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New Guild Wars 2 Expansion Path of Fire Launches September 22nd

Guild Wars 2 is an excellent MMO where the base game is free to play and only requires you purchase the expansions. The base game is very fun and even though I haven't quite completed all of it I can imagine the expansions are just as good and it looks to get even better with Path of Fire.

"Balthazar threatens the Crystal Desert and adjoining kingdom of Elona with his Forged legions. Explore vast new maps filled with magic-drenched desert plains, ancient temples and ruins, and beautiful oases. Uncover the secrets of Tyria's history, and discover the fate of the Elonian people after years of silence."

Path of Fire is getting a revamp to the mount system, elite... Read All

Travis Admin wrote on 09/20/2017 at 01:29pm

I haven't played all of the first expansion, but I completed the story of the main game and have done some endgame content. GW2 is the most satisfying MMO I've ever played, and my wife and I still dive back into it occasionally.

I love that they make their server upkeep money with cosmetic microtransactions, so there's no monthly subscription. I feel like I can enjoy it the way I want. With a subscription I feel like I have to play it a certain amount every month to get my money's worth. It's the free-to-play model but you have to buy the game first (their actual free-to-play version is limited) and there aren't any pay-to-win items. A few convenience items, nothing at all gamebreaking. It's the perfect MMO model I think.

But this expansion totally missed my radar, I had no idea it was coming! A rogue god? Mounts!? I'm stoked!

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 09/22/2017 at 10:59pm

> GW2 is the most satisfying MMO I've ever played, and my wife and I still dive back into it occasionally.

It's one of the best i've played too. I had an incredible amount of fun with Lord of the Rings Online when some friends and I played that a couple years back. GW2 is up there, hard to say which I liked more. One thing that keeps me thinking it might be LoTRO is that you could kill bears get the pelts and make armor. Something about that crafting system and the trees in that game really made me happy. Not my wife though, whenever I killed a bear she got pretty upset even though I told her I used the pelts to make armor! No digital eWaste.

> I love that they make their server upkeep money with cosmetic microtransactions, so there's no monthly subscription. I feel like I can enjoy it the way I want.

Me too. I don't mind paying for games but I do mind a monthly sub because it sort of feels like an obligation and if I don't play it "enough" I am really wasting money.

> But this expansion totally missed my radar, I had no idea it was coming! A rogue god? Mounts!? I'm stoked!

I know you've been all over the Diablo III Necro content but do you think you might get this expansion? There is a cart bundle where you can this expansion AND the other one together. That seems like a lot of GW2 to play.

Travis Admin wrote on 09/23/2017 at 02:53am

Yeah Katie and I got it. Don't know when we will get back into it but we will. It's a game that we seem to play for about two months a year and that's great. When it gets old we put it away for a while.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 09/24/2017 at 04:53pm

That's a good cycle with games. I do the same and the games stay fresh when I come back later to play it.

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Guns 'N' Stories: Bulletproof VR - Early Impressions

Guns 'N' Stories is an early access VR wave shooter set in the old west. It is being developed by MiroWin. The overall story is the tried-and-true scenario of a woman getting kidnapped by a big bad, and you are out to save her.

The first two levels that I played were enjoyable. You start out with one pistol and soon end up with two. You fight wave after wave of bad guys while you are dodging and shooting down bullets. Based on the fact that my pistols turned into high-tech automated weapons during the second level, it looks like MiroWin has a weapon progression plan in the game.

Given that this is a wave shooter, there is not a lot to explore. You pretty much stand in... Read All

Ben Paddon From PortsCenter Reviews The Mega Man Anniversary Collection

Mega Man has been ported to nearly every system and in this episode of PortsCenter Ben Paddon talks about them. I didn't know which versions were ports and which were emulated but Ben does and it makes sense when he shows the graphics side by side with the originals. The recent Anniversary Collection on Steam seems to review well but some people note some input lag on those versions but that doesn't seem to show up for everybody.

I wonder if Capcom will just release all of the Mega Man games in one pack on Steam at some point? Hopefully Dr Wright can get them to do that.

Battleborn Enters Its Twilight Period, Soon To Be In Maintenance Mode

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After the upcoming Fall Update, there will be no new content for Battleborn, Gearbox's somewhat ill-fated team shooter.

The game had lukewarm reviews at launch, and the timing was all wrong. Competing with Blizzard is almost always a bad idea. After an attempt to bring in new players with a free-to-play option failed to generate new interest, Gearbox has decided to cease active development and enter maintenance mode.

The game isn't shutting down, but it's entering it's last days, with a skeleton crew remaining to keep things working properly.

