At first blush Hi-Rez Studios Paladins is easily compared to Blizzard’s Overwatch – both games are bright and colorful, both games feature a large roster of heroes with different play styles and both games are all about co-operative teamplay. In the two years since launch Hi-Rez has worked hard to distance their game from Blizzard’s offerings so much so that they’ve revamped player progression twice and even cancelled entire game modes – Siege and Survival (that latter...
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Final Fantasy XIV’s Eureka Is A Fun Grind The Mixes Up Existing Mechanics In A Fresh Way
The latest patch for Final Fantasy XIV Online: Stormblood has arrived and with it a brand new land for level 70 adventurers to explore. The lost island of Eureka awaits players brave enough to explore a large open world map filled with challenging monsters as well as the return of a mechanics from both the 1.0 days of FFXIV and systems from Squeenix’s sibling MMO Final Fantasy XI! What Is Eureka Before discussing how Eureka’s new systems...
Continue reading...Final Fantasy XIV Patch 4.2 Impressions: Sigmascape
Raids in Stormblood – Final Fantasy XIV’s latest expansion – have been split among the wings of Omega and an on going plotline involving the Garlean Empire, the land of Ivalice and a theatre troupe. Patch 4.2 “A New Son Rises” once again sees the Warrior of Light (player character), Cid Nan Garland, Nero Tols Scaeva and Alpha the Chocobo face off against the artificial creations of the fearsome Omega. Raids are released with each patch –...
Continue reading...Capcom’s Mobile Puzzle Fighter Is Surprisingly Fun
Over the weekend I noticed that Capcom’s brand new mobile version of the classic Puzzle Fighter franchise had finally launched on iOS in Canada, giving me the opportunity to finally try it out for myself. As with any free to play title, I was weary of the specter of constant microtransactions, loot boxes and RNG paywalls. Puzzle Fighter is a surprisingly fun little diversion in spite of its monetization and questionable art direction. Puzzle Fighter dates back to the 1996 PlayStation Original that featured adorable chibi sprite versions of Street Fighter II fan favorites like Ryu, Chun-Li and E Honda who battled...
Continue reading...DOOM’s Nintendo Switch Port Will Have You Believing In The Dark Arts
Over the past week I’ve been playing 2016’s DOOM on the Nintendo Switch and this game… just wow, what black magic did Bethesda use to make a game as visually striking and visceral work on Nintendo’s hybrid tablet? Players new to this iteration of the classic FPS franchise will find themselves in the boots of the Doom Slayer, an unnamed marine who loves nothing more than ripping the limbs off of demons and splattering their guts across the floor. DOOM exists for two...
Continue reading...A 5 Year Old Freemium Sims Game Is My Mobile Guilty Pleasure
The Sims has been a staple for simulation fans for the better part of two decades now, the original (released in 2000) is almost old enough to drink in the United States. While I’ve been a fan since the first iteration, I can’t profess to have partaken in any of the mobile entries in the franchise with the sole exception being The Sims 3 on the Nintendo 3DS, which I found to be so sub-par it wasn’t...
Continue reading...Final Fantasy XIV Stomblood Impressions #2 – Vising The Great City
It has been a week since the launch of Stormblood, the latest expansion for Final Fantasy XIV and I thought it would be a perfect time to share some updated impressions now that I am several hours further into the expansion’s narrative. Unlike my last impressions entry, this one is not free of spoilers, be forewarned that ahead of this paragraph are bullet points that may contain story, quest and NPC related spoilers. If At First You...
Continue reading...After Trying Injustice 2 I Think Scarecrow Is My New Main
During last nights amazing Injustice 2 event at a wonderful venue in Toronto we got to try out some gameplay action! Sure, we only got to try three matches, but I think I’ve found my new fighter. First off, Injustice 2 boasts an impressive roster of at least 32 characters! More characters are even playable through Premiere Skins which changes their voice and appearance, but keeps the play style of a base character. I enjoyed trying out...
Continue reading...LiquidSky 2.0 Is More of a SpaceX Crash Than a Launch
At CES 2017 cloud streaming service LiquidSky promised that when their company launched their public beta later this year they would offer “the world’s first free gaming PC” by providing free game time to users in exchange for the ability to serve advertisements to free tier users. After months of anticipation LiquidSky 2.0 was set to roll out globally on March 14th – now that we are 3 weeks removed from the launch date it is clear...
Continue reading...Playing Overwatch’s New Hero, Orisa, Is Fully Loaded Fun
Blizzard surprised everyone by unleashing a brand new tank for Overwatch during GDC. While I did not get much time with OW’s second Omnic, Orisa, during the convention – now that things have calmed down somewhat, I feel that it is time to dive into the experience that I have had with this Gatling Gun carrying defender and how she differs from the available roster. Orisa is a specially customized Omnic OR-15 unit modified by the child...
Continue reading...Overwatch’s ‘Junkenstein Revenge’ Fills A Much Needed Gap
Blizzard released the first major Overwatch update since August’s summer games and not only does Junkenstein’s Revenge bring some pretty epic Halloween collectables to the game but it also shows that the game could use more story-driven PVE content, something the initial release of the game completely lacked. After putting in two complete evenings into the mode and securing several of the new loot boxes, I’d like to share some of my thoughts on Blizzard’s take on the popular...
Continue reading...The Elder Scrolls Legends Open Beta Impressions
Impressions By: John Edward Bridgman Follow Him On Twitter @JEBWrench The Following Impressions Were Based Upon The Open Beta of The Elder Scrolls Legends. You can sign up for the Open Beta on their official website if you’ve enjoyed these impressions. Ideally, I would prefer to discuss The Elder Scrolls Legends without having to compare directly to other, more frequently played digital card games. However, it would be much more useful to get the most obvious comparison out of the way. So,...
Continue reading...Surprise, The Internet Loves Miitomo – Combining Miis & Cats Is The Best Thing Ever!
The internet loves adorable kitty cats and memes, right? Well, we can add Nintendo’s first mobile title Miitomo to that list as well, for the time being. The company’s first mobile offering is currently trending in top 10 on Twitter with over 135K tweets about the game. Sadly over on Facebook the story isn’t exactly the same, as of publication time Miitomo is not trending. However, for those who doubted Nintendo’s presence carrying over into the mobile...
Continue reading...Unravel Impressions: A Wooly World For Xbox & PlayStation Fans
When EA unveiled Unravel to the world last year during E3 I wasn’t exactly enthralled with the idea of yet another side scrolling platformer featuring a main character made out of cloth. To be honest, I always kind of pegged that as Sony’s thing and comparisons between Unravel and Little Big Planet are almost inevitable (creation tools aside) given the similarities between the two titles. This past weekend I sat down with the final build of Unravel...
Continue reading...The Overwatch Stress Test Changed My Opinion Of The Game
I’ve known about Blizzard’s colorful and vibrant first person shooter, Overwatch, for a while now. I remember everyone getting totally amped up about the game last November when the game was unveiled but I wasn’t as taken in my the initial gameplay trailers and character reveals as some fans where. After spending several hours with this weekends Beta Stress Test my opinion on the game has radically changed. Here’s a rundown of what I played and why...
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