There very few people out there that put serious meaning in a video on Youtube. It's hard to take someone serious even on the site, but it doesn't mean they're not there. If you find the right person or channel, you might be surprised to see what they made. Hello Wandering Traveler and welcome to this top 11 best cinematic videos on Youtube! And before you say anything, there will be no cinematic trailers of any kind.

11. Dragonborn Comes

A song sung by Malukah, a spanish youtuber that sings original music and covers other songs out there. But that video of her facing the camera with a guitar in her hand was the soul inspiration for this video. A real life look at how feared the Dragon is and how much the people need you, the Dragonborn. If you like Skyrim or just love cinematic stuff in general, I really suggest you check the video out.

10. Unsolved Mysteries - The Dyatlov Pass Case

By the Youtuber, LEMiNO, it talks about the mysterious case of a few hikers gone missing in the middle of a long hike. He puts a lot of effort into the video to make it look and sound dynamic. He gives all info of the case and even the names of who was on that snowy hike. When he points out every piece of evidence, he even gives his own theory of what might have happened in this case, and this is real good one, nothing silly at all. If you find strange cases interesting, then I suggest you give it a watch!

9. A Human is Needed

A Dynamic video by FlytoRainbowRay. Although, it's his first, it still holds up. It is not based in the TF2 or the Half-Life series, but the characters used from the two series was a good fit. It starts very quick and ends very slow. And not the type of boring slow, I mean, the kind of slow that will make you cry. I really suggest anyone to see this.

8. Halo - Battle of Reach

Triumbrush gives us a horrifying look on what it would be like getting shot at in an air force drop. Although, the drop is from Halo, it still would strike fear to anyone about a full on launch of war. It's a short video, but you know great things come in small packages. 

7. The Maker

A very strange and compelling stop motion capture, but gives you a great feeling after watching it. A video all about passing a tradition and the passing of a close one. It has been critically acclaimed to be one of the most inspiring out there. My grandmother doesn't like this look, but when I showed it to her, she finished it with a smile. Seriously, if you like a touching concept, this may be the video to check out.

6. Bad Sniper

A touching story of turning zero to hero, Triumbrush has another cinematic video, but this time it's over 30 minutes long. Although, it isn't dubbed and has everyone mouthing, it still has subtitles. Reading them and trying to pay attention at the same time is a pain, but thank the O'Might lord for the pause button! The video is long and travels in it's story in great depth, you guys should check it out.

5. Mad Max: Roadkill BBQ

This video has to be mentioned. It was funny, action packed and even glorious gore! I really don't have much to say since the video is pretty short, but what I can say is that they were sponsored by Warner Bros.and everything provided was from them, so everything you see is film material! 

4. We are the Souls

This video is the one that I will always play in the background and watch hundreds of times. ThePruld is such an amazing animator and created this with the most heart. The song played in the video is Christina Perri's song Believe which fits so much with Dark Souls, it's uncanny! Please, watch this and his other videos. He might speak italian in most of his videos, but the subs are just worth the pause to take a look at what he did. 

3. Turret Funeral

A video with no plot or natural story, just an actual turret funeral! Well, that's not all it is. It shows a Turret's coffin as a choir sings in vocals to put their dead family member in memory and hope he went to Robot Heaven. 

2. War Makes us Mad

I know this is his third entry in this list, but this is one that made me feel so sad for those in war in this time. It takes a look on the choices we had to make and what we have to do to support it. And sometimes those choices make us do bad things. And it's a real startling moment  when he fires his pistol. 

1. Ocskylla

This is a video worth watching. The visuals are just beautiful and the heart he/she put into this video is just so interesting! I am lost for words on how to explain it, but it just takes the original SFM video of a TF2 theme and throws it out the window. He uses the character models, but doesn't have anything looking like TF2 cliche. I really love this video, and I know some of you guys and gals out there will, too, so check it out!

What do you think of the list? Were there any cinematic videos on Youtube that seemed like they could overthrow one these off the list? Please tell me! I would love to see what you guys have to offer! Anyways, I hoped you liked this list and 'til next time...

Play More Games!

Before you say anything, I don't hate this game. I loved it's previous games and the story of which still holds up. I mean, some of the newer ones are a bit cheap in gameplay, but they kept the franchise alive. The one thing I want to talk about is the Final Fantasy Delay.

The game is going to be pretty great, we all know this. The gameplay seems really fun in the demo and the game has beautiful visuals, it's a game we have been waiting for 4 years and it's coming now. The game was to release late this year, but not to long ago, was delayed to next year. 

I can see why people are angry and there can be signs that this game may be a flop or an overhyped game like many others. Although, I hope this isn't true, it may happen. Although, that's not the only reason it could be held back from the public. The game might have had bug or glitch that was found that could almost get the game a bad rating, and maybe the game might need some final tweaks to make it good for the public eye. And that's something that most fans of any franchise ignore. 

Look at a small thing announced that sounds bad to the public, such as Battlefront's lack of a singleplayer experience. Although, I hate that game to my very core, the game is still played and liked. And the game is hated for that small (But large) inclusion of a singleplayer experience. 

You may be asking "What does this game have to do with Final Fantasy?" Well, Final Fantasy was delayed while Battlefront, the staple of Star Wars gaming, wasn't. Battlefront wasn't finished and the developers admitted it. They wanted to make a singleplayer experience, but rushed it's production before christmas that year. 

I know most of you fans out there are crying to hear that the game has been delayed, but look at the flops of other games such as EA's Battlefront that weren't delayed. The reach is longer, but the prize will come to you soon. All you need to do is wait. It's a hard thing to do, but sometimes it's for the better of game itself.So stop saying "Where is Final Fantasy 15" and just move on! It will be here before you know it. 

Now before you go, what do you like about FInal Fantasy's demo? I know this an overdue question, but I just tried it and I'm kind of excited for the game. I kind of like the engine it uses. Smooth, and makes the experience worth the buy. You can tell me, but as usual...

Play More Games!

In Dark Souls, there are many character that resemble a person that has lived decades in whatever world they're in. Although, the characters/NPC's shown in Dark Souls 1 and 2 have nothing to relate to the player, in Dark Souls 3 there are three I can name that can have players say "I do that!" when they speak.

Eygon of Carim
(The Troll)

He has a lot of hate, anger and depression in his hands. He says you are no better than him and any attempt of you trying to be better or strive to achieve would have him call all those acts worthless. He mocks you as you talk to him as you wonder "Why the hate, bro?" Does any of this ring any bells?

If you didn't already know, he resembles the players that say they're better and try to make you not test to prove them wrong. Although, this character is very strong to fight, he shows off all characteristics. I mean, who would wield that weapon like that all like "Yeah, I got this!"

Siegward of Catarina 
(The Thinker)

Use to be named Siegmeyer, his characteristics are kind, thoughtful and a great planner. Any of you guys thinks he's your type? Well, if you really think of it, Dark Souls is a hard game, which basically is trying to make the player think about what he should do in some areas and bosses. And that's basically what he is doing when you first meet him. 

