, I wouldn't share this kind of information in a report, but I need to in this case.

Without warning I was out of control of my body, and I saw myself talking to this guy. I suddenly had feet, and a face that I could actually look at. Did I look that beat up? Oh well.

The man talked to us and swore that he didn't know where our suspect was, even though we knew he was good friends with him. We threatened him a couple of times, and them punched him around a bit. I couldn't control any of my actions, but I knew that I probably would've done the same thing. It was like one of those out of body experiences people talk about. Thankfully, it was over in a few minutes, and I arrested the man, putting the cuffs on him and slamming him to the ground. Everything went smoothly, and within minutes I was done with the mission.

This is just one of the many missions I accomplished while playing Battlefield Hardline. Instead of focusing on major wars like previous Battlefield entries, this one plays out like a police drama. Everything from the office scenes to arresting people on the streets reminded me of different cop dramas I had seen over the years. I even collected evidence using a scanner, and then put the pieces together to learn more about the criminals I was trying to catch.

Although the game is not as intricate as L.A. Noire, another game that was a police drama, the action in this game is a lot more polished, along with the visuals. It isn't a completely fair comparison since the L.A. Noire came out on last gen consoles like Xbox 360 exclusively, but the environments do look amazing in Battlefield Hardline.

I was drawn into each plot twist and action scene, since the acting is great and the environments are beautifully detailed with smooth animation and gorgeous lighting. I will not spoil any plot point here, since it is not my goal in this report to ruin the story of such a great game.

If stories and awesome environments aren't your thing, there are a variety of competitive multiplayer modes to keep you company. I didn't play a lot of the multiplayer before writing this report because I believe that once you play it for a few minutes you can fully understand the experience. Basically, do the objective, kill other players, get points, level up, get new weapons, rinse, repeat. Nothing new in the multiplayer shooting market. It's not offensive in any way, nor is it boring, but it didn't stand out to me in any particular way.

Overall, if you enjoy police dramas filled with suspense, plot twists, justice, good graphics, and a lack of feet as you glide around town, then I'd recommend Battlefield Hardline. Now I just need to file this report and get ready for another mission on the Miami Police Force. Officer J.S. Out.

Comments Section (Update)

Hey everyone! I have just unlocked the comments section on my blog for each post that I write, so if you like you can now feel free to comment and leave suggestions, criticisms, encouragements, gripes or whatever comes to mind. :)

Thank you guys for all of your support for my blog! It really means a lot to me.

Keep on playing, my friends. :)

Jonathan

PS. Sorry for the technical difficulties there. I fixed it for real this time. Thanks again!

Poor Man's Epic (Ben Hur Review)

Quick Facts:

 Developer: Krome Studios

Initial Release Date: August 8, 2016

Platforms: Xbox One

Rating: T (Violence)

Remember being a kid? You probably had bright, curious eyes and a contagious laugh that made you look forward to the life ahead of you. With each bounding step you were reacting constantly to external stimuli. From the sudden joy of finding your favorite toy to the itching curiosity of not knowing what was hiding in your presents, you were constantly experiencing a flux of emotions and moods that made life interesting...

If there was one thing that really made life interesting back in those days, it was the joy of discovering that your favorite box of cereal also had a toy in it! With great expectation you'd ask your mom or dad to pick up a box of your favorite cereal, and then rush to get to the hidden gem. It was always something silly, like a flashlight, a battery operated gizmo, or just a collectible, but you wanted it. The toy might have entertained you for only a few minutes, but you'll always remember it. If the toy wasn't what you thought it'd be, you'd feel the bitter sting of disappointment, but at least you had the delicious, crunchy cereal to enjoy.

Ben Hur is like finding a toy that seemed pretty decent when you laid eyes on it, but then realize that it's a one trick pony. And there is no cereal at the end. Only wasted hard drive space.

It's a game made for those with really short attention spans or miserable hand eye coordination, but it presents itself as a challenge. Every minute of game play, little bubbles full of gamerscore popped up to reward me for playing the game. Congratulations! You won a race. Good job! You knocked someone off their chariot. Hooray! You turned left. Well done! You wrecked.

