Tag: expansion

My favorite gaming music #29 ~ Nostalgic Times

More in this series

Sometimes life gets extremely busy. One of the main reasons why I don’t write so many articles lately is because I’m placing my focus on so many other things, and I end up feeling too tired or too creatively drained to write an article. From streaming with my friends to finishing things up in my new apartment. Those are just two things that I have been doing. My day job and personal life are keeping my busy as well, and I have also started spending time with my other hobbies, so I have been playing fewer games lately. But, last week, my old computer that I used to play my Windows98 games on died. I bought a new computer via eBay and in the meantime I have been playing games I used to play when I was a child/young teen. When I heard some of the music of those games, I thought to myself… You know what, maybe it’s a great time to bring back that gaming music series on my blog one time to talk about some of these nostalgic tracks while I’m replaying these old games. So, let’s do right that. In this series, I talk about one track per franchise per article and why it’s in my list of favorite gaming music tracks. I’m trying to do my best to not have repeat tracks in this series. Feel free to write a comment on my choices in the comment section down below, or comment with your own favorite tracks. Now, before I ramble on too much in this introduction, let’s dive right in with the first track.

Nightmare Reaper (PC) – Psyche Surgery

My article about Nightmare Reaper

If there is one game I have been playing since 2020, it is Nightmare Reaper. I just love booting up this game once in a while and playing one or two rounds… Well, I say one or two. But those quickly turn into 10 or more in most cases.

I always know that whilst playing a game, when a game is going to become a classic I’m going to replay in the future. Especially when the flow of the whole game just clicks into place for me, and when I don’t mind restarting the game just to experience it again. And Nightmare Reaper with it’s procedurally generated levels is doing the trick for me. It was also one of the first games I have heard Andrew Hulshult’s work, and let me tell you… It’s always a blast to hear his work in boomer shooter games.

The heavy metal soundtrack in this game fits the chaotic nature of the gameplay where you have to dodge various attacks and do crowd control to the maximum. The soundtrack of this game is that well crafted that even I listen to the soundtrack during work, I sometimes can see the game in my mind and just feel like I’m back home playing it. It’s a blast to listen to too casually and in-game. Highly recommended, and I’m so glad I was able to get the soundtrack on Steam so, I can put it on my phone and even listen to it while I’m in the train from and to work.

Age of Mythology (Titans Expansion) (PC) – Hoping For Real Betterness

My review of the remaster

I just adore games that have a unique twist. Especially when that twist is something that turns on the whole core mechanics of the genre on it’s head. Now, we all know our real time strategy games like Age of Empires or Command & Conquer. Now, some of you might also know the game I want to talk about now, and that is Age of Mythology.

Image, if you will, that while you are playing that RTS match… Everybody has access to 4 godly powers they can use to change the tide of the match. And not only that, depending on if you installed the expansion pack or not, that you can summon huge titans to aid you in battle. This makes playing the game even more unique. Oh, and let’s throw famous mythical stories in the mix as well.

Man, the dilemma back in the day was real. I never knew if I wanted to play through Age of Empires III or Age of Mythology. I was always doubting which one to play and most of the time I had to leave it up to a coin toss and even then picked Age of Mythology sometimes.

The more clam soundtrack while outside of battle is a perfect way to build the tension that is the calm before the storm. The tracks during battles ramp up, of course, but I enjoy them equally much as the more calm and relaxing tracks. Something I adore as well are the cute names that some of these tracks got. Like, the main theme is called: “A Cat Named Mittens”. Just give this soundtrack a listen, you’ll find it equally hard to pick your favorite themes out of this masterclass of an RTS soundtrack.

Pokémon HeartGold & SoulSilver (DS) – National Park

A wild Pokémon retrospective appears

Since last year, I have started to learn myself how to program. I’m doing it step by step, and I’m actually learning a lot. So much, I’m able to create various solutions to lighten the workload of my coworkers in the school I work for.

One thing that also pulled my interest while learning programming is how you can use it to do crazy things. When I saw Pimanrules’ video about how each trainer in the Pokémon games stacks up against the other trainers… I was fascinated by the concept. Recently, the video about the 2nd generation got published. And me being in such a nostalgic mood made me pick up my copy of Pokémon HeartGold to replay through the 2nd generation of Pokémon once more.

