My Five Annoyances: Ryse Son of Rome

First off, yay reviews! Second off, you ever realize that reviews take a really long time. There’s analyzing, playing, replaying, paying attention to both large and small details. Truth be told, while it’s a wonderful process…it’s very time consuming. So time consuming, there’s simply no way for me to do in depth game reviews with my schedule the way it is. So I said to myself “What about five little things”. This lead me to pick out five things I liked about games. However, I know the human psyche. We don’t want to hear about the good, we want to hear about the bad…or in this case annoying.

So with that intro out of the way, let’s talk about the five annoyances of Xbox One’s “Ryse: Son of Rome”…after a quick intro.

“Ryse Son of Rome” was released on November 22nd, 2013 as a launch title for the One. It was developed by Crytek and published by Microsoft. The game is described as a “third person action adventure hack-and-slash” according to most sites where you control Marius. Marius is a fictional Centurion of the Roman Empire-

NO NOT THAT ROMAN EMPIRE

The HISTORICAL Roman Empire! Anyways, Marius uses his skills to help defend Rome, kill his enemies and avenge his fallen allies. Understand? Great, let’s get on to the list.

5: Why Is It Called “Ryse” And Not “Rise”? 

Now to be fair, this one does have an answer. That answer: Crytek. Apparently Crytek just substitutes the “I” for a “Y” (as shown in their other series “Crysis”). Not much more to say here and I have a feeling most people didn’t really care but still, I guess it just…caught my “I”…sorry.

4: So Wait, Does A Real Damocles Exist?

In the second to last chapter, we find out that Marius becomes “Damocles”. In the game, Damocles is a powerful warrior abandoned by his Generals during a war. The Goddess of Vengeance saw this act of cowardice and gave Damocles a chance to exact his revenge on his Generals. Marius, having fallen under similar circumstances, would also become Damocles so he may get his revenge on the people who betrayed Rome.

One..problem..Does this mean Damocles isn’t really a warrior as much as it is a title? It’s shown that Marius (presumably) dies after being knocked into the sea by Barbarians. Does Marius just…become this all powerful warrior but still retain who he is? It’s a bit vague, maybe even intentionally so, but it doesn’t change the awesome revenge scenes we get to see towards the finale. 

3: Was Boudica Falling Off The Elephant In The Grand Finale Suppose To Be Funny?

The final fight pits you against Boudica whom, again, is based off a real life person. I won’t get into that but I will talk about this final fight. You see Boudica storming the main palace on an elephant when Marius gets a great idea to use the scorpio to take it down. The scene is pretty cool except for one problem..Boudica made the same mistake about 10 minutes ago.

See, when Boudica first enters the battle, she takes on Vitalion (Marius’ Commander). Vitalion also kills the elephant, but he uses a spear and stabs it into the eye with one throw. This causes Boudica to fall out and proceed to fight hand to hand. She, ultimately, wins the fight but…seriously? SHE TRIES THE EXACT SAME TECHNIQUE AGAIN!

I mean, with Vitalion, maybe she didn’t realize he could be that capable since they never fought but with Marius, she’s already fought and lost to him. Now, in defense of the game, Marius’ scorpio attack is a surprise attack but given we’ve already seen our main villain fall off an elephant once, it just seems silly to watch it happen again. All I could hear was the “wah, wah, wah, waaaaaah”.

2: Those Damn Formation Parts

So, if you ever decide to look up ancient battle techniques, you may find yourself seeing a shield technique used by the Romans called “The Roman Tortoise”. Again, won’t go into too many details, but the technique is used to cover all warriors from arrows and swords using Roman Shields.

Obviously, a game about Roman legionnaires would use such a famous technique. Obviously, a game about Roman legionnaires would over-use this technique…

Don’t get me wrong, the first time you do it, it’s pretty cool. You have to switch between hiding behind the shields, moving forward, or throwing spears (which are actually called Pilums). However, you do it quite a few times and every time just gets more boring. It never changes from the pattern or seems any harder than the last time. You would rather just be fighting with your sword and shield. I’m sure someone out there really enjoyed these parts but I can honestly say, I did not. If anything, it felt like it broke me out of the flow of the game.