Through this game's extensive three race career, I managed to get almost every achievement the game had to offer. You might think that the races are interspersed with some kind of dialogue, story, or at least context, and you'd be wrong. If I were to write a strategy guide for Ben Hur it'd look like this.

"Start the game. Choose 'New Race'. Whip opponents. Turn left. Win."

It's as simple as that! Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that you can whip your horses by tapping the A button, but don't do it too much because the horses get exhausted after two seconds and will slow down to a speed that is slower than the starting speed before you started whipping them. But, if you don't whip them you can't expect to win, because the computer players don't have that problem.

So instead of a boost mechanic you'd see in other racers with a bar and a cool down, you'll constantly be tapping that button at weird intervals. It's like pouring a soda slowly over a cup of ice. Pour it too fast and you'll fizz all over the table, but if you pour it too slowly, the soda will be flat.

The only part of this game I did enjoy was when other racers wrecked in slow motion, but even that design choice was odd. Instead of swinging the camera around briefly to show the wreckage (like Burnout Paradise does so well), it reveals the wreckage in a little square at the bottom of the screen as if the race were being covered by ESPN.

If you don't mind these weird design quirks, and if you're looking for easy gamerscore, then I'd recommend this game for the sole purpose of experiencing something new. It will only last a few minutes, so even if the experience is painful it'll be brief. Then, after you've finished beating the game, go get yourself some delicious, crunchy cereal. Your inner child will thank you.

Keeping the Creed (Assassin Creed Unity Review)

Quick Facts:

Developer: Ubisoft

Initial Release Date: November 11, 2014

Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PC

Rating: M (Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Use of Alcohol)

WARNING: THIS GAME IS NOT APPROPRIATE FOR CHILDREN OR YOUNGER TEENS

Assassins are mysterious phantoms. They hide among the crowd, waiting for their highly valued prey. With each passing moment, they learn more about their target. Nothing goes unnoticed, not even the subtlest detail about their victim. An assassin can study every intricacy of a person, from the subtle sway of their walk to the furtive eye movements made during important negotiations. Of course, there is one piece of information that takes priority above all others. They know when their victim will be  alone.

In one swift strike, the predator steals the life of their unfortunate prey. With a slight smirk, the assassin will then report their exploits to their client, and be paid for their highly skilled craft. A skilled player in Assassin's Creed: Unity can pull off this kind of stunt with the slightest ease. The controls are intuitive and easy to learn. Even if you forget, there is a helpful diagram at the top right of the screen that shows what each button does in a given situation which is very helpful.

Thankfully, the diagram doesn't take away from the beautifully lit environments. Each cobblestone can be seen in the street as you walk down it, and light realistically reflects off of each surface as the time of day changes. It is simultaneously pretty and grimy. Dirt can be seen clinging to the clothes of beggars as they line the streets calling out for just enough money to survive, which adds to the gritty realism that the game is trying to portray. A red suited man jumping all over buildings and on top of people like a misplaced French Mario brother does not. This is where the seriousness of the game breaks down altogether.

See, most people play this game with the intent of pulling off the stealthiest kill and going away undetected. I do my best to be really noticeable, and then if someone in the game has a problem with it, I kill them. Not civilians of course, since the game won't allow you to lay a hand on them, although the guards give me problems. They can't seem to understand that it is perfectly normal for a man to stand on top of a lamppost and try to land on someone's head as they walk underneath, or interrupt a romantic evening by standing awkwardly between a couple until they start oddly swaying back and forth in confusion.

In fact, I think I'm the sane one compared to most of the people in this game. On the way to stop a thief, I noticed that there was a woman literally yelling at a wall. Her arms flailed around like she was throwing a temper tantrum, and suddenly she just stopped, staring at the bricks as if they were responding to her inaudible demands. Weird.

After stopping the thief, the guards started attacking. Whether it was out of jealous rage or a serious misunderstanding I wasn't sure, but I knew what to do with them. Combat in Assassin's Creed: Unity is simplistic but well implemented. You swing your sword with one button, and parry with another. Thankfully, your opponents tell you that they are about to swing their sword about thirty seconds before they actually start moving towards you, so you have plenty of time to react. Once you DO react, you can finish them off with a wonderfully animated take down, which is contextual based on your position.

