South Korea

After keeping vacation to a minimum last year, it was time for another big adventure in 2016.

The history of the Koreans has been troublesome, complex and intriguing over the past century and before. Known to have been invaded numerous times, nowadays, they still have to settle with themselves when one looks up to the north, who remember their enemies.

Traveling with a buddy of mine for a month in Asia, this has been the longest time I have traveled with someone else, and we were able to discuss and figure out our destinations smoothly, with only very few exceptions as to what we wanted to see conflicting with time, accessibility and motivation.

Landing at Incheon airport, we went by bus to the capital Seoul, and marveled at the city's historic sites merging with it's modern skyscrapers and people who are forerunners of technology like Samsung's phone industry.

Unable to go for the border because of unexpected military drills happening, we focused on the memorial war museum as alternative instead, where interesting articles, objects and such immersed us into the so called Forgotten War.

The city of Gyeongju in the south, known for it's open environment of ancient sites, was pleasant to experience because of the many people walking around there. From museums to a very old observatory to king tombs lying under giant grass hills, it is nicknamed as Korea's Kyoto by some.

We had a terrific night here at the hostel where the owner, his assistant, an American and South Korean roommate and some random girl joined with us together to drink soju, Makgeolli and eat royally until the deep night.

We also hiked a mountain with the American, which I am glad to have done so, as the nature was pretty to walk through. Arriving at the port town of Busan in the end of the week, which is South Korea's 2nd largest city, me, my buddy and the American walked through the famous fish market there and we oozed with intrigue there.

Finally, after hiking the east coast and finding the famous bridge, the next day, we said goodbye to South Korea and embarked on a short trip with a ferry boat to the main event of our 2016 journey; the Land of the Rising Sun.

E3 2016 Thoughts: Ubisoft, Sony, Nintendo

Ubisoft:

Girlwood.

Ghost Recon Wildlands is the umpteenth title of a series I never bothered to even look into to be honest. But I suppose they are realistic tactical shooters just like Rainbow Six.

I am definitely looking forward to South Park The Fractured But Whole as I really liked the first one!
Watch Dogs 2 will hopefully fix the performance, the textures and the bugs plagueing the first one.
And For Honor might be worth checking out.

Rating: C

Sony:

Easily the best show of E3 2016!

Starting with a great opening with the orchestra and God of War looks fantastic and is upon further investigation indeed a sequel and not a remake. Days Gone is a survival zombie third person shooter adventure in daylight with running hordes of zombies.

The Last Guardian has finally a release date, but unless the reviews will convince me, I am not very hyped for it at this moment. Horizon Zero Dawn looks like The Witcher, Tomb Raider, Zelda and sci-fi combined and also very promising.

Detroit: Become Human is getting ambitious of having many choices to progress the story. Resident Evil 7 was the biggest WTF surprise as no one expected the series to go first person!

The Playstation VR will sell for 399 dollars, I will have to check the reviews for each VR device at the end of this year before I will decide on which one I will get.

A Crash Bandicoot collecion of remasters seems interesting as I never played the platformers before! Death Stranding starring Norman Reedus, I have no idea what to expect from Hideo Kojima's new game, all I know is that the trailer was both cryptic and pretentious.

And finally the Spider Man game developed by Insomniac Games really clicked with me as well.

Rating: A

Nintendo:

Honestly, Nintendo was the biggest dissapointment for me.

Having only The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Pokemon Sun and Moon to show for the Wii U and 3DS, and nothing else of interest or surprises means that I really was craving for more. Even worse is that there was not even a Nintendo Direct happening this time.

I kind of understand that they are most likely wrapping up all of their projects for the NX as it apparently seems that no other Wii U games are coming out other than the troublesome looking Paper Mario Color Splash and an apparent Pikmin 4, but I am definitely not used to them having no surprise unravels this time.

Simply put, 2 promising titles was insufficient and way below the quantity of quality titles we normally get from the Big N. The times are changing, let's just hope that Nintendo will manage to recapture gamer's hearts once again with the reveal of the NX and her games, which is bound for a march release next year.