1: Why Would Marius Tell Nero His Entire Story? 

The obvious answer here is “because we wouldn’t have a game otherwise” but in the continuity of the game, why would he do this. See, after Marius is left for dead at the hands of the Barbarians, he is brought back as Damocles. Marius then goes on a rampage to find Nero’s sons and kill them. However, after killing one of the sons, a prophet tells Marius that Nero can only die by his own sword. The implication is that Nero must kill himself via suicide with a dagger. The reality? Nero falls onto the sword of a giant statue. That giant statue is of, you guessed it, Nero. It’s pretty climatic and definitely a “OH SH-” moment.

With one problem…if that’s all that was needed to be done, why would Marius tell Nero the whole story knowing full well Nero was going to die. In telling Nero the story, the Roman legionnaires arrive as back up only to betray Marius on Nero’s command. This leads you having to have a QTE fight against multiple Romans as Nero tries to make his escape.

Now your argument maybe that the story is needed so Nero understood how screwed he was when the Barbarians show up and would choose suicide when given the choice..EXCEPT THAT MARIUS TELLS NERO THAT THE BARBARIANS ARE DEFEATED.

Yeah, when Nero hears the weaponry of soldiers, he first thinks it’s the Barbarians which is why he opts for suicide, but then Marius decides to mention the whole “Boudica is dead and we won lol” thing and Nero realizes that he really doesn’t have to kill himself anymore. Even if Marius did want to go through the whole story, he could have just out that one little part. Oh well, thank the Roman Gods a convenient giant sword wielding statue of Nero just happened to be nearby for a quick kill. We should all be so lucky…

And that’s my list. Do you agree with my annoyances. Did “Ryse: Son of Rome” rise any concerns out of you. Well, if it did, feel free to comment or share my article with friends, family, neighbors, dogs or any other living creature you find. Until next time my friends.

Game Review: Alice Madness Returns

I feel obligated to explain my system to everyone who reads my post for I have a set of rules I follow for reviews. First, I never review a game I can’t finish. Now, the one exception to this rule so far has been “Town of Salem” for the PC. The reason is because I really enjoyed ToS and there is no actual ending to the game. However, every other game I have reviewed has been beaten. Second, I don’t necessarily play just one game straight through. I played “Dark Souls” for months before I finished it, and the day after I finished “Alice Madness Returns”. I didn’t go through AMR in just one long session, I had been playing it at the same time. Some may feel that may distract my thought process but I don’t it’s right to just “power” through a game. I never enjoy it as much if I do and I tend to forget details. Finally, I try to wrap up large sums of text in rather short but thorough paragraphs. There have been games where I have experienced numerous glitches, bugs, and other random events that I don’t always touch upon because I would spend all day writing the article otherwise. So, I hope that shows a little bit of my “Behind The Scenes”. Otherwise, let’s move on to what you came for: the review!

So, because I have such a fancy for “Alice in Wonderland”, I thought it was only fair to play the sequel to “American McGee’s Alice”. “Alice Madness Returns” is a psychological horror action-adventure developed by Spicy Horse and published by EA. It was released in 2011 and received mixed criticism. In my original review of AMA, I said the game was well done but dated and it drastically showed. However, other then talking about it being dated and few combat mechanics, I had very few negatives to speak of. So, does AMR have the same mysticism that AMA did, or will this trip down the rabbit hole be a nightmare best forgotten. Let’s find out:

Plot:
We begin AMR in London. Yeah, unlike the first game which took place completely in Wonderland, this game actually does a mixture of Wonderland and London (even combining the names to make Londerland at times). Alice is speaking to Dr. Bumby, a psychologist who specializes in making people forget terrible memories. Alice is a patient because she can’t escape her darkest memory: the fire that killed her family. For some reason, Alice seems to blame herself despite the fact that it was documented that Dyna (the cat) had knocked over a lamp by accident and set the house on fire. After the session, you actually to get play as Alice in London but your controls are limited to just moving and examining random items. After following a white cat down an alley way, a cut-scene brings you back to Wonderland where Cheshire Cat once again acts acts as the games narrator/tutorial.

