Level One: Super Smash Bros WiiU and 3DS

If you've never herd of Super Smash Brothers then you're not a fan of Nintendo, simple as. It's an exceptionally fun fighting game that was pretty much ripped off by a few other games (Namely, CN Punch Time Explosion and Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale, both of which are trash in comparison). The general idea is you pick a character from a 30-strong roster of Nintendo's most iconic characters (and a few other, stranger inclusions like Pac-Man) and pummel your enemies until you can whack them off the edge of the screen for a K.O. there are no health bars, just taking damage makes your character lighter and so easier to hit off the stage. Smash brothers has a huge fanbase as well as a brilliant competitive scene across both the Gamecube's 'Melee' game and the Wii's 'Brawl' so naturally when I saw the new installment available to play (and in a tournament, no less!) I had to give it a few (hundred) goes.

I feel like when Nintendo decided the Animal Crossing Villager should be in the game they were thinking 'Fuck it, if Phoenix Wright can be in a fighting game, why not?"

Though I heard the character rosters for both versions would be the same on release, the ones available on the day differed slightly for some reason; Toon Link on the 3DS and regular Link on the WiiU, Rosalina & Luma on the WiiU and Little Mac on the 3DS, but I won't go too much into that.
I'll be honest from what I've seen I do like the new characters, though the power of Little Mac I definitely question, same with Wii Fit Trainer though she is a fun addition, other characters have had changes that can be clearly be defined as buffs or nerfs or a change to their Final Smashes. I'm proud to say that what I have seen so far makes me very excited for its final release.

The decision to release the game on the 3DS is also an interesting one, I'll be honest, playing on that tiny screen makes it very difficult to see what's going on and winning a 3DS match could probably be put down more to luck or at least who has the best 20/20 vision, the question is, is that worth enduring for an earlier release date or the ability to play Smash Bros on the go? Totally! Especially if you're a proud 3DS XL owner and have that massive screen to play around on. On the other hand the WiiU version I can only define as pure beauty. It looks lovely, everything flows well and you can clearly see everything that's going on, not to mention just how mind-blowing the graphics and the slickness of the HUD look now. Sure, it plays just the same as every Smash Bros game, but where Brawl was a quality time sink in a fancy mansion when it came out, Smash Bros WiiU is a solid 24 carat golden time sink that shoots pure rainbows into your face when you peer inside it even for a little bit.

Yep... That's it. no, no, you need to get closer to be able to play the game properly! Just try not to fall into the hole where the screen should be, that's how the 3D works on this you know!

Anyway since my experience with the game was all in regards to very small bracketed tournaments I'll go ahead and talk about my run. The preliminary round was a simple 2 minute free-for-all with 4 players on the 3DS, which made it quite hard considering the stuff I've already mentioned, I'll be honest I wasn't really sure what was going on, all I knew is that the crowd watching let out a huge 'NO!' when Little Mac who seemed to clearly be leading was killed by Sheik, interestingly enough when the two minutes was up nobody had any idea who had won, and rightfully so, the match became a 4 man Sudden Death, which starts you at 300% damage and pretty much anything that isn't a bloody weak projectile will have you killed. regardless I'm still confused as to what happened, all I remember is grabbing Little Mac, punching him a few times and having no idea how to throw him away, some of the crowd were shouting "Toon Link throw him!" and I had no idea how, eventually he broke free cause I held him too long but that's when my spamming the A button stopped being grapple punches and became a killing blow. I have no idea what happened to the other two but I'm sure at least one was alive at the time...

8 people qualified for each tournament, split into two four player Semi-Finals which were 5 minute 4 stock (lives) free-for-alls. to get into the final, you needed to be first or second place. the fight was unremarkable to say the least, it concluded in a Sudden Death again between me (now playing older Link because it was the WiiU version for the Finals and Semis) and this guy playing Kirby. He won, but I was through anyway so i didn't care.

