Video Game Review: Ghost of Tsushima

This morning I woke up early and finished my latest video game: Ghost of Tsushima on my PlayStation 4. I enjoyed the game so much that I achieved every trophy and platinum'd the game. That means I actually finished the game several days ago and just had a few extra tasks to do.

Ghost of Tsushima is an action adventure game, which is my favorite style. It compares well to the Far Cry series, Horizon Zero Dawn, and Red Dead Redemption. Basically you run around as a Samurai warrior trying to repel the Mongol forces attacking your island. The game is broken into 3 parts or acts. Each act takes place on different parts of the island with their own weather and unique features. I enjoyed the 3rd act as it takes place in the snowy section of the island.

As with the other games of this genre, you start off with several tutorials in the form of flashbacks to when you were a young boy learning how to become a Samurai . As you progress through the game, you learn how to collect resources that will be used to upgrade your equipment. You also acquire skills, new types of weapons, and different armor. Initially you will feel overwhelmed with all of the various combinations but it will become clear when to use certain items and when to use others. Sometimes I felt like I was constantly changing clothes.

One of the nice things about the game is that it tells you how long you have been playing each time you go to save your progress. It took me 75 hours to finish the game and another 10 hours to complete all of the trophies. That is a great value for a $65 video game. I got a free copy of the game as I work for Sony Interactive Entertainment and Sucker Punch is part of our World Wide Studios. I gave that copy to my youngest son and then purchased a disc copy for myself for only $15. If I didn't have a huge backlog of games to play, I would probably run through the game again and really get my money's worth. Yes, it is very re playable.

Sucker Punch did a great job creating the visuals for the game. All of the scenes are very cinematic. There are also some great character stories that make the game very enjoyable. If you are looking for a game that allows to to escape from reality and enter an historic world, Ghost of Tsushima is worth a play.

Ghost of Tsushima has an ESRB rating of M for mature. As you find hot springs around the island, you see the main character's naked backside as he enters the water and increases maximum health. I asked my wife if she found it offensive and she just ignored me. There is also a lot of graphic violence as you use a sword and will sometimes take the heads of your enemies clean off. There is also a lot of spurting blood with such close combat. I would not recommend the game for young children but teenage boys will love it. You may feel differently for your own kids.

Ultimately I enjoyed the game significantly more than I thought I would. I highly recommend the game and think most video gamers that like action adventure games will enjoy it.

Video Game Review: Red Dead Redemption 2

Last week I finally finished Red Dead Redemption 2 and so I thought I would provide a review of the game. It is a long one so plan to spend close to 100 hours if you want to finish it. I completed all of the story missions including the 3 epilogues. There are still a few side quests that I can go back and do but my son wanted to play the game and so it is time for me to move onto something else.

As I have stated in the past, I really enjoyed playing Red Dead Redemption on my PS3. I anxiously awaited the sequel when it was announced. Once it released I contacted one of my close friends who used to work at Rockstar Games and had him help me get a copy for $20. Then I patiently waited as it took an hour or so to copy all of the information from the 2 provided discs to my PlayStation 4. Fortunately I still have a PS3 on my boat and practiced guitar with Rocksmith 2014. Plan to have something else to do during the loading time or you will be bored.

The game started out well as I relearned all of the controls. Many people refer to the beginning of the game as a horse and snow simulator. I didn't mind it at all as I love the snow. Once I got familiar with the game, I sort of got frustrated as I felt forced to do tasks go against my style of play. If I was to give myself one piece of advice it would be to make your own choices and not feel like you owe anything to anyone else in the game. Once I figured that out, I started enjoying the game more.

Rockstar spent a lot of money creating the game and they did a phenomenal job. There are still areas that feel a lot more polished than others. The last few sections of the main part of the game really kept my attention and I wished that more of the game had the same level of finish.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is really 3 games in one. There is the main part of the game where you play as Arthur Morgan. In the Epilogues you change characters and play as John Marston who is the main character in the original Red Dead Redemption. That means RDR2 is a prequel to RDR. Then there is an online portion of the game where you create your own character and perform separate missions using the same map as RDR. All sections of the game combine to create high-value if you are looking for a video game set in the late 1800's.

I played the game knowing I would be doing a review and so I looked for a number of elements so I could comment on them. Firstly the game is rated "M" for Mature and says it includes violence, strong language, drug use, nudity, and sexual situations. I know that some parents are concerned about nudity and the only that I saw during the game was in paintings found in an art gallery. In other words, I wouldn't worry about it in this game. As for the rest of the content, yep, it is all there.

