7 Days to Die (Xbox One Edition)

Zombie Survival with a touch of Minecraft

Before I even start my review, I just want to say that, as of writing this, I've only put in about 6 and a half hours in the game, so I may have no idea what it is I'm actually taking about.

Story

There isn't one, unless you make one up in your head. The game starts out with your selected characters (there's like 12 to pick from, and as far as I know, it's just cosmetic) waking up at a random spawn point and you're given a brief tutorial (how to craft and make things), then let loose on the world.

Your goal is to just not die, which is easier said than done in this new world.

Graphics

Graphically, the game is unimpressive, it has the look of a late last gen game. This isn't terrible, but if you're expecting hyper realistic, you'll be disappointed.

He so cuuuuuute :3

While the graphics leave a little to be desired, the world is still quite "beautiful", or as beautiful as a end of the world game can look. Depending on while biome (Minecraft users will be familiar, but for those who aren't, a biome is basically an environment type. You have several, a forest, fields, tundra, wasteland, and a few others) look pretty good and are fleshed out well (if you like flowers, find a field, flowers EVERYWHERE).

Biomes

Here are a few biomes you can find, there are 8 total so far, and each time you make a new random generated map, you may get all or a few of the biomes.

A few of the biomes, TL - Desert, TR - Wasteland
BL - Forest, BR - Tundra

Music & Voice

The music is somewhat like what you'd get in Fallout, very low, almost non-existent at times. Sounds are pretty basic for the most part, but that's not really a bad thing. This type of game does well with little and low sounds, helps immerse oneself in the game if you aren't been chased around by a bunch of theremin(s?) and orchestras.

Controls

If you've played Minecraft, you'll adapt pretty quickly to these controls (and I mean, MC was free the week prior to this writing, so why wouldn't you have played it?). Otherwise, get friendlt with those triggers, you'll be using them a bit, they are used to play, upgrade, attack, and "other" functions (some items have unique uses, like said upgrading).

Other

This isn't your ordinary Minecraft clone, it is VERY in-depth. Ever wonder what your hydration levels were? Or if you were too hot or too cold? Maybe you're curious about what that dirty water may do (protip: dysentery)? Well, this is the game for you, all of that is in this game (and more). You'll need to keep an eye on these stats as well as others if you want to survive.

Stats can be seen in the upper right of the menu

Clothing not only protects you from damage to a degree, but also keeps you insulated. Leather in the desert, yeah, you gonna die. Cloth in the tundra? I always wanted hypothermia (and by that, I mean to be dead). There's a lot of crafting in this game, it's almost more of a craft sim with zombies thrown in for giggles. At times, it's almost ridiculous how much crafting you HAVE to do, and the extents you need to go to find what you need (or maybe I'm just unlucky when it comes to scavenging).

Crafting menu, there are over 100 things to craft

As with Minecraft, you'll find many premade structures around the world (oh, and yeah, they are randomly generated), use these to your advantage. I found a sweet little cabin with a few floors that I'm fortifying and upgrading, I love it!! Military bases, gas stations, grocery stores, and other settlements can be found if you explore, so don't sit in one place.

Multiplayer

I haven't touched the MP yet, so I can't really comment on it, but will update this when I do.

Achievements

Only 4 achievements require another person, that's the good news. The bad news is that you'll need to amass 2,500 kills for that achievement. LUCKILY lfcjohn at TrueAchievements has a pretty good solution for it, so check it out. Otherwise, it's more about surviving and doing what you normally would in a game like this, build, kill, explore. Be prepared to spend upwards of 100 hours on this, which isn't a lot actually, considering the type of game this is.

Stardew Valley

Don't we all just want a relaxing farm?

Story

Stardew Valley (from now on simply referred to as Stardew) starts out with you, the player getting notified that you have inherited your grandfather’s property in Stardew, which happens to be a rundown plot with a ragged home and field full of rocks, weeds, and other junk. After being shown the property, you’re free to do as you wish, with very little story given to you, but it’s there.

You can either help Stardew become a flourishing community, or sell it out to a Cola company that wants to set up a factory. Besides that, the individuals in Stardew have a pit going on as well, and by befriending them, you can learn more about their plights.

