Gems in the Rough

Underappreciated, but not forgotten. 

As we move into a new year sometimes it's good to look back at the previous years and see what went well, and not so well. But more importantly what games you played, and the games that fell to the wayside. Recently I was asked what my favorite underappreciated games were, which made me want to write this article. So if you don't mind a little self-indulgence on my part, maybe you will find your next favorite gaming experience on this list. Without further adieu, here are my personal favorite lesser know titles. (Quick Note: The list is not in any particular order. Enjoy!)

1. To the Moon. 

Starting out this list is a game I have already briefly touched on. Coming out just days before The Elder Scrolls Skyrim, is a dangerous 
prospect. Which showed as the game didn't receive much attention from most, however months after release it got a second wind due mostly to YouTube playthroughs by large channels. The game is a simple point and click puzzle game, with sprites, beautiful pixel artwork, and a moving soundtrack. From a gameplay stand point it's very bare-bones, but the story is the key selling point here. The tale of a dying mans wish to go to the moon told backwards through his memories, is an emotional roller coaster. I can't explain too much as it will spoil the game, but needless to say it will leave thinking, wanting to discuss it, while also making you ask questions of yourself. At only 4.5 hours long it's a game that can be taken in quickly, but you will want to savor the journey.  

2. Hollow Knight.

Now there is some buzz about this game, (unintentional pun) but not nearly enough credit is given to it. Released, February 24, 2017. Set in a fascinating world, that is slowing unfolded to you. You play as an expressionless knight, with your only real clear goal to be to save a villages people. Did I mention everyone, and everything in the game is a bug? It's a metroidvania style game, with backtracking, new items, and plenty to explore. It really feels like a love letter to the older styles of games. What with it's hand drawn visuals, to its charming characters. It also introduces some new concepts that I would love to see passed on to other titles as well. Hollow Knight is a challenging and enriching experience that I would love for more people to play for themselves.

3. Ori and the Blind Forest.

Ok so I know I'm cheating a bit with this one, but I can't help myself. I love this game so very much, and I wish more people would play and see for themselves. 
Released, March 2015. 
Ori and the Blind Forest follows the story of well, Ori. A child of light that must restore the light to the forest. Even though Ori does not speak in the game, he is one of the most expressive and heartwarming characters in gaming. Also the visuals on display here are without a doubt the most beautiful I have ever seen. Besting games like, "The Witcher 3" and, "Uncharted 4." In that department. (This is just in my opinion though) While the game looks peaceful, make no mistake. Ori and the Blind Forest is tough as nails, and that's a good thing. It's just the right amount of challenge, giving you room to improve at the game and feel accomplished. To top it all off the games controls are incredibly tight and responsive, with jumps, flips, attacks, wall climbs, and leaps all feeling amazing to do. To sum it all up, the game looks amazing, feels great to play, has one of my personal favorite soundtracks, features a tear-jerking heartwarming story, and is only 19.99 USD. What are you waiting for, go, play it. Well after you finish with this of course. 

4. Lawbreakers.

Now this one is a bit weird. You have most likely heard of this one, but in some way or another were turned off by it. Releasing, August 8, 2017. It suffered from horrible marketing, and was put into a odd release slot, which ultimately failed the game. The game doesn't have a story, instead being a multiplayer only release. Another problem was the bland generic roster of characters to play as. Somehow, even after all of those negatives, the game is surprisingly fun. At it's core a lovely throwback to quake style multiplayer craziness. It has complex movement systems, twitch shooting, and quite a lot of strategy. If you have a itch for some old school fun, Lawbreakers might be able to scratch it for you. 

5. Sleeping Dogs.

Another game that is revered, but no one really talks about it. Ever. Sleeping Dogs released August 14, 2012. To high review scores and low sales. Over the years the game has seen somewhat of a cult following, and for good reason. The games premise is you play as, "Wei Shen" an undercover police officer in the infamous Triad. What follow is a tense game of cat and mouse as you constantly evade both sides of the conflict. It feature a gritty realized version of Hong Kong, with bright neon lights, seedy back alleyways, and famous movie stars. The combat is reminiscent of the Batman Arkham series, with the exception you are a Kung Fu master, who isn't afraid to kill. With its unique narrative and setting. It's a game I can recommend anyone looking for a open sandbox game.

