Pokemon Yellow

Date played: August 30th
Platform: 3DS

Recently, my 6 year old daughter has been obsessed with Pokemon. She is watching the X & Y cartoon a lot, and has recently started playing Pokemon Y. Bottom line is, I've been watching a lot of Pokemon and helping her play the game a lot, so it made me want to play Pokemon!

I decided to buy Pokemon Yellow, since I've never played the first generation games and it was available on 3DS. The first thing I noticed is how old this game is... It's ugly and isn't very colorful. However, it's Pokemon as we all know and love.

The game begins with Ash getting his first Pokemon, a Pikachu. I made my way through the first couple of routes and villages and reached the first gym. Right now, my team is made up of Pikachu, Pidgeot, Sandshrew, Mankey, Butterfree and Rattata. The gym was hard though because at the time, I didn't have the the Mankey, Butterfree and Sandshrew...

The first gym is a fight against a rock/ground trainer, so Pikachu's electric attacks were useless. I eventually whittled down the enemy's Geodude and Onyx using Pidgeot and Metapod, but it was difficult. I love this game, it's simple, it's fun and I love leveling up my monsters.

Overwatch

Date played: August 28th and 29th
Platform: PS4

I made a few friends on PSN over the last few days, just a few random guys I played with. We ended up getting a 6 man group going for a while, and sometimes there were 4 or 5 of us, so that was a really fun experience. We also used a lot of voice chat, which always makes things more interesting. We did pretty well together too, playing about 8 matches. I played a lot of Reinhardt, Winston and Lucio, with a bit of Zarya, Mercy and even Tracer sprinkled in.

I'm liking Tracer a lot on attack, when we don't need a tank or healer. She's so fast, but also, her guns are very fucking deadly. I still have a lot to learn with her, having played less than 10 matches with her, but I'm starting to enjoy playing the quick little Brit.

So let's talk about another payload map, Dorado. The beautiful sea-side Mexican city is host to this great map, filled with lots of rooftops and places for people to jump and fly. The attackers begin in a large church building and the defenders are inside some kind of military base.

Dorado

The opening section of this map is weird. There are 4 exits from the spawn, which is a lot compared to other maps. There's a central exit, a rooftop exit and 2 side exits. On the opposite side, there is a rooftop for ranged attackers, overlooking the main street where the payload moves. There's another rooftop further back also, so this place is always crawling with snipers and turrets.

Then comes the first big choke point, a large gate. There are many ways around this one, but since it's a payload map, it doesn't matter too much, most of the battles will take place in the central area. This is a spot where Reinhardt works wonders, so I use him often when I play Dorado. On attack, Winston is ridiculously dangerous here, taking out snipers easily. I also like to play McCree here because of the long sight lines, and obviously, Lucio is always part of my lineup.  Zarya works well on attack too.

After the first gate, there's still a long way to go for the payload to reach the checkpoint, but thankfully, the defender's spawn is very far away, so the fights in the gorgeous streets of Dorado are often short lived.

Once that checkpoint is captured though, things get more challenging. There's another long street here, bordered by a big church on one side and a garden on the other. I've seen Widowmaker, Hanzo, Junkrat and Bastion cause really big problems for the attackers in this section.

The checkpoint isn't too bad to capture once past the church though. The third and final portion of the map is fucking hellish however. This is where I've seen some of the roughest defensive setups, which often includes a Mei. There is a lot of open space, many side paths and flanking opportunities and even a nice big catwalk for characters like McCree to use their ultimates well.

Last night, I played this map as Zarya on attack, with a Zenyatta as support. It was so fucking intense, that pairing was really strong for us and we had a lot of success. We actually lost the match, but I feel like I played some of my best Zarya during this match. Dorado is a great map, and I am always happy to play it.

Zarya with Zen amazing!

Overwatch

Date played: August 25th, 26th and 27th
Platform: PS4

I played quite a bit of Overwatch over the last few days. I've been practicing a lot with Zenyatta, and honestly, I've been doing quite well with him. In a few cases, I managed to get 5 medals, with a few golds in there. His discord orb is a real game changer against tanks and other hard to kill targets like Genji and Tracer.

I also tried out Roadhog in one match and did surprisingly well, considering it was my first time trying him. He's not always useful, but when he works, he really works. I also played with my brother a lot, and as usual, we make a great team and win often.

I think it's time I talked about Route 66. It's actually one of the maps I dislike the most... It's a payload map set in the USA. It has a great theme overall, with beautiful decor. There's a diner, a gas station, a wrecked train, some garages and just a great visual style.

Route 66 is a payload map, like Dorado and Gibraltar. The opening section is really fun. The attackers come out of the diner and try to get to the payload, waiting behind a large train wreck. There are long sight lines here, making Widowmaker, Hanzo, Bastion, Torbjorn and Ana a very common sight. There's even a little bridge at the end of the first stretch, perfect for these heroes.

I always love to play as Reinhardt here, since there's often a lot of fire to block in the opening moments, and staying on the payload is difficult without his big shield. Winston can work wonders on attack here also, rushing the snipers and other long range heroes. I've also done well with Zarya and Zenyatta here.

Route 66

After the first stretch, there's a tough battle next to the gas station. What makes this place tricky is that there are often defenders on the roof of the gas station, or on a small elevated ledge further back. Enemies here are difficult to dislodge, so attackers will often have Genji, Tracer or Reaper to take care of the rooftop fighters.

Once the first checkpoint is taken, the second portion of the map is relatively easy for attackers. Defenders spawn very far from the payload, so attackers will often walk through this section without much of a fight until they get really close to the checkpoint.

