MIITOPIA IMPRESSIONS

A humorous RPG with tons of charm, but is that enough to give it legs?

Recently, I played through the demo of Miitopia, a new RPG developed by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS. As this is a demo, and therefore only covers a small section of the overall game, I have decided to simply give my impressions in lieu of a full review (which may come later once I finish the full game).

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Who would've guessed, that in the year 2017, we would be getting a full RPG starring Miis? Those weird avatars we used to bowl and play golf with are now fighting monsters as warriors and mages. Strange times we're living in.

Miitopia is a turn-based RPG staring, you guessed it, Miis. You (or more accurately, your Mii) play as a hero who has to save Miitopia from the Dark Lord (who can be any Mii of your choosing-so go ahead and make your friend, or ex, the main villain).  The Dark Lord, in a rather disturbing plan, steals the faces of various Miitopia citizens, leaving them faceless, emotionless husks (this game got dark quick). Being chosen by a higher power, you journey across Miitopia to rescue faces and stop the Dark Lord.

Watching the characters interact is one of the game's highlights

Being a game made up of Miis, the game becomes very funny right away. The first face I rescued was Batman's, who is the son of Bella Swan. Town populations are (as far as I can tell), made up of random Miis, while the more important ones can be chosen by you. In addition to the Dark Lord, you can pick the Miis of your party members, a great sage (who I made Rick Sanchez), and possibly others. I made all of my party members friends of mine, and seeing them interact and battle together was a delight.

Despite being a turn-based RPG, player involvement is surprisingly detached. In battle, the only character you directly control is your own, where you can choose from the standard RPG menus (attack, skills/magic, items). However, that's the only character you control. All your party members are controlled by AI, where they'll execute one of those three commands at random. This can lead to some pretty frustrating outcomes at times. When using items, you can only choose to use them on yourselves, so if a party member is low on HP or MP, you can't use any items to replenish them yourself, and instead have to hope that they are smart enough to use one themselves.

The level of detachment is also seen when it comes to upgrading your equipment. Instead of dedicated shops like most RPGs, every time you stop at an inn, you can see what item each party member wants. You don't actually buy the item, instead giving the gold to the character to buy the item. Most of the time they'll come back with the desired item, but sometimes they'll instead buy a completely different item.

Another example of the game's randomness is when it comes to the food preferences of your party members. As you battle monsters, your party will gather various food items, each upping a different stat. The twist is that certain party members won't like certain foods, and that will affect their effectiveness. If they don't like it, you get less, if they love it more, and so on. But you won't know how they feel about it until *after* they eat the food once. So it's all a guessing game.

Most notably, this lack of involvement is exemplified in the game's exploration, or lack thereof. The only time you move your character is in towns or the world map. Besides that, your party just moves on their own, and is essentially a cutscene, with your party members interacting with each other. This is amusing at first, but dialogue begins repeating, and I got the sense that this is something that could get old very quick. Honestly, this just feels like a huge missed opportunity, but I'll get more into why I think this is the way it is later.

The relationship between your party members is a huge component

There are some things I very much enjoyed about this game. I think the job/personality mechanics work great. Each character is assigned a personality in addition to a job, and this can impact how battles play out. For example, a cool character may be more likely to dodge attacks, while a cautious character may bring out an item they need if there are none in stock that they had hidden. Its a very clever system, and one that can add tremendously to the variety of battles.

And it can't be stated just how charming this game is. In my hour or so playthrough, I still hadn't gotten over the novelty of seeing my friends go on this grand adventure, and I don't think I will. Knowing their personalities makes some of the interactions even more funny, and I hope you will be able to give even more Miis roles later on.

Now, I feel this is an RPG created for the casual RPG fan. The fan who doesn't want to spend hours grinding or exploring dungeons. Battles happen at predetermined times, and like I said, there's no actual exploration done in the game. As a huge fan of turn-based RPGs, this is a little disappointing, but I think I'm in for the long haul.

Miitopia has definite faults, but it's a game I want to keep playing. I'm definitely going to buy the full version (and I may have already by the time you read this). It's just so damn charming and witty that I can't help but smile my entire time playing. As for whether this will keep me going throughout my entire play through, well, let's see what my final review says.