There are several tracks that pulled me back to my childhood, but the one that even got me a bit teary-eyed was the theme that plays in the National Park. I have a weak spot in soundtracks when it comes to music with a calm piano track, and the National Park theme hits the nail right on the head.

Memories came flooding back from me playing Pokémon Gold on my Game Boy Color and abusing the cloning glitch on my 2nd playthrough. Also, memories from my childhood how my mind was blown that we suddenly had a whole second region to re-explore after beating Jotho. And after that, memories of the hype when the remakes got released and how everybody was walking around with a PokéWalker in my school. I even saw a few teachers using the PokéWalker for their kids, it was amazing. Trying to talk about all my memories with Pokémon can be a whole article in itself, but if you read this and think: “I should pick up one of these old Pokémon games…”, do it. Relive your childhood and just let the memories flow back. And just play without using a guide. Let your mind wonder, let it be lost again. Try to find that imagination again, the relaxing nature of the adventure and how life was back then.

The Legend of Zelda – The Minish Cap (GBA) – Palace of Winds

My review on the game

In my review of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, I talked about how I have a soft spot for the 2(,5)D Zelda games. While I totally understand that there will be a small chance we will see a new Zelda game like that in the future, I’m glad that there are so many of them released.

I personally expected that I’d replay the Oracle games in my current nostalgic mood, but I restarted my journey through the Minish Cap again. The first time I played through the Minish Cap was when my local game store still rented out games. For the yearly family trip to the seaside, I rented The Minish Cap and NickToons Volcano Island on the Game Boy Advance. I got hooked so bad on the Minish Cap that I re-rented the NickToons game after I had beaten The Minish Cap. Yes, in the three weeks I had the game, I had beaten it.

Of course, I didn’t play it all the time since as a child on holiday in a child-friendly holiday park, I played a lot outside with my friends. But, on rainy days or on shopping trips, I always had my Game Boy Advance SP with me. And yes, I even snuck it underneath my sheets sometimes to play it during the nighttime. Everybody my age has done that.

One track that stuck with me is the Palace of Winds. It’s an amazing, bombastic track for the final dungeon of the game. Exploring through that dungeon was so much fun. I felt that it was the final challenge before tackling the final boss of the game. I can’t wait to replay it since I have forgotten most of how the dungeon works, and I’m playing through the game again with some vague memories. But, this is the newest game I restarted playing, so it’ll take me some time to reach that dungeon. But, I’ll get there for sure… If I don’t get distracted by other games, that is.

Stella Glow (3DS) – Shop

My review

If there is one game I really want to restart playing, it is Stella Glow. Let me tell you a story. Currently, I have been writing this blog for a little bit over 10 years. Before that, I have been writing a now deleted personal blog for a few years. Now, when I started to write in English, I met another blogger by the name of LpGardian. He ran his own website that is now grown quite a lot.

He had amazing connections with some developers and one time I dropped in a call that I played the Stella Glow demo on my 3DS, and I was quite interested in playing the full game to review it. To my surprise, Atlus actually approached him with a review code for the game, and he gave me the chance to review this game for his website.

Honestly, at first, Stella Glow felt as one of those turn based JRPGs that I wanted to give a chance because the concept and world sounded fascinating. I never thought that it would be that good. The story was better than I imagined and oh boy the soundtrack of this game is just perfect. They are all so catchy and if you look through the previous entries of this series, you’ll find other tracks of this soundtrack as well.

While me and LpGardian went our separate ways since we just grew apart, because we had different life goals… I’m still thankful that he gave me this chance to write a review for this game. Since, it was the final game by Imageepoch, an amazing developer of JRPGs on the Nintendo (3)DS/Wii, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 3. Their swansong was a hit right in the bullseye and I hope that Atlus creates a remake to the Nintendo Switch or other platforms since this is a hidden gem for turn based JRPG fans. The only grudge I have with this game I that I haven’t beaten the final boss since I’m so underleveled… I have the same problem like with Suikoden Tierkreis, unable to beat the final boss since I focused on the wrong skills and characters… But, I’ll get my revenge.

