Category Archives: Archive

Blog: Subscription Hell – 10/03/18

Much like rearranging the furniture or throwing out a bunch of crap you’ve accumulated over the years, it felt nice to take stock of the subscriptions I had, and even better when I discarded the ones that I didn’t need anymore. But seeing how much money I was spending on services I barely used was a real eye opening experience.

For instance, I primarily play games on my PC, but up until about a month ago I was still paying for PlayStation Plus. I don’t think I’ve played any multiplayer games on my PS4 or even the “free” games you get, in a very long time. But every month, ten dollars would vanish from my bank account anyway.

Another one that I chopped off was my Humble Monthly subscription. In the past few months, the big flagship games that were promoted were all games that I already owned, and barely played as is. I’m also willing to bet that the October offerings are going to be of a significantly more spooky tone, and since I’m a wimp, I’m okay missing out on those too. Also, I already have too many games, I don’t need a service that’s going to just inundate me with more of them, as well as duplicates.

But it isn’t all bad, I still have various video streaming ones like Netflix and Hulu, but I use those way more often than anything I’ve listed thus far. I also have a portfolio site that I should probably cancel, because the amount of job offers I’ve received since making the damn thing has been zero. Oh, and let’s not forget the monthly blood money I pay to Adobe to use their suite of products.

This whole post kind of got away from me, but what I’m trying to impart upon you is that it feels good to take stock of your current situation. To step back and and really analyze where you are in this moment. It helped save me a couple of bucks and also gave me a little clarity, and I think we all could use a little more of both these days.

Blog: The Adventure Zone – 09/26/18

1 Reply

Video games are great and all, but I’ve been in a kind of slump with them since I blasted through Marvel’s Spider-Man a few weeks back. Usually when I get into these kinds of ruts I’ll dive into a comfort food type of game, which for the past few months has been NBA 2k18. But for all the hours I’ve played of that game, not once have I had the in game audio turned up. Instead, I’ve been listening to what has quickly become my favorite podcast – The Adventure Zone.

The Adventure Zone is an actual play podcast where a group of individuals get together and play some sort of table-top game. In this case, The Adventure Zone‘s first campaign uses Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition. While that may not sound like the most compelling sales pitch in history, The Adventure Zone stands head and shoulders above the other actual play podcasts I’ve listened to for a few reasons.

First of all, The Adventure Zone is a very personal show from its story, to its presentation, and even down to its hosts. The show stars the McElroy brothers, Griffin, Justin and Travis, as well as their father Clint. The McElroy brothers have an amazing back-and-forth that make for plenty of hilarious moments, while keeping the show moving at a brisk pace.

But it isn’t just the rapport between the actors that’s so engaging, the story itself quickly evolves from a basic D&D campaign, into one that goes in some truly ambitious directions. It isn’t just goblins and wizards with The Adventure Zone, it’s space stations, bank heists, and game show-esque nightmares that all play a part in weaving together the larger narrative that persists through the majority of a near 70 episode duration.

But the thing that really sealed the deal for me was the ambience and atmosphere that the DM, Griffin McElroy, was able to put into the show. As the show grew and the story progressed, Griffin started to produce unique soundtracks that he would layer into the show during pivotal moments that helped to underscore whatever was going on. It seems so small when you hear about it, but despite the fact that it added a unique personality to the show while putting great emphasis on pivotal moments, the music itself is really good.

The Adventure Zone plays fast and loose with the rules of D&D, focusing on telling a good story over fiendishly following the mechanics, which is something that greatly appealed to me. It was this loose style of gameplay, wonderful characters, and a truly engrossing story that fueled me to binge several episodes daily, eager to see what happened next in this phenomenal story.

I didn’t mean for this to be such a love-letter to The Adventure Zone, but it kind of turned into that didn’t it? I just wanted to express how much I enjoyed it and how much I’d recommend it to anyone who wants to hear a good story, regardless of their familiarity with D&D. The first few episodes are easily the weakest parts in the entire podcast (but still good in their own right), but once you’re through that it just keeps getting better. The Adventure Zone is the reason I got interested in Dungeons & Dragons as well as tabletop gaming in general, and I couldn’t be more thankful for that.