A healthy splatter of blood covers the walls and floor of whatever room you're in when in combat, showing a realistic depiction of swordplay. For those who are not into violent games, there isn't much to fear here. Although there is a little bit of blood, there isn't a lot of dismemberment or anything too gruesome during these combat sequences. Think of it like a basic PG-13 rated action flick and you'll get the gist of it.

Once I finished off the last guard, I stopped to marvel at the wonderful sunset. Lights play off the environment beautifully, even though the brightness can hurt the eyes if it's set too high (which can be adjusted in the menus). It is then that I noticed the subtle details. Once I wiped the blood off of my blade I took a moment to breathe and look around. One thing that Assassin's Creed: Unity does well is it's attention to detail.

When you walk around the city, you'll notice little details that most developers overlook. I once ran into a group of people dancing to classical violin music. It wasn't a canned animation that looped every five seconds either, it was a legitimate dance. Minor artistic touches like these are what makes games art.

You may be wondering more about the story, and after this review you will still wonder about it because I won't tell you. It is better that you experience the story for yourself than if I were to weakly attempt to summarize it in such a short review. All I can say is that it is well written, the voice actors did a fantastic job, and the graphics will glue your eyes to the screen.

Also, if you are in the mood for some comical camaraderie, there is a multiplayer option where you and a few friends can play co-op missions together. All you have to do is find them, invite them to your game, and wander the city together, climbing buildings and jumping on people to your hearts content. You can also attempt the harder group missions that provide cosmetic and monetary rewards if you feel up to the challenge.

Assassin's Creed: Unity is a great experience and I enjoyed my time with it. It has beautiful graphics, a moving soundtrack, and a keen eye for intricate detail. Even if you are not an aspiring assassin, this game will kill time in an efficient and enjoyable manner.

Rogue Robots (Ultratron review)

Quick Facts:

Developer: Puppy Games

Initial Release Date: March 18, 2013

Platforms:  PS3, PS4, PS Vita, Wii U, Xbox One, PC, Mac, Linux

Rating: E

Intruder alert! Sirens scream everywhere as you try to stay alive. Colorful sparks flood the screen as each robot is destroyed with deadly precision. Lights flash over the metal assassin as he fills the arena with sparks and coins that it must collect. With each defeated adversary, you feel a unique sensation. Blood pumps through your veins as techno music fills the neon backdrop with an underlying sense of urgency. You must escape, but there is a fear creeping deep within. What if there is no end? 

You ignore the thought and focus on the last few enemies in the room creeping towards you. Within seconds they erupt in sparks and currency. The game pauses. Is this the end? No. Suddenly, the game transports you to a different room altogether, letting you upgrade your weapons, repair your shields, and install little helpers that can fire on their own. A deep suspicion starts to formulate inside of your brain as you look at the options laid out before you. If this factory wants you dead, then why are they allowing you to become more powerful? Do they want to see you destroy all of their hard work? 

Ultratron never answers these questions. Instead of weaving a narrative to explain your actions, or why everything wants to shoot you, it assumes you aren't here for answers. You're here for a challenge of wit and reflexes. This isn't a story driven indie masterpiece like Limbo or Braid. It's a retro style throwback to a simpler time when games didn't need to say a word to demand your attention. 

Everything from the neon graphics to the simplistic gameplay brings back memories of dimly lit arcades filled with gamers trying to reach the coveted top score. The main difference between this new generation of retro style twin-stick shooter (where you control the character with the left joystick, and aim with the right), and previous shooters is that your competition is far greater. While the arcade dwellers had each other and the occasional visitor to compete against, Ultratron unites the world.

When your little robot friend finally bites the dust (and it will), the game greets you with your score, and then how insignificant your efforts were compared to the world's elite gamers. It can be disheartening to realize that the hour you pumped into surviving endless waves of malicious robots only netted you the 123,456th place on the leaderboard, but that is where the longevity of the game comes to the forefront. Some may seek to conquer the world with their amazing skills and razor sharp reflexes. With time and effort, they may reach the top and have their name forever remembered until someone surpasses them. That is the brutal irony of achieving the top of a leaderboard. You're only recognized if you remain there. If you are not the competitive type, then these leaderboards will probably be irrelevant to you.

