Final Fantasy 7 Remake Tifa Reveal

I have some good news and bad news about Final Fantasy 7 Remake.  Well let’s get the bad news out the way first.  FF7 Remake will not be turn based like older RPG and will play much like Kingdom Hearts where the characters act independently and you control them via switching.  Also FF7 Remake is exclusively going to be on PlayStation 4.

The good news is that Square Enix announced there will not be any content cut or characters altered due to censorship like with the original release.  For those of you who did not know, the Japanese version of FF7 was heavily edited from Barrett and Cid cursing to Tifa and Yuffie outfits being changed to appeal to western conservatives.

Fantasy 7 Remake is expected to be released next year on March 3, 2020.

Red Dead Redemption 2: Game of the Year

"I understand...that you can't be a bad man and expect good things to happen to you"
                       ~Arthur Morgan

It's been a while since a good game has hit the market.  I have to say men lie, women lie, but numbers don't!  Red Dead Redemption 2 has came to the for front and quickly became the fastest selling game of all time, but is it all hype or a quality game worth investing time and money in?

I have to admit, I was skeptical of the idea of a prequel to Red Dead Redemption.  I was a little upset with the ending to Red Dead Redemption 1, so I guess with John Marston being murdered by cops he trusted and help, there really was no where for the story to develop.  That being said, we turn clock back and learn more about John Marston's past life as a member of Dutch's gang.

Instead of playing as John Marston, the protagonist of Red Dead Redemption 1, we play as Arthur Morgan.  Arthur is the number two leader of Dutch's gang and mentor to John.  Arthur is a pure gangster that kicks ass and takes names, and that's where Red Dead Redemption 2 separates itself from the original RDR.  The story begins with the entire gang being on the run from a failed robbery.  You're wanted in every territory, and you're broke.  Your goal for the game is to earn money to feed your family by any means necessary, even if that means robbing, stealing, killing, and setting the world on fire.

Features
I hate to crown the game before the year is over, but Red Dead Redemption 2 is the best game of the 2018 year.  There are so many themes going on in RDR2 that I cannot cover it all, and I encourage you to play it.  The game covers women's suffrage, native american great migration, KKK, interracial marriage, bootlegging, poker, fishing, sailing boats, racing, robbing stores and people, legendary creature hunting, hunting to feed the camp, loan shark, racketeering, and a moral compass that determines much more.  I feel like there is over 200 hours of content that you can get into that's not part of the main storyline.

Moral Compass
Just like in RDR, a moral compass is used to guide you decisions and outcomes.  Arthur can choose to help or hurt people, and those decisions will determine your opportunities, gifts and prices that must be paid.  I found RDR2 more rewarding for helping people than in RDR.  In RDR, you did good deeds and it was just something you choose to do no rewards.  In RDR2, good deeds build your reputation, and your reputation help give you discounts or escalated prices.  If you play the game as a good man, then you get rich quick and people remember your deeds than give you gifts like free items of your choice from stores.  On the opposite side of the coin, if you make evil choices and do bad deeds then you will pay the price for it.  If you make too many bad choices, then people will not help you in missions, prices will be higher or people refuse to serve you at their business, and eventually Dutch will kick you out the gang b/c you're too much of problem.

Story
I felt RDR2 has then best prequel story ever told.  I was familiar with Dutch and John Marston from RD2, but I was not familiar with the rest of the gang.  We get to meet about 12+ members of Dutch's gang with different stories, abilities, and hustle.  Some gang members hustle is tracking, hunting, and selling animal pelts.  Some gang members hustle is prostitution.  Some gang members hustle is loaning money to poor people and charging outrageous interest rates they cannot pay back.  Some gang members hustle is serving as leaders of the church and milking the congregation for all the money they have.  In the story, Dutch brings all the hustlers together regardless of race, age or gender to form a gang that is like a mix family. 

Dutch is the leader of the gang, but he has a few moments where he goes crazy and he unstable.  When that happens, Arthur serves as the pillar of stability and leader that keeps the gang alive and functioning.  Arthur has learned many hard lessons in life, and he has enough life experience to respect others and be an authority that others respect.  When times get tough, all gang members and townfolks you meet will seek out Arthur's help and you get to go an adventure that Rock Star games has never given gamers before.