There is a lot of content for a $60 video game. Right now, that price has dropped to $35 and is well worth it at that price. If I didn't have a friend in the industry that got me the game at a nice discount, I would have gladly paid the original asking price. I highly recommend the game for young adults but would be a cautious parent getting this for a teen.

Red Dead Redemption 2 Finally Got Good

For the past several months I have been playing Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption 2 on my PS4. It took a long time for me to start enjoying the game as much as I enjoyed the original Red Dead Redemption. The story seemed to indicate that I was starting to get close to the end and I felt disappointed that I didn't enjoy the game earlier. As I finished up the main story this week, I noticed that Rockstar seemed to put a lot more effort into the game ending and I really got a lot more into the story. The music got better, the writing got better, and the characters finally became more likeable.

The main story ended and I found myself playing the Epilogue as John Marsden. He is the main character in the original game and I really like him. Perhaps it is because he has a son and I can relate to that (as can Kratos in the fairly recent God of War game from Santa Monica Studios) as well as a few other likeable characteristics. Ultimately I found myself wanting to stay up late so I could continue the game last night and had to force myself to go to bed so I wouldn't be a zombie at work today.

I will try to provide a complete review in the near future but wanted to report that I am now finding the game worth playing. Should you be wondering if it is worth your time, I would suggest hurrying through the main part of the story to get to the Epilogue. All of the original story side quests and missions are still available and you can give them a play. I will try to provide an update in the next few days so you can decide for yourself if it is worth playing.

Looking Forward to Red Dead Redemption 2

The second trailer for Red Dead Redemption 2 was recently released and has me excited about the game. After watching the new footage, I immediately called my friend that used to work for Rockstar Games and asked if he had a way of getting me a discount copy of the game. While I would be willing to pay full price for the game, I also try to leverage my contacts in the video game industry to help me get good deals.

Red Dead Redemption is a special game to me. It showed me that playing video games in the evening can be much more rewarding that watching television. After several weeks of playing the game nightly, I felt like I was losing a friend when the game ended. In the trailer for version 2 of the game, there doesn't seem to be any connection between the two games other than they both take place in the western United States in the mid 1800's. Someone explained to me that the new game is a prequel. I'll be very interested to see how the two games are related.

The only bad news delivered in the trailer is that the game will not be ready until the spring of 2018. With all of the anticipated game releases between now and Christmas, that is probably a good thing. I can still be disappointed though.

Video Game Review: Far Cry 3

Recently I finished playing Far Cry 3 on my PlayStation 3 console. I found a really cheap copy that included Far Cry 2 and Far Cry Blood Dragon. I have yet to play the other two games but interestingly enough, I have played some of Far Cry 4 on my PS4. In fact, I enjoyed it so much I thought I would go back and see if there is any tie into the game before. Nope, you can play each game in any order as they don't rely on each other at all.

Before starting the game I did review a few online guides. The game has an ESRB rating of M for Mature. One of the reasons is because of nudity and that's not something I want to see when I play video games. I read that there really only is nudity at the end if you make a specific choice. They lied. There is another section in the game with some brief nudity. The M rating also applies to language and a lot of violence.

I finished playing Red Dead Redemption and really enjoyed that style of game. I tried a number of other games but couldn't find anything else I enjoyed nearly as much. Fortunately I stuck with Far Cry 3 long enough to discover that it is an open-world game where you can try to stick to the main story or go off and do other things just like Red Dead Redemption. I have to say that I really enjoyed Far Cry 3 and enjoyed playing all the way through the game. I spent about 10 weeks on the game. Remember that I only play about 3 nights a week for 1 to 2 hours and so it took me a lot of calendar time to complete it but not a lot of total time.

Far Cry 3 is published by Ubisoft and I have found myself playing a lot of their games lately. I got my copy of the game for $1 and recommend it if you are looking for an inexpensive game for an adult video gamer still playing games on the previous generation of consoles.

Entertaining Video Games

I am sitting at the airport in San Diego getting ready to play a video game on my PS Vita and I have a couple of choices. I have been trying to get through Sly Cooper but find myself grinding through the various levels and it has stopped being fun. Given the choice of continuing the game or watching paint dry, I am leaning towards the latter. Others may disagree but that is how I feel. Knowing this, I threw in another game in my computer bag before leaving home: Lego The Hobbit.

