Laboratory of Mathematics and Writing

Onimusha: Way of the Sword Remember when I said I’d cave in to the hype of The price is right? Well, I got this game for free. I bought a new graphics card, and the game came as a free bonus with it. My luck has been good lately, too. I found an open-box CPU and GPU for $100 less each. So I was able to significantly upgrade my PC at a sizable discount and get a free game on top of that. The prices of components are crazy nowadays, so any reduction in price helps. Hype After making my purchase, I discovered that Onimusha had been hyped to the heavens. Everyone is talking about how great it is and how it’s a glorious return for the franchise. I don’t see it. The game is good, but it’s not that good. It’s definitely a game I’ll play once, have some fun with, and probably never touch again. Then again, the combat is so good that I might replay it just for that alone. Master Swordsman You play as Musashi, a skilled samur...

Resident Evil: Requiem I was going to play Resident Evil 3, but I ended up succumbing to hype. Requiem has an overwhelmingly positive reception on Steam, and reviewers routinely award it high marks. I acquired a discount code that brought the price down to 47 dollars instead the normal sticker price of $70. So, I figured, "why not?" and made my purchase. I guess I succumb to hype whenever the price is right. I definitely don't regret my purchase. Indeed, Requiem is a very well done game. However, even though it's not fair, I can't help but compare it to the old school Resident Evil games I just played. I must say, I think I preferred Resident Evil 2 over Requiem. There are really only a small handful of reasons why, but either way, Requiem is absolutely worth playing and about as good as everyone says it is. Leon The events of Requiem take place nearly three decades after those of RE2. Leon is a different...

Denshattack! There's a YouTuber that goes by the name DreamcastEnjoyer. He coined the phrase "big Dreamcast energy" to describe games that are clearly inspired by the type of games that can be found on Sega's final console. I feel confident in categorizing Denshattack! as a game with big Dreamcast energy. There is no question that it would have been perfectly in place among that console's library of games. It definitely has the arcade feel where the game is easy to learn, but once it sinks its hooks into you, you'll spend many hours trying to truly master it. I myself spent such time mastering Denshattack!'s tracks and had an absolute blast. Xtreme Train Racing You play as Emi. She makes her living as delivery driver. Except, she doesn't drive a car or a truck or a bicycle. She drives a train. She lives in a fictional Japan where a climate catastrophe has affected ecosystems and people general...

Visions of Mana I adored both Secret of Mana and Secret of Mana 2 (Seiken Densetsu 2 and Seiken Densetsu 3, respectively). They're not quite at the top of gaming mountain for me, but they're both enjoyable experiences worthy of multiple playthroughs. I haven't revisited them in years, but the first Secret of Mana remains my favorite by a small margin, largely because of its brighter color palette and catchier soundtrack. Visions of Mana is a welcome addition to the franchise and, while I wouldn't rank it above those classics, it's still a thoroughly enjoyable adventure in its own right. Gorgeous Visuals Let me start off by mentioning how spectacular the visuals are. This is exactly how I envisioned a 3D Mana game to be. It's bright, colorful, and the cartoon style is an absolute slam dunk. The environments are lush and bursting with color. Each area has a distinct identity. The vibrant green grass and tree ...

Witcher 3 It's difficult to believe this game was released over a decade ago. I left graduate school just a year prior and had just taken up teaching part-time at a community college. I had also taken up teaching full time at a high school that was populated by at-risk youth. Teaching college was my favorite job ever. Teaching high school was dreadful. There's no money in teaching, so dropping high school teaching was an easy decision. I did continue teaching college part-time. Unfortunately, there's very little money in it. Count me as one of those that was promised a high-paying job but didn't attain one after college. It wasn't exactly the best time in my life. My escape from feeling down on myself was of course PC gaming. That year, 2015, delivered two super fun games I escaped to: Fallout 4 and Witcher 3. Both are great, but Witcher 3 was on a whole new level. It cleaned up all the awards that year and is now regularly prais...

Mass Effect I actually recall when this series of games came out in the late 2000s and early 2010s. I was oddly hyped for them even though I had no intentions of playing them. I must have been hyped on behalf of gamers somehow. Perhaps I read it in a magazine or watched a commercial and fell for the marketing. What I garnered was that Mass Effect is supposed to be a more action oriented version of Knights of the Old Republic. Now, I did play the first KOTOR back in the day. While I did have quite a bit of fun, I was disappointed that the real time combat didn't exactly feel like real time combat. I was confused exactly how it functioned and how turns where determined. Luckily, it's not important to understand how each turn is determined. You could easily just select your actions and hack away at enemies. Real Time Combat I've digressed. The action in Mass Effect is indeed action oriented. There are no turns and there are no lightsab...