He gets lost in thought as he departs from the elevator and walks beside you just humming in thought. You talk to him, but it takes you a while to gain his attention. He springs happily from his thought and tell you what he's doing. He tells you about something hidden in the elevator ride and meet him there again planning how to kill this monstrous beast ahead, but can't find a successful outcome of this fight. When you break his plan by approaching the beast, he fights along side with you so he can claim the victory with you and shares a drink with you. 

If you look at it, he represents the planner or the thinker of the players out there. You planned what you need to do with a boss and make sure the outcome is a success. If not, rethink the situation. And if your outcome has resulted in a success, you are most likely going to celebrate it somehow. 

Anri of Arstora and Horace the Hushed
(Our First Look of Dark Souls)

These two characters are very symbolic. When you arrive in the halfway point in the Road of Sacrifices, you are met with a female/male knight that looks like the knight on the cover of the first Dark Souls  and a strange, silent wall of a man that only gives you suppressed grunts as a reply. She/he tells you that there is hope beyond the hordes of enemies and submits to your friendship with Horace just standing there with his arms crossed and his sight facing you constantly. 

What these two characters are, is the beginning and the end of us playing Dark Souls. Although, the meaning of Dark Souls differs from my beliefs, the offer still stands. At the beginning of Dark Souls, you are Anri, a poor soul that doesn't know what he/she has gotten him/herself into. She/he is destroyed over and over until she/he becomes Horace. A silently angry, stone black wall that has dealt with more than you can imagine. A beaten soul not willing to speak after what he had to go through. I mean, when you remove their masks, you see what looks like torn old people that just gotten back from a 7-year war.

As you look at them in the game and follow their quest lines, you see that they are what build each other. Horace is the Temper as Anri is the Soul. When Anri dies in a fight Horace keeps fighting as if nothing happened. Like how we all deal with each consistent death we face. She/he is just a souls to be beaten until our temper takes control. When Horace dies, Anri falls to her knees and stops fighting. Like how we are when we lose how temper. We give in to our anger as a thought of giving up is screaming in our face. He is the lingering question whether or not you should stop playing or keep playing until you win. With them together, they are perfectly balanced to keep our temper low and our minds still fresh. Without them, it causes the pure destruction of how we play the game.

Now, what do you think these characters represent? And which character is you? You can tell me in the comments, but as usual...

Play More Games!

Before you start too hate on me or think I'm trying to troll Nintendo, I do not mean that I hate Nintendo. I love Nintendo and some of my favorite games are from Nintendo. It's just that Mario isn't on my favorites. Hello Wandering Traveler and welcome to this thought blog!

The Classic Game with a New Suit

There are many reasons why I hate Mario, but being Nintendo's main mascot and title isn't one of them. People have said that the when Nintendo brings a game with similar features as it's previous game makes the game a big hit. I don't like that. I know. It's a dumb example, but when other people do it, the game gets murdered with hate and is called "The most unoriginal game out there." When New Super Mario Bros. came out, the game came to be a giant hit even though they used the same aspects as the original with minor changes in gameplay. 

I loathe the day the same game comes out and it's give the most love when others are just ignored when they do the same. I mean, you can say CoD has that same thing. They do use the same engine for years now and only reused other weapons with different reload animations. But the game still gets hate for that. There is hardly any love for that game when you look at with quality. And when you look at the newer titles coming such as Quake Champions, Dishonored, Watchdogs 2, Etc., you can tell that those games are going to get hate for using some of the same features as the last game. I don't hate Mario because of this, but it's just getting old. I hate seeing the same game with minor things changed from the original. 

The Main Reason Why Mario is Still Alive

The Mario is an iconic character of the NES and SNES and has become the child's vision of gaming, so why is he still alive? Why is he having more and more games? Well, it's very obvious and a greatly know reason, it's all for the money. The developers behind most of his game just want to slap him onto anything and call it a Mario game. "I made an RPG game, Mr. Miyamoto!"

"No! That won't sell! The RPG age has been dead from the start!"

"But we spent $500,000 on this!"

"Then put Mario in the name!" 

I mean, Mario RPG was a good game, but seriously, it felt like I was playing a Final Fantasy clone! Why not make an original title out of the RPG concept and make a new franchise? And why all the Sport games with Mario's face on it? And someone tell me what Mario Sunshine is. It feels like a new concept, but felt like I was playing something I played 3 years ago. 

The Game We Love are Being Backed Because of Him

From what Miyamoto has said, he puts all the better games to release first, and if you look at the list of releases, most the game released first are Mario. Hmmm... I wonder which game is better in Miyamoto's mind! Oh, it's Mario... Go figure! As he said before, he loved Legend of Zelda because it reminded him of the times he explored in the woods as a kid and found mysterious items out there. Mario has been said that it was an attempt of a new and fun game. I'm not sure if that is true or not, but that's what I heard. Besides the game he loves, he chooses the game that gives him the most money to release first. Gladly, this year isn't going to have that happen. The long awaited Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is the first to release next year. 

With each and every game we want seems like they ignore and only give us the same game we all know and love, Mario. Pikman 4 is finished, as Miyamoto has said, and he is leaving it in the back for other more important titles are released. There is a large fan base for the game and it is considered by Miyamoto  a nonimportant game. I wonder if he has the next Metroid Prime finished, but doesn't want to release it until the more important titles get their light and who is that? Mario!

But I can't beat on Mario that much. Mario Galaxy, Although a Mario 64 copy, it was still a good game. The graphics on the Wii was very bad, but this game was the game to mark everyone's childhoods. I played this when I was 10 and I had the most fun. I even asked "Is this even a Mario game?" 

Other titles were cash grabs while this one was the best of them all. It was completely original and had the player have the most fun out of the game. It wasn't Mario Sunshine, hard to the point you will punch a hole in the wall. I play that game or just hear it, I tear up with nostalgia. So, I can't really hate Mario when one of his games were the best. 

I know there are going to be a lot of people that are going to hate on me, but I don't care. Lay whatever you have on me. Did you at least read it? I just know a big fan would just read the title and got mad! Anyways, I hope you somewhat enjoyed this and 'til next time...

Play More Games!

There are lots of gamers out there in the world. Almost billions out there. A game can expand your brain's learning abilities and increase your observations. It can make you into a better learner and almost billions of those gamers have become better learners. But what about those gamers that play 24/7? What do they see? What can they become after playing for an extended amount of time? Hello Wandering Traveler and welcome to this little look on reality!

In my world history class, my teacher showed us a video about Plato's vision on society. It quoted what he told his students in his school and gave them a better look on a government controlled society. Although, he couldn't really explain it, he told a story to simplify what it was. 

He told his students to think by telling them to image a few men kept from birth in a cave with a stairway behind them and an everlasting fire emitting light, showing nothing, but shadows. A walkway was placed in front of the fire to show certain images. There entire would be these images and they would name what they saw in those shadows. They knew nothing, but those shadows and the light they stared at. If you took one of those people in the cave and showed him the fire and the puppets emitting the shadows, what would he say and what would his reaction be? You just showed him that what he knew was all a lie. 

