981 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
(10/03/20 6:00pm)
OK and Blake break down the upcoming Tribeca Games Awards.Checkpoint is Byte's video news series, reporting on recent events in the world of entertainment, tech, and pop culture. Whether its video games, film, television, or music, we've got you covered!Anchors: Blake Chapman, OK SchlatterExecutive Producer: Evan FischerVideo Editing: Evan FischerAudio Editing: Shwetha SundarrajanGraphics: Kellyn HarrisonMusic: Jack McGinnisFor more entertainment, tech, and pop culture related content, visit us at Byte BSU
(10/02/20 7:55pm)
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPagxVJOmWs&feature=youtu.be[/embed]
OK and Blake break down the enormous success of Innersloth's Among Us and what the future holds for the title.
Checkpoint is Byte's video news series, reporting on recent events in the world of entertainment, tech, and pop culture. Whether its video games, film, television, or music, we've got you covered!
Anchors: Blake Chapman, OK Schlatter
Executive Producer: Evan Fischer
Video Editing: Mason Kupiainen
Audio Editing: Shwetha Sundarrajan
Graphics: Kellyn Harrison
Music: Jack McGinnis
(09/29/20 7:30pm)
The Daily News Staff has to come together (digitally) during a pandemic to continue putting out newspapers for the community.
(09/17/20 10:54pm)
Blake and OK return to break down the delay of the upcoming Batman film, The Batman. Checkpoint is Byte's video news series, reporting on recent events in the world of entertainment, tech, and pop culture. Whether its video games, film, television, or music, we've got you covered!Anchors: Blake Chapman, OK SchlatterExecutive Producer: Evan FischerVideo Editing: Evan FischerAudio Editing: Shwetha SundarrajanGraphics: Kellyn HarrisonMusic: Jack McGinnis
(09/10/20 5:30pm)
by Conner Tighe
Ms. Pac-Man blessed the world with a whole new generation of players in 1981. After Pac-Man’s success, creator Stan Jarocki decided he wanted to attract a wider audience demographic. While he was successful, this was unfortunately one of the many examples of sexism that spurred the video game world back then. Video games have since become more inclusive of the demographics portrayed in their games. According to a study by the Arts Management & Technology Laboratory, female characters were found to be over-sexualized due to the recent 3D technology in the mid-1990s. However, the underrepresentation of female characters and the sexism that surround femininity in the video game industry have decreased. Entire series have become centered on females just as much as male characters. Here are the top five most powerful women in video game history.
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="86"] Image from Kingdom Hearts Wiki[/caption]
5. Kairi (The Kingdom Hearts Series)
A short-haired girl who runs alongside her friends Sora and Riku on Destiny Islands, Kairi was a part of many people’s childhoods as the darkness devoured her heart in Kingdom Hearts. Sora and Riku both go looking for Kairi, crossing paths and eventually battling each other. Kairi appears in the next two sequels where she’s strong, compassionate, and Sora’s love interest.
With the power to wield a Keyblade—like Sora and Riku—Kairi fights the darkness alongside everyone else. Her character becomes powerful, and the games show Kairi’s progression of age and the inner turmoil she has within. At times she goes from a damsel in distress to the one saving Sora. Kairi will stick with fans long after they finish the “Kingdom Hearts” series.
[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="244"] Image from A New Game Plus[/caption]
4. Chun-Li (The Street Fighter Series)
In 1991, fans of Street Fighter 2 could hear the sound of the legendary lightning kick coming from a woman dressed in blue. Chun-Li was the first female character in the Street Fighter series, which would later expand to an additional five games. Chun-Li’s lightning kick is nearly unstoppable and is a sure victory for players (I won’t tell you the secret button combo, though). Chun-Li seeks revenge for her father after he is killed by M. Bison, the main antagonist of the Street Fighter series.
