Capcom's leaking too?

 This industry needs a plumber

I don't support hacks or leaks or any of that stuff which takes the handiwork of a studio and breaks the carefully woven marketing machine they've constructed around it. If a title is in the works and the studio doesn't want the public to know about it yet there's probably a reason, either because there's some grand reveal in the works or that the project itself is so fragile that any extra voices in the mix could send everything up in the air. Who remembers the 'Batman: The Dark Knight' game which was in the works before Gary Oldman inadvertently gabbed about it and in doing so led to the death of the project and the dissolution of the studio? (Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a little there but it's a myth based in truth!) I also didn't even blink an eye when I heard that Cyberpunk 2077 had broken the street date and that gameplay was already out there, who cares, the game is out in no time. That being said, I am only human and every so often there comes a title that's too volatile for me not to look into, a game I've waited too long for, so sorry Capcom, I'm about to look at your leaks a little too unapologetically.

So Capcom recently found their important systems hit with a randsomware attack, and that is just a terrible situation that no one wants to find themselves in. (Trust me, I have experience there) That being said, out of this has come a leak in the form of screenshot documents which label out a bit of a schedule for upcoming Capcom projects, many of which haven't even been announced yet. But it would do us no good to speculate without first accepting that any information we see here cannot be solid by it's very nature, schedules are always prone to changing and even more so when they haven't even been announced yet, so rather than taking this to be a oracle into the future we should see this as a confirmation for projects that Capcom are definitely working on or have at the very least seriously considered. So with that established, let's look.

So curiously enough the list contains 3 Resident Evil titles and only one of them we already knew was coming. Apparently the ill-advised Resident Evil 4 remake is going to be one of four Resident Evil products being made next year, (FOUR!) and if that's true then we can rest assured that Capcom learnt nothing from before and they are very eager to burn out this new renaissance of Resident Evil as quickly as possible. There's Resident Evil 8 which we've known about for a while know for it promises to bring us all our god and saviour; Chonkers Chris, but now there's 'Resident Evil Outbreak', and this one gives me pause. Resident Evil Outbreak was the name of a 2003 spin off game which was made to connect 2 and 3 (even more than they were already connected, taking place on the same night in the same city) with a cast of mostly forgettable side characters but still a few decent ideas for the franchise. This could be a remake of that game, although it's a bit weird given how they've treated Resident Evil up until now.

Capcom have struck proverbial gold in their remake series and it makes sense that they'll want to keep Resident Evil producing income for as long as possible, however up until now they're rather pointedly ignored every side game in the franchise. Most would assume that the first side game which would deserve a remake would be the one game in the series that should have been a main entry all along, Code Veronica, not Outbreak with it's completely inconsequential plotline. That being said, Outbreak does take place within Raccoon City, so it would be a good excuse to reuse a few of the old assets that the team have laying in their back room. And all of this isn't even taking into account 'Resident Evil Hank'. (Yes, apparently that is 'Hank' and not 'Hunk') I don't know what that could even possibly be, but I'm hoping it's a codename cause otherwise that's just silly Capcom, stahp it.

There's also a title called 'Biohazard Apocalypse' which seems like it's a Resident Evil title, only it shares a subtitle with one of those awful live-action movies and I don't know why Capcom would want to invoke their spirit ever. And a Street Fighter 6 which is the only thing in this leak which gives me significant validity doubts due to the fact that we haven't got 'Super Street Fighter 5' yet. Or 'Ultimate Street Fighter 5'. Or even a 'Super Ultra Street Fighter 5 Ultimate: The Final Fighters; Mania Plus'. Yet all of that is just window dressing to me, I could care less. If there's one title amidst all of this that drove me to write this blog, more than any other title possibly could, it's the  Q2 22 promised; Dragon's Dogma 2. (Oh yeah)

So if you're new around here you'll likely me wondering why it is that I care so much about Dragon's Dogma 2, thus I shall elucidate; because it's one of the most underappreciated action adventure games of all time. Dragon's Dogma bought to life this medieval world of gruelling hard-won fights against hordes of classical and varied beasts, all of which encouraged preparation, tactical deliberation and management of tools unlike any other game before it. I cannot tell you another game which has me genuinely checking my curatives regularly in every fight, and bare in mind that I've played every Souls game, not even those duels are so demanding! It's just a whole game built around this delightfully intense and brutal world where moments of reprieve are hardwon and the long walks between fights are actually a relief instead of a burden. Plus the monsters themselves are all spectacularly well-designed both in gameplay and visuals, the balancing allows for styles in customisation and the combat is versatile enough to please many different styles of play. It's a great game which was swallowed under the weight of Skyrim and other flashier titles, which is why I honestly never truly thought we'd see the day that Dragon's Dogma came our way again.

It's been so long without hope that I don't even know what to think now that we're finally looking at a sequel on the horizon (does 2 years away count as 'the horizon?') I mean I thought something might be coming after that Netflix series, but never did I honestly cast it a serious consideration, now I feel caught for words. But if I'm pressed, what would I want to see from a sequel? Well, I would hope that aesthetically the team lean more towards the dark and more creatively free concepts from the Dark Arisen re-release/expansion, as they demonstrated some of the more memorable visual spectacles there. And personally, what I really want to see is a lot more water-based gameplay, such as hunting some creature from the lagoon like a giant razor-toothed Angler Fish or a magic spewing sea turtle, something which completely shifts the balance of gameplay and has the player immersed in the sort of area that they've never been in before, the endless deep.

But who knows how things will end up ultimately settling? Remember that there's already technically been another Dragon's Dogma game that we haven't gotten to play (Dragon's Dogma Online, the Chinese exclusive) so who can say what direction the series has already indicated it's going. (Oh... I just referred to Dragon's Dogma as a 'Series'. What times we live in...) All I can honestly hope is that the spirit of the original game isn't altogether lost, because those moments of long treks across the woodlands may seem boring to some, but they mean all the world to a game that focuses so much on pacing! (Let Death Stranding's success be your reassurance!) Provided these dates are true, then E3 next year (or whatever it's equivalent) will be the time when we finally hear more about this fabled product, and more than anything else Capcom is working on, that's what I'm waiting for. (Don't let me down, guys!)

The Genshin progression dilemma

Relapse time!

In the wake of new content coming to the vibrant world of Teyvat, and the ongoing delay of the one game which would break this curse, I've been sucked back into Genshin once more. (I try to get free but they keep pulling me back in!) Thus I am again enshrined in the anime world of husbandos, gacha mechanics and elemental cocktails, and I've actually having quite a time of it, I must admit. Much of the newest update has touched upon just about every single point of contention that the general public agreed on and if this is the sort of feedback that MiHoYo tends to run this entire game's lifespan by, then I might want to be here for the whole journey. However, as I slowly get wrapped back up in the cycle, I have found myself slowly coming to terms with something of an intrinsic problem that wrapped me up and broke me down the first time, and I'm wondering if it's going to lead to another prolonged absence from the game in the future. It's also something destined to become ever worse as the game expands throughout the months and years, and it's progression. There's a dilemma here.

So first let me take you over what Genshin progression looks like. Right now it's a juggling between currencies, and oh there are just so many currencies to deal with. So the primary thing to remember is Mora, that's essentially gold, but it's so universal and handed out in the thousands so that you'll forget it's event there, until you run out and then realise that there's actually no dedicated way to grind for Mora. (Excluding the bounties which were added in the latest patch.) You need Mora for validating every upgrade you make in this game, but the upgrades themselves do require materials which need to be sourced from literally everywhere in the gameworld. You have material dungeons that only open on certain days, bosses that roam around the place who drop items, mineral deposits littered across the land, chests with experience boosts and fauna in various regions. All of these contain the sort of items that you, as a player, need in order to keep your characters levelling, and keeping them levelling is important because of the ever present pressure inferred by the World Level system

The World Level system which Genshin's adventure revolves around is both is biggest blessing and it's biggest curse, and I'm about to explain why. Almost every achievement you perform in the game nets  some amount of adventurer EXP which congregates in the overall profile and adds towards the Adventure rank. The higher your rank, the more missions become available to you and thus the more story content you can access. However there are little stops at every 10 ranks, starting from rank 15, in which the World Level is increased. (Either automatically or provided that the player can complete a dungeon which is required in order to earn any more adventure EXP or to level your characters to higher thresholds) This makes every single challenge in the game harder so that you'll never be too overpowered to enjoy yourself, but it also implements this buff in concentrated blocks so that you don't get that feeling of never improving. (Good job team, even Ubisoft couldn't manage that balance) Enemies will hit harder, live longer and spawn as tougher incarnations; making the gameplay ever fresh. Increased World Level also means that every activity reward is improved in quality too, so overall there's no downsides to hitting the upgrade button. Or rather, almost no downsides. 