The final portion of the map is devious, and this is the part that I don't really like. It's kind of claustrophobic, with few side paths and long sight lines. The decor is drab and boring also, which doesn't help. I feel like defenders have a pretty big advantage here, making a good push by the attackers difficult. Lucio does very well on attack in this portion.

I don't really like Route 66, though it has some great moments.

Sine Mora

Date played: August 27th
Platform: Vita

Sine Mora is a great game to play when I have very little time available to play. It's levels are pretty short and there are many checkpoints. I continued making my way through the levels. I think I beat 3 or 4 more today and I only have 2 levels left.

One of the coolest things about this game are the amazing bosses. They are all very detailed and very fun to fight, though also they can be extremely difficult. The game's health system is super weird too... Red bullets will decrease my weapon's power when hit, while blue bullets will inflict a time penalty. If the timer goes down to 0, my ship explodes. It's a pretty good system, but it makes keeping an eye on my health a bit difficult.

This boss was a bitch

The coolest boss was a giant mechanical golem of sorts. It was very difficult to beat because it shoots just so many fucking bullets... After a dozen attempts, I finally figured out that the real problem was a reflective portion of it's body that shot my own bullets back at me! When I figured that out, it wasn't nearly as difficult. 

No Man's Sky

Date played: August 26th and 27th
Platform: PC

I played a little bit of No Man's Sky in the last two days, exploring the solar system where the Atlas station is. So far, I've explored two planets and one moon, and all of them have been highly dangerous, but filled with goodies for me to pick up.

The two planets were both very hot, causing my exosuit's life support systems to be under heavy strain. I scrapped my suit's water breathing ability to replace it with heat absorption to facilitate exploration. It paid off too, because I found lots of gold and other valuable items to sell.

My daughter named this moon "Animaux Extraordinaires", in honor of it's amazing life forms.

The moon was one of the most interesting places I've been yet. It's kind of a rocky place with high levels of radiation, but it's very pretty and it's filled with interesting life forms, including some of the biggest creatures I've encountered in the game so far.

A few times, the game has just crashed on me though, so that's been frustrating... At this point, I think it might be something wrong with my computer, but it's hard to say. After I explore the last planet in this system, I'll move to a new solar system.

Sine Mora

Date played: August 26th
Platform: Vita

Back in 2012, I played the demo for Sine Mora and enjoyed it, though it wasn't spectacular. When it became free on PS Plus, I downloaded it but never tried it until today. As I've said when I played the demo, this is a really simple, high quality side scrolling 2D shooter.

The models are in 3D though, and honestly, it looks fucking fantastic. It has a great art style, good performance and very cool ships and enemies. I played the first two or three levels and stopped when I died. The bosses are varied and impressive to watch. They usually require that I shoot multiple parts on them, then they will switch to a different form or position.

Sine Mora is a great little time killer, so I will probably play it again. 

Overwatch

Date played: August 23rd and 24th
Platform: PS4

I've had lots of ups and downs in the last two days of Overwatch. My best moments were spent with a couple of guys I randomly met in team chat. One of them was mainly playing Mercy, the other Soldier 76. The Mercy was really good, and he propelled our team to victory multiple times.

I did really well with both Winston and Reinhardt, including a crazy rush with Winston and a sick triple kill with Reinhardt. I also messed around with Mercy a bit, it's been a while since I played with her. I did pretty well, though I lost more than I would like overall.

One of my favorite maps in the game is Ilios. It's a capture map, meaning that both teams fight for control of a single point. The Greek town borders the Mediterranean. This map is bright and colorful, with bright blue and white buildings accenting the beautiful scenery.

As usual, there are 3 maps within this location, one for each round. My favorite of the three is fought on the edge of a ocean-side cliff inside the base of a lighthouse. This place is so much fun to fight in... The enclosed space makes this map perfect for short range heroes like Reaper and Roadhog. People can be thrown off the cliff also, creating opportunities for environmental kills. I love playing as Lucio, Winston and Zarya here.

The lighthouse point

The second map is kind of a large pit surrounded by pillars and a other ruins. The fighting is usually done at the bottom at the pit, making characters like Pharah and Junkrat very useful here. Reaper is also extremely dangerous here. I like to use Reinhardt, Lucio, Mercy and McCree here. Sometimes, I'll use Winston or Zarya also, but that depends on team composition.

The final map is one of the craziest in the game. The point has a huge well right in the middle of it, where heroes can fall to their deaths. Again, Lucio works wonders here, but even more than on other maps because when he's in trouble, he can wall ride inside the well, hiding from attackers. Reinhardt and Zarya are fun to play here also, and sometimes I'll even use Zenyatta, because there are some long sight lines on this map. D.Va and Roadhog are super dangerous here also, because they can often get environmental kills.

Ilios is always full of incredible action and last second victories, I love this map.

Overwatch

Date played: August 20th and 21st
Platform: PS4

I decided to try playing Zenyatta two days ago and found him really fun to play. When I last played with him, he was much weaker, but a recent patch has made him a better hero than before. While his healing is still lackluster, his debuff is aboslutely brutal, his damage is high and his ultimate is really useful during crazy moments. I didn't do great with him, but with practice, I think I might use him more often.

I spent some time playing on Temple of Anubis last night, so I figured it was a good time to look at that map in detail here. Anubis is an assault map, which means the attackers must capture two points to win. I really love the setting and visual style on this map. As the name implies, it's an old Egyptian temple, so it looks really cool.