In any case, just give the soundtrack a listen and know that this soundtrack just hits all the right notes and is a one that I play on repeat during work here and there. Maybe the memories and the chance I got to review this game, which gave my blog a huge boost and being lost in the story might cloud my judgement a little bit but still… reading the comments just proves to me that this is one beast of a soundtrack.

Closing words

Sometimes I feel guilty when I’m in a nostalgic mood and when I’m replaying games I have either already reviewed or reviewed in some sort of way. In the past I used to pressure myself in playing a new game each and every week to be able to write about a new game each and every week. This mindset pushed me close to a burnout and it was anything but healthy for my mental health.

Now, only writing two articles each month and not forcing myself in playing a new game each and every week is just a breath of fresh air. I feel that the quality of my articles just rose by a lot and I enjoy writing again. I also feel way less quilty to replay games I have played since it sometimes helps me in writing.

Being in this nostalgic mood made me realize what gaming means to me. It’s a way to relax and wind down after a long day at work. I get reminded to the simple days that after school and homework, I was able to just put on a game and play for hours. While as a 30-year old, those days are behind me, I still enjoy the hobby quite a lot. And, I’m also quite happy that I made the changes in writing less for my blog and focus on writing better articles. It made me connect with so many amazing people in the blogging and content creation sphere, I just love it.

Thank you everybody for going on this journey with me. Thank you first timers for reading my blog and people who are reading my blog for quite a while now. Thank you for the comments I receive and the interesting discussions about the games I reviewed. Thank you to everybody who helped me or collabed with me to create this blog. While I have been in this nostalgic mood, I also have been scrolling through my older articles to not only see how much I have grown as a writer but also to reminisce.

Don’t read the previous paragraph as a sort of goodbye. Read it as me being thankful and happy on the support. I really meant what I said in this closing paragraph. I’m so glad that I’m able to do this hobby. As a kid I was always creating content, writing my own stories and trying to entertain people. And now I have found my niche and I can’t be happier.

So, that’s everything I wanted to talk about in this article. Thank you for reading this article and I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I hope to be able to welcome you in another article, but until then have a great rest of your day and take care!

Writer’s Raid: Tomb Raider III – The Adventures of Lara Croft

Tomb_Raider_IIIWikipedia entry

I remember quite well buying a copy of Tomb Raider IV & V in one bundle. When I came home and placed the install disc for Tomb Raider IV in my PC, I was surprised that Tomb Raider III started installing. I didn’t mind so much, I found the files for Tomb Raider IV on the disc labeled Tomb Raider V. I already owned Tomb Raider V, so I got extremely lucky there. Since I took a look at Tomb Raider IV in the past, I think it would be more interesting for this project to take a look at Tomb Raider III. Now, what do I mean with “this project”? Well, a group of writers and myself took a look at the whole Tomb Raider series and like the Zelda project last year, there is a hub article you can find here if you want to read the other amazing articles.

The Adventures of Lara Croft

TR3-1In this game, Lara is searching for the Intifada Stone. When she finds the artifact, she gets approached by a researcher from RX Tech, who informs her about a meteorite that landed in Antarctica millions of years ago. This meteorite was used by the Polynesians to create various powerful stones, one of which is the Intifada Stone. So, Lara starts a quest to find all the stones before they fall in the wrong hands.

The story is quite interesting. The main arc of the story, I explained above. But the story takes Lara on several different journeys with their own story. It’s a bit like Tomb Raider V, but the big difference is that they aren’t remembering Lara’s adventures after her death.

So, compared to Tomb Raider II, what is new in this game? Quite a lot actually. The game was primarily made for the PlayStation and was meant as a sort of next-gen Tomb Raider. Core Design created a totally new engine for the game and a lot more. If you want to read up on the development, the Wikipedia page I linked above has a lot more to talk about.

The game did rather well. The game scored an average of 7/10 from different publications. If you look on GameRankings.com, the PS1 version even got a bigger score than the PC counterpart. It’s a 5% difference.

Now, the version I have in my collection is “Tomb Raider III – The Lost Artefact”. This is a version with some additional levels included. With these 5 additional levels, the game takes a nice 25 hours to beat the game, making this the longest Tomb Raider game in the series.