You see, the problem with this system is that is takes up so much effort in order to level up just one character to keep competitive in the difficulty level, that when it comes to managing a team of four that's almost overwhelming. But Genshin isn't about maintaining a team of four, indeed the very concept encourages players to collect every Hero that they can, totalling more than they could ever comfortably manage. This means that inevitably, some heroes are going to be left behind in the mad rush to keep up with the World Level, and whilst you might say "Well then, just stop ranking up whilst everyone catches up" remember that everything contributes to the adventure Rank, meaning that if you are to hold on, that means pausing all missions and significant side activities too, because overwise you'll literally be wasting precious adventure rank XP. So there's the basic thesis for why the progression can be problematic, but let me put that information into a practical example for you.

Currently in Genshin I'm managing an Alpha team of a DPS, two supports and a healer, which was good enough to keep me competitive up until a point. Eventually I realised that my healer was falling behind in her duties, and it was because she was level 40 whilst everyone else was level 50. Easy enough to fix, except for the fact that at 40 she had hit her 'ascension wall' (The point at which EXP boosts become useless and you need to gather specific 'ascension' materials in order to make her susceptible to more.) The further problem being that her particular ascension asked for a boss material, which was common enough, except that this boss was one I'd never fought before called the Oceanid. Now because I've being raising an Alpha team it would probably make sense that I should be able to take out any boss in my world level, except for the fact that my DPS is Diluc, a fire dealer, and this boss is a water boss. Essentially all of my DPS was useless and my team would crumble easily. 'Fair enough' you might think, 'forcing diversity and shifting tactics  is what makes for long lasting gaming experiences', and I would agree with you, but there's a Catch-22 in there that I wonder if you caught.

In order to keep up to date with the latest world level I had to forgo keeping my 13 or so heroes balanced and razor focus on my team of four, so whilst these guys could juke it out with the roughest on in the world right now, all my bench warmers were useless. And by World Level 3, there's really no chance in heck that fresh-faced unpowered heroes can take on a boss without refocusing and dedicating ludicrous amounts of time to building them up (whilst putting the greater progression on hold) to overcome a really arbitrary road-bump. I managed it, but it foreshadowed a worrying precedent for this game as it expands. I recently just received the pictured banner leader for November, Childe; which is a great pull for sure. But I can't use him without dedicating a sheer week of materials and resources that I just can't really spare because I need them to keep my main team going. As the rooster expands this problem is only going to mount and soon it won't matter how many cool new characters that they add, players will be staunchly sticking to the only one's that did they any good to begin with.

And you want to know the bizarre thing? This isn't even a problem that only Genshin impact has; because you see, the recent Avengers game also suffered from an almost identical issue that stunts it's endgame potential. In Avengers, each hero is granted an expansive RPG progression system with standard trees and masteries, all of which pile on top of each for the endgame experiences. But each new character starts from the bottom and Marvel's Avengers is at it's least fun when character's haven't reached their mastery levels yet, so the desire to keep playing becomes diminished because the promised new content of 2 Hawkeyes, Antman and a Spiderman losses it's lustre. In both cases it's the concept that is most encouraging which slips up the flow of the game, and I wonder if this is intentional on their part or just an unfortunate consequence of the model; because if this literally an intentionally mapped out way of time-gating progression, even I have to admit that it's pretty ingenious. (If unendingly infuriating.)

So what's the solution? How do we fix this almost unassailable divide without invalidating grind but still making new characters as exciting as they should be? Well I think it's actually quite simple, there could be some sort of rubberbanding system in place where World Level decides an EXP multiplier for lower level characters, something which will taper off until you hit the recommended levels and then it's grinding like usual. I think that would really fix a lot of the issues and allow us all to have the huge roosters of diverse fun heroes to choose from like I think MiHoYo are going for. But maybe I'm being unrealistic and missing out something fundamental, please let me know if that is the case down in the comments. But until I see otherwise, I'll assume that this is a decent solve all. (Which I'll probably send their way some time after this, they tend to listen to feedback.)

What make the most memorable videogame Weapons?

What is the one gun to out-shoot them all?

Yeah, I know that's a pretty open-ended question to lead off with but bear with me for a little while whilst I justify it. Gaming contains a vast array of different experiences, genre's and existential headspins that it's almost impossible to be a fan of almost anything or judge one universal aspect. What I can look at, however, is overwhelming commonalities across a great number of Venn circles. One such commonality is that a great many games feature some sort of strife and thus usually features weapons of some sort that vary depending on the thematic back drop and/or genre in question. Good enough justification? (It'll have to do.) So yes, talking about weapons across all the video game landscape is daunting because there are just so many potential picks to pluck at, but I specifically want to point out the weapons that stand far out to the point of almost overshadowing the game. The sort of weapons that some may be able to name, or at least recognise, before naming the point of origin. And I want to discuss what it is that makes them that way, because I don't feel it's one universal rule, and perhaps in doing so I'll unravel some sort of pessimistic formula to creating the ultimate unforgettable video game weapon. (Or not, who knows.)

BFG: DOOM

And the first weapon I wanted to start off with was an gun so iconic that you probably already knew it was going to be on the list before I even knew, it's just second nature. (But can I at least say that I considered the Super Shotgun first because that's a weapon I see much more often, before realising that gun is actually intentionally generic looking and the BFG was a much better candidate.) So the BFG (standing for 'Big F***ing gun' and not 'Bio Force Gun' like the awful movie tried to say) is a very peculiar first pick because what makes it popular isn't immediately obvious. The immediate first guess would obviously be it's destructive capability, but that has altered so drastically from game to game to the point where that can't be it. All that's consistent is that it can one-shot enemies, but the actual killing beam itself is unrecognisable in modern games in all but colour. Then there would be the design, but again it's been subject to complete reworking, from something that looks like it's harnessed onto the arm to a spiky sci-fi reworking and settling with the more box-y functional look of today. Honestly, I think it's the name. People just love the idea of a name as ridiculous and cool as the BFG, and if you have to swear in order to properly pronunce it then that's just more points to the cool factor. To this day, when swearing in games in no longer a novelty, BFG's name alone is a reminder of the old-school chaotic mayhem and carnage that DOOM represents, thus the gun becomes iconic.

Gravity Gun: Half Life 2

Here's another absolute shoe in. One can hardly discuss iconic anything in the world of gaming before Half Life drops into the conversation, but I like to think that the Gravity Gun covets popularity that persists beyond the game itself, and this time the memorable nature is immediately identifiable for all; it's for the very unique Gravity Gun functionality. Half Life 2 marks gaming history as the first game to execute truly robust physics-based systems, and the Gravity Gun was the way in which they tied it into the gameplay. Allowing players to literally pick up pieces of the environment and manipulate it, the Gravity Gun acted in way that no other gun had really done before in gaming and encouraged imaginative open-ended problem solving that inspired countless games to come. In fact, at a stretch you could even call the success of the Gravity Gun a genesis point for the eventual birth of the Immersive Sim sub-genre of RPGs! (Or at least you could do that if the original Deus Ex didn't predate Half Life 2 by 4 years. We'll say it led to 'the rise' of immersive sims, then.) So this one is iconic for being groundbreaking, simple enough. 