That'll do...For now.

For now I'm going to keep this list short. As I keep going the games would become harder and harder to find. The intent of this list is to find a game that you could pick up and play today, without much hassle. If you would like me to continue with older game please do let me know. Just because a game is popular doesn't mean it's the best, and a game that you may have never heard of, just might become your new favorite. Happy New Year, and good hunting. 

Boss Battle Time.

    The Boss Battle, and the double edged sword.

Boss Battles have been around almost as long as gaming itself. It's been a long and established part of the gaming experience. Some games rely entirely on boss battles as a core element.  With all of that being said there are many times when a game just doesn't need one. How about we look at both sides of this dual edged sword?

Bowser, Super Mario Bros.

Some villains have been around so long they actually are as notable as the hero of their stories. Take this Koopa King for example. Boswer is one of the oldest and most classic examples of antagonists in games.  Whenever people load up a Super Mario title they look forward to fighting this giant, spiked, Koopa. Some fights out-shine others like the ending to Super Mario 64, but the scope and scale remain larger than life. With everything from scaling a tower to a tense fight on a bridge to get to an ax to chop down the bridge. While almost every fight is pretty basic, it's a satisfying ending for the player. They get to take out all of the frustrations of some of the tough levels behind them on this admittedly doofy villain. Bowser shows us that a boss battle doesn't have to extremely complex in order to draw the player in, and deliver a memorable experience. 

Shadow of the Colossus Remastered.

When it comes to games that rely almost solely on boss battles Shadow of the Colossus for PS2 blew the idea into a whole different level. It rests on a simple gameplay loop of, prepare to fight a large monster, track down said monster, defeat it, collect your reward, move on to the next one. All while having a mysterious story looming in the background. The fights were tense affairs, requiring you to climb, aim, shoot, and outsmart your foe. It still stands as a shining example of the boss battle formula, and it is beloved by so many people. So much so that a remaster is planned to come out in 2018, thirteen years after its first release. 

Now on to the bad eggs of the bunch. Please I hope this doesn't sound like these games are bad or that I hate them, they just had distasteful ending which overshadowed an otherwise great games.

Batman Arkham Asylum came out in a age where comic book games were so laughably bad that it would take something special to buck the trend.The game had immense commercial and critical success. Now when you think of Batman what is the next thing you think of? I'm willing to bet about 95% of you will think of a certain Clown Prince, also know as the Joker. However there are still many amazing adversaries in the comics, and here it is no different. It also has boss battles both great, and not so great. Let's start off high with the Scarecrow fight. Scarecrow has this whole obsession with fear and the psychological. So it's only fitting that your fight with him breaks the fourth wall. Bugs, whispering, a shattered reality, running from a larger than life version of scarecrow, a never ending morgue housing his dead father and mother, and a "crash" with laughter that replays the opening of the game.  Only difference being the Joker and Batman revering roles. It's haunting, creepy, and shows the player that nothing is safe. Most importantly it takes the rule book, lights it on fire, then tosses it out the window. Now onto the main event, 

Mr. J.

The Joker. Batman Arkham Asylum

Now I want to meet the man who thought that it was a good idea to turn this.....

Into this.... Thing.

