Cheerful Ghost: An Awesome Community For Gamers

Diablo IV Quarterly Update

Looks like the development of Diablo IV is going well and as such Blizzard has released a few updates about what we can expect. A couple things I found interesting is that Blizzard is creating a more co-op friendly Diablo IV user experience. Before if you opened a menu in Diablo III co-op only one person could control their inventory at a time.
If you are playing with a friend on a console you might want to both open your inventories at the same time so they are working on providing a user experience where you can do that. Also, they are allowing controllers to be used on PC and be completely re-mappable, something Diablo III does not allow.

That a ton more is... Read All

Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon Announced

Today Yacht Club Games announced an all new Shovel Knight game in development called Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeons.

"Delve with Shovel Knight into the depths of the Pocket Dungeon in an action-packed puzzle adventure mashup like none other! Join your mysterious guide Puzzle Knight as you shovel through scads of foes, procure new equipment, and battle bosses both familiar and new. Explore a tale with endless twists and turns, quest as your favorite heroes, and even challenge a friend for fast-paced head-to-head competition in Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon!"

No release date or platforms are announced yet but I hope the pocket part means smartphones as Shovel Knight on a... Read All

The New XBox Series X Will Be Backwards Compatable

Microsoft unveiled a ton of new details on the upcoming next gen Xbox Series X today and one in particular caught my attention. Historically Sony has provided excellent backwards compatibility between the Playstation and Playstation 2 era of console to later drop it after a time during the PS3 and entirely on the PS4. It seems Microsoft has picked up the love for compatibility in that it seems the upcoming Xbox Series X will still be able to play some original Xbox, 360 and all Xbox One games:

"Four generations of gaming: Our commitment to compatibility means existing Xbox One games, including backward-compatible Xbox 360 and original Xbox games, look and play better... Read All

The Lineage of Shovel Knight Explained

Shovel Knight launched in 2013 and since then received a ton of free content updates. It might be a bit confusing what it all is so Noclip created this handy Shovel Knight Lineage video explained by Yacht Club Games David D'Angelo.

This last weekend I put Shovel Knight Showdown through the paces playing it with a friend. It's a fun addition to Shovel Knight Treasure Trove and is a worthy brawler game. I didn't quite get the feel for each of the Knights but I appreciate that they all fight very differently. If you have friends over and Treasure Trove is on tap, you should give it a go.

Wargroove Is A Fantastic Retro Themed Turn Based Strategy Game: My First Thoughts

I'm late to the uptake with some game releases as there are so many. This isn't something I've minded for a while now because even folks that professionally review video games can't play everything. Recently I heard a glowing review for a, new to me, retro turn based strategy game called Wargroove that takes the formula that Nintendo perfected in Advance Wars and gives it a fun fantasy spin.

Wargroove is Hard by Default

Generally speaking modern triple A games or indie titles, unless they are a rogue-like, have a normal degree of difficulty by default. If you want more of a challenge in a typical shooter you can raise it and lower it if things are too hard. Typically I... Read All

The Batman - Camera Test

I geek out over superhero movies, and this camera test just dropped for The Batman.

I didn't think we needed another Batman movie... but we probably always will lol.

This is very simple, but looks so rad!

The State of the Wyvern: Day of Devotion Update & More!

Hello Adventurers, we hope you all had a great holiday season and we wish you a belated Happy New Year! As you may have noticed Jon and I decided to take a much earned holiday break from active Wyvern development, and the good news is, we had a very relaxing time and the even better news is we’re back in active development toward the final 1.0 game launch.

The Day of Devotion Holiday Event

To kick things off, Tale of the White Wyvern is getting a new holiday event called “Day of Devotion.” Rather than explain it ourselves, we’re going to turn to the expert on Wyrmdoor traditions, Helga!

”The Day of Devotion is an annual celebration of love. Couples traditionally... Read All

Digital Foundry Got To Peek at the Tech Behind Doom Eternal

Doom Eternal's launch date of March 20th is fast approaching and as such certain media outlets are covering it before launch. Digital Foundry got a peek at the game for a few hours and interviewed the folks at iD about the game.