I mean, how can you not trust a face like that

To wrap up a rather lengthy game, Alice believes there is more to the fire than what has been documented. The game will take you through worlds like The Clockwork from Mad Hatter, Underwater with the Walrus and the Carpenter, and (of course) the Queen of Hearts Castle. It’s up to Alice to explore these places and use both London and Wonderland to uncover the dark truth behind the events of her past and prove that things are not what they appear.

Overall, it’s a good story and, arguably, better than the one from the first game. It’s nice to see the contrast of Alice in two different worlds. It’s always been theorized that Alice is a bit wacky but this game really takes that idea and runs with it. With that said, I am disappointed with how forward they are with Wonderland’s symbolism. In other medias, Wonderland is treated in a manner that suggest it could be real but also all in Alice’s head. This game suggests strongly that Wonderland is simply Alice’s mentality. Again, it’s never said that’s EXACTLY it but it’s strongly implied throughout the entire story. I think we all realize this even before the game did it, but I always liked the mystery. Another complaint I had is that game is REALLY long for what it is. I feel the story could have been told in 8-10 hours easily. However, the running time I’ve seen for this game is about 12-13 hours. Those 2-4 extra hours really make a difference considering most of it is just repeating puzzles and fights. However, that’s more a style/game-play aspect than plot. In conclusion, plot is probably the best part of this story (I realize I say this a lot). It’s a good story with a decent twist and a some f*ckd up moments you can cringe your face to.

Style:
Again, relating back to AMA, the coolest aspect was that they took a popular story and gave it a very macabre feel. AMR is no exception to this rule. We, once again, see many favorites being portrayed in a dark, gritty style that gets you hungry for more. One aspect of style that I loved was Alice’s clothing change. Now, as a man, I’m not really into dresses but every level brought a new outfit for Alice that related to the theme. I have to admit, it was pretty cool. The game still had the traditional blue/white outfit we have all come to love but variety, as they say, is the spice of life.

An example of Alice’s clothing style

The music, on the other hand, is forgettable. Honestly, I couldn’t tell you one tune from the entire game even if I wanted to. Now granted, I’m not the best person to ask about particular aspect of a game but I do remember the one song from AMA if only because they drove it into my head. I can’t say there was anything bad about the soundtrack, just nothing that made me go “Wow, listen to that!”. Overall, the style of this game is impressive and looks great. Enemies fit the levels they come from while still having that one enemy you see constantly, locations are brimming with that familiar, but welcomed Gothic feeling the first game brought us.

Game-play:
Alright, in the last review I kept a very open mind about the game-play. I had said that, at the time it was made, it was good game-play. I would be a liar to say that Alice doesn’t outperform it’s ancestor’s combat system in every way. Holy Hell, the combat mechanics, jumping, movement, everything is just better. Where do I even begin? First off, there is an aiming system for targeting enemies and melee is actually useful rather than absolute crap. The jumping still feels like it has a delay but not nearly as bad as the first, and there’s a double jump/float option you can play around with. Rather than load you up with a huge arsenal of weapons you will never use, the game gives you five you use rather evenly. These weapons can also be upgraded meaning there’s a reason to explore and fight enemies. During these explorations, you can come across extra content like memories that provide more depth to the story and challenges that can unlock more health. I can keep going but you get it. The game-play is just more advanced in every sense of the word and that’s something we can all just smile about.

Yes I realize it’s the same picture as above but it works on both levels.

Along with the normal combat the game provides, there is a mini-game in each chapter that relates to the theme. For example, in the underwater chapter, you play a mini-game where you control a boat and shoot at sharks. The mini-games aren’t too difficult and help split up game-play so I don’t really mind them. I’m always a fan of variety if it works and Wonderland does seem like a place that could change up the field. There are also “Slide” areas where you have to control Alice going down a slide, collecting experience and avoiding traps. This part reminds me, heavily, of the Super Mario 64 slides. Again, nothing too much to say about them. Perhaps they over-used the idea in the game but I would be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy them.

