Best Album and Video Game of the Year So Far

We are around 3/4’s of the way through 2016 and there has been a ton of great video game and music releases. Today I’ll talk a little bit about both my favorite album and my favorite video game of 2016.

I’ll first start with Monster Hunter Generations. The game is a semi-sequel to last year’s Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate. Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate was probably my favorite game of 2015 along with Splatoon, so it’s no surprise that Generations is also a quality title. It incorporates many elements such as locations and bosses from the previous portable Monster Hunter titles while also bringing new things to the table as well. For example, there are now different Hunter Styles that allow you to customize your character even further by adding abilities like jumping into the mix. I personally have stuck with the traditional Guild Style. I have already poured countless hours into the title and it has only been out since July! The series may be a bit hard for newcomers to get into, but the difficulty curve is definitely worth it in the long run. I’d highly recommend this game and pretty much any other game in the series.

Deakin’s first solo album was definitely worth the wait. He had been working on it ever since he crowd funded for it’s completion way back in 2009. The album is only just over a half an hour, but I feel like that makes it even better. There is absolutely no filler on this release and it’s an album I can listen to several times in a row which is somewhat rare for me. Deakin is mostly known for his contributions to the group Animal Collective, and I would honestly say this release is better than any Animal Collective album. The album is a neo-psychedelic record with plenty of psychedelic folk influence. The majority of the songs are long with a few interlude-like tracks here and there. The longer tracks never overstay their welcome and the shorter tracks are also essential to the listening experience. Deakin really surprised me with this release and he is now my favorite member of Animal Collective because of it. He has a beautiful voice and should be featured more in the forefront on future group releases. As it is, the only physical version of Sleep Cycle is a cassette version only given to crowd funding backers. This is somewhat of a shame as I would love to own this on either CD or vinyl.

So there we have it. These are definitely the biggest highlights of the year for me. However, the year is not over yet. Will other new releases top these by the end year? Only time will tell. Thank you for reading and stay tuned for more!

Nintendo Direct 11/12/15 Reaction

Instead of giving a blow by blow description of the direct (which you can watch here), I thought I would give some of my thoughts about certain games that were (or weren’t) shown.

Zelda

There were tons of Zelda announcements. The one that stuck out for me was Twilight Princess HD amiibo bundle. The game itself has been rumored for a while now, so that wasn’t too surprising, but the wolf amiibo it comes with certainly was – very cool!

However, the fact that they only showed about 5 seconds of footage for Zelda Wii U further cements my notion that it’ll end up being an NX launch title. Disappointing that they didn’t talk about it more.

Pokemon

Pokemon had plenty of screen time as well. Pokken, a Tekken-like fighting game, looks promising as well as Pokemon Picross. The star of the show of course are the upcoming virtual console releases of Blue, Red, and Yellow. While there are roms readily available for these titles, the eshop versions allow you to trade Pokemon with friends just like in the original release. Some Pokemon can only be obtained by trading with friends, so unaltered roms will lock you out of obtaining them. I’m personally excited to play through Pokemon Blue again.

Dragon Quest

Western Dragon Quest fans have it quite rough to say the least. There have been over half a dozen Dragon Quest releases on the Nintendo 3ds that have not been localized. In fact, I strongly considered importing a Japanese 3ds just so I could play them. You can only imagine how excited I was when I saw that not one but two are getting localized next year: Dragon Quest VII and Dragon Quest VIII. Words cannot describe how excited I am for them.

Super Smash Bros

Many people were expecting Super Smash Bros news and boy did we get it. Cloud from Final Fantasy VII has been confirmed as an upcoming playable character. While Final Fantasy VII itself never made it to a Nintendo platform, Cloud has appeared in several Nintendo based games like Final Fantasy Theatrhythm and Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories among others. VII is one of my favorites of the series, so he is a more than welcome addition in my book. There’s also a new stage based off of the city of Midgar – can’t wait to play it.

Metroid

I haven’t made this very apparent on here yet, but I am a huge Metroid fan. I would go as far to say that it’s my favorite video game franchise ever and Zero Mission is my favorite game ever made. The series has been placed on a back burner ever since Other M flopped both commercially and critically (I honestly enjoyed it more than most people). There has been the occasional virtual console release, Nintendoland minigame, and cameo appearance (Dead or Alive Dimensions, Smash Bros, etc.), but there hasn’t been a new standalone release since 2010. Last E3, Metroid Federation Force was announced and garnered an overwhelmingly negative reaction. In fact, 20,000 people signed a petition to cancel the project within three days of the announcement, and the Youtube trailer has over 80,000 dislikes.

So what I’m trying to get at is there was absolutely no mention of Metroid in the direct. Nintendo showed off material they’re planning to release next year, so why wasn’t Federation Force shown in more detail? It leads me to believe that its either been cancelled or will re-emerge in a heavily altered state later on.

Video Games I’m Looking Forward To

The year is slowly coming to an end, but video games just keep on coming. November is usually a huge month for the medium as stores gear up for the upcoming holidays. I thought I would talk a little bit about some of the releases I’m looking forward to.

Fallout 4 is a release many people are excited for, me included. In fact, many people already have their copies even though its official release date it tomorrow (Nov. 10th). I personally didn’t preorder it since I’ll most likely be able to just walk on in and purchase one of the many available copies. Fallout 3 was one of the first PS3 titles I played, and I had an absolute blast playing it. For those who don’t know, the Fallout series is a Western RPG series that uses guns and similar modern equipment rather than the tried and true medieval weaponry seen in the majority of Western RPGs. Choice, free exploration, and customization are some of its key features. I’ve done a good job of avoiding spoilers, so I’m going into it blind for the most part – can’t wait!

 

Xenoblade Chronicles X is a followup to the cult classic Wii title. I bought both the original Wii release and the 3ds re-release on launch day, so it’s needless to say that I’m extremely excited for this. The original game has been described as an offline MMO RPG, and this is at least partially true. Instead of being purely turn based, the player can directly control where the character moves within battle (like Final Fantasy 12, but this blows it straight out of the water). The story was refreshing and the campaign was lengthy (it took me around 90 hours to complete my first playthrough). I have the collector’s edition of X preordered – I have high expectations for it.

I have to admit that I really don’t know much about Trails of Cold Steel or the Legends of Heroes series as a whole, but I have heard nothing but praise for the previous releases – especially Trails in the Sky for the PSP. I thought it was about time to check the series out. I watched gameplay footage from this year’s E3, and the game seemed right up my alley. The gameplay seems to be turn based and has an emphasis on location and teammate pairing. I have the limited edition preordered and can’t wait to play it next month!

The Sony PSP is STILL Getting New Releases!

It’s mind blowing that the PSP is still getting new releases!

The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky The Second Chapter, developed by Falcom and published Xseed in North America, just came out a couple of days ago on PlayStation Network. It’s also on Steam as well if you’re interested.

Summon Night 5 (above) and Class of Heroes 3 (below) are scheduled for release and are localized by Gaijinworks, which is headed by Victor Ireland.

Victor Ireland previously worked for Working Designs and localized some of the best RPGs for the Turbo Duo, Sega CD, Sega Saturn, and PS1/2.

Even though many people think the Vita is dead in the West, it looks like it will get the same continued support as its predecessor and will likely outlive the Nintendo 3ds and Wii U (I’d love it if they had long lifespans, but it seems like the upcoming NX will eat their sales and support if judging Nintendo’s past), especially if it’s Sony’s last handheld ever. Even this year alone Vita has had at least 17 physical North American releases while Wii U has had around 6. (Judging by a quick scan at Gamerankings)

Long live the PSP and Vita!