Keyblade: Kingdom Hearts

Okay, getting a little bit off the beaten path with this one, but here we have the ever important Keyblade in the ever esoteric Kingdom Hearts franchise. This here's a bit of personal pick because I haven't had the chance to progress in Kindgom Hearts for a while, but I think it stands due to the sheer popularity of the game and the fact that even if you have no idea what Kingdom Hearts is, you know the Keyblade. What makes it so curious to me, despite the fact that's its essentially just an oversized key, is the way in which it's designed to serve as a sword despite being completely blunt and used to lock doors despite literally representing a symbol for opening things. (Yes, I'm only talking about how it's used in Kindgom Hearts 1, because overwise my brain will explode) This is another clear cut when it comes to pinpointing the fame, because despite one of the coolest aspects of the Keyblade being the fact that it's appearance completely changes depending on the themed keychain attached to it, it's Sora's standard old blade which remains an Iconic symbol of the Disney-Final Fantasy crossover fanfic of a game. Just like with a lot of Square's properties, all the money's in the image and design. (and is that so wrong?)  

Mandibular Rearranger: The Outer Worlds

A bit more of a modern pick for you, yet one that I think still holds up to snuff against the rest of them. Who remembers the Mandibular Rearranger, or used it and cannot remember the name? As a refresher, this is the unique science weapon in The Outer Worlds that was born out of a bug and essentially had the effect of shrinking or enlarging a random part of the victims's body to frankly comical results. (And I don't just mean their horrible, and likely very painful, deaths) Use this on the unsuspecting passerby and you can expect their heads to shink, hands to grow, ear's to pop, all until they look like something out of a SIMS character creator; and all that from essentially just a little glowstick. Coming away from The Outer Worlds I think that this Rearranger was certainly the most memorable weapon in the game to the point where it sort of outshone the game itself when it was first announced. It was just such a silly celebration of the fun people can have from messing around in games and that developers can have when making them, easily cementing this as a weapon iconic for it's wacky effects.

Steel Sword: Skyrim

Ah, now we get to the games of my age; The Elder Scrolls Skyrim and it's iconic... Steel Sword? Of course there are many examples of memorable iconography from The Elder Scrolls series including some from Skyrim itself. You have the Daedric artefacts, the Nordic Aedric symbols, the banner of the Imperials and the Stormcloaks, etc. But when you think of bog standard weapons it always comes back to this Steel Sword, such to the point where more than one asset-store flip job has been rustled for stealing it. (Which is so short sighted, this is one of the most recognisable swords in gaming.) Here the recognition is quite interesting, as the sword itself isn't special in any way and it's design, whilst thematically impeccable, rather pointedly avoids the grandeur that one would call back to in reverance. No, I'd say the popularity of the Steel Sword actually goes back to the marketing, in the same why that the Dragonborn is synonymous with the 'iron armour with Studded Cuirass' combo look. These are the images that adorned all the marketing, the live action trailers, the gameplay trailers and the promotional material, thus just as with cover characters,  these stick out as the first impression everyone thinks of when it comes to Skyrim. Just goes to show how important those first impression are, no?

Greatsword of Artorias: Dark Souls

Oh, there it is. (Bet you knew I couldn't go a listicle without dropping the Dark Souls) So there is a truly ludicrous number of great weapons and armour from the Souls games that stand out as symbols, yet when pressed, most remember the Greatsword of Artorias the best, and I'm still not completely confident as to why. As opposed to the cover adorning, Elite Knight Armour, or the ever present, Moonlight Greatsword, here's a weapon that doesn't really get any overt coverage in material or really in the game either. I mean sure, it's technically on the back of the character for the cover of the 'Artorias of the Abyss' DLC, but that's not the image of Dark Souls, so I'd hardly say the popularity starts there. Even in the game it's only ever seen wielded by Artorias himself, (as well as giant version held in the mouth of his greatwolf Sif) unless you go far out your way to craft it. I actually think these weapon's popularity might actually come down to the pure design of the thing, because even in game of fantastic designs there is something about this sword in particular that is truly exceptional. It's a huge, shapely, medieval Greatsword with enough ornate decorations to stand out but not appear too gaudy. It glints with that dark, cruel gleam that invokes the gothic shades of the theme as well as the tinge of tragedy that taints it's master's backstory. Put simply, in many ways this Greatsword's design is the purist reflection of the game that spawned it, thus her aesthetic propagates the fandom.  

GLOO Cannon: Prey 

The Gelifoam Lattice Organism Obstructor (or GLOO) Cannon from Prey's 2017 revival is not what I would call the prettiest weapon in the world. Nor is it the most revolutionary thing to hit the world of gaming, changing the way that software itself it formed. It also doesn't have a name that really rolls off the tongue or has a fun swear word to blurt out at inappropriate moments. But what it does have is function and versatility, and in an immersive sim like Prey, that's pretty much the player's bread and butter. The GLOO gun shoots out a substance that glues (I get it) itself to the surface it touches in a gelatinous, foam-like substance which is strong enough to stand on, or trap something in. When faced against the mimics that litter the gameworld (beings capable of shifting their shape in order to imitate other objects) you can probably figure out the appeal. What makes the GLOO cannon so special and memorable is the way that it's the first ranged weapon you get access to in the game, thus forcing you to become familiar with all the ways in which you can manipulate it's GLOO for any situation. Combat, boosting yourself to a new floor, blocking entry points, covering electrical bursts, making snow angels, just about anything you can think of. And when you pull something crazy off, you feel like a winner for thinking outside the box. Hindsight has been kind on 2017's Prey, and the GLOO cannon is a big reason for why that is; it set the tone for the creative adventure Prey would be, thus it's memory is tied to hers.

Master Sword: Zelda

And last, but by means least, we have the humble Master Sword, as wielded numerous times by Link in the franchise that doesn't even feature his name. (Has Zelda ever even held the Master Sword?) The mere silhouette of this weapon is enough to set fanboys off hyperventilating, and you would be remiss to see a gaming-themed decor job that had neither this or a triforce somewhere. (It's like a rule) And honestly I think that this particular Sword owes it's memory as much to nostalgia as to design itself. You see, Zelda has spanned decades and innumerable art styles, but the Master Sword has remained more or less exactly the same in look throughout the games. At times it's been the strongest weapons in the player's arsenal, whilst at others it's keep earned in other ways; but the narrative import and the cyclical nature of the legend keep this Sword as a permanent part of Link's arsenal. At this point, as much as Link is a piece of gaming history, so is this sword, and that's the sort of iconic status that is sure to stick for more decades to come.

So that was just a cherry picking of some weapons that permeate the legends of gaming culture, and from collating them all together we get a pretty definitive idea of what the perfect video game weapon would resemble. It would have to be beautifully designed to an impeccable degree so that it dazzles the user, yet still be simple enough to be recognisably silhouetted. It would need heavy marketing alongside the game it features in, as well as image consistency throughout the years so that everyone remembers it. It would need to be groundbreaking from a technical aspect as well as highly versatile as more than just a tool of destruction, perhaps some progression could tie in too? And it would need to be thematically synonymous with the story of the game, and have a name with one profanity or obscene recommendation in it... So I guess what I'm saying is: the perfect video game weapon of all time is the Dildo bat from Saints Row 3. Mystery solved, riddle cracked.

IOI going bond

License to thrill

It's been one heck of a time for IO Interactive for these past few years as they've moved into independence from Square whilst getting the opportunity to keep their trademark brand. As the visionaries behind the Hitman games and most recently the one's who spearheaded Agent 47's return to the limelight, it's hard to deny that they're reached that special level of independence that other game companies can only dream of. And it comes as they sit at quite possibly the top of their game, putting out the 'No subtitle' trilogy and showcasing their mastery of their brand and work time and time again. If you've spent any amount of time around this blog you'll know that I've a huge proponent of IOI and their work on the Hitman games, going so far as to call some of their design work actual examples of excellency for the industry to admire. And though I've not said it myself, I have heard folk talk about the newer Hitman games as the perfect spy-action game that we always wanted. And I agree. It's as though the best case scenario Bond game that we never really got made it our way thanks to Agent 47 and his globetrotting adventures. That makes it all the more fitting, for IOI's next project.

