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28 September 2020
22 September 2020
And So It Begins
Summer! So many things to do, so hot up in my games room!
 |
| Turn Two. |
To be continued.......
21 September 2020
Shantae And The Seven Sirens Review (NSW)
Written by Patrick Orquia
Title: Shantae and the Seven Sirens
Developer: WayForward
Publisher: WayForward
Genre: adventure, platformer, metroidvania
Number of Players: 1
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Release Date: 28 May 2020
Price: $29.99
Also Available On: iOS, Steam, PS4, XB1
Shantae and the Seven Sirens is the newest adventure of the beloved half-genie. I have only played one other game on the series, Shantae and the Pirate's Curse on the 3DS and I love that game and I expected to love this game as well. And I did. In fact, I think this is one of the best games I have played this year. Let me tell you why.
This game, like the previous games on the series, is of the metroidvania variety, my favorite video game genre as I have mentioned several times on my past reviews. The usual tropes of metroidvania games – exploring interconnected areas, gradual unlocking of abilities, platforming, etc. – are all here, and this game uses these tropes very well.
You play as Shantae, and on this game, she and her usual crew are on vacation in an island to attend the half-genie festival. Shantae along with five other half-genies are set to perform a musical number at the beginning of the festival when tragedy strikes: all of the half-genies, except for Shantae, got kidnapped as their performance begins, and Shantae begins her adventure to free her friends from the clasps of seemingly evil sirens who reside below the island. As you free the other half-genies one by one, they get to lend their abilities to Shantae which makes her transform into different animals, with abilities such as dashing, climbing walls, digging through soil, breaking rocks, swimming, and double jumping. These abilities open up the map gradually as you are able to expore more areas and unlock shortcuts to connect them together, making further exploration and backtracking easier. The game also has warp rooms that make traversing the map much less tedious, as you will be required to go from one end of the map to the other more and more as you progress into the game.
Aside from abilities, you also get to learn dances that act like magic skills. These dances are also learned from the other genie, but you will be required to present them Fusion Stones which you will have to search somewhere in the map. You will be given a clue on where you may find them then it is up to you on how to achieve that. Obtaining most of these Fusion Stones involve sub-quests from other NPCs, which are mostly fetch quests, some will even mark them on the map. Once you solve their sub-quests, you get the Fusion Stones, give it to the half-genie that required them, and you learn their dance. These further unlock areas and treasures and can even be used as wide area attacks that hit all enemies visible on the screen.
If the abilities and dances are still not enough for you, there are also the monster cards that defeated monsters would occasionally drop. These monster cards can be equipped and will give Shantae added buffs, like stonger attacks, faster dash, etc. You can mix and match depending on what you need or your play style. There is a wide variety of enemies in the game and this is a good incentive to defeat every enemy that you face. Defeating enemies doesn't earn you XP, but you get plenty of gems, and with these gems, you can buy upgrades, such as additional weaponry (which themselves can be upgraded to stronger ones) and stronger and faster attacks, in the form of Shantae's long hair. You can also search for and collect heart squids, which can then upgrade your HP. Similar to the Zelda series, you will need four of these to form one new heart container (you have to visit an NPC to do this for you). These heart squids are mostly hidden and often will require you to have already obtained specific abilites to get to them. They are not marked on the map, unfortunately, so you will have to remember where they are so that you can get back to them once you already have the required ability.
The map is divided into different sections which you will unlock the more you explore. With more and more abilities at your disposal, you wil soon find yourself doing more backtracking and having to go from one section to a farther one. Again, the warp rooms can make it easier for you to do this, but if you want to obtain more gems and monster cards, you may want to not use them.
Within some of these map sections lie labyrinths, which act as dungeons. Here, you will encounter lots of enemies, solve some area puzzles, encounter Risky Boots (Shantae's perennial nemesis and act as a mini-boss), and go head to head with sirens: the big baddies of the game. These sirens are huge and have interesting attack patterns and character design, but they are not particularly hard to fight. Their attacks are well-telegraphed and you will easily figure out their patterns. The fight may get finished soon, but you'll have fun the entire time. Upon defeating a boss, the chapter ends and a new one begins. You take your acquired gems to the shop, upgrade your weapons and attacks, and off you go again to explore further to solve the mysteries surrounding the island.