Temple of Anubis

The attacker's spawn is a giant land vehicle with two exits, both of which lead to a wide open area. There's usually not much fighting here as the defending team usually hangs back behind the first big choke point. There's a large fountain area here that can be used by defenders to set up Torbjorn turrets or hide a Reaper or something, but it's a spot that never holds.

The choke point is massive, but it usually doesn't hold people in for that long. There's a clearing up top, perfect for Widowmaker or Pharah to use. It also allows heroes like D.Va and Winston to clear the choke point without walking through the gate. There's a little room off to one side that is a wonderful flanking route. I love playing as Symmetra on defense for the first point on this map. I usually set up in or near that little flanking room and hide my teleporter in a secluded spot.

The point is soon after the choke point, though there's another little bridge here that can be used by defenders to funnel attackers depending on team composition. Battles here can be fierce, since the defenders have many places they can use to retreat or launch a surprise attack. Most of the time, attackers will take this point if they persist.

On this map, I generally play as Reinhardt or Lucio, though almost any character can do really well here. I also love Winston for attack, and Symmetra on defense. Depending on enemy team composition, I'll sometimes use Zarya too.

After the first point, things get real fucking hairy... The final point is inside a large stone temple at the end of a relatively large room. There's one main gate to enter, and two side paths. This place is a real fortress for the defending team, as the point has many little walls and ledges to protect defenders. Bastion is a real motherfucker on defense here.

Last night, my brother and I played a few rounds on Anubis. On defense, I was Lucio and he was D.Va I think, maybe Soldier 76. i had just died to Zarya on the point, and we were about to lose it. Our team's Reinhardt was fucking around just outside the point, along with another hero. Right after spawning, I rushed in with Lucio's amped up speed boost and got on the point mere milliseconds before capture. This led to our team's victory as Reinhardt got back on point and the rest of the team was able to regroup. It was a very exciting, satisfying moment!

Temple of Anubis is a really good map... I love it.

No Man's Sky

Date played: August 20th and 21st
Platform: PC

I reached a new system, one warp jump away from the Atlas waypoint I received earlier. Having spent the last of my warp fuel, I felt it was a good time to try buying a new ship with more inventory slots on it. After chilling out at the space station for a while, I found that most of the ships that would be upgrades would require a good chunk of money.

So I explored the system. My 6 year old daughter was with me for a while, so she took pleasure in naming them when I landed. One of the planets was very cold and covered in snow, so she called it "Neige". Another had rocky terrain and long streaks of green in it's soil, she called it "Craie Verte". Finally, the biggest planet, which was filled with interesting animals and vegetation, she called "Multicolore". I just love to see how she thinks and how she processes information in this game... The naming also helps me as a player, because I'll easily remember the general vibe of the planet.

It's on "Neige" that I found my fortune, as the planet was littered with elerium and gold deposits, both of which sell for a lot of money. Unfortunately, No Man's Sky requires a LOT of mining, which isn't very fun. My daughter was optimistic though, she would encourage me, saying the reward of a new ship would be worth the long minutes of boredom.

She was sooooo right. My coffers filled with ore to sell, I headed back to the space station and made some decent cash. As it happens, a small ship landed in the space station. The ship had 4 extra inventory slots and a couple of decent upgrades, and it was just within my price range. It looks pretty cool too, since it has assymetrical wings. On one side, I have a normal wing, but on the other, it's kind of a short, curved hook that gives the ship a really unique style.

The orb inside the Atlas station

Armed with my new ship, I headed to the next Atlas waypoint, which seems to be leading away from the galactic core. As soon as I reached the next solar system, I was staring at a large, ominous structure floating in the middle of space. Inside the structure was a weird glowing red orb, pulsating. There was some text, where I was asked if I want to follow Atlas or not... I chose yes.

I will explore this system a bit, and will have to craft some warp fuel, then I'll be able to continue following Atlas.

Overwatch

Date played: Most days...
Platform: PS4

I've played a lot of Overwatch during the last few days. I think it's time for me to talk about King's Row, one of the hybrid maps. It begins with the attackers who spawn near a large street area. Further ahead, there's the first huge choke point of the map, a set of walls with a big gap in the middle. There's a side passage through a building that is often used by flankers and snipers.

The defenders have a lot to work with here, with many tight corners to hide on the path to the objective. There are many good opportunities for Bastion, Torbjorn, Symmetra, Widowmaker and Ana here. Reinhardt is also incredibly effective here because of the big choke point.

King's Row

The point is pretty wide open, and has a few windows overlooking it, making it perfect for Widowmaker to work her magic. Genji and Tracer are always fucking annoying in this map also because they can easily retreat to safety after an attack.

On offense, I love playing as Reinhardt if they have solid defenses. I also like to use Winston here, since there are many ways to flank to reach the objective, and it can work well against snipers and healers who stay in the back. He's good to fuck up their defenses here too, causing confusion and mayhem. Zarya is also a good pick if there's another solid tank on the team.

On defense, I usually play Reinhardt again, but sometimes I'll use Symmetra. Shit, I've even used Bastion a few times, and I hate playing him, but he's really useful on this map sometimes.

The middle part of the map is payload escort. Honestly, it's really hard to defend this part because the spawn room is just so fucking far away, so typically, if we can't hold them at the first point, we won't hold them in the second portion of the map. There is a great choke point early on, just after the payload is activated.

Last night, I had an amazing moment as Reinhardt on defense at this choke point. A group of 4 players were retreating from our attacks behind the payload. I shimmied to them, shields up, until I had all of them in my sight. Then, in a stroke of genius, our team's Ana nano-boosted me! I used my ultimate to stun the 4 players, threw a fire strike at them, then swung the hammer like a madman. This resulted in a quadruple kill and the play of the game. It was very satisfying...