Rating: D

E3 2016 Thoughts: Electronic Arts, Bethesda, Microsoft

Electronic Arts:

The conference within a conference event made me chuckle.

Known for it's numerous sports titles, Electronic Arts had an average run and it's too bad that Mass Effect Andromeda revealed little. Battlefield 1 looks great, and Titanfall 2 looks promising, adding single player plus portability to PlayStation 4 is nice.

The Stonemountain footage was random and funny.

Rating: C

Bethesda:

Despite being very famous for The Elder Scrolls and Fallout series, I have yet to start with either of them. My favorite Bethesda title at this moment is Wolfenstein The New Order, but I am intrigued by the new Doom as well.

As for the show, Quake Champions was a nice surprise, but later on I heard that it would be having multiplayer only. The Skyrim Special Edition might finally tempt me to start with Arena. Prey seemed to be a remake or reimagination? 

Dishonored 2 however was my favorite presentation for showing lenghty gameplay, behind the scenes and commentary.

Rating: C

Microsoft:

Xbone S seems like a good deal, and backwards compatibility is also live these days.

Gears of War 4 looks solid and bland at the same time. Recore seems like good times of platforming and action, and Scalebound seems like a typical Platinum Games title, but with co-op. Sea of Thieves had a boring trailer but good multiplayer footage with pirate ships!

Project Scorpio is apparently the most powerful upcoming console with 6 teraflops, but I understand that it's not a successor to the Xbone yet.

I am more surprised that almost all of the shown Xbone games are exclusive on Windows 10 as well, meaning that I will have to migrate for free soon
and get even more busy with video games!

Rating: C

I am not even gonna review the PC Gaming show as it was boring again, having no fixed identity unlike the other conferences.

E3 2016: Expectations and Dreams

With E3 2016 lurking around the corner starting tomorrow, it's time to list a new list of Expectations and Dreams, before the annual show will commence once again:

Expectations:

1.The Legend of Zelda: Insert Subtitle

With development time easily reaching Ocarina of Time and Skyward Sword, the next major Zelda will no doubt spark the interest and hype back into the franchise, as I am sure that Nintendo will pull out a great mixture of old and new tropes to the series, including an "open world" of tackling the dungeons in any order.

2.Resident Evil 7, REmake 2

With the 20th anniversary, it will be utterly impossible for Capcom to ignore this commemoration, because the timing could not be better. Either one of these titles could be presented, and for both cases, I hope that the horror roots will be completely restored, just as the 2 Revelations already marked the right paths.

3.Final Fantasy VII Remake

A release date is unlikely, but an exciting gameplay trailer alongside Squeenix's many other major titles will no doubt empower the nostalgia countless gamers have for Final Fantasy VII, including me. All it takes is for more prominent characters to re-appear, more exciting combat, and a glimpse of the Gold Saucer!

4.Mass Effect Andromeda

It's time for Bioware to expand the Mass Effect universe further, with or without Captain Shepard. Many are eager to finally see footage of Andromeda, but perhaps even more interesting, I can't wait to see the return of the vast dialogue and lore, besides the above average third person shooting.

5.Paper Mario: Color Splash

Unfortunately, everyone expects Sticker Star 2.0 to happen here. If only Intelligent Systems knew that we all love the first 2 Paper Mario's, but that we are divided by the other 2. Is there still time for the traditional gameplay, partners and unique NPC's with story chapters to come back to Color Splash?

6.Sonic the Hedgehog

Sega has been mumbling about rejuvenating their flagship franchise for a while now, and it seems that if we forget about the doomed Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice for a moment, that we just might finally see, either a proper Sonic Adventure 3, or a proper classic 2D Sonic side scroller appearing at E3.

7.Yooka Laylee

I have high hopes for this one, as much of the original team behind the famous N64 platformers has gathered once again, and it just might re-ignite massive interest back into the "collectathon" genre once we can try Yooka Laylee out.