Other than this though, you aren't given much direction, which can result in some confusion as to what you're supposed to be doing at all.

Graphics

Stardew is done in an 8-bit style, so graphically, it’s not impressive, per say, but has a cute, old school factor that has quite the charming feel. Despite having old school graphics, the designs are still well done; water has wave motions, and leaves flow through the wind in the fall, snow during the winter, and cherry blossoms in the spring.

Music & Voice

The music is some of the best done in these farm sim style games, with a relaxing melody that really gives life to the town of Stardew. Music changes from upbeat in the Spring, to almost melancholy in the Winter, making you feel as if the world around you is aware of its own death and rebirth.

There’s no voice acting, so nothing to really note there.

Controls

As this is an old school game, there isn’t much to the controls. You move, switch items, and use them. Using the control stick (in default) will have you run, but using the D-pad makes you walk (though this can be changed in the settings).

Achievements

If you're an achievement hunter, be prepared for hours of grinding. None of the achievements are particularly hard to obtain, but they require time, and lots of it. The achievements revolve around shipping X amount of items, shipping ALL items, making friends, and making money. The friends thing alone will require a bit of time, so if you're not ready to put AT LEAST 100 hours in to this game, either skip it (not advised), or don't worry about the achievements until later, because they will all come through natural progression (though I do suggest keeping track of what you've shipped (the game helps with this, but you should keep track too)).

Other

While you’ll spend most of the time farming or taking care of animals, don’t forget to head to the mines and, if you’re brave enough, venture to the deepest parts of them. You’ll find both valuable ores to craft stronger tools, as well as rare equipment to make dealing with monsters easier, and relics to donate to the local museum/library/day care (kidding, but not really).

There’s plenty of events to attend as well (almost all real life events are mirrored in Stardew (minus their religious significance), so be sure to attend the festivals and contests!!

There’s so much more than I can fit in a quick review, but if you’re a fan of Harvest Moon or Rune Factory, you’ll want to check out Stardew Valley, and if you get the physical copy (same price as digital, as of writing this), you’ll get a copy of the music in the game, so I suggest getting the physical copy if possible.

My Five Nights at Freddy's Timeline [WIP]

Alright, so yeah, I haven't used this in awhile (but wow, so much attention has been gained, many of these posts have 2 - 5k views, thank you all so much!!!!), but I'm gonna TRY to be more active (I said that last time too).

Anyways, I've been heavily invested in to Five Nights at Freddy's (FN@F) for several weeks, watching several timeline theories, character information, etc, but so many are so convoluted and hard to follow, so I made my own, which will surely be incorrect in some ways, but whatever, this is for those who want a SIMPLE STORY, not some complicated arithmetic bullshit.

Some "facts" to know first (these are facts in my timeline, so don't argue with me XD)

- Purple Guy is vital, in Sister Location (SL) we see him turn from a normal guy, TO the Purple Guy. Coloring is important. I've seen many theories that have him being purple just to make him stand out, but Scott doesn't do this, everything is intentional. See: text in FNAF 4, all text is assigned to a certain person, color always indicating who's talking. After thinking about it A LOT, this is possibly a little less important then I originally thought, but still noteworthy.

- In SL's intro, we hear HandUnit talking to a Mr. Afton, a British accent. Many have come to the conclusion, that the man taking is Henry, the creator of the animatronics. Makes sense, as HandUnit questions him about some designs (only Henry would have intimate knowledge of designs and fumction). Later, after the secret end, Springtrap is heard talking (based on the background, after FNAF 3 when FF is burnt to the ground, and it makes sense, as this is Scott making a sequel almost assured (remember, FNAF 3 takes place in the after all the other games)), with the same accent but different voice than we heard in the intro. I believe that is Michael, Henry's child. This means that Purple Guy isn't any other character in the game, only 3 characters are shown to have accents, Henry, Michael, and, Henry's daughter, who we hear throughout SL.

- Lastly, sister location is a term used to identify a business with the same parent company. For example, TimeWarner owns HBO and CNN, they are sister companies. Fazbear Entertainment (the company that owns all the Freddy locations) also owns Baby's Pizza World.