The more you get stronger, the more fun it is to defeat the monsters, and thus, making exploring better. Previously unreachable areas will be eventually reachable, and it is such a good feeling to accomplish that, especially in this game. It may only take you around 10 hours to complete the entire game on your first playthrough, but it is well-paced and very little downtime in action and story elements. There is a New Game+, with Shantae having more magic but less defense. A bit lame, but it could be an extra challenge. If you need more challenge, there are achievements to aim for, such as being able to complete the game on any % items, complete the game with 100%, complete the game at high speed, and complete the game on New Game+. You may need to play the game at least 2 more times to unlock all achievements in the game. You only unlock win screens, though, but that is better than nothing.
Overall, Shantae and the Seven Sirens is one excellent entry to the series. I think Pirate's Curse is a bit better and I did enjoy that game more, but this game is a close second. I should play the other games, to really see which game is the best in the series. Anyway, this game has amazing visuals, cood character design and animation, and solid 60fps framerate mostly throughout the game. Add to that the excellent soundtrack full of catchy tunes that make playing the game even more enjoyable. So if you are a fan of this adorable half-genie, do yourself a favor and go through another big adventure with her. Even if you are not, I'm pretty sure you will enjoy the game, as I did, and this may be one of the best games that you will play this year.
REPLAY VALUE: Very high
PROS
- Amazing hand-drawn art style with vibrant colors and cool animation
- Excellent soundtrack, with lots of catchy songs
- Solid 60fps frame rate mostly thoughout the game
- Quite a good story, with some twists and turns along the way
- Wide variety of enemies
- Cool boss fights, albeit on the easy side
- Beautiful animated cut scenes with good voice acting
- The entire game can be finished withing 10-12 hours, but it is well-paced and there is very little down time in terms of action and story elements
- Humorous dialogue with NPCs
- Very good use of HD rumble
- Ideal for handheld gaming
- Controls are very responsive
CONS
- Collectibles are not marked on the map, making backtracking to obtain them a bit tedious especially late in the game
- Loading times during Transitions in some areas could be a bit too long to be desired
- New Game+ could have been better
RATING: 4.5/5 hair slashes and belly dances
17 September 2020
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12 September 2020
Kanto Underground
Just south of Cerulean City lived a kind old man in a secluded homestead offering a Pokémon Daycare service. This kind of small business is a lot more widespread nowadays, but back then it was a bit of a novelty. He allowed any trainer registered within the Indigo League of Kanto to leave one Pokémon in his care for a nominal fee. I had never heard of anything like this at the time, but after our brief conversation, I used Bill's transfer system to bring Charlie out of storage and into the old man's care. At the daycare, he would get lots of exercise and activity and be allowed to play and train with other Pokémon instead of just waiting in storage. It seemed like a really good way to get him some extra training in case anything unspeakable ever happened to Kiwi. The old man assured me that he'd been doing this for a long time now and Charlie was in good hands.
I was attacked by some wild Pidgey on Route 5, but I decided to save my Pokéballs for better options since I had Kiwi and Charlie as members of Team Fox. It didn't seem prudent to waste the resources on a third fighting Pidgey. It was during this time between Cerulean and Vermilion that I was starting to think about the future battles. I had to be careful with upcoming Gym Leaders and at the Indigo Plateau and I had to plan accordingly. After passing on acquiring a new Pidgey on Route 5, I made an effort to avoid more wild encounters in the future unless I was ready to add a potential candidate to my team. The way I was training my Pokémon meant that every new capture had to be strategic going forward. An army of Pidgey weren't going to win me the rest of my battles.
I was pretty oblivious to this at the time, but the region of Kanto was in a bit of upheaval the first time I was there. As I mentioned, I wasn't really aware of Team Rocket much before my unfortunate encounter with them at Mount Moon. I didn't realize what a hold they had on the region. I also didn't realize that things were changing rapidly since their operation at Mount Moon crumbled. For a long time the organization moved in the shadows, acquiring Pokémon and using them for illegal activities without drawing much attention to themselves, but things were now changing since two local trainers had them riled up. I mention it now because typically moving south from Cerulean, you would end up in Saffron City before heading to Vermilion City, but Saffron was under a bit of a lock-down thanks to Team Rocket activities. Police sentries were posted on all sides of the city and were not allowing anyone in or out of the city. They tried to explain the situation to me the best they could, but I really didn't understand the gravity of it and they got impatient trying to explain to me why I needed to get to Vermilion another way.