You see for a while now we've been hearing that IOI is excited to be done with the Hitman games because they have something big coming down the pipeline, the only question remained for what that big thing exactly was. A new IP coming out of IOI after all this time could be literally anything, the guys had been doing Hitman for so long who knows where the team would like to branch out their talents next, but it seems even when given the freedom of independent the choice was made not to branch out too far. In amidst all of the speculation and theorising I must admit, it never occurred to me that the team would take the comparison to it's logical conclusion and literally make a James Bond game; but here we are and that is the timeline we find ourselves in. (And I'll admit I kinda like it.)

Yeah, if you haven't had the chance to see the teaser by now then I suggest you give it an eye, but to summarise, IOI exploited their frightening familiarity with ballistic weaponry in order to parrot that ever familiar 'down-the-barrel' famous Bond intro, accompanied with the unmistakable trumpet riff. This is an honest-to-goodness James Bond game being made by the literal dream-team for this sort of project, this literally never happens in the industry so I for one am quite chuffed to see everything fall into place so spectacularly. And what makes this all the better? We aren't looking at another poor movie adaptation which'll no doubt prove rushed and messy like every movie tie in ever is. (Not including you, Spider Man 2 on Consoles, you fine) Apparently this game, codenamed 'Project 007', will take us to an origin tale of the man, myth and legend; and that, if I may say, is an absolutely fine choice for someone looking to make a franchise. (And I think IOI might be!)

As of right now it's unclear what connection this has with the main Bond brand with the exception being that it obviously has been given the licence. But best-case scenario would dictate this story has the chance to follow a completely original version of James Bond that doesn't have to wear some nightmarishly grafted skin-suit of the actor-of-the-time. This is certainly supported by the idea of how this game will apparently be an 'all original' story, thus not abiding by the lore of the first mission which was established by Daniel Craig's 'Casino Royale' not the oft-overlooked 'Young Bond' book series by Charlie Higson. (You know, I never really thought of myself as a 'Bond fan' but I do seem to know a disgusting amount about this character, don't I?)  

Now one thing I have been ignoring, something which people will no doubt be shouting about, is the long legacy of Bond games that have already existed within the gaming world, but there's a reason for that; I don't want any of them to influence this game. Don't get me wrong, they are all unique titles of varying quality, with one in particular literally shaping modern FPS', but in my heart I would love it if IOI acknowledges all that, but still precedes to take the gaming Bong in a wholly new, but still amazingly interesting, direction. I want some more of that thoughtful, well designed, not adrenaline fuelled, action which the team have wowed the world with in recent years, not more dull bullet-drenched affairs that get lost in the crowd. That worked for Golden Eye, but gaming has moved on now, and I'd love for Bond to do so too. And perhaps that mirrors a sleight dissatisfaction with how the movies have been trending too, (Or at least, how they were before Daniel Craig came aboard) but I just know that if they're given the chance to, IOI can make a Bond even more iconic then he's ever been before.

All that being said, I don't think this is just going to end up being 'Hitman with spy gadgets' because that would be a waste of a new IP. No, I'd like to see a different sort of game come out of IO for 'Project 007', maybe one with a more action-adventure vibe to it's control scheme and world design, but still a game that learns from all the nuance (and, crucially, the replay-ability) which made Hitman such a masterpiece. Right now it's hard to create a clear image in my head of what I want the game to look like, and that's completely fine because it allows by expectations to be up in the air until we hear more about this game. Which, to be honest, probably isn't going to be anytime soon. I'm saying that we may hear a little bit more around this time next year by my best estimates. This really did seem like a teaser in the utmost sense. (Hell, the game still has a 'codename' attached to it!)

But of course, we can't talk about a 'Bond game' without addressing the elephant in the room, and that being my own past comments. Cast your mind back in a Pensieve and you'll remember how I once gave 'Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater' the accolade of 'the greatest James Bond game ever made', (with the added stipulation that James Bond isn't in it) and will I be willing to concede that title once this new game launches? Likely not, because the things which makes MGS3 so brilliant transcend technical mastery and delve in really complicated topics like storytelling and pacing, the sorts of things that I'm currently unsure about with IOI after their slightly spotty history on Hitman. (This round still goes to Kojima for now, guys. But then we are talking about my literal favourite game ever made so I wouldn't take that too personally. You weren't ever gonna win that fight in my heart.)

At the end of the day, there isn't anyone as excited about this news as I am. (Save for, possibly, the folk actually working in IO, as I can only imagine that getting paid to do something you love adds it's own special flair to the occasion. I wouldn't know.) I absolutely adore the sorts of games that take you on an adventure, and in the age of Open-worlds that's really becoming a little bit of a lost art, so I positively guffawed when I realised that Bond spells the perfect breeding ground for such a narrative! Grand, globetrotting, espionage adventure; I couldn't be more happy right now! Congrats on IOI for landing the job of a lifetime and MGM for securing the best possible folk, now all there is to do is wait for the inevitable magic to happen!

Cyberpunk and Xbox are confusing me

So which fans are getting which game?

So Cyberpunk is coming out in a scant few weeks as far as I can remember, and though I'm adamant not to get my hopes up for a release window that has failed me all year long, that doesn't mean I haven't cast a curious eye over proceedings every now and then. Whenever there's a tweet I'm usually there to eye it (in case a surprise delay drops) if a PR fellow happens to gab the most inconsequential murmur to the press I'll be reading it, and when a surprise video drops that's purely in Russian, I'll watch that whole thing because I have nothing better to do. That being said, the most recent video that Cyberpunk dropped (as of the writing of this blog which, just to remind you all, was a week ago) has been a showcase of console footage for the first time ever, and it confused me.

Now first of all it should be said that the footage looked fine. Absolutely nothing wrong with it in that regard, apart from the way that Youtube compression sort of undersold everything but that much it to be expected. Crowd density didn't look jaw dropping or anything, but such is to be expected, this is the last gen version of a game that seems firmly made for the next gen. What confused me was the way that the footage switched between Xbox One X footage Series X footage, without any perceivable change. I'm being serious, the gameplay, framerate, texture density; everything looked the exact same to the point where it was unclear exactly what CDPR were trying to prove with the footage.

Now at a stretch I could give the team the benefit of the doubt and say that this may have all been the consequence of Youtube compression. Afterall 60 fps is pretty much the only thing that's easy to spot on any monitor and without 4k viewing options the difference was bound to be negligible, but there's still a layer of finish that I just plain found to be missing on the next gen version of the game. What I mean is, you can tell whenever you see Demon's Souls footage, it looks fantastic regardless of compression, and whilst this game looked fine I didn't get that wow factor. Perhaps some of the light source glow in the later parts of the trailer looked decent enough in diffusions, but it really does look like we'll be splitting hairs when it comes to how this newer console Cyberpunk games perform.

But of course, this wasn't without explanation. Because you see, when CDPR promised free upgrades to next gen versions of the Cyberpunk games they weren't talking about the games we're being shown now. Because, rather oddly given the name of the video, the footage shown was not of the Xbox Series X version of Cyberpunk, but rather the Xbox One version running on a series X through Backward compatibility. This is the way in which CDPR are hoping to ensure Cyberpunk is available everywhere by day one, rather sneaky if you ask me. They did confirm that the free upgrades will be available sometime next year and those versions of the game are sure to look mindblowing in every facet, but right now all we have are these slightly supped up compatibility jobs.