But seriously, the ending of Arkham Asylum has the Caped Crusader facing off against a drugged up version of the Joker who has injected himself with "Titan." Basically what makes Bane super strong and scary. Remember that rule book I mentioned earlier? Well you could write a what not to do from this fight. Annoying phase where goons come after you while the boss throws objects and attacks from afar? Check. Brief times of vulnerability activated by a button mashing quick time event? Check. It's a weak, sad excuse for an ending that left a bitter taste. But what if you ended the game without a boss battle? Instead of a pathetic shoehorned in battle, why not have the Joker do what he is best at. Cutting Batman to his core. Let me present this ending. Batman enters a darkly lit room with a fire dying in the fireplace, a high winged back chair takes presence in the room. Laughter, horrid shrieking laughter. Seated in the chair is Joker laughing and coughing in equal measure. He seems to waste no time challenging Bats as he talks to him about his parents, eventually driving him to the point of blind rage. Joker continues, not letting up the pressure, until our hero snaps. In a blind rage he grabs Joker and begins beating the Clown, all while Joker laughs. The police burst through the door and are able to tear Joker away, as they take him away you can hear him calling out to you, "Seems like we are more alike than you want to admit!" Disturbing? Sure, but it would be so much more fitting way to end this feud.

Final example of how a game doesn't need a final fight ending.
Dying Light.

Dying Light

Rais is the villain of Dying Light, and boy does he have problems. I won't get into details of what he does, but it's along the lines messed up murder with zombies. Oh and forcing people to fight to the death for the cure. Rais, even though horrible and messed up, is just a person. The lead-up to the final fight is an amazing, tense, well paced, run from the horde that puts all your skills to the test. "A pay off is surely on the way!" You think to yourself, as you race to the top of the skyscraper. Only to be greeted with the only Quick time Event in the game. Then it ends....That's it, a QTE, then nothing. It just feels hollow, and half done. There is so much potential here as Rais sees himself as a king. Why not have him toss you a saber and challenge you to a duel on top of an unfinished skyscraper? For both the title of king and the information you need. Or maybe a tense conversation, that ends with a short, sharp gunshot. Killing Rais in an unconventional way would be the perfect way to cap off a game about your resourcefulness as a player.

Boss Battles have to fight themselves more often than not.

Which is the product of a genre defining trope that most developers aim to shoehorn in. Not really giving much thought as to the context of the situation. Or whether or not it really needs it. Boss Battles have such a rich history and it's something that is unique to gaming in a way. Which is why it has to be handled with such care.

Thank you all for reading, and have a wonderful day.

Alternative Story Telling. How Gaming has brought us a new way to tell a tale.

A somewhat vague statement, but let me go into it. 

Story telling has been largely stagnate for quite some time, several hundred years in fact. Ever since the days of Beowulf and old tales passed down through songs and vocal tales, stories have followed a fairly predictable route. Meet hero, hero faces challenge, hero overcomes challenge or is defeated, the end. But while the formula works, and has been tried and true for centuries. Certainly there must be another way for people to experience a story?

The Legend of Zelda. Breath of the Wild. 2017

Enter the world of gaming, well the story telling world that is. 

Ever since it's inception gaming has been looked down upon as a inferior form of entertainment. Instead of being it's own medium it has been constantly compared to older art forms, such as movies, books, or even paintings. While this isn't necessarily a bad thing, it stifles creativity. Forcing expectations on it, while it was still growing as it's own art. I would like to show you some examples of games that follow the forms of conventional mediums, and those that forged ahead a new path of there own.

               The Legend of Zelda.

A title so influential to the world, it's hard to think of a time before it existed. In 1986, a small team of people including, Takashi Tezuka, and Shigeru Miyamoto, released The Legend of Zelda. In the game you played as a young boy, you were given no directions and the world was yours to explore. This was incredibly ground breaking. Instead of the voice of a narrator telling you a story, it was the world that had a story to tell. There was no, go to point A, do objective B, get item C, to accomplish D. It was more free flowing than that. You could explore at your leisure, finding secrets, defeating monsters, and just overall feeling like an adventurer. People would get together to talk about the game and share stories of their adventures. Finding a hidden room felt like an accomplishment, not some mundane task put forth for you to do by some Deus Ex Machina convention for plot reasons. If it sounds like i'm gushing it's because I am. Did it have it's flaws? Sure, but this game did so much to change the landscape of the gaming community and was so far ahead of it's time that the full vision of the game wouldn't be realized until 2017. More on that later.