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Have you played the Miitopia demo? Or the full game? Let me know what you think about it! You can also follow me on Twitter!

HER STORY REVIEW

Wow.

That’s the first reaction I had when I ultimately saw the “ending” of Her Story, when I found out how the murder at the center of the story occurred. However, this was around the middle of my play through, and though for all intents and purposes I had “solved” the central mystery, there were still so many unanswered questions that I dove right back in.

Her Story is unlike any other game I have ever played before. I am probably going to use “game” in the loosest sense here. You’re not controlling a character, per se, but rather scavenging through a police database and viewing hundreds of video clips. In Her Story, you are investigating the murder of a man, and to do so you must watch footage of the same woman being interrogated at multiple points. The twist is, however, that the footage has been broken up into various clips of varying lengths, and these clips are not immediately available to you. Instead, you need to use the database’s search engine, using search terms to see if that gives you any sort of results.

The main mechanic of the game is searching through a police database.

That’s the beauty of Her Story. I guess the term “risk-and-reward” could be used here, but in the case of “risk”, the only “punishment” is being presented with zero clips. You start of with general terms, such as “kill”, or the name of the victim, to figure out the general details of the case. But then you hear something that piques your interest, and then you subsequently enter that term into the database, and hopefully, you will be rewarded with brand new clips, and with them, new details that had never previously crossed your mind. One issue, however, that I had with the game is how you can just throw any term into the search engine, and these out-of-nowhere terms can present you with previously unseen clips. It’s a minor complaint, sure, but it did take a bit of the fun out of using a small detail presented to you and using that further your investigation. 

Playing Her Story is what I would call going down a rabbit hole. Hearing one term can lead you to discovering other clips containing that term, and those clips may have another term that you look more into, and so on. By the end of my play through, I had entering specific terms, like objects and names of people, which I won’t list here due to them being spoilers. Believe me, you do not want to be spoiled about this game, as this is a game that lives on reveal upon reveal.

The story of Her Story is full of twists and turns that had me legitimately shocked, and I was completely engrossed the whole time. The non-linear story is what kept me engrossed the whole time, and the beauty of it is that while it is a narrative with a set ending, you craft the sequence of events, and one person playing may have a vital piece of information that another may not have even discovered yet.

Hannah (Viva Seifert) is the only face you'll see in the game.

I’ll say this now, Her Story is not a story about solving a murder. You’re not tasked with determining the guilt of the woman in question, that’s already happened. The goal of Her Story is to figure out why this murder occurred. This rests on the shoulders of Viva Seifert, who plays the woman in question, Hannah Smith, wife of the victim. Seifert is the only actor in this game, and as such, the game rests on her performance. And she absolutely nails it. The performance requires her to be both grounded and larger-than life, a performance that is both down-to-earth and larger-than-life. While the story is what kept me engaged, Seifert’s performance is what sold the story.

It’s been a few days since I finished Her Story, but I’m still thinking about it. It's been a long time since a game has gripped me so much. It's not a game that takes very long to play. In theory you could find the ending after a couple hours, but even then, really digging into the game's story took not much longer than that. Her Story is a special game, one that all gamers should play. Not only is it gripping, but it's also innovative. 

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I'm still thinking about Her Story, but thankfully I'm not tweeting about it, so you can go ahead and follow me on Twitter . Also don't forget to subscribe to my Youtube channel! 

VIRGINIA REVIEW

An experience unlike anything I've ever played before.

Virginia is a special game. It's a game I thought about after finishing, a game I'm still thinking about. A game that I will most likely come back to soon. But I also use the term "game" very, very loosely. You have very little control in this game, and it funnels you through its story. Despite the limited control, Virginia is one of, if not the most cinematic game I've ever experienced. It's a brief experience, and one that may not be for everyone, but if you're a fan of games like Gone Home, Firewatch, and the like, I highly, highly recommend this game. 

Anne Tarver

Virginia puts you in the shoes of rookie FBI Agent Anne Tarver, a rookie who is put on the case of a missing boy in a small Virginia town. You are paired with veteran agent Maria Halperin. The fact that Halperin's office being down in a grungy basement, along with you being assigned by Internal Affairs to keep an eye on her, immediately makes you wonder what exactly Halperin did to become so suspicious in the eyes of her superiors. Halperin isn't exactly thrilled to be paired up with your young upstart, doing things such as leaving you with the bill after morning coffee, but the developing relationship between the two is one of the highlights of Virginia.

