Video Game Review: Horizon Forbidden West

Friday night my wife went to dinner with her siblings. I opted to stay home and finish up Horizon Forbidden West. What a great game! Now I am probably partial as I used to work for PlayStation and this is an exclusive title that I got for free when one of my former colleagues gave me a download code as a parting gift from the company. I also played the precursor Horizon Zero Dawn all the way through and enjoyed it so much I earned every trophy in the game (also known as Platinuming).

At the end of Horizon Zero Dawn you discover there is more to the story and another cataclysmic event about to happen to earth. Horizon Forbidden West is that continuation. You continue to play as Aloy and move from the Intermountain West to the West Coast of the United States. There are new lands to explore and more people to discover that are even more bloodthirsty than the previous game. Naturally you show your excellent fighting skills and are immediately accepted by everyone except the bad guys who try to kill you. While you pretty much have combat mastered with the robot dinosaurs from the previous game, you get to meet more advanced versions as well as superior robots with an extraterrestrial origin. The only downside is you don't get to keep your invincible armor from the first game. Its batteries are dead and that became a foreshadowing of what would happen to me in a lot of battles . . . I died.

If you enjoyed the first game, you probably will the second as well. There are various quests to complete and friends to meet along the way. Not all weapons are created equal and so be sure to use your interactions to learn about what works best for you. My son ran through the game and focused on the main story at the expense of side quests. I found those extra missions added to the story and I enjoyed searching out different areas in the hopes of gaining experience. When it came time for the final battle, I did very well and sort of breezed through it. I think I enjoyed the game much more than my son.

Today I got an e-mail from PlayStation congratulating me on my accomplishment of finishing the main story of the game. They also reported that I spent 116 hours playing the game and earned 47 trophies. I still have 14 more to go to Platinum the game and will probably do that over the next week or so. My son's total hours played came in at much less than that. I guess I took my time.

Horizon Forbidden West has an ESRB rating of T for Teen because of language, mild sexual themes, and violence. To be honest I didn't notice any strong language but I am sure it was there. As for violence, there is a lot of that and the blood to go with it. The story also includes hints at same-gender relationships, hence the mild sexual theme warning.

I highly recommend this game to anyone looking for a 100 hours of pure entertainment. If I had not gotten a free copy of the game, I would have had no problem paying the $65 when it first came out so I could play it on my PS5. It is also available on the PS4.

Video Game Review: Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

Before the pandemic started, I had my buddy that used to work at Electronic Arts (EA) purchase me a copy of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order for the PlayStation 4. I then payed him back the $20 for the game and brought it home. My youngest son found the unopened copy of the game and asked if he could borrow it. I was finishing up another game at the time and so I loaned it to him. Naturally he redeemed the code inside for the extra goodies and ended up paying me for the game while he kept it for about a year. He then loaned it to my older son who played it for quite awhile.

With not being able to go to the office to get another copy for myself, I was feeling a bit left out. Then my oldest son let me know the game was on sale at the PlayStation store for about the same price as my friend could get it for me. Naturally I jumped on the store and picked up an electronic copy to download. I just finished playing it and am glad I finally got the chance to run through the game.

Jedi Fallen Order is an open-world adventure game which is a genre I really like to play. It is not nearly as complex as Horizon Zero Dawn or any of the recent Far Cry games. While there are some puzzles to solve and plenty of combat, it doesn't have all of the complex gathering and crafting. You have some echos and collectibles to find but they are minor parts of the story, unlike in other games.

If you are a fan of the Star Wars movies, you will love this game. It takes place just before the original Star Wars movie and has a pretty interesting story line that adds insight into saga. You also get to explore some of the planets in the Star Wars universe. It took me about 70 hours to complete the game and I played it on my PlayStation 5 even though it was created for the PS4.

The game has an ESRB rating of T for Teen due to some mild language and violence. After all, you do run around with a light sabre slicing droids, storm troopers, and creatures in half. I would have no problem letting my grand kids watch while I play this game. The fact that you don't have a complex crafting system also makes it easier for younger audiences should they wish to play.

