This Week in Trophies 04-17-2016 – 04-23-2016

Although I kind of planned for a laid back type of week, it was anything but that. Not only did I have some crazy scheduling issues due to “miscommunication” which lead to a sit down with the second in command, which then lead to me being told I wasn’t “part of the team”, it seemed my only solace this week was gaming and I hit it pretty hard. Not only did I get two platinum trophies this week, you totally read that right, two, but I also hit my milestone 6,000th trophy. So while life was crazy, gaming was not. Take a look at my full gaming week.

Mass Effect – 63%

I spent half my day Sunday playing Mass Effect, since the other half I was talked into playing Dying Light with someone. I’m still really enjoying my current Mass Effect playthrough. I’ve done all of the side missions that were on my list and completed one main story mission on Feros. From there I’ve moved onto another story mission which will most likely be finished up soon before moving onto some more side missions or another story mission.

Dying Light – 20%

I have to say that after getting into this game a little bit more, I started to really enjoy it. I’m enjoying the time I spend playing whether it’s with someone or just going it alone, since apparently I’m not fit out to be “part of a team”. Anyway, I would say that I’m about…1/4 way through the story since I keep getting side tracked with the side missions and the safe zones and all the other things there are to do in Dying Light. I will say that this game is pretty massive and I’m kind of impressed by its size. I look forward to continuing to play.

Arcade Game Series: Ms. Pac-Man – 100%

My first platinum trophy this week. As you all probably already know, there were four different arcade game series games released this week and I picked up three of them including Ms. Pac-Man, Pac-Man, and Dig Dug since I’m not a fan of Galaga. It was nice to play this old classic once more and I’ll have my full review for the game in the upcoming weeks.

Arcade Game Series: Pac-Man – 100%

You can’t have Ms. Pac-Man without Pac-Man right? Of course after I finished playing Ms. Pac-Man I just had to play Pac-Man and I of course had to get my second platinum trophy of the week. Although I enjoyed my time playing this game a little bit more than I did with Ms. Pac-Man, you’ll have to wait for my full review to read about my overall experience with the game.

Arcade Game Series: Dig Dug – 82%

After playing Pac-Man, I basically said what the hell and started playing Dig Dug since it was the last Arcade Game Series that I had. I was so close to getting the platinum with only two trophies away, but I just couldn’t do it. I’ll definitely be finishing this game up soon and adding another platinum trophy to my list.

What a week right? Compared to my other weeks, this one kind of takes the cake which was surprising since I had an overall shitty week with just life in general. Now for what’s in store for this upcoming week. More Mass Effect, that’s a given at this point since I’ve been looking forward to it, finishing up Dig Dug, playing more Dying Light, and trying to get the last episode of The Walking Dead: Michonne in during this time. I say trying to get this episode in because I have my second tattoo appointment this week, which I’m totally excited about. I’ve made a couple of changes since my last tattoo appointment and not only will I tell you about it in the upcoming weeks, but as always I’ll let you know how my gaming week went next week.

This Week in Trophies 04-10-2016 – 04-16-2016

Unfortunately it was one of those weeks where life got in the way of my gaming, damn you life, but I did manage to get a couple of trophies. I also managed to start a new game as well in between all the chaos. Keep reading to see what new game I played this week along with the trophies that I was able to get.

Mass Effect – 62%

Although I’m not getting a hell of a lot of trophies from this game, I am enjoying my Sunday’s spent playing. It’s been like meeting up with an old friend once a week and catching up and I think sometimes you just need this. So basically I’ve only done the one main mission where you recruit Liara after leaving the Citadel and I’ve finished up all side missions that involve me actually doing something, not looking for random junk. I have two squad mate requests to take care of before moving on to one of the main missions.

Dying Light – 7%

This is the game that I started this week. Surprised? I was in a mood for a Zombie game and I’m not really into the free one that was released for the PS4 thanks to PS+, so I decided to start this one. I’m on the fence about this one so far, maybe because up until yesterday after a random person decided to help me out, I kept dying every five seconds and it was becoming old really fast. By that time I was kind of thinking that I should have just went back to playing Dead Island and finish that series up on the PS3, but I’m going to keep giving this one a try hoping that something changes my mind.

So yeah…that was it. This week I plan to game as much as possible because the following week is going to be absolutely crazy for me. So what’s on the agenda? More Mass Effect for my Sunday and more Dying Light throughout the rest of the week. Maybe even a few random games in between as I try to clean up some more of my backlog with May being such a big gaming month. I’ll let you know how things went next week.

Is One Sequel Enough?

Almost every game that is released now has not only one sequel attached to it but also a third and fourth sequel as well. These games must be good if a company is going to make game after game carrying the same story and just about the same plot line, right? Right? Well, unfortunately that’s not always the case. Most of the time the second game in a series is that series shining star while the third game and games that follow are a bit lackluster and fail in comparison. While this doesn‘t happen to all games, those games should consider themselves lucky, it happens to most.

Just about everyone’s go to when arguing this point is definitely the Mass Effect series. While the original wasn’t bad, it introduced the world to Commander Shepard and showed the threat of the Reapers, Mass Effect 2 shined. Mass Effect 2 gave Shepard the chance to go after the Reapers and hit them where it hurt on their own turf. The best game in the series, it opened the door for greatness that just wasn’t achieved in the third game. Now I’m not saying that Mass Effect 3 was bad, but it just wasn’t as good as the second game. The third game just didn’t serve the same purpose as the second and it makes me wonder if Shepard’s story really needed to be told in three games. Could Shepard’s story just be complete in the second game? I mean it does have the option of having Shepard die in the end so why not just stop there? Why go on and make another game that really just didn’t live up to expectations?

Another game series that suffers this same pattern is Uncharted. The first Uncharted introduced us to treasure hunter Nathan Drake. It showed who he was and what he did and it wasn’t bad. It kept people interested enough for a sequel and that sequel absolutely shined. Uncharted 2 had everything that you could want from an action/adventure game. A more developed story then the first game, this game also had what every action game needs, intense action scenes