Both the missing person case and your relationships drive Virginia's story

I'm far from the first to make this comparison, but Virginia is very much in the vein of Twin Peaks. FBI agent investigates in a small town, only to discover a much larger conspiracy. One scene in particular almost directly harkens to Twin Peaks, featuring a torch singer. Now, Virginia doesn't go as in-depth into the psyche of the town and its people as Twin Peaks does, but instead it focuses on what lies behind the surface of the FBI and its agents. I loved learning the secrets our two main heroines hid beneath the surface. Why Anne is plagued with nightmares involving her graduation, and what is the deal with the mysterious woman on Maria's locket? These are answers that are slowly revealed in the course of Virginia's under two hour story. 

This is maybe a bit of a tired comparison, but of any game I played, Virginia very much felt like an interactive movie. This is mostly due to the sweeping score, performed by the Prague Philarhomic Orchestra. The score added another layer of emotion to this tale, and appropriately aligned with what was currently going on in the game. Virginia most definitely has one of the best scores in any game I've played. 

The fact that Virginia lets you connect so easily to its main characters, and makes you so invested in their backstories, is incredible considering that this is a game with no dialogue, written or spoken. This isn't even a case of environmental storytelling, either, this is a narrative-driven game with no words spoken. Surprisingly, the story and development excels, despite the "limitation". There were some parts where some parts were I was a bit confused about what was going on, but these weren't major issues, and I eventually figured out what was happening. I even think that these somewhat ambiguous parts were intentional, and the game seems to encourage repeat playthroughs. 

However, the game, to me at least, falls apart during its last act (the game is divided by days of the week). The combination of the lack of dialogue, plus many things happening at once, made it almost impossible for me to follow. Again, I figured out what happened, but it was just way too much going on for one to comprehend it fully. 

This game is one of the most surreal I've played

The bigger problem was the lack of interactivity. The goal of the game is to go through this concrete story. It's a brief experience, taking me just under two hours to complete. However, for a game about solving a mystery, there was very little exploration. There are some points where you are given a bigger areas to explore, but even then, you are given a specific location to go, and no other room to find other pathways. Other times you are driven down a specific path, and sometimes the location cuts while to another mid-walk. I'm not complaining about being guided through a story, as I adore The Last of Us, but in that game, you are still given large areas to explore despite the point of The Last of Us is to experience one specific narrative. It's a shame, because the painterly world of Virginia is gorgeous. 

 I really, really loved Virginia. To be fair, this is not a game for everyone. The absence of dialogue, in addition to the relative lack of control in the game, will probably be a turn-off for some. It's a game that encourages multiple playthroughs, from its brief playtime to being able to select chapters to play from the menu. Virginia is a special game, and if it even sparks your interest, play it.

A CONFLICTED LOOK AT VIDEO GAME PATCHES

Note: In this post I talk about my feelings on patches, but as many things in life, I ultimately don't have a rock-solid conclusion to this. This is mainly to fuel discussion on a very controversial topic in the games industry. Enjoy!

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Story time! Mass Effect: Andromeda was easily my most-hyped game of 2017. The original trilogy are easily my favorite games of all time, and I could not wait for another opportunity to jump back into this world Bioware developed. In addition, Bioware has become my favorite developer in the game, so obviously I would take any new offering they give to us.

So I got Andromeda the day it released, and despite all of the negative buzz, I still fell in love with it. No, the writing wasn't as strong, and yeah, the facial animations are (were, I guess?) bad, and the game (of what I played) was just overall missing a lot of the charm that made the originals so memorable. But I still fell in love with it either way. I got over the faces easily enough, I loved the squad mates (and the voice work overall), and I had never encountered a major bug like many others had. My opinion on Andromeda was probably higher than most.

Then they announced the patches.

Patches usually don't bother me much. Having consoles that can connect to the internet has allowed developers to update games when they hadn't been able to before. If a game was plagued with glitches, the developers would have the opportunity to go back and fix the game, instead of players being stuck with a broken game, as was the situation in the days of yore. But that has also lead to the Mass Effect: Andromeda situation we are right now.