I found the game to be very enjoyable and recommend it to anyone that is a fan of the Star Wars movies. Towards the end, it did get to be a bit redundant but less so than many other games I have played. There is still a lot I can do should I wish to platinum the game (get every single trophy or achievement) but I also have a lot of other games that I am interested in playing. I paid about $20 for the game and feel you get a lot of entertainment for that price.

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.

Christmas List 2020

It is that time of the year when I try to share some ideas for that hard-to-shop-for person on your Christmas list. In the past I have tried to focus on practical gifts that I would want. This year I am going to take a completely different path. In our family we have the idea of a "Christmas-Day" gift. It is a gift that you get on Christmas morning and play with for only a few days before you lose interest. This year I actually want something like that. When you only receive practical gifts, there is nothing to play with on Christmas day. This year, I want something to play with. A good example is something like a puzzle or a complex Lego set. Once you put everything together, you admire it for a bit, and then take it apart to possibly be played with at a later date.

The beauty of a Christmas-Day gift is that it is not something I would get myself. So without further explanation, here are some gifts I would enjoy receiving this year:

Just a box of Legos - This is just a set of Legos to go with my existing sets. It is great for allowing creative people to play and build.

Hogwart's Lego set - While I am on the topic of Legos, this is a set that I think would be fun to spend the day putting together. There are plenty of other large sets I would also like but this one I found quite easily.

Electronic Breadboard kit - Moving away from Legos and onto something a bit more practical yet fun is an electronic breadboard kit. This is something to get that budding electrical engineer in your family. My brother seemed to get one or two of these growing up but I never did. Perhaps that is why I studied Electrical Engineering in school as I always wanted one. No that I am grown, I would love to take some time during my Holiday break and just play with some electronic projects for fun.

Horizon Zero Dawn - Now if you get the chance to play video games on Christmas and you have a PlayStation 4, I recommend this one. It is a game that I really enjoyed playing and might be willing to play again. You can find the game at Best Buy for less than $10, which is less than I paid for my copy. Remember I work for PlayStation and so this might not be an unbiased recommendation.

Microsoft Flight Simulator - This is a game for your PC and is not one that I have played. This is something I would be interested in playing though. At $60 (from Best Buy for the standard version) it is the same price as most new video games.

If you are looking for low-cost gifts that fit into the Christmas-Day gift list, I really do enjoy a good 750 to 1000-piece puzzle. Puzzles are something you can always do with others and can be great fun for small groups.

Hopefully this gives you some ideas for that hard-to-shop-for person in your life.

Playing Video Games

Yesterday my youngest son called to tell me that he just got 100% completion of the video game "Horizon Zero Dawn." That is a lot of work and I congratulated him for a job well done. My wife overheard part of the conversation and wanted to know where my son got 100%. He is in his last year of college and so she thought it might be for one of his final exams. I had the break the news to her that he completed a video game.

I could tell my wife's excitement for my son's 100% came to an abrupt halt and she started to say, "Playing video games won't help him get a good job." I actually finished the sentence for her and then laughed as I work in the video game industry and while some companies pay better than mine, my paycheck has supported the family nicely for the past 9 and a half years. We all had a good laugh and it created a funny moment that we will share with others for quite a while.

Truth be told, playing video games probably won't help you get a good job, especially if you prioritize games over schoolwork. I didn't get hired because I have the high score in any game or am known on YouTube as a celebrated gamer. I got hired because of my strong engineering background and years of industry experience. This moment still makes a funny story though.

Video Games for Christmas

Yesterday I posted my Christmas list for 2018 and so I thought I would follow it up with a list of games that might make good gifts. Normally I include video games that I would like to play during the Christmas break and have done so at the end of October. Now I am a bit more realistic. I won't be trying to play a lot of games. Instead I will probably just play Red Dead Redemption II. I loved the first one and know that this one will be equally awesome. At least that is what all my coworkers are telling me as they play the game. If you have someone on your Christmas list that loves playing video games and they don't yet have this one, get it. They will love you for it.

There are a number of other video games that I can also recommend should your video game junkie be a bit to young for a game with an ESRB rating of M for Mature. In case you missed one of my earlier blog posts, Horizon Zero Dawn is a great game that can be picked up for $20. That includes the extra DLC.