To the Moon, 2011

So you may be thinking that I hate traditional story telling but I don't. 

In fact if anything I absolutely love it. Let me prove it. To the Moon, this game brought me to tears. While the graphics and sprites aren't anything to write home about, and the gameplay is basic puzzles and simple point and click mechanics. It's all about the writing in this game. It tells a tale of a mans life through his memories, the catch? The memories can only be accessed backwards from the most recent memory. What follows is a heartfelt tale that tackles, love, loss, and extreme moral questions. Even after it's over, you can't help but ponder the choices it presents you and whether or not what you did as the main character was right. But it's all told through dialogue and narration. Player discovery is kept to a minimum, as you are told where to go and what to do. However, this is the only way a story of this nature.

The Legend of Zelda, 2017.

Alright, back on the open world train. 

The Legend of Zelda, Breath of the Wild, came out and collectively blew peoples minds this year. Not only that but changed how people think of the Open World concept as a whole. The game starts you out in a small area that exposes you to most of the game mechanics and then let's you loose on the world. The original vision for The Legend of Zelda came from Shigeru Miyamoto when he was a young boy and the adventures he had exploring a forest and mountain near his home. And while the original came close to encapsulating that feeling, Breath of the Wild knocked it out of the park. The world, while not the biggest in overall land mass, is overflowing with things to discover, vista's to see, caves to explore, mountains to climb, all while rewarding you and making sure like you never feel like you are wasting your time. And while there is a story to go and follow, the best character is the world itself. The environments tell there own tale, there are ruins to look at, snow capped mountains, and scorching deserts. It's as intimidating as it is intriguing, and every second of it feels fulfilling and satisfying.

So what does it all mean?

Gaming has the unique opportunity of letting the player create their own story lines. Giving control back to the consumer of the art. It fills you with a sense of, "I did this" instead of, "Well that story was cool." I'm not saying one is better than the other, but it's nice to see that gaming has the opportunity to change peoples views on how a story should be told. Hopefully in the future we can start to see more creative ways on how to come to a, "Happily Ever After."

Stories Without Words.

How to Tell a Story, without saying a word.

If I asked you to tell me a story, how would you go about it? Most likely you would say along the lines of, "Once upon a time." But what if I said you tell a compelling story, while only saying the bare minimum to your client? Let's go down this rabbit hole of thought and see if my logic holds up.

You're Going to Die.

Chances are you have heard this phrase, even if you have never heard of the game it's from.

Dark Souls is a game series that has been heralded as one of the hardest game series since the arcade days of gaming. But what I find fascinating is the method of story telling that is packed into the game. When you first boot up the game you are treated to a short story cut scene, but after that all you get is cryptic lines from random NPC's. But outside of that? Not much in terms of plot line shoved down your throat. So how you might ask, does it tell a compelling story? Two ways, through environmental story telling and player influence. Let's examine a screen shot and dig deeper into the meaning behind these two concepts.  

On to the Ithryll dungeons, oh how I dreaded you. the overwhelming the feeling of dread and death is overbearing. If you can zoom in on the picture I highly encourage it. The main enemies in the are are called "Jailers" which is fitting for a dungeon. There main weapon is a cruel branding iron, and cackle with glee when they hit you and slowly drain your health when you are in line of sight freezing you in place. What does this have to do with story telling? EVERYTHING. Most of the cells are empty which makes the player wonder what happened to the prisoners,(which you end up fighting later on.) The enclosed hallways and narrow spaces force the player to react head on. Instead of running around corners you are forced to walk slow and peek around edges for threats. Lighting is sparse, and where light is usually comforting to a player, the Jailers carry lanterns. So when you see light at the end of a hallway, instead of being excited for the light, you are filled with dread. Which further drives home the battle of light and dark in the Dark Souls mythos. All of this pulls the player in and tells the history of the area, while driving the player forward in there convictions. 