Okay, now that I have showered it with praise, let’s talk about what I didn’t like about the controls. First, the aiming for ranged weaponry is very fickle. The game claims you can move from enemy to enemy but good luck locking on to the one you want to hit. If there was anything above 3 enemies in one screenshot, I would have to continuously bounce the target icon around until it hit the mark. Again, the jumping still has a delay but it’s slight so I won’t knock too hard on it. My biggest complaint is that the game is just way too repetitive with it’s puzzles and enemies. You’ll find yourself in the same fights, against the same things, using the same tactics time and time again. If not, you’ll find yourself doing the same platforming or the same puzzle slider sequence or the same “shoot the target” sequence….again, you get it. The game is just HORRIBLY repetitive. Yes, I see the irony to call it repetitive more than once, but I really can’t express it enough. Every time I hit a new part of the level, I would just groan at the fact that I would be doing the same thing I did 2 minutes ago with very slight variations. Huh, isn’t the definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results? Now I’m wondering, is the repetitiveness done on purpose? Is this actually a very clever trick done by the creators to help us relate to the inner working’s of Alice’s madness?…No, I’m just going to assume they were lazy.

Final Thoughts:
So let’s review, the storyline is better, the style meets the same criteria the first one started and the combat is more refined. So in theory, this has to be the better of two games, right? Well…by all logic, yes it should be but I can’t say that I enjoyed this more than the first one. In fact, I’m having a hard time saying I liked it AS MUCH as the first one and I believe I understand the reason. The biggest fault of this game comes in two forms: pacing and repetitiveness. Now, in defense of the sequel, the first one was very repetitive in combat as well. I mentioned I only used a few weapons and same strategy against most enemies and bosses. However, the first one was broken up a lot more effectively than it’s sequel. True, it still had a similar number of chapters but the sections felt shorter and dedicated to the one new idea they were bringing. AMR just doesn’t have that. Every level focuses strongly on platforming, lever pulling, sliding, mini-game and killing the reoccurring enemy. You become bored and wish it would just end. Also, why in the Hell did the second feel it was okay to do away with boss fights? In the first one, you get to fight people like Mad Hatter, Jabberwock, and The Queen of Hearts. However, with the exception of the final boss, there is no boss fights in AMR and that’s a huge no-no for me. Boss fights are wonderful ways to end a chapter and this game could have easily made it happen.

So, in the end, I don’t hate the sequel. I acknowledge where it went right and even praise the upgrades, but the original just just flowed so nicely and tried so many ideas for it’s time. AMR doesn’t try new ideas. It took a handful of ones they knew they could do and just repeated them. While it’s a clever analogy for going insane, it doesn’t save the sin committed and there’s only one way a sin like this can be handled in Wonderland:

OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!

Do you agree with my opinion or do you think my head should be next on the chopping block? Well, grab a cup of tea and let me know what you think about “Alice Madness Returns”. Until then, I’m Gamers Mentality and this game is OVER!

Game Review – Dark Souls

…Here’s “Dark Souls”. Seriously, what the hell do I say about this game that hasn’t been talked about a thousand times in the past? As a critic, I feel like I’m bashing my head against the wall on this one. I’ve mentioned this game before when I wrote an article specifying that I was playing this with my little sister, but I guess I can give a little more background on the game. “Dark Souls” was developed and published by “From Software” in 2011. It’s considered an action role-playing game with horror elements. I, Gamers Mentality, have completed this game and must take the plot, style and game-play to determine whether this game lives up to it’s hype or falls short. Fair warning, this review contains spoilers that do affect the ending of the game. If you wish to keep this spoiler free, please play the game before reading the review. So, without further distraction, let’s begin: Plot: The game opens up with a cinematic cut-scene that fills you in on the details. If you were like me, these details flew over your head and you forgot them five minutes after seeing them. For those of you who did pay attention, the world is shown in primeval times where Everlasting Dragons held all the power. However, out of nowhere, the First Flame was ignited which lead to the four beings you’ll come to know well: Gravelord Nito, Witch of Izalith, Gwyn and the Furtive Pygmy. These four, including Seath the Scaleless, defeated the dragons in a great war to begin a sort of Golden Age. However, all good things must end as it’s discovered that the First Flame is dying. The Witch tries to save it by creating an indefinite flame but ended up being deformed into a creature known as “The Bed of Chaos”. Gwyn and his knights went to the flame and sacrficed themselves in order to kindle the flame, which works but only temporary. As the world is becoming a vast wasteland of death and decay, it is told that a Chosen Undead is destined to leave the “Undead Asylum” and ring the Bell of Awakening. This is where your story begins. Did you get all that? Good, neither did I when I first played this game.

