First I just want to say I hope everyone had a very happy and productive Thanksgiving, I hope everyone had lots of food, special time with your friends and family, and of course lots of gaming!

It has been a very busy month of November, we had a lot of new games releases just in time for the Holiday season. Way to many games as a a matter of fact. So much so I am going not only broke from spending so much but I am getting overwhelmed trying to do these video reviews. Its quite the process I wish that I could just push theses out faster, but like I really said when I first started this blog a few months ago

I will have content up every day or anything, but I will do my absolute best to just pretty much just give my opinions on gaming as frequently as I can. Is this the source of all gaming Knowledge… Hell NO! Nothing for nothing there are people out there that have this information MONTHS in advanced, and I would just be reciting the same crap, it would be second hand crap from some nobody. This is just my little slice of the Huge Internet Pie, my little corner of gaming.

This is a 2 for the price of 1 article. The first part is a little update about the good ol’ Gamer Keith then I have some awesome stuff to talk about. So first I know, I haven’t posted anything for almost a month! Uggh! It was a very busy time for me and I had a lot of personal health items to really take care, I do love gaming but my health has become extremely important to me, If I do not take care of myself then I won’t be around to give you guys all this amazing content! Later on next year I will explain more about this. So needless to say I have been busy with that and also I work in Retail so its becoming the busy times it being Christmas and all. The YouTube channel is growing with my videos with not only my Loot Crate unboxings but the couple of Video Reviews I have done, and I have started a Facebook Page which can be found @ https://www.facebook.com/TheGamerKeith . So all my loyal followers please follow me at any of those place, I do appreciate it.

I digress now its time to get it on about the gaming! There were a lot of games that were released in November. We had World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor, Super Smash Bros Wii U. , Little Big Planet 3, Dragon Age: Inquisition, I mean honestly the list goes on. It was a huge month for gaming, and December is starting out on a pretty good High Note with Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix and Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker and in a couple of days we will have the first Destiny Expansion Pack. So again I am really trying to get some reviews together for you guys, so please be patient with me :-).  Then in the beginning of December we as gamers had quite a few early presents. This first one which took me by a huge surprise was The Game Awards 2014. Geoff Keighley really did an amazing job on this new conceptualization of what was previously a horrible show from Spike that was just merchandising and if a company had enough money to throw around of course won whatever award they wanted. The one that pissed me off one year is when GOTY went to Madden. What the hell really?!? However they did a complete overall of the show and actually they did it right. They nominated actual games that gamers play, they recognized the fans and the whole community and actually brought people who knew what they were doing. What really made me happy the most is that titles that actually won awards are titles that are amazing and game oriented just not the next Call of Duty winning another award. Coupled with all this is they actually made this a mini E3 almost with announcements and world premieres. The one that got me the most would be no surprise of The Legend of Zelda new gameplay trailer. I so cannot wait to see more on this. Not only does the game look amazing visually, but the mechanic shown so far seem quite nice, especially with the horse actually not having to be to driven because you know Horse don’t want to crash either in real life, and the world of Hyrule is now massive. This has GOTY possibly GOTY for the next 5 years written all over it but this is my humble opinion. Couple that with news that Star Fox is releasing next year. Then Metal Gear Online footage, No Mans Sky. The announcements made this show. Congratulations to Nintendo on all of their wins including Developer of the year. This brought tears of joy to my face because Nintendo knocked it out of the park this year and next year is looking even more amazing.

If all this wasn’t enough then Sony who is celebrating 20 years of PlayStation had there PlayStation Experience conference which had even more announcements. The first which was trending but to hear it directly from the horses mouth is Street Fighter V is a Ps4 and PC Exclusive!! Then Uncharted 4 15 minutes of gameplay demo, the announcement of a new God of War, more No Mans Sky details and video. Then they made announcements that the PS Vita is not dead, and they are coming out with some pretty awesome PSOne classics. The hit me the hardest is the release of Suikoden I & II. Then I was punched in the face by Square Enix’s laziness of bring Final Fantasy VII to PS4 which just pisses me off because Square is going to suck this tit dry. I mean Square Enix stop it! Stop It! Enough with the re-release of Final Fantasy VII every couple of months. Don’t get me wrong I really liked VII but enoughs enough. Instead of putting time and effort into this why don’t you I don’t know make some new damn games that don’t suck! Even after this though It has just been an amazing couple of days. Gaming is looking awesome for 2015!