3. Buffy Summers (Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds)
After Buffy the Vampire Slayer ended its seventh season in 2003, a video game was released later that year featuring the cast. Most of the cast lent their voices to their animated characters for gamers to experience. Buffy Summers finds herself once again protecting Sunnydale from the ultimate evil known as The First, the first evil ever to be on Earth. Summers is witty and tough as nails. In the game, you battle vampires, demons, and zombies, playing not only as Summers but the other cast as well.
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="421"] Image from: TechnoBuffalo[/caption]
A year earlier, Xbox released Buffy the Vampire Slayer exclusively on the Xbox, but the game doesn’t compare to Chaos Bleeds. The latter allows Summers to perform unique combos on her enemies. As Summers, the gamer will fight evil in the present-day Sunnydale and eventually travel to an alternate dimension Sunnydale where evil reigns. Summers has been a powerful female icon since the early 90s, and this game enforces that.
[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="270"] Image from Fanpop[/caption]
2. Ada Wong (The Resident Evil Series)
The Resident Evil series features a variety of characters, including multiple males and females. While Wong’s character wasn’t the first female to appear, she’s by far the most cunning and exciting character. Her persona is very much like a modern Catwoman with mysterious motives and an untapped consciousness that no one can figure out.
Wong’s first appearance was in 1998’s Resident Evil 2. Since then, she has appeared in Resident Evil 4 and 6. Mainly sporting red attire, her most famous outfit being the classic “woman in the red dress" look, she pops in now and then to assist the main characters in their times of need. She uses a grapple gun that commonly gets her out of sticky situations while also wielding a small arsenal of weapons. Wong is the definition of a double agent, and she shares some interest in rookie cop, Leon Kennedy—another main character.
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="394"] Image from Game Informer[/caption]
1. Lara Croft (The Tomb Raider Trilogy)
While Croft’s character has appeared in a variety of Tomb Raider games, I’ll reference only the best: the Tomb Raider trilogy. Born into the Croft family, Lara shares a family interest in history and geography. After surviving a deadly plane crash in Nepal when she was little, she accidentally activates a strange dais that opens a portal. Lara’s mother, Amelia, disappears into the portal. Since then, Croft vows to find her mother while searching for Excalibur, a sword that activates the portal.
Croft is armed with her double pistols and climbing gear as she traverses deadly terrain, most of which are tombs. Croft’s story is interesting due to the mystery that surrounds her past and family. Amazingly agile, she is able to do acrobatics with ease. Croft uses these skills to outsmart enemies and booby traps within the tombs she traverses. Lara Croft was a large part of my childhood, and no other female character has come close to Croft’s brilliance.
Sources: Arts Management and Technology Laboratory
Images: A New Game Plus, Fanpop, Game Informer, Kingdom Hearts Wiki, TechnoBuffalo
Featured Image: Microsoft
(08/27/20 5:21pm)
by Nick Black
Disclaimer: This review is of the Nintendo Switch version of the game.
When reviewing a game like Rogue Cube, or looking back on any particular memory, one of the first things that comes to your mind is frustration due to a psychological phenomenon known as “The Negativity Bias.” It’s the concept that positive experiences will have less of an impact on your memory and personality as compared to the effects negative experiences will have. This applies to all aspects of life, from hanging out with your friends to watching a movie to even playing a video game. Now, what does this all have to do with Rogue Cube? Simply put, Rogue Cube is a fun indie game that has a lot of passion put into making it, and you can see and feel that when you play it. I would probably recommend it depending on your tastes, but I most likely will never play it again, because of how frustrating it was to beat it.
Roguelike Rogue Cube
Rogue Cube is a top-down action adventure game published by Ratalaika Games and developed by Bipolar Dawn, it is available for Switch, PS4, and XBOX ONE. The game more specifically fits the roguelike genre of action adventure. Think Binding of Isaac; similar to that, in Rogue Cube you play from a top-down perspective using ranged attacks to defeat enemies. The game is randomly generated, so you don’t know in advance what specifically is ahead or what abilities you will get. And to beat the game you have to reach the last level of the dungeon by defeating the final boss like you're a kid playing Ghosts ‘n Goblins in 1985. What I mean by that is that the game can get brutally hard, and if you die, it’s straight back to level one with you.
