Totes my Goats

Oh, boy.

What do you think about being a goat?  Not only a goat, but a goat that rampages through a town destroying everything in sight.  This is exactly what you do in Goat Simulator.  It is available on Steam for $10.  And the destruction and goatiness is worth those $10.  In the game you control a goat and gain as many points as possible.  It is hilarious awesome and if you have the money then you should totally buy it!   I give it an 8 out of 10.  Mainly because it has lag at some points and you wish that there was more to do.  However, it is a really fun game and I think everyone should at least experience it.  

Final fantasy

Some food for thought about Final Fantasy.  It is an awesome series and undoubtedly has some of the best stories that has come out of video games.  However, as of late it has not been the best.  I personally enjoyed the 7,8,9 final fantasies.  They are the first ones that I ever played and I think they really did the series proud.  Nothing beats going out into an over world and you characters being larger than the towns itself.  Also, possibly the best and most popular Final Fantasy 7 could possibly be the best game ever made.  

Time to think about the future.

The future is scary no matter how you look at it.  It is uncertain and as people we don't like what is uncertain.  We like to know what is going to happen next and want that feeling of security.  It is the same with everyone.  I believe that we need to know what is going to happen.  If people don't know what is going to happen people get uncomfortable and they get that antsy feeling that they should be doing something about the future but they can't.  Of course since the future is uncertain I am not going to talk about that anymore.  The real topic of this post is going to be the Final Fantasy series and what Square Enix thinks it is doing with this beloved video game series. What is going on with that.  More on it later.  You never know what the future will hold and we will see what happens with his blog post should be fun
 

 

Cartoon ghosts and a green cap

As a child and still today nothing gets my spirits up like a play through of Luigi's Mansion, the original. Nothing against Dark Moon, I have played it and I love it.  But, the first Luigi's Mansion for the Gamecube is a testament to the Super Mario Franchise.  It was one of the first, if not the first game to feature Luigi not Mario as the main character.  The story goes,  Luigi receives a letter that says he has won a mansion from a contest he never was a part of.  (sounds like foul play to me).  When he gets to the mansion he soon discovers that it is full of ghosts and they have captured his brother Mario.  So Luigi must suck his way through the mansion with the help of a vacuum to save his brother.  Truly a tale for the ages.    

Ign.com gave this game a 7 out of 10.  7 for presentation, 9 for graphics, 7 for sound, 7 for gameplay and a 2 for lasting appeal.

*I use ign.com scale as just a basis for my own,  everyone is entitled to their own opinion*

According to ign that is a good rating. But I don't think that it does this game justice.  So in order to keep my rage to a controllable level I will agree with some of the points mentioned by ign's review of Luigi's mansion and disagree with some as well.  So here we go, me here starts my Luigi's Mansions review

Presentation

First, let me talk about the presentation. What ign means by presentation, I have no idea.  Here is what I gathered. It is how the game looks, how it presents itself to the player.  How the menus are set up and whatever else.  Ign gave this a 7 out of 10.  which is good.  They said it was standard, boring menus, and a cartoony trek. But honestly, what gamer really gives two shakes about how the menus look.  In my opinion this is a waste of a category.  the menus could look horrible and I would still play the game and enjoy the game. Unfortunately, whether I like the category or not it is there so I must give it my full attention and focus.  The presentation of Luigi's mansion, is what gives it its character and a definitive place in this world.  It is a cartoony and silly adventure for sure. But that is how the character of Luigi is supposed to make us feel.  He is the comical sidekick of Mario who finally gets his own game.  I believe it rivals that of the current Lego inspired games.  Where everything is cartoony and silly.  I believe that a game's tone is based on its main character.  If the main character is serious and dramatic then so will the game.  If the main character is silly then you will have a silly game.  Honestly, I think menus have little to do with the overall presentation of this game.  So while Ign gave Luigi's Mansion a 7 out of 10 for its presentation I will give is a good 8.5 out of 10.  Because of the great way it captures the character of Luigi and builds a game around him.  It just radiates hilarity and silliness which I am just a fantastic fan of. This game also gives us a nice balance of creepy and silly which i really enjoy.  Because let us be honest if there was any other main character to this game I think we all would be looking at a horror game rather than a comedy. So 8.5 out of 10 for presentation.  

Graphics

Now, that we got our feet wet with presentation let me now take you on a trip down graphics lane.  Ign says that Luigi's mansion graphics are a brilliant 9 out of 10.  Which honestly, I agree, the graphics in this game are stellar,  for the game cube in 2001.  Nintendo shows us that they can make games with good graphics right here will this game.  The shadows that are all over with game are flawless.  These graphics are some of the best graphics for the gamecube I would figure.  So I think ign hit this right on the head, truly fantastic with only a couple of flaws.

Sound

"Mario!" about every couple minutes walking around this mansion Luigi yells this and even when I am not playing this game I find myself randomly yelling the same thing just because I got it stuck in my head.  It is the true sign of a some really good sound.  Ign gives this a 7 out of 10 for sound and I think that this is a little low, for the only thing that they find wrong with it is it is overly cheesy at times and that the theme song is overused...  Of course it is going to be overly cheesy.  It is a game about Luigi.  If you know anything about Luigi then that fits his character perfectly.  He is the stereotypical cheesy sidekick that is just clumsy and silly.  So the sounds and music will capture that.  Of course the theme song is going to be used a lot, it is the theme song to the game, we are going to here is a lot.   I think the sound in this title deserves a 9 out of 10.  Because sometimes cheesy is perfect.  

