Bayonetta and Bioshock Infinite: Burial At Sea thoughts along with Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls comments

Thanks again for checking out the blog.  For this post I'm going to change the format a little bit.  For my "reviews", I'm going to still do paragraphs on my general thoughts on the game, but I'm also going to create a new sections called Who Should Play It and Who Shouldn't Play It.  Frankly, the typical method of evaluating games by reviewers seems to be reduced to a number, which doesn't really speak to the type of person reviewing the game or have any relativity as compared to a similar person writing a review in a totally different place.

But the truth is that when someone is looking at a review, they are trying to make a purchasing decision.  Most people only want to know if a game will be good for them, as opposed to finding the "best" game out there.  I think a brief discussion followed by general recommendations is a better way of getting there.  Besides, I'm not even sure that I can make scoring decisions very well, and frankly I'm not sure how professional reviewers do it.

With all of that out of the way, let's talk about...



Bayonetta was one of those games I missed the first time around.  And while I don't know the specifics, I'm guessing it wasn't the highest selling game of all time.

That's not a huge surprise when you consider what it is.  At its core, Bayonetta is a beat 'em up in the style of Devil May Cry or God of War.  You have an overpowered protagonist (Bayonetta is on the left in the image) who mows down bad guys with various combinations, most of which can be done by button mashing.  It does have a few unique things, like well timed dodges that put you in "witch mode" which temporarily slows down time so you can pound away on an enemy.  In certain battles, this slowdown is key to winning the fight, especially as you move up on the difficulty curve.  But in general, if you are familiar with other games in this genre nothing in Bayonetta should be difficult to grasp.

Speaking of difficulty, this game is pretty hard on normal.  I actually tuned it down to Easy to get through the game.  I think Normal is maybe a bit too tough the first time around considering how many hits certain enemies would take with my basic equipment.  Some gamers may not mind the repetitive nature of dying and retrying, but I personally felt that on Normal the game went from manageable to frustrating after the first couple of missions.  I'm guessing that if I played through it a second time with my unlocked gear on Normal that I would feel differently.

But the most important thing I need to bring up about Bayonetta is the style and presentation which is ultimately the draw of the game.  While the picture I included has toned it down, Bayonetta is a highly sexualized protagonist.  Depending on your perspective, this can be a good or bad thing.  The graphics aren't extremely sophisticated, but it's certainly detailed enough to...ahem...arouse its audience.  Despite being sexualized, I think Bayonetta as a character is highly independent and comfortable in her sexuality.  I think that matters.  While she is supposed to be eye candy, the other characters don't really comment on it.  She owns it herself.  So I'm not sure it's fair to totally dismiss her out of turn as compared to a more submissively sexualized character that you might see in other games.

Also, this game is heavily influenced by anime and corny action films.  Every move is exaggerated, every battle is over the top.  Some of the cutscenes are still shots that are presented in a sort of vintage film look.  I found it to be quite funny and it's hard to take the story too seriously.  That's probably a good thing, because the story never made tons of sense to me.  I got the idea, but I didn't really care about the "lore".

My last note is that I played this on Playstation 3.  I would strongly recommend installing the game because before installing it the loading screens were very long and too frequent.  It's not a new game and it shouldn't be expected to perform like one.  You should know that going in.

Who Should Play This Game

• Fans of action games like Devil May Cry or God of War.
• People who enjoy over the top games that are self referential and don't take the plot too seriously.
• Bargain hunters.  I paid about $15 for this game brand new.  Not bad for 7+ hours of gameplay.

Who Shouldn't Play This Game

• If you are looking for a high end technical game, this is not it.  This is not The Last of Us.
• People who are looking for a nuanced story that makes them think or want to discuss the outcome.  This game is not that ambitious.
• People who dislike anime style.  If the frantic Japanese style of anime is not for you, you probably won't like this game.
• While I think Bayonetta handles her sexuality in a reasonable way, she flaunts it unabashedly.  Some people might be offended.  I think it depends on your view of what feminism means.

Now I'll move on to...

Burial At Sea is the DLC for Bioshock Infinite, one of the best games to come out in 2013 and a personal favorite.  It feels to me like Bioshock got a lot of backlash after it came out initially last year and everyone I knew played through it immediately.  That generally seems like a pretty strong endorsement, but as time went on there seemed to be a lot of complaints about it as a shooter as well as some criticisms of the plot.  Before I continue, I should mention I wasn't one of those people.  While Infinite wasn't my personal Game of the Year (for that it's a close call between Last of Us and Zelda Link Between Worlds), it was definitely up there, and for me I considered Infinite to be a first person shooter that stuck with me a lot more than, say, Halo 4.  

For the purposes of this write up, I'm going to avoid spoilers and focus more on the gameplay.  I'll talk about the plot very broadly.  

Burial at Sea is two parts.  The first puts you in control of Booker DeWitt in an alternate universe as he goes into Rapture, the setting for the original Bioshock.  The second part puts you in control of Elizabeth.  Part 1 plays much like the first game, and is somewhat short.  I think I finished it in about 90 minutes.  Part 2 is considerably longer and has much more of a stealth feel.  This was a welcome change, especially for just a few hours of gameplay.  Plus it makes sense.