"Why?" you might be asking. "Why do I have to know this? What does this have to do with everything?" Well, my teacher started to compare those men to gamers. At first I was going to strongly debate with him about the subject, but showed us a 2 minute video of an experiment being done to 3 people: they had a preselected game to play for a week. They slept for 3 hours and continued playing. One person was given Call of Duty 2, the other was given Devil May Cry and the last guy was given Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. After the week, they showed the same results in different ways: The guy who played Call of Duty thought it was 1942 and the war was still going. The guy who played Devil May Cry thought the world was infested with demons. And the guy who played Ocarina of time thought he had to save the princess with his Ocarina. 

These 3 people were sucked into these worlds for a week and only slept for 3 hours. Although, they did it in an odd way, I still thought it was interesting. The 3 hour sleep was a bad thing to have these guys do, but once I looked up Hardcore Gamer on Google, I found articles that showed truly hardcore gamers that do this. They sleep for about 3 hours and wake up to just play for hours. Sometime they don't even sleep. Most of these articles didn't talk much about American gamers or western gamers in general. Most of them talked about gamers from China, Japan and Australia. Since most countries out there have an expensive WiFi service, many European Gamers stay in Internet Cafes where it's free as long as you buy a meal or two. 

This is what I hope gamers don't become when VR is out of it's experimental state. As seen in most Science Fiction stories, it is believed that when Virtual Reality is popular, everyone would be in their own world, making up their own rules and logic. Many have said that science with have expand into our universe, but why do that when you can build that moment in your world? Your world in your VR game. 

Although, the idea of creating your own world in your own image would be great, I mean, they found out a way to simulate feelings in your mind, but the exclusion of the real world can be like how we see the PC Master Race: a greasy, fat man with acne all over his face (Sorry my Master Race bros). 

I can tell that the Government and the Country as a whole know this. After seeing what changes in technology for us to produce this, I can tell they are trying to keep this thing as little as possible at the moment. And the prices I can understand. You guys out there wanting that VR, but don't have the money, you know that reason why it's over a thousand dollars. 

So be careful with your gaming. I love it, but you can't have it be your life. Those of you that play constantly, start considering how it may affect you for it may hurt you. I hoped you liked this read and what do you think about what my teacher said? I mean, I just wanted to rain down on why gaming wasn't bad, but he proved me before I could say anything. Anyways, 'til next time...

Play More Games!

SPOILERS!!

The Character Reveals and Their Personality

I really hoped they would follow the real story. I really did. I mean, the trailers looked like it was! I told myself and many others that if this movie failed, the is no hope for future DC movies! Hello Wandering Traveler and welcome to this Review!

The movie started strong, with talent, cinematic entrances and interesting plot points. The movie showed the main stars of the movie: Dead Shot, Harley, Captain Boomerang and Killer Croc. It shows their backstory and what they are basically. They got great actors to play the rolls and made a character out of them in a matter of 10 minutes of the movie. 

Once they start talking about the Enchantress, the whole scene starts to repeat the same formula. Well, just for a while. As they passed Enchantress, it felt like I put the movie on repeat. Ese/El Diablo was the only relatable character out of the bunch. Deadshot felt like a typical father that wants to see his daughter. I know some of you fathers out there has this problem, but it comes to the default setting in a fatherly character. I know that is his story, but can we have a little change to not make it so typical.

Enchantress felt like just a problem waiting to happen and seemed too much of a out of place character to blend herself in the Suicide Squad. And somewhere in the movie she escapes her master's control and destroys the entire city of Metropolis. Yes, if you didn't know, they are in Metropolis. 

Croc was the character that hid in the background. I mean, in the comics, they showed his childish character and how Harley became friends with Croc. He might have a thirst for blood, but he still has a heart. That's what I wanted to see out of Croc's character: a soft-hearted villain with animal instincts. 

Captain Boomerang felt more of the annoying d**che with a beer in his pocket at all times. He was hardly their for the comedic relief like from the comics and didn't have that snarky charm we all loved from him for. He was just too simple to be a character. 

When Cheshire or Kitana or whatever he real name was, had t be a fill-in character. I mean, she is in the comics as a gangster who is trying to attack Gotham's prison and asylum, but she was a task force agent that spoke complete Japanese. Why? And most importantly, how could could she even understand everyone? I'm glad they were true to her story, but she felt like she was their to add some story. She didn't even have the time to show all of her character. I mean, they showed us her backstory, but it felt so out of place after seeing the other introductions in the beginning. 

Although, they got some of the personality that the original characters had. Some. Harley was what we all wanted and is considered the first and best performance yet, Deadshot had a good-to-look-at personality and gave him something to stare awingly at, and El Diablo gave me and my Mexican friends something to really look forward to in future films. 

The Plot's Confusing Places

At first the movie seems set on some big heist coming up or something giant to happen in the Arkham facility, but somehow it felt like didn't know what to do with the story or even take inspiration from the original comics (Which we're going to get to in a moment). It just jumped back and forth as everything felt half-baked! I wanted to see a completed professional plot to be put in this movie! Instead I got I confused villain and a group waiting to get out of the shackles that Amanda Waller put them in. 

Besides the confusing mixed plot detection, there were so many plot holes. For example, when did anyone mention Enchantress' brother? Seriously, when? And why was he in a freaking closet in the hotel that Waller was in? Seems so insecure to have that when she can easily break that gosh darn totem! And why take that with you? You don't have his heart! How can you defeat it when it escapes. Too late it already happened and here comes the real plot of the movie... Sort of...

Why did Kitana or Cheshire have to be there? It's a bit unnecessary to invite a person to this fight when you have enough help. Actually, it felt like the writers were onto something, but couldn't add it in the movie. The world was in danger and they sent a squad that hardly has any powers to really weigh out the bigger force. 

At least they explained some things, I mean those Zombie-Like soldiers they had were very confusing and felt very unneeded if they didn't explain what they were. But that's the only thing I can say that's good about the plot building. 

Why is Joker Here?

That was the question I asked everytime he popped up. He felt like he was another filler in the movie, something for the writers to take a break on the main plot. Although, in the comics, he was the trouble in the team's behind, it just wasn't executed right. 

As you watched Harley talk about Mr. J, you mind clicks and says "I forgot he was in the movie." Same goes with Killer Croc. You see him and ask "Where you been?" Anyways, he wasn't mentioned and most of the time was excluded from the plot for a long while. You see him planting an explosive chip in a doctor's neck and tells him that he wants to find someone special. We wait almost halfway in the movie to finally see that cause to create an effect when they finally find Waller stuck in that skyscraper they called a safehouse. 

In the original comics, Joker was the thorn in the team's back (Like I said before) and was one of the second antagonists in the comics. He stopped them and tried beating Harley with a crowbar again. Yeah, I said again! Yep... He loves his crowbars... I just didn't like how they didn't do a good job with his character, making him a gang boss and giving no fear among those around. I'm sorry, Jared Leto, but the method acting was useless. 

What's With Batman?