These details help place SL in the timeline.


FNAF: SL

Alright, now that we have some SL facts down, let's continue.

SL is pretty straight forward with the story, you are introduced to Baby by HandUnit who is talking to "Mr. Afton", I've already established WHY this is Henry, he's the creator. But who are you? As the player? My belief is that you are playing as Michael, Henry's son, or one of them.

How do I come to this conclusion?

Michael has no problem working with the ani's, and they seem to almost ignore him (canon wise, you never die until the end). Michael even says "they mistook me for you" in the secret end. And let's not forget the biggest reason, one that Baby herself even mentions, "I'm curious what events would lead a person to want to spend their nights in a place like this... willingly."

Why indeed? Well, the short answer, to help his father get closure with his (Henry's) daughter.

While attempting to find answers, Michael is led astray by, who we eventually find out, is Ennard. Ultimately, this results in Michael's death at the scooper. But it doesn't end there. By playing the secret game of traditional FNAF, we find that SL has a surveillance system set up in a familiar home, the home from FNAF 4. With that, you can also see the layout of the house when reactivating power during night 2, and that the two buildings are connected. And who's house is that? The home of the Crying Child, aka, the players LITTLE BROTHER. Note: All of this will be important later

THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS AND DETAILS ABOVE MAY CHANGE BEFORE FINALIZATION

Pokemon Go: Bring a Buddy

At long last, Pokemon Go has released a long awaited update.

If you still play, you are aware of a (now released) new update. This update let's you partner up with a "buddy" and earn rewards.

Well, that update is out, for Android, and you can start earning those rewards. As far as I know, that is simply candy right now, which is handy for rare Pokemon, like starters.

To do this, click your player image in the corner, this will bring you to your Player Profile. Click the 3 bars in the right hand corner and select "Buddy", then you're all set.

Of you change your buddy, you lose current progress, so keep that in mind.

An Apple update is incoming, so just hang on right and get prepared for lots of walking.

Hold On To Your Butt, Jerry

We're coming back, soon, very soon. Stay tuned.

Fallout Shelter

Our first mobile review (I think), and it's about one of my favorite series.

Fallout Shelter (going forward simply known as FS) is a Simulator have where you build your own Vault. As the Overseer, you must make sure everyone is happy, and keep that's at bay. This sounds easy, but as you may know, that's never threw case.

FS is overall a very simple game to pick up, but it will require a sharp mind to master. Like many Sims, you have resources, FS is no different. You have Food, Electricity, Water, Stimpaks (restores health to dwellers), and RadWay (removes radiation from dwellers).

As your Vault grows, you'll need more of the first three, and depending on how well you maintain your Vault, and how often you send dwellers in to the Wastes, you may need the latter two.

Failure to properly maintain Food, Water, and Electricity results in dwellers getting radiation poisoning (hello Mole Rat meat and toilet water), or other posts of the Vault shutting down. So make sure you keep an eye on your reserves.

So, you may think, "Oh, I'll just build Food/Water/Electricity generators and be fine." You'd be wrong, mostly. Each dweller has their own stats in the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. (Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility, and Luck) system, if you're unfamiliar, just think of that as your basic stat system. Certain "buildings" require certain stats, for example, the Water Filtration systems require someone who has good Perception, the Kitchen requires Agility, etc. The higher the correlating stat, the better they perform.

"So", you ask, "Is that all you do, build a Vault?" To that I say nay. You also can send you dwellers to the Wastes to find gear and money (protip: a high Luck helps), equip your dweller with some armor and a weapon (or don't) and send them out. They will search the Wastes until you tell them to come back (protip 2: it takes them half the amount of tune to return, so if you have them out for an hour, it'll take 30 minutes to return).

Be careful, the Wastes are filled with dangers, on top of gear and money, your dweller can also earn EXP from killing the various inhabitants (which is why weapons and armor are suggested). As your dwellers level, they become stronger (protip 3: S.P.E.C.I.A.L. does not increase via leveling, just health).

Just in case you thought the Vault was a safe Haven, you will frequently be attacked by raiders, they generally go after your food storage first (at least in my game), so make sure you keep some dwellers armed.