It’s a small game, with a simple goal and objective. You start out by picking one of three different colored cartoon cubes (along with 6 unlockable ones later in the game), each with their own distinct abilities, with a goal of killing every enemy on a floor. Repeat this for each of the three floors per world (with the exception of in between bosses and in the final world) and you win. The catch is, it has to be a clean sweep. If you die once, it is back to level 1 for you. This may make it sound like a short game; the campaign is only 11 worlds, four of which only consist of a boss room. But that is where the fun of the game comes from; it’s a quick game with a lot of replayability when it comes to how you want to beat it. Every run, you get to try different characters, weapons, and tactics. You can master all the characters and unlock every secret just for the sugar rush of dopamine it creates.
I won’t lie, for a five-dollar game I was very surprised and happy with what was offered, especially in the music department. There are some pretty good retro tracks for anyone who likes the Roguelike genre. However, my grievances come from the fact that despite all that replayability, I’m probably never going to pick it up again now that I have beaten the whole thing.
Old-school shoot 'em up
As I mentioned before, the game is a top-down twin-stick shooter. Usually this entails a fast-paced, action-packed style of gameplay with an emphasis on getting better and better. And while the drive to get better is present in the game, what makes Rogue Cube truly stand out is its gameplay, namely its emphasis on analyzing, corner peaking, and playing it safe.
The more I played the game, the more I realized certain strategies would get me killed faster depending on what character I was playing. Each character in the game not only has different starting stats but also, as you play through the game getting EXP, your level ups are different for each character. So, certain strategies will be more beneficial depending on your character — some characters will be stronger with certain weapon types and others get more health and speed bonuses. These differences in strategy based on character go towards the game's replay benefit when you also add its more than decent weapon selection.
You can only have two weapons at a time, and the majority of these weapons are a whole bazaar bargain of guns in different categories that vary from realistic to wonderfully ridiculous. To get a new gun you have to find certain large, colored chests that randomly spawn around the level and sometimes in the wall. Because of the fast pace of the game, and the fact that you can get a game over so quickly, I felt really encouraged to experiment and try out different weapons. I was happy with the result, as there are some really creative guns in here (my personal favorite being the rainbow gun which can clear out some very annoying rooms early on).
But as I kept replaying the game, I found after my second hour that there was really only one universal way to play the game. Two simple words: Be cautious. Running into a room of enemies is what gets you killed, and in the case of some characters, it will take only one or two bullets or hits to drop you. So, the strategy that will give the most long-term success is to camp doorways to rooms, and cornerpeak at enemies until the room is clear. And while I do enjoy the unique way the game works, it does mean that soon you will always play with the same weapons using the same strategy as late-game levels will spawn so many enemies that there is little incentive to play aggressive only to die five seconds after.
I always knew what weapons to pick up on any new run if I was going to win: Shotgun for close range high damage and plasma cannon for high damage, plus the ability to ricochet my bullets to shoot behind walls. And trust me, the game knows these are the best picks because there’s even a hint on the loading screen that says “the shotgun is dope.” Very similar to Binding of Isaac as well, you will soon realize just how bad some weapons are and never touch them. For example, melee weapons are never of use in this game; you will die in mere seconds if you try to use them. Even characters who get tons of bonuses for melee damage, like the ninja, aren’t fun to play with because of how fast you can die at any point of the run. On future playthroughs with other characters, I found I always just skipped weapons to get to the good stuff, and because of the RNG (Random Number Generator) of the game you can be stuck with trash for the entire run, which can basically lead to a guaranteed game over.