The story of the expansion pack takes place in between the story of Tomb Raider III. So, it’s no epilogue or prologue. Also, this expansion pack was only released for people who owned the PC or MAC version. Sadly enough, this game was sold as a standalone game. The previous two games also had an expansion pack which was either part of a re-release or free to download from the official website.

The game also provided quite a lot of new things and moves to play around with. Lara got some new abilities like using the monkey bars. The new things in this game include new swimming and water mechanics, quicksand and various other things.

I’m glad that I played this game on the PC since on the PS1, the save feature is restricted. The save feature works sort-of like the save feature in the early Resident Evil games. Where you have to find Ink Ribbons for the typewriters to save. In Tomb Raider III, you have to find save crystals to use the save feature in the main menu.  Since I love to save often in the older Tomb Raider games, I would have been so frustrated if that was also the case on the PC.

During the game, you go to India, UK, USA, and Antarctica. You can also visit Lara’s home in this game. If you are a first-time player, I highly recommend that you explore Lara’s home first. This way you can get used to the controls and the mechanics of Lara’s jump in the gym. Also, yes, I have fond memories of locking Winston up in the freezer.

How does it hold up?

TR3-2For me personally, this game was fun to play through. The game tested my retro gaming skills quite a lot and I enjoyed walking around the levels. While I had my share of frustrations when missing a jump or not directly knowing where to go, I still had a lot of fun exploring this game.

Now, this game hasn’t aged like fine wine. This game isn’t for everybody. While I don’t mind the dated visuals, I can understand that some people would hate the visuals. The visuals are early PS1 visuals. Yet, I feel they still have some charm and still look better than Tomb Raider I or II.

This game has decent controls. The big issue I have with them is that you can’t rebind the keys easily. There is some trickery you can do, but it shouldn’t be this annoying. Also, since I use an AZERTY keyboard layout, some keys were in different places. Thankfully, I got used to the controls after a few levels and I was able to pull of great moves.

Something that did age quite well, in my opinion, is the music and sound effects. While the soundtrack is extremely short, it’s still a joy to listen too. The soundtrack really fits the mood of the game. It’s relaxing when you are climbing and tense when you are fighting a boss. The sound effects pulled me into the atmosphere of this game.

TR3-3I really enjoyed the puzzles in this game. The only thing I had issues with was the vehicle sections. But, that was mostly because I didn’t know you could speed them up. After I learned how to do that, I had fewer issues with them. While it’s quite possible to play this game without a walkthrough, I used BadAssGamez’s walkthrough when I was stuck. He finished this game without using any medkits and got all the secrets as well.

In his video’s he also shows tricks on how to skip certain fights or how to easily defeat enemies. If you aren’t used to old-school Tomb Raider games, I highly recommend that you watch his walkthroughs if you need some help in beating this game. If you are used to old-school Tomb Raider games, this game will provide you with various challenges. My favorite level was the 8th level, the Temple of Puna. Mainly because it had various moments that reminded me of Indiana Jones.

I think that this game is still worth a playthrough. If you enjoy playing retro adventure games, I can’t recommend this game enough. I do understand that this game isn’t for everyone. There are moments where the game clearly shows its age. Don’t expect a game with a more modern polish, expect a game that challenges you in various areas that takes you back to when you were young and played games after homework on your parent’s computer.

If you want to give this game a try, it’s still being sold on Steam for 7€ and on GOG, you find Tomb Raider 1+2+3 together for 9€. So seriously, what are you waiting for?

That’s everything I wanted to say about this game. If you are interested in a full review of this game, please tell me in the comments. I hope you enjoyed reading this article as much as I enjoyed writing it. I hope to be able to welcome you in another article but until then, have a great rest of your day and take care.

Review: Pokémon Mystery Dungeon – Explorers Of Time / Darkness & Sky (DS) ~ Expansion Dungeon?

PMD3

Wikipedia entry

So, remember when Nintendo released an enhanced version of each generation? Games like Pokémon Yellow, Crystal, Emerald, and Platinum come to mind. Well, they also did that once for their Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series. When Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness released, a year later Nintendo released Explorers of the Sky. I have beaten Explorers of Time but I haven’t beaten this updated version yet. Why did I decide to write a review then? Well, the core mechanics haven’t changed in this version. In any case, it’s time to take a look at this game, what do I think about this entry in one of my favorite game series? As usual, feel free to leave a comment with your opinion on this article and/or the game. 