As you gain more dwellers, either from other joining, or procreation (sex), you will gain more buildings, so check those out to see how many dwellers you need.

You are also given goals to achieve, these are small tasks that offer monetary or lunchboxes as rewards. The latter offers a handful of random items such as money, weapons, armor, or special dwellers (you can also buy them with real cash).

All in all, Fallout Shelter is a very interesting and fun way to waste time, and recommended for any fan of the series.

Resident Evil 2 Remake

Hello, it's been a long time since we've posted anything (thank you busy work and personal life), but we thought we'd make a quick post sharing the news.

RESIDENT EVIL 2 IS GETTING A REMAKE.

"You’ve been telling us for years that you want Resident Evil 2 to be remade,” said Capcom producer Yoshiaki Hirabyashi, “and we haven’t been able to make it happen...until now.”

Not much is known yet, but check out the announcement video and cream yourself.

 Resident Evil 2 Announcement 

Fallout 4 OFFICIAL Announcement

So if you haven't heard, Fallout 4 is happening, the Announcement Trailer was released earlier today (view it here: https://youtu.be/GE2BkLqMef4). Pretty much throwing the gaming community into a sudden episode of orgasms.

Not much is known as of know, other than it being a current gen only game (Xbox One, PS4, and PC), and we're expected to learn more in the upcoming E3 event.

You can pre-order the game on its website (http://www.fallout4.com).

Dark Echo

I don't think I've ever done a review of a mobile game, the reason for this is because so many are so similar. However, Dark Echo is different, it's a very unique game, and as a result, this review will be somewhat unique as well.


Story

There is none, besides reach the exit.


Graphics

Again, there really aren't any "graphics" in the traditional sense. It's mostly pure black with soundwaves acting as your visuals (see images in this review). White lines are your noise, blue is water, yellow are switches, and red are things that result in death.


Gameplay

The game is simple in practice, but difficult when you actually try to play. The first several levels act as a tutorial, teaching you the basics. After then though, you're required to use your brain to trick death, all while blind.

You can use environmental sounds (water droplets, frogs, flies, and other noises) or "bang" on the ground to generate noise and get a glimpse of your surrounding. However, doing so may alert hostile entities to your presence.


Controls

The controls, as of right now, are incredibly basic, simply use your finger to touch the screen and you move in that direction, tapping allows you to "sneak", generating less noise. I recently acquired a simple rock, which you can throw by swiping from your character to desired throwing location, so there may be more techniques I've yet to unlock.

Other

The game lets you replay chapters (which I'm not sure the number of at this time, there's at least 25 though), so you can play them as many times you you like.


Overall

Dark Echo is one of the most unique games I've played on a mobile device, using sound as the only way to visualize your environment.

9.0/10.0

Pros

- Unique play style
- Addicting
- Visually appealing


Cons

- Lack of visuals may be off-putting to some
- Some levels are either too easy, or too hard for their placement

Resident Evil 0 Remastered

Following in the successful steps of Resident Evil HD Remastered, RE0 is now getting a much deserved re-release.

Not much is known yet, but there's a announcement video and a lone screenshot for you to drool over.

The re-release is slated for "some time" in 2016.

https://youtu.be/RRtJBaQ9tow

June Games with Gold

Check out @majornelson's Tweet: https://twitter.com/majornelson/status/603954395307442176?s=09

Achievement Unlocked: Sniper Duel

So I thought I might try something new, achievement walkthroughs, short ones with helpful tips to unlock tricky achievements.

For the first one, I've picked 'Sniper Duel' from Minecraft (X360 & XOne).

Kill a Skeleton with an arrow from more than 50 meters

Firstly, one block it's equal to 1 meter, so you'll need 50 blocks between you and the skeleton, at least. On Easy, it take up to 3-4 hits to kill an unarmored archer, so bring as many arrows as you can (and save before you start). 

Make sure you measure the 50 squares before, so you don't need to do so when Creepers, Zombies, and other enemies are out.

When I earned the achievement, I setup a pen to keep the skeleton from chasing me, as they usually do.