 Like I said, I haven't encountered the bugs that so many have complained about, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't be opposed to patches fixes the performance of the game. These kinds of patches aren't necessarily ideal, either, though. It is essentially the developers admitting their game was incomplete, or rushed, and are making up for it. This is where Mass Effect: Andromeda makes it obvious it needed a little more time to marinate.

Patching a game to fix performance is one thing, but the updates that Bioware announced go even further. In addition to fixing performance issues and problems with the galaxy map (which was warranted), they announced they're making changes to the game's story and characters, specifically the romances. Many people complained about the male/male relationships in comparisons to other romances. More specifically, many didn't like that they did not appear to be as developed as the other romances. Bioware pledged to fix this, which is commendable, but it also raises many questions.

What does this mean for day-one adopters? If they hadn't played far enough, should they stop until further notice? Or should they continue their play through, and either, A) look up the changes on YouTube, or B) replay the game to see what's different? It's not a great situation either way. But it's one that I currently find myself in. Like I said, I got Andromeda day one, I preordered it (my stance on preorders is a whole different issue, but I knew I was going to get this game anyway, so preordering made sense) and I was expecting to play a game that, even though it had some issues, would still be a worthwhile experience. I was pleasantly surprised by my play through, actually, as, like I've mentioned various times already, the bugs and issues many complained about seemed to be a non-issue for me.

Okay, so this was definitely an improvement

What ended up being an issue was the fact that I decided to pursue a romance with Gil, the engineer of Ryder's shift the Tempest, because there's not many games outside of The Sims that allow you the option of same-sex romances. I didn't look up the romance scenes, but from what I've seen it appears to be lacking in comparison with romances the male Ryder can pursue with his female companions Cora and Peebee. (This article has more on this, but beware of spoilers.) Bioware pledged to improve the romance storylines for male partners for Scott Ryder, and I have full confidence they will make good on this, but this essentially forces me to stop playing, in fear of progressing too far before these changes go live. I don't want to have to worry about playing a game and not getting the full experience, and since this is directly affecting a part of the game I'm personally involved in, I decided to put my Andromeda play through on pause. Which sucks because I planned on making Andromeda the big game I would dedicate most of my gaming time to.

My free time is severely limited most of the time, since I'm a college student who also works two part-time jobs. Because of this, my funds are also pretty limited. Basically I have to plan out what $60, AAA games I want to buy and play throughout the year. I planned to make Andromeda my big game to last me until the summer, where I would finally play Horizon: Zero Dawn, which I put off due to it being so close to Andromeda's release. But now it seems I won't even be playing Andromeda until that point, since ultimately I want to experience what the "finished" product is.

I'm not going to pretend like I have a solution for this, because I think patches can be a good thing. Things like adding a new mode months after release to a game is great! But at the cost of what may as well be an incomplete game, is it worth it? Games like Splatoon and Star Wars: Battlefront are examples of this. Some saw these games as bare-bones at launch, but now looking back at them they are great, complete releases. But would it have been better to just release the game with everything included, if sacrificing a few months to give it that extra polish?

I really do ultimately wish Mass Effect: Andromeda got just a few more months for some last-minute polish, it needed it. But, this is the game we got. It's also laughable to think patches will go away, since they're so ingrained in the industry now. Plus, as long as consoles are connected to the internet (which they will be), it's unlikely to see these habits going away. The only real possible solution is to vote with your wallet, and if a game seems like it wasn't fully baked, maybe don't buy it. I admit to be guilty of this, as I was a victim of my own hype, but then again, as I've mentioned, I didn't encounter nearly as many problems playing it as others have.

To finish, I don't really have a solid conclusion. I definitely think developers have become too over-reliant on patches, and many have used them as crutches and excuses to rush out incomplete games. On the other hand, it has given games a longer life than before, and the chance to be able to fix a game post-release is a positive, in my opinion. I wrote this not only to air out my mixed feelings toward patches, but to also open up a discussion, since patches are a very polarizing topic.