How about another example?

After the tutorial levels you are brought to The Wall. As you venture forward you see the the main Castle in the distance. You are drawn to it, but you learn that it is guarded by a fierce enemy. And the that town below was cut off by a great rupture. It feels destitute, departed, almost as if time has stopped, or had stopped long ago. Even the air looks stale, and the enemies are, for the most part, poorly equipped.There are trees with withered people clawing toward the city in the distance, making you wonder how things came to be this way. After you leave the Wall, it's a slow climb back, which circles the whole game leading you back to where you started. Defeating the Monster guarding the city above, and breaking through. It draws great parallels to, "The Hero's Journey," while forging it's own path. There is another game to bring into the discussion when talking about, "The Hero's Journey," but that's a whole article for another day. Last example for the day, it's a bit complicated so bare with me.

Yeah, she's terrifying.

 OK so here we go.

The first time you see the dancer, (if you don't go on a murder spree) She looks very different. Very different indeed. Don't believe me? The first time you run into her is in the Irithyll. Let me explain. When you first enter the Irithyll you see ghosts of the past walking in this once great city. Two will walk out of the city into exile.

Who was the second you ask? My theory along with others is that it is Vordt of the Boreal Valley.

(pictured right.)

Irithyll is located in the Boreal Valley, and both the Dancer and Vordt are located and fought in the same area. In fact they are less than a minute apart. One guards the way to the town below, while the other guards the Castle above. Digging more in depth you can learn that the Dancer was once a part of the noble court till the corrupt Pontiff, (basically a sheriff.) made advances onto the Dancer and tried to forcibly take her as a concubine. Vordt tried to defend her honor, and as a result they both were exiled. However even in exile Vordt still tries to defend the Dancer, drawing attention away from her and on to himself.

(Editors note, Yes I know this is not 100% correct after reading some item descriptions. But this is another cool thing about this game. This whole theory was based off of my own play through which I didn't go super in depth into the items of the game.)

So we have two bosses that have backstories hidden in the world. It gives these bosses purpose, and a motive. All without the game taking control away from the player. Instead of stopping the player and saying, "HEY LOOK AT THIS!" it respects the intelligence of said player, deepens the lore and enhances the world building.

Ok, ok, what's your point?

Well, I don't have a point. Yes that's right I'm not trying to go on a crusade like I usually do. I just wanted to talk about something that I'm passionate about. Stories without words. Tales that come from character models and environments. These really make a world shine in my opinion and breath life into worlds that most people charge through. So next time you are playing Dark Souls, or really any large world building game, look around. Be inquisitive, look at the small details and ponder what emotions the game is trying to evoke. Well I've rambled on for long enough, I hope you have enjoyed this look into something a little more technical. Always remember, the fire fades, and Praise the Sun!

Power Creep. What it is and why it's bad.

Today we will be talking about power creep.

(Very official sounding.) Anyway power creep is a major factor in any ongoing game, and a huge problem many designers face when making games like, World of Warcraft, League of Legends, or Destiny. In my opinion only one of these games got it right. But how and why? In order to answer that let's have a chat with the beast himself.

Say Hi to Power creep.

What? Oh don't him fool you. Oh sure he looks cute and innocent now, but that is how is starts out. When designing updates to a game it can be tempting to just add better gear with better numbers. Or maybe a stronger character, or faster ways to obtain items. But this is one of the worst game decisions you can make. 

POWER CREEP IS EVIL! Just look at him!

Let's say in the base version of your game there is a sword, not just any sword, the best sword in the game. It takes dozens of hours of grinding and leveling to obtain it, but when you do, you feel accomplished. UNTIL the next update rolls out and the weakest weapon you can get in the update is stronger than that sword you worked so hard to get. The player feels cheated, tricked, maybe even insutled. The problem only grows worse if people stop playing the game, then later try to come back and play it again. At this point any gear that they grinded and worked for is outdated and useless, and now they must start again from ground zero. The problem is when a player gets something new and shiny, if it outclasses the old gear even by a little, the player will switch no questions asked. 