Many of you might say, "Well he's the enemy of Joker!" Well, that doesn't explain much and doesn't give him much of a reason to be in the movie. The main reason was that, Suicide Squad was assigned a mission that would not just kill them, but destroy everyone's reputation further. If Batman did it, then he would be shamed and a target for the Police. Since they took no story from the comic nor the inspiration, they just put him there to say he was there. 

Welp, that explains how much you care about the world, Batman because you left it in the hands of the villains to save it! What were you even doing while that happened? And why didn't they call you when two God-Like beings started to destroy the city and then the world? And why not Wonder Woman or the Flash? More plot holes to name! All my family and I could say while we saw this was "Why are you here, Bruce?" 

No Relations!

The original comics were much better and had a vast storyline that made readers get sinked into the comic book wanting to read more. Cheshire or Kitana had a gang that was her army to avenge her husband. Joker was kept in the Asylum for killing, committing multiple crimes and beating his wife almost to death. Deadshot left his daughter with his wife because he thought he doesn't deserve her and constantly puts himself in harms way just to end his life. Harley is extremely angry at Mr. J as she tries to forget that her mission is in Arkham Asylum and Boomerang waiting for another bank heist to finish. That all sounds like a good bunch of plots to put in the movie, but was avoided.

I respect people who pursue in this type of hard work, even when the things they produce is bad or just plain awful, because it takes a great amount of skill to keep this type of business going. Movies like Deadpool were almost trashed once the director lost his motive on making his/her film. I don't hate the writers, the directors, I just don't like their work. And this is a good example. The people tried their hardest to stay in the universe, but failed. Although they did, I still respect them. They took the look and style as the original respectively, such as Deadshot's outfit being the same look as Deadshot from Arkham Origins. Harley's personality is on point with the comics and animated series and gives her the famous line calling Joker Puddin'. 

But all that doesn't excuse how much of WTF Movie this is. The movie hit every type of genre as it tried to keep the plot up straight. I hope future movies of the same universe don't crash that bad with the plot, because Wonder Woman looks good. I mean, a WWII seems like a perfect setting for her and a great way to beat Captain America from the American spirit. And I have no hope for AquaMan. I would be surprised if it actually is good. Flash sounds like another X-Men movie, but with only one person with powers.  And when they go to the Chaos Comic, I hope they hit us harder than Marvel's last movie on Phase 4. 

Conclusion

Overall, the movie was very memorable. The part where Enchantress was introduced was actually really good. I smiled when she proved the Military Officials that she could be some worth by getting the plans from Isis. It was cool and the parts when Ese showed his powers were very memorable and amazed me. When he went full Diablo, my jaw almost dropped. I didn't like the movie much, but I would count it for it's memorable moments. 

I hoped you guys enjoyed this read and I hope like the movie itself. I know it was bad, but I hope you enjoyed like how me and my sister did. Anyways, I say my farewells and 'til next time...

Play More Games!

We all love it when the developers put something in a game that wasn't suppose to be there. Some can make us laugh while others reference other franchises. But sometimes we just want to ask the developers if they are okay after seeing what they put in. Hello Wandering Traveler and welcome to this top 6 weird easter eggs that make you question your sanity!

6. Creepers in Pandora

People have played Minecraft and have never put that game down, not even developers. It has been referenced in Skyrim for respecting Notch for the name Scrolls, and is also featured in this game, Borderlands 2. People have played this part of the game and smiled while others were just questioning if they blacked out or had a stroke. I don't know if you guys felt this, but me and some friends almost freaked out. 

5. The Moving Statues

In The Witcher 3, the game has tons of mystical creatures and awesome legends that you hear from the towns folk, but you never thought this little nod to Dr. Who would ever be feature in the game. Once you come across a small graveyard and find a stone burial site with two angelic statues, you can notice the statues moving towards you. If they come too close, it results in an automatic death. Many laughed at it while others ran while they still had their sites on them. 

4. The Golden Chicken

We can see that the developers who worked on Gears of War like to add chickens to their games. First there's the chicken ammo crates flying above us to crap out some weapons, to the bucket headed grunts and drones and now this: a giant, golden, fire-breathing chicken. To activate this, you must go to the boat part of the game and go to the pipes and yell in all 3 of them. A little chicken will pop out and, of course, you'll shoot at it and make it angry just so it can transform into the giant chicken. You can kill it, but it can be hard since it's movement is as fast as your roll speed and is faster than your sprinting speed, so killing it can be somewhat of a hassle. 

3. Naked Applause

Don't let the name fool you, the excitement isn't necessary since what you get isn't as good. In Hitman, you go to a party filled with Playboy Bunny women and swimsuit models, including the guards protecting the hosts and the men attending his party. If you wonder far enough to find a super small coin on the ground, shoot it and find a group of almost naked men in their underwear applauding your shot as they surround you, basically touching you. If you shoot them, they will attack with the pistols in whatever pockets they have on. 

2. Don't Go Anywhere

In the game Far Cry 4, you begin with meeting the antagonist of the game. He shows off his might on someone else and has to go do some other more important business. He tells you to wait and the people held against their will have their chance to escape and wouldn't mind you going along with them and the game begins. If you refuse their offer of freedom and retaliation and do as the big man said, he will actually come back. Yes! It's a scripted event! You just stand their and he is surprised to see you're still there. He tells you everything that is going on in the game's story that you should know within hours in the game, and lets you free, having the credits roll and give you a congrats on beating the game. You can imagine how much of a big step this was for the devs to include him coming back. 

1. Dice LA Skin

In Battlefield 4, the developers put in a little player hunt where one of the lamps in one of the maps flashed in morse code saying that there is a code to enter when certain buttons in the map is pressed. Once that's done, you see the lamp flashing in another morse code message to tell you to go to a different map and enter a new code. You do all that and receive a skin to mark your hard work. It was a small prize for a time wasting event, but at least you can show it off. If you think you can try to do this all by watching a full walkthrough, you will be horribly wrong. The codes are all different having the player do what everyone else did to get this skin. Have fun doing that while I get to life!

Well, I hope you enjoyed this little list. I know, it's not a ten, but of course, had to cut it down to 6 because of school work. Again I hope you enjoyed it and 'til next time...

Play More Games!

The common boss in the 90's were great and gave a giant impact of the gaming history in general. Some of which can actually strike fear into your eyes (As they are suppose to). As the cutscene of him finishes or the pure mention of him could make your hair stand. This is the bosses I genuinely fear.

Does anyone remember or know what Sinistar is? I bet not many. I saw this game back in the early 2000's in a laundry mat as a game cabinet. I had a dollar in change and it was a quarter for a play. I started playing as the demo play stopped for Sinister to say "I Hunger!" I was hardly impressed by what he said, but thought that the voice was well rendered. 

I start to play an Asteroid clone, but the screen moves to your direction. I shot projectiles and asteroids flying at me. Then I hear that same voice, "Beware, I live!" I look around and find nothing. I ignore it as I try to avoid projectiles and asteroids again. Then I hear that same voice again, but this time it was screaming. A long "RAAAAAGH!!!" began to swipe the scream while I see Sinistar kill me. This made me almost screech as the volume on the Cabinet was blasting. I was afraid to continue since I had 2 lives left. Ever since, playing that game was a hassle. 

