August Break

As a teacher, I get time off in August, right after summer school ends.

My break was mostly spent finishing my novel. I did that every single day for most of the day. I worked hard, and I'm nearly finished now. But, just for fun, I'm going to post something else from each day of August Break.

Each number is a day:

1 Messaged a friend (who thinks Batman is hilarious) that there is a town called Batman in Turkey. (I discovered this doing research for a novel).

2 I cooked 3 pizzas using hand-chopped ingredients and Pillsbury dough.

3 I watched The Giver movie (it was OK) and then I did some scrapbooking.

4 I beat a trophy challenge in Arkham Knight called Brutality 101.

5 I got stood up.

6 I went on a solo adventure to Twilight Comics and At Home.

7 Tried to fix a car (not mine) that was fried on the side of the street. It needed a new engine, no joke.

8 Went to the Alpine Shop and also bought pumpkin spiced coffee creamer.

9 Began playing a new game called No Man's Sky.

10 Saw my cousin and aunt.

11 Had a weird dream about Hillary and Donald fighting for control of the universe in space-warfare.

12 Heard rumors and gossip all over facebook.

13 Went to a retro gaming convention with my cousin.

14 Had breakfast with a close friend and then prepared to return to school.

Batman: Arkham Knight Review

Gush, gush, gush.

I loved it.

OXYBORB.COM Official Review Score for Batman – Arkham Knight: 9.6/10 

OK, that out of the way, what I want to talk about is the downloadable content plan for this series of Batman games:

Challenge Naps

 OK, listen up, devs. Sorry to tell you, but challenge maps are lame. We don’t want them. We don’t want to download them. I know there has been a lot of criticism against the downloadable content for this game, but people play these amazing Batman games for the STORY content. The developer needs to use DLC to expand the OPEN WORLD that Batman is in, not add minigames that are a pain to get through.

Skins aren’t wins

…new costumes pointless. Also, whenever I tried on a skin my characters glitched out (their head froze and the speaking animations stopped during cutscenes). Skins make me laugh for a second, but then I switch back to normal Batman. I won’t purchase these for a dumb laugh.

 

ONLY STORY

 The only DLC that I will actually purchase is story DLC. Batman AK is a marvel of a game because the story and the gameplay work together so well. Skins and challenge maps are a waste of development time. Make more story. 

SPOILERS GOING FORWARD – WARNING!

2015 Game of the Year

So, this list isn’t a list of my favorite games that released in 2015… this is a list of my favorite games I played this year. Some are old games that I just finally got around to, some are new games.

Want to know who won in other years? Here’s the 2018, 2017, 2016, 2014, and 2013 list.

2015 is THE YEAR OF TOOLS AND TOYS!

This past year in gaming has been about giving players fun tools and toys, both in the physical sense and as in in-game items. Batman got a Batmobile. Mario got a level creator. Fallout got buildable settlements. Nintendo made a million amiibos.

So, without further ado, my 2015 list of favorite plays (in no particular order):

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

The Witcher 3 was my first Witcher game (although I attempted to play 2, but it wouldn’t run on my Mac). I got it for PS4 because I had a gut feeling it would be amazing (and it was). I completed EVERY mission in the game (that I could find, I suppose I might have missed one). It was the perfect time suck I needed during some months of hard work I’ve had over this past year at my job. The storytelling was phenomenal and the first DLC expansion was fantastic. MORE THOUGHTS BY ME ON THIS GAME HERE!

Super Mario Maker

SMM was great. I made so many custom level, it’s not even funny (check some out here!). I even made a Hogwarts recreation. I loved playing my friends levels and getting feedback on Miiverse. Truly, this is a Mario fan’s dream come true. I hope that there is more DLC soon! Check out a showcase of level I've made here!

Batman: Arkham Knight

I have a half-finished Batman review, I plan to release in 2016! I LOVED this game. The Joker has never been better than he is inside Batman’s head. I loved the new tools, the tank, and the story. The moment where you enter the Clocktower to find Oracle is one of the best moments I’ve ever seen in all of gaming. The programmers did something that blew my mind. MORE THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS GAME HERE!

Splatoon

Here’s another game I have a half-finished review of. I loved this quirky little game, although I wish it weren’t so withholding of levels. It drives me a little nuts to only be able to play 2 levels at a time. But the game is fresh, as Nintendo claimed, and it’s a welcome new IP. 

Amiibo

This isn’t a game, per say. Honestly, I’ve barely used the figures I’ve collected in the games. I just love Smash Brothers so much, that these small statues are wonderful to own and set on my desk. Hunting down these things began in November of 2014, but the real hunt began the next year, as these figures became so scarce that people were lining up in front of stores at early times in the morning just to get them. The “game” of hunting amiibos became a hobby of mine, and I’ll admit that going after these was almost as fun as owning them. Check out my Ice Climbers amiibo here!

