Values of the past

     Something has me thinking, it's video game related so it belongs here I think. I suppose it stems from Valentines day as that just passed. We all have games we love. Something that you played back in grade school, or maybe the first game you ever 100% (Skyrim for me, before the DLC). No matter what genre, how complicated or the depth of a game we gamers will revisit our favorites time and time again. Don't get me started on the hype we hold for a re make.. Damn you Square Enix... (jk, love you guys). It goes without saying that we treasure these games and will always remember 'the good ones'. Re play value is priceless.

     Games these days however I find myself struggling to pick back up after beating. Not to say that 'No good games are coming out!' but that it feels like a chore to trudge through the same linear story or knowing exactly how many enemies are in the next room and where they stand. The Last of Us was an amazing game! I loved it! I streamed my first two play troughs on Twitch, but when it came down to completing it two more times to finish off the trophies I ran outta steam. By that time the game was what some call broken for me and I slowly lost interest. So I rented Until Dawn. Truly a remarkable game, as far as the way it was delivered. Yes the choices were kinda linear, and some didn't seem to matter, but I have never played a game with this feel. Mostly it was a choose your own adventure horror movie, but it was well put together. Alas, the same problem occurred. With the story relieved I had nothing to surprise me, I already knew the puzzles and the quickest choices yet there was more to collect. I would say try to rent it if you can but there is little replay value.

     Nostalgia is one of the things that makes my hunger for gaming strong and I know there are gamers of every type but in my humble oppinion, Re play value is one of the key things a game needs to truely be loved, and I think it is fading away. So in a personal protest to this, I will be spending time re playing through some of my newer steam games! Expect reviews!

And of course, Happy Gaming!
- Dankest

Keep your mind open

     I like to think that I am pretty open when it comes to video games. I'll try a game even if it doesn't sound like my kind of game, if a friend suggests it well enough. I suppose this is why I have a group in my Steam library labeled 'Junk' with 22+ games in it. I really don't mind that though, it exposes me to other worlds of play even if its not my preferred way. I feel that the key to really enjoying a game, good or not, is to dive head first. Ignore the world for 20 min and you will know if a game is worth it. This is not true of all games however. More than once (and once was too much) I've purchased/rented a game, started playing it and at the 20 min mark something made me think 'If I just do this next quest maybe some other mechanic will come into play..' only to beat the game in the next hour.

     On the topic of looking for games, it seems the world is going mad. We have shooters that allow you to move exponentially better than a human, sandbox style space games, time manipulating side scrollers, a simulation for everything and in heavy development comes the holy grail , VR. With all this evolution we are starting to lose some of the classic categories of gaming. True enough titles like Destiny defiantly fall under FPS but it also has elements of RPGs and MMOs. For me Borderlands was an acceptable FPS/RPG because of the depth of the RPG aspect. Destiny is a great shooter, I love it for that, however it's RPG aspect is low, and it only has the MMO parts I didn't like. I don't mind being a social gamer but why, when every other game mode has match making, do I have to build my own party for end game content? Point being, this is just one example of a classification error in my own opinion that exists in many, many of the newer games I have seen.

     Don't take me the wrong way, I played the beta for Black Ops 3. It was amazing! Fallout 4 is a must play as well! If you played Fallout 3 or New Vegas before 4, you will defiantly understand my ravings here lol. I just don't want to see the game types I grew up with die off or get over complicated. You know how long it's been since I played a 'New' classic style turn based RPG? I don't know off hand but it's been a while since I have even seen one I haven't at least checked out before. I suppose I need to get used to the idea of it being left behind..Just like the WiiU... Didn't even know it was coming, poor little guy..

Sincerely,
- Dankest

Hi, I'm Dankest

     I'm new to this so wheather you are entertained, informed or think I'm crazy, thank you for stopping in. I like to talk about my views on gaming, reviews on games I have tried and things the video game industry may or may not be trying and how it can effect us gamers.

     At the top of my list are the new games I'm checking out. By far my favorite as of late is Darkest Dungeon! It got it's funding from a kickstarter and just recently released as a full game on steam. Basically the intro trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlRBzoKN4NY tells you alot about it. Very bleak dungeon crawler with an emphasis on party managment.

     Also new is Scrap Mechanic! If you loved Minecraft, but wanted to build things that moved, this game is for you! It has pivots, tires, vehicle control systems and much much more. It is still early access, however $20 isn't that bad. I'm currently building a giant mech!

     Lastly, and probably the one I have spent the most time inside, Tabletop Simulator! This is a physics engine on a table. Literally any game that you play on a real table can be played here! There are thousands of mods, from collectors edition Monopoly to every Magic the Gathering card ever printed and many games you will likely never have heard of before! I have been using it to run a D&D group. Building maps takes time so I have made many mods already under DankestFiber on Steam.

     The gaming world feels like we are on an edge of revolution. I often wonder 'What will I be gaming on in two years? In six?' With VR advancements and the amount of tech put into consoles these days, where will we budget players fall? I strongly suspect that gaming will slowly lean towards PC throughout the next few years. Microsoft is already getting people thinking that way with Windows 10 and the Xbox One and Steam is coming out with their own consoles soon (which is basically a PC with a console interface).

     I hope you like this post, I am hoping to be back strong with this kind of thing every few days.

Happy Gaming!
- Dankest