Orinstein and Smough are the worst bosses in the Souls series. Every boss before them was one standalone guy wanting to kill you himself, but this time, they put in a duo that can kill if you try to focus on one. The constant smashing with Smough's hammer and the constant backstabs with Orinstein's spear can make anyone mad after dying 10 time over. When I heard Anor Lando was going to appear in Dark Souls 3, I felt like I was going to cancel my plans on buying the game. 

In Gears of War 2, you find the Hive Mine of the Locusts and try to find an escape route, but find a large body of water. The most frightening body of water without any ripple or disturbance in the water; which gives you memories of Resident Evil 4. You have to take a trolley ride across the water and you fight some minor enemies in boats and nothing happens to you. No grunt battle boats, no grinders waiting at a dock or anything to fight you in general. 

Everything seems calm and quiet, making more and more disturbing. The game makes you look at the water and a large creature swims too close to the boat. I don't know if you guys haven't noticed, but I hate the ocean! Any body of water to be exact. I can skydive without a second thought, but a large body of water? It can burn and die for all I care! This freaked me out and almost got me to pause the game. It took me a few days to complete this little part before I could stomach the comparison to imagination and reality.

Shadow of the Colossus is one of my favorite games and it marks my days of old with the PS2. Although, I didn't get to finish the game until recently, I finally got to play to the end. Each Colossus is just beautiful and frightening at the same time, but the one that made my dad stop and say "DAAAAAAMN!!" was the final colossus, Grandis Supernus, aka Malus. 

As you approach the steps to see the final colossus, you think to find a giant, sword-wielding behemoth, but instead you find a tower that shoots bolts of lightning. He doesn't move, just stands there with his left hand pointing at you and this builds his fear level. You have to move around little passageways to get to his feet and climb his body. He isn't scary after that, but his staring eyes just makes you want to jump. 

About a year ago, before my 3DS broke, I got to download Super Metroid. It was really fun and the game really built the story well, even for today's standards. When I got to Clone Samus, All I could think was that face, that lifeless face with soulless eyes. That was burnt into my brain for the longest time. And the moment when you have to race her to the end of the map was just blood pumping. She had the same powers as Samus and had the same skills as Samus, but without a soul. If you slipped one move, you were cornered. That was it. You were done. Dead! It took me about 2 days to complete this little level of a challenge and I don't regret not studying to beat it. 

Welp, those are my stories! My life's feared bosses. What's your favorite experiences? You can tell me or just write about for this week's CWC, but as usual...

Play More Games!

At PAX West 2016, I had a hands-on session with the upcoming Wii U title Paper Mario: Color Splash, taking on an arena full of koopas, shyguys, and goombas.

While the arena itself had plenty of characters to talk to and secrets to find in hidden areas, the core draw was the combat. Using a collection of colorful cards to set up attacks isn't anything new,  but integrating timing mechanics as the battle plays out ensures that every jump and hammer smash keeps the player invested and active throughout the "turn-based" action.

If you press the button at the right time, your attacks are much more powerful and can crush entire groups of enemies in a single blow. Each attack has different timing to master, so you won't just have one catch-all to memorize, the timing execution at the top of a jump and the windup of a hammer are vastly different, and this extends to enemy turns as well - you have to block incoming attacks by tapping the button at the right time to prevent taking massive damage. You can get away without blocking during regular fights, but it's absolutely essential to get your timing down for boss fights or they can take you down in just a few hits. All of the combat mechanics are focused on keeping the player engaged with proper timing, so things never stagnate even when you're just going through the motions crushing smaller enemies as you  work your way up to bosses.

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In addition to hammers, fire flowers, jumps, and healing mushrooms - the bread and butter abilities - players also have access to powerful real world items that often play out hilariously when used in combat. These one use cards represent things like plungers, bones, or pigs, and have rather epic animated sequences that play out as their area-of-effect attacks clean up entire groups of enemies in a single blow. It's important to conserve these cards so you have them available during boss encounters, but you collect enough  of them that you can splurge a little bit to smash through a common pack of foes now and then.

Cards can be powered up by painting them before you flick them out into combat, and most enemies will drop dollops of paint and sometimes additional cards. Special items like super stars can show up in crates, allowing you to lay waste to swarms of enemies without ever entering combat. Exploring the environment pays off, as you can paint in walls and other unpainted pockets to collect additional and often powerful cards.

Paper Mario: Color Splash lands on October 7, and I'm interested in seeing more of what the game has to offer. If the combat is any indicator, it's shaping up to be a really cool take on the classic turn-based RPG.

While the first Divinity: Original Sin surprised me as an awesome throwback to the glory days of PC RPGs, the upcoming Divinity: Original Sin 2 is bringing even more to the table on top of the single player experience. Players can form special groups and actually take on their friends (or enemies, or random people) in turn-based arena combat, letting players engage with the elemental combinations, knockdowns, blessings and curses in whole new ways, far from the beach critters and swarms of spiders, undead, and NPCs. At PAX West 2016, I had my first opportunity to take on another player with all of the cool skills and abilities that make up the turn-based combat of Divinity: Original  Sin.

In the demo, players can only select from some pre-rolled core archetypes, like warriors, mages, rogues, and rangers. They come with full suites of everything you need to destroy other players, including the powerful source abilities that need to be "charged up" before use. To get source power, you have to move to certain points in the arena, which can be a risky proposition. You can go right for the power, but your opponent will see you going for it and set up a plan to stop you. If my demo was any indicator, this plan will likely involve poison, fire, and knockdowns before an untimely demise. While I was absolutely annihilated, it was an excellent way to demonstrate the risk-reward factor of source acquisition in arena.

Verticality is incredibly important in the arena as well. Not only does it make you harder to hit when you're up on a platform, but you also enjoy some additional range and damage bonuses. Planting a ranger or mage up on a tower is a great way to rain death down on your opponents.

Explosive elemental barrels litter the arena, so from the first turn you should begin to plan around these. Stepping near these barrels is an incredibly risky proposition, as they can be hit to lay out fields of fire or poison, or even set up a wet and wild area to add some electric doom to. As always when it comes to Divinity: Original Sin, being aware of your environment - and being able to manipulate it - is critical to success.

While the core draw for me will likely always be the single player RPG elements and campaign when it comes to Divinity: Original Sin 2, but arena seems like a fun way to showcase the myriad abilities available in the game in a fast and furious format. I'm looking forward to seeing more of it when Divinity: Original Sin 2 launches next year.

During PAX West, I had the opportunity to get some hands-on time with a charming puzzler-adventure called Old Man's Journey. The game casts you as the eponymous old man, backpacking through a colorful country in search of...well, something. What that is will, according to developer Broken Rules, is eventually revealed during the course of the game.

I was able to play through a series of sequences that had our protagonist making his way across grassy hills, small towns, and across bodies of water. The main puzzle mechanic is centered around shifting the ground around the old man so he can jump from hill to hill in order to progress through levels.

