Sidequest Corner: Remembering Sonic The Hedgehog

Yes, I am still alive.

Yes, I am still typing my other stuff.

Yes, I have been busy with a few other projects to the point where I can't keep this blog updated with a bunch of cutesy-poo “sorry too busy check back later” nonsense.

So what exactly has been holding me up? Well a combination of being on The Game Fanatics Live show on Twitch, writing several opinion pieces and reviews on stuff like Tacoma, Agents of Mayhem, and Telltale's Batman: The Enemy Within, and trying to play through the forty hour monster that is Yakuza Kiwami for review, which you can read here.

Don't worry, things should hopefully even out soon. Hopefully.

Sidequest Corner: My Thoughts on Ready Player One

It's been a while Cybertavern patrons. You're probably wondering why I haven't posted just about anything last week. Well I owe you an explanation.

Simply put, I had to pull the plug for a while.

Sidequest Corner: The Kingdom Hearts 1-2 Interquels

Don't worry, Animation Deviation will come back eventually. There's only so much you can type about when you're dealing with heat, oncoming carpal tunnel and at least three different projects. Not to mention there are only so many hours in the day.

Sidequest Corner: Master Mode and Balancing Difficulty

First thing's first, how was everyone's Fourth of July? Mine was quite enjoyable. Barbecue was had, concerts were attended, Pokemon Go was played, and I indulged in quite a lot of Crunchyroll and the latest downloadable content for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

That last part is the source of the topic of discussion in this week's post: what exactly is the key to making higher difficulty levels more engaging in games?

Sidequest Corner: E3 2017 in Review

Another year, another E3 has passed. Honestly I've done the news round up and rode the hype train so many times it is all become so embarrassingly rote to me. Stick to the big announcements and build them up, wag your finger at the major disappointments and missteps, then hold on and see what games actually come out this year and then write a feature about what happens. Not to mention get in contact with PR and try to get review copies of games out for topical reviews. Rinse, repeat, cash the check.

But this year's E3 was very unusual in that it was across the board fine. Alright. Completely middle of the ground compared to past years....

Sidequest Corner: Sony, Shut Up.

This week's Sidequest Corner is going to have a slightly different focus. Instead of talking about game design or trends, I am going to focus on a disturbing trend by the game industry. Nothing sinister, but just mundane enough that can lead to some big problems down the line.

Sidequest Corner: The Place For Grind

I love grinding. No, not the erotic kind of grinding, although I am partial to that as well. I enjoy myself some level-grinding in my video games. The simple act of basically repeating the same task over and over, fighting the same enemies, playing the same levels, all to watch numbers slowly rise to reward the time investment is surprisingly rewarding.

Sidequest Corner: The One Where I Tried VR

VR is an unbelievably experimental and uncharted region of game and technical design. The amount of hardware and processing power needed makes it a decidedly niche corner of gaming. In terms of games available they're mostly tech demos trying to find a way to make interesting experiences without making their players horribly sick to their stomach.

Sidequest Corner: How The Platform Affects The Experience

As I casually mentioned in my last post about how April Fools Day Rick-Rolled Me – no I am not apologizing for that pun – I got a review copy of Persona 5 by the lovely people over at ATLUS. While I am still working on my review of the game for The Game Fanatics, I even wrote a hot take on the game's opening, I actually found something unusual about my predicament with this installment.

It didn't...feel right.

Sidequest Corner: The Wrinkles of Kingdom Hearts

If you have no idea why I'm doing this here instead of on Saturdays, you got some reading to do suspiciously new face here at the Cybertavern.

As for everyone else, welcome back to my semi-coherent essays about games and game design. And as the title implies I am here to talk about Kingdom Hearts, the surprisingly lucrative and enduring JRPG franchise brought to us by the biggest name in Japanese RPGs, Square Enix, and the all-consuming force of progressive family friendly values that is the Walt Disney Corporation.