Gameplay

Probably the most important thing to a game is how it plays.  If it plays bad then to me the game is bad, everything else could be perfect 10's but if it sucks at gameplay then it might as well just have been a movie.  Gameplay makes a video game a video game.  So it needs to be good.  ign gave Luigi's Mansion a 7 out of 10.  They say it is too easy and short and no reward for playing the game.  No reward for playing..I think not.  what do you want 20 bucks for playing Luigi's Mansion.  No that is not what it is going to do.  The ending reward of the game is determined by how well you have played the game.  If you sucked (no pun intended) at playing the game then you will get a low reward and if you rock then you will get a bigger reward out of it, plain and simple.  While I admit that this is not the hardest game that has traversed my television I had a blast sucking up those ghosts and saving that good toe shoes Mario.  It does have difficultly however, if you think chasing a Boo all over the mansion is easy then think again.  Counter argument to the too short is play it again, It is a blast the second time around as well. So for gameplay it gets a 9 out of 10.  Because you know sometimes you want the game to be short, easy and have a blast doing it.  You certainly get that with Luigi's Mansion

Replay Value

ign calls this lasting effect and I will touch on that but it is basically replay value. No matter how many times I play this silly game I will always enjoy doing it.  It never gets old and I prefer it over some of the stuff that is out nowadays.  I will always gladly hook up my Gamecube and battle my way though a mansion.  It was one the of first games to highlight Luigi, the lesser of the two Mario Brothers and gave him his own light.  Luigi's Mansion is a game through it's weight in gold, it will always be fun and people will always have fun playing it. It is one of those games that will stand the test of time and be one for the record books.  ign gave it a 2 out of 10. I give it a 9 out of 10 for "lasting effect". Because it is kinda hidden by the new one that is currently out.  

The tally

ign gave it a total of 7 out of 10 

Me as a gamer and avid Super Mario Bros Franchise fan total Luigi's Mansion as........Let me do some fancy calculations here

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

n

n

n

n

n

n

n

n

n

n

n

n

dd

d

d

d

d

d

d

d

d

d

d

d

d

Presentation 8.5

Graphics 9

Sounds 9

Gameplay 9

 Replay value 9

giving the grand total to be an 8.9 out of 10.  which I think is a grade worth such a classic and outstanding game.

   

                                                    

The way life goes

I recently completed the first season of The Walking Dead video game.  For people who are unfamiliar with this game.  It is based off the comic book and the TV series.  It is about the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse and how people are going to survive with the undead walking everywhere.  In this game you make choices that can drastically change the the later game and even the ending.  For an example, at one point in the game you are low on food and there isn't enough rations for everyone.  You are the one who decides who gets to eat and who does not.  It was one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make in a video game.  Everyone was hungry and needed to eat.  This choice changed how the NPCs (non playable characters) in the game felt about you character, basically whether they like you or not.  Which will change how they treat you later.  Everything in the game changes with your choices.

This got me thinking about life and the decisions we make in life might change the future.  Such as, what college you go to, what you major is, which road you take getting home.  Life could change with one small choice.  It also got me thinking about how life could be so different if you chose the other option.  If this person got to eat rather than the one you originally chose.  How it would change the rest of your life.  If I would have kept my secondary education certificate instead of changing  to a writing emphasis.  If I wouldn't have changed my concentration I would have been getting ready to start student teaching.  But, here I am writing my first blog post on bloggin' stuff.  I probably wouldn't have thought to even start a blog.  I would also know what I would be doing after college, but let's not talk about that.  That is something for another day.  It is insane to think that something like that could change so much in a persons life but it does.  If only you could go back and actually see what happens if you took the other path.  

Since we are talking about paths. "The Road not Taken" a poem by Robert Frost.  This poem is about a person who comes to a fork in the road and decides which path he should take.  The speaker takes one path thinks if he chose the right one and what it would be like if the speaker took the other.  At the end of the poem the speaker finally figures out that it doesn't matter what path the speaker took.  Yes you will wonder about what the other path would be like.  But, you have to embrace your choice no matter what.  Unless, you have a time machine you are stuck with your choice and you must face the good things or the bad things that come from those choices.  Like The Walking Dead video game you need to make a choice and stick with it.  You can't regret your choice because if you do then you won't be able to get on with your life.  If you don't give food to someone in The Walking Dead then you must stick with that.  You must face what is to come of the choice with all you got so you can face the next choice with all you got.

Life is full of choices and those choices can change the future.  The future is all about the choices we make in life and you are the only one who can change your own future.  So, go out there and make good choices and all that Jazz.  Because it is your life, play it the way you want.  

         

                  

             

Introductions

Hello I'm Billy Sievers.  I am heading into my final semester at Shippensburg University as an English major.  My interests include writing and reading (obviously).  I also enjoy video games and all the other arts. Yes I include video games as an art.  All of the previous things are the topic of this blog.    I will mainly be playing games, reading books, watching movies etc and talking about them in a fun, interesting, and intelligent way (I hope).