The last portion of the map is really rough, though also a lot of fun. This is a massive corridor, with only a couple of small side rooms and passages. Giant battles rage here every single time. Again, Widowmaker and Bastion can wreck shit up here. Pharah is also very useful in this section, since there are a few bottomless pits and lots of clumped up enemies.

The end of King's Row is home to some of the best battles I've ever had in this game, I love this map!

No Man's Sky

Date played: August 17th
Platform: PC

I dove back into No Man's Sky infinite world and made some good progress. I made my way to two new solar systems using the free ship upgrade I got from pre-ordering. Much of my focus was spent on upgrading my exosuit's storage capacity by finding drop pods. This helps a LOT because I can carry more shit with me without having to go to a space station or a trading post to sell what I don't need.

I still enjoy naming planets after I've seen a bit of it. I don't know why I like doing this so much, but it's one of my favorite things to do in the game. I've encountered many aliens now, from the Gek and another race whose name escapes me.

Some of the planets I found were barren, some were full of life, and all were fun to see. I upgraded my suit to have radiation shielding due to some of the planets I was mining on. My multi-tool is much improved also, it can mine for much longer before overheating, so that's good. The animals are all very cool looking too, making it interesting to scan and upload new discoveries.

I contacted Atlas at a Monolith. It was all very cryptic, but I received a new way point on the star chart, and I'm not sure if I will follow it or go to the next solar system towards the galactic core... Also, I plan on changing ships after I exhaust my warp drive fuel reserves, so that's after the next jump.

No Man's Sky

Date played: August 12th and 13th
Platform: PC

No Man's Sky is finally here!

This game is very unique... It features an unfathomable amount of solar systems and planets, all ready to be discovered, mined and explored for me. The game begins as the hero wakes up beside his crashed ship on a random planet. Every player begins on a different planet, on a different solar system, all of which are randomly generated.

My first task was to fix my ship. Armed with a mining multi-tool, I set out to explore my home planet and find the necessary materials to get flying again. Various elements can be mined from rocks, plants, animals and other objects.

My home planet, which I renamed "The Alpha", was pretty cool. The sky had a red tint to it and the rocky ground was sparsely covered with vegetation. After I found the elements needed to repair my ship's flight capabilities, I now had to repair it's pulse drive, a speed boost that is used inside a solar system. Once that was done, I was ready to leave The Alpha.

Sitting in my ship, I aimed it's nose to the stars and stepped on the throttle. There's nothing quite as spectacular as leaving a planet's atmosphere and seeing the stars for the first time. If there's one thing this game gets fucking right, it's the sense of scale. Everything is gigantic and mostly, spectacular. When I landed on the second planet I found, I couldn't help but be in awe. There's something just amazing about landing on a planet without any loading times, without any artificial barriers.

That comes at a cost though. I'm playing on a pretty powerful PC, and it's still not enough to generate the terrain quickly enough. There are always some jarring graphical bugs as I fly at full speeds, so that's really unfortunate. I also had about half a dozen hard crashes to desktop, so that fucking sucks. The frame rate is fickle also, sometimes running at full 60 FPS, sometimes slowing down to sub 30 FPS.

Aside from all these technical issues though, I'm loving the game. There's a ton of different stuff to do too. The main objective is to reach the center of the galaxy. The main thing that prevents me from doing that is warp drive fuel, which comes from a warp cell, which must be built with anti-matter, etc etc etc.

At it's heart, No Man's Sky is a crafting and survival game. On most planets, it's either really hot, really cold, toxic, irradiated or dangerous in other ways. This means recharging the space suit's hazard protection system and life support systems at regular intervals. This is done by gathering and expending various elements, all of which can usually be found on a planet. The same can be said for every device in the game. The ship requires launch fuel, pulse drive fuel and warp fuel. The multi-tool requires recharging too.

One would think, simply gathering a ton of elements would be a good solution, except that the inventory space is severely limited, at least at the start. There are many ways to expand inventory space, all of which requires exploration. It's a really fun mechanic, it motivates me to explore.

Speaking of exploring, every plant and animal can be scanned, which awards money. Money can be used to purchase new upgrades, elements, multi-tools and even star ships! I can't wait to buy a new star ship... I made my way to the second solar system and am slowly gathering upgrades. I discovered a really cool moon, filled with lush vegetation and dinosaur-like, gentle beasts. It was a real pleasure to explore.

I can't end this post without talking about the aliens. There are various alien races that live in small shelters and research stations on the planets. These guys speak another language, so it's hard to communicate. They will often have simple requests, but it's difficult to understand them. The key to this mechanic is finding new words out in the world. At monoliths and other alien structures, there are sometimes words to be found, which expand my hero's alien vocabulary.

There's so much I want to do in this game, I can't wait to get back to it. I just hope the technical problems get patched soon...

Super Mario Maker

Date played: August 11th
Platform: Wii U

My daughter and I wanted to play some video games, and she suggested we build a new level in Mario Maker, so we did. Set in New Super Mario Bros with an airship theme, "Le Vol de la Licorne" is a simple level. It begins with a pipe and piranha plant. Then there's a trampoline that can reach an item box with a star. The star can be used to rush through the 8 or 9 Goombas that are waiting beyond.

Here is the little bomb puzzle

Then there's a short climb on top of mushroom platforms which leads to a door. This door leads to the top left of the screen on top of clouds. This is the most interesting portion of the level. I put a Bullet Bill launcher here, but it launches Bob-Ombs instead. These Bob-Ombs must be throw into a nearby brick wall to blow it up and progress. It's tricky because I made it so that it required at least 4 bombs.