Honorable mentions: (still just games I played in 2015, not necessarily released)

Harvest Moon: Back to Nature – On my final stretch before Fallout 4’s release, I needed a semi-RPG with building-elements to tide me over, and this game did wonders for me.

Donkey Kong 64 – The people who made Banjo-Kazooie began a crazy kickstarter to fund a spiritual successer. It made me want to play a Rare game, and being that I don’t own an Xbox, I settled for this. I didn’t beat it, but it was fun for what it was worth.

Telltale’s Game of Thrones – I beat the first season, because I love A Song of Ice and Fire so much. It was fun, but the choices I made didn’t seem to matter and I don’t think I’ll be playing season 2.

Mewtwo DLC in Smash Bros. – Revisiting Smash was fun mostly because Mewtwo returned. As a displaced Ice Climbers player, I just couldn’t find a new main until Mewtwo. Now, whenever I play online 1v1 for glory, I tend to play Mewtwo, ROB, and Ludwig Koopa.
Batman: Arkham Asylum – After beating Arkham Knight, I went back and played this one for the first time. It actually held up really well! Great game!

Fallout Shelter – I played this until it crashed my phone. Haha, my phone just couldn’t handle my Vault when it got too big. I loved what I played though, so maybe I’ll play more if I get a new device.
Gwent – This side-game in Witcher 3 deserves its own recognition. I oftentimes only got on to play Witcher 3 just so I could find people to play Gwent with. This card game is fantastic, and I wish they’d made an online-enabled version of it with new cards.

The Oxyborb Blog Game Of The Year for 2015

Fallout 4 Bethesda Games Studios is the best developer in the world, in my humble opinion. Yes, their games crash, but no other developer even attempts to do what Bethesda does. The Witcher was a close second, but I prefer Fallout's gameplay. Fallout 4 is my favorite game of all-time, just as Skyrim was before it. I can’t explain what great feeling Bethesda RPGs give me. I cannot wait for the newly announced DLC.

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So, I guess that’s it for 2014. Thanks for a great year on my blog! Let me know what you think in the comments, in fact, tell me what your personal GOTY was!

Thanks for stopping by my blog!
UNRAVELSPACE UNRAVELTIME

The bittersweet emptiness of finishing The Witcher 3

I didn’t just beat the game; I got all the trophies (I played it on PS4). I don’t always aim to Platinum a game, but there are just some games that make me want to become a master of it. I have never played the first two games or read the books, so W3 was my first experience in this world.

a funny glitch I came upon

Now, my blog is about constructive criticism. I am a creative-type; I love thinking about how to improve games. I don’t usually gloat on and on because that’s boring to read, but I will say this:

The Witcher 3 is awesome storytelling. It takes each character from its huge cast through an individual story, allows you to get to know them, makes you love them, and then brings the entire cast back in the last act for a grand finish. The last act of the game, I kept saying to myself, “I love how all of these characters have come together. I love seeing ________ here.” Even minor characters, like a certain swamp godling, return for the last act. The whole thing gave me the feels. Well crafted dialog, well thought out plot, believable characters. Lore that is rich and rewarding. Monsters that give you the moral choices to allow them to live. The Witcher 3 left me feeling bittersweet about the game's end, because the character-drive writing was so, so good. I wish it could have gone on and on.

The Witcher 3 is a masterfully crafted work of fiction. Well done, CD Projekt Red!

Let me also gush on that developer. Wow, kids. You’re really a AAA dev now. I expect a million more games from you. Not only is the storytelling some of the best in gaming ever (right up there beside Mass Effect), but it also might be the absolute most beautiful game graphics I’ve ever seen. It’s stunning. I don’t even know how or why games would ever need to look better than this. Wow.

On top of all that, CD Projekt Red made me feel so excited and love-stricken with this dev before I had even popped the disk in the PS4. Just opening the package for this game yielded a helpful story booklet (for people like me who are new to The Witcher), a soundtrack (which is AWESOME, beautiful music), a nice unfolding map of the world (in full color), and a slip of paper with the note in red:

This was really classy. Really classy. I’m not being sarcastic. The dev is saying that they recognize how hard I’ve worked to pay for their game. It makes me feel good inside, to know that they intend to support me as much as I’ve supported them. This small slip of paper is AAA customer service from a AAA dev.

And they lived up to it, with honors. Most companies take ages to patch their games, but The Witcher 3 has been patched several times, and I’ve downloaded tons of free DLC. They listened to criticisms against the game, and they’ve reacted with fixes. I’m just really, really impressed.  

 

SPOILERS AHEAD! CAUTION!