Game Reviews: Dragon Age 2, Divinity 2, Kingdom of Amalur, Tropico 5
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Dragon Age 2 Game Review
Dragon Age 2 was not the best of the lot; still it was plenty of fun. The game was about a dwarf named Varrick. He had a friend he wanted to protect named Hawk. Since he was being interrogated, he created a story based a little on the truth.
Anyhow, the game is about Varrick’s farfetched tale of the champion of Kirkwall. All that occurs in the game is irrelevant since, Varrick was making most of it up. It becomes more certain in Dragon Age Inquisition when Cassandra finally meets Hawk.
Well, that is beside the point. The new Dark Spawns look like power ranger bad guys. It is really quite depressing. The only one who came out cool was Flemeth. She made a single appearance, which was a bit of a disappointment.
Think about it, why design a cool witch if you are not going to use her. The entire game takes place in Kirkwall. The place has plenty of tension because of the Templars and mages fighting. At times, you start thinking the mages are innocents. At other times, you want to wipe them off the face of the earth.
The mage and Templar final boss are pretty disturbing. This game also sets the stage for the main conflict in Dragon Age Inquisition. Some of the side stories tend to be gruesome and disgusting to a whole new level. Still, the mind-blowing weirdness was toned down in comparison to Dragon Age Origin’s Brood mother.
Divinity 2 Game Review
Winning Divinity 2 was like a punch to the stomach. The ending made me feel so stupid and angry. Needless to say, I only played the game once. That was how angry the ending made me. This was worse than the second ending of Bloodborne were Palebood cripples you.
Anyhow, the game was about a dragon hunter who becomes a dragon for a series of bizarre reasons. Aside from her new dragon powers, she starts listening to a little voice in her head. The voice guides her along for the rest of the game.
This game was realistic in the fact that no one knew what the hell was going on. Even the Merlin looking character that seemed wise gave you bad advices when all was set and done. The gameplay was kind of active. It was even more fun since I played the game on hard mode. This made me have to dodge more often.
The best parts are the battles against the enemy’s army in my dragon form. The dragon changing powers were acquired in the middle of the game. The moral of this game is that love always conquers all. Since, the main character did not have a romantic interest; she got screwed in the end.
Kingdom of Amalur: Reckoning Game Review
The Kingdom of Amalur was one of my favorite games. It was the only game ever made by Studio 38, before the company went down under. I was only able to play it once since the expansions broke the game for good. It also almost broke my Xbox.
Downloading it and reinstalling it did not help at all. They should really fix it. Anyhow, this game is famous for breaking game stations. That point aside, it was really fun. It was designed by the guys who made Spiderman or something.
They must have gotten high or something when developing the game. It truly was a pink mushroom world. The game has only 4 playable races: human, poor human, light and dark elf. All the characters are bound by fate. Since the main girl was revived, she was no longer bound by fate.
She had the unique ability of changing people’s fate. The boss fights in the game were plenty of fun. The best form was the magic one, with the Chankra weapons. Fate shifting plays an important role in boss fights. Not having the guard full can cause important characters to die.
The side quests in this game are numerous and all are affected by fate. So, it is no good to use the overdrive needlessly. Players can also rob or kill NPCs. Like Skyrim, it has a policing system, so it is not highly recommended. If you plan on getting the game, do be careful!
Tropico 5 Game Review
Recently, I got Tropico 5 for the PS4. It was originally a PS3 game, which got remade. It was being given away for free for PS4 Plus members. The game also had plenty of expansion packs to go along with it. This game is like Age of Empire combined with the Sims.
The goal of the game is to maintain the supremacy of your tropical dictatorship. It is hilarious since you end up doing the same thing that dictators would do, but on a micro level. The loading screen has fun facts about tropical dictators.
Some of the fun history facts tend to be hilarious. One easily ends up wasting a lot of time in the game. This one starts in the colonial era. It has four following ages. The mission mode is actually quite hard. One of the hardest mission focuses on becoming a nuclear power.