Blog: Shadow of a Doubt – 09/19/18

Leave a reply

Despite all of the trailers and marketing that surrounded Shadow of the Tomb Raider, it honestly surprised me when it was released last week. It kind of come out of nowhere for me. Having played the previous two entries, I was pretty excited to jump into Lara Croft’s newest adventure. Unfortunately, I was almost immediately put-off by the game in it’s opening hours.

The biggest thing that’s stuck with me from my few hours with Shadow of the Tomb Raider is just how unlikable Lara is this time around. The entirety of my play session was filled with moments of her being incredibly selfish and self-centered, putting her goals over the safety of her and those around her. Despite whether it’s true or not, she considers everything that happens a result of her actions and considers herself the only one who can stop the cataclysmic events taking place in the game.

In addition to her entire persona being weirdly off-putting, Shadow of the Tomb Raider just feels a little less polished all around. Some of the animations felt jagged and sometimes didn’t blend together well, leaving the action feeling a little stilted at times. There was also a surprising amount of audio desynchronization in almost every in-game cutscene. I even was hit with a pause while traversing between two parts of a level that said “WAIT FOR STREAMING,” which served as a stark reminder that I was playing on my launch PS4, and not a Pro.

None of these things on their own would be enough to deter me from playing more of Shadow of the Tomb Raider, but when combined, I just didn’t feel anywhere near the same level of motivation to continue that I had with other games this year. Shadow of the Tomb Raider isn’t a bad game by any stretch, but it just isn’t a game that I feel compelled to keep playing at the moment.

Review: Marvel’s Spider-Man

2 Replies

It’s been a while since I’ve played a game that’s compelled me to devour it the way Marvel’s Spider-Man has. I frequently found myself racing from mission, to collectible, to crime scene and back again for hours on end, with the “just one more” mentality propelling me forward. But it wasn’t because these objectives were particularly interesting or exciting, rather it was because just being Spider-Man was fun, and I was willing to use any excuse to continue playing as him.

Marvel’s Spider-Man is kind of like a really good pizza with pineapple on it. You had this amazingly well-crafted pizza, but you went ahead and sprinkled some bullshit on top of it that made me enjoy it less. It wasn’t bad, but the toppings could have definitely been better. In this case, the presentation, mobility, combat and even the story are the pizza, and most of the side stuff is mediocre at best; just like pineapple on a pizza.

the stealth is simple, but satisfying

The mobility itself is phenomenal, striking a good balance between physics-based momentum, and fluid animations that blend together incredibly well. There are certain upgrades that allow you to add additional layers of complexity to your web-swinging that may seem superfluous at first glance, but the expanded move-set allows you to traverse New York City faster, and more stylishly than ever before in a Spider-Man game.

While the swinging mechanics are phenomenal, the combat in Marvel’s Spider-Man is just as well done. Combat is almost identical to that of the Rocksteady Batman games, even down to the button prompts for melee finishers. This isn’t a bad thing though, considering the Arkham games have fantastic combat that translates incredibly well to Spider-Man. The big differentiator here is the focus on airborne combat. Swinging kicks, launching uppercuts, ground-pounds, air-juggles and more, are all vital moves when facing Spider-Man’s foes. By the end of the game, I was chaining together massive combos that would rarely ever see me touch the ground, and it was easily one of the most satisfying aspects of my time with it.

“Spider-Man throws up gang signs.” – J. Jonah Jameson

All of these elements are crammed into a beautifully rendered, yet a little lifeless version of New York City. The story does a decent enough job to justify why gangs are having gunfights in the middle of Times Square, but it’s still a pretty big stretch to justify those actions. The story itself is a nice re-imagining of Spider-Man and his villains, remixing events and timelines to form something unique and interesting while also telling a fairly intimate story about Peter Parker and the people closest to him.