Elemental Gimmick Gear This game was released right in the middle of peak Y2K: 1999. However, upon first look, you could have mistaken the release year to be 1995 or 1996; at most 1997. You probably wouldn't guess that it was released on the Sega Dreamcast. It definitely has that Moebius inspired visuals akin to Panzer Dragoon. So, you could make another easy mistake and conjecture that Elemental Gimmick Gear was released on the Sega Saturn. It wasn't. It was released on the Dreamcast anno 1999. This game is incidentally a demonstration of how fast technology was evolving at the time. In just a few short years E.G.G. felt outdated. In fact, it began as a Saturn project that ended up being completed for the Dreamcast. Aside from being a solid game in it's own right, E.G.G. functions as a unique time capsule that bridges the fifth to the sixth generation of console gaming. Moebius Art E.G.G. is a top-down, 2D action...

MDK This is one of those games that is just simply outdated. The most obvious cue of that is the graphics, naturally. However, I don't think it's only because the game was released nearly thirty years ago - the art style itself didn't exactly age well, either. More accurately, it's both of these attributes in conjuction that makes the MDK look like a game that was made in, well, the mid-90s. It's also got some control issues, but they're not big and can be managed easily. Despite these setbacks, it is still fun to play. It has a certain charm to it that keeps you amused through its short but entertaining run. Outdated Visuals The graphical fidelity is definitely from three decades ago. It's low resolution, jagged, and very much limited by the hardware that was available at the time. Ultimately, I couldn't admire the art style. There’s a lot of dark, heavy color: greys, blacks, deep oranges, browns, an...

Stellar Blade I was actually hyped about playing this game. The influence of this game is absolutely obvious: Nier: Automata. I actually haven't played the game in a good seven years or so. I certainly remember enjoying it quite a lot, however. Perhaps it's time to give it another playthrough. But I gotta get through this backlog.... Anyways, I was hyped because of this influence and I am a total sucker for post-apocalyptic cyberpunk. I also enjoy mutated monstrosities for enemies to hack through. Any gamer loves a big, bad boss battle, too. Finally, Eve is a highly attractive female that's pleasing to the eyes. Call me a backwards neanderthal, but I prefer sexy women. Despite being hyped, my expectations wheren't exactly high. I expected a shallower version of Nier: Automata and that's definitely what I got. However, I must elaborate on just how much fun this game is. Story Premise The setting is about as typi...

Slave Zero This game was released right in the middle of the Y2K era: 1999. Naturally, the art direction totally matches the era. It's got the green, black, and steel grey aesthetics that belong in the most Y2K movie ever: The Matrix. It's also got emphasis on distant technologies. In this case, it's about growing massive cyborg mechs out of oversized embryos. It goes into vague detail about how this process is acheived using dark matter compounds. It's not particularly important. What is important is how the game plays and it plays fine; repetitive, but fine. Generic Fun This game is about as generic as you could possibly get. It's also quite repetitive. It also happens to be quite a bit of fun. You are Chan, a member of the Guardians. You are in control of a giant biomech on a quest to take down the tyrannical SovKhan and free humanity from his quest for global domination. You will have to destroy SovKhan...

The Greatest First Person Shooter Both of the Half-Life games can be regarded as masterpieces. Anybody that dislikes Half-Life is a hater. Don't make friends with haters. In case you haven't played these gems and are wondering "Do they really live up to the hype?", the answer is "Yes, absolutely!". So, go out and play Half-Life. Both of them. If you're in any way disappointed, you belong in jail. First Experience My first experience with Half-Life is with Half-Life 2 on the original Xbox. I've previously relayed my experience and love of Halo on the original Xbox, but upon finishing Half-Life 2 twenty years ago, I easily concluded that Half-Life is better than Halo. Which is saying alot since Halo is awesome. What's crazy is that Half-Life 2 on the Xbox is a diluted version compared to its original PC release. Despite all of its flaws, it still ruled. I had an absolute blast playin...

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Solid I typcally ignore hype. However, I grabbed this game on sale for $35 instead of the usual $50 sticker price. It is a price worth paying. I'm a cheapskate. So, fifty bucks is too much for me. I can still recommend this game even at it's fifty dollar price point, especially if you're into turn-based RPGs. I am personally not into turn-based RPGs. I tried Evolution: World of Sacred Device and, though charming, it was slog to get through. I played through Super Mario RPG, which is generally regarded as one of the best on the Super Nintendo, and I would be okay with never playing it again. Now I am working my way through Clair Obscur and I can safely say that I would rather play this game than the other two I mentioned. However, it still doesn't move my needle towards appreciating turn-based combat very much. Just like with Super Mario RPG, it was an entertaining game that I have no intention of ever pl...