The Magnificent Seven Ride

As was promised earlier in the week, the trailer to the sequel of Red Dead Redemption:

Original video located here. Accessed 21st October 2016

Well, like pretty much every teaser trailer ever made, this trailer doesn't say a lot about the game. It just has enough scenery shots and brand recognition to generate buzz. Sure Rockstar could do with the buzz but buzz won't mean a lot if there isn't a game to go with it.

At the present time, popular opinion suggests that this game will be a prequel and focus on John's days as a member of Dutch's outlaw gang. All I can say is that I hope this does turn out to be true as a) that's pretty much the only direction you can go with this sequel and b) with everyone favoring this option it would a disappointment not go down that path.

One last shot at redemption

Well it's official: there is a sequel to Red Dead Redemption on it's way.
I'm actually surprised that Rockstar actually manged to get a sequel out of the original seeing as the original was about the end of the Old West. Unless of course, this game turns out to be prequel - which is pretty much the only route Rockstar can take with this new game. And the notion of a prequel seems suggestive in this image:

 Original image located here. Accessed 19th October 2016

From the looks of it, this new game does seem to resemble a prequel and it looks like it will focus on Dutch's gang. The four men from the left resemble, in order, John Marston, Javier Escuella, Bill Williamson and Dutch.
I like the idea of a 'Magnificent Seven' vibe Rockstar have got going here and it would be interesting to see the background of these characters (not to mention the three newcomers) but would it be enough to sway me back to the console camp........?

But of course, all of this is speculative. As always, once the trailer is revealed details may become a little clearer. But knowing what trailers are like, they might not.

Expelled from the Academy

Been having a go at the Don Bradman's Cricket 2017 demo that turned up on Steam.

As it turns out, characters made in the 2014 Academy can be imported into the new one. The bad news is however that the characters at this stage are frozen as is. They can't be altered in any way - which is a shame that no one can be assigned to appropriate roles that are now available (ie Batsman, Bowler, Wicket Keeper, Opening Batsmen).
Still this is a demo so this problem should be sorted out...hopefully.

Still not sold on the character designs though. Compared to 2014, these new designs look lifeless and freaky - which is kind of the same problem i faced when making the transition from Rock Band 2 to Rock Band 3.

Be still my beating heart

Here's the box art for the latest iteration to the Kingdom hearts series:

 Original image located here. Accessed 10th October 2016

Proof that the trope of Walking in a Line will never get old 

Sinnertwin

Some time ago, I made a contribution to a Kickstarter campaign - a campaign to get Divinity Original Sin 2 made. And recently, the first fruits of this move have emerged with the beta access being released to backers. This means that backers like myself have access to the first area of the game.

Early impressions create a game that is showing a lot of promise. The character creation is much more diverse with races, more appearance options and, interestingly enough, back stories. The back stories are of particular interest as they can result in certain options being available in the dialogue trees. In addition, certain combinations can result in a fixed character - one that can later appear as a party member in the game itself.

As for the game itself, I'm enjoying it so far. The combat operates in similar fashion to the first Original Sin. I also see that, compared to the first game, a party is built up more quickly with characters who have their own agenda to content with the plans of the player. The settings are beautiful to behold and certainly painstaking in their detail.

Needless to say, I'm keen to see how the finished product turns out...

T-20

They say that nostalgia happens in chunks of twenty years. If that is the case, then the nostalgia goggles will be aimed at the the mid-to late nineties - also known as the Fifth Console generation.

I've said it once and I'll say it again: This was a great period for the PC Gamer with them being spoiled for choice with the likes of Baldur's Gate, Doom, Warcraft, Command and Conquer, Deus Ex, Plansescape Torment and System Shock 2 among others. Sure, there was some shlock when Windows 95 rolled around but once that nonsense was sorted out, there were some real games to be found. Sure there were some interesting things happening in the console camp but they have not aged well as their PC counterparts. I remember at the time, console games of this era were being marketed as 'cutting edge' but looking at them now, they have naturally aged the worst.

This in turn presents an interesting opportunity for someone keen on nostalgia: Take a brand, fix some glaring issues with it and you'll have a certified hit. Why do you think so many have been clamoring for a remake of Final Fantasy 7? When you have a hugely successful game you have a hit guaranteed purely on brand recognition - but when you fix some of the problems the critics have pointed out, you win on both a commercial and critical level.

I myself aren't really that interested on nostalgia as, for me, it stifles progress (how can you move forward when you have eyes on the past?). But I will admit, however grudgingly, that there's something to be said for making classic games readily available, accessible without dragging some aging tech out of the deepest corner of the bedroom cupboard and in a state of preservation.
That being said, has anyone tried to resurrect some of the lost classics from the Saturn? Someone must've played the likes of Panzer Dragoon Saga and Shining Force 3 - So surely they must've been hit with inspiration strong enough to make something similar so what they enjoyed two decades ago can be enjoyed by people of the present. If anything, I'd rather play a RPG that involves traveling across on a desolate, post-apocalyptic world with minimal NPCs atop a flying, customisable beast, encountering Moebius-inspired monsters and discovering lost ancient tech than a retread of Advent Children any day....

The Magnificent Seventeen

Following on from an earlier post where I was singing the praises of Don Bradman's Cricket 2014, it would therefore be somewhat inevitable that my attention would turn towards it's inevitable successor. It would seem a demo of Don Bradman's Cricket 2017 is available on Steam.
So may as well take a look....

So what the demo is offering is a WIP of the Academy.  This time however, there are a lot more options on offer. Any player wanting to build a new cricketer can choose their gender, team role (ie Bowler, Batsman, Wicket Keeper, Opening Batsman) and race. There is a lot more detail in assigning attributes for the player's defined roles. So generally, I've found, in comparison to Don Bradman's Cricket 2014, there's more options and more freedom with building players. Not sure i like the player likeness though. Looks too freaky to me...

With regards to the player lost it seems Red Ant are doing the same thing they did before: provide a list of generic names and invite players to replace them with genuine players. I must admit it's a bit odd seeing the list of generic names again, having grown so used to the shared players from the original Academy. Therefore, I will hold off making new players until the game's released and some familiar faces re-emerge. Apparently there will be some sort of backwards compatibility (just don't quote me on that). 
But somehow, this new list looks bigger than that in Don Bradman's Cricket 2014. It makes me wonder if Red Ant payed attention to the creations that wormed their way into the Academy the first time around - and whether they noticed my addition of some local (however not widely known) heroes.

.....probably not, but I can always dream.....