However, one of the biggest issues with Marvel’s Spider-Man stems directly from some of its missteps in translating the storytelling into compelling gameplay. In this version of the Spider-Man universe, Peter Parker and Mary Jane are no longer in a relationship, but are working together as colleagues to try and uncover the bigger mysteries in the game. What this results in is some very underwhelming stealth sequences as Mary Jane, where not only are you severely limited in your abilities, but you’re only course of action is to stay hidden. These sequences are incredibly promising concepts that rarely feel fleshed out and ultimately end up being some of the worst parts of the entire experience.

Divebomber-Man

But it isn’t just the stealth sequences that are less than stellar, a lot of the side activities you’ll do as Spider-Man aren’t exactly what I would call exciting either. Things like photographing landmarks, collecting old backpacks with Easter-eggs in them and research stations that make you traverse the environment differently, were fun to seek out and complete. But once you finish them, you’re left with drone hunts and bad “complete the circuit” mini-games which get really tedious, really quickly. If it wasn’t for the fact that completing these side activities provided you with specific tokens that unlock certain upgrades, they wouldn’t be worth doing at all.

It was the sheer act of just moving around as Spider-Man that was enough to keep me playing through the endless repeating side missions and incredibly dull stealth sections. That in itself is a testament to how well Insomniac Games nailed the feeling of being Spider-Man and combining that with a story that feels fresh, yet honors the legacy of the character. Despite its shortcomings, Marvel’s Spider-Man is still a tremendously fun game that no Spider-Man fan should miss out on.

Blog: InterNintendo – 09/12/18

Leave a reply

We find ourselves once again on the eve of another Nintendo Direct, speculating on what announcements will be made. As with every Nintendo Direct, people are hoping for some Animal Crossing news or some new information about Metroid Prime 4. Theories aside, the one thing we can safely assume will be there is information detailing Nintendo’s online service which is set to launch on September 18th.

At the moment we have some information currently available to us provided by Nintendo themselves, but there are still a lot of questions left unanswered. Most people will want to know about the rotating library of classic games you’ll get access to as a member. Things like multiplayer features that will be added into certain games are confirmed, with Super Mario Bros. 3 being the first example of how it will work.

I also assume that the added online functionality will result in officially sanctioned Nintendo leaderboards for their classic titles, which if done well, could be Nintendo acknowledging and supporting the competitive scenes that have cropped up around their games which would be a really nice change of pace for them.

But aside from that, there’s very little else to look forward to here. Sure you’ll get access to cloud saves (which is absurdly behind a paywall and doesn’t support all games), but there seems to be very little else being offered here. On top of that, if one of the big draws is the library of retro games to play, I’m curious to see how Nintendo will handle that when you’re not connected to any internet source. They seem to be so terrified of piracy and the internet in general, that I’m not entirely certain they’ll allow you to play any of these games offline.

For only $20 for a year the service is surprisingly reasonable, but I’m just not confident in Nintendo’s ability to provide a compelling reason for me to participate. Personally, I have no interest in playing any of their current games online, and there are plenty of ways for someone to play Super Mario Bros. 3 without paying $20 a year for it.

Maybe tomorrow Nintendo will come out with some really interesting things that make me want to engage with their service. I really hope they nail this thing, because asking people to pay for a thing they were getting for free since the launch of the Switch is going to be a big ask, regardless of the price.

Blog: The Big Hitters – 09/05/18

Leave a reply

September is finally here, and with it comes the annual dump of video games that we all know and love. This isn’t a comprehensive list of releases by any means, rather it’s a list of the bigger games that I’m personally keeping an eye on.

