Gaming off the Beaten Path

  I hope I got my point across in part one. But if I didn't, I'll reiterate here: Nier: Automata set the new standard in video game storytelling. Not necessarily the story itself, but how the story is told. That's all well and good, but now it's time to talk about the gameplay. Because unlike other media formats, you can have the absolutely best storytelling of all time ever and still have it ruined because of awful controls or game breaking glitches. Fortunately, Nier: Automata doesn't have either of those things. But it does come from a series known for less-than-optimal gameplay. Full disclosure, I have never actually played the original Nier or any of the Drakengard games, so I can't really comment on it personally. Any time I see someone call the controls in an old game "wonky" it arouses suspicion, that's in the same category as "aged poorly" for me. What does "wonky" even mean? Sure, if you back it up with details that...

  Let's start with a question. Why are you reading this review? You are just wasting your time. Why am I writing it? In fact, why either of us playing video games at all? None of it means anything. In fact, forget video games. Nothing means anything. Nothing at all. Why bother with life, you may as well just...yeah, I think I need to stop there. Saying that would get me in trouble and besides, who decides what means what anyway? I am going to keep the modern game train running, because I finally got a chance to play yet another one of the internet's favorite games. I have read a lot, like, a lot, about how amazing Nier: Automata was, how it was on a different level in terms of storytelling from just about every game that's ever existed. I've heard it called "the most profound video game ever" and "a truly classic humanist fable." There are countless articles, videos, podcasts, whatever covering just how deep and philosophical the game is. Stop me if ...

One year, two retro inspired JRPGs. Comparisons between Chained Echoes (which I guess actually came out in 2022, but very late) and Sea of Stars were inevitable and I am going to jump on the bandwagon, but I want to do something a little different. Welcome to what I hope is going to be the first of many Gaming Off the Beaten Path 10 Round Fights. I'm going to take two games and pit them against each other  for 10 rounds with boxing/MMA style scoring. Basically, the winner of each round gets 10 points, the loser gets nine or less. I know I already scored both of these games, but those numbers are always fluid, so there is always the chance one could surpass the other on a second look. Each round will be based on a different category, some will be the same regardless of genre,  but others will be specific. You are going to be looking at graphics and sound no matter what, but obviously you are going to be looking at story and characters more in an RPG while something like hit det...

  Last week, we took our first look at indie RPG Sea of Stars and its  story, plot and characters. This week, it's time to move on to the more technical aspects of the game. SOS had some positives and some negatives when it came to story, but overall it was far more good than bad. But how did it feel technically? First, I want to call out the graphics, because I feel like I don't do that enough when I talk about RPGs. I'm not usually a graphics-centric kind of reviewer, but SOS offers some truly spectacular pixel art. It's about as clean as you can possibly get and a clear example of using new technology to get the most out of a classic look. The world is spectacularly colorful and the color palette  is about as unique as I have ever seen. That may be a weird thing to call out, but some of the colors and combinations of colors here are truly striking and help elevate the game. Your characters are expressive and full of life and the enemy attack animations are top notch....