Be sure to check back I am going to have stuff for you guys soon, I promise! I have some treats in store for you this month!

-Keith

The premise of the story draws from various mythologies, and follows the story of a Bird and a Fish. They are two souls who are in love but cannot be together. The objective of the game is you control both the fish which is orange and the bird which is blue using the DualShock 4’s dual analog sticks. In story mode you play through what are called “Lifetimes” and there are 9 lifetimes to play through. Each character has there own degree of 180 degrees of a tunnel and using the corresponding analog stick you move the characters collecting orbs orange for the fish and blue for the bird. While you do this you maneuver yourself through a series of rings  that have obstacles in color coordinating to the particular color of the specific animal or if you meet in the middle with both animals you turn into a new green color.  Keep in mind both animals you control simply using the analog sticks. The ultimate goal is to collect these orbs and successfully maneuver through the tunnel matching the colors in each barrier. Towards the end when your meter are full you fuse together by holding the L1 and R1 and after passing through more barriers you form a magnificent dragon and fly through painting the sky. The game itself is simple to understand and easy to generally pick up.

The main objective gather orbs to fuse into a magnificent dragon

With the basic game play knowledge in mind this can be where the game can get quite frustrating. Each of the 9 lifetimes require that you collect the corresponding orbs to fill a meter that corresponds to either the fish or the bird. Now if you miss a barrier the corresponding color is penalized. Each level slowly increasing speed and slightly raising in difficulty. As the difficulty rises the barriers patterns change and if you don’t really have the eye hand coordination and knowledge of the Jedi Knight the game can become quite frustrating. Combine this with the fact the game is very short roughly a couple hours long and really has only 2 modes of play the basic story mode and a challenge mode that really has no levity on the game so the content is kinda lacking a little bit.

Pass through the color barriers with the corresponding colora bird or fish and fill your meter.

My final review on this game is even though the game play is simple and easy to pick up can get quite frustrating at points and being paired up with a short game time and lack of content can be quite underwhelming. Where the game really gives me justification for really playing and kinda makes up for some of its general frustration is the sound and visuals of this game.  The aesthetics are gorgeous with a brilliant color palette and the soundtrack that accompany’s the game is absolutely sublime. However while aesthetically pleasing I cannot justify a price of $9.99 I believe at this time I would say either wait for the price to drop or quite possibly wait for it to be free on PlayStation +.

I rate this game a 2.5 out of 5 for beautiful graphics and sound but for lack of content and short game play.

The first day of Conferences for E3 are done, and what a day has come from it. My predictions could not even come close what happened today, I was right on a lot of things from the conferences, but things that were revealed just at the Sony Conference alone blew me away…

Really Microsoft and Sony clearly ate there Wheaties this morning and brought there A games today. While I am not gonna go over every single announcement made I am only gonna just talk about the games that really stood out to me.