This other way was an underground passage originally intended to be developed into a subway system to and from Saffron City. It's development had been abandoned due to escalating economic tension between the local government and Team Rocket. It now served as a convenient, although shady, underpass between Cerulean and Vermilion, as well as Lavender Town and Celadon City. You could bypass Saffron City entirely this way. The path was reasonably lit and maintained by local volunteers. Pokémon battles were prohibited and efforts were made to repel Pokémon from infiltrating the path as long as it was needed. Apparently Saffron had been cut off from the world for some time in order for this to have been as well established as it was, but again I was ignorant of the state of affairs in Kanto at that time. I merely enjoyed an uninterupted stroll underground, picking up various shiny objects I happened upon.
I arrived in Vermilion City sometime in the evening. I managed to secure a place to sleep for a few nights and then set out to learn what I could about the local Pokémon scene. I could see the S.S. Anne to the south all lit up like an angry Electrode. Tomorrow I would have to find a way to get into the tournament aboard and hopefully earn my access to that Hidden Machine, but I did have a few other concerns. The gym leader in Vermilion was not a push-over and he favored electric attacks above all else. It earned him his nickname as Lt. Surge. As it stood, my team consisted mostly of flying Pokémon who would easily be burst out of the sky by a well placed thunderbolt. Kiwi, Lucky, Vesper and Shakespear were all going to be huge liabilities in the Vermilion Gym. Arnold had recently evolved on his way south through Route 5 and 6, but I wasn't sure that my powerful Gloom could stand up to the kind of voltage Lt. Surge was known to put out. It seemed clear that Arnold and Rascal Jr. Simply weren't going to be enough to ensure a victory here in Vermilion. If I were going to get a new Pokémon, then the battles aboard the S.S. Anne would be a great training ground for them, so I set out that evening to add one more friend to my roster.
Vermilion City is the busiest port in the Kanto region and naturally surrounded mostly by water. Water-based Pokémon weren't going to stand a chance against Lt. Surge when I went to face him, so I had to look somewhere else. I had overheard that just beyond the city limits was a small rock tunnel the locals called Diglett's Cave, because it had been dug out by a large colony of Diglett and Dugtrio. Though it was a bit unsettling to crawl into their nest, I knew a Diglett or a Dugtrio would be the perfect addition to the team and the perfect counter to Lt. Surge. Their ground affinity would make them immune to any electric attacks Lt. Surge could throw at them. So despite my apprehension and the apparent dangers of crawling into a Diglett tunnel at night, I felt I had no choice.
Current Team:
Attacks in Blue are recently learned.
Bill's Storage: Shakespear (Spearow)
Old Man Daycare: Charlie (Pidgey)
Spirit Of The North Review (NSW)
Written by Patrick Orquia
Title: Spirit of the North
Developer: Infuse Studio
Publisher: Merge Games
Genre: Adventure, Platformer, Puzzle
Number of Players: 1
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Release Date: May 07, 2020
Price: $24.99
Spirit of the North is an adventure game where you play as a red fox following the titular Spirt of the North in a big adventure that will have you solving puzzles in order for you to traverse a land and solve its mysteries. It has beautiful visuals in its backdrop and overall aesthetics and has a hauntingly relaxing musical score. The game has been released on other platforms already and this port on Switch is not the best-looking and not smoothest in terms of performance, as expected, but it still is a worthwhile game to play.
The game doesn't use any form of voiced narration; the storytelling presented mostly in symbols and hints in the environment. The game is also very linear, but with the lack of signposting, could be a bit confusing and will make you get lost, but you will surely find your way again if you know where to look at and what to look for. The game is divided into 8 chapters, and each of them can be selected on the main menu and replayed once you have completed them.
At the start of the game, you meet the Spirit of the North which encourages you to go through a journey across the land that is probably inspired by some old Scandinavian country with its glaciers and mountains and rivers with a few broken down stone fortresses scattered throughout. Your goal is to reach a faraway mountain top that emits a red fume that slowly poisons the land. You start on a wide open snow field and soon transition to other types of environment, like caverns, grasslands, rivers, etc. On the way to the mountain, you will have to solve area puzzles for you to be able to progress from one area to the next. You can run and jump and bark, and as you progress further into the game, you get to acquire new abilities, like ability to carry and transfer light, rid certain areas of corruption, ability to conjure ice spirits, dash, and ride the wind. The light transferring mechanic is the main ability that you will learn early in the game. You carry and transfer light to pillars, murals, switches, and doors that comprise the area puzzles. The chapter gets completed when you have solved all the puzzles within it, and you transition to the next chapter right away.
