Retro Game Friday: Castlevania Order of Ecclesia

This week for Retro Game Friday I’m back with another Castlevania entry! It’s Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia!

Plot: The plot is okay, it’s not the best of the series by a longshot, but it’s a hell of a lot better than the later 3D reboot that graced the last gen of consoles. It’s also nice that Shanoa is a completely standalone character and in no way connected to the Belmont line of the series.

Gameplay: The gameplay is a bit like Symphony of the Night and the more classic Castlevania games. It uses the heart system which was absent from the more recent prior entries to fuel certain attacks which was absent in both Dawn of Sorrow and Portrait of Ruin. I enjoyed the gameplay, and if Dawn of Sorrow had forgone the touch screen completely I wouldn’t be torn between Ecclesia and that for my top Castlevania games after Symphony of the Night.

Characters: Shanoa is our main character and she’s quite a bad ass. That being said this isn’t the best entry in terms of characters as it really revolves only around a few, namely Shanoa and Albus her enemy and once compatriot.

Art: The art is okay, and sticks to the Symphony of the Night style that was the peak of the series in my opinion. It could be a remastered with today’s standards, but it holds up fairly well regardless.

Music: I don’t remember much of it and since it was a handheld I didn’t listen to much to begin with.

Overall: A good entry, but not the best in a long running series.

For those who like: Metroidvania games, Action, Exploration, Drama, Badass Female Leads.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.

Serial Saturday: Azarinth Healer Chapters 01-09 by Rhaegar

This week for Serial Saturday I’m covering another new series. It’s Azarinth Healer Chapters 01-09 by Rhaegar!

Plot: The plot is pretty great, and considering that the author states upfront that he’s a complete amateur it’s refreshingly well written. It is a LitRPG mixed with Isekai elements, but don’t expect our hero to be going off to slay demon lords to save the world. I won’t spoil it, but it’s a very fun read and these first few chapters are a great start.

Characters: We really only get to meet Ilea in these first few chapters, and that’s okay as she’s quirky and intelligent and very much a badass. The cast does fill out later on.

Grammar: The grammar is very well done, and given that the author went through the trouble of revising their errors out of the early chapters is a very good sign for the longevity of the series, at least in my opinion.

Overall: A fun read, and well worth the read.

For those who like: LitRPGs, Isekai, Fantasy, Magic, Action, Adventure, Female Leads, Interesting Plot, Good Grammar.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.

Video Game Tuesday: Breath of the Wild’s Durability System

Hey all I’m back with my thoughts on last year’s probably best game’s, that I only just got to play this last weekend, only flaw. It’s all about Breath of the Wild’s Durability System!

Durability System?: For those unaware the weapons in Breath of the Wild all have a set durability that prevents you from keeping any one weapon indefinitely. There is an exception though, but the base game still prevents that exception from being usable 100% of the time. This is highly annoying and causes you to constantly scrounge up weapons. For hoarders like myself we hate having to waste good weapons on trash enemies, but sometimes we are left with no choice but to do so.

What can you do?: Well thankfully there are trees everywhere so if you get really desperate you can always throw a bomb at a tree to knock it down to get a quick weapon i a tree branch. Unfortunately they last as long as you’d expect a stick to last, which is to say not long at all. They also do absolutely crap damage, so you won’t be taking down any real enemy quickly with it, only the easiest of monsters will fall before the branch breaks.

Does it get better?: Like I said there is one weapon that doesn’t break, but with just the base game you won’t ever be able to use it all the time, as it also has a durability and has to wait a few minutes before being usable again.

My hope is that in future Zelda games they never include the durability system in this form again. I’d really like to be able to at least repair some of my weapons for a few Rupees.

That’s it for this week’s Video Game Tuesday, do you enjoy the Durability System in Breath of the Wild? Leave your thoughts below in the comments below.

Video Game Tuesday: Changes Necessary in Destiny 2

This week for Video Game Tuesday I’m talking about some things that need to happen in Bungie’s Sci-Fi Shooter. It’s Changes Necessary in Destiny 2!

Storage Space: Why they felt the need to limit themselves to only allowing you to get 100k Glimmer, 50 Modifications and 50 Shaders is beyond me. You’d have thought they would have learned their lesson from the first game with having limited space in the Vault. Hell even the 200 spaces in the Vault aren’t going to be nearly enough for the entirety of the game if it has even just one Taken King Equivalent, let alone a Rise of Iron. As it is you don’t have enough space to have a copy of every type of Modification. Why? That’s a stupid design choice.

Transmat Effects: I like that they allow you to change the transmat effect, one of my Raiding buddies has the Cabal drop pod effect, which always causes me to jump when Isee it because I’ve died way too often to them landing on me. However the fact that they are one time use only is beyond stupid. Frankly some of the effects are really cool and I don’t want to have to not use a new ship I get if I don’t have a copy of the effect I want.

Hell even the one time use on Shaders is stupid in my opinion I don’t particularly want to run the raid every time I want to use the Raid Shader on a new gun. . I also miss my Double Banshee Shader from Destiny 1 and my Outrageous Fortune and Agonarch Karve ships.

There are other things like the various reputation vendors should only pulse on the map when you have sufficient tokens to get the next package, but the above two (three if you count Shaders) things are my biggest pet peeves.

That’s it for this week’s Video Game Tuesday. Any changes you want to see made in the next few weeks to make Destiny 2 better? Leave your answers in the comments below.

Video Game Tuesday: Things I Expect to See in Destiny 2

This week for Video Game Tuesday I’m making a list, and no I’m not checking it twice. It’s Things I Expect to See in Destiny 2!

What do you mean expect to see?: I mean things that would make a huge amount of sense to be added to the game in the very near future in order to make the game feel even more alive and vibrant.

#1 Grimoire: The big problem with Grimoire in Destiny 1 was the fact it wasn’t accessible in game. It shouldn’t be hard to include something like the Mass Effect 1 Codex in the game. It’d really help flesh out the world of Destiny. This should’ve been a feature in the first game, so there is absolutely no reason that it shouldn’t be in Destiny 2 already.

#2 Reworked Matchmaking in Patrol areas: This is also something that shouldn’t be an issue, but it still is. I can zone into a public zone on Titan and be completely alone. This shouldn’t be the case, especially with 1.3 million players. I want to see the max amount of people in a zone often instead of never. I’d rather be complaining about getting my kills stolen by assholes than be completely alone attempting to do a Heroic Public Event by myself and failing miserably. The crowds you see in the social spaces should be what you see in every Patrol.

#3 Sparrow Racing: This was actually one of the better PvP activities in Destiny 1, because it was so different from the rest of the game where you are shooting everything that twitches. The fact that it happened only twice in Destiny 1 is a true shame, and frankly I’d like to see Sparrow Racing become a weekly thing like the Trials of the Nine. Of course the fact that I consistently lapped everyone on the track might make me a bit biased, but frankly I enjoyed being able to relax by racing in Destiny 1.

That’s it for this week’s Video Game Tuesday. Got something you want to see in Destiny 2? Leave it in the comments below!