Please don't mistake me, ongoing games are great! Constantly putting more work into a game that you know people love is one of the greatest advancements in gaming in my opinion. However it is now becoming a way for companies to make a quick cash grab. And......... 

Wait, are you wearing a monocle now? And a top hat?  How did you afford?... Oh wait was that from.. Har, Har, moving on.

Let's take a look at Destiny.

Destiny had a rocky launch to say the least, the base game shipped with barely any content with the rest of the game chopped up into DLC (Downloadable Content.) which costed more money. However the game revitalized itself about a year later with, "The Taken King." expansion which updated just about everything. Better PvP, more story missions expanding the mythos and world, more weapons, new gear, new classes. Just a whole lot of new. The game was now great! Except for one problem. All of the old gear became useless. Players were too swept up the engaging narrative to notice their old gear being made irrelevant, and having to level up again before being able to take on the bigger challenges. This is a prime example of Power Creep. Bungie came so close to having the perfect answer to their ailing game, but couldn't solve the issue of power creep. They saw the old content as bad and ignored it all together. Which got me thinking about other games with content updates, do all of them do this?

On to World on Warcraft.

The year was 2004, internet was becoming more and more accessible and a game took the attention of the world.

World of Warcraft has arguably been one of the most successful games ever made. While not the first MMO ever made, World of Warcraft delivered on a scale never before executed properly. It brought players together, and formed a tightly knit community. With a staggering amount things to do, vistas to find, and loot to obtain, players were sucked in for hours on end. At it's height World of Warcraft had almost 12.5 millions subscribers playing every month. However it was not to last, while WoW is still massively played, it's numbers of players have steadily dropped over the last few years due to different factors. One of the major reasons is Power Creep. Now on it's sixth expansion WoW, has suffered massive Power Creep over the years mostly due to it's......

Sigh, please go away and let me do my job?.. Anyway with all of the expansions, the focus has been on the new. New loot, new areas, new look, new... well everything. This wouldn't be a problem if the new equipment was handled in a way that made it on a equal power level with the old equipment, but with different attributes. Instead of doing all that work, they simply moved the numbers to be more powerful on the new things. Thus making the old gear useless. If only there was an example of introducing the New without make the old useless.

Finally, League of Legends.

Now, finally a game that flies in the face of Power creep.  

League of Legends was released October 27, 2009, and still has a large player base today. In fact it has the largest player base of any game to date. Why is it still so popular? Well one factor has to due with perfect imbalance, but that's a subject i'm saving a full article for later. League of Legends had five brand new champions released this year. But if their are new characters to play as you may ask.,"Aren't they better than the old ones?" Short answer, no. Every character in the game has a balance of things they can and can't do, thus balancing each other out. And while it's inevitable that some are better than others, considering there are 123 of them. No matter how powerful they are, another character can counter them. Which is the simplicity and beauty of it all. The game has a system of checks and balances build into the framework of the game to even out old and new content, to make sure that the dreaded Power Creep isn't an issue. And while new characters are exciting and bring a breath of fresh air to the game, it's always comforting to go back and play an old favorite that you will always love., thus preventing Power Creep.

Going back and looking at these games, none of them are actually bad games. They just suffer from the same system that has been holding them back, with not a lot people truly knowing why they felt sad or left out when a new update was rolled out. But now that you know just what Power Creep is, start speaking up about it. Tell your friends, impress them with your new found knowledge. The point of this article is not to disparage against Wow, or Destiny, but rather to shed light on some of the flaws in the systems so that people can recognize Power Creep and trend away from games that use it to keep players invested. It's a terrible practice, and only us the consumers can let companies know that we don't want it. So if you see and online game that deals with the issue and has a balanced environment for everyone, show them some love and give them some money. No I'm not crazy nor was I payed to say that. As consumers money is the most powerful tool we have at our disposal, and who knows? Maybe if we start putting money away from the Power Creep companies will listen.