The end of the level is just a bunch of little bridges, with a more dangerous path that leads to the top of the flag pole. There are a few enemies here and a few fire hazards, but it's nothing too crazy. I built this level rather quickly, but it plays pretty well. 

Overwatch

Date played: August 9th, 10th and 11th
Platform: PS4

I played a lot of Overwatch over the last few days, I even tried playing with Ana for a round, though it didn't go well at all. I teamed up with my brothers a few times too, so that was fun. I think it's time for me to talk about the Nepal map.

Set in the snowy peaks of Nepal, this control map is one of my favorites! Control maps ask that each team try to control a single point on the map, resulting in some insane action as everyone fights on the same spot. Nepal has three "maps", one for each round.

The first is one of the more iconic locations in the game, a control point that is set deep inside a temple, surrounded by bottomless pits and a deadly side room. Winston and Lucio are always my favorite heroes here because they are highly mobile, excel in close combat and can push people around, hopefully resulting in a couple of environmental kills.

Two of the three control points in Nepal

The second is a raised control point, surrounded by stairs. This one is a bit more open than the first, but combat is just as crazy because the whole point can be easily spammed with rockets from Pharah or grenades from Junkrat. Reaper loves this fucking map too. I like to play Zarya here because she can easily charge up her weapon and can melt people quickly when they attack the point.

The third is a weird one... The point is inside a small building, which has two entrances, one on each side. The teams come in hard from the front, but cannot enter combat on the point until they get inside from the side. This creates some rough fights on the sides of the point. I tend to like Zarya, Winston and Reinhardt here. Lucio always does well here too.

I find that control maps are the most interesting and fun type of match in Overwatch. This is where all the crazy overtime happens, this is where the insane kill streaks happen, this is where people all use their ultimates at the same time. Nepal is an awesome map.

Uncharted 4: A Thief's End

Date played: August 8th
Platform: PS4

I played through 2 chapters of Uncharted 4. Chapter 16, "The Brothers Drake", is a flashback sequence. After falling from a cliff and being saved by Elena, Nate tells this story to his wife to help her understand the situation with his brother Sam.

As teenagers, the two boys want to break into a large, beautiful house to find some of their deceased mother's belongings, namely, her work journals. They broke into the house and started snooping around. Most of this chapter was just the boys exploring the house, talking about the trinkets they find along the way.

I thought this was a great sequence, mainly because of the amazing decor of the old house. I mean, there are hundreds of elaborate treasures stashed in this house... Masks, armor, weapons, statues, art, etc. It was really fun to look at it all. There was a bit of climbing in this chapter, as the boys find ways to bypass locked doors and such, but most of it was just exploring the house.

They eventually found their mother's journals, but were interrupted by an old woman pointing a gun at them! She even called the police... It was soon revealed that the boys' mother had been a kind of treasure hunter for this woman, who is a historian and collector. She gave the boys one of the journals their mother had left behind. This journal details the history of Sir Francis Drake and his treasure, which was the whole plot of the first game.

As the police arrive, the woman gets up to go get rid of them, when she suddenly falls dead on the floor in an instant, likely from a heart attack or something... The boys escape the police by running through the house and garden, climbing and jumping their way to safety. That's when we learn that the boys decide to change their name from Morgan to Drake, and decide to become treasure hunters.

Chapter 17, "For Better or Worse", features the triumphant return of the Nathan and Elena treasure hunting team! After a brief, but emotional discussion between the couple, they head out to save Sam from Rafe. Elena came to the area with Sully's help, who is piloting his prop plane around while the pair look for Sam.

This whole chapter was classic Uncharted, with a bit of Jeep driving. There was climbing, jumping and swinging through the jungle, big combat scenes and lots of action. The best parts were in the Jeep though. Nathan and Elena found 3 old wooden elevators that had been built by the pirates and the colonists a long time ago. Many of the puzzles involved finding ways to activate these elevators to move the Jeep to higher ground.

Nathan and Elena make a wonderful team

The pair used the vehicles winch to pull pillars and make new paths. I also drove that thing wildly through some very muddy hills and even a fucking river. In fact, the end of the chapter has Nathan and Elena jumping from the Jeep as it tumbles down a huge waterfall! I loved this whole chapter, it was really cool to see Elena play a bigger role.

After the river, they found a mass grave, which was undoubtedly filled with the corpses of the colonists who had attempted to take over New Devon from the pirates. I can't wait to see what happens next!

Overwatch

Date played: August 8th
Platform: PS4

I had a good time with Overwatch yesterday, though I didn't play it that much. I kind of had a rough start though. In one king of the hill match, we had 3 fucking Winstons... It didn't work at all, we just couldn't deal enough damage. It didn't help that two of the Winstons thought it was a good idea to fight off the point. In fact, that happened a lot yesterday, people fighting in places that don't matter.

I did have a few amazing matches with both Lucio, Reinhardt and Zarya. I actually ended up playing on Hollywood a lot, so let's talk about that map today. Hollywood is a hybrid map, which means the attackers must first capture a point, then escort the payload to the end.

The starting area for the attackers is a movie theater, lovingly decorated with funny movie posters and popcorn. The first area is a large street that is really open, giving the defenders many options for setting up powerful defenses. There's a building on the left and a smaller building on the right, both of which can be used as alternate routes.

Hollywood

Then there's the giant choke point. It has one large gate, and one side door. In front of the gate is a balcony that is often used by defenders. You'll often see Bastion, Widowmaker, Hanzo and Ana set up over there. Genji, Tracer and Reaper like to use it as an escape/attack route. The side door is difficult to enter because it's often well protected. Once past the choke point, there is a side route next to the balcony that can be used to flank. There is also a small elevator that continuously moves up and down. This one is often used by Torbjorn or Bastion to set up tough defenses.