Both DLCs have equipment and plasmids (powers) that are distinct and separate from the main game.  This is a welcome change and also helps expand what I already considered to be deep gameplay that allowed the player to play the game in a manner in which they preferred.  

After Part 1 came out there was a general concern about value and length of the DLC.  I'm pleased to say that Part 2 actually manages to really complete the circle not only of Bioshock Infinite and Part 1 of the DLC, but of the Bioshock 1 story as a whole.  The way they managed to tie it all together is nothing short of brilliant.

It probably doesn't need to be stated, but this content looks beautiful.  Part 2 in particular opens up in an amazing way that literally left my jaw hung open.  Seldom does a game make me want to stay in a place and not move on, but Part 2 did that for me right at the beginning.  It stopped my natural instinct of exploring and trying to advance and instead gave me the feeling that I wanted to stop and smell the roses.

Who Should Play It

• Fans of Bioshock 1 or Bioshock Infinite.
• People who prefer story driven as opposed to action driven games.
• "Discussion" minded gamers.  There is plenty to dissect from this experience.

Who Shouldn't Play It

• People who prefer a more fast paced, competitive shooter such as Call of Duty.
• People who may be put off by dark themes, violence, torture, etc.  This game goes to places that some might not be comfortable with.  For me, I appreciated the emotional response I had to some of the darker moments.  
• If you never liked Bioshock in the past, you won't like this.

Now let's move on to Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls.

I'm not going to formally review this, because you are either on board with Diablo 3 or you aren't.  But I want to review some of the changes to the overall experience from the recent patch that overhauled the original game plus added features for the expansion.

The biggest and most obvious difference is the increased loot drops.  While in the original Diablo 3, rare and legendary drops were hard to find (and not always very useful) they have completely changed the formula this time around.  It didn't take long before my character had brand new gear.  The auction house has been removed, which allowed this "rebalancing" to happen.

I also like the new Adventure Mode.  This basically lets you teleport to different places in the Diablo 3 world and take on various tasks in exchange for loot, money, and XP.  Once you hit the Level Cap of 70, you can use Adventure Mode to power up your character further with better gear and Paragon Levels which allow you to increase your account's core statistics.  

Finally, the difficulty has been dramatically adjusted.  The difficulty seems to now bear into account your current level, so the harder difficulties are truly difficult.  I managed to beat the expansion content on Torment 1, which is the 5th level of difficulty, but only with the assistance of a friend (and a lot of running away on my part) since the enemies were damaging my character with high end gear and a maxed level.  

There's not much else to discuss with Diablo.  You either like the experience or you don't.  It's certainly accessible enough for new players, and I would suggest that if you want to try it see if you can find a guest pass.  That's how I got into the game I couple years ago and those things should be floating around everywhere.

That's all for this update.  Right now I'm working on Persona 4 Arena story mode, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker HD, Final Fantasy X/X-2 Remastered (PS Vita), and of course I will probably put time into some other things as well.

Please comment and share!  

Dangan Ronpa, Fez, Spelunky, Bravely Default, and South Park: The Stick of Truth

It's been a while since I posted an update, so here's some thoughts on a few games I've played recently.



Dangan Ronpa, for the Playstation Vita, is one of the most Japanese games I've played in a while.  By that I mean the game revels in its own bizarre story, which I appreciate.  The closest thing to compare it to is Phoenix Wright which I will talk about more in a moment, but it also has shooting, dating sim, and rhythm elements that probably should feel out of place, but somehow felt natural to me.

Long story short...you are a student picked to go to Hope's Peak Academy, a special high school that takes on gifted students.  Each of your classmates (in the picture above) has a special talent in which they are the "ultimate".  For example, Leon (red hair in the front row) is the Ultimate Baseball Player.  You find out early in the game that you are stuck in the school and the only way to leave is to be "blackened", by killing one of your fellow classmates and getting away with it by not being found guilty at the subsequent class trial.  Oh, and if you are "blackened", everybody else is executed.  Make sense?  Of course it doesn't.  But if you accept the bizarre premise you will probably enjoy it.

The main part of the game is class trials in which you make arguments to try and discover who killed a particular classmate.  While at first the culprits are obvious, the game does an excellent job mixing things up and playing with your expectations.  By the time I got to the end, I was desperate to see how it all unfolded and understand the true nature of Hope's Peak Academy.

In that sense, it's definitely a visual novel.  The feel I got was the same feel I have when I'm reading a novel that I can't put down.  While it might not be for everyone and some of the gameplay elements don't feel perfect, it left a mark on me that is hard to describe.  I felt very similar about the game Catherine, which was also bizarre with imperfect gameplay.  But when I was done, the experience stuck with me.  I think there is something to be said for that.




I just "beat" Fez for the first time a few days ago.  This is a charming game that is probably unlike any other puzzle/platformer out there.  The primary mechanic involves you navigating a 2D plane that you can rotate 360 degrees.  The result of this creates interesting puzzles that require you to change your perspective of the stage in order to proceed.