In another bit mission, the dictator pretends to have a weapon and then sells it to the Americans. The game shows the dirty underbelly of politics. The game has plenty of bright colors and the Latin music adds to the hilarity.
Dark Souls 1 Game Review
Dark Souls 1 was one of the most frustrating games I ever played. It was so hard the first time around and the second time around too. I chose to be a thief for some stupid reason. At the time I had gotten the game, I did not have the online pass.
So, I played it without online help and without human invaders. Around the third time around, I added online gaming, and it changed the dynamics of the game. My favorite hangout point was the forest. I used to be a great forest hunter invader, before the covenant got bad.
For some reason, the forest hunters sprouted morals and stopped hunting people like they used to. Since they were no help at all, in another file, I went over to the dark side. I invaded people to increase my humanity counter. The chaos blade was perfect since it gained power per humanities.
I miss the humanity system. It rewarded the skilled player and punished the scrubs. Now, all the online pairings are even. It was refreshing to always be in a one-sided battle. I knew it was one sided since I got a lot of souls per kill.
When I started the game, I used to rage quit a lot. It got really bad when I reached Sen’s fortress. The place was deathtrap, with hundreds of pits and pendulums. On top of everything, the monsters were really, really strong. The only way to win was to get good scrub.
Eventually, the game got an expansion pack. In this one, Manus kidnapped the player and sent him back in time. The worst of the worst bosses were Knight Artorias and Kalameet. Kalameet is the coolest gaming dragon I have ever seen.
He was also the best named one. It’s like when you see him, you meet Calamity. I can spend hours rambling about the game, but I won’t. If you have not played this first Souls game, I recommend it. It will certainly refine your gaming caliber.
Pokemon Game Review
I started playing pokemon when I got to the US. I never got the storyline of the game since at the time I did not speak English. I still did understand its prime message. I had to catch them all. I played pokemon red and yellow. I also played Sapphire and Ruby.
I also tried out their new versions. I also played Pokemon Stadium. I wonder why they never made another version of the game. It seemed as if Nintendo decided to focus on portability. Then again, the rivalry between Xbox and Playstation killed out all the little guys.
That is beside the point. If, I remember correctly, I also played the Emerald version and the XY edition. The online features of the new games make it more interesting. In the XY game, all I ever caught were water types.
Recently, I heard that Nintendo wanted to make a pokemon app. The idea is the get the nerds out there chasing after virtual pokemon. It all sounds fun and good until one gets run over in New York chasing after Mew Two. How it will work out remains to be seen.
As of late, I have been playing Omega Ruby. It is the remake of my favorite of the series. It was nice that they did away with the letters and the pokemon block making system. It certainly helped speed thing up. I have not been too successful in online games; I have yet to come up with a solid strategy to win.
The pieces are there, though. I remember my Nine Tails defeated a blue Mew. I also have a wide array of shinnies, for all they are worth. Anyhow, Pokemon is the best RPG ever made. The formula of the game had not changed since its conception.
Won Dark Souls 3
Today, I won Dark Souls 3. It took more than 160 hours, but I got all the battle trophies. The last one I had to get was the Lord of the Rings trophy. It was a rich, invading experience. Around the end game, I got carried away with changing stats.
Eventually, my brother and I settled in the magic build. It was a magic built, but not in the traditional sense. All the skills and items were focused on the moonlight greatsword. That little puppy could take away 750.
It was all thanks to 99 of magic, 40 of strength, the magic clutch ring and the dusk crown. At a moment, I decided to change a few of the magic levels to get other things. However, it was too late. Rosario had already rearranged my levels 5 times.
For this reason, I had to live with my decisions. In fact, it was my mother who suggested the pretty built I used at the end. As a gag, my girl was always wearing the entire princess dusk set, complimented by the wolf shield and the moonlight sword.
This worked great in pvp since I could dodge well. Also the other players did not take me seriously. After three strikes, most of them were no more. The HP pecks tend to be a bit odd during the summoning. Sometimes I have a lot of HP and at other times I do not.