It's an interesting route to take and it makes me wonder about the state of the new generation of consoles now that Backwards compatibility has become an expected thing. Previously generations would be hard cut-offs for games, but now there no longer needs to be that distinction because newer consoles can run that old software seemingly effortlessly, and with an improved framerate. And given the launch line-up for Xbox in particular, it's a literal lifesaver for Xbox fans because otherwise they'd have to deal with dry spells for months or getting charged up the nose for inconsequential updates like Ubisoft have done in the past. It adds a whole new dynamic to the game library of people and, I like to think, adds a little value to us to like to hold onto our old games.

But at the same time it has led to this awkward transitory period where we're constantly having to ask ourselves if this game has any new touches to it or if we've been had yet again. I mean, does this issue with Cyberpunk mean that people who turn up to stores to buy a copy for their brand new Series X will be forced to get a Xbox One version of the game? (all the better, I really don't like the way that the new cases just say 'Xbox' ontop of them. It's like the marketing team are actively trying to confuse consumers in every way.) But then things get even more confusing when you realise that Xbox are selling their new games in Series X cases, but those discs can run on a Xbox One too. (Yeah, figure that one out.) It all just makes Microsoft's ecosystem utterly perplexing.

I suppose out the otherside what I'm really wondering about is what effect this will have on the PC versions of Cyberpunk when they release. Is this going to be a situation where Cyberpunk gets a glow up patch in 6 months time or is everything launching at it's utmost on PC out the gate, because if we're looking at the latter then what exactly is the point of the console versions coming out this soon? Or wait, is it in order to secure that ever-so-tantalising accolade of a 2020 release for an adaptation of Cyberpunk 2020. And I'm starting to think that very accolade is going to end up costing this game is some, as of yet unseeable, fashion. 

But maybe I'm being alarmist, as of right now a brand new Cyberpunk event will have released and though it's far beyond something that will drum up my hype again, (I'm seriously done getting excited anymore) that'll be something to highlight just how pretty this game can look. I do wonder at potential downgrades, which footage has been careful not to show off but when a project is cut this close I have to consider it, but nothing will ruin the overall gameplay experience, I'm sure. All this news just means I'm going to be spending a little longer than usual scratching my head and wondering why it is that Microsoft and CDPR are so insistent on being abstract. (I just don't get it.)

Demon's Souls: The remake we need right now

 But maybe not the remake we deserve

The 'Souls Game' genre is an interesting proposition. They are a series of games that promise to put you through as much trail and tribulation as they can manage to attempt at skirting the edge of fair play and balance that'll bring you unreasonably close to caving in at any given moment. That being said, the tradeoff is that after setting your blood pressure rising off the charts and putting you in constant life-or-death situations, you'll be all that more relieved once you hit the otherside and pull out a win. (if you hit the otherside) It's a type of game that highlights being unforgiving, but not unfair, and needs to constantly strike a balancing point between the two ideals that often feels a thin as a needle's point. But when they do, and if we're talking about the mainline Souls game which spawned the franchise, then they always do, it heightens that sense of victory to unbelievable vistas. (Take it from the guy who spent 30 Human Effigies last night in order to first reach, then kill 'Darklurker')

This is a formula that has since been perfected, but it started with a little PS3 exclusive game from a while back called Demon's Souls. (And yes, Demon's Souls is the first Souls-Like and not King's Field. Do you have to recollect your experience points upon dying in King's Field? No. But I will concede that there are some similarities between the two games which could imply that one influenced the other.) Now in today's age a great many folk have played and are intimately familiar with the 'prepare to die' antics of Dark Souls, but not so many people have the context of where the franchise started with Demon's Souls, even though back when it came out the game was quite the interesting concept. "A title that was brutal, vague and let other people join your game and try to kill you? How very new and exciting!" This would grow into some success in popularity and, I can only assume, sales, which spearheaded the efforts for the spiritual successor Dark Souls and birthed a new genre unto gaming. (The Miracle of life) But given the original launched 11 years ago, isn't it crazy to think that in 2020 this cult classic is literally the shining spearhead of the next-gen launch title lineup?

And I mean that honestly, no other game which has launched on either console has managed to pop and stand out nearly as gloriously as Demon's Souls. When you look at the other games there is Assassin's Creed Valhalla, a decent game that also launched on last gen, COD, same situation, Spiderman Miles Morales, a seriously gorgeous game but also nothing strictly new in terms of concept, whilst the Xbox gets... wow, nothing interesting at all... (Seriously, Mircosoft, this is embarrassing) Demon's Souls is a game that was made for PS5, and though it's a remake/remaster of a game that already existed, it's also a title that a good number of folk never played before and thus gleans with that inexplicable aura of 'brand new' despite itself. And that has allowed the truly mind-blowing spectacle of the game to just grab audiences and blow them away; Demon's Souls is a next gen system seller right now! Do you think FromSoftware ever pictured that back in 2009?

So as far as most can tell, in terms of gameplay Demon's Souls is a one-to-one with the original, keeping all the brutal punishment of the first game whilst simultaneously maintaining some of the jank. (I.e. Occasionally questionable level design and a goddamn puzzle boss. I don't know if he's as bad as The Bed of Chaos, but I shudder to think) The only addition appears to be a random and currently unopenable door which, as of the writing of this article, hasn't been figured out and makes me personally expect something in the way of surprise DLC. But even then, I doubt many could take a look at this game and struggle to call it a 'remake' considering how much this game evolves in pure spectacle alone. (This ain't no, 'slightly sharper colours in Dishonoured's remaster' scenario) This is a whole different ballgame.

Bluepoint have rebuilt the entirety of the game in a manner that resembles the original, but which takes advantage of all the hardware afforded with the PS5 to evolve the art style. An ominous bare walk towards a far away tower becomes a musky hall sprawled in shrubs and forestry, a spacious but barren temple-space becomes a dark foreboding horror scape, and as I've mentioned in past blogs, the PS3 era fire depths evolve into something mindblowingly vibrant. (I'm a sucker for good fire effects.) It really stands out to me because I've never really thought of the Souls games as titles that were particularly memorable for their graphical fidelity. I mean the games still hold up for the most part, just because of the prevailing artistic intent, but Bluepoint have gone that extra step to make Demon's Souls literally one of the prettiest games on consoles to date, if not the prettiest.

Of course, there have been some deviations from the original when it comes to pure design decisions, but myself and the thousands of others who never played the original would never notice them anyway. Some people have argued that there's an almost steampunk/Lovecraftian element to some of the creatures in the original that gets lost in this new, more uniform, art direction, with a few bosses being entirely redesigned this way. For a purist I can imagine that this could come across as startling or even a bit disappointing, Souls games are renowned for their world building and the manner in which small design choices can spell out huge implications for the story. I can't say if this was true all the way back in Demon's Souls too, I actually have no idea what that game is even about, but I understand those who do find those deviations concerning.

The one aspect about Demon's Souls which really sells the next gen, however, is the one thing that can't be seen or interpreted by those without access to this new hardware, so all we have to go off is the word of those that do. (If that's worth anything to you.) I'm talking about the new haptic feedback mechanics built into the PS5 controller itself which, according to folk who've tried it, is subtle enough not to seem gimmicky yet impactful enough to transform the experience. Reports say that the direction of the character's swing will correspond with the direction of the feedback, with hard collisions rattling on your arm as well. And even something I really don't understand about how missed arrows can be heard from the controller as they whizz past your head. (Are they talking about something similar to how the Wii remote made sounds now and then really inconsistently? Because I'm not gonna lie, I found that rather annoying myself.)

All these come together to make a Demon's Souls remake that looks like a brand new entry to the Souls pantheon for those that never played the original, although I've heard some veterans ponder whether the prevailing similarities tarnish the package. I mean that puzzle boss I mentioned earlier was a big issue for a lot of the original players because he just wasn't very fun or interesting, and he's here completely intact yet again. No one wanted a complete remake of the sort of game that folk in this industry regard as sacred, but maybe a few improvement here and there (more than just the quality of life stuff) could have gone a long way. It's the same way in which we currently hope that the Mass Effect Legendary pack evolves Mass Effect 1 a bit, because just because it was a great game back in the day doesn't mean absolutely everything holds up in the here and now. Still, it makes me smile to think that in today's age it isn't the generic shooters or gimmick-strewn Ubisoft games that are defining this generation but an artistic masterpiece which stuns today as much as it did in the late 2000's. 