I found these puzzles to actually be pretty challenging, especially later on in the demo when a switch mechanic was thrown into the mix, but the rewards for overcoming these obstacles were numerous, including beautiful still flashbacks that showed snippets of the man's past, including him being with what appears to be his wife.

Old Man's Journey won me over with its cleverness and I look forward to playing the full release in 2017. You can find more details about the game on its official website here.

The Project Diva series has been around in the states since 2013. The first game seen in North America was Project Diva f and I have been playing the series since PDf came out. I have always kind of enjoyed rhythm games. I think everyone got on the Guitar Hero bandwagon, but there were other gems that I enjoyed such as Elite Beat Agents and Amplitude. I had gone quite awhile without playing Guitar Hero and by the time Project Diva f came out it was the perfect game to fill my rhythm game void.

Project Diva X does a few new things that its predecessors did not, and these changes are very welcome. In previous versions you basically played every song in the game on Normal difficulty, then moved on to Hard, and finally Extreme. You could also just play easy mode, but it provides about as much challenge as you might expect. Beating a song on one difficulty would unlock the same song on the next difficulty level and also would unlock a new song on the same difficulty. Pretty standard stuff here, but Project Diva X takes a great new approach. PDX actually has a type of story mode that uses a similar unlock method for new songs, but with a bit of a twist. You are trying to restore light to crystals that have run out of power. Each of these crystals has 5 songs to beat and once you clear all 5 you unlock a medley. The medley is a few songs combined into one and most of the songs used are from previous versions of Project Diva. Once the medley is beaten you can then unlock a new crystal with a new set of songs.

The new story element is not the only welcome addition. During each song you play while in a crystal, when you successfully complete a Chance Time section you unlock a new module for whichever character you decided to play as for that song. A module is basically a new outfit. In previous PD games you had to unlock new outfits AND BUY the outfits with currency you earned from playing songs. Unlocking them in the middle of a song is a nice twist and it makes unlocking new outfits more of a surprise. The unlocks are random, so you may unlock an outfit you already have. In addition to unlocking outfits during a song, you are also rewarded at the end of each song with a number of items. The better you did during the song, the more items you will receive.

Another new mode is Event Request. This mode allows you to play special requests made by the six characters in the game. There are also Festivals that you get to play in this mode that are used to unlock additional events in the story mode. This is an interesting feature, and something that players who enjoy as much customization as possible will really enjoy. You get to decide which songs to play in each festival, what outfits each singer wears, and even what stage you wish to perform on.

^ How I felt looking at the number of songs

It's not all good news though. PDX unfortunately has the shortest list of songs out of all three versions of the game available in NA. Not only is the song list short, but the fact that the medley songs count in that list is a big let down. There are 25 regular tracks and 6 medleys. At a price of $50 and no free DLC in sight on PS4 I can't help but feel a bit ripped off.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

PDX makes some really great strides in keeping things interesting while you unlock the full playlist. I personally enjoy these games for the challenge and I have beaten each song on Hard. I have attempted a few songs on Extreme and I doubt I will be able to finish every song on this difficulty, at least not any time soon. While I did enjoy the new way the game unlocks new content such as outfits and gift items, it all kind of feels overshadowed by a lack of songs to play. Hopefully we will see free DLC, but I'm not holding my breath.

POSITIVES:

-New unlock system -Story Mode -Event Request mode -Great PD gameplay

NEGATIVES:

-Not enough songs -Medley songs

FINAL SCORE: 7.5/10

The Project Diva series has been around in the states since 2013. The first game seen in North America was Project Diva f and I have been playing the series since PDf came out. I have always kind of enjoyed rhythm games. I think everyone got on the Guitar Hero bandwagon, but there were other gems that I enjoyed such as Elite Beat Agents and Amplitude. I had gone quite awhile without playing Guitar Hero and by the time Project Diva f came out it was the perfect game to fill my rhythm game void.

Project Diva X does a few new things that its predecessors did not, and these changes are very welcome. In previous versions you basically played every song in the game on Normal difficulty, then moved on to Hard, and finally Extreme. You could also just play easy mode, but it provides about as much challenge as you might expect. Beating a song on one difficulty would unlock the same song on the next difficulty level and also would unlock a new song on the same difficulty. Pretty standard stuff here, but Project Diva X takes a great new approach. PDX actually has a type of story mode that uses a similar unlock method for new songs, but with a bit of a twist. You are trying to restore light to crystals that have run out of power. Each of these crystals has 5 songs to beat and once you clear all 5 you unlock a medley. The medley is a few songs combined into one and most of the songs used are from previous versions of Project Diva. Once the medley is beaten you can then unlock a new crystal with a new set of songs.

The new story element is not the only welcome addition. During each song you play while in a crystal, when you successfully complete a Chance Time section you unlock a new module for whichever character you decided to play as for that song. A module is basically a new outfit. In previous PD games you had to unlock new outfits AND BUY the outfits with currency you earned from playing songs. Unlocking them in the middle of a song is a nice twist and it makes unlocking new outfits more of a surprise. The unlocks are random, so you may unlock an outfit you already have. In addition to unlocking outfits during a song, you are also rewarded at the end of each song with a number of items. The better you did during the song, the more items you will receive.

Another new mode is Event Request. This mode allows you to play special requests made by the six characters in the game. There are also Festivals that you get to play in this mode that are used to unlock additional events in the story mode. This is an interesting feature, and something that players who enjoy as much customization as possible will really enjoy. You get to decide which songs to play in each festival, what outfits each singer wears, and even what stage you wish to perform on.

^ How I felt looking at the number of songs

It's not all good news though. PDX unfortunately has the shortest list of songs out of all three versions of the game available in NA. Not only is the song list short, but the fact that the medley songs count in that list is a big let down. There are 25 regular tracks and 6 medleys. At a price of $50 and no free DLC in sight on PS4 I can't help but feel a bit ripped off.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

PDX makes some really great strides in keeping things interesting while you unlock the full playlist. I personally enjoy these games for the challenge and I have beaten each song on Hard. I have attempted a few songs on Extreme and I doubt I will be able to finish every song on this difficulty, at least not any time soon. While I did enjoy the new way the game unlocks new content such as outfits and gift items, it all kind of feels overshadowed by a lack of songs to play. Hopefully we will see free DLC, but I'm not holding my breath.

POSITIVES:

-New unlock system -Story Mode -Event Request mode -Great PD gameplay

NEGATIVES:

-Not enough songs -Medley songs

FINAL SCORE: 7.5/10

Of the three panels scheduled for at this year's Call of Duty XP event, "The Making of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered" was by far the most crowded. The original Modern Warfare is widely considered not only the shooter series' greatest entry, but one of the most influential games of the last ten years. At an event dedicated to celebrating the series, it's no surprise the Forum Club's lounge area was chock-full of both fans and press who want to know if Remastered will do right by the legacy of the original.

David Pelis, Studio Director at Raven, is more than aware of the game's reputation, and took the task of updating the game seriously. "At Raven, we were very excited, and very terrified."