Two playable characters
Just like in RDR1, something tragic happens and a second character finishes the game to get the true physical redemption, for the main character getting screwed over.  I won't spoil it, but I will say that Arthur dies and you finish the game with John Marston.  Arthur's end is based on your choices in the game.  I love the character development of Arthur Morgan and the back story we learn the John Marston was always the straight edge man we remember RDR1.  It's almost comical how we see John is a coward that resents his family, obligations, and life.  John is mentored by Arthur, and we learn the man John is in RDR1 is owed to Arthur's help.  I have never seen writing like this before, and I just have to say you are in for an new and welcomed experience.

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard Plus Banned Footage Game Review

Where do you think you're going...

Resident Evil 7 takes you to a completely different world sat in Dulvey, Louisiana. The story revolves around finding the whereabouts of Ethan Winters missing wife, Mia who is kidnapped by the Baker family. With a lot of hype for use of the new Playstation VR technology and an attempt at new gaming experience to redeem the franchise, a lot was placed on RE7.  Can new developers deliver when the pressure is on harder than a horror movie?

In this latest installment of the Resident Evil series,  RE7 prioritizes tone over action, in true horror survival horror fashion, everything is in short supply and you must manage you limited inventory while exploring a linear game that is rare for the new open world games that are dominating the industry.

Most of the game revolved around being in tough situations and struggling to adapt.  It's all about changing up your survival tactics to meet each challenge, scavenging for items, and conserving what little ammo you have.  I was happy to see some core elements that hadn't been in Resident evil since the 1990's games return as a factor.

In RE7, there is a strong sense of returning to the tradition of placement that makes frequent exploration and back track work without wearing out its welcome.  As an attempt to move away from the antics of Wesker and the umbrella corporation, RE7 introduces new antagonist known as the Baker family.

The Baker family descent into savagery and the way it has manifested into their domestic life.  The Baker family really uphold southern stereotypes that come off as dated yet funny.  Each family member has a quirk that gives you a challenge: whether it's your face terror by Jack the father. whether a stealth approach by Marguerite the wife, whether it's by Lucas the son setting traps like the movie Saw to keep you off balance and make you afraid of things you once took for balance.



Negatives

• The only low point was the simple puzzle solving that has been a trend of the series since it went main stream. 
• There were moments were you are putting into a linear progression and wasting bullets on enemies that can't be killed until certain moments feel like poor execution of the capabilities. 
• The big draw to RE7 was the introduction of Playstation VR for a major title game.  My resident evil experience was good with and without VR.  There were only a handful of sequences that were designed to take advantage of the new technology.  Tbh the only time you really get the best use out of the technology is when fighting in enemy in close corners.

Positives

• The atmosphere is similar to Silent Hill PT.  manages to handle horror/survival and first person shooter well.
• There is a compelling pace that made pulling levers, finding keys to lock doors and dodging enemies feel natural.  Even the out of place puzzle solving felt a like shallow nods  to a by gone era rather than a constant continuation the elements that defined and invented.

Overall, I think they were ambitious, but developers didn't do much with the 10 hour campaign to keep you compel to want more.  It's opportunity there, but the game fell short on capitalizing that opportunity.  Resident Evil 7: Bio hazard is a good game not a great game.  It was a nice break from fighting zombies and umbrella corporation mercenaries, but I didn't feel the character development was there nor engagement to see the story conclude a certain way.  Overall, I give RE7 an 8 out 10.

Fallout 4 Nuka World DLC: All Endings

"From here on out we're stuck together because what it took to get where you are now, the burned bridges, the salted earth, there is no going back.  Like it or not you're one of us.  A cut throat, a killer...A Raider. As luck would have it.  It seems this was the life you were meant for.   Sorry boss.  Take it from experience.  There is no point in fighting who you are.  You can only either let nature consume you, fall to booze and chems like the rabble around this place or you can embrace it.  Let it drive you.  With that in mind, I hope you appreciate the earnestness when I say...welcome home Boss!  Here is to a bright future."