Personally, I enjoy these kinds of games.  They are unique and force people to do things they haven't seen before.  So overall I would recommend Fez.  However, I also think that Fez is too cryptic for its own good.  In order to get the normal ending, you must get 32 cubes that are scattered throughout the world.  There are actually 64 cubes in total when you include the difficult to find anti-cubes.  But to me, this is where the game gets too creative.  Many of these secrets are hidden extremely carefully, requiring either an FAQ or extensive studying and note taking.  Dark Souls handles a large world with secrets much differently.  Dark Souls doesn't tell you much, but through normal discovery you learn the secrets to the world.  With Fez, it feels like you have to go another step, one that feels like it would be less fun to do without assistance from the community.  I managed to do basically everything in Dark Souls without assistance, but that would be impossible with Fez.

Overall, great game.  What really made me enjoy it was the graphics and sound.  The ending I got was also very trippy, and I always enjoy that kind of creativity.  But it's not without it's faults.



Spelunky is a very difficult rogue-like game.  The levels are generated uniquely every time you start over, which will happen a lot.  You only have 4 "hearts" which can be difficult to regenerate, and limited resources to get through at least 16 levels before finishing the game.  If you are like most players, you will fail a lot early on until you learn about which items are useful, how to deal with different enemies and obstacles, and of course mastering the tight but tough controls.

I love this game.  While it can be frustrating at times when you fail, it's hard to blame anyone but yourself.  The obstacles the game throws at you can be overcome...if you are thinking about it in the right way and executing on a proper strategy.  You have to act quickly, but not so quickly that you are in a rush and miss an important item or fall into a trap.

I have this on PS3, Playstation Vita (a cross-buy), and Steam.  The first time I successfully made it through the game I happened to be playing it as I was going to bed on my Vita, and to be perfectly honest I didn't expect to win.  I had failed so many times that I just figured that a quick run would be what I needed before sleep...and yet I made it through the entire game leaving me proud at the expense of much needed sleep.  But it was worth it!


Bravely Default is a terrible name for a game.  But it does tell you about the unique characteristic of this JRPG that should probably just be a Final Fantasy game.  Bravely Default relies on the player to "Brave" to take an extra turn (at the expense of a future turn) or "Default" to increase defense for a turn and store extra turns for future uses.  Don't need to heal this turn?  Have your healer Default and then they can heal twice the next turn.  Want to kill an enemy quickly?  Just have every character Brave 3 times and overwhelm the enemy with force at the start of battle.

This is a great system that is added onto a mostly traditional turn based RPG with a job system that is not dissimilar from other games.  The story is interesting, but without spoiling the ending, I have to take Square Enix to task for the end game.  Once I traversed the entire world, fought all of the main "bosses" that the game suggests you will have to fight from the beginning, and make it to what feels like the end, the game is extended in a very poor and, in my opinion, a boring fashion.  The first 30 hours I felt like Bravely Default was what I wanted for years from Final Fantasy, and yet when I reached the end it left a sour taste in my mouth.  I'm hoping they learn for the sequel.

It's still good if you like JRPGs.  While I decided not to pursue the true ending due to my frustration with their design choices, I could see someone still enjoying it.  It doesn't ruin the game...it just holds it back from being the classic JRPG I wanted it to be.



Ever play Mario RPG or Paper Mario?  Do you like South Park?  If you said yes, you should play this game.  It's clearly the best licensed game to come out in years as compared to the trash you typically see when a big box office movie or TV show is adapted into a video game.

The gameplay is extremely simple as a turn based RPG, but what stands out to me is how polished the world and jokes are.  It just feels like South Park.  I laughed the whole way through, and even though the actual fighting is extremely simple and arguably repetitive, I never felt bored with the 12 hours or so I needed to do everything in the game.  The creators deserve a ton of credit.  Most games that max out around this time with far more complex gameplay feel like a less robust experience to me.

I'm hoping we get some quality DLC for this.  I think another 3 or 4 hours of quests for $10-15 every 6 months or so would be a great way to expand the value and of course make Obsidian and South Park Studios more money on what I already expect to be a huge success for them.

Something I've noticed personally is that South Park and Dangan Ronpa are both greater than the sum of their parts.  Neither game has outstanding graphics.  Neither game has perfect game mechanics by far (especially Dangan Ronpa), but I would expect both games to be in my 10 favorites for the year because I just had more fun with them.  They didn't feel like a drag to play and I was drawn into them more.

I've also been playing Titanfall recently on PC (I'm imthewalrus610 on Origin if you would like to play with me) and that game is the exact opposite.  The gameplay and graphics are extremely tight and high quality, and yet it lacks the story and ambience that other games have had that resonate with me more.  Don't get me wrong...Titanfall is also a very good game that anybody who enjoys shooters should play.  But I would say based on my experience that you can create a truly great video gaming experience without making a sophisticated graphics engine and deep gameplay.

This has been a long post, and as always I encourage you to comment, message, share...whatever!  Think I should write about something specific?  Tell me!  Disagree with my thoughts?  I welcome the criticism.