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered is the product of three studios: Raven Software (which has worked on several Call of Duty games in the past), Certain Affinity (which has worked on multiplayer maps for Call of Duty: World at War, Black Ops, and Ghosts), and Beenox (which ported Black Ops III to the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360). The panel included Pelis, Co-Studio Head at Beenox Thomas Wilson, Design Director at Certain Affinity David Mertz, Lead Designer at Infinity Ward Mike Denny, and Designer at Infinity Ward Oscar Lopez, with Activision's Jeremy Sohl moderating the panel. As the panel began, the team made it clear their goal was to update the game to today's standards without altering the the gameplay.

"For us the number-one thing was making sure it was responsive, that the AI fights you just like in the original," said Mertz. People remember not just the "feel" of a game like Modern Warfare, but also visual cues, sounds, and motions. These things all bleed together to create the fond memories players have with the game.

But Pelis also wanted to add something to the experience and make sure the game was more than upscaling textures. "We wanted to redefine the remaster. [We didn't want to] mess with gameplay, but we did want to add more personality."

The most noticeable alteration to the game, which we noted in our hands-on preview of Remastered's multiplayer, was the game's sound. The voice samples were the same, but the sound bites were slightly different. The is because the team took a long hard look at the audio work from the original game and decided to rework it. The original Modern Warfare used single-channel WAV files, which the Remastered team transformed into multi-channel files. This allowed them to add greater depth to each sound; the thunk of a grenade hitting the ground is now accompanied by the smaller sounds of the debris the grenade displaced hitting nearby objects.

The panel also showed several of the updated models of the game. Captain Price's famous whiskers are now individually modeled, and new aging and pock marks affect his overall figure. "We didn't create his backstory, but we were gonna show it," said Pelis. Imran Zakhaev now has ear hair. New lighting and texturing methods added detail to every scene without altering its mood. Stronger hardware also means the blur on a helicopter's blades can be naturally rendered instead of being separate texture, and allows the same 3D model of a bullet to sit in a gun's chamber, be fired, and fall to the floor.

During a series of comparison shots, Lopez mentioned how Senior Environment Artist Velinda Pelayo ended up as the helicopter pilot your character rescues in the mission "Shock and Awe." "We actually modeled her entire head," said Lopez. "I don't think she's seen the new [model]."

Lopez also mentioned how one of the core tenants of the original Modern Warfare was making sure the player never lost full control of their character. Even during the most scripted sequences, (such as the after the nuclear bomb goes off in "Shock and Awe"), you still exerted some amount of control. In Remastered, the team is doing everything to make sure that "body feel" is augmented with new visuals, such as your hands showing up when you're rappelling out of the helicopter in the mission "Crew Expendable," or your left arm showing up as you're crawling around in "All Ghillied Up." In "Shock and Awe," your character will now put their hand up to protect themselves from the blinding light of the nuke.

Finally, the team went into more detail about the one change in Remastered mapped to a button: taunting. By pressing down on the d-pad, your soldier will take a closer look at their gun, which will show up on the killcam your opponent sees. Some taunts include a simple inspection, while a few have you flicking a spec of dirt off the gun. These don't affect gameplay, but can add a bit of impact to a kill players think is worth calling attention to.

It's clear that Raven, Certain Affinity, and Beenox hold Modern Warfare in high regard. They are adamant about not altering the core of what Infinity Ward crafted nearly ten years ago, but felt a love of the game that guided all the enhancements of Remastered. The different sounds, textures, and animations may not recreate the memories you may have had of the game, but if everything goes well, they should go a long way of creating plenty of new ones.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered will launch on November 4 as bonus in the Legacy and Digitial Deluxe editions of Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare.

Much like the zombie creatures Resident Evil is known for, we can't seem to rid ourselves of former Game Informer editor turned Capcom associate brand manager, Tim Turi. He tries to leave and we think he's gone, but suddenly he, and his unquenchable desire to play Resident Evil while others watch, comes back to life.

We embrace this kind of reanimation though, and were happy to make Tim play through Resident Evil 4 in its entirety in order to remind everyone that that game has found yet another set of platforms on which to exist – the Xbox One and PlayStation 4.

Join us as we reminisce about one of the best games on GameCube (and later PlayStation 2, then PC, then Wii, then Zeebo then Xbox 360, then PlayStation 3, and then iOS and Android), pressure Tim to tell us more about Resident Evil 7, and bring in different editors to push against the Los Ganados threat. Above, you can watch a trailer teasing what's to come, and below you can watch the latest episode of our playthrough. We'll be posting new episodes on Sundays and Wednesdays until we finish the game, so stay tuned!

Episode 3
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For more Resident Evil Super Replays, follow the links for the series where we played the original Resident Evil and the remake simultaneously, Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil: Code Veronica with special guest Capcom's Brett Elston, and finally the tangentially related Mega Man Legends 2 with guest Capcom's Greg Moore. We like playing Capcom games with Capcom people.

For more episodes of Replay and Super Replay, check out our Replay hub, or click on the banner below to watch episodes on YouTube.

Lately I’ve been reading a lot more than I have in the past. Not novels or other critic’s works, but graphic novels, comics, and manga. Whatever the hell you want to call them. Admittedly, my knowledge, experience, and ability to critique said mediums is limited. That won’t stop me from giving my opinion though, because well, that’s what I do. So an afternoon outback, and a few beers later, followed by some time at the old computer desk, I’ve opinions in need of sharing.

Paper Girls

Best known for his work on Lost and the currently running graphic novel series Saga, Paper Girls is Brian K. Vaughan’s newest work. It follows four 12 year-old paper girls in 1988 in the early hours of November 1st in a small Ohio town. Erin, the protagonist, meets three other girls and they decided to team up in order to watch each other’s backs after some boys harass them. This quickly goes to hell when they find a strange machine and are caught between two otherworldly factions.

It’s an interesting read coming off Netflix’s Stranger Things as they share a whole lot in common. A setting before the age of all the widely accessible tech we take for granted is the most obvious of comparisons. It also focuses on a group of kids on the cusp of being teens as they find themselves wrapped up in conspiracies involving monstrous beings. Thematically, in both there is a strong presence of kids versus adults and rebellion versus authority.

Initially, I had some trouble getting behind Paper Girls as it’s pacing in the first chapter is kind of wonky. It very quickly throws the kids into the major conflict of an apocalypse in motion before I could really get to know them or much of anything about the world around them. So when the *** starts hitting the fan I wasn’t sure if it was just something the kids were experiencing or if everyone else was too. When the group arrives at one of their homes it’s quickly explained that everyone is aware. All of this just had no real build or flare to it.

I also was confused because, to bring up Stranger Things again, the show has a similarly bizarre event happen but the kids are the only ones onto it initially.Other than one lone adult who is written off as crazy. And so often these types of stories pit the kids as the ones who believe in all the crazy *** happening while the supposedly intelligent adults write the worries of the children off as exactly that.