A small pen is fine, 2x2, 2x3, 2x2, and the last side should be open. Use fence posts like I did to trap the skeleton in, leaving it open lets you trap him easier.

When nightfalls, lure a skeleton to the pen and smack him in, quickly finish the fence, and he'll be trapped with no escape. >:)

You'll need to aim a good distance above the skeleton, 3 or 4 crosshairs worth. Keep trying until you kill him, and if you were 50 squares away, you'll get the achievement.

Game with Gold (May)

Normally I'd personally write this, giving scores and personal opinion on the GwG games, but I'm not feeling too well today, so I will post Major Nelson's blog entry instead.

Xbox Live Games with Gold for May 2015

"For the month of May, Xbox Live Gold members will receive three new free games on Xbox One and Xbox 360 as part of the Games with Gold program.

On Xbox One, Gold members can download CastleStorm: Definitive Edition ($14.99 ERP) for free during the month of May. Pool Nation FX ($13.99 ERP) is also being offered for an additional month.
   

On Xbox 360, starting Friday, May 1st, Mafia II ($19.99 ERP) will be free for Xbox Live Gold members through May 15th. 

Then on May 16th, Xbox Live Gold Members can download F1 2013 ($39.99 ERP) for free through May 31st."  

Silent Hills Officially CANCELLED

UPDATE #2: Konami has told Kotaku the following information:

Konami is committed to new Silent Hill titles, however the embryonic ‘Silent Hills’ project developed with Guillermo del Toro and featuring the likeness of Norman Reedus will not be continued.

In terms of Kojima and Del Toro being involved, discussions on future Silent Hill projects are currently underway, and please stay tuned for further announcements.

UPDATE: Norman Reedus has confirmed that the game is indeed cancelled via Twitter. It’s officially over.

So if you've not heard of "Silent Hills", it was set to be the next Silent Hill entry from Hideo Kojima (Metal Gear) and Guillermo Del Toro (famed horror producer), featuring Norman Redus (The Walking Dead's Daryl) as the main character. A Playable Teaser (named P.T.) was releases last year and blew gamers away with it creep factor.


Sadly, due to Kojima's contract expiring, and other issues, the game has been officially canned by Konami.

Silent Hills was set to release later this year, on the PS4 and possibly the Xbox One.

The Elder Scrolls Online Xbox One Beta

So I was fortunate enough to be invited by Bethesda to try out The Elder Scrolls Online, which as you can probably guess, is The Elder Scrolls but Online (shocking, right?). Since there's no NDA in place, and they actually encourage talking, I thought I'd share my opinions on the game, and maybe a video.

So first off, the game looks great, not shocking since this is The Elder Scrolls (TES), and next gen, but what surprised me was how smooth it ran, IN BETA, with superb graphics (no freezing, no bugs, no hiccups), this is tough for most games, including TES games in general (or Fallout games, from Bethesda as well). On the rare occasion, textures on people take a moment to load, but they do so very quickly when it does happen.

Load times are pretty good too, some areas load almost instantly (this is generally areas that connect to the main world like houses or camps that bring you to another area). Going from one large area to another takes a few seconds to load, still very impressive.

All script is voiced, so if a character says something, it's actually spoken another amazing achievement for a large game with lots of speaking. The VO's are also well done, with a little more variety (this seems to be Bethesda's kryptonite, they always use too few actors and It's apparent here more than ever).

Character design is amazing from what I've seen. I only made a Khajiit, but there are many skins for them, you can be a tiger, lion, leopard, jaguar, panther, and many other design types. A friend made a Redguard and they said there are many options for skin tone (to some degree, since Redguards are only African American), hairstyles and other vanity options.

Oh, you can make a character with a butt now too!!!! No more flat backsides.

You need to come in to the game with an Elder Scroll train of thought, most MMORPGs throw weapons and armor at you, this plays like TES, as you level, you'll find steel, dwarven, glass, dremora, and Dragon gear, like the solo games do.

Also, it may be because this is the beta, but don't expect to run into hundreds of people in the field, think of it as a multiplayer TES game, not an MMO TES game.