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Tell me some of your thoughts on patches! Love 'em, hate 'em, indifferent, tell me! You can also follow me on Twitter @aidansimonds

(SOME OF) THE COOLEST FICTIONAL WOMEN

Women are pretty cool. But sadly, they tend to be underrepresented in the various forms of media, though strides are being made, there's still plenty of work to be done. And I know, I'm a white male, I'm probably the last person qualified to talk about representation, but I realize the value of having diversity in media. It not only better reflects the world we live in, but it just makes things more interesting. So, with that said, I compiled a list of some of my favorite fictional females out there. I tried to avoid obvious ones, and go with some that may be lesser-known, so these characters can get more exposure.

(Note: Mild Spoilers follow)

Terra Branford (Final Fantasy VI)

The SNES game Final Fantasy VI (or III, depending on when you played it first), technically has no main protagonist. It's true, with fourteen playable characters, the game is much more of an ensemble piece than others in the series. But, if a main character needed to be picked out from the bunch, it would be the teenaged, amnesiac Terra. I mean, her theme is the main theme of the game (and what a theme it is...)! Her story is one of tragedy, forced to work for the evil Gestahlian Empire against her will, Terra slowly comes to terms with the larger conflict she eventually finds herself entangled in, while also discovering more about her past. Now, I'm not going to spoil this game here (even though it did come out over 20 years ago at this point), but let me just say that she is obviously much more than she appears on the surface. 

What makes Terra stand out is her compassion. As a victim of torture herself, she is immediately able to sympathize with others who have been wronged by the Empire. This compassion is shown even more during the latter half of the game, where without saying much, everything goes to shit. Your party has been separated, and Terra finds herself on an island without her companions. All of the adults on the island die, and Terra takes it upon herself to take care of all of the remaining children. The love she has for these children is what ultimately allows her to rediscover her resolve, and she is an instrumental part of the final stand against main antagonist Kefka. She may not be the strongest physically, but she shows that compassion and love are vital tools in a world that is oftentimes sorely lacking in it.

Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel 

One of Marvel's newest superheroes, Kamala Khan has also become one of its most popular. Seen as Peter Parker for a new generation, she is also notable for being one of the first (and one of few still) Muslim characters to lead a comic from a mainstream publisher. This isn't something that is taken lightly, either. Her religion is a big part of who she is, but it doesn't define her. Like Spider-Man before her, she is someone who is suddenly thrust with incredible abilities, and decides to use them for good. She also has to deal with being a teenager in high school on top of all of that. 

At her core, she really is just a teenage girl. She even obsesses over superheroes (including her namesake, Carol Danvers, the original Ms. Marvel)! Kamala is a fascinating look into how the younger generations view religion. She never rejects Islam, but she also knows that she does not want to be restricted by it either. In fact, it's a moment of rebellion that leads her to become the superhero she is today. She may still be a teenager, but she suddenly finds herself thrust into the world of superheroes, even becoming a member of the Avengers (although the events of Civil War II made some changes in her status quo). Balancing high school, religion along with a religious family, being a teenager on top of being a superhero is a lot of pressure, but Kamala Khan manages to handle it all, most of the time.

Betty and Veronica (Riverdale)

The most recent additions to this list, though ironically they are have also existed the longest. Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge are pop culture mainstays, originating in the 1940's. In their original Archie Comics appearances, they were defined by their relationship to Archie Andrews. See, their biggest trait was that they were constantly fighting over him, while still being best friends...somehow. They were polar opposites, Betty being sweet and down-to-earth, while Veronica being rich and vain, yet they were both in love with Archie, and constantly competed for his affectio

ns. But the Betty and Veronica from the new CW series Riverdale are not that. They're so much better.

Betty and Veronica are friends. Like, best friends. They truly care and support each other, and there is no competition between them. The love triangle is still there, yes, but it's presented in a much more grounded way. Veronica knows Betty is in love with Archie, and does everything she can to help her new friend, despite her feelings for him as well. It's truly refreshing to see such a supportive female friendship showcased on screen, between two girls who are still polar opposites. Hell, the two of them would probably be better off without Archie in their lives, who at this point has really done nothing worthy of their affection. I fear that the show will eventually turn to the love triangle that has defined Archie comics for years, but for now, Riverdale is a prime example of how two strong women can have a healthy, loving friendship.