250px-MD_Time_EN_boxart

Note: In this review, I will focus mostly on the Sky version of the game. But my thoughts in this review apply to all versions of this game except the exclusive stuff in the Sky version.

Note 2: To avoid mentioning the full title of the game every time, I refer to the games by only using the last word in the title.

Let’s form a guild

Pokemon mystery dungeon explorers of the sky 2

So, you start up a new game and you get a personality quiz. This will decide which Pokémon you will be during the whole adventure. For some reason, I love doing this quiz. I have played it various times and I always end up with the same Pokémon.

So, the story of this game. You play as a human that got turned into a Pokémon. You meet your partner on the beach. After your partner gets his special artifact stolen from some rival gang, you and your partner go and reclaim the stolen artifact. After you have helped your partner, both of you team up and go join the local guild.

When you join the local guild, you learn that somebody is stealing the time gears and which controls time in that given area. So, you set out on an adventure to stop this madness and restore peace to the land.

And that’s just the basic part of the story. This story goes much deeper. You go on various quests and adventures, it’s great. The writing in this game is great, but some jokes are more aimed at the younger audience. In the Sky version, there is an additional backstory added to the game. There is also a longer epilog added to the game. I still have to finish the epilog, but I love the added stories so far.

The visual presentation of this game is, as you would expect from a Nintendo game, excellent. I can understand that the visuals might turn some people off since they aren’t upgraded too much from the original GBA title. Still, the detail in the artwork is well done. Also, the gorgeous full-screen pictures are an amazing touch. A common criticism of this game is that

A common criticism of this game is that the dialogues go on and on for too long. I honestly didn’t mind this too much, but I do understand why people complain. This game could have benefitted from some cutscenes, even when it’s just a big picture that goes over the two DS screens.

Was this needed?

620279-pokemon-mystery-dungeon-explorers-of-sky-nintendo-ds-screenshot

The expanded Sky version has a very mixed reception. While some reviewers hated this version, some reviewers loved it. The biggest issue is that the things that were added in this version were somewhat minor at first. Why do I say minor at first? Well, this version has much more polish than the original versions.

Why do I say minor at first? Well, this version has much more polish than the original versions. Also, there are some many things added like: new dungeons, new story, more starters, new places and shops… But most of them appear after a bit of playtime or is post game content.

I think that this could have been handled better. I think that the Sky version should have been the only one that got released. It’s the superior version of Time and Darkness. So, if you haven’t played these games yet, don’t bother with Time and Darkness, play the Sky version.

Another interesting idea would be a sort of “save file transfer” feature. So, that you transfer your save file from either Time or Darkness to Sky and you get direct access to the new features without having to replay the whole game.

If you have played Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Blue or Red Rescue Team, you know what you can expect in this game. You go through randomized dungeons while fighting various other rogue Pokémon. Your goal is to reach the end of the dungeon so you can continue to the story.

Sometimes you have sentry duty over at the guild. Then you have to guess which 250px-MD_Darkness_EN_boxartPokémon wants to enter the guild. I think this mini game would be pretty tricky if you aren’t familiar with Pokémon. But, if you are familiar with Pokémon, this shouldn’t give you too much trouble.

When you aren’t exploring a dungeon, you can go and visit the local town to buy items and upgrade your Pokémon. You can also go on various side quests and/or hunt after wanted criminals.

The core gameplay can be repetitive, yet enjoyable. If you play this game more an extended amount of time, it might get boring. But, if you spice things up with some side quests and trying to progress the story, the game stays enjoyable.

In Sky, there is a new Spinda Café added, which adds some new mechanics into the game. But, I’ll leave that for you to find out. One of them is a recycling mechanic and another is “the lottery” mechanic. That’s all I’m going to say about that. Check it out since it will help you in your journey.

When you die in a dungeon, you get kicked back to the start of the dungeon or the mid-way checkpoint. The catch is that you lose some items and almost all your cash. So be careful what you take with you since you can lose it when you aren’t careful.