Dreams:

1.F-Zero U, 3D, or NX

By far my most demanded dream game, F-Zero deserves to return to the modern family of Nintendo's IP's, and it easily differentiates itself enough from Mario Kart, by mere speed alone. Just use the GX/AX template and expand from there, with HD, online, a course editor, amiibo and so on and so on!

2.Seiken Densetsu

Mana titles have appeared over the years, but none have come close to the quality 2 and 3 brought to us on the SNES. What if Square Enix is finally able to transition the gameplay over properly? Either on a handheld or a console, Seiken Densetsu deserves another chance. Or, while I am on topic, perhaps Secret of Evermore ought to deserve another chance as well.

3.Advance Wars

Enough with Fire Emblem already lads. It's been 8 years since the last title emerged, and therefore it's time for another Advance Wars, which I always preferred over their medieval counterpart. Just make it appealing for a larger audience, don't fix the gameplay and introduce a map editor with the ability to share maps online.

4.Mega Man

All of the drama and the shame surrounding the development of Mighty No. 9 does not mean that Mega Man cannot return after a 6 year hiatus. I already spoke about this in a previous blogpost this year, but to summarize, Capcom should either reboot the franchise, or concentrate on one of the various cliffhangers.

5.Warcraft IV

I have only played 1 hour of gameplay from World of Warcraft. Merely for investing time alone into MMORPG's am I not interested by them, and I also dislike that pausing is difficult when you go on long quests with many other players. Anyway, I grew up with Warcraft 1, 2 and 3, and they only got better with each title. I would love to see Blizzard concentrate on Warcraft IV after releasing sequels to StarCraft and Diablo, and also having just released a new IP in recent years.

6.Half Life 3

Gabe should break the "can't count higher than 2" curse already and finally make everyone go absolutely crazy by announcing Half Life 3, since Gordon Freeman and G-Man deserve to return! The first title remains a great long FPS adventure, and the second title is pretty good on it's own as well, except for leaving with a cliffhanger.

Beyond: Two Souls

 

The player assumes control of Aiden, an entity residing in Jodie mocapped by Ellen Page. Willem Da Foe also plays himself as a researcher, but to make myself clear, this is a true cinematic game. Beyond: Two Souls has barely interactivity, and when it does, it's either walking with Jodie, or making scary decisions as Aiden.

Somehow, Quantic Dream decided to release the chapters first non-chronologically, but at least in this PS4 version, a chronological "remix" option exists. Most of the story is similar to Stephen King's Carrie, there are QTE's and dialogue options, but the overall package isn't as excitingly executed as you might think.

For now, this premise is better told from a cinematic experience, rather than from a gameplay perspective. That is why Beyond: Two Souls has had mixed and polarized reactions. Some chapters did have effective emotional reaction from me, such as Homeless.

Other chapters such as Navajo and The Mission felt utterly dull, poorly directed and honestly, 90% of the game felt like a bad walking simulator.

Rating: 6.4

Top 10 AVGN Episodes

The Angry Video Game Nerd show still goes on. This post was quite unexpected, but I felt that another tribute towards James & Mike was fitting, since I really still enjoy Cinemassacre.com and their hard work of bringing out productive content.

I don't really flood Flok Factory with top ten lists, it was about time I did another one.This time I will count down, so number 1 will be my favorite! In any case anyone's list will obviously be different, so once again, enjoy my opinion.

10.Seaman(2015)

The eccentric project on the Sega Dreamcast is an eerie and early look at a talking fish who seems to have a mind on it's own, and the Nerd tackles at it intriguingly. With a philosophical funny revelation message at the end of it, Seaman is well constructed and the newest episode on my list.

9.Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde Re-Revisited(2010) 

His personal worst game to experience, having traumatized him for life, Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde is an NES title infamous for illogical game design, bizarre enemies and clunky controls. Re-visiting it, AVGN has another funny philosophical revelation message at the end which made it stand out from your average episode.

