First Impressions: Pokemon Omega Ruby

Hype.

Image Courtesy of nerdist

Pokemon Omega Ruby, a Pokemon Ruby 3D remake is upon us, and in the first hours of gameplay I  have noticed a couple of Pros and Cons that I would like to share with y'all.

Always start with the pros :

• Its a Pokemon game, two in two years.
• I get to play this game with a battery that won't run dry after 30 days of continual play.
• The game is gorgeous; the map doesn't really seem to have changed much but the building's all have personality and I love the fact that Mr. Briney's cottage looks just how I want it to in HD.

Images Screen Grabbed from youtuber Pyropuncher

• The new "sneaking up" on Pokemon mechanic is really new and different and adds variety to the shaking grass routine of the previous few Pokemon titles.
• The new "DexNav" is swanking with its' Pokemon locator.
• Its Pokemon.

On to the Cons..:

• Thus far, it seems fairly copy and paste story line wise with only one noticeable anecdotal difference while exiting the Petalburg woods..

The rest..

The rest of my complaints are all character model related.

• Why does Wally look so sickly?! He doesn't seem fit to the secondary rival role anymore..maybe that's what he was meant to be all along but who cares! I used to fear the Wally fight before the Elite Four but now I can't wait to see him so I can flick him in the nose and end his fight with what ever terminal disease he has.

Image Screen Grabbed from youtuber Pyropuncher

• The protagonist is very very small, he looks ten. Pokemon, when can we grow up!?

*note | Compared to the X and Y protagonists, Brandon and May look small compared to the space. As if the space is too big for the characters where the X and Y characters seemed to be built for the space allowed

• The Pokemon Locator aforementioned only works on Pokemon you caught previously.
• May is not cute anymore. 

And so that basically completes my first impressions and sorry for getting all buzz feed on ya with a list but hey, lists are good in moderation and are really good for organizing thoughts!

Until next time,

Matsura

Links:

//Twitter

//YouTube
//Unrelated sexy May picture

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First Impressions: Road Not Taken

PlayStation Plus gives out some cool games every month and for August one of them is Road Not Taken. Road Not Taken is is a cute pastel colored with a dark twist. The game focuses around saving kids from the woods in the middle of winter or they die! It is basically a rouge like puzzle game and a really cool one at that. At first the game was pretty easy but the more you play the harder it gets even after you die it does not scale back the difficulty. the difficulty is based on how many mobs/items you have unlocked and remembering how they interact with you and the other things in the environment. But over all the game is a interesting concept and I cant wait to play more. You can get Road Not Taken With PlayStation Plus For free on steam or through the Dev's website. Check out the trailer below.

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First Impressions: Rex Rocket

Look down at your goolies (Irish slang for balls). Is your name OG Mudbone? Then your balls aren't as hard as this game, and they never will be.

                                                Pictured above : Title Screen

Let's start there, the game is hard as hell. But allow me to qualify the difficulty level; 8 Bit NES generation action plat former difficulty. So yeah, to re iterate this game is hard. Super hard. Frustratingly hard in fact and I think I have identified why.

This game lacks difficulty curve. The process of difficulty curve is this:

1. Easy obstacle
2. Many easy obstacles
3. Medium obstacle
4. Many Medium obstacle
5. Hard obstacles
6. Many Hard obstacles
7. Final Boss

The following is the difficulty curve of Rex Rocket

1. No obstacles/enemies
2. Hard Enemies
3. Final Boss grade first boss
4. Boss so hard that it makes you physically hurt second boss
5. Holy shit I haven't played passed this second boss cause I needed to sleep after beating the aforementioned boss and haven't had the drive to get back on.

You see the problem? This is not authentic to (most of) the NES era action plats, but that's OK.

Pictured above : Hard Boss #1

The difficulty is something I actually enjoy because of the sense of accomplishment you get when downing the bosses. Think of it like Dragon Quest. You grind and grind until your character is just strong enough to beat the boss and the feeling is electric. I feel very accomplished when beating the bosses or passing a difficult platforming section. The game feels amazing to progress in and I think this is one of its strongest suits. (Oh yeah, did I mention limited lives!!!)

                               

                       Pictured above : Platforming from lower decks area (note I died within 3                                                                seconds of this picture)

Withholding all temptations of spoiling plot, I only have one more area to cover...Music and Graphics. If you've been looking at the stills at all, I think they speak for themselves. This game has beautiful pixel art. And gorgeous 8 bit-style music.

My first impressions off this game are good, the game is aesthetically pleasing, the sounds are good and the game controls well. Again, my one complaint is the difficulty but its a minor complaint if a complaint at all and it tends to not be a complaint once I finish a section or a boss.
If you'd like to see me playing this game on my YouTube channel, click here

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