When the robot just hates you
Let’s talk about that Random Number Generator, by the way. The majority of the game's biggest flaws come from its RNG system. The game can spawn next to no enemies or 500 on any given floor; you can never predict how many will be on a floor or in a room no matter how small the space is. Thus, depending on what character or level you are playing, that can put you into some really unfair situations. Sometimes you won’t even get a weapon with which to fight. I once got as far as the end of the second world before getting a gun chest. I don’t care if I just need to “get good” in that scenario; in fact, I got through it and was able to beat the boss after, but I knew while I was playing that the game was progressing not as intended.
Remember when I said chests sometimes spawn into walls? That is also quite a prevalent issue. While ammo is readily available (that is, depending on the RNG), you can get destroyed by not having certain ammo types spawn. This makes checking every chest at the end of a level a must so you have as many resources as you can. But what makes scavenging annoying is when locked doors don’t have chest keys spawn on either the same or previous floor, leaving it perpetually locked and teasing you. Or when the level exit spawns and just straight up cuts into a hallway leading to a chest, siphoning a potential weapon you may have wanted to try.
But those are just minor nit-picks with the RNG, right? Even Binding of Isaac has annoyances because of its RNG, and sometimes the game just doesn’t let you get abilities or upgrades that are anywhere close to good. Not going to lie, that can be really frustrating and discouraging in any game that relies heavily on a randomizer-based system. But what makes me want to quit playing the game and throw the controller across the floor is when the RNG kills me as soon as I start a level. Sometimes you will spawn in a level directly in the line of sight of enemies in another room and instantly die, as health carries over from floor to floor. So, if you have one to three health left, you can instantly die in some cases without getting a fair shot.
And this is not a one-time scenario — all of the previously mentioned scenarios are regular occurrences. All of them have a strong chance of happening on a good margin of your playthroughs. Plus, that’s not even mentioning some of the bosses who can just instantly end runs depending on the weapons you have. Even then, the first two bosses are really easy, it’s only the last two that really give an interesting and fun challenge. But depending on the character, the first two can be really bullet spongey, so that can also degrade interest in repeat playthroughs since the bosses are always the same.
It’s funny, I gifted this game to some friends on Switch and we all found that we got so tired of the first two bosses that we all picked the riskiest character in the game to get them over with as fast as possible. Everyone picked the Purple Square for his flat triple damage across the board. Who cares if he can get one shot by any boss? The Purple Square cuts enemy health like a hot blade going through melted butter, beating bosses in less than ten seconds. In fact, we realized we could probably beat the entire game in less than ten minutes if we got the right weapons fast enough. Which ended up being the case for me, and this was good because I only had one run left in me after getting shot through a wall on the last level before the boss.
End cap: end game
With all of that said, and I can't stress this enough, I actually had a really good time with it. I was happy and satisfied when I beat the final boss; I felt great that I completed it. It’s a game that pushes you to improve and get better, and I always enjoy games that can give me that drive to beat it. However, I had no urge to continue on after I beat the final boss; once the credits scrolled I had no drive to try again. I think with everything I’ve said about the RNG and the way the game rewards the stay-safe and play patient strategy, I felt I didn’t need to play through it again. Every run is bound to be similar, right down to what upgrades I would get depending on my character.
Now this can be considered a plus to the game, considering that in something like Isaac the game can give you junk and practically force you to play the game in a low power state. But Isaac has a plus with its RNG in that every run can feel unique. In Isaac there is no one true strategy; the strategy forms from what you get and how you adapt. Rogue Cube is very one note — it’s the same gameplay style and same all-around mechanic in very specific orders. Every character will start with the same stats, same power-ups, and go through the same gimmicks. The variety is somewhat lacking, but still commendable considering the size and price of the game. However, it is a problem when it comes to the game’s longevity.
The game has daily challenges and even a challenge mode, but I know it’s going to feel like the previous campaign, just with a few extra gimmicks or tricks. It’s not enough for me to want to complete the whole thing, challenges and all. I think if the game allowed you to keep EXP after you got a game over and extended how many levels you get from its cap of nine, it could have really helped the game attract me to play it longer. It certainly would have at least encouraged me and my friends to try characters other than Purple Cube.