What the hell did he just say?

Don’t get me wrong, the story is fascinating and only improves. Every little detail, every character you meet, every monster you fight help build a chaotic, epic, beautiful tragedy. Yes, you read that right: tragedy. For anyone that has finished this game, you know exactly why I use that word. Unfortunately, despite your best attempts, your best moves and your best skills, you are LITERALLY incapable to save the world around you. In the end, your character is forced to find and capture the four souls of the Lords in order to open the kiln to the First Flame. Once you’ve done it, you are able to confront Lord Gwyn and defeat him which leads to one of two options. You may rekindle the flame yourself and buy humanity more time before their inevitable doom or you can choose to walk away from the flame knowing full well that doing so means dooming any hope for a better tomorrow and becoming the new “Dark Lord”. So you’re thinking “What the hell is the point then?” Well, I’ve read that there’s a sort of third ending to this game. There’s no cut-scenes for it nor any achievements but it works like this. In the game, you meet a character named Solaire of Astora. It’s believed that Solaire is Lord Gwyn’s firstborn who gave up his status as a deity. In the game, you meet Solaire various times in different locations. If you follow the correct sequence of events and kill the right enemy, Solaire can join you in the final battle against Gwyn. If this happens, it’s believed that Solaire lights the kiln in his own reality which causes an “indefinite age of fire” meaning there is a happy ending. Unfortunately, while it’s nice to believe, I have no confirmation of this theory being true but it’s still nice to think about. I would like to think my actions had SOME good come out of it. So yeah…happy ending right?