While I've only scratched the surface, this is proving to be a very fun game so far. I'm sure I've missed some things (such as dungeons), so fellow beta testers, feel free to comment and add your thoughts.

A Newbies Guide to Tanking (Neverwinter)

Playing a Tank in Neverwinter isn't quite like other MMORPG's, sadly (or maybe luckily, depending on your stance). I have learned some tips from Neverwinter forum user "dkcandy" that might help those new to NW's Tanking.

Threat is generated on a 1:1 ratio for both Healing & Damage and there are 2 types of threat generation mechanics:

Indirect - Healing
Direct - Damage to a specific creature

The biggest issue I have with holding threat is a result of the above, that from damage, and that from healing, are equal. Healers will generate hate on EVERY creature from a single heal, but you will only generate that for the creators you hit. This causes Healers to pull a lot of hate, easily and quickly.

Currently the Guardian Fighter class is the "Primary Tank" for Neverwinter (although Paladin is releasing soon on Xbox, and they'll likely be a primary candidate too) and we have several feats that help boost our threat generation but remember DPS (Damage Per Second) is the base of all threat generation. So if your DPS is low, so will your TPS (Threat Per Second). This is why DPS geared & built GFs have an easier time holding threat than defensive GFs.

Stats: Primary Strength, this allows you to inflict more DPS, and therefore, more TPS.


Feats: 

Tier 1: Strength Focus 3/3 - Increased Damage

Tier 3: Power Attack 5/5 - 10% Damage Increase

Tier 3: Potent Challenge 3/3 - 15% Threat Increase

Tier 4: Weapon Mastery 3/3 - 3% Crt Chance Increase


Paragon Paths:

Conqueror - My personal preference as you do a lot more damage, and damage equals threat. You'll be using Cleave to maintain threat on large number of creatures and great for holding aggro on single target/boss. 

Tactician - A friend of mine uses tactician and he spams daily's with this feat to hold aggro on large number of creatures and generates lots of threat.

Protector - Damage mitigation vs Damage output, following the above rule, you won't deal much damage, so not much TPS.


Powers:

Enforced Threat - AoE taunt for up to (5) targets and forces them to attack you for a short time frame.

Fighters Recovery - Must have for survival, tons of self healing

Enhanced Mark - +99% Threat Generation on marked targets - If you have threat issues a no brainier.

Threatening Rush - Marks all targets in a small AOE on target you melee hit. Great skill to use on trash and when tanking adds/boss.

Trample the Fallen + Battle Trample Feat - +25% Weapon Damage as threat + 25% Weapon Damage as physical Damage for 3 seconds after using a CC. (Many of the GF Powers trigger this)

Knight's Valor - A good skill to reduce the amount of damage your entire party is taking which also reduces the amount of healing your Cleric is down and reduces the amount of indirect threat the cleric is generating.

Leo's Guide to Not Being an Asshole (Neverwinter)

So you've picked up (or downloaded) Neverwinter and are eager to play, yeah? Well hold on there, buckaroo, I've got a few tips to make your game much more enjoyable (or at least, not come off as an asshole to other players).

1. As Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson said, "Know your role". If you decide to roll a healer, understand that you are a.... well, healer! You are responsible for making sure people stay topped up on health and don't die, a vital role.

DO'S of a Healer:

- Heal people, that's your number one job
- Buff people, boosted attack, defense, etc
- Remove debuffs, poison, slow, etc
- Use Sun Burst to scatter enemies when you or a non-Tank character are taking damage

DON'TS of a Healer:

- Play as a DPS ((Damage Per Second, they deal the most damage) unless everyone is topped up and doing fine)
- Run ahead of your Tank,
- Use Sun Burst when the Tank has aggro/hate on a Mob (group of enemies)


DO'S of a DPS:

- Beat the shit out of things
- Preferably, attack the same target as the Tank

DON'TS of a DPS:

- Run ahead of your Tank
- Pull the entire room, unless the Tank and Healer are fine with it


DO'S of a Tank:

- Grab adds (additional enemies, usually at a boss fight) when they spawn
- Hold aggro/hate

DON'TS of a Tank:

- Ignore adds, they WILL wreck your Healer


These are a few jobs each role has, you should learn yours and perform them. Failing to do so has a good chance of getting you removed from the dungeon, and that's no fun.


