Oxyborb.com Video Game Reviews

Yooka-Laylee
 
Horizon: Zero Dawn


Everybody's Gone To The Rapture


Splatoon


Rocket League
 
Batman: Arkham Knight


The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Mario Kart 8

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS

Thoughts on Diablo 3

So, I wrote most of this awhile back, but I never posted it because I wanted to beat all the modes first.

As an avid Diablo 2 fan, I was put off by the idea of weapons damage = spell damage, no skill tree choices, and limited spell slots. You get a good amount of spell slots, although I wish I could use more of my abilities. In Diablo 2, my Necromancer used almost 15 spells all at once, and I felt powerful. My Witch Doctor feels more limited, but I do like playing him anyway.

There are weird/stupid changes to the Diablo format, such as the removal of runewords and the reduction of gems. The new crafting system has better functionality and results, but something about combining elements in the Horodric Cube felt more fun.

I feel like there’s less loot, too, and the loot that you get has less variations in magical abilities. Maybe I’m wrong, but that’s just how it feels when I play it. The loot I get in the game just never really amounts to much better than what I already have.

I don’t like the removal of skill trees and stat upgrade choices. One of the most fun parts of D2 was making hard choices on where to place points on the tree, and I loved it when my skeleton army would increase because I would pump up the level of that skill (and boost it with wands and stuff with magical skill upgrades). I miss creating a character in that way. This new game doesn’t feel like character creation; it feels like building a cloned character that will end up being exactly the same as every other Witch Doctor, played the same exact way.

I don’t like the multiplayer system. Instead of creating a room function like D2, they do a “Jump right in” button that misses the point of why D2 was so great. In D2, you could create a game with a specific purpose. In D3, all games are either duel or mission mode. No drop games. No trading rooms. No hide-and-seek mode. All the fun user-created playstyles are impossible with the way this multiplayer is set up. 

How to make Mario Kart 9 Significantly Better than 8

Mario Kart 8 has some of the best racing in any game ever. This fact cannot be disputed. The items are finally balanced; even the blue shell is OK. The new courses are extremely fun, the remixed returning tracks are inspired and fresh again with the new mechanics. The anti-gravity is great. Bumping each other for boosts is really awesome. I love the glider and the underwater propeller. I love the racing. The tricks. Wow. Such fun.

All that above is undeniable. Best racing in a Mario Kart, hands down. The thing that Mario Kart 8 lacks in is features and game modes. While the core gameplay is the best it’s ever been, the extras were bare bones. It’s like all of the resources for Mario Kart went into the races, and then everything else was rushed to get the game out faster. Obviously, Wii U needed the game immediately, so I can understand why this happened, but it’s still worth talking about. Why? Because I love Nintendo more than any other gaming company. I want them to succeed, not fall behind. If I’m honest, though, Nintendo is falling behind when it comes to basic features that should be in every game. I’m not hating on Nintendo here, just trying to add another voice to let them know how critical it is that they get their games up to the same level as other companies.

First, I want to talk menus.

They are very simplistic, and not in a good way. The menu systems that Nintendo implements in its games feel archaic, dry. They are: go straight to the races. However, modern companies that accept that online is how gamers want to be should give its customers more than that. A menu system should make the community of people who love that game feel like it’s a living and breathing world.