Marvel’s Spider-Man [09/07/18]

Like a lot of people, my memory of Spider-Man games gets real blurry right after the 2004 release of Spider-Man 2 for the PS2 and Xbox. There are a lot of reasons people consider that one to be the most memorable, but all I really remember is that the web-swinging felt really good. All I know is that there’s a new Spider-Man game that looks like it’s combining the feeling of moving around as Spider-Man with Arkham Asylum-style combat, which seems like a match made in heaven for me.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider [09/14/18]

I’ve been really impressed with the rebooted Tomb Raider games we’ve gotten thus far, and Shadow of the Tomb Raider seems to be building upon the already solid foundation its predecessors have laid down. I may not know anything about what’s actually going on in the story of Lara Croft over the course of these games, but playing them has been an absolute blast, and I look forward to eventually getting to shoot arrows at dudes who wander too far into the woods.

Life is Strange 2 [09/28/18]

Set in the same universe as the first Life is Strange, the upcoming sequel is also angling to pinpoint my heart and viciously attack it until I feel like an angsty and confused teen once again. I haven’t been looking at any pre-release materials because I’d just like to experience it at my own pace, but from what I gather it revolves around two brothers and a murder. But even without knowing anything about the plot, I was so taken with the first game that I’m onboard for whatever they would do with a sequel.

Red Dead Redemption 2 [10/26/18]

Do I really need to write anything about why I’m excited for Red Dead Redemption 2? At the bare minimum I’ll say that I really enjoyed the tone of the original Red Dead Redemption and think the overall game was a triumph in game design. It’s refreshing to see Rockstar make a game that isn’t all about being satirical and lampooning some aspect of our society. Red Dead Redemption 2 looks like an incredibly ambitious game and I can’t wait to get to spend time with it.

Hitman 2 [11/13/18]

It seems surreal that a sequel to Hitman 2016 is right around the corner. That game was so damn good and I really don’t know how you’d make that experience better, but the folks over at IO apparently have found a way. My only reservation with Hitman 2 is the fact that they’re ditching the episodic model in favor of a traditional release. That’s totally valid, but I feel like some of the appeal to the 2016 release was the fact that because there were limited levels, you’d replay them over and over and try to exhaust every option available to you. But hey, I’ll take Hitman 2 any way it’s offered to me.

Fallout 76 [11/14/18]

I don’t like Bethesda RPGs, and I strongly doubt this game is going to convert me, but boy howdy am I curious to see what the reception to Fallout 76 is. From everything I’ve heard about the way it works, it seems iffy, but I’d love to be proven wrong on this.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate [12/07/18]

I mean, I really don’t care about Ultimate, but I’m a really big fan of how Nintendo went ahead and got every character from past entries as well as added some heavily requested ones, while making sure not to let Waluigi be a full character. Waluigi sucks.

Blog: A Pit Stop in Donut County – 08/29/18

Leave a reply

It’s the middle of the night and you’re 10 hours into your road trip, when up ahead you see a sign for the last rest stop for the next 50 miles. The sign tantalizes you with promises of a Starbucks and some sandwich shop you’ve never heard of. You’re dreaming of a bathtub full of espresso and a sandwich the size of a Prius. Upon entering however, the only thing that’s open is the Roy Rogers. Begrudgingly you eat it. You’re not mad, rather, you’re just disappointed cause it wasn’t what you expected. That’s been my experience with Donut County.

Donut County is a game where you play as a hole that’s sole purpose is to terrorize and devour an entire town and all of the people that inhabit it. That alone was enough of a selling point for me, but Donut County did their best infomercial impression and repeatedly said “But wait, there’s more!” by adding in things like an adorably charming graphical aesthetic, a super rad effects-driven folksy soundtrack, and mischievous raccoons. With all these great ingredients, how couldn’t I love Donut County?

For a game about being a hole, Donut County isn’t a very deep experience. I’m truly sorry for the bad wordplay, but it really is the best way to summarize my feelings on the game. The entire experience feels incredibly rigid and guided. There’s no room for any experimentation or improvisation to be had at all. The levels are segmented into usually 3 or 4 stages, and none of them are particularly big, nor dense with objects to consume.

