Gaming off the Beaten Path

  "The American Prevailing" is a cliche that only happens in your Hollywood movies. Oh Mr. Kennedy, you entertain me. To show my appreciation, I will help you awaken from your world of cliches." Of all my 10s games, I think Resident Evil 4 may be the one I feel the weirdest about. I know, I know, how could I feel any level weird about Resident Evil 4, one of the most sacred of sacred cows of gaming history. This is one of those games that people will straight up rail you for disliking, as if it's some sort of personal attack. I guess that's starting to change a little bit, it's become a victim of being so popular that people start to hate it just for being so. That always seems to happen in the gaming industry, though that is a different discussion for a different day. Besides, it's not really why I've always had a sort of weird relationship with RE 4. I'm not the first person to say this and I'm certainly not going to last, but it just didn...

I struggled for a long time with surviving. And, no matter what, you keep finding something to fight for. Another week, another timely post. I have yet to "The Last of Us" on HBO, but I have heard nothing but effusive praise. What little bits I have seen look pretty great and seem to jive with what I've heard in reviews. One of the biggest positives I've heard? It actually follows the plot of the game. Oh My! A show about a video game that actually follows said video game? Who would have ever thought that would work? Doesn't everyone know video games don't work as TV shows and you have to completely change the plot and characters to make them fit? Did they learn nothing from the smashing success of Resident Evil? Look, not every video game plot is going to work as a full-on television show. You would have to venture pretty far from the plot of, say, Tetris to create a good or even workable program (that's an extreme example, but you get the point). But tha...

  Great, now I have to talk about something I've been dreading for the last three years. It's time to talk about my absolute least favorite genre of games, bar none. I know I've talked at length about my general dislike of racing games, but there are plenty of titles in the genre I like. I mean, I F-Zero GX is tied for my highest score ever and I certainly didn't hate games like Chocobo Racing or even NASCAR '99. I don't love racers, but there are plenty of them I like, and I understand what people see in the genre. But you already knew this wasn't a racing game as soon as you saw "007" in the title (there actually does exist a 007 Racing game, which I will try to track down, but this isn't it). No, instead, everyone's favorite super spy is going to force me to discuss a genre I absolutely loath: cover-based 3rd person shooters. I may have to put an asterisk on this one like I did Jet Grind Radio, because I don't think I've ever ...

I just realized I missed out on the opportunity to do an on-theme post for the whole “May the 4th be with you” thing.  Oh well, better late than never I guess. It probably won’t come as a surprise that there are eleventy billion Star Wars video games out there, ranging from completely mainstream to totally obscure.  I bet most of you out there have so familiarity with “Battlefront” or “Force Unleashed,” but how many of you have played “Yoda’s Stories?”  I figured I would split the difference with a game that was a huge deal back in the 90s, but has since fallen out of the gaming consciousness: “Shadows of the Empire,” a third person shooter for the Nintendo 64. Before I get into the game, I should say that I am the rare “casual” Star Wars fan.  It seems like this is a franchise that everyone either loves to death or straight up doesn’t care about.  I have seen, and thoroughly enjoy, all the classic trilogy films.  I have seen all ...

Nowadays, it seems like any game that becomes remotely popular gets some sort of spinoff.  Hell, they took a mini game from The Witcher and turned it into its own standalone title. But that wasn’t always a given.  Even with a game as popular as Final Fantasy VII, the thought of having a cannon spinoff wasn’t something that crossed most people’s minds.  I talked last week about how deep the characters in FFVII were, so it would make sense to give them their own time in the spotlight.  Dirge of Cerberus puts said spotlight on Vincent, one of the more popular characters from the original game.  Though he’s and optional character, Vincent has a very deep, intricate backstory that is very closely related to many of the critical characters of the universe.  Aside from Cloud, he’s probably they only member of your party that has close ties to both the Shinra and Sephiroth.  So a spinoff about him definitely makes sense from a storyline pe...