Upon passing this issue my enjoyment  turned around. Vaughan knows how to weave the narrative of Paper Girls into a nostalgia fueled, coming of age story inspired by many of the same works as Stranger Things. Each of the four girls are immediately identifiable in terms of who they are. For example, the protagonist Erin is clearly the educated yet naive goody-two-shoes. Then there’s the leader Mac, who comes from a bad family, but despite that there are hints she’s not a bad person. It’s having these types of characters that are all relatable and balance out each other's strengths and deficiencies that helps sell the nostalgia factor. We all know kids like this growing up and we can easily place ourselves within.

In a familiar fashion to Saga and Lost, the stakes are increasingly raised and twists always come at just the right time to encourage a deeper dive. Which is doubly so, because this is quite the easy read. Unlike Saga where there are multiple plot threads spanning a universe where you are required to remember all the politics and motivations of each, this is a tightly focused narrative about kids.

So am I going to stick with Paper Girls? I’d say yes. It’s a fun read and I’m intrigued to see where the narrative goes. I’m unsure whether I’ll follow it by chapter though. Volume 2 is currently slated for December, so we’ll see where I land down the road.

Bakuman

From the duo behind the Death Note manga, Bakuman is an “autobiography” of sorts. While technically fiction, Bakuman follows the lives of an aspiring manga artist and writer. In an fashion inspired by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata’s journey into the manga industry, it’s a semi realistic view into a world many of us admire, but don’t understand.

Masahiro, the artist, and Takagi, the writer, are two middle school students with a passion for manga. With that in mind they begin their work as amateurs and tirelessly work to create the number one manga series. It’s a fitting piece to find published in Shonen Jump, which is referenced constantly within the narrative, as the pair work hard and never give up on their dreams. Blah, blah, blah, with spirit and friendship you’ll overcome anything.

As for the actual quality of Bakuman, the duo are a fun yin and yang. The artist is a bit more grounded initially, thinking a career in manga as a huge gamble. The writer meanwhile is the dreamer, who knows he could secure a safe cushy job, but would rather pursue his passions. The two often engage in humor detrimental to the one another and can provide some genuinely funny moments.

While I’m enjoying Bakuman, it’s all a bit familiar. Middle school / high school kids have a dream which requires a ton of hard work and we follow them on that journey with all the usual trappings of the setting. There’s a rival, older and wiser folks who have traveled the same path, and cute girls. It’s a lighthearted approach, with some awkward teen romance which seems destined to fall into the will they won’t they *** of every romance manga / anime.

That’s where Bakuman seems to be heading if it were a typical manga. But I’ve been given reason to suspect otherwise, or that it’s going to be an example of “genre cliches aren’t always done in a boring fashion.”

At the very least this is insight into the world of manga I didn’t have before. For a layman like myself, the idea of how reader surveys and how success is viewed in mainstream manga such as Shonen Jump, aka where Naruto, Dragonball, One Piece, Bleach and so many other humongous manga were / are published, isn’t something I’ve seen explored.

So will I continue to read Bakuman? Well, volumes two and three are currently in route so there’s your answer. I like a fair portion of the setup, despite some cliches, and I’m willing to give future volumes a chance based on word of mouth and the pedigree of the creators. Bakuman strikes me as a slow burn. It may not initially have you enraptured, but as someone currently struggling to pursue my career aspirations, I’m finding it fun and relatable.  

Strafe aspires to do one thing: capture the gory, maddening action of sci-fi first-person shooters from the mid 90s. Guess what? Strafe is very very good at doing this.

I'd already played an early demo of the game back before E3 and came away impressed with what I saw, mostly how Strafe channeled the nonsense and guts of the first-person shooters from that era while also not being excruciatingly difficult like Quake and Unreal could be. Strafe casts you as a "As a Scraper on a impossibly dangerous mission at the edge of the galaxy" but the plot isn't that important or noteworthy. What is the attractive frantic movement speed that you'll use to zip around environments and blast hordes of enemies into bloody chunks with upgradeable weapons, like a shotgun that can be fitted with a laser-based secondary fire.

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During the PAX West demo, I saw several features that were new. My favorite is easily that certain doors containing goodies that can only be unlocked via retina scanner. How do you unlock the retina scanner? Well, there are decapitated heads littered around each level, with each head opening the door that has the corresponding retina scanner.It's goofy and dumb and absolutely hilarious, which pretty much sums up Strafe as a whole so far.

I was also able so spy a new zone that took place in a cave-looking area filled with enemies that had heads filled with acid. If you shoot one of them, acid sprays all over you, damaging you. This forces most players who are used to the rules of FPS to buck one of the main pillars of the genre: always go for the headshot.

As a hardcore first-person shooter fan, I'm always delighted when I come away from a demo of Strafe, a game that seems like it will live up to its aspirations. Strafe is due out sometime in 2017.

Even though summer has ended, my gaming summer still has 2 more weeks before going back to college.On one hand, I could finally take a break from my backlog cleaning to return to my favorite video games series that is Resident Evil, but on the other hand, I felt that I was going back way too much. As much as I enjoyed replaying old RE titles, I really did, after I managed to beat Zero I couldn't help but feel kinda exhausted.

At least I had the chance to beat some of my personal records

Knowing full well why I was feeling that way (I missed playing new and fresh experiences) and why I decided to do so in the first place (to relive my best gaming memories) I took a step further and mixed both situations and the result was just what I needed. Not worrying about Resident Evil game stories, my focus mainly resides on those games left to beat. Donkey Kong Country 2, Muramasa The Demon Blade and Final Fantasy V are (hopefully) the games I will be beating this September.

I would have enjoyed playing with Donkey Kong again in this sequel, but diddy and dixie make a great and funny partners to play with

During this short period of time, way before I came up with the idea of doing something else besides relying solely on my Resident Evil Replay 2016 for this gaming vacation, a travel back to general gamer culture was taken. Going to Wikipedia, watching video reviews from different gaming sites, even checking WatchMojo video games section every now and then became a daily activity for me. Doing this helped me stay connected with the medium, as I read, discover and sort my own thoughts regarding a game, or a game series.

With only 2 weeks left to go back to my usual college life, 2 games of my favorite game series and tons, but tons of games to beat in general, the final days of my gaming summer needs to be played the most I can. Here's hoping I can at least beat Final Fantasy V, that would make another RPG off my backlog.

Thanks for Reading.

Harvey Smith took to the stage at PAX West to show off gameplay from Dishonored 2. The gameplay footage is from a level called the Clockwork Mansion and was already shown off during a Gamescom presentation. However, after Smith left the stage, a new level was demonstrated in a teaser called "The Conservatory."

The teaser showcased Emily making her way through the conservatory, stealthily taking out targets in a brutal manner: decapitating them. blowing them to pieces with her pistols, and slashing them to ribbons. It wasn't a long demo and it ended with our protagonist being stabbed to death by one of her foes, a female guard wearing clownish makeup and wielding a dagger.

No video recording or photography were permitted during this teaser.

The demo didn't present anything earth-shattering but it was interesting seeing Emily go up against this mysterious faction in a new library environment and we're curious to see how this antagonistic relationship plays out in the full game.

Dishonored 2 will be released on November 11. You can check out the rest of our coverage by clicking on the banner below.