There are some brief flashes of interesting puzzle solving mechanics, but they’re abandoned almost as quickly as they were introduced. Things like, using the hole as a soup bowl, or setting it on fire to ignite things that fall inside, are all neat ideas that never get any more complex as you progress. There isn’t any real puzzle solving in Donut County, which seems like a gigantic missed opportunity.

I really wish I liked Donut County more than I do. It isn’t a bad game, but it is a game that misses a lot of opportunities to do something more interesting than just have you be a hole that things fall into. Donut County is at its strongest when it’s taken as a narrative experience, but as a game, I found myself wanting more.

Inspiration vs. Plagiarism

3 Replies

In the wake of the Filip Miucin saga that’s unfolded over the past few weeks, I’ve found myself thinking about the broader implications of what he’s done and the effect it has on everyone in and around the games coverage industry.

In case you missed it, Miucin was an editor at IGN who published a review for Dead Cells that was found to be almost entirely plagiarized from a YouTuber named Boomstick Gaming. In response, IGN acted swiftly and fired him as well as removed his review. After posting a now removed “apology” video on his personal YouTube channel, he essentially challenged people to try and find more examples of his plagiarism, confident that there was nothing more to uncover. Much to the surprise of nobody, the internet found plenty of it.

So here we are, a few weeks after the impact of this bombshell and there’s been no shortage of opinions about the incident itself. The majority of the response to it has been in agreement that IGN did the right thing and that Miucin deserved to be fired. While I wholeheartedly agree with that sentiment, there is one thing that Miucin mentioned in his former “apology” video that still sits with me.

In essence, he asserted that all reviewers basically talk to each other about their opinions on the game they’re reviewing. Overwhelmingly I’ve heard reviewers say they don’t do that because it defeats the purpose of writing a review, which is to get the writer’s opinion on the product. They do their best to remove themselves from the conversations around a game so they can provide their own opinions on it, free from any external influences. A reviewer is supposed to relay their experience with the game to their audience in an effort to arm them with the information necessary to decide if a game is worth their time and money.

That kind of insight is great for consumers, but tough when you’re trying to build your own outlet that serves similar functions. I have to be conscious and make sure that what I’m writing is my opinion and not the one I heard on a podcast or in a video. Because if I’m just aping a review from someone else, then what’s the point of me doing this at all? It’s important to me to make sure that everything I write is in my own voice. Because if I want to show that I’m worth a damn as a writer, I have to be able to compartmentalize what the discourse around a game is and be honest about the experience that I’m having.

There is no excuse for plagiarism, but it’s easy for me to see how just following a reviewer or streamer can color your experience before you even have a chance to play the game. That isn’t what happened with Miucin and that isn’t an excuse to justify plagiarism. Instead, it’s a reminder to be more thoughtful about what you’re writing and being more aware of your actions.

Blog: 1 Year of The Bonus World – 08/22/18

Leave a reply

Technically, July would’ve been the one year anniversary of The Bonus World dot com existing, but it wasn’t until the following month that the website began to see regular updates, so I figure that’s more of a cause for celebration.

If you want to nitpick, The Bonus World as a brand came into existence sometime in early 2015 when it was just a podcast that we did with some of our YouTuber friends. It only lasted about ten episodes before scheduling became an issue, but it was a blast.

Since the end of that podcast, the whole brand kind of laid dormant while I continued to focus my attention on another, more successful YouTube channel I had. When that ultimately exploded, I made plans to bring back The Bonus World in a real way. The problem was I just kept doing the same stuff as my previous channels. It was fun, but it wasn’t fulfilling.

Fast-forward to July of 2017 when I decided to double-down on my writing efforts and build a website to house it all. Soon after in August we started streaming, which took me longer to figure out than I care to admit, but it also marked the beginning of regular content from us. That’s when I believe The Bonus World genuinely started.