The music for this game is excellent. There is one song that almost every time hits a chord with me. That song’s name is “Don’t Ever Forget – I don’t want to say goodbye…” and it plays near the climax of the whole game. To avoid spoilers, I’m not going to say too much about it, but it still gives me goosebumps while writing this part of the review. And I’m not the only one. Just go on YouTube and read the comments. Yeah, you will understand what I mean.

The music adds so much to this game. There are so many memorable moments that are made so much more powerful with the soundtrack. So, I highly recommend playing this game with a good pair of headphones. Thank me later.

A quick note about the sound design, it’s great. But honestly, due to the amazing soundtrack, it didn’t pay too much attention to the sound design to comment too much about it.

Snatch that jewel

Pokemon mystery dungeon explorers of the sky 1

This game can be pretty difficult in some places. But, most of those moments can be defeated with some grinding. Yet, sometimes you have or can get lucky and finish a difficult dungeon by finding the stairs on each floor.

In Sky, there are various tweaks at the difficulty. But the random monster houses can be so cheap. I died more than once because of this.

The controls for this game are great. I didn’t have any problems with them. The only annoying thing is that you attacking diagonally is a nightmare. I had to struggle with the controls more than once to do that. Also, attacking at a corner doesn’t work. Your attack always misses. This is fixed in later entries in the series.

Due to the randomized nature of the dungeons you enter, there is a lot of replay value in this game. But, you will miss a skip button for skipping the story bits.

Speaking about that, something that annoyed me was the end of the day after you finished your missions. You go through dinner with your guild and it takes a bit too long. I honestly think that a skip button for this would help. But, that would be tricky since sometimes at night time, you get important story bits. So, I can understand why it isn’t added.

This game’s length is great. If you play through the game to just beat the main story, you will have 30-ish hours of gameplay ahead of you. But, I have read that when you want to complete this game, you have over 150 hours of game time ahead of you.

So, that’s everything I wanted to talk about in this game. I didn’t talk about some parts, but hey, that means there are still surprises for you to find when you decide to give this game a try. So, it’s time to wrap up this whole review in the conclusion.

Conclusion

The bad:

-Some minor issues like not being able to attack at corners aren’t fixed from the previous entry in the series.

-The bad reception for the Sky version is understandable. Due to the release of Sky, the Darkness and Time versions look unpolished.

-This game could have benefitted from some cutscenes.

-A skip button for the story isn’t here. This would benefit 2nd playthroughs so much.

The good:

+ Great story and writing.

+ Great visuals.

+ Amazing music.

+ Fun, yet sometimes repetitive, gameplay.

+ …

Final thoughts:

If you want to give this game a shot, I highly recommend playing the Sky version. If you think the games are worth a replay, you might give the Time & Darkness a chance. But remember, as I said in the review, the Sky version is better since it has much more polish than the originals.

This game is excellent. This game is one of my favorite games in the series and I can’t wait to finish the additional content. I have beaten this game at least 4 times, so that’s why I wrote a review instead of a first impression.

I can understand people who are let down by the Sky version since they played Darkness and/or Time first. But, don’t let it discourage you to not play this game. You would miss out on a great Pokémon spin-off that is slowly growing into an amazing series.

This game doesn’t have too many flaws, but the flaws it has aren’t too big of a deal in my eyes. They didn’t stop me from enjoying the game and having a great time.

In any case, thank you so much for reading this article and I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing this. I hope to be able to welcome you in another article but until then, have a great rest of your day and take care.

Score: 95/100

First Impression: Bioshock (PC – Steam) ~New DNA

BioshockBoxOfficial website

So, I have been through the usual “end of the year” articles. So, why did I pick this game? Does this game have a special reason to be the final article of 2015? Well, surprisingly enough, it actually has. If you follow my blog or know me in person, then you might know that I’m fascinated by stories that are about people staying people but getting superpowers. That’s one of the main reasons I love games like Majora’s Mask so much. Anyways, what’s the main mechanic in this game? Apart from the little sisters and their … ahum, big daddy’s? That are the plasmids. They allow you to attack your foes with electricity or fire. The concept is just amazing in my opinion. But back when it released, my computer couldn’t handle it. My CPU wasn’t strong enough but I had enough RAM. Then the game went a bit under the radar for me. I mostly got into adventure games like Broken Sword or RTS games like Age Of Empires series. In any case, I think it’s time to take a look at this game. Since in this Christmas Sale of Steam, I finally bought the whole trilogy and the DLC. So, yeah. Enough stalling, let’s dive into Rapture! As usual, feel free to leave a comment on this article with your opinion on the game and/or the content of this article. 