But, if you are in the mood for an intense, neon filled adrenaline rush then I'd highly recommend this game. Just don't expect to be involved in a deep narrative or complex gameplay. It's a simple shooter with one specialty that it does really well...destroy your rogue robot as fast as possible.

(At the time of this writing, this game was free to PS Plus members on PS3, PS4, and PS Vita, which is where I received my copy for review. If you are interested in getting the game and are a PS Plus subscriber, now would be the best time.)

Reader's Choice: RPG

Hey everyone! The new reader's choice poll is up and running! You guys now have a choice between four great Role Playing Games for me to review for the next week. I look forward to seeing which one you will choose!

For your convenience I have added trailers for each of the four games listed so that you can get a glimpse of what each one looks like.

1. Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

2. Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

3. Lords of the Fallen

4. Fallout 4

Winner for Reader's Choice (8/6/16)

Hey everyone! The poll results have come in from this past week...and the winner is Assassin's Creed Unity! I want to thank everyone who participated in the Reader's Choice section of the blog, because it helps me to figure out which games you guys want to see reviewed next.

Expect to see a review for this awesome title within the week! Thank you guys again for your participation.

I will be posting again soon with updates on the next Reader's Choice!

The History of Warfare (Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate Review)

Quick Facts:

Developer: Omega Force
Initial Release Date: September 2, 2014

Platforms: PS3, PS4, PS Vita, Xbox ONE

Rating: T (Mild language, Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco, Violence)

Ancient warfare was brutal. Soldiers did not have the convenience of long range weaponry, and had to rely on quick footwork, strong arms, and brilliant hand eye coordination to take down their foes. Thousands of people would battle for supremacy across wide battlefields, but only certain ones had special abilities. Their talents extended far beyond the connection with their swords and spears and into the depths of their souls. 

Some might think that these gifts dealt in the realm of strategy or sophistication in warfare, but I am here to report from first hand experience that these men and women were far more powerful. They did not spend time in war rooms concocting brilliant battlefield strategies. Instead, they spent their time and energy training diligently. After months of physical labor they emerged onto the battlefield with a new authority.

They tore through hundreds of soldiers, slashing through waves of trained combatants and standing among their disappearing bodies in victory. Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate captures this feeling perfectly. As I sat there pressing a single button, I wiped away hundreds of fighters and chuckled at their weakness. The more I fought, the more powerful my soldiers became. Each one has their own leveling system, which dictates the length and complexity of their combos, as well as other stats such as health and magical abilities.

It is easy to pick up and play for anyone willing to hold a controller, but is not difficult enough for those who want to keep the controller firmly in their grasp. Once you get the main controls down, the repetition begins to sink in a sort of relaxing, satisfying rhythm. It's oddly cathartic when you witness hundreds of people falling beneath your mighty sword. Even the bosses are defeated with relative ease, which may be a turnoff for anyone looking for a relatively challenging experience.

When you are not fighting, you are probably wondering where to go next. Usually a map is supposed to be helpful in directing someone get from point A to point B, but this game would rather show you how point A goes to point X, what point D is doing to point F, how point E is reacting to point S, and how Point T is tired of the way Points U and W are treating it when suddenly Point B disappears entirely. In short, the map is in a battle of it's own. The map consists of lots of blue dots for friends, and red dots for enemies, which is simple enough, but if you are looking for directions, I have one piece of advice. Go as far to the opposite corner from where you started from as possible. If you run into a wall or a gate, or if someone starts randomly yelling at you in Japanese for going in that direction, then you are closer to beating the mission.

While you travel from one point to another, you begin to realize that nothing in the world has texture. There might be some tiny blades of grass here and there, but nothing feels like the battles are taking place in a realistic environment. This is definitely not a deal breaker, and I actually enjoyed the simplistic style of the game. It made it easier for me to focus on all of the crazy events going on without being distracted by unnecessary detail.

Once the battles are over, you return to a base camp and upgrade characters, which is a pretty straightforward process, though it is never fully explained. I won't ruin the surprise in this review, but let's just say that once you figure out weapon upgrading you will enjoy it. It seems like an unnecessary addition to the game, since almost every enemy you'll come across falls in one hit, but it is still a nice touch to see the progression of your characters and their mastery of the weapons that they wield.