Clementine (The Walking Dead: The Game)

Trying to survive the zombie apocalypse is hard. It's even harder when you're just a kid, one whose parents are out of town as the outbreak happens. When we first find young Clementine, she's stuck up in her treehouse, no one else to depend on, her only source of communication a walkie talkie. Bringing her along with you, Clem slowly develops a strong father-daughter relationship with convicted murderer Lee Everett. But, as always happens in The Walking Dead universe, there must be tragedy, and Clem definitely goes through the ringer in her short life. But, she doesn't let that stop her or define her. She grows from it, learns from it, and uses it to push forward.

Over the course of three (as of now) seasons, we see Clementine grow, both physically and mentally. From the scared little girl we find in the treehouse, to her first time learning how to shoot a gun, Clem slowly evolves into a hardened survivor. Watching her growth is astonishing when you look at the whole picture, especially when people twice her age aren't as composed as she is. But the thing is, she's still just a kid. She may be a lone wolf who can more than survive on her own, but the oldest we see her thus far is still age thirteen. And the moments we see her truly be her age, however brief they may be, are all the more striking. Clem's been through hell and back, but she still carries on, and never gives up.

Mabel Pines (Gravity Falls)

Gravity Falls is one of the best shows to come out in recent years. One of the things that makes it so is its world-building, especially with it's characters. If you were to ask me who the best character was, I would no doubt say Mabel, the goofy
twin sister of Dipper. What makes Mabel so great is that she knows she's weird, and she owns it. Of all the characters, the one with the most self-confidence by far is Mabel. Which is so refreshing. Oftentimes when we see a character that's as self-assured as she is, they are someone who is at the top of the food chain, metaphorically speaking. No, she knows she's odd, and that she's never going to "fit in". But that's what makes her great.

She also has one of the best sibling relationships I've seen on TV. Her and Dipper are truly best friends, and while they may not always be a constant presence in each other's lives, they both know they can depend on each other. Especially for what is essentially a kids' show (it was on Disney Channel, after all), it's just nice to see a sibling relationship that isn't based on constant bickering, but rather based on love. Basically, Mabel doesn't care what anyone thinks, whether it's aggressively pursuing boys with love notes, having a squad of boyfriends that are clones, or just spending time with her pet pig Waddles, Mabel knows who she is, and isn't about to change it to please anyone. 

Also, this is the perfect excuse to post this:

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What are some of your favorite fictional female characters? Lemme know by leaving a comment or on Twitter. 

REVIEW - RESIDENT EVIL 7: BIOHAZARD

Can a change in perspective bring a return to from for one of gaming's longest-running franchises?

Resident Evil has become one of the most famous game franchises out there. Chances are, most people will have at least heard of it, whether it be from the games, the film series, or just from hearing about it. Resident Evil, the first game in the series, was released in 1996, and is largely credited with popularizing the survival horror genre. But, as time went on, and influenced by the success of the more action-oriented Resident Evil 4, and the shooter genre in general, developer Capcom took the series into an increasingly action-focused lane, while slowly decreasing the horror elements.

NOPE

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard was shown as a return to the series' horror roots, with one big change. For the first time, the series was presented in a first-person perspective, similar to indie horror hits Slender, Outlast, and Alien: Isolation. There was a general consensus that Resident Evil 7 was highly influenced by these titles, which put you in control of a virtually powerless protagonist, and all you could do in most situations was either run or hide from your enemy, with no option to fight back. People began to wonder if Resident Evil 7 would truly return the series to its roots, or if the series would be taken in yet another direction, albeit one closer to the first games in the series. Thankfully, the change in perspective aside, this a a true Resident Evil game, one that very much harkens back to the original entry.

Resident Evil 7 puts you in the shoes of Ethan Winters, who after receiving a message from his long-missing wife, Mia, decides to head out to an abandoned (or so they think) Louisiana mansion, and it goes about as well as you would think. Soon enough, Ethan finds himself hunted not only by a crazed family of cannibals, but also Mia (yeah, great plan, Ethan), and strange monsters known only as "Molded". Ethan now has to escape the Baker family property and find a way to cure his wife, who seems to be infected by something.

First off, a stealth game this isn't. Thankfully, the similarity to stealth-focused horror games was only given off by the game's marketing. There's only one truly stealth-focused moment in the game, and that is when you have no other items or weapons to aid you. Most of the time, you don't have to worry about hiding from enemies while they scout an area. There are points like that in the game, but the goal is more to progress to the next area without getting caught, instead of hiding and waiting for them to leave.