The Best Companion in: Mass Effect

 Where the trees have leaves of prisms

In the age of ancients the western RPG genre was unformed. T'was an industry full of clichés, usually weak combat and rampant misunderstanding of what exactly constitutes an 'RPG'. (No, just having a lifeless automatic 'level-up' mechanic, doesn't count.) But then there was Bioware, and with Bioware came disparity. (As well as Bethesda and at least one other RPG pioneer I'm forgetting right now.) Good games and bad games, B tier and A tier, and of course, actual rudimentary RPG mechanics and just having an number next to your healthbar.  Then, from Bioware's creative minds, they came and founded possibly the first high quality Sci-fi-fantasy hybrid game; Mass Effect. And I can't keep up this Dark Souls intro anymore, it doesn't even make any sense, this blog is about Mass Effect... and I'm sure you can figure out the rest of the premise from the title alone, but I physically cannot function without a proper introduction so I beg your forgiveness...

Following the recent trend of weaponised nostalgia in... well not just the gaming industry, every industry when I think about it, but especially those who sign off on all these remakes; it was recently confirmed that a remaster of the good Mass Effect games is incoming. (Sorry, Andromeda; you trash) And even I have to admit that although I was fully aware of what they were doing with that teaser and how literally just teasing Character models is practically the height of laziness, I still feel for the hype a little bit. What can I say, Mass Effect means a lot to me and in fact I was one of those people who actually started with the original so seeing those particular models recreated was very special to me. Even more so because these were the companions that I spent so much time with and grew to love through merit of being stuck on a space adventure with them. Of course, some I loved more than others and now... uh oh..

So that's how I felt the need to revive this old Blog series of mine for at least a single entry more in order to talk about a game I really do know well enough to assess, as opposed to the game which I was going to cover last on this series which had since released a DLC and threw my understanding into turmoil. (One day I'll get back to it, I guess. Maybe.) But I suppose it would behove me to touch on exactly what it is that we're talking about here. I mean, what exactly constitutes the 'best' when talking about characters in a video game? Well, quite simply, personal opinion. Yep, this is gonna be a subjective as heck blog wherein I split hairs, over analyse and prove to be wholly unfair for my own sick amusement. Maybe I'll touch upon the actual 'usefulness' of each character in combat, but quite honestly this is Mass Effect 1 we're talking about, most companions are literally only good to be bullet shields whilst you do all the work. (If you've never played then trust me, they are that useless.) But with that out of the way, let me launch into my usual listing of worst to best.

Carth Onasi tops out list in the worst spot for pure merit of being such an insufferable arse to the protagonist for seemingly no good reason whatsoev- huh? What do mean that's the wrong game? Oh right, I'm supposed to be talking about Kaidan Alenko! (Wonder how I made that mix up...) Kaidan is... there. Quiet honestly the man is like background dressing in all manners, from his voice to his story to his character design. (There's a reason he didn't make the cut in the teaser trailer) I genuinely cannot even remember what his character's arc was meant to be throughout the first game. I'm looking it up and apparently there was some sort of influence subplot going on wherein the player could subtly make Kaidan more or less accepting of Alien races, but that doesn't sound right at all, he seemed pretty plain toast to me.

So Carth- sorry Kaidan, pretty much sums up like this; he is one of the human's that is capable of using the mystical space powers know as the for- I mean Biotics, due to his exposure to Element Zero at a young age. Unlike Shepard, who got very lucky, Kaidan was fitted with L2 implants in order to control his biotic abilities and reacted badly to them. Not 'reacted badly' as in he started shooting blood out of his ears, but that he's wracked with migraines fairly regularly; which is about the best that those folk can hope for. (Unless you're the protagonist, in which case you get off scot free) He's loyal to the crew, doesn't seem to get in the way too often, Kaidan is pretty the model solider in every single way and the kind of person you won't really think twice about sacrificing for the good of the mission should anything go awry. (Seriously, did this guy make it through anyone's playthrough?)

Next up is the man, the myth, the legend: Richard L Jenkins. (That's right, you thought I forgot about him didn't you? Shame on you heathens!) This big meaty hero of a man that is Jenkins is but a mere rookie when he gets picked up by the commander for a ground mission on Eden Prime at the literal beginning of the entire Mass Effect franchise. He is abuzz with excitement about his first ground-op, but the Commander is pretty stern about letting him know that this is a serious mission, and that there's no room for undue heroics. (A clear effort from Shepard to try and steal the spotlight from this absolute demon of a man who would easily overshadow the entire crew if allowed to run at even half his full power level.) And there, on his first touch down to Eden Prime, whilst exploring the recently silenced colony, Jenkins is unfairly ambushed and brutally cut down by the literal weakest enemies in the game so quickly that he must have purposefully turned off his own kinetic shields before the mission because that's just how hardcore he is, baby! 

So wait a minute, did I just rank Jenkins, the man who famously dies before the first fight in the game, as higher than Kaidan, a man with the potential to make it through the entire franchise? (But who never will because duh, it's Kaidan) You betcha, and it's likely because honestly I found Jenkins to be more memorable. I mean sure, he is pretty much the living embodiment of a red-shirt, but that sort of blatant foreshadowing just makes the man's untimely death all the more memorable, out of sheer ridiculousness. How did this man make it aboard the most advanced ship in the Earth fleet? Why does he hold his weapon sideways if he's given literally anything other than his starter rifle? How can he wear Krogan, Quarian and Turian Armor without it showing up at all? And most importantly, why didn't he have his darn shields on? All these questions swirl around this enigma of a man, and until we get the demanded Richard Jenkins prequel game, the world may never know....

Now we have Ashley Williams and I'm just realising that I grouped up all the humans at the bottom of the list... I'm not sure if that's a testament to how cool Mass Effect aliens are or a red flag about my own speciesism against the human race. (Probably both, to be honest) Ashley is pretty much the lady counterpart to Kaidan who takes up his roll depending on the gender of the protagonist, with the slight difference being that she actually has a personality. Ash hails from a line of military service members and thus has that no-nonsense over protectiveness which bleeds out from that sort of lifestyle. She also has a prevalent sense of family and deep loyalty to them which fuels her desire to protect them whatever the cost. Of course, that loyalty also fuels her worst character trait, which is why she appears so low on this list.

How to put this... Ashley is sort of a space racist. Not in a 'war crime committing' sort of way, but in a 'deep seeded distaste that has unknowingly seeded into her rational decision making' sort of way. And that alone makes it pretty hard to get along with her, or rather it would with weaker writing. I genuinely don't know how the team had the courage to pull it off, but they actually gave a decent reason for Ash's xenophobia and allowed the chance for her to be redeemed throughout the storyline, and that's quite something for any one character to go through. And it's not something melodramatic and hammy either, it's actually quite subtle and organic, and if Ash was just more interesting outside of her racism I might even consider this character journey as worthy of a higher mark. Unfortunately, her best moments are saved for later games so this is the best I can do right now.

Here comes a controversial placement and so let me precede it by saying; Tali'Zorah Nar Rayya marks the first in a list of three characters who are almost too close to call in how much I like them. She may be in the middle of the list, but that is no ragging on her as a character, the standard is just so high from this way forward. Tali is a Quarian and thus a member of the Migrant Fleet, an entire race of aliens who were kicked off of their home world and now must live their lives as space nomads forever inside of environment suits. It's an intriguing premise that make Tali a curious being right from the get go, and that's before you actually start learning about the woman herself.

Tali is on her 'pilgrimage', which means she must search the universe to learn something worth benefitting the lives of folk back on her ship, this alone makes her a great analogue for introducing some of the more technical aspects of the world as well as to be insight to her fascinating culture. Unfortunately, this pretty much amounts to all Tali is during the first game and she doesn't really get to become an interesting entity of herself until Mass Effect 2 wherein she has a simply great storyline. Tali gets this high billing just from being such a great concept, but her best moments are absolutely yet to come.