So overall, how is this story? Well, if you were able to follow that long paragraph, the story may just be the best part of this game. Yes, I do mean that. The story is minimal in presentation and, under normal circumstances, I usually hate that. However, the mythology to this game is expansive and wonderful to discover. It’s tragic, but it’s a tragedy worth watching. If you would have asked me to play this game strictly for the story during my first hour of game-play, I would have thought you were crazy. However, now that I have made it through the game and seen what the lore has to offer, I only have one thing to say: Praise the Sun! Style: So, funny enough, I have very little to say about this. Think of the words “Dark Souls” with your eyes closed and tell me what you see. Dark castles filled with undead? Check. Giant demons trying to kill you? Check. Spirits that would do anything to end your life in abysmal looking areas? Check. Honestly, the game looks like it should look and looks good doing it. The graphics are great to look at and soundtrack is just fine. I will admit, the soundtrack takes a giant leap in the final boss fight. In most battles, the music fits the scene and it’s usually music you want to hear fighting giant demons. However, during the fight with Gwyn, the music takes on the form of a sad melody from a piano. Without knowing the story, you would think the creators lost their mind picking a tune like that, but think about it: Lord Gwyn is a man who did everything he could to save what he loved and failed. He became a Hollow. The man you are fighting is nothing more than just the shadow of a once great king and you have to take, what’s left, of his life. Hell, I admit the whole “Kiln” area is a sort of depression you can’t shake. In all areas of the game, you’re fighting enemy after enemy trying to get the next bonfire or boss. However, the final area feels empty, sad and futile. You feel as if the world is given up. it’s like watching a boxer in motion. At the beginning of the fight, they dodge and move with grace and speed, but then you go more rounds in and you can see the slower movement and the clumsy mistakes. You can see the boxer becoming tired and the fire losing it’s spark. Well, that’s exactly how this area feels. It’s….just that depressing. Game-play: Yeah, this is the part you have been waiting for. Who cares about style, or story? The reason why people bought this god forsaken game was because they were guaranteed a challenge. Every time I make a comment about games being “too easy” I get the response “Play Dark Souls”. So then, let me just say it…Dark Souls is a challenge but it’s a challenge of patience and not skill. Oh go ahead, argue me. Tell me that this game requires key hand/eye coordination and dedicated focus. Tell me you can’t just “plow your way” through it. Well, let me just say this: During the Smough and Ornstein fight (arguably the hardest boss fight in the game) I upgraded my full giant armor and BKS to +5 while making sure to keep my endurance high enough to dodge in heavy armor. The result? I never had to upgrade my equipment again. I never had to enchant anything or go out of my way for certain rings (with the exception of story related items). I was able to take my BKS and slice down everything that came after me and with only a +1 upgrade to my Estus Flask. “But you probably died a thousand times, Gamers” you say with a smug face. You’re right. I did die. I died a lot of times. I died so much, my sister bought me a shirt with the words “You Died” on it as a X-Mas gift. However, Dark Souls is just a huge “trial and error” run. You remember those old arcade games where you would have to put more quarters into the machine to retry the QTE (think Dragon’s Lair). Well, that is Dark Souls (just without the QTE). Seriously, there was no boss I handled any different than another boss. I went in, blocked, sliced, moved, repeat. I never switched up my weapons or utilized weaknesses or anything because I didn’t have to. I did fine on my own terms. NOW I ADMIT, I have heard that the BKS is actually a rare drop on a first play-through and a damn good weapon to get (again, on your first play-through) so it is possible I just got really lucky in weaponry. I’ve also heard that playing on NG+ makes you have to choose your moves carefully compared to the first run. However, that’s like saying that Guitar Hero can be really hard if you play it on Expert. Well, yeah of course it’s harder if you play it on a harder difficulty! That doesn’t make the original game difficult. I would like to mention that, at this time, I haven’t really talked about the actual workings of the game-play and if you were expecting me to do so, let me apologize. Here’s a semi-sweet paragraph to try to wrap it up. Dark Souls is a third person action game. Characters will equip weaponry they can buy or find from enemies. Currency comes in the forms of souls which drop with every enemy killed. Souls must also be used in order to upgrade a character’s stats such as endurance, vitality, dexterity, etc. Players have a health bar and a stamina bar. The stamina bar is used when a player runs, dodges, attacks or blocks. Basically, stamina dictates everything you do and if you run out of it, you’re open to being killed. Players may rest at locations called bonfires where they can do all their upgrades for weaponry, stats or replenish their Estus Flasks (which heals you). It’s important to note that using a bonfire will bring back all enemies who are not bosses or minor bosses so be aware of using them. That’s pretty much the simplest wrap up of the game’s basic mechanics. I could go into the different play styles and tactics it would take a lot of time.

Don’t mind me, just waiting for Hell to thaw

Final Thoughts: Don’t let my thoughts on the game-play fool you, I loved “Dark Souls” and I really didn’t think I would. In fact, part of me didn’t want to. The game has had so much hype that I just wanted to dislike it from day 1. However, if I bought the game for it’s “challenge” factor, I stayed for it’s story and style. Okay, fine, it’s not the hardest game I’ve ever played. It won’t go down as the “Grandmaster of all Challenges” but it doesn’t have to. It has a very expansive mythology that easily makes me more interested than any of the “hardest game ever”  banter critics talk about. I love seeing what the game has to offer in locations, enemies, ideas, and other aspects. I loved this game. My sister loved this game. When we beat it, we felt both happiness in our adventure and sadness it was over. I look forward to future games from “From Software” including “Dark Souls II” and the newest release “Bloodborne”.

Really want to play this….

Agree with my ranting? Think I’ve lost my mind like the Hollow? Well equip yourself with your keyboard and feel free to use stamina to attack my viewpoints with your own opinions. Until then, I’m Gamers Mentality and this game is over.