In case you haven't realized, the Baker family is completely deranged

This is classic Resident Evil in that it's very much like an adventure game. You've got an inventory to manage, obtuse puzzles that shouldn't make any sense, and the game is very much focused on exploration. But despite this, Resident Evil 7 is still a horror game, and there's always an underlying feeling of tension, not quite sure what's going to be around the corner. In a sense, the first-person perspective is the evolution of the fixed, close-up camera angles of the PlayStation games. The first-person perspective really limits what you see, which makes the tension ramp up even more.

This is also classic Resident Evil in the sense that you are constantly worrying about your inventory. You have very limited space at the beginning, and while you do acquire upgrades periodically that increase your space, you still will never have enough open space to feel comfortable. Add to that the fact that some items take up two slots, and items that can stack, like ammo and first aid meds, can only have a certain amount per slot, before taking up another one, inventory management is crucial. Item storage boxes are helpful, but those are only located in safe rooms, so if there's an item you know you'll need to solve a puzzle later, it's a better idea to bring it along with you, sacrificing an open item slot. Even by the end of the game, when I had countless ammo and some of the strongest weapons in the game, I never felt too powerful, as I had to leave some ammo in storage so I could have room to find more items.

When it comes to enemies, Resident Evil 7 is a mixed bag. The Bakers, the crazed, canibalistic, possibly inhuman Louisiana family that capture and continue to hunt you, are great. Each chapter of the game (until a certain point) is dominated by a certain member of the family, each with their own unique (and scary) abilities. When they try to find you by scouting an area, it would be wise not to try to attack them, as the worst you can do is temporarily knock them down, which means you would be wasting your bullets. Each crazed member of the family is bursting with personality, but the standout for me was son Lucas, an inventor type who you never directly confront, but uses various contraptions to torture you.

The other set of enemies are the Molded, who are decidedly less interesting than the Bakers. These are essentially 7's answer to the original games' zombies. They're literally just walking hunks of mold, that you can either run away from, or try to put down (headshots are the quickest way, but those still take three or four shots). The Molded aren't nearly as scary as the zombies of Resident Evil games of old. Most of the time you can tell when some are near, as you can not only hear them in the distance, but the room will be covered in a black mold as well. There were a few moments that I was caught off-guard, but for most of the time, the Molded were just simply a nuisance.

Which leads me to my next negative, the boss fights. Well, to be clear, most of the boss fights. With the exception of one, maybe two bosses in the game, they were just very underwhelming. Most of them simply involved unloading as much ammo as you can until the boss drops. Sometimes these fights involving traversing a wide area, but mostly the boss fights were just unexciting. This is especially apparent in the last boss, which was literally you shooting anything you have at the boss. This is made even easier considering that it is, well, the final boss, meaning that you don't have to worry about conserving ammo for later.

The whole last act is pretty much a mess, with the game going off the rails, and not in a good way. For some reason, the developers decided to save all story information for the final third of the game, and dump it all on you at once, instead of layering it throughout the game. Which is a shame, because it has some fascinating details, including why the Baker family act the way they do. But since it all hits you within a relatively short period of time, you never truly have time to take all of this information in.

All in all, I do have to say that Resident Evil 7 had me hooked. I kept thinking about the game during my time playing it, and I just wanted to get back into that world and keep progressing. The small, insular world that Capcom created is great, as the Dulvey plantation is as much of a character as the Baker's themselves. You get the real sense of humanity that has been lost, as among all the destruction that fills the Baker's home, you see things like family portraits and science trophies, giving these characters depth and allowing you to learn that these were once normal people. Not since the Spencer Mansion has a Resident Evil setting have so much personality. The puzzles, were pretty clever and kept me scratching my head until I figured out a solution, and not once did I feel comfortable while exploring the property. The lack of load screen definitely doesn't help, as you are not given any chance to collect yourself. Better start learning to close doors yourself, because safe rooms can only be so much help when you've got a killer family right outside.


Resident Evil 7 isn't perfect, but it's a damn fine return to form for the series. Hopefully future titles in the series (which are definitely teased here) will be similar to what 7 has done. Uninspiring boss battles and a third act that drops the ball are two notable missteps for this game, but 7 has so much else going for it. A great setting, villains that make you laugh and terrify you at the same time, and a similarity to great adventure games help make Resident Evil 7 one of the series' top entries.