Which brings us to the stalwart tank of the group, Urdnot Wrex, a turtle with a shotgun and a heart of... well he does kill for money so I guess I can't say Gold... Pyrite? Everything about Wrex screams 'tough' and 'hardened', and this comes down to his writing, voice acting and spectacular character design. (Although to be honest; all Aliens in Mass Effects prior to Andromeda are brilliantly designed) The man is a Krogan, which means he hails from a race of war fish that were ascended to space-faring status too quickly, and thus became a literal galactic threat worthy of retaliation. (That's the kind of badasses we're talking about.) The Krogan of today are far and few between, having been crippled through a manufactured virus that acts as population control, and the whole thing is some of the most interesting back story I've ever heard for a single Alien race. And whatsmore, Wrex doesn't just act as a spout of exposition for all this, he is himself a product of it and his very way of living and mannerisms convey as much about this situaiton as words.

Wrex marks some of those Bioware characters that you just instantly build rapport with. Seriously, it's hard not to love this fish by the end of any playthrough. He's tough as nails but laid back about it and even manages to treat the player to a story or two about his mercenary days, and unlike with Canderous, these stories are actually interesting to listen to and don't make you want to sever and eat your own ears with chopsticks. Wrex's personal quest about getting his grandfathers armour is not too elucidating, (although it is played perfectly for his character) but the way in which he is tied into the main story is truly impactful and marks one of the best moments in the franchise. I won't get into it here given that the remasters are on the way, but I've never seen Bioware craft a character who so starkly opened up in one moment that completely recast who you thought them to be. Great stuff.

These next two were literally agonising to choose between, because you'd think a list about best companions in a Mass Effect game would only ever have one clear winner. However this is Mass Effect 1 we're talking about and situations are different, thus I have to award the runner up prize to Garrus Vakarian. (I know!) This guy is a Turian, a no-nonsense species who famously were the first aliens ever encountered by humans during an event that would come to be known as 'The First Contact war.' (No prizes for guessing how that meeting ended up.) Although Garrus isn't the kind of Alien who carries the weight of his species on his shoulders, this time the writers give him space to shine as his own character and really become memorable based on those merits.

Yet again this is a case of a character who's instantly likeable, it's just in the way that his personality is and the dialogue he has; there's this constant sense that you and him are always on the save wave length. His personal story is perhaps the most solid narrative in the game, tying into the stories that he tells you in a manner that feels natural yet still impactful once you pick up on it. And most importantly, in my weighing system, he does hold ties to the main story through a touched upon rivalry with the rogue Spectre Turian, Saren. Garrus takes him on as a disgrace to their race thus given him personal fuel for the journey to put him down, same as with the protagonist. Unfortunately he's just not quite at that level of instant life-long pals that he reaches by Mass Effect 2, but he's certainly on his way there.

Which leaves me crowning the other most iconic character from this series, Liara T'Soni, perhaps the only companion in the game who is actually worth a damn in battle. (Okay, Wrex can be good too depending on the situation, but Liara is a literal jack-of-all-trades) As an Asari, a race of all female, all blue, psychic ladies, it would have been easy for this character to slip into those Sci-fi tropes as the overly sexual cliché spout, (god knows this entire species' design leans dangerously close to that territory) but the actual Liara herself is tipped in perhaps the exact opposite direction as a naïve pseudo-teenager looking for her way in life. (I say 'Psuedo' because she's over a hundred)

Liara is actually an interesting case because her ties to the main narrative run deeper than any other companion. She's a target during the early investigation due to her mother being so close to Saren, but soon after she joins up with the hero and we get the ever interesting dynamic of pitting a child against their parent. I think what I love so much about her character is the way in which her Arc starts in Mass Effect and tangibly evolves throughout each game until the 3rd, without feeling ham-fisted or half hearted in any of the individual entries along the way; that's truly impressive character forming. Whatsmore, her arc's conclusion in Mass Effect 1 is actually one of her peak character moments in my opinion, which marks a rare case of ME 1 getting the best of the series. (That doesn't happen too often.)

So Liara is my top pick for Mass Effect 1, but one must bare in mind that (excluding Andromeda) it is arguably the weakest game in the franchise, so perhaps a follow up is in order. Still, even with it's faults Mass Effect is a great game that seems to pay homage to so many Sci-fi series out there whilst still managing to wind into something unique along the way, and that's worth applauding all on it's own. And no matter how much I pick holes in them or rib at them, the ME cast remain one the most memorable casts that the company has ever assembled and I can't wait to see their glow up next year in  the remaster which better be at least half as good as the Demon Souls remaster. (I'll settle for nothing less...)

EA's got solutions... kinda... not really

 Time for image-fixing

So maybe you've seen me mention lootboxes before? Okay, okay, so maybe I talk about these little things a bit too much but what can I say, I find the grip they hold on the modern gaming landscape morbidly interesting. And no company is willing to put their figurative bacon on the stove for these boxes for than Electronic Arts. If Lootboxes were a Jojo character, EA would be their Stand, as they always show up out of nowhere whenever some vague threat heads their way. And why wouldn't they? Fifa's lootbox-powered Ultimate Team mode has managed to net EA somewhere to the tune of $1.49 billion on it's own, those are the sorts of figures that these executives would sacrifice family members to achieve. But as governments start to slowly roll in on EA operations and begin questioning the legality of systems that so obviously feed off of gambling mechanics whilst managing to avoiding all gambling regulations, the question arises of what exactly EA are planning to do to turn the tide, so to speak.

I mean, we all know that EA would like to try and convince everyone that there's nothing wrong and how lootboxes are just this new fact of life, but after steadily rising calls for a boycot and a couple nationwide bans, the writing is on the wall. Attempts to assuage fears have either be completely waved off (fearmongering is far stronger, they should know this by now) or backfired in the most hilarious ways, (the anniversary of that trainwreck Parliament interview should be a national holiday) so it's clear that EA need to either concede defeat or prepare for a fight. And I'll give this much to EA; when it comes to manners in which they can continue sucking the money out of their consumers like literal vampires, no one comes close to the sort of actual voraciousness of Electronic Arts. (These guys will straight rip off a face if they'd get an extra dime for their troubles.)

Thus as heels begin to dig in and lips turn into snarls, one must wonder if the five-heads over at EA have any ideas to pre-empt potential court proceedings and if those ideas are actually any good at all. Surprise, surprise: yes and no. In fact, I get the feeling that they've been trying to sow these seeds of playing 'the responsible arbiters' for a while now, but big plays have been made recently and I wonder how they'll end up shaping a real case. I wonder this as a fellow who has no personal experience in the world of legislation or lawsuits, so whilst the truth seems obvious to me I genuinely do not know how the courts will take this. EA may very well be on track to outmanuveer us all and there's nothing we can do but stand back and grit our teeth. Time will tell, I suppose.

But before I get into that let me start with the accusation. Lootboxes are a system wherein players spend money in order to earn randomized rewards of varying quality and usefulness with the probability margins turned down on the better items. Certain stimuli and systems have crept into games which use such systems over the years in order to encourage and nurture those who are susceptible to gambling addictions and it's reached a point where some claim there's no difference between what lootboxes do and what casinos do. The only saving grace that these companies who use such boxes can fall back on is a technicality which dictates that as the player is incapable of earning money back on their purchase the system can't be defined as gambling; but many are calling this an easily fixed loophole and governments are starting to listen.

Right now things aren't looking too good for the 'pro-lootboxes' side of the fence as more and more opposition seems to be rising against their implementation, from the abject disgust it earns from gamers to the several hundred thousand euro fine it's receiving from one Government body in particular. Top that off with the several highly publicised stories of people becoming hooked by Fifa lootbox addiction and children accidentally spending thousands through Ultimate Team microtransactions and the court of public favour very much seems to have already tried EA, with the actual courts likely not too far behind. What EA really need now, to put myself in their slimy shoes, is the plausible deniability to claim that they aren't feeding on their customer's misfortunes (remember: "Vampires") and that anything which befalls them is entirely their own fault because EA accepts no responsibility and everyone here sleeps at night perfectly, thank you very much!