Thanks for your time, and I hoped you learned something!

Core Values

What makes a Game Work?

What compels a Gamer?

When we talk about playing a game, the first question someone will ask is why? Why are you playing it? What makes it interesting? These are often hard to answer questions. But if you look closer there are reasons why we play certain games due to how we look for enjoyment in pastimes. Let me explain.

If you examine a game you look for the core values behind it. "Does it want you to have a sense of exploration?" or "Does it want to make you feel like you are unstoppable?" Different games are meant to appeal to different audiences. What is an example you ask? Well let's look at two separate games, "Skyrim" and "Overwatch." Both are extremely successful games in their own rights but for very different reasons.

Let's start with, "Skyrim." The base premise, if you have never played it before is this. You are placed in the world of Tamriel, more specifically, in the region of Skyrim. As the, "DragonBorn" a man who has the blood a dragons in you, it is your quest to slay the dragons and save the land. Little bit lost? Well it boils down to, you have great power, go into this Fantasy world and make an adventure for yourself. "Skyrim" was released in Nov, of 2011, and is still regarded as one of the best games ever made, why? It does one thing very, very right, a sense of adventure. When you look out on the world for the first time the only thing you want to do is deviate from the road and go exploring. It appeals to the innate human nature of exploring, finding things on your own, and being independent. This is what Western RPG's have at it's core, and it's the reason why people play them. It's an overwhelming feeling of wonder and accomplishment. Finding a cave that leads to an in-depth quest that you never knew about, or scaling that mountain for the first time. This is why, "Skyrim" succeeds, but does every game have to follow this formula to be successful as well?



In short no, no it doesn't. "Overwatch," was released in May, 2016, and took the world by storm. With it's colorful characters and team based game play people latched on to it and haven't looked back. Overwatch's premise is simple, two teams of six players fight over an objective. Being either a payload one team has to push while the other defends, or fighting over a spot on a map al-a king of the hill. But what NEED does it fill? Competitive drive, that innate nature to try to best someone. While both Skyrim and Overwatch are played from the first person perspective, Overwatch is classified as a first person shooter, as it is the core game play element of it. (We will go more in-depth of  classifications another time.) Overwatch gives a feeling of accomplishment through victory as you best the opposing team.


Both games are incredible for very different reasons, due to the fact they appeal to different human natures that we all have. While, "Skyrim" grabs your attention with a large open world full of possibilities. "Overwatch," draws in player looking to sharpen their skills and encourages them to become the best that they can be. Next time you sit down and pop in a game, then lose yourself to it's world, ask, "What is it that is drawing me in?" The answer might surprise you. You'll thank me later, (hopefully)

Thank you all so much for reading, and have a wonderful day.

Let's go on a Journey

Let's go on a Journey.

Welcome!

Welcome to my first blog post, I'd like to introduce myself, if you don't mind. 

My name is Josef Kolke, and I have been a tech fanatic my entire life. I still remember playing, "Paper Boy." and "Megaman," for the first time on a friends, "NES." I would like to share my thoughts and analysis of games and tech on this blog. So stick around, "Would you kindly?"

Let's start this off by saying I love games. No really, I love games. This crazy fantastical weird form of expression is how I spend most of my down time.  As an art form or a sport, saving this topic of contention for another time, I enjoy playing and analyzing this wonderful medium.
I often have had friends ask me for recommendations for games or have had people ask my opinions on controllers or keyboards. So I figured it was time I start putting my thoughts out there for everyone. On this Blog I am aiming to post once week on varying topics such as, "Are games really a form of art?" "Esports aren't really a sport, are they?" and "Just what is Immersion?"

Granted this is a short post but I wanted this to be more of a what to expect rather than a topic. I will post my first topic of, "Why do we play games?" shortly so stayed tuned for that.

Thank you all, and have a wonderful day.

P.S: If you took the time to read all that, you are my new favorite person.