As a thank you to the players, Gearbox is giving out the skin pictured above with this SHiFT code:
ZKK33-FT59R-KCK3S-XCR33-B56HB

... Read All

Humble Bundle Has Reached a Major Milestone: Over $100,000,000 in Charity Donations

Humble Bundle (or as I like to call it, "the reason my Steam library has more games than I'll ever play") launched in 2010 with a simple mission: supporting charities by giving gamers the opportunity to pay what they want for awesome games. Since then, there have been countless bundles, including new categories of bundles like books, music, movies, mobile games, and a monthly subscription bundle. Plus, they've expanded to a full game store where you can get DRM-free and Steam games while still supporting charities.

And they've reached a major milestone: over $100,000,000 in charity donations. They've helped provide water to those who need it, protected people's civil... Read All

Bethesda Is Releasing Doom & Wolfenstein II On The Switch

In Nintendo's livestream today they let us a know a couple Bethesda games are coming to the Switch. Skyrim is coming this November which was previously announced at E3. The latest news though is pretty interesting as Doom 2016 is coming this holiday and Wolfenstein II is coming next year. This is pretty big news for Switch owners as Nintendo, to date, hasn't really received a lot of big box third party titles and seeing Bethesda jump in is really interesting. I have questions about how good the ports play and the graphics of the games but if they work out well enough, this could be really interesting for the longevity of Switch and how certain gamers look at it.

Nintendo Stocking Many More SNES Classics & Bringing Back The NES Classic In 2018!

Looks like Nintendo is recommending people don't pickup a SNES Classic for more than $80 on the third party market. Hopefully they can stock many more units of the SNES Classic so things don't come to that but my guess is they will still have some supply issues.

"“I would strongly urge you not to over-bid on an SNES Classic on any of the auction sites,” Fils-Aimé said. “You shouldn’t pay more than $79.99.”"

Good point but again, that's really up to Nintendo if people can get one or not. All that said, Nintendo does seem to plan on stocking more SNES Classic units this holiday season.

"Certainly the demand is there and the supply chain is there. Can we do more? It depends... Read All

I Finally Beat Link Between Worlds!

jdodson gives this an astounding "Must Play" on the Ghost Scale

This achieves something special, and it would be a shame to miss it.

jdodson gives this a "Must Play" on the Ghost Scale

This achieves something special, and it would be a shame to miss it.

Link Between Worlds is the direct sequel to Link to the Past and a game I’ve been playing since I got my 3DS in December. It’s a good pickup and play Zelda Adventure that’s a must buy for any 3DS owner. Recently I beat it while on vacation and felt that the ending was a satisfying conclusion to the “To the Past” trilogy consisting of Link to the Past, Link’s Awakening and Link Between Worlds. The “To The Past” trilogy isn’t a formal Zelda trilogy but one I noticed as Link’s Awakening is a direct sequel to Link to the Past and Link Between Worlds is a direct sequel to that. I might be the only person to consider these three games a trilogy but I think I can handle... Read All Link Between Worlds is the direct sequel to Link to the Past and a game I’ve been playing since I got my 3DS in December. It’s a good pickup and play Zelda Adventure that’s a must buy for any 3DS owner. Recently I beat it while on vacation and felt that the ending was a satisfying conclusion to the “To the Past” trilogy consisting of Link to the Past, Link’s Awakening and Link Between Worlds. The “To The Past” trilogy isn’t a formal Zelda trilogy but one I noticed as Link’s Awakening is a direct sequel to Link to the Past and Link Between Worlds is a direct sequel to that. I might be the only person to consider these three games a trilogy but I think I can handle that.

The entire Link Between Worlds story is a direct parallel to Link to the Past. Lorule in LBW is similar, if not the same place as the Dark World in LTTP. It’s not really spelled out if Lorule is the exact same place as the Dark World in LTTP but the dungeons line up in location, theme and even boss encounters. Even though there is that built in similarity LBW verges in that it gives Lorule a bit more personality and actual characters. That said, there is a pretty fun story based switcheroo at the end that I won’t spoil even though a few dungeons away from the end I saw coming. The switch at the end isn’t particularly hidden if you are paying attention and is a fun play off the typical Zelda style story.

Like many elements of Link Between Worlds the music is heavily influenced by themes from Link to the Past but breaks new ground stylistically. The music by Ryo Nagamatsu takes the retro SNES bit themes and arranges them with live orchestra, small ensembles and an Celt flavor that really gives the game a much more earthy tone to it. The Hyrule Dungeon theme song in Link Between Worlds is based on the original theme but Nagamatsu arranges it for a modern ensemble and his choices for the natural instruments to play the parts of the 16-bit score are well made. Linked below is the original Hyrule Dungeon theme and Nagamatu’s version that shows off how well he translated and built on the original score.