Featured Image: Nintendo
Images: Nintendo
(07/03/20 3:22pm)
by Anthony Herring
The original game The Last of Us, developed by Naughty Dog and released on June 14, 2013, is nothing short of a masterpiece. The post-apocalyptic story follows two protagonists, Joel and Ellie, who must travel across the United States in the hopes that the latter can provide the cure to a fungal disease that has all but decimated humanity. Thanks to its complex and flawed characters, relentlessly bleak tone, and powerful themes, The Last of Us was critically acclaimed, with many (including yours truly) considering it to be one of the greatest video games ever made.
Save for a short story DLC called The Last of Us: Left Behind that was released in 2014, there was no real news that would hint at another adventure set in this universe. That all changed in December 2016, when The Last of Us Part II was officially revealed through an announcement trailer. The trailer depicted a nineteen-year-old Ellie playing guitar amongst the corpses of unknown enemies in a house, with Joel soon entering and asking her if she is “really going to go through with this” (with what “this” is referring to purposefully left unclear). The trailer ends with a close-up on Ellie, a hateful expression on her face, ominously replying, “I’m gonna find and I’m gonna kill every last one of them.”
Over the past few years, more details were revealed about Part II. The most notable ones were that the player would mostly control Ellie this time around (Joel was the main playable character in the original game), the sequel would be centered around hate (whereas the original game was centered around love), and that the game would be set five years later. After two delays, one for further development and the other due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, plus a massive, controversial story leak back in April, The Last of Us Part II was released on June 19, 2020. While the game has its notable strengths, Part II unfortunately could not reach the same heights as its predecessor.
Sit down kids, it’s storytime
On the surface, the basic plot of The Last of Us Part II is pretty straightforward: After a personal tragedy strikes, Ellie is compelled to go on a quest for vengeance against those that have wronged her. However, as the game’s story progresses, it becomes clear that there are many different layers to be uncovered. Said layers are primarily illustrated through two central characters: Ellie, a familiar character, and Abby, who is new to the series.
Ellie’s side of the story you play through first, and I genuinely was having fun playing through this half of the game. The characterization of her is excellent, offering great development from the more naive character Ellie was in the first game. Along with that, her relationship with her love interest, Dina, is wonderful, creating a realistic and believable bond between the two. Ellie’s portion also features a few flashbacks, further building onto the father-daughter relationship she has with Joel. I thought that these flashbacks were all great, as the tone and execution were reminiscent of Ellie and Joel’s relationship in the first game. When it comes to the actual story beats here, it does take some time to get truly engaging, which messes up the pacing of this portion a little bit. Thankfully, when the time comes for the story to grow darker for Ellie, the pacing and tone improve significantly, which profoundly impacted my perspective on what Ellie’s quest had come to symbolize. Ashley Johnson’s performance as the character also aids this, making the struggles that Ellie has to go through all the more heart-wrenching and believable.
Now we come to Abby’s side of the story. Much like Ellie’s side, flashbacks are also present here, and they help to flesh out Abby’s relationships to other characters, such as her boyfriend Owen. In fact, her side actually opens with a flashback, which offers an excellent recontextualization of certain events that transpired at the end of the original The Last of Us. As a whole, I found Abby’s side to be not as engaging as Ellie’s--at least not at first. As you are playing through Ellie’s side beforehand, this gradual momentum is built to the point where you feel that something big is about to happen. And it does—but then, the story cuts to Abby’s side for the second half of the game, and that feeling of momentum is completely lost. Thankfully, as her side progressed, it became more enjoyable. Laura Bailey’s performance aids in making Abby a bit more likable, and the sister-brother relationship she forms with a character named Lev gives Abby a sense of humanity. However, there are some moments that stoked my feelings of anger towards Abby, especially when I consider the horrible things that she committed in the game’s opening hours.