"As well as sitting down for *three hours* to play the upcoming Doom Eternal, Digital Foundry's John Linneman also had the opportunity to discuss the new id Tech 7 engine upgrades with Doom Eternal executive producer and id software studio director, Marty Stratton. From engine upgrades to ray tracing to Switch to next-gen consoles, there's a ton of new info in this one."

WarCraft III: Reforged Is The Best Coat of Paint on Azeroth!

WarCraft III: Reforged launched yesterday and being a huge fan of the original and the Frozen Throne expansion I was heavily anticipating it's launch. Now that the game's out I've downloaded it and played it on my PC and started the Orc prologue campaign. Back in 2002 Blizzard released the Orc prologue campaign as a standalone game demo that setup the events of WarCraft III. I always felt like it was a unique way to release a demo, with original post game content but as Blizzard recently noted, most fans had no idea it existed. Later on they patched in the prolog into the main game as a playable option but it didn't contain the incredible voice acting and most people... Read All WarCraft III: Reforged launched yesterday and being a huge fan of the original and the Frozen Throne expansion I was heavily anticipating it's launch. Now that the game's out I've downloaded it and played it on my PC and started the Orc prologue campaign. Back in 2002 Blizzard released the Orc prologue campaign as a standalone game demo that setup the events of WarCraft III. I always felt like it was a unique way to release a demo, with original post game content but as Blizzard recently noted, most fans had no idea it existed. Later on they patched in the prolog into the main game as a playable option but it didn't contain the incredible voice acting and most people we're either focused on multiplayer or were done playing WarCraft III to notice. All that said, WarCraft III: Reforged is back and it might be a cliche thing to say at this point but it's more true with this game than most but if you loved the original you need to play Reforged.

Let's Start With The Controversy... Because There's Always Controversy

The strongest part of WarCraft III: Reforged is the thing it's getting some negative reaction from in that originally Blizzard said that they'd change up aspects of the single player campaign considerably and it seems like they let that go in favor of giving you the original game with a new visuals. As you can see from the video above the way they showed the scene at Blizzcon this year is not how the game shipped. It seems Blizzard took the fan critique they heard from players that preferred the original WarCraft III camera and reverted back to that forgoing the more modern cinematic style they showed at Blizzcon. This has caused quite a negative fan reaction but I frankly can see both sides and I'm with Blizzard on reverting the camera style to the original.

Put simply, HD remakes are better served with fewer changes to the original source material and deciding to prefer the original camera angles is best form of respect to the original material. I know the original WarCraft III is still available to install and that version will always exist but focusing HD remakes on making fewer changes to the base game is the better choice because HD remakes are generally more more accessible because they are newer and in the case of WarCraft III: Reforged seamlessly connect to modern Battle.net and are available in the launcher making them more accessible. There's also a charm to the hokey camera angles of WarCraft III that firmly date it back in the 2000 era of PC gaming that should be experienced by a modern audience in 2020.

I Don't Care About Camera Angles, Is This Game Any Good?

If you like hero focused real time strategy games then uh yeah, WarCraft III is good, it's actually really good. But you know, I'm also incredibly biased because every couple years I come back to play the campaign. In fact when I heard Reforged was on it's way I stopped playing WarCraft III and decided to play the Reforged campaign from the start again ... for the first time.

And like I said before, this is WarCraft III with a 4K coat of paint and it's superb. The gameplay is crisp and that 2000's PC era awkward polygons of the original game are rounded out to create quite a visual treat. Blizzard did such a great job respecting the original game it's actually pretty hard to notice many changes. That said the biggest change to the game are the visuals, something they took the most inspiration from being World of Warcraft. Because, see kids, before World of Warcraft hit the streets WarCraft III was the king of Azeroth. As World of Warcraft became the biggest MMO of all time it also developed a more of a unique visual identity that was originally rooted in WarCraft III. That said, as visuals evolve and 3D tech to match it certain characters look different in World of Warcraft than in WarCraft III. One big change I noticed right away is that Thrall in WarCraft III: Reforged looks quite different than in vanilla WarCraft III. It's not a big deal but as the original is burned forever in my brain I noticed. And a lot of other models have changed too to fit World of Warcraft better and this is a change I don't mind. It's less keeping WarCraft III: Reforged for strict purists but it's not abandoning the World of Warcraft players either.