Link to the Past Dungeon Theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1UyVXN13SI

Link Between Worlds Hyrule Dungeon Theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dyn4A52jkxg (dat woodblock & trumpet!)

Nagamatu’s original music is also quite good and never felt out of place with the old themes.

Link Between Worlds is a game I plan on coming back to which is one of the highest bits of praise I have. I really hope Nintendo rereleases this on the Switch so more people can play it because it’s such a sharp game worthy of more attention. If the past Zelda games are an indicator Nintendo should rerelease it, it’s just a matter of time. I’m not entirely sure if Link Between Worlds is a reason in itself to buy a 3DS but if you were close to picking one up and were a huge Link to the Past fan, i’d check it out. The Link Between Worlds game cart doesn’t seem to be available from Nintendo new so I picked it up used on Amazon but it’s also available digitally from the 3DS shop.

Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment Review

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Specter of Torment is a prequel to the original Shovel Knight: Shovel of Hope game. It follows Specter Knight as he "recruits" each member of The Order of No Quarter. It also dives into Specter Knight's backstory, which I will not reveal here.

The game itself is similar to both Shovel of Hope and Plague of Shadows. It is a 2D platformer that has you fighting boss battles at the end of every level. What is different from Shovel and Plague is Yacht Club Games has gotten rid of the world map. In the previous games you used the world map to travel from level to level (like Super Mario World), but in Specter, you just jump straight to any level via a portal (think Mega Man... Read All Specter of Torment is a prequel to the original Shovel Knight: Shovel of Hope game. It follows Specter Knight as he "recruits" each member of The Order of No Quarter. It also dives into Specter Knight's backstory, which I will not reveal here.

The game itself is similar to both Shovel of Hope and Plague of Shadows. It is a 2D platformer that has you fighting boss battles at the end of every level. What is different from Shovel and Plague is Yacht Club Games has gotten rid of the world map. In the previous games you used the world map to travel from level to level (like Super Mario World), but in Specter, you just jump straight to any level via a portal (think Mega Man games). I missed the world map, and I wonder why they did not include it here. I think they were going for the Mega Man feel here, but it just feels like they dropped a feature due to time.

Speaking of time, this game is a lot shorter than both Shovel and Plague. It took me about six hours to beat the game, where Shovel and Plague took me ten and twelve hours, respectively. This is a quick game that you can beat in a day.

Another thing that I felt that Yacht Club Games scaled back on is story. Both Shovel of Torment and Plague of Shadows had great stories and characters. Specter of Torment does not have as grand of a story. This leads me to care less for the characters than in previous games.

The one thing that Yacht Club Games does nail is level design and controls. They are tight. The mechanics of Specter Knight are really cool with his wall scale, the ability to jump off walls, and the ability to do what I will call a "lunge attack" in air. I cannot tell if they reused previous levels from the other games, but it does not really matter, they are still great. I actually finished this game a while back, and then played it again for this review and I still had a lot of fun.

The boss battles in this game range from really easy to moderate difficulty, kind of inline with the previous releases of Shovel Knight games. I found that I could beat all bosses with some ground attacks and in-air lunge attacks. I was not really surprised by this given the difficulty of the boss battles in the previous games.

Secondary items, called Curios, were neat but not really needed to beat the game. The only one that I used all the time was the healing item. The rest were fun to get and try out but were barely needed to solve the puzzles and beat enemies.

Overall I enjoyed this game, and will play it again. The story wasn't quite there for me, but the level design and controls were top notch. Overall, I would rank it as my least favorite in the series, but still fun.

The review for this game came from the Switch version. Specter of Torment is also available on the PC, Wii U, 3DS, PS4, Vita, PS3, Xbox One and Fire TV.

Yacht Club Games provided Cheerful Ghost with a Switch download key for Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove, which Specter of Torment is part of.

PortsCenter Reviews Marble Madness on Game Boy Advance

Ben Paddon reviews a very specific port of Marble Madness packed in with Klax on the Game Boy Advance. As always the video drops some history on Game Boy Advance and several others games ported to it. Oh yeah and Ben doesn't actually recommend you get Marble Madness on the GBA as it's ... terrible. I can vouch for the NES port though, that one seems quite good and that's the one i've played the most as my cousin had in on Nintendo and we played it a lot.