Story – Two kinds of them

bioshock1So, in this game there are two kinds of stories. Depends on how you look at it. While the audio logs and the actual story of the game are kind of “one and the same”… I see them as two different stories. The audio logs are more a back story to the game. This is something I wished the game handled a bit better. I’m not saying that the audio logs or the story is bad. No, not at all. The main issue I have is that some dialogue of the audio tapes can overlap with the dialogue of the enemies. You could argue that you don’t listen to the audio tapes when you near enemies, but you can’t avoid that. But that isn’t a problem exclusive to the audio logs. I missed some story dialogue due to the enemies talking way too loud.

Because of this reason, I’m more fond of diary entries to build a world instead of audio tapes. While I’m a big story guy, I found myself skipping over the audio logs. The world of Rapture drew me in enough already. I wanted to fill in the backstory myself. Here and there I played an audio tape, but not every one of them. I think they were placed to close to each other and too many in one area. In nearly each and every section of the game, I recall finding 2-3 audio tapes.

The last thing I will say about the audio logs, is that you can re-listen to them. But, in some cases… It’s about something in the room. Or a hint how to continue in the game. Then the power of audio logs is lost since you aren’t in the right context anymore. (Unless you go back to the room you were in when you found the audio log.)

So, let’s talk about the actual story now, for what I have experienced (I’m mid-game), it’s a decent story. The build up is quite nice but I have to praise the voice actors for this game quite a lot. Since they did an amazing job creating this world. It’s one I get lost in.

Moral things

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Something I really like is that this game has quite the replay value. Since this game offers a moral choice system. Do you harvest the little sisters or not? If you harvest them, you can buy stronger perks. If you don’t harvest them, you get here and there some really handy perks. Both paths have some really nice rewards.

Currently, I’m saving the little sisters. It’s an interesting path really, but I wish that the story reflected it a bit more. At the moment you get the first choice, a guiding character is telling you to harvest it. But, after you save the girl… That character doesn’t change in personality.

Let’s talk about the visual aspect of this game. Because that’s something that’s in my opinion, it’s good. This game shows some traces of early HD textures. The biggest issue is some humans look strange. Like the hands of some characters, the fingers are two blocks. While the world design is quite nice to look at, some minor polish on the details would have been welcome.

 

Negatives?

bioshock-01Now that we are talking about the negatives in this game… Why is there a warning on some parts of the option menu that you will lose your progress? I have that never happen to me. This message made me paranoid the first time.

Also, there is no autosave in this game. Well, there is; after you finished a level. I have to manually save. But after playing this game for a little bit, you will get used to it. At least, I did.

Oh, some things are quite unfair. When I was looting a present left behind by the little sisters I saved, an enemy threw a bomb while I was in the menu to put a perk in one of my character slots. The menu closed and I lost the perk. I had to reload my save file. This issue happened to me twice.

One other minor complaint is that the map was a little bit at the confusing side for me. Mostly when you switch between floors in the same room… It gets confusing since you jump to another map.

Oh, and here is a minor annoying thing… You can’t skip the harvesting/free-ing of the little sisters. At least, I’m not able too.

The last complaint I have is that the elite Big Daddy’s are a tad bit overpowered. What I mean here is, when they back you into a corner… There is a big chance you get stuck. This issue can cost you your life. It’s also seriously annoying when you hypnotize a big daddy and it gets in your way.

In conclusion, this game is a very fun and enjoyable experience. While some parts could have been improved and would have benefited from some minor polish. I realize that I haven’t talked about everything this game has to offer; but I have to leave something for the people interested in the game and for my review.

In any case, I hope you enjoyed reading this article as much as I enjoyed writing it. I hope to welcome you on another moment on my blog. Have a great end of the year and until 2016! Take care~:)