It started out with Microsoft going first. They started the show off with a bang. Honestly I am not a huge Call of Duty, or Battlefield fan so I am just gonna really not going to harp too much. I will say that CoD does look quite beautiful on a next generation console and so does Battlefield but really not my cup of tea. The games that immediately stood out, Sunset Overdrive. I am so excited for this game. Seeing actual game play and hearing more about the different weapons and game play options October 28th can not come fast enough. Transition a little bit more into the show my predictions we hear all sort of news for Halo 5: Guardians & Halo: The Master Chief Collection. While no actual game play was actually shown for Halo 5 we were treated to a gorgeous cinematic trailer so we shall what 2015 will have in store. The Master Chief Collection however is gorgeous, granted all they are just HD Remasters of all the Halo series, what really makes it stand out is the multiplayer maps and how they are beautifully rendered for the Xbox One, with extra bonus content such as Halo: Nightfall an apparent series that lead up to the events of Halo 5 and a mode that allows you to relieve certain parts of the Halo in any order of your choosing.  I could effectively just play the endings of just blowing up Halo rings one after another.  Then of course we had game play of The Witcher 3, which I have not played one or two so I really don’t have a frame of reference for them, but the game does look intriguing. Then of course Dragon Age : Inquisition , oh Dragon Age, while the Microsoft conference showed off some footage of the game it wasn’t until the EA conference that we saw actual gameplay. The game looks AMAZING! I thought the 1st and 2nd titles were phenomenal and the new one looks like already it is dressed to impress. Then they really delved into the indy development community and we saw a bunch of beautiful games of one platformer of which is going to be release this year is Ori and the Blind Forest, I cannot stress that video games are art with this platform adventure game. It’s so pretty and the gameplay looks so much fun and the character I already feel attached to that this is definitely on my list of items to buy at launch. Microsoft indeed kept there promise and it was all about the games.

The EA conference I really caught bits and pieces of, I did see the gameplay for Dragon Age, and I did see the Mass Effect concepts, all impressive. Mass Effect I know will impress because BioWare seems to have really taken the criticism of Mass Effect 3 to heart and really are listening to the fans this time around instead of being like Cliffy B and if you don’t like what I make tough shit your gonna buy it anyway approach. With the tools of the Xbox One and its new lookout I think that the development shall be quite interesting and probably at next years E3 will see so much more information regarding the title.

While I did not watch the Ubisoft Conference because I can only stand so much regurgitation of the Assassins Creed crap in one year, One game that I did watch the gameplay trailer for and really emerged from the wood work was the new IP The Division.

Then tonight when I got home from work, I turned on the PlayStation conference at exactly 9 pm (Eastern Time) I sat back and watch Sony really steal the show. If you know me and even if you read my previous entry I am not really too much of a huge PlayStation fan. We have had a strained relationship with the PS3 when pretty much they were on their high horse because of the rousing success of the PlayStation 2. Tonight however Sony really impressed the shit out of me. So much so that while it kinda pains me to say it… I think Sony had the best conference so far and maybe will have won E3 this year. The only comment, that it seemed  they had way to many technical difficulties with sound and really should have rehearsed this a bit more. Because during some of the announcements as I even said to my friend Shane it was no tension building up to the reveal it was kinda just dropped in our laps like here I am deal with it. They showed one game after another after another. The first game that really popped out at me was no not Destiny (While I will eventually play that game and will probably download the Beta and or the Alpha to test it) but the first game I saw was a title called Entwined. The game is out as of tonight for $9.99, as I write this entry I am actually downloading it and possibly write a little blurb on it tomorrow. It looks so artsy, I love artsy games. The concept is new and the game play from what I gather kind really makes you sync both of the analog sticks. Just like Ori and The Blind Forest this really shows that games are not just entertainment devices but true art in the purest of forms. Indy Games have really shined this year at E3 and Sony really displayed them proudly. Then Bam! Little Big Planet 3. I honestly did not see that coming , and the fact they added some new characters to the game made it all the sweeter, if that weren’t enough all the existing content created for the previous 2 installments will be available on Little Big Planet 3! That is over 8.7 million pieces of content with graphical upgrades. Holy Shit! Then we had one game No Man’s Sky, Sci-fi space flight other worldly travel and adventure a game that promises a different experience stating that no 2 games will over the same beginning experience. That like the universe it is ever-expanding. Then they stated in a cute little skit that surprised me was they will be remastering one of my favorite Tim Schaffer Lucas Art games Grim Fandango. Then they went on to reveal some new peripherals one of which being an AR for your broadcasting of your games which I will try out and stream when available. Then they unveiled the PlayStation TV pretty much from what i can gather from the conference is almost like a satellite PS4 / PS3 that allows you to play certain games on it and stream content via PlayStation Now. Very interesting and the fact that the hardware is pretty inexpensive I will be picking it up so I can hook it to a satellite location in my house to see how it really works. Then they unveiled Mortal Kombat X footage and talked about none other than a Ratchet and Clank Movie?! Also a remake of the original for the for the PS4 please sign me up! Then I am glad that Sony had the privilege to show off the Trailer which ironically came out last night which seemed to be the joke at the conference of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.  They then moved onto to show of Arkham Knights, two words… Bat Mobile. I will leave it at that. Then moved onto reveal Uncharted 4 : A Thief’s End cinematic trailer and a tentative 2015 release date. This was just the icing on the already practically perfect cake. It is one thing I give to Sony this year was they didn’t weigh us down with a bunch of just pretty trailers like they usually do they really did have games that actually were playable and showed the true potential of the system.