     - Mags, Operators Leader

If you thought you were going to have a fun censored DisneyLand knockoff  DLC, then obvious you aren't used Bethesda irony and sarcastic metaphors.  In Fallout 4 last DLC, Nuka World, you challenged with being leader of 4 gangs that run a corrupt amusement park where innocent travelers are tricked by a lie of helping those in need and forced to fight to the death or become a slave to the bandit anarchy crime syndicates.

In Nuka World there are 4 Factions that run this sadist paradise:

Raiders

• The Pack
• Disciples
• Operators

Hubologists
Traders
Gunners

If you accept the challenge of managing in Hell hole full on disloyal, disrespectful, degenerates and anarchist then this is the add-on for you.  The DLC opens with you trying to defeat a Mad Max like maze of traps and blood thirsty upstart bandits looking to prove something or make a name for themself by gunning you down. After you overcome their challenges and prove your the alpha male or female in charge, then all the factions bow down to you and "let you" take charge of the place.

When I say "let you" take charge of the place, I mean they really only let you have political power to act as a non-bias leader that governs all bandit factions, and not let anyone faction have more leverage over the other. 

This DLC has real gang mentality and organized crime done with a mafia like twist.  At one point you're asked to make a tough choice of living the rest of your life sleeping with a gun under your pillow for safety or putting a bullet in head of the 4 faction leaders, Nisha, Mason, Mags, and William, then restore Nuke World to the peaceful free trading post that all assume it would be. The problem with putting a hit one leader of Disneyland causes all their followers and NPC to turn on Walt Disney. 

""Free and in charge today, tomorrow you'll be somebody slave.  Ain't life somethin.  After everything we done for them, they turned on us. Ungrateful shits! I expect more from Nisha at least. "

        - Porter Gage

Well Boss, you have to decide what direction you want to take.  The old saying you can't please them all, so decide which ones you value the most and which ones you want to screw over...holds weigh here.  

Picking your ending and bonus begins with how you plant flags at the amusement park during the Grand Tour Quest. You should give control of the park sections to the two you like (based on the perks below). Give them both at least 2 spots of land. One faction is going to betray you, and you'll lose favor and face them in the last quest. The more land you give a faction, the better they'll like you.

There are 5 spots to give out, but 3 factions - so even if you try to be fair, someone's getting shorted. You can guarantee you'll end up with the two you want by splitting the land at the Nuka World park 3 to 2, and leaving the other out. Also, bring the raider groups that you like to raid with you during quests after Grand Tour in order to gain more favor with them. See the Perks you gain for each of the raider factions under "Power Play Rewards" below.

"What should we do? We keep going! We take over more settlements in the commonwealth. We take what we want, and we keep taking until we own everything. Oh, and let me make something clear. I appreciate what you've done, but don't go thinking we're friends. We ain't. I'd still happily kill you if enough caps were involved."

- Mason, Pack Leader

Home Sweet Home and Consequences of Going Full Raider

You must build up three Raider Outposts in the Commonwealth during the Home Sweet Home Quest - which should be easy if you're familiar with the game's Settlements system. You will talk to Shank and get to select a Settlement from a few places, as well as which faction you'll bring along to do the raid (it's better to do that to gain more favor with one you like). You will lose control over that Settlement permanently (in terms of connecting it to your other Settlement supply lines and being able to build there), so choose wisely. You'll then be building it for the raiders.

You can choose to talk to the Settlers to get them to walk away or to actually raid it, which is really easy even though Minutemen show up. If you attack Minutemen, Brotherhood of Steel or other factions in the process (even if they're defending) you will permanently damage your reputation with that faction.(A reader warned this happened to them below.) You should make a backup save if you're unsure you want to go this route. You're going full raider if you attack, and it's impossible to finish the Nuka World content without the following consequence - permanent loss of standing with the Minutemen.

"It's like dealing with some rotten little kids, lashing out for attention. Better to die in a fight, then live with the consequences of the own stupidity"

      - Nisha, Disciples 

Losing Standing with Minutemen

Peaceful Bullying
This 100% requires speech checks and or paying off the Settlers. I tested this a lot and determined that for each stage of the quest you complete, Preston Garvey will get more upset. There's 0 impact until you start to take Outposts for the Raiders in Home Sweet Home. He'll gradually come to disown you and accept 0 orders, though he won't attack at first. This will stop endless Settlement quests, for sure! If you go the peaceful route and simply bully the Settlements, you'll reach the tipping point with him alone when you set up the second and third Raider Outposts. Again this is even with simply bullying and 0 violence.