This time around they've tried to play this out through the addition of brand new features to the latest Fifa games (Which, crucially, were not there at launch) wherein systems can be set in a sort of self moderation. Think about 'parental controls' wherein you can decide how much screen time someone gets in a week and, to the point, how much ingame currency they can spend. As I understand it also works as a way to see how much you've spent up until now, although it displays this through Fifa Points rather than the actual currency you bought those points with. A few have pointed out how that fact alone propagates the manipulative way in which facsimile is weaponised in order to divorce the act of spending points with that of spending money in the mind of the consumer, but EA are pretending to care at least. 

I have to be honest, whilst I hate to admit EA slack in any remote department ever, this is something. The bare minimum? Perhaps. But I truly think this has the potential to be helpful to some folk out there as opposed to EA's previous 'tool' which was just a really messy webpage that was hard to understand and they would link to whenever challenged. But even then, these work more as parental control tools than an addressing of the problem wherein gambling addicts are exploited. These are tools to help parents stop their kids from going ham on the credit card, but an adult isn't going to limit themselves if they get addicted, EA knows that, they're just hoping that you pat them on the back for this absolute shuffle-step and say nothing more about the issue.

At the end of the day I feel this is a pretty transparent case of image fixing before a big trial, which I suppose means Electronic Arts have finally resigned themselves to the fact that there will be a legal battle on this. From their perspective it makes sense, limiting the sob stories from the media will certainly help their case, but any case worth it's salt would be doing a disservice not to point out how surface level all of this actually is. These guys are desperate to keep the status quo intact and the closer they get to the edge of the cliff, the more concession they'll start making. Heck, if things keep up EA might actually be forced into actually making a good game to keep us all from whining to our local representatives about them. (Wouldn't that be something!)

The Road to Cyberpunk: Less than 1 month to go

 By my own rules I can't quote my favourite line up here; but it was a good one!

Yeah, I know that's not the most impressive sounding subtitle but I wasn't really given a choice now was I? At least it seems that from this point on CDPR's hands are well and truly tied and they cannot get out of it; December 10th will be the launch date of Cyberpunk 2077 and that judging by the way all the other titles have been announced, this puts them firmly out of the running for Game of the year 2020. (Still deciding whether or not I'm going to cover the game awards this year, maybe not) To celebrate we had one last Night City wire to send things out with a bang, this one covering the two things we must wanted to hear about (or at least I did, anyway) story and music. Thus allow this to be my last dive into my thoughts on Cyberpunk before the game is out as which point I'll be far to busy to keep updates coming. (Everyone would be too busy to read those updates anyway)

First let me start by saying that I'm honestly surprised by how much detail this video went into in regards to story, they pretty much laid the entire first chapter of the game out for us. (Okay, maybe more the 'prologue' first chapter, but in TV show terms that's still like an entire introduction episode.) Albeit we did know much of the story for a while now thanks to a rather straightforward Steam page which mentioned the 'Chip which contains the key to immortality', now we know what that means and how it has the potential to affect the story. (so turn away if you want to play the story fresh. But if that's your prerogative, I don't know why you're reading this anyway, come back in December.) Now we know that this chip does indeed contain the digitised soul of Johnny Silverhand, and it's his influence which will try and make V destroy the megacorp who created the chip, (not sure why) whom I believe to be Arasaka. Thus the beginning of this quest will likely turn into something of a power struggle between Johnny and V for direction as Johnny tries to coerce the player's body into acts of terrorism whilst the player tries to be rid of him. (Rather antagonistic, no?)

Honestly, as someone who had quite some qualms when wondering what the scope of this story might be, I'm quite happy with what the team has settled on. There's plenty of breadth to go practically any direction with this, and I'm already envisioning some Metal Gear Solid level showdowns between V and Johnny wherein they struggle for control of V's soul, whilst there could be other directions which would be entirely distinct. The promise of a story like this told within gaming is that the narrative could potentially go any which way, and I want to see them all! (Although if there's a chance to have a metaphysical death-fight against Johnny I'm probably going to B-line for that questline, personally, I love all the metaphorical transhumanist stuff!)

Apart from that, this Nightwire really put into focus the importance of Johnny Silverhand as a sort of secondary protagonist, instead of just a drop in sidekick who offers a funny situational quip every now and then. (That being said, one of his more vulgar lines from this event was truly brilliant, I hope there's more in the full game.) Keanu Reeves took the spotlight to talk about his work and I have to say, quite contrary to my original thoughts, I genuinely think he's thrown as much of himself into this as he could. I'll admit that when the initial shock wore off I did slightly role my eyes and go "Star power, eh.", but seeing these brief glimpses of his performance has really put that to rest, I really think he may have instilled the energy and passion to bring this icon of anarchism to life. He needs to have, because I have a feeling that winding ourselves to the heart of Mr Silverhand is going to be one of the big payoffs of the narrative, so it has to be worthwhile.

Aside from that there was some sections about the soundtrack and ways in which the diversity of the situational suite aims to range from location to location. Now admittedly, that alone isn't exactly the most revolutionary thing that we've ever heard out of these conferences, it sort of goes without saying on a triple A project this huge, but it's nice to have that officially confirmed, I guess. Seeing the artists that are working on the official OST soundtrack was also rather interesting, if just for the range of musicians we saw up there. But of course the highlight interviewees were Grimes and Run the Jewels; the former of which encapsulated all of our excitement rather succinctly whilst the latter diffused that balled up anticipation coolly. Needless to say, the soundtrack is really going to make or break the atmosphere of Nightcity and I'm over the moon to see how seriously the team are taking it. Also, it's nice to finally hear why this version of Cyberpunk feels different to the one I'd seen pictured, it was a move from 80's aesthetic to 90's, I could never quite put my finger on it!

As a consummate curiosity hound, I love all the glimpses into the behind-the-scenes tech to make stuff work, and the JALI face animation stuff was just amazing. The last time I remember sound based facial animation tech really standing out to me was back in the Fallout New Vegas Modding days, and this is several hundred steps beyond that. I really does go to show how natural facial animations can look even when handled by an AI, where subtlety and understated movements can sell the illusion. Think the exact polar opposite to Mass Effect Andromeda and that horror-show of a facial suite. Of course, at the end of the day this is still notably inferior to full-facial tracking, as you see from other (smaller) triple A games, but in a manner that I can see myself forgiving pretty quickly. (Heck, I tend to play with subtitles on anyway, I won't notice anything.)

And then there was the gameplay trailer, likely the final trailer we're getting out of Cyberpunk 2077 (at least until the inevitable TV spots) and again it was a delightful visual treat to behold. Taking a sort of condensed evolution upon the 'everything to expect' trailers that Ubisoft makes, (which is funny considering that CDPR literally just copied that formula for the Witcher 3, and now they're subverting it) this is pretty much the perfect trailer to show to someone who has no idea what Cyberpunk is and needs a crash course as to why it should be in their library ASAP. (More marketing teams need to take note, this is how you sell your game!) I'd like to say that I'm not excited, because I've been burnt out of that enthusiasm, but darn it I am. (You keep hurting me and I keep coming back, CDPR.)

Again, this is probably going to be the last blog I make on Cyberpunk until the game releases (excluding one I've already scheduled for next week which isn't strictly about the game itself, so doesn't really count.) So let me take this opportunity to say, my vibes are feeling good about this game, and they've been that way for a while. I'm going to put my weight behind it and say that I think Cyberpunk is going to be the experience that it promises and likely reshape the mould for the industry as it goes. I really hope that's the case at least, else 2020 will have really taken all joy from the world and left us in perpetual darkness. Be the light at the end of the tunnel, CDPR, please! (Oh, but no pressure or anything...)