8.R.O.B. The Robot(2011)

This is the special occassion and the hundred episode, which also to this day took the longest to produce. The Robotic Operating Buddy which launched as a peripheral alongside the NES remains unusual and never caught acclaim. The special effects, the buildup and the evil R.O.B. mindfucking the Nerd with being able to compute the games Gyromite and Stack Up only, alongside the creative use of the peripheral and the camerawork itself make this episode another strong entry.

 7.McKids(2006)

The earliest one on my list, McKids is a Super Mario Bros. 3 clone with inferior design, controls and setting, but the Nerd's tone, the writing and the drugs and McDonalds jokes make this simplistic yet effective episode a guilty pleasure of mine.

6.Plumbers Don't Wear Ties(2009)

The most non-game on arguably the entire show, it is a shameful, amateuristic and beyond painful experience to endure, but the Nerd nailed it here so good with pointing out the bad stuff that Plumbers Don't Wear Ties is a curious look at some of the worst game design out there!

    

5.NES Accessoires(2008)

An overview of Nintendo's main NES accessoires with the exception of an obvious one, there are some good peripherals, but others sucked hard, such as the pathetic speedboard and the roll & rocker, of which the rolling rock connection was funny.  This episode has good informative sections combined with funny occassions such as the U force("Now you're literally playing with power") and attempting to land the aircraft for the third time in Top Gun.

4.Action 52(2010)

There are so many shitty and redundant games in one package awaiting to be ridiculed here that it's highly entertaining and conclusive at the same time to justify the terrible quality of Action 52, including it's mascot title Cheetahmen(reserved for another episode). Even monetary wise it sucks because of horrible controls, design, polishment and crashes plus bugs, making the value of it being so shitty, arbitrary.

3.Atari Sports(2012)

 MADDEN MADDEN MADDEN, TOUCHDOWN! The early look inside sports video games on the Atari 2600, this sports themed episode is surprisingly informative and funny at the same time with creative writing and camera shots rounding up to a well balanced episode.

2.Tiger Electronic Games(2013)

These cringy and mass produced electronic handhelds were massive at one point, but nowadays they have gone outdated. Tiger Electronic Games is both an embarassing and informative look at the "budget" option of playing video games with very limited technology. A similar episode is the Pong Consoles one, although the gameplay quality there was better. And don't forget about those terrible wristwatch games, the R-Zone or that Tiger game handheld either!

 1.Silver Surfer(2007)

The agony and pain of AVGN suffering through Silver Surfer is my favorite moment because it both feels authentic and well scripted. The fact that you die in one hit is usually unfair in video games, but what really makes the wheels turn rusted is when Silver with this long ass board is able to die at random background objects. Seeing the Nerd die at unexpected background objects, where as with other background objects he is able to progress through just fine, is my favorite guilty pleasure at the AVGN show, making it my number 1 AVGN episode, with great responses from himself.

The criteria for this top ten was based on information, humor, cozyness, writing, design and overall quality. Although subjective, I do think that most of my picks would had be choosen by others as well if they would present one.

I hope you liked going through the entries, and be sure to give the Angry Video Game Nerd a try at Cinemassacre.com if you haven't experienced the show yet!

April Fools' Day

You know, despite being born on April the 1st, 1988, I never really took much notice towards the actual event of April Fools' Day. The desire or tradition to spread jokes and hoaxes towards each other on this date is a cliche but nonetheless remains potentially interesting.

People have never attempted to fool me in combination with my birthday, and that's just fine. Otherwise I wouldn't mind sharing some examples, but that is not the case for me. Still, you can't fool me for not having a birthday today, so this oughta be a challenge.

Nowadays, I mostly notice the jokes and hoaxes appearing from over the internet, usually on April the 2nd, where articles will pop up which will share the best examples, such as Google Maps turning into an 8-bit presentation.

I think it's a harmless tradition to perform pranks, but people can sometimes go too far. There are several origin stories, but as far as The Netherlands goes, it's attributed towards a Dutch victory at Brielle in 1572.

Anyhow, April Fools' Day is meant to be fun nowadays. Despite knowing that the day is coming annually, people still are turning into April Fools once their friends or family play a succesful prank on them.

It never was a joke however that I was born on this date!!!