The main gameplay is very similar to that of the Zelda games but with a big caveat: there is no combat in the game. Despite that, solving the puzzles can be quite fun and could be a bit challenging at times, especially in the latter chapters. The puzzles are not too difficult to figure out in general, despite the lack instructions and narration. You just have to be very observant of your environment and let your deductive reasoning skills work overtime. Aside from the puzzles, you can also try to unite staffs found on your journey with their dead shaman owners scattered across the land, most of them hidden. There are 28 in total, and you get unlockable skins for the fox. The skins are purely cosmetic, but this is the only collectible in the game and it could give you a respite from the puzzles, since they can get really tricky due to the lack of handholding in the game.
Overall, Spirit of the North is a beautiful game, with its breath-taking visuals and hauntingly beautiful musical score. I felt happy and relaxed upon finishing the game. I didn't really get what the story is about, but I guess it is the journey and not the destination that matters. This game is quite an experience for me, and it is easy to recommend to others. Well, maybe wait for a sale, as it is quite expensive for its length (the game can be completed in about 5 hours) and this version on Switch has quite a few technical issues here and there and is not as good-looking as the versions on other platforms. But regardless of how you get it and where you play it on, I hope that you have a wonderful time playing the game like I did. Let the fox in you roam free!
REPLAY VALUE: Medium
PROS
- Beautiful, sublime visuals
- Hauntingly relaxing musical score
- Challenging puzzles
- Short in length but well-paced
- Unusual yet engaging storytelling
- Button prompts are presented to assist the player in interacting with the environment
CONS
- Frequent pop-ins
- Frequent frame rate drops
- Quite expensive for its length
- Floaty controls
- The animation look rough at times (at least on the Switch version)
- Frustrating platforming sections
- Wide open spaces are wasted since the game is very linear
RATING: 3.5/5 Foxes in ice and fire
04 September 2020
PBHS Learner Streaks Into Being Ranked As South African Number 2
With the completion of the 2020 NWU MSSA Online School Esports League, Andile Sibanda of Pretoria Boys High not ny took first place, earned Gauteng High School Provincial Colours, and earned a berth in MSSA's 2020 National Team Trials, but also earned the school R5,000.00.
It should be remembered that PES 2020 is to be played at IESF's 2020 World Championships and that South Africa has already entered such World Championships to be held in Eilat, Israel from 6 to 12 December 2020.
MSSA's 2020 National Team Trials shall be held on 19 September 2020 and it is expected that such Trials shall be hotly contested.
The current rankings for PES 2020 are:
Also read:
- Upcoming events: Free State Online Provincial Championships - 5 September 2020
- Upcoming events: National Team Trials - 19 September 2020
- Calendar of Events: 2020
- Affiliation: Schools
- Affiliation: Private clubs
- Esports titles selected: MSSA's School Championships.
- Esports titles selected: MSSA's Premier Championships.
- Results of MSSA's 10th Annual Online Championships for High Schools
- Results of MSSA's Western Cape Online Provincial Championships.
- Results: MSSA's 11th Provincial Online Championships
- Results: Gauteng Online Provincial Championships.
- Test Match results: South African Protea DotA 2 team rises triumphant.
- Test Match results: DOTA2: South Africa vs Azerbaijan
- New National Team Selection Criteria
- Selecting the national Protea teams for Mind Sports South Africa.
- Qualifiers: Clash Royale
- Qualifiers: Counter-Strike: GO
- Qualifiers: Dota 2
- Qualifiers: League of Legends
- Qualifiers: Paladins
- Qualifiers: Pro Evolution Soccer
- The road to Eilat
- IESF announces first three titles for 12th World Championships
- IESF's 12th Esports World Championship - Eilat now set to December 6th - 12th, 2020.
- Rankings: Clash Royale
- Rankings: Counter-Strike: GO.
- Rankings: DotA 2 rankings
- Rankings: FIFA '20.
- Rankings: HearthStone
- Rankings: League of Legends
- Rankings: Paladins
- Rankings: PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER (PES)
- Rankings: Street Fighter V
- Rankings: Tekken 7 rankings
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