What’s old is new
Right out of the gate, one of the best aspects of The Last of Us Part II is the gameplay. It effortlessly builds upon the foundation that the first game created with smoother mechanics, like cleaner combat and shooting encounters, plus it adds new features, such as being able to go prone during stealth encounters.
One thing in this game that you should be prepared to do is collect a lot of materials. Since Part II is set over twenty years after a pandemic has ravaged the planet, materials are littered practically everywhere you go. Alcohol, rags, canisters, and even explosives can be found and used to craft useful items such as health kits, Molotov cocktails, pistol silencers, etc. This collecting and crafting system is instrumental to the player’s survival, so it is very important to take advantage of this. Environments are much larger than they were in The Last of Us, so I strongly recommend combing through each nook and cranny to find materials for crafting. Parts, which can be used to upgrade weapons, are also scattered throughout the world, so be on the lookout for those as well.
Part II features two types of enemies: regular humans and the Infected. The human enemies consist of the Washington Liberation Front, a militia that relies on military weaponry, and the Seraphites, a religious group that relies on bows and arrows. Combat encounters with these respective factions vary wildly. When fighting against the WLF, guns and explosives are the best methods to take them down. Unfortunately, the WLF uses dogs that can track your scent, which adds a layer of difficulty to these encounters. With the Seraphites, on the other hand, stealth is paramount. Bow and arrows, stealth takedowns, and the silenced pistol are crucial when fighting them, because if you’re too loud, these enemies will easily overwhelm you with their numbers and force you to retreat.
The Infected are a different beast entirely. The four main types -- Runners, Stalkers, Clickers, and Bloaters -- all return from the first game, and are far worse to deal with this time around, even on moderate difficulty (which is the setting I used). They are more aggressive and aren’t as vulnerable to certain attacks as they were in The Last of Us. For instance, don’t expect a Molotov to easily take out a group of Runners in this game. To shake things up, Part II also introduces a new type called the Shambler, which shoots out acidic spores from its body while it charges at you like an irritated rhino. These things are terrifying to deal with, and I shivered with fear whenever I discovered I was about to enter an encounter with one. There is also another Infected type that is introduced later on in Abby’s section of the game — the Rat King — that is quite a pain to fight.
High fidelity
Since Part II is a Naughty Dog title, it comes as no surprise that it is absolutely gorgeous. Environments are far larger than ever before, and as a result, the player is able to appreciate the level of craftsmanship that is put into them. For example, when I first arrived in Seattle as Ellie, I was greeted with this massive downtown area that was free to explore. All around were tall, decrepit skyscrapers that loomed over me, complete with a field littered with empty cars, trucks, and military vehicles that acted as a maze for me to navigate. The game sees that you travel all around the city, so players get to see a multitude of different environments rendered in astounding detail, such as dense forests, stormy beachfronts, and isolated, barren neighborhoods.
Featured Image: IMDb
Images: IMDb
(06/29/20 6:00pm)
by Blake Chapman
Disclaimer: This review is of the Xbox One version of the game and was conducted on an Xbox One X.
For any artist, it is difficult — if not impossible — to follow up your magnum opus with a piece of art that is even comparable. This is especially true when it comes to the world of video games. While it may take copious amounts of time and effort to create a sequel in a landmark series or an entirely new project that improves upon its predecessor, it only takes one sour note to bring all that work crumbling down.
Out of any game developer in the world, Mojang Studios has been able to smoothly navigate this conflict. Since releasing Minecraft in 2011, the Swedish developer’s biggest challenge has simply been expanding that game for the last decade. Other than some smaller titles with equally small reception, the only projects Mojang Studios has worked on are a re-release of the original Minecraft for browsers, an augmented reality version of the game, and the recently released Minecraft Dungeons. This dungeon crawler lets players traverse multiple biomes from the original game while on a quest to defeat an army of the undead — with plenty of role-playing additions to boot. While it offers a very simple experience geared towards newcomers which can become frustrating at times, this dungeon crawler is overall a fun journey from start to finish.