I fucking love playing as Reinhardt on this map, on both attack and defense. Zarya is also one of my favorites here, she does well in the type of battles that happen here. Yesterday, I had a very good defense match as Reinhardt here where we stopped the enemy team from capturing the first point, denying them the payload completely.

After the first point is captured, the attackers must move the payload to the end of the map. One of my favorite things about this map is the beautiful and varied decor. The payload travels through a bunch of different movie sets. The biggest portion of the map is set in a western movie, filled with dusty roads and wooden buildings. This part of the map is difficult for both teams as there are tons of different routes and side rooms.

Finally, the last room is a cramped push for the payload. Defenders try to set up long range defenses here, with Bastion and Widowmaker being favorites. When shit gets closer to the objective, you'll see D.Va, Roadhog and Reaper really shine. Reinhardt can be a key element here also, since it's one huge corridor, so his shield can change the whole game.

I love Hollywood!

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

Date played: August 7th
Platform: 3DS

I played A Link to the Past as I was watching the Olympics this morning and played through the game's second dungeon, the Desert Palace. Before that though, I spent a good amount of time exploring the world with my new Pegasus boots. These allow me to crush some stones that led to a few secrets. I also found other stuff because I was thorough in my exploration. I found various pieces of heart, that mysterious book on a shelf that had me puzzled last time, and a few secret fairy caverns.

As for reaching the Desert Palace itself, it wasn't nearly as complicated as I thought. I simply missed a path the last time I looked, so I went in and explored the desert around the palace. There's not much there though. I used my new book to read the scripture on a plaque near the entrance to the palace. This allowed Link to open the door to the dungeon and start exploring and fighting!

The Desert Palace

The dungeon has a simple layout, but has some pretty tough enemies. I actually lost all my health a few times, though thankfully, I had plenty of fairies to revive me. There are sand floors all over the palace, and enemies like to use it as a hiding place. This means that enemies appear out of nowhere quite often.

After gathering many small keys, exploring many rooms and fighting a myriad of enemies, I found the dungeon's biggest treasure, the Power Glove ("Now you're playing with power!"). This grants Link the ability to lift rocks, opening up many new paths in the world. The final boss was pretty cool, but kind of hard to fight efficiently. A group of three sand worms attack Link by leaping out of the sand floor. They move quickly and erratically, so they are hard to hit. I beat them, got my extra heart piece and continued exploring Hyrule with my new glove.

I found a ton of stuff... I traded a mushroom to the witch for some magic powder, though I haven't found a use for it yet. I found the leader of the Zora's, the water dwelling creatures who sold me some fins to swim in deep water. This led to the discovery of a secret island to the South-East, a wishing well. For every 100 rupees throw in, a great fairy appears and gives Link higher arrow or bomb carrying capacity. I also stumbled upon the ice rod, though I don't know what it's for yet.

The next step in the adventure is Death Mountain. Using my power glove, I was able to open the path to it and begin the climb through the dangerous caves and cliffs of the Northern peak. I stopped after a few sections here, but I'm excited to see the next dungeon!

Overwatch

Date played: August 5th and 7th
Platform: PS4

Well, I played a little bit of Overwatch on Friday and this morning, but definitely not as much as usual, I had a really busy weekend. Since nothing of particular note happened, I will talk about another map to follow up my post about Watchpoint: Gibraltar. Today, I'll talk about Volskaya Industries.

Volkskaya Industries is a point capture map. The attackers must capture two points on the map as the defenders attempt to stop them. I fucking love this map... It's really well balanced and fun to play on both sides. It's set in Russia, has a bit of snow and has an industrial tone. The opening section of the map is kind of weird because it's quite large. This is all before the first big choke point, so it creates some weird openings.

Volskaya Industries

Sometimes, the defensive team will attempt to disrupt the attackers by going deep into their zone. Sometimes they'll have heroes like Reaper, Genji, Tracer, Mei, Lucio, Roadhog and D.Va push to the spawn room. This can be very successful if everything goes well, but most of the time, it creates an opportunity for attackers to move past the choke point rather easily.

This choke point just might be my favorite in the whole game. There's a large gate with a truck blocking some of it on the defender side. This leads to many epic battles, often involving at least one Reinhardt. There's a side passage after the gate for attackers to flank and move towards the point, so often, teams will try to rush past and get inside the side passage. There's also a small passage on the other side of the gate that can be used by Pharah, Hanzo, Widomaker, Winston, D.Va, Reaper and Genji.

I fucking love playing Symmetra on defense here. There's a lot of room for turrets on the edges of the gate that will deter attackers from entering recklessly. Her teleporter is also very useful here since it's a long walk from the spawn room. On top of that, she can also be very helpful in defending the point with her primary weapon because of the close quarters fighting that is required.

Once past the gate, the capture point is well covered by different platforms for defenders to use. This is a map where a well played Bastion or Torbjorn can make a huge impact on defense. However, once the first point if captured, the real match begins.

The second capture point is set in a huge building, some sort of factory. Again, there's a large choke point, but this one has three other paths for the attackers to use, so it's a bit wilder and more exciting. One of the coolest parts of this map is the floating platforms that move automatically through a large portion of the second capture point. It can be used by less mobile heroes to pass the choke point, like Reinhardt, Zenyatta, Zarya or McCree. I've even seen some clever Bastions and Torbjorns set up their defenses on this thing. It can work surprisingly well, as long as there isn't a Pharah on the other team.