2. Don't pick up loot during combat. To be more precise, green or rarer loot, it has to be roled on, and to do so, an annoying pop up.... well, POPS UP. This is very annoying when in the middle of a fight, god help you if it's a boss fight. It won't get you kicked, but it is VERY annoying.

3. Don't be Needy, be Greedy. When you are in a group, you must role for rare loot, but there are three options, "Need", "Greed", and "Pass". I won't explain the last, it should be obvious, but "Need" and Greed" are important, and knowing when t pick one is also important.

"Need" means, "I NEED this, it's better than what I have."

"Greed" means, "I'd like this, I can use it for another character." Or if it's an "Unidentified Item, "This might be better than what I have, so I might need it."

You should really only pick "Need" if your character you're playing as can use it, not an alt.


4. Don't be a douche. Send an invite and get denied? Move on. Don't keep inviting, they aren't interested. Continually pestering someone will get you reported. Don't be a douche.

Don't spam chat with stupid crap. Don't be a douche.

Don't name your character "Big Wang". Don't be a douche.


These are 4 easy ways to be liked in the game, very easy guidelines.

Just don't be shocked when you discover no one actually DOES any of this. :)

D&D: Neverwinter

D&D: Neverwinter is a free-to-play MMORPG that hopes to stuck you in with the promise of loot and adventure, but how does it fair?

Story

The story of Neverwinter sees your character washing up in Neverwinter after the ship he/she was aboard was destroyed by Dracolich (Dragon Lich), commanded by a Lich wizard named Valindra, who leads an assault against the troops of Neverwinter.

The player, after a brief tutorial, is then cast into the role of lone person with the ability to turn the tides of war.

Graphics

The graphics of Neverwinter are very good for a console MMORPG, but due to this and the large amounts of players, some areas can be very laggy, even causing timeouts when loading areas.

Gameplay in non city areas is generally smooth while maintaining good visuals.

Controls

The controls can take a bit adjusting to, the RT is your standard attack, while LT is a special attack, you can hotlink skills to X, Y, and B. Pressing the LB orbs another set of commands such as opening your inventory, chat log, and your 'Daily Skill' (despite the name, it can be used several times, you just need to charge it by performing certain actions).

There are several menus for you navigate, sometimes being cumbersome, changing tabs is done using the bumpers, changing within the tabs is done with triggers.

Audio

So far, the audio has been acceptable do far. There's not a whole lot of voice acting outside of quest briefing. So be prepared to read a bit.

Music is very middle age like (the setting IS such era), so drums, trumpets, stereotypical renaissance style are frequent in towns

Other

The game has many game modes for you to try, these include:

Domination - 5v5 PvP where you must capture and hold 3 points, while defending then from enemy players.

Skirmish - PvE gameplay where 5 players survive waves of enemies.

Dungeons - PvE gameplay where 5 players delve into a dungeon and face strong foes and bosses for rare loot.

Each of these modes grant unique currency that can be redeemed for high tier gear. They also grant an item called 'rough astral diamonds' upon certain conditions.

During the day, the game has events that give bonuses to certain modes (the current event is displayed on the outside screen, in the bottom right).

Completing a dungeon or skirmish when they're respective events are happening grant you aforementioned rough astral diamonds, these are converted to 'astral diamonds' automatically when you load up an area, but only a certain number per day. These are used to buy from the auction house, and many other vendors (think of then as a tier 2 currency along with PvP currency and other obtainable in game currency, gold/silver/bronze pieces being tier 1).

Then there's the tier 3 currency known as 'Zen'. You can earn Zen by redeeming several hundred astral diamonds, or with real cash. Obviously, Zen is need for the most powerful stuff.

As said earlier, this is a f2p game, so guys in charge try to do whatever they can to get you to buy stuff. One such example you see plenty of is an item 'Tyrannical Lockbox', these have a chance of doing a variety of items, the most sought after being the Epic and Legendary mounts. However to open these, you need to by keys, only purchasable with Zen. The chances of one of these mounts being in there, it's insanely small (.01% based on some people's math), you're better off not bothering.