Killing Minutemen & Settlers
If you go with violent actions, ALL Minutemen will hate you as you must kill them when they show up to defend the Settlements you raid (including Ronnie Shaw and named NPCs belonging to that particular faction). Keep all this in mind. You're helping raiders, and that goes against everything the Minutemen stand for, so there's no way around it.

Raid On
However, as Kris says below, you will not have an unkillable Preston Garvey attacking you forever. It only lasts a few days. This means the Minutemen could still be used to finish the game. Preston will never be your follower again, and you cannot get his companion Perk. It is a good perk, but so too are the raider perks. You could of course get his first.

Power Play Rewards - Nuka World Ending

You'll only get this far if you actually go all out as a Raider. During Power Play, you'll get to enable the park's power and allow some additional exploration that wasn't possible with everything off. However, you have to fight off the faction that backstabs you because they feel jilted.

As I said above, you can pick which Raider Factions will stick with you by favoring them in land division and bringing them along to raid. What dictates which faction you should side with and who gets to claim what land in the Nuka-World Park is largely taste, but many players will do it based upon the Perks the Raider Factions have to offer. Here's a rundown, copied from my page about the new SPECIAL and Faction perks offered in the Nuka World DLC:

• Disciples Faction - Chosen Disciple Perk. Any kills made with a melee weapon will restore 25% of yourAction Points.
• Operators Faction - Ace Operator Perk. All guns with a suppressor attached will get a 25% damage boost, permanently. Additionally, your character gains a 10% boost to sneak abilities when in the shadows.
• The Pack Faction - Pack Alpha Perk. Gives a +25% boost to melee and unarmed damage. Its additional function is to reduce damage/energy resistance by 25%! This is a further reduction to damage aside from your normal DR/ER and is certainly useful on a ranged character as well.

You'll Get Two Perks and Additional Rewards

After completing the 'Power Play' Quest, you'll be rewarded with the perks of the two factions that did not turn against you and may give the defeated faction's land to another group. There won't be another betrayal, you've unified the raiders and established a dominant group in the Commonwealth. The two Perks are a great reward, and from there you can accept radiant quests from the two factions remaining. Since my character is a Sniper, I naturally went with Operators and the Pack. A pure melee build would probably prefer Disciples/Pack.

Tribute Chests

Another nice reward are the tribute chests from each of the five zones of the park. Since you're the Overboss, you deserve a cut of what the raiders under you make - this is kind of how your Settlers give you supplies. Only since they're raiders, they will give you chems, money, and weapons/armor directly. Of course, plenty of Nuka Cola as well. Each of the three factions has a set loot table for what they'll give in the tribute chests, but it's hard to track it all down - it doesn't offer end-game gear, just different types of weapons and armor you'd inevitably sell. Nothing amazing, but it certainly helps and you're able to fast travel to the various zones and pick up your loot every so often.

Raider Outposts and Settlements you've convinced to supply the raiders will also pay tribute. This goes in your Overboss chest back in Nuka World. It's yet unclear how often Settlements and Raiders pay tribute to you but is likely related to time played.

You CAN have Settlements and Raider Outposts after Home Sweet Home

You'll have to give up 3 of your Settlements to Raiders to finish the DLC. As far as I'm currently aware, none of this will affect the others. No one has to know you're the notorious leader of a raider gang. When it comes time to setup Outposts, you should just use Settlements you care little about and use them to supply the settlement you raided.

Good Ending: The Open Season Quest

Very early on in the DLC, you can speak to Doctor Mackenzie in the Market in Nuka-Town and get theOpen Season quest. She'll point out how the merchants are all slaves and that you could save them all by killing off the leaders of the three raider factions, which will aggro literally every Raider in Nuka World. This is just a shortcut ending. You can still do a good bit of what Nuka World has to offer in terms of exploration as the whole land mass will still be there, but you'll ruin some of the potential quests and the ability to grant land to the raider gangs. Read the linked guide to see how far you probably should go - hint: at least finish The Grand Tour!