I have never played a Lego video game for more than a few minutes but find them hilarious. When your character blows up or is killed, there is no blood nor gore. Just Lego blocks being broken down into their individual components. It always makes me laugh.

So what makes one video game more entertaining than another? That is the all-important question and I wish I had a complete answer. I do know that there are a number of games that I have played that are like abusive relationships. The game is difficult and you only continue because you have invested time in the relationship and want to see it all the way to the end. Rather than feeling good because things are going well, you feel good because you didn't get the crap kicked out of you. I hate those types of games and that is what Sly Cooper is turning into.

Contrast that with Tomb Raider or Red Dead Redemption where I got totally involved in the game and looked forward to playing them on a daily basis. Some parts of the games seemed difficult but then they got easier for a time and the story built, allowing me to reinvest in my relationship with the characters.

Sly Cooper was amazing when it first hit the market. Since then games have evolved and it makes it difficult to go back to that style of game. I may eventually go back to it but right now I need something else to entertain me. Hopefully Lego The Hobbit is it.

Some Video Games are too Long

I have a bunch of video games I picked up for $1 and I am trying to get through a number of them. One of them is L.A. Noire from Rockstar Games. I bought it because a friend of mine used to work at Rockstar and got me a t-shirt for this game and I felt obligated to play it. Now I can't wait for the game to be done. This is disappointing because one of my favorite games is Red Dead Redemption from the same publisher and it uses the same game engine.

L.A. Noire is set in 1950's Los Angeles and you are a police detective back from being a marine in World War II. You get to run around trying to solve various crimes by looking for clues and questioning people. One of the unique things about the game is that you have to decide if the person is telling the truth, you doubt their answer, or they are lying. If you accuse them of lying then you need to have evidence to back it up. At first it was interesting and fun. However now the game just keeps going and going. I only have 3 more crimes to solve and then I will be done. If I wasn't so close to the end, I would stop playing the game now, never to pick it up again.

Today I was thinking about why I love Red Dead Redemption so much but hate this game. They are both open world where you can roam anywhere you want. Both have you go off on missions only to interrupt you with other tasks. In RDR you may have to kill an animal or shoot an outlaw. In LAN, you get to respond to street crimes. RDR is much more enjoyable because they are small tasks on the way to larger ones. In LAN you often drive minutes out of your way just to shoot a couple of thugs robbing a bowling alley. Then you have to drive all the way back to where you were heading and in some cases, it is just around the corner from where you were before you got sidetracked. The game tries to make it up to you by sending you past notable Los Angeles tourist sites. While they may be interesting, they are not nearly as fun as killing a Grizzly bear with a knife or rescuing a maiden in distress.

As I try to finish L.A. Noire, I have decided that I just want to get through it and finish the game. I don't care about doing all of the side missions nor do I care about any of the other trophies. That is too bad because if Rockstar released a remastered version of Red Dead Redemption for the PS4, I would totally buy a copy.

L.A. Noire is rated M for mature because of gruesome scenes, strong language, violence, and a number of nude murder victims. Remember that I do work for a video game company and while I try to be unbiased, may not seem so to others. I really did enjoy Red Dead Redemption but can't recommend L.A. Noire even though I only paid $1 for it. I am playing it on my PS3 and just want it to be over.

My 2015 Christmas List

Normally at this time of year I like to put together a Christmas list to give people ideas for the season. Last year I took a departure from the norm and wished for small and simple things that didn't have anything to do with computers nor technology. I figured it is only fair that I try to go back to a regular list and provide some good ideas for those last-minute shoppers:

New Video Games: There are 2 games that I can recommend this year: Star Wars Battlefront and Fallout 4. My recommendation comes from playing one of the games at home a lot and the other comes from talking with other gamer players and listening to what they are playing. Both games seem to be a lot of fun and will bring countless hours of entertainment.

Old Video Games: I have a huge collection of older video games and have seen these for sale at rock-bottom prices in places like Target and Best Buy. My two favorite games that I have played this year have to be Tomb Raider and Red Dead Redemption. Both provided hours of enjoyment. I enjoyed Tomb Raider so much, I returned the copy I borrowed from a friend and purchased a version for the PS4 at Game Stop during a Black Friday sale for $15.