At the end of October, I recommended Fallout 76. When I made that recommendation, I thought it was an open-world-action-adventure-campaign game. Now I discovered it is a multi-player-online game. While that would have interested me a decade ago, it is not the type of game I play now. It does have me thinking about picking up a copy of Fallout 4 though. I can get a digital download of that for around $22 and so I may do that as soon as I am done with my current game.

One more game I would recommend is the remastered version of The Last of Us. It started out as a PS3 game and then Naughty Dog remastered it for the PS4. I have yet to play it and so my recommendation comes from coworkers telling me I need to play it as well as an hour or two of watching my son play. I am told it has one of the best stories of any video game. You can pick up a copy for only $20. Part 2 will be released in the near future and so I want to be ready to play that when it becomes available.

There are a lot of really great video games available for this version of consoles (PS4 or XBox One) and so you should not have a shortage of ideas. Simply figure out what kind of games the person on your Christmas list likes to play and do a bit of searching. It shouldn't take long to find something with good reviews. Just be sure to stay away from the bad games as there are a lot of those as well.

Time for Another Game

Even though I finished Horizon Zero Dawn back in May, I wanted to do all of the side quests and downloadable content (DLC). Tonight I finished the last of the game and received my platinum trophy. There are very few games I enjoy enough to do that. Now I find myself trying to figure out what game to play next.

There are a few games I have started and can now finish. I have dabbled around with Detroit: Become Human and could play through the entire story. I have also started Far Cry 5 as I enjoyed Far Cry 4 so much, I earned another platinum trophy. Both of these games would hold my interest and entertain me for the next few months.

I also have yet to play the latest God of War game. I understand that it is a lot of fun. My son who enjoyed Horizon as much as I have, really likes God of War and suggested that I tackle it next. Others at work have a similar opinion.

Selecting the next game to play is always a fun challenge and not really a difficult problem. I have selected some horrible games in the past and rather than continue, I have stopped and start another one. So tonight I have selected Far Cry 5 to install on my PS4 and will start it tomorrow evening. If something else distracts me before then, I may play it. Otherwise I'll be spending time in a virtual Montana.

Video Game Review: Horizon Zero Dawn

In January I started playing Horizon Zero Dawn while spending evenings on my sailboat in the Bay Area. That means I only got to play for an hour or two on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday evenings. Last week I finally finished the game. I have about 100 hours into the game and completed all of the side missions except tutorials. I also only have a few other tasks until I complete all of the trophies.

A lot of my coworkers and friends have played Horizon Zero Dawn and encouraged me to do so. I hesitated playing it because I knew it would take a long time to complete. I am glad I did though as I thoroughly enjoyed the game. My youngest son also loves the game and I can see why. The story is very compelling and while I thought some of the tasks would get old, it turns out I needed that much time learning how to take down all the different machines available in the game. I also discovered that having the shield-weave armor really helps when trying to take down some very difficult enemies. If you decide to play the game, I highly recommend doing a bit of research and making sure you acquire it as early as possible.

Horizon Zero Dawn is an open-world game that allows you to go anywhere and do missions in almost any order. Towards the end of my game, I discovered there were plenty of earlier quests I hadn't done and so I went back and completed them before the final battle. Completing everything helps ease the difficulty towards the end.

Horizon Zero Dawn is rated T for Teen because of blood and violence. I enjoyed the game and highly recommend it for anyone over the age of 12. You can find a used copy of the game for around $25 and new for $30. It is well worth that price. I would also spend the extra money and get "The Frozen Wilds" DLC as I want to continue playing the game. I am a big fan of the PlayStation 4 console and this is a console exclusive so it is not available for the PC nor the Xbox platforms. That may be a deal breaker for some.

Losing Track of Time

Tuesday night I completely lost track of time. It happens every once and a while. A week or so ago I started putting together a technical specification and became so engrossed in what I was doing that I needed to be reminded to go to lunch. However Tuesday night, 2 hours seemed to be only 5 minutes.