I heartily welcome WarCraft III: Reforged because it's Blizzard giving one of my most beloved games a very purist treatment. But I do understand that some people wanted what they saw at Blizzcon and I can't say I blame them for that. With that I also agree with Blizzard for keeping to the original game because at the end of the day, the game was already great it just needed a 4K coat of paint.

GregoPeck Super Member wrote on 01/30/2020 at 10:00am

I've played the first two WarCraft games and that's it. I'm not sure how I over looked WarCraft III. I'm glad they did this, that means I have something to look forward to playing, whenever I get around to it. It's difficult to play classic games in modern times, because they look awful in comparison, that's why I love these HD remakes.

Travis Admin wrote on 01/30/2020 at 03:55pm

All that I’ve read about this game controversy-wise seems to be that it’s way unoptimized and buggy but it seems like you haven’t seen that at all.

It could have been neat if they kept the changes they presented at blizzcon with the option of switching to what they shipped with. Best of both worlds. There’s lots of speculation as to why they ended up shipping what they did but this wouldn’t be a deal breaker for me

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 01/30/2020 at 05:21pm

> but it seems like you haven’t seen that at all.

Last night the game seemed to hard lock near the end of a mission but it just paused and continued and I was REALLY nervous i'd have to replay it. So i'd say so far, everything is fine, but there are little pauses from time to time that I imagine Blizzard will fix. Seen nothing beyond that but i'm running a pretty beefy Desktop and Windows 10.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 01/31/2020 at 03:43am

Uh, this isn't very cool.

"All your Warcraft 3: Reforged custom games belong exclusively to Blizzard"

https://www.pcgamer.com/all-your-warcraft-3-reforged-custom-games-belong-exclusively-to-blizzard/

I guess they are still sore about DoTA.

Travis Admin wrote on 02/01/2020 at 08:38pm

I saw this reddit comment breaking down some of the critiques. The one about them removing the old client for online play and forcing that download, while removing features is problematic. Even if you don't buy this, your current version of War 3 gets downgraded.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/ex1927/warcraft_3_reforged_has_a_record_low_08_score_on/fg5y8pp/

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Season 7 of Star Wars: Clone Wars Arrives Feb. 21

The seventh season of the Star Wars animated show Clone Wars arrives on Feb.21. If you haven't checked out Star Wars: Clone Wars, now is a good time to get started. I watched all current seasons on Netflix and enjoyed it, so I recommend it for Star Wars fans. It will be on Disney+ and you can find more information here: https://www.gamespot.com/articles/star-wars-clone-wars-season-7-release-date-reveale/1100-6472475/

"How Star Wars: Clone Wars’ Final Season Crosses Over with Revenge of the Sith" https://youtu.be/cftmJIXFOsQ

Feel free to share some thoughts and comments!

Diablo IV Quarterly Update

Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon Announced

The New XBox Series X Will Be Backwards Compatable

The Lineage of Shovel Knight Explained

Wargroove Is A Fantastic Retro Themed Turn Based Strategy Game: My First Thoughts

The Batman - Camera Test

The State of the Wyvern: Day of Devotion Update & More!

Digital Foundry Got To Peek at the Tech Behind Doom Eternal

WarCraft III: Reforged Is The Best Coat of Paint on Azeroth!

Season 7 of Star Wars: Clone Wars Arrives Feb. 21

Recent Activity...

The Witcher Netflix Season 1 Review (No Major Spoilers)

The Batman - Camera Test

Tale of the White Wyvern: Support & Questions Thread

Tale of the White Wyvern: Support & Questions Thread