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What did you think of Resident Evil 7? Let me know by leaving a comment, or follow me on Twitter @aidansimonds. https://twitter.com/aidansimonds

MY 2016 GAME OF THE YEAR - OVERWATCH

2016 was a pretty good year for games. Some of my person favorites included Oxenfree, Pokemon Sun and Moon (and Pokemon GO), and Inside. But for me personally, none of them had as much of an impact as Blizzard's Overwatch. It is not only one of the games that I have put the most time into, but it is also one of the games that I have thought about the most. What Blizzard managed to take what is a simple concept and turn it into something extraordinary, an actual phenomenon.

By this point, I'm sure most (if not all) of you know what Overwatch is about. If you don't here's a quick run-down. It's an online multiplayer shooter, pitting two teams of six against each other to complete a specific objective. But it's so much more than that. There are four different classes of characters(called "heroes"), with each of the currently 23 available heroes spread out among them. This helps ensue that everyone can have a play style that suits them, and allows those who may not be a regular shooter player (like myself) to have an enjoyable time. The classes are offense characters, who go out right in the middle of the fight, defense, whose main objective is to stop the enemies from advancing and guarding their objectives, tank, who can take heavy damage without difficulty, and support, who, naturally, aren't aggressive, but rather offer (for lack of a better term) support for their teammates.

Even with that basic diversification, even characters within the same class are completely different from each other. For example, while Junkrat and Hanzo may both be defense characters, they couldn't be farther apart gameplay-wise. While Hanzo is a sniper in every sense of the word, hiding with his bow drawn, ready to strike, Junkrat specializes in setting up traps to stop the enimies from moving forward. This deep diversification allows there to be countless ways to play.

This more than makes up for what some may see as a lack of game modes. Each character is distinct enough that playing each one seems like a new game mode. While Widowmaker, Hanzo, and Ana are all sniper characters, they're all incredibly different. Widowmaker is more of a classic sniper character, while Hanzo uses a bow and arrow, and Ana is a support character, so combat is not even her main play style, instead using various abilities like setting opponents to sleep. Overwatch has developed an incredible community (which I'll get to soon), and the fact that the characters are so diverse is most definitely a factor in it. It's almost a credit to the game that the character most similar to what you'd see in most shooters, Soldier: 76, feels somewhat out of place here.

Another big success of Overwatch is the world Blizzard created. These characters should not fit together, but like how Nintendo manages to bring all of it's diverse franchises together in Super Smash Bros., Blizzard manages to do the same. Cherry time-warper Tracer, robot ninja Genji, and the literally cold-blooded assassin Widowmaker seem like they all come from separate worlds, yet they also manage to fit together seamlessly. And that also brings me to the game's lore. It's there, but it's not in your face, and if you really want to get a sense of what this universe is like, you need to do your research, mostly in works outside of the game. But there is enough placed within the game itself to get a sense of what this world is like, if you pay close enough attention. Everything from details within the map, to dialogue of the characters helps flesh out this world.

Let me talk about the game's world for a bit here. In a world where many (though definitely not as much as years past) games have muted, realistic styles, it's so refreshing to see a game that is built on optimism. It is a game about unity, bringing together characters of differing genders, ethnicities, sexualities, and even species together fighting towards a common goal. It's not the best looking game, but the games blocky, cartoonish style works with the tone this game is trying to accomplish. Overwatch is like the vision of a hopeful future that we all want, one that is still attainable, and that for sure helps it stand out.

Overwatch was (and still is, in some respects) a gaming phenomenon. Not Pokemon GO-level phenomenon (I wouldn't be surprised if nothing else reached that level), but it was still one of the most talked-about games this year. The Overwatch community has emerged as one of the most vibrant and active on the internet. Now, even eight months after it's release, it is still never difficult to find a match if you decide to jump in. I could go on about this game, but I don't want this to turn into rambling, so I'll end this here. Blizzard created something special with Overwatch, something that will most likely be in the minds of games for years.

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Did you love Overwatch as much as I did? Or do you aggressively disagree with me? Let me know! Also follow me on Twitter if you so please.