When the final came around though it was a real surprise, same rules as the Semi-Finals, and clearly everyone had chosen their favorite characters, so in the end there were two Kirbys and Two Links. The game began, and it was all relatively even. The Kirby player from the first Semi-Final did lose his last life around halfway through the game though, and by the time the 30 second mark rolled in, a Smash Ball had appeared and everyone had one life remaining. Needless to say it became a bit of a scramble for the Smash Ball as it would almost certainly eradicate someone from the game if they were hit. The remaining Kirby got the Smash Ball... and he hit me. ten seconds to go and I fly off to the left corner after a barrage of glowy-swordy swings from Kirby and sit there shaking my controller and pushing the analog stick to the right so hard I wanted to rip the controller in two from the pressure. To the shock of everyone in the general vicinity and certainly the commentator, I survived by the skin of my tunic, and with a carefully timed Up B to dodge a last attack from the clearly flustered Kirby player I lived to fight another day in yet another nerve-wracking Sudden Death.

Even to this very day I fail to understand how I survived this move. Thank you God.

Two Links and a Kirby spawn into the Battlefield. All three jump into the air, one stays where he is, one moves to the left, and one to the right. With a clever use of shield the Kirby lands a superb forward Smash Attack onto one of the Links, blasting him out of the game. 'Right, only one left then!' Did the Kirby player think this to himself? Probably not, as no sooner had the first Link been wiped out, the second Link, on the other side of the map, had pulled out a bomb with Down B, and tossed it in their direction, that Link was me, and Kirby was no more.

Considering I won a copy of the game on 3DS when it's released for this victory (which I won't deny probably happened because I channeled all my good luck for the month into that one half hour feeling I was about to collapse from breathing too hard), I will probably never forget this tournament and I just wish it was on video for me to watch over and over again for me to actually make sense of what happened. Regardless, it is probably the single most epic event in my gaming history.

And if you are reading this O' Valiant Kirby player... I am truly sorry for all the luck I had on that fateful day, and for leaving you probably feeling saltier than a bag of my Dad's fish & chips.

TL;DR: I am the luckiest bastard to have played this game yet. Deal with it.

The Endgame: Professor Layton Vs Phoenix Wright

Story Completion: 100% (duh)
Puzzle completion: 100%
Total Play Time: 24:38
Total Picarats: 4475
Hint Coins Remaining: 162

WARNING: This post contains spoilers that WILL reduce your enjoyment of the game should you choose to play it. As a courtesy to my tiny readerbase, the spoilers have been blanked out.

When I first heard this game announced a number of months ago I was naturally very skeptical; take one of my most loved franchises (Phoenix Wright) and combine it with another franchise which to be honest is probably a lot more popular in the public eye (and more well known!). Nevertheless the game pulled off its surprising choice of crossover very well to create a game I was pleasantly surprised to play and with a story that's just as enthralling as any Professor Layton game I've ever played if not even more so.

Dreams will come true for fans of both games, Phoenix and Maya posing after solving puzzles? YES. Layton and Luke shouting OBJECTION? YES. YES. YES

You'd probably ask me how on earth two such different characters (from opposite sides of the world, no less) could wind up in a crossover like this without at least one of them feeling out of place or the whole thing feeling too forced, but I have to give credit to the story-writers, they pulled it off and very well at that. Both sections feature introductions based somewhat separately from each other to help you get a grasp of controls, before Layton and Luke, and then Phoenix and Maya are sucked into what appears to be a magical book that tells the story of a town called Labarynthia, where magic and witches are real? It's a very Layton-esque story line so you'd be forgiven for thinking Wright seems a little in the wrong kind of game. Can you figure out how he fits in yet? No? I'm talking about witch trials, and they suit him so well.

Despite my enjoyment of the game I do have a number of qualms with it however. Firstly, the professor Layton sections; they're executed very similarly to the existing 3DS Laytons, which is fine, though the controls aren't ideal they are functional at least, and aside from the somewhat pointless inclusion of Layton's 'zoom in' mechanic which is used ONLY once in the tutorial and ONCE in one of the games closing chapters, it had the feel and the enjoyment of a real Professor Layton game.
The Phoenix Wright sections in my opinion were beautifully executed, the cases were just as convoluted as any classic Wright case should be and the new mechanics (such as questioning up to 10 witnesses at once and presenting some evidence in the form of entries from the grand Grimoire, a magic encyclopedia) work very well and show just how well Wright has been adapted for the story.