After work I headed back to my sailboat and started playing Horizon Zero Dawn. My wife called to talk a bit and so I paused my game to have a conversation with her. As she hung up the phone, she told me she would call me when she headed to bed. A seemingly 5 minutes later my phone rang again. I told my wife that she must be going to bed early. Then I looked at my watch. She didn't hesitate to correct me that it had been quite a while since I talked to her on the phone last. To me it seemed like such a brief moment in time.

It is too early for me to write a review of the game but I have to say it has my interest. I can tell that eventually it may start to feel like I am doing the same thing over and over, but it has my interest right now. Stay tuned for more.

A Quick Review of Ubisoft's Steep Video Game

A few days ago I found myself with some spare time at home alone and so I loaded up Ubisoft's Steep video game on my PS4. I started playing it and wanted to provide a quick review before moving on to my next winter break game. I don't want to keep playing the game right now because it is something that will appeal to me more in the summer when I can't ski and need a good snow escape.

The game does a good job simulating snow. It is one of the best I have seen. The Frozen Wilds DLC from Horizon Zero Dawn looks very similar and this is because of the graphics processing power of the latest generation consoles. Otherwise it plays very similarly to any of the other skiing and snowboarding games that have been around for a decade. You have a number of challenges where you try to beat times or get scored for tricks. My first challenge was to beat a specific tine down a course. I also had to fly through a wing-suit course in another one. Something new that I did was to follow another skier and try to stay behind her as she went off cliffs and through trees. I enjoyed it a lot.

Steep is a great video game for anyone. You don't have to worry about violence or nudity. It has an ESRB rating of T for Teen because of language but I have yet to come across any. I am a fan of Ubisoft games and play a lot of them. This is definitely one I will keep playing. I will just wait until the summer months before finishing it. You can find the game for around $25 if you look for a deal and it is worth that price.

Christmas Break Video Game List

This afternoon I am taking a small break from working at home to watch my son play Horizon Zero Dawn with the downloadable content (DLC) The Frozen Wilds. It has me thinking about the games I want to play over the break. I made sure to pick up a number of games from the office before leaving and I will see how many I can get through during my time off. I will probably save the Horizon games until I head back to California as it looks like a good game to play during my evenings on the boat. Here is my list for the break:

Star Wars Battlefront II - I watched my son start out this game a few days ago and it looks very interesting. I must confess that I am a huge Star Wars fan and we will see if it lives up to my expectations.

Uncharted: The Lost Legacy - I am a huge fan of the Uncharted series and have played all of the other games. I have high expectations for this game and think I can get this completed before the break is over.

Steep - I have wanted to play this game for a long time and finally picked up a copy. Of course I will also be skiing Snowbird and Alta so we will see how much time I want to swap from real skiing to do virtual skiing.

I have a bunch of other games in my library but I think this is a good start for my break. We'll see how many I get played.

Back to the Normal Routine

For the past month or so, my normal routine temporarily changed. It all started when my company decided to redo the floors in our gym. That meant no exercising at work for 2 weeks. It also meant I got to refresh my memory of the marina showers. I prefer the ones at work a lot more.

Next I had my usual winter ski trip with my wife. Every winter, I like to take a few days to try and ski someplace new. We thought about visiting Telluride in Colorado but opted to stay closer to home because of snow conditions. Instead we skied at Deer Valley, Snowbird, and Alta. Due to our seasons passes, the price of lift tickets amounted to absolutely nothing. Throw in the lack of a need to find a hotel room and the trip came in at a bargain price.

Finally I had a business trip to London and took my youngest daughter who has never been out of the country. We had a great trip and I got a lot of good work done. It just meant a departure from the normal routine.

This week I am at in my office in the Bay Area with everything back to normal. Don't get me wrong, I love to mix things up every now and then. Not having to go to work because of a ski vacation is a good thing. However now I am glad to be back on a regular schedule with my normal exercise and shower facilities available. It also means I have time in the evenings to test more video games. There are a number of new ones that have come out. I have spent some time watching my son play Horizon Zero Dawn and today a friend from EA picked me up a copy of Mass Effect Andromeda. They both look to be spectacular games. When I am on my boat during the week, I can play without feeling any guilt at all. Now my only decision is which one to play first.