It seemed as if From Software has not decided on how summoning work. They have also not fixed a lot of errors with the strikes of the moonlight sword. Sometimes, the sword connects but it does not do any damage. It certainly makes PvP quite annoying, but who cares. I have finished Dark Souls. For my next file, I am going to try a dragon covenant built, so wish me luck!
Nintendo 3DS Super Mario Bros. 3 Game Review
Recently, I got around to winning Super Mario Bros. 3 for the Nintendo 3DS. I had been playing the game whenever I go to the gym. I took care to play all the worlds. From time to time, I belched on a few worlds using the flying nimbus or the flute.
When I finally got to the end, I too late realized that I had used my last flying P. The final boss castle is practically impossible without the flying P. In the old days, I could make it to the final boss with the ax thrower. These days I have to fly over all the bad areas.
In retrospect, I think old NES games were harder than today’s games. The timing for a few of the actions is impossible. Another thing worth mentioning is the music of the final boss. I recently heard a great electric guitar version of the battle. When Mario saved the princess, it was a bit of a bummer.
Now that I understand what she said, the princess came out as being a bit of a jerk. It was also not nice how she managed to be always in another castle. Frankly, I liked the second part of this game better. I only played the third part out of sentimental value. Super Mario was the first game I ever played.
Speaking of Super Mario, I remember seeing a funny parody of the game. In one scene, Mario broke his neck and had to use a wheelchair. To make his brother feel better, Luigi made the entire area wheelchair assessable. It was a great way to promote a just cause.
Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance is hard, in proud mode
I started the Kingdom Hearts game in proud mode. I must say that it is certainly a lot harder in proud mode. I have my characters in level 50 and I have still to win the game. Kingdom Hearts is one of the few truly hard RPG games. It is a bummer that Square Enix refuses to work with Disney.
Then again, it must have been hard for them to mix anime with Disney. Ironically, today’s modern anime was based off Disney. This is best noted in the eyes of the characters of Ozamu Tezuka. He was the man who revived the rotting corpse that was anime in the 60s.
Thanks to him, today we can enjoy great shows…like, like? Frankly, I have not seen a good episode of anything for the last 6 months. Now back to the Kingdom Hearts game. Sora and Rikku were having their little bro-mance during their training. They were torn apart by the organization 13.
They had some bizarre plan to do something or other. Frankly, the storyline has gotten a bit murky with the whole-time traveling Ansem. Aside from this oddity, all of Rikku’s boss battles are really, really hard. It sometimes feels like I am playing with Zero in the Megaman games. His fights always end up being a tad impossible.
The dream monsters in this game are pretty cute. Still, I sometimes miss the heartless. Even the nobodies were pretty interesting. Each one was themed after one of their 13 Lords. The whole petting the dream monsters to build up bonds is a bit too similar to pokemon. I do so miss the traditional coliseum battles; specially, the ones which had Sephiroth. Whatever happened to that sob?
Dragon Age inquisition For PS4 Game Review
Dragon Age was originally released for the PS3. Frankly, the game was just a tad too big for that platform. Recently, it got rereleased for the PS4. It comes with 3 expansion packs and then some. The biggest improvement was done in the multi-player. The internet people form a 4-person party and complete missions and whatnot.
Overall, there are only 5 arenas to play. The items and some things are randomized. Also, the monsters vary from time to time. The missions that take place in the Ferelden Castle always have a dragon. The dragon spends most of his time shooting at you. The worst combination is rain and the lightning shooting dragon.
When his lightning falls, it has a large circle of effectiveness. There are some forms only available in the multi-player area. Overall, they are pretty fun, especially the Virtuoso and the Duelist. The storyline has two way of going about things, as well as multiple endings. One has to choose between the lyrium addicts Templars and the demon possessed mages.
Frankly, both options do not sound too promising. The best thing about the game is the world map. It got expanded even more. The developers of dragon age went witcher on the world map. It has large areas segmented. This helps speed up the load time while creating the perspective of large play areas.