If you want more than 2 characters, you'll also need to buy slots with Zen, so make sure you like your character.

Speaking of characters, there are several races to play as, including humans, dwarves, elves, half-elves, half-orcs, a dark elf, wood elf, and some devil looking creature. Each race has bonus stats.

There's also many classes such as, rogues, time wizards, clerics, guardians, fighters, and a few more I don't remember off the top of my head.

The game has so much to offer, it's hard to make sure I got everything. If I missed something substantial, please let me know.

Overall

This is a very fun and addictive game for those who love RPGs, I've not played much else on my Xbox One since I downloaded it.

8.0/10.0

Pros
- Large variety of classes and races
- Very nice graphics for a large, free game
- Most gear is obtainable in game without any real money spending
- Lots of quest variety

Cons
- Due to the size, and relative newness, there are lots of lag spikes and timeout

- Waiting for a dungeon can take a long time depending on the time you are on

- Tanking, and sometimes healing, are optical for dungeons, you can finish one without them

(images to be added at a later date)

World at Arms (Win 8)

Story

World at Arms (WoA) is the typical "Earth has fallen into chaos, the last pockets of resistance fight to seize control and restore sanity" style war game. In WoA, you play as a General (or something similar) in Americas suedo army, fight back invading forces and reclaim North America (so far, not sure if it goes any further yet).

Graphics

The graphics are about what is expected for a W8 styled game, they aren't mind blowing, yet they don't suck completely either.

Gameplay

Have you played any recent "build something and wait for it to finish, while doing so, collect taxes, and invade other players" type game? If so, it's almost exactly the game.

You pick something to build, higher tier buildings take more time to complete, some take a few minutes, others take a few hours, even days, to complete.

Buildings can be bought with in game coins earned from competing missions, collecting taxes from your buildings, and from attacking other players. These are basic buildings that offer standard credit.

There are also buildings to be bought with medals, the games rare tier currency which can be obtained from completing certain tasks or bought with real money. Obviously, these buildings offer better income, troops, etc.

After you've trained troops, you can engage in PvP (player vs player) combat, though it's really more PvP with AI controlled enemies. You don't directly face the other player, rather the AI picks the best troops to use based on their defense rating.

The game also features Alliances, which are groups of other players who fight other Alliances and earn various rewards depending on the event that is currently happening in game.

Variety

The game offers the typical variety of items, plus a bit more. Items gradually get better as you level, so you can go from earning 50 gold/min to earning 200 gold/5 min, as well as better troops and even vehicles, planes, and aquatic combat vehicles.

The game does have a rather unique resource that I've not yet encountered in other games, and that's Electricity. Electricity is needed to build buildings, but doesn't regenerate over time like other resources in similar games.

To gain more electricity, and therefore build more buildings, you must build more electricity generating buildings (electricity buildings don't need electricity, but other buildings do).

You can also place boosters, which are things like fences, statues, trees, and other small items to boost the account of electricity or money generated by certain %'ages.

Achievements

Most achievements will require some dedication, such as "Attacking 1,000 enemies", "Collect from your HQ X Times" and a few others, but aren't necessarily hard. So if you're liking for a quick 200/200GS, you should look elsewhere.

Overall

WoA is your typical "build and wait" game that offers very little in the terms of uniqueness when compared to the many other similar games out there today, but if you like these types of games, it should hold your interest for some time.

7.5/10.0

April Games with Gold (2x)

So if you haven't heard, April marks a year of Games with Gold, and to celebrate, Microsoft is giving away 2x the Games, which means 2 Xbox One games and 4 Xbox 360 games.

I've haven't played ANY of them, so I can't say if any are good, I've heard good things about most of them, so be sure to download these when you can.

For the whole month, One owners can download Child of Light (avg. 85/100) and Pool Nation FX (too new to determine score).

From April 1st to the 15th, 360 owners can get Gears of War: Judgement (avg. 80/100)and Terraria (avg. 85/100).

The last half of the month, 360 owners can download Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (avg. 90/100) and Army of Two: Devils Cartel (avg. 55/100).