Now you may have noticed that I have spent the whole review discussing the mechanics and haven't mentioned the story once. Well, to be honest, I didn't pay much attention to it. When a game starts off with a normal battle, then throws in a hydra, and then says that you can randomly time travel back and forth to save people that you didn't save previously because the hydra was about to kill you and some spirit lady shows up out of the blue to tell you all of this without any backstory...you get lost. It's also in Japanese, with English subtitles, which is not a bad thing, but it gets tedious to read paragraphs worth of material as the characters stand there and converse with each other in a language I do not understand. This is a personal view, since a lot of people prefer a Japanese recording to their English dubbed counterparts, but I would like it if I didn't have to read as much to get the story. If I wanted to read that much, I'd turn off my Xbox and open a book.

Even though it sounds as though I am giving this game a lot of negative criticism, I really enjoyed the experience. The simplicity of it is cathartic, especially after a long, hard day. With Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate, I can just sit back, relax, and fight epic battles without worrying about skill or practice. It's like a sweet dessert to my steady diet of virtual challenge that I get from other games. I highly recommend this game for those who are in the mood for mindless fun, whether that is through fighting hundreds of enemies in battles, or fighting your friends one on one in duel mode. Just don't use it as a source for a history paper on ancient warfare, or else you'll fail it.

Journal of a Time Traveler (Life Is Strange: Episode 1 review)

Quick Facts:

Developer: Dontnod Entertainment
Initial Release Date: January 29, 2015

Platforms: Linux, PC, Mac, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One

Rating: M (Blood, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Use of Drugs, Use of Alcohol)

WARNING: THIS GAME IS NOT APPROPRIATE FOR CHILDREN OR YOUNGER TEENS

Dear Journal,

Everyone thinks I'm a freak. It's not easy being the new girl at Blackwell Academy, especially if you don't know how to communicate with the outside world except through clicks of the camera. You see, I capture the world in brief, immortal glimpses. My eyes notice light, color, and texture, and I seek to catch that moment in time. In pictures, one can witness a scene in this world's ongoing play. It's like preserving a piece of life, holding it captive within the borders of a simple piece of paper.

When I show people my work, it's like letting them glimpse into my soul. It's not just a photograph, it's like...like letting someone look through my eyes, and feel my raw emotions. Each picture I take shows them another piece of who I am. That is why I couldn't turn in my work today.

If my professor saw it, he'd probably laugh at it. He'd dismiss it as the work of an amateur, and leave me with a crushed piece of my soul. Nothing would be good enough for him. He's famous around the world as a brilliant photographer, and I'm just me. Nothing special, nothing to admire, nothing to appreciate. Wow, that got depressing.

Something was different today though. Ever have that feeling that someone is watching you? Yeah, it's similar to that, but on a deeper level. I felt like...like someone was looking at me and making judgements based on what I did. I tried to keep myself together, but for some reason I kept seeing chalky, white letters appearing above random objects. It freaked me out but I kept my cool. No one needed to think I was even more of a freak. 

These notes kept showing up everywhere, but only on certain objects and people. Am I crazy? Maybe. I tried to sneak out the door to gather my thoughts, but my professor stopped me. I came up with some lame excuse why I couldn't turn in my photography assignment and a little note popped up next to his head. "He will remember that," it said. What the heck? 

I ran to the bathroom to gather my composure...and then was back in class again. The same...exact...place. I still don't remember how I got there, but I know something was wrong. Everyone rehearsed the same lines I heard before, like I was on some kind of film set and my class was a group of actors. I might be crazy, but I think I have a superpower. Get me a cape and a catchphrase because I'm here to save the day! I must be losing it.

Apparently I can manipulate time, which is pretty rad. The rest of the day I spent using my time manipulation abilities to change things. I'm a hero! Maybe this little freak can actually do something for once to help humanity. Taking pictures is fun, but something about running around saving the day sounds better. Of course, there still was that feeling of someone watching me...and judging.

I hope nobody reads this journal entry or they're going to think I'm crazy or stupid. Who cares? There must be a reason for me to have this power, and I haven't found out why yet but I have a feeling that this is just the beginning of a long journey. If there is anything I learned today, it's this...

Life is Strange.

- Max Caulfield