The final point is well protected by multiple paths, bridges and platforms, making it very difficult to attack. However, the defender spawn room is far enough from the point that one good push from the attackers can mean a quick victory.

Typically, I'll play Symmetra, Reinhard, Lucio or Winston on this map, though occasionally I'll also use Mercy, Zarya or McCree depending on team composition. 

Overwatch

Date played: August 4th
Platform: PS4

I played relatively well last night. I won 6 and lost 4, using a combination of Reinhardt, Lucio, Zarya and Winston. I had a great play with Winston while attacking the second point of Hanamura. As usual, I jumped in like a madman, popped my shield and attacked anything in my path. I killed a McCree and someone else, maybe a Lucio, then jumped behind the point to harass a Bastion. I was killed by the Bastion, but it gave our team enough time to capture the objective and win the game!

On a different note, I've been playing a lot of Overwatch for a few months now, and I thought it would be a good idea to talk about some of the maps. Today, I'm gonna talk about Watchpoint: Gibraltar.

Gibraltar is an iconic map that represents the game well. Located at the Southern tip of Spain, just across from Morocco, Winston clearly has a close relation with the area, as it's featured in the short film "Recall" where the ape fights Reaper. In the attacker's spawn room, there is even one of Winston's suits and weapon. The objective is to move the payload from this room to a rocket pad at the defender's spawn room.

What makes this map so amazing is the variety of the environment, which leads to a lot of hero switching during the match. The first section is pretty wide open. The payload sits in the middle of the map. There are three exits for the attackers, one in the middle, one is higher and another on the side. There is a large building where defenders often setup some defenses,a bridge that overlooks the payload and a building in the back where snipers, Bastions and Torbjorns like to setup.

Watchpoint: Gibraltar

The first two checkpoints are pretty easy to take in most cases, but it requires a strong, fast attack. While I often end up using Reinhardt or Zarya on this map, Winston is common too because he can use the map's multiple flanking routes efficiently. Reinhardt is very strong on this map, as his shield can be used efficiently throughout the whole level.

In the middle of the map is a tricky section where the payload zigzags a little bit. There's an airship parked near the ceiling which acts as a great sniper perch, or a good spot for Pharah or Bastion to set up. One of my favorite things to do here is to jump on top of the ship with Winston, then wait for the right time to jump down on the enemy team and wreck havoc on their defenses. This is a spot where Roadhog does well on attack or defense because everything is fucking cramped, so the big guy shines here.

The final section of the map is pure fucking hell, but in a good way! It's One of the most difficult payload sections for the attackers because of the proximity of the spawn room, and the way the layout protects the defenders. This is the spot where countless teams have popped their ultimates, hoping to tip the match in their team's favor long enough for the payload to move the last few inches.

I love Gibraltar and I think it's one of the best maps in the game. It rewards quick thinking, hero switching and improvisation, which is where Overwatch is at it's best.

Overwatch

Date played: August 3rd
Platform: PS4

I had a fun night playing Overwatch last night. There's a special event happening to celebrate the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics! There's new skins, voice lines, sprays, emotes, highlight intros and victory poses that are Olympics themed. From the couple of loot boxes I received, I scored a new emote for Lucio where he plays with a soccer ball, a victory pose for Widowmaker where she holds a medal, and a few sprays. It's a cool idea to have seasonal events like this, I can't wait to see if they do something for Halloween!

I played pretty well overall last night, winning 9 and losing 3 matches, so that's good. It started off well with a victories as Reinhardt, Winston and Lucio. I also had a very fast win as Zarya on Hanamura where I got 8 kills and 0 deaths. I then tried using Symmetra on a king of the hill map, but honestly, I couldn't do well at all. I was targeted by a Reaper and it just wasn't going anywhere. I switched to McCree and did much better and we won, though my stats were kind of shitty.

I had two very bad losses after this... Once as Zarya and Lucio on Illios, the other as Reinhardt with my brother healing as Mercy. I don't know what went wrong, but holy shit we got our asses handed to us there. I got back to form with a fantastic match as Lucio on Lijiang Tower. I even managed to throw a few guys off the edge of the map when they attacked the point from the side door!

Finally, we had two incredible matches on Dorado, as both offense and defense. I played Reinhardt and my brother played Reaper. At first, I wasn't optimistic because we also had 2 Ana's, which sounds like an awful idea. However, it turns out, 2 skilled Ana's are very powerful. They kept the team healed up well, and were very good at timing their ultimates.

Ana's Nano-Boost is incredibly powerful

At one point while on defense, I rushed into a corner where lots of enemies were coming from, blocked them until my shield gave out, then got nano boosted by Ana. I ran into the fray and swung my hammer like a fucking madman and it worked very very well. We destroyed the enemy team on that play.

Later, while on offense, just as we were closing in on the final destination of the payload, the Ana's won us the game by boosting me at the last moment. I killed a Zenyatta, D.Va and Junkrat, winning the game! It felt amazing, and I love Ana's ultimate.

Inside

Date played: August 2nd
Platform: PC

I finished Inside!

What. The. Fuck.

This game is absolutely insane... before I get to that though, let's talk about what I played last night. It began with a really cool segment where a violent sound wave would pulse at regular intervals. When caught in the blast, the boy would die instantly from the impact. I had to move from cover to cover to survive. There were times where I had to use perfect timing to move from one section to the next, including a great puzzle with a revolving piece of cover. It took me a while to figure out how to progress.