Now here we are a whole year later, and I’m incredibly proud of everything The Bonus World has become. There’s still a ton of room for improvement and I know that, but I’m pretty content with the way things are right now. I’d like to see the return of more video content, but I’m taking my time before I dive into anything right away. Till then, the weekly blogs are still going to happen, as well as the light dusting of articles. Looking forward, I’m brainstorming new and interesting things we can do. There’s nothing set in stone yet, but I have a couple of ideas that I’d like to get off the ground by the end of the year.

All that being said, thanks for supporting us over this past year. And thank you to my friends who have supported me and joined me in this endeavor. This entire thing has been so creatively fulfilling for me, and continues to be one of my favorite projects to keep tinkering away at.

Here’s to another year of The Bonus World.

Blog: My Kind of Party – 08/15/18

Leave a reply

So there I was, sinking into one of the couches surrounding the television in my friend’s home, desperately trying not to fall asleep while watching whatever garbage was currently playing. It was then that I decided to take control of the situation and put something slightly more interesting on. I reached into my “Bag of Too Many Games” and pulled out some of the best party games I could find in an attempt to entertain the soon to be slumbering group of people. Behold, the some of the party games I think are pretty rad.

GANG BEASTS

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned my love for physics-based mayhem before, but it’s a big part of why Gang Beasts is so appealing to me. It’s this wonderful mix of sloppy combat and physics wackiness that makes it so fun to play with other people. Once everyone gets their mind around the way things work in this vibrant battleground, it immediately turns into a situation of who can break the game in their favor fastest. The concept of just knocking your opponent out, picking them up and hurling them off a moving truck is incredibly appealing to me, and it definitely has won over several of the people I’ve shown it to.

DUCK GAME

Imagine a nightmarish scenario in which you’re surrounded on all sides by bizarre costumed ducks with a fondness for the Second Amendment. While it would definitely be among the worst real world situations you could find yourself in, it makes for a really fun party game. The controls aren’t too complex which makes the entire thing a little more accessible to new players. Also there’s a quack button.

THE JACKBOX GAMES

The Jackbox games might secretly be the best party games currently available. The decision to not rely on controllers and use a browser-based solution instead was brilliant. Showing people who never play games this “magic trick” is a high point for me as well because the entire game becomes so much more intriguing to new players when they don’t have to use a controller to interact. Aside from that, the games are mostly fun. There are some stinkers in each pack, but for the most part they’re all good candidates for a fun time with friends. A good way to start would be with Fibbage, which I’m pretty sure is represented in most of the packages.

THE YAWHG

This one is a little more divisive than the others on the list. I think you need a very specific kind of group of people to really enjoy The Yawhg. The way the game works is that up to four people pick a character to control for six turns. You’ll do stuff like get wasted or fight crime or learn magic, all of which grant you skills and gold in return. Once the six turns are up, a destructive force called “The Yawhg” swoops in and destroys the whole city. Depending on what actions you took before and after the incident, your story plays out differently. It’s a multiplayer “choose your own adventure” book that has awesome art and only takes like twenty minutes to play. It’s one of my favorites.

LETHAL LEAGUE

You know what’s great about Lethal League? Everything. It’s this super hectic, fast paced game about hitting a ball so fast it kills your opponents. It’s this mix between racquetball, dodge ball and anime that makes it so fun. While there are some other modes, the main crux of what you’re doing is volleying the ball back and forth with your opponents until it reaches a speed that one of you can’t react to fast enough. I have to emphasize that when I say it’s hectic, I mean it. It can be overwhelming if you’re not expecting it.

GENITAL JOUSTING

Okay, look… I don’t know how the scoring works, or what kind of other multiplayer modes there are in it, but what I do know is that Genital Jousting gets the attention of every person in the room without fail. There’s no good way to describe what you do in this game, but it involves doing penis like actions to other penises. The game itself is fine, but if you’re looking for a showstopper, Genital Jousting is that game.

There are a bunch of other games that I’m failing to mention for various reasons, but if there was an honorable mentions part of this blog, things like Overcooked, Towerfall, Crawl, and Ultimate Chicken Horse would be on there for sure. One last thing – don’t make people play Mario Party, that’s just mean.