This year we saw a lot of new IPs which is a breath of fresh air really because, I can only stand so much of year after year of CoD, Assassin’s Creed, and the EA sports franchises. One concept I can see quite the trend of is really the aspect of multiplayer aspects in a lot of these games. Even in games that I could have sworn would have more of a single player aspect on them they are really trying to integrate the concept of not playing games alone anymore. That and we really have stiff competition because while Cross Platform is becoming the new norm where people don’t have to be locked into one device. It seems that it is now becoming the war of content exclusives to the systems. That was the huge things in both corners. I give it to Sony on this round though because there exclusive content on some of these games that are gonna be multi platform seems quite on par. However I think this is all a ploy to drive as much revenue for these games as possible making me pretty much have to buy both copies because who knows which content is going to be better. Bullshit if you ask me but quite brilliant.

Well I am officially E3’ed out for the night it was so good watching not this petty lets show off the consoles stuff and bring it all down to the games so far. I can not wait to see what Nintendo has in store for tomorrow. All I can say is Nintendo will not disappoint me and I know after watching this they gotta bring it tomorrow.

Until then be sure to catch up on as much today as possible because this isn’t even day 1.

-Keith

Now I am not gonna go through every single game or every game aspect of the show, so I am just really gonna go for the major 3 players Nintendo , Microsoft , and then dabble a little on some major games I would like to be seen and from what I hear will be at the show this year or at least announced. So let’s get started!

This year I don’t think we really have much to worry about as far as new hardware its gonna be ALL about the games this year.

Nintendo:

If you have read my previous post you have probably gathered I am somewhat of a Nintendo Fan boy. Its true I am the biased when it comes to Nintendo because shit I grew up with it, it’s always been there. But enough reminiscing. At Nintendo this year I think they are gonna really have an All-Star Line Up and are going to knock it out of the park again this year. Nintendo has been taking a different approach as of lately. They believe of doing a lot Press Releases every so often. This year is no different and they will be doing the Nintendo Directs for everyone to see. They are doing not only will they be at the show, but they are doing 3 directs. 1 one of which will be a Super Smash Bros. Tournament. Now I gotta be honest with you I don’t think we are gonna see a whole lot of things that will be released probably this year. I think its gonna be a majority of what Nintendo has in store. I believe we are gonna see some renews of some old Franchises and a couple of new IPs. The first of which I am very excited about Hyrule Warriors. A new take on The Legend of Zelda Franchise, a hack and slash action made by the same people who made Dynasty Warriors. This I hope makes some big waves and I am very excited to see an US release date and more gameplay footage. If this wasn’t enough Legend of Zelda goodness rumor mill is a buzz that there will be some sort of trailer and or reveal of the Legend of Zelda Wii U (Title Pending).  My real reasoning I believe this to be true because Zelda Williams will be at this Nintendo Direct as stated on her Twitter page.  Along with that we will probably see some announcement for Wii U Virtual Console Titles. The second Major hitter will be Super Smash Bros. Yes I believe at E3 we will definitely get not only more final words on a release date but more gameplay footage and possible more character reveals. But what is Nintendo without Mario! Supposedly there are strong rumors that there is gonna be some sort of  “Mario Maker“. What it is supposedly a Little Big Planet style game featuring everyone’s favorite plumber. If  that wasn’t enough we will see more on the 3Ds Pokemon Ruby Omega and Sapphire Alpha. Then if I did not mention it my friend Reggie and all the Hunters in n00b Adventures in Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate would kill me for not mentoning it Monster Hunter 4! I know it’s a little presumptuous but I think they will win the Conference set.