Shortly after this, the boy spent a lot of time in water. The naked kid with the black hair came back to chase me underwater. Again, there were many timing based puzzles here. For example, at one point I had to dive and press a button to open a large underwater door, then get out before the swimmer caught me. Then I walked to the other end of the room, dipped into water to lure the creature. This gave me enough time to go back to the other side, dive, press the button to close the door and swim past it, leaving the creepy kid behind.

The good times didn't last though. At one point, the creepy swimmer kid caught me and dragged me down to the depths of the water. I just thought I had fucked up and was dying, about to restart at the checkpoint. However, the swimmer kept dragging me deeper and deeper... Eventually, and I have no fucking idea how this happened, or why, but the boy had gained the ability to breathe underwater! Fish also seemed to have become friends with me, following me around like a dog would.

The swimmer had disappeared, and I was able to breathe underwater, so I explored a bit until I reached a bizarre room. On the floor were some blocks with a rope or tube attached to them. Now here's the kicker, there was actually a pool of water on the ceiling! And at the end of these tubes were mindless people, floating in the upside down water.... It was creepy as fuck.

I found a way to clear the water from the room and all the bodies hit the floor instantly in a gruesome scene. Not only that, but they were still alive and were following my orders, even though I wasn't wearing the helmet anymore. I think the swimmer gave me that ability when he dragged me down... There were a few puzzles as I controlled the people.

I reached an area where people weren't wearing masks, and ignored the boy. This was confusing to me, since every person I had seen so far was hostile... Everyone was running to a nearby water tank to look at.... something. I couldn't quite see, but I continued exploring until I found a way into the tank.

Then, it happened.

Moments before the "event", the boy looks into the mysterious water tank

While I usually don't care about posting spoilers on this blog, for this event, I'm making an exception. The last 30 minutes of the game were fucking incredible! Something absolutely insane happens, and it changes the whole game. It changes the mechanics, it changes the atmosphere, it changes the animation, it changes all the audio and it really surprised me. I was not expecting a sequence like this in a game like Inside.

Let's just say that the whole ending was a LOT of fun to play. It was also very disturbing. Oh, and it's pretty much incomprehensible, though that actually makes the scene better I think. Everything is so fucked up, it created confusion for me which made the sequence even more mysterious...

Inside is a very unique video game. It's polished as hell and has spectacular audio and visual design. The puzzles were interesting and fun to figure out. The whole setting and atmosphere is like nothing I've played before. Then of course, there's that final sequence which breaks everything about the game and goes fucking nuts. Inside is awesome.

Overwatch

Date played: All weekend long baby!
Platform: PS4

So, I had a 3 day weekend and as far as video games go, I've only played Overwatch. A lot of it. In fact, I am now level 107! I got myself a few skins. The first is Regal for Symmetra. While I had a legendary costume for her already, I didn't like it too much, so I bought the purple and gold epic skin for her. I also bought a legendary skin for Lucio, the amazing Hippity Hop golden custome. Hell, I even bought myself a highlight intro for Reinhardt finally.

I'm at a point where I've really settled in with the game now. I know all the maps very well, I know the abilities of every character and I can read the battlefield quite well. I've found my favorite heroes, and I use them regularly. I was looking at my stats recently, and there are 7 heroes that I play on a regular basis. Here is a breakdown of each hero I use, including games played, win rate and a fun stat.

I always do well as Reinhardt

Reinhardt: 
From the beginning, Reinhardt felt right to me, he felt like he fit my style perfectly. I still use him every day and in all game modes. I use him less on attack, or king of the hill modes, but still use him a lot.

• 282 games played
• 52.84 % win rate
• 2,864,476 total damage blocked

Mercy:
I used to play with her a lot, but I've started favoring Lucio as my skill level increased. Mercy is still awesome, but Lucio is more reliable and versatile I think. I still use Mercy once in a while, but she has been dethroned as my favorite healer.

• 149 games played
• 46.98 % win rate
• 4.94 average resurrects

Lucio:

My favorite healer, Lucio's high mobility, powerful healing and relatively easy to use weapon makes him one of my favorite heroes in the game. I play with him every day.

• 73 games played
• 60.27 % win rate
• 32.4 % of time played "on fire"!

Zarya:

The most challenging of the heroes I play. She requires quick thinking, good judgement and aggressiveness. I love playing her when there is already another tank, or on King of the Hill modes. Actually, I love playing her whenever Reinhardt isn't the right fit. For example, when our team is made of a bunch of fast heroes or flankers.

• 63 games played
• 49.21 % win rate
• 1:06 average objective time

Winston:

I use this guy when the enemy team needs to have their defenses broken, or when I just want to fuck shit up. His rocket jump is unique in the game, allowing him to get into battle quickly, then get out before it's too late. I fucking love playing Winston, I think he might be the most fun of all the heroes I play.

• 59 games played
• 52.54 % win rate
• 3.34 average jump kills

Symmetra:
Like a spider, I lure enemies into my traps when I play her. I love her close range weapon, it's devastating against Genji's, Tracers, etc. It's also surprisingly powerful against tanks when they are unaware of my presence. I play Symmetra when all the roles are filled.

• 58 games played
• 63.79 % win rate
• 7.93 average portal trips

McCree:

I had to learn at least one offensive character right? I picked McCree because I love his pistol. It's rare that I use him because most of the time, we need a support or a tank. When I do use him, I am usually pretty successful. He's great at taking out people from a good distance or picking off enemies that are busy in combat.

• 26 games played
• 65.38 % win rate
• 43 % weapon accuracy

This weekend, I was most successful with Lucio, winning 11 and losing none when I played him. I also feel like I played really well as Winston and Zarya in particular. I even tried a new hero for a few minutes, Tracer. She's really fun to play, but not really my style.