I know this game will spawn crossover fanfic that could be pretty much considered canon now, and I don't like it.

The interesting thing about this game though is that it doesn't really fulfill the depth of the standalone games, take for example the puzzles from Layton's parts, they just really aren't as hard as a true Layton fan would want, most of them are unfailable (i.e you can play and play them and a real mistake will put you back a step or to the start rather than costing precious picarats) and are just about moving something up, down, left and right until a condition is fulfilled. The Wright sections despite still being great are also a LOT easier than they should be, with the ability to use hint coins basically telling you exactly what you need to present and where, plus the amount of evidence in the Court Record never exceeds 10, whereas some cases in Wright's stand alone games could feature 25 in there at once! Yes, although the game's mechanics may seem half-arsed to some, the story more than makes up for it, and it is very, very dark.
I can't deny that I felt genuinely shocked at multiple points throughout the story, be it the guilt inducing animations that show the people you convict of being a witch being locked in some kind of iron maiden and cast into a pit of fire, and especially when [it happens to Maya], not to mention the shock you get when [Layton is turned into a golden statue... AND his right arm breaks off]. I mean, you know there's no way these things could actually have happened, but it's enough to catch you off guard [perhaps because you were expecting someone else to be the victim?] and is truly a sign of how well Capcom and Level 5 have crafted the story.

The endgame sections I have to talk about in a yin-yang style. The last trial was pretty difficult and full of (occasionally predictable) surprises, and int he end did a good job of explaining everything, even if some ideas are a little far-fetched. The final Layton section left a lot to be desired in my books though, the standard big tower at the end where all the answers are revealed contained only three puzzles, all of which we're sickeningly easy and pretty much the same, needless to say I was disappointed.

The are a few things the game seems to fail on explaining, for example I'm still not sure why Espella (that's this girl here, main heroine) becomes like a brainwashed zombie half the time whilst nobody seems to be possessing her, and how the hell did they get sucked into the book in the first place!

Regardless, I have very happy with the overall quality of the game compared to my initial thought that it would probably be a lot worse. Die had fans of either series may struggle to like the other half and be disappointed with the sections that they enjoy the most. If you're a fan of both like me, you'll probably get a lot of enjoyment out of it as the characters and overall styles of the Wright and Layton games have been molded together perfectly like the pages in a book and the 'feel' of the games combines like that perfect blend of coffee. In addition, players who have yet to experience either game should fine the combination makes for a spectacular entry-level experience and I would definitely recommend it if you've been looking to play either game to prepare you for the greater depth offered by the full standalone titles.

TL;DR: I got carried away writing. It's puzzlingly good, no objections here. Buy it if you've been looking to try either but haven't yet. Falls flat compared to the standalone titles in places, but excels in others. Recommend.

The Endgame: Borderlands 2

Despite it being released 2 years ago, I have just recently finished playing Borderlands 2 and it's still safe to say it's one of the most fun games you can pick up, at least until the Pre-Sequel comes out.

So if for some reason you have never heard of Borderlands. Firstly, how the fuck have you managed to do that, and secondly it's a FPSRPG (First Person Shooter Role Playing Game)... or something... where you kill stuff and LOOT EVERYTHING. Seriously, I find that most of the fun I've had from Borderlands 2 has been from searching (for) chests for the rarest loot and that little feeling you get when you kill a boss and you see the coloured beams from everything he dropped and just have that tiny hope that maybe, just maybe one of those items is a super mega ultra rare orange item! Unfortunately this is a feeling you can only really understand when you've actually played the game so go out and buy it! Sure I've been complained at because of this slow 'LOOT EVERYTHING' playstyle, and yes going out of my way to open a cardboard box which will probably just contain ammo I never use (Fuck shotguns) is OTT, but in Borderlands 2 it can generally be excused, it has something like 72 billion randomly generated guns and you never really know when you'll find one you like more than your current one. Nothing stopping you from just rushing through the game though, except maybe being alone or underleveled against rocket using enemies, even when your friend has been spamming shift keys and grinding bosses to get you the best items the sight of an RPG Loader is enough to make you run away. NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE.