Microsoft:

Now Microsoft last year was all about the Xbox One hardware, this year its gonna be game focus central. With a title of the conference being Xbox: Game On I can only imagine what will be shown.  So far Halo 5: Guardians has been announced, so we shall definitely see some sort of reveal with either gameplay or new trailer, with a possible time frame window of release. Then of course we have the Halo: The Master Chief Collection the HD Xbox One collection. One game that I was actually pretty amazed to see a “game play trailer” on the Xbox Events App that I am intrigued to see more of is Sunset Overdrive a third person shooter by the legendary Insomniac Game Studio who brought us Ratchet and Clank. Of course also there will be something for Call of  Duty: Advanced Warfare. Then something for Destiny . Then of course there is Killer Instinct Season 2 and Microsoft has always had a great relationship with EA because of Peter Moore, so we will see something with the Sport compilation and Battlefield also. Other than that it has been very hush-hush, all leading up to the conference. One thing that has been circulating around is that something “unexpected” will be announced. This will be very interesting show this year and Microsoft is gonna also have an excellent excellent show.

Sony: 

Ok one thing that happened so far is the whole Last Guardian dilemma. Turns out that is indeed not cancelled. Now Sony I am gonna really kinda keep short. I mean PlayStation is just so recycled and there conferences are so boring. I think they will have some great games on the consoles from 3rd parties but I don’t really expect much from them right out of the conference gate. There will be and it has been somewhat confirmed that there will be a lot of games for the PS4 this year. One thing that seems to be on the tip of every Sony lovers lips is Uncharted 4 and a supposed Last of Us PS4 edition. While it is not for the PS4 one item I am quite happy about is Kingdom Hearts 2.5 HD Remix for the PS3 that Square-Enix has already announced late last week. The second item I am extremely excited for and I can only really imagine it on the PS4 even though it will be multi platform is Metal Gear Solid 5: Phantom Pain. Ooh this game. I played Ground Zero and I was so impressed with it I really can’t wait to see more of this game. I just hope my prediction is correct and it will be really shown on the PS4 more so then then XBox One. So I will really see how this develops. I think Sony like all years will be very mediocre at best.

Now for some titles that have been busing around , some rumor some confirmed titles.

Mortal Kombat X : 

WOW! A new Mortal Kombat and it looks so bad ass! Those who have not seen the trailer is a link http://www.ign.com/videos/2014/06/02/whos-next-official-mortal-kombat-x-announce-trailer. With new consoles comes a new Mortal Kombat one of the fighting games that defined almost a generation. While some details are scarce and only a release of 2015 I can’t wait to see what is showcased for this game.

STAR WARS: BATTLEFRONT :

While it made technically made a debut at last year Microsoft Conference, I would love to see a new Star Wars Battlefront game because I thought the originals were awesome. With so much Star Wars fodder going around I think it would be an excellent time to release some sort of new star wars game.

FALLOUT 4: 

This is rumored. I love FallOut. If they announce an actual title or even just a trailer, I think that will make my E3. I mean who knows where it can take place… It can be California, Maybe still in DC. You know what would be awesome location New Jersey! In my personal opinion though people would just think it business as usual in Jersey. (Insert Witty Comment)

Alien: Isolation : 

With the horrible horrible game Alien: Colonial Marines failure. This game actually looks like the Alien game we have been wanting since god knows when. It seem scary, survival horror. It also has all those nifty gizmos from the Aliens movie like the Radar. This is a title to be on the lookout for.

This is all I have for the moment. Not to beat a dead horse to death but this year is all about the games! We have the consoles so know its time for those developers to start putting out these games we have all been craving. As for game of show I have no real clear idea what is going to be game of show. It’s all what is announce in conference of the next couple of days. Then we actually have 3 days of the actual show to see these games actually being showcased. All and all I can not wait!

Check back later this week where I will definitely be doing my recap of E3 because I have the week off from work just for the occasion!! Until then Game On!!!