For my new file, I chose to be a mage girl. I did not get to customize her much the first time around. Thankfully, the Black Emporium has a magic mirror that helps you give your character a final tuning. The other interesting thing to mention is the dragon battles. In the first one, in the Hinterlands, I barely survived. The same could be said of the dragon battle in the Storm Coast.
The Storm Coast dragon had no backup. Still, her massive lightning attacks did a number on my party. On top of everything, she got a shield from time to time. In the end, it was down to the Inquisitor and the dragon. Thankfully, the knight enchanter form was the ideal method for fighting dragons. So, killing this dragon was the high point of my day.
The random world missions are more or less boring and sometimes pointless. Still, there are a few rewards for doing them. It is best to balance out the boring parts with online play. Players must know the importance of requisition. It is a great way to get blue inquisitor points. Also, it is best to recruit anyone into the Inquisition. There is no benefit in sweating the small stuff.
Finally Completed Dark Souls 2
About a month ago, I finished getting all the battle trophies for Dark Souls 2. I had not bothered to do so because of the idea of having to do 3 covenants to obtain all the spells. After careful analysis, I figured out that the only covenant that needed to be completed was the Belfry Covenant.
The other three spells could be acquired via winning the game twice. In order to do sublime in PVP, I formed for my brother a glass cannon built. Well, it wasn’t a true glass cannon per say. Rather, the character had a very light built and used light one-handed weapons with both hands. This combined with the Flynn’s ring, the clutches and the ring of blade created a formidable character.
Keeping a low soul memory also helped. Anyhow, my brother successfully defeated numerous invaders in Belfry Sol. He was eventually able to acquire the invisible weapon spell. As for me, I was able to defeat enough bosses to get the sunlight blade. I also did the way of the dark covenant.
During new game plus 1, we got the ice rapier. With the new built, it was a formidable light weapon. We combined it with the Vessel shield. This made the weapon slightly stronger. While playing, we discussed the level cap of each stat. In the end, we settled down on the number 35. All levels after 35 are pretty much useless. They can also be easily made up through rings, headgear and other gimmicks.
Also, getting more than one attunement slot is a waste of time. If the player wants to use more magic, then they should use the rings or the witch hat. The next thing worth mentioning is the havel armor. Only the arms and legs are worth improving. The rest of the armor is way too heavy and particularly useless.
The resistance levels are surprisingly useful. People underestimate their effectiveness. They are ideal for making poison built. They also help boost the character’s agility. Agility speeds up dodging time and other functions as well. Resistance proved quite useful in PVP. Overall, Dark Souls 2 was quite enjoyable. The Fume knight was as hard as I remembered. He should have been made the final boss instead of Aldia and Nashandra. The throne watcher and Defender should be a bit livelier, like Hammer and Nails.
Dark Clouds PSN Game Review
Dark Clouds is one of the best PS1 games ever made. I played it a long time ago. Recently, it reappeared in the PS4 store. I bought it since it was cheap. The game is about a boy named Toan. He acquired something that sounds like a disease called atlamedia. With its power, he can help restore the world that was destroyed by the dark genie.
The Dark Genie is the final boss of the game. He lives on top of a floating castle locked within in a dark cloud. His powers help take control of the mind of certain bosses. He is also responsible for the sudden appearance of monsters all around the world.
The game had some pretty decent classical music. This game was made during the day that characters did not talk much. The personages did make sounds and grunts when fighting. However, everything was spelled out for you. The funny thing about the game was the bad grammar. There was a certain sentence which made me giggled a lot.
All the characters were nicely drawn. They had anime looks. This game introduced the concept of randomized bosses. All the weapons also had durability. This was a bit annoying, when durability gets to 0 the weapon disappeared. Still, the game allowed for plenty of customization.
The real problem was the final boss. He had a ridiculous amount of HP. I am still trying to kill the dark genie. He was one of the earliest hardest bosses ever programmed. Getting past stage, one was a real problem.