Smooth gameplay with some hard edges
As much as Minecraft is a survival game where exploration and building are the defining principles of the experience, combat is the defining principle of Dungeons. The typical hack-and-slash elements mixed with a fair amount of magic is what players should expect since the aforementioned elements of exploration and building are not here to round out the experience. Overall, it feels streamlined and uncomplicated while still offering a satisfying new adventure. The large amount of weapons, artifacts, and armor sets allow for vast customization and new combat scenarios as well — whether you’re wielding a hammer with lightning splash damage or a pair of daggers that spawn poison clouds.
At times, the heavy focus on combat can get you into tight spots where the random generation of levels works heavily against you. These include room layouts backing you into a corner without the ability to properly see your character model’s actions, mobs spawning in the hundreds in one room and choking you off from the rest of the dungeon, or a meager amount of enemies that can simply be picked off with arrows in the next room over. Random level design is nothing new to dungeon crawlers and therefore only adds to Dungeons in terms of exploration and replayability; yet, that does not stop it from being a very straightforward game. The campaign is strangely short, and the only offerings when it comes to open navigation lead you down dead ends the majority of the time. Overall, the combat forcing you into tight spots for no apparent reason does little to season any player, and it is more of an annoyance than anything else.
While the developers said they wanted to maximize the adventurous elements of the game, a full campaign that lasts around 10 hours at the most does not work in their favor. There is not much incentive to go back and explore previous areas other than getting extra items or armor, which players will inevitably deconstruct by the end of the very next level. For more casual Minecraft fans, this adventure’s straightforwardness is merely a slight positive and such brevity is only frustrating for more experienced gamers.
Design that needed more time in the furnace
While the larger design elements of Minecraft Dungeons are — for the most part — well crafted and interesting, the smaller gameplay mechanics end up being disappointing. For starters, even though the impressive amount of equipment and custom gear you can come across is a great change of pace from Minecraft itself, it all gets pretty dizzying without a proper way to filter and organize your inventory. After only half a level, multiples of weapons and bows begin piling up. Even though the team at Mojang did not hope players would focus on a single piece of gear for the majority of the game, throughout the first half it is difficult to sift through everything — subsequently causing players to shift back to their original paladin-like setup without exploring any variation.
When it comes to further customizing gear, the possibilities are unique on their own but overall shallow. Enchantments, which are random sets of status buffs that can be upgraded each time you level up, are numerous and effective but do little to differentiate the weapons from each other. Artifacts are wonderful gadgets that make up for the lack of a solid mage or wizard class, but they come with multiple caveats. You cannot enchant them or level them up in any way; yet, there are some with a simple “common” classification that are useful beyond what their classification would suggest. This means the evolution of power does not naturally progress with the difficulty of enemies or overall level and many artifacts end up becoming sacrifices for more emeralds.
A great amount of fun with wonderful accessibility
Dungeons’ personality and its focus on welcoming new and returning players rounds out the experience. For one, the story is interesting and engaging while not hampering down players with loads of lore. As a hero, you must journey throughout different biomes to defeat the Arch-Illiger and his mob of the undead; nothing too complicated, but still enough new characters and story beats to keep adventurers’ anticipation high.
Along with the story, the difficulty settings are another example of accessibility working for all players no matter their previous knowledge of Minecraft or dungeon crawlers. While the entirety of Dungeons runs on a standard difficulty setting that unlocks subsequent modes once you finish the first and easiest one, each level also comes with tiers that determine the type of loot and abilities you pick up throughout. At times, it can lock you into a specific tier based on your team’s power in multiplayer, but overall, it increases replayability and offers unique challenges all on its own.