This chest is apparently the Borderlands equivalent of Heaven

I've played all the Borderlands 2 classes now and I can firstly say that the least fun class is Gunzerker, his special ability lets you dual wield, sure you can dual wield whatever you want, but it's still shit.
if you don't have any friends, I wouldn't recommend the Siren or the Assassin, both of them because of just how hard most bosses will screw them over, most bosses are too big for the Siren to lock in a bubble, and if the Assassin wants to do damage he has to either stay back and snipe while nobody distracts the equivalent of an entire army from you, or you need to be right in front of the massive 'fuck off' boss spamming melee while the same thing is going on (i.e: die and use your invulnerability while bleeding out to hopefully get a kill and revive, rinse and repeat until you actually die or there are no enemies left)
Otherwise if you're looking to have the most fun I recommend you try the DLC characters, The mechromancer never gets old summoning a robot dealing potentially the highest damage in the game and having the ability to blast people into a burst of lightening! Epilepsy sufferers be warned, you will get such a high playing this class! Alternatively if you're like the friend I played through with and may as well be a psycho(pathic) killer then the Psycho class is for you! The point is literally to set yourself on fire and make ribbons out of your enemies for your next red and soggy themed birthday party. Honestly it's all preference, but for the love of God don't play Gunzerker.

Yes! Laugh! Laugh at my Godlike shittiness!

But the end game though? It's good, really. The final boss(es) felt somewhat easy thanks to my friend's overuse of shift keys and orange farming but it's still totally badass, and I've not even mentioned Terramorphous the Invincible. I've always know about Terra being the biggest raidboss of Borderlands 2 and I've always wanted to fight him, so when we finished are normal run through I decided "Hey let's go fight Terra!" Long story short a giant fucking tentacle monster erupted out the ground and proceeded to rape us in every way imaginable until we eventually emerged in some images on Pandorian Pornhub, but I was still smiling all the way through my punishment for being so innocent.

Would usually refrain from taking pictures like this off Google so people can't chase me for copyright, but this picture wins the award for defining the mighty Terra

TL;DR: LOOT. Fuck the Gunzerker.

Welcome To The Endgame!

Hello to all readers from the uncharted realm of the internet, my name is Peter, otherwise known as Negimalevolent, and you have just reached The Endgame!

Before I explain what this blog will be all about (for the record, it's about video games, if you're looking for something else... well it's definitely not here!), let me explain a little more about me. I have played games pretty much all my life, from the days of the Gameboy Advance through to now and I'm still going strong. With games being a huge part of my daily life, I'd probably say I have almost 1000 games if not more than that stored somewhere and the fact of the matter is that, like a lot of gamers according to a study, I have probably completed only 10% of the games I've played, which is why I've decided that from now on I will complete each and every game I begin, and here is where I will tell the tales of my adventures in the many worlds glorifying our consoles and handhelds.

I remember when water ripples were the best thing since sliced bread in video games

Of course, I've not set up this blog for me to keep some kind of diary of my gaming, no no. The main purpose of this blog is for me to express my thoughts and feelings of the games I play, from my first impressions through to my last, maybe telling the odd story in between. I intend to show the world every strength, weakness, endearing trait, and every flaw of every game I complete, and I hope my writing will encourage you, my (probably tiny) reader-base to try/revisit these games for yourself, and enjoy the thrilling worlds we can all become a part of and experience.

Nobody cares for ripples any more... How times have changed...

(As a side note, while I will try and keep the games I write about modern, I play so many different games and come into them at so many different times that older (even retro) games will slip into the mix, even if you've never heard of some of these games, take some time to look into them, you may just discover your next favorite game!)

Kyogre used Splash! ... Please? It'd be funny...!

Thanks for reading, and look forward to some coverage on a game from a few years back within the coming days!

~Peter~

TL;DR: It's an introduction to the blog. I am bad at writing introductions. Video games will be completed and talked about. Deal with it.