The Last Guardian is No Longer on Hold

I know I've been waiting on this day. Finally after many set backs, excuses, and announcements...The Last Guardian has an official release date.

On October 25, 2016 Playstation 4 owners will face unknown dangers in a strange and mystical land, an ordinary young boy and his gigantic feathered friend must rely on each other to survive in this harrowing story of friendship and trust.

In an interview by theguardian.com with Fumito Ueda, the creator of Ico and Shadow of the Colossus talks, about his hotly anticipated game and his nerves over its release.

When asked about the way in which intimate relationships have figured highly in his three PlayStation games, he shrugs and smiles. “It’s interesting,” he says. “From our side, we didn’t have a strong intent to portray relationships as a theme of our games. We actually tried not to do that. But as a lot of people played through Ico and Shadow of Colosuss, they said, ‘Oh, these games are about building a bond, they’re about trust.’ From my perspective, I just say, here, go ahead, play it – then at the end, the player can come to their own conclusion about what the game is trying to tell them. I don’t like to force feed themes.”

Indeed, it’s surprise about how players have interpreted his past work that led to the pairing at the centre of Last Guardian – the boy and the beast. “Once we were done with Shadow of Colossus there was a moment when I reflected on what we really wanted to communicate and portray in that game,” he says. “For me it was the main relationship between Wander and the girl, but after the release, I read a lot of feedback from players who were touched by the game, and they said that the relationship between Wander and the horse was the most important and appealing – we got the sense that this was what most people felt. I thought OK, if that’s the case, there are a lot of mechanics from that relationship that we could heighten and expand on. That’s where The Last Guardian came from.”

Silent Hill Canceled Evidence to Prove It!

For gamers like me who were excited to see Norman Reedus from the Walking Dead, Guillermo del Toro from Hellboy and Pan’s Labyrinth, and Hideo Kojima from Metal Gear series working together on the new Silent Hill, we have been disappointed tonight.

It was confirmed by Del Toro in a statement when asked about the status of Silent Hills, the upcoming title in the long running Silent Hill series from Konami. His answer to the question was, “It’s not gonna happen and that breaks my greasy heart.”

To me, I knew the game wasn't going to happen just because of the disgraceful and dishonorable firing of Hideo Kojima at Konami. Obviously, Kojima can't finished a project if he is no longer working for the company.  I hate the way business politics always leaves visionaries like Kojima on the short end of the stick.  Below I listed more pieces of evidence to support Silent Hill was cancelled.

The first evidence the Silent Hill project was cancelled came from the game's playable teaser demo being pulled from the PSN store a few days ago.  The second evidence came from Norman Reedus himself on twitter saying the Silent Hill project was over.  The third evidence came via news from Del Toro saying the project wasn't happening.

It's a sad day in the gaming world.  I feel like this is foreshadowing for more bad news to come. 

Playstation 4 Upgrade Secrets and New Release Date

It's been 5 years since I purchased anything for playstation, but the new gen effort has my interested in changing my platform.

Xbox announced unlike playstation, that you will not be able to play old games on its console and to my knowledge xbox still doesn't play blue-ray dvds but playstation does.  After doing a price comparison, I feel like a fool for buying an xbox 360 realizing all I got was a out-dated and over-priced system that  plays games only.

I remember when xbox 360 came out the only game that made it sell was Halo. Plus, PS3 had major exclusive titles like God of War and Metal Gear Solid.

According to Ubisoft Montreal CEO Yannis Mallat, said Sony's next generation platform will be "less complex" thanks to the system's PC-like architecture.

Accord to Sony CEO Stuart Gilray, "PS4 kept secrets about the system until its released date was announced. The PS4 will 8GB of DDR5 RAM.  The PS4 will include a "ring-fenced" memory for system functions away from the memory used by games.  When you press the Playstation button on a PS3 game, you get the basic XMB but to do anything you have to quit the game, because of the memory for it.  With PS4 you won't have that [issue] because the system memory is already ring-fenced for itself."

The PS4 will be release in November 2013, and will sell for $430.