Featured Image: Minecraft
Images: Minecraft
Sources: Engadget, Metacritic, US Gamer
(06/02/20 6:00pm)
by Blake Chapman
(05/18/20 7:45pm)
Tanner and Blake break down rumors about possible Super Mario games being remade in celebration of the Italian plumber's 35th anniversary.Checkpoint is Byte's video news series, reporting on recent events in the world of entertainment, tech, and pop culture. Whether it's video games, film, television, or music, we've got you covered! Anchors: Tanner Kinney, Blake ChapmanExecutive Producer: Evan Fischer Video Editing: Evan Fischer Audio Editing: Kellyn Harrison Graphics: Daley Wilhelm, Katy Szpak Music: Jack McGinnis
(05/16/20 7:44pm)
by Ben Sapet
(04/16/20 5:03pm)
“Help me understand that more.”
(04/14/20 4:00pm)
Tanner and Blake break down rumors about possible Super Mario games being remade in celebration of the Italian plumber's 35th anniversary.
Checkpoint is Byte's video news series, reporting on recent events in the world of entertainment, tech, and pop culture. Whether it's video games, film, television, or music, we've got you covered!
Anchors: Tanner Kinney, Blake Chapman
Executive Producer: Evan Fischer
Video Editing: Evan Fischer
Audio Editing: Kellyn Harrison
Graphics: Daley Wilhelm, Katy Szpak
Music: Jack McGinnis
(04/01/20 8:05pm)
Looking for ways to spice up your cooking during the time?
(03/25/20 8:00pm)
Looking for ways to spice up your cooking during the time?
(03/12/20 7:49pm)
A lot of students have heard about the popular Woodworth macaroni and cheese, but how is it made?
(03/11/20 2:00pm)
by Mason Kupiainen
It’s no secret that video game adapted movies are not very good. Time after time, Hollywood has tried to take a popular video game property and adapt it to the silver screen with little-to-no success. Not only do these movies receive poor reviews, but box office numbers have shown genuine disinterest or distaste in these movies. Looking at the box office, the highest grossing video game movie is Warcraft with $439,048,914. For comparison, looking at a similar genre, the highest grossing comic book movie is Avengers: Endgame with $2.8 billion. These two genres are very similar, with many of the same fans, but why is the box office gap so wide? Why are so many people going to see comic book movies and not going out to support video game movies, despite the fact that more people play video games compared to those who read comic books? There’s not one simple answer. However, there are a number of reasons why the critical and box office for these movies is so low.
(03/10/20 5:30pm)
by Katherine Simon
Disclaimer: This review contains spoilers for the ending of Dragon Quest: Your Story
Dragon Quest is one of the most prolific franchises in all of gaming. Since the first game was released in 1986, the series has become a cultural phenomenon in Japan and the foundation for the JRPG genre as we know it today. The franchise has also maintained a decent cult following in North America, which is continuing to grow after the Hero’s introduction in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and the success of Dragon Quest XI. Personally, I didn’t become a huge Dragon Quest fan until I picked up XI for the Switch and got sucked into the game’s world. While the Dragon Quest series doesn’t have the thematic or mechanical depth of most modern JRPGs, its simple mechanics and engaging stories help the series withstand the test of time and remain fresh while sticking close to its roots. But I’m not here to gush about how great Dragon Quest is, I’m here to talk about the recent film that dropped on Netflix, Dragon Quest: Your Story.
Now, this film is very interesting for numerous reasons, the first of which is that it’s an adaptation of Dragon Quest V. DQV is one of the most influential and beloved entries in the series and is credited for helping popularize the monster-collecting mechanics present in other popular franchises like Pokemon. The other is that when the film was released in Japan back in the previous summer, audiences hated the movie (warning: spoilers in the link). Considering how much of a monolith the franchise is in its home country, it’s a pretty big deal to have a piece of Dragon Quest media that wasn’t well-received upon its release. So now that the film is available worldwide via Netflix, the question is, did the film deserve the insane amount of backlash it received, or was it a decent flick that hardcore fans were too harsh on?
(02/24/20 9:27pm)
Two names hold the significance of royalty in Delaware County.
(02/20/20 8:49pm)