Television: I hate to recommend any one brand or model as everyone has such varying requirements. However I think that if you are in the market for a new TV you should consider upgrading to one of the 4K models. A normal HDTV has a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels. The new UltraHD TV's are 3840x2160. That is the equivalent of 4 HDTV's. Furthermore they are coming down in price so that they are actually affordable.

There are a number of other smaller gifts that you might consider. In the past I have recommended USB thumb drives. I don't see a need for these as much simply because there are a number of online places to exchange large computer files. You can never have too many memory cards though. The only trick is making sure you get the right ones. While it used to be safe to pick up SD cards in the past, there are a number of different format cards for different devices. I would love to add a memory card to my Android phone and my kids are always running out of space on the cards used in their DSLR cameras.

Another small gift recommendation in the past has been USB cables. I now have a huge supply of them but find myself lacking HDMI cables. HDMI cables are not that expensive and I would definitely appreciate having a few extras.

Hopefully your Christmas shopping is done and this list is useless. If not, I hope I have given one or two good ideas to choose from. Merry Christmas.

Time to Upgrade my Gaming Console

I have been traveling a lot over the last 6 weeks and have missed playing Red Dead Redemption on my PlayStation 3. Last night I was able to start playing some more. I have to say that I really like the game and continue to enjoy it. However I think it will be the last game I play on my PlayStation 3 as I prefer the graphics on the latest video game consoles.

I have a PlayStation 4 at home in Utah but don't get much of a chance to use it for more than watching movies. When I am in the Bay Area on my boat, I have a lot more time to play video games as I am all alone and don't have to share the TV with others. While the PlayStation 3 has been good on the boat, I am ready to upgrade to a PlayStation 4. Some might argue that getting an XBox One would allow me to have both of the latest video game consoles. As you can see from how long it has taken me to get through one video game, I have more than enough games to keep me busy and so keeping with a single brand allows me to share games between my two systems. Besides, I have a number of PS4 games still in their plastic wrappers and would love to start playing them.

So now the question becomes which PS4 should I get? You can pick up a pre-owned system at Best Buy for $349 or a new one for $399. Then there are the bundled units that come with games for the same $399 price. I already own The Last of Us for the PS4 and so that bundle doesn't make sense. One of my co-workers is encouraging me to get the Batman: Arkham Knight Limited Edition bundle. I asked my oldest son for his recommendation and he said that the I should get the Batman Limited Edition because if I decide to resell the console later, I should be able to get the same or more money for it. My son has the Destiny Limited Edition and it seems to be worth more than he paid for it even though it is used. So which one should I get? Fortunately I have a lot of time to think about it.

Video Game Review: Red Dead Redemption

I was finally able to finish Thief a few weeks ago and got around to picking a new game to play. Yesterday I found myself with a bit of downtime in the office and so I went to our video game library and picked out Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption to play on the PlayStation 3. I had heard a lot of good things about the game and thought I would give it a try.

I put the disk in my PS3 on my sailboat and made a chicken salad while the game installed on my hard drive. The game was ready before my dinner and so I patiently watched all of the opening credits while I finished things in the galley. When I sat down to start playing, I had a lot of fun.

The game starts with you entering a town on a train. You figure out the mechanics of the controller by walking to a saloon, meeting a guide, and riding a horse. The whole time you have constant helps directing you what buttons to push and where to go. Everything was new to me and it took a bit to figure out how to make the horse do what I wanted. After a while the controls started to feel more natural and I enjoyed the game. One thing that is different about this game is that it is much more of a free world than games I have played in the past. While Battlefield 3 claimed to be free world, it had you running through a maze and still felt very controlling. With Red Dead Redemption you really can go anywhere and are not prompted to do specific missions. If you want to go into town, you can. If you want to go back to the ranch and take a nap, you can. There are a number of places you can go to get new tasks but if you don't feel like doing them, you don't have to. It took me a while to get used to that but I have to admit that I enjoyed not being forced to do anything.

I played the game for 4 hours and had to call it a night. I could have kept playing but after having woken up at 3:40am to catch my flight to the Bay Area, I was pretty tired. The only downside to the game is that I find myself wanting to leave work early today to go play the game.

Red Dead Redemption is an older game available for the previous generation of consoles and so you can find it for $20 new or $6 used at all of the usual outlets. For that price, it is well worth picking up. Now if you will excuse me I think I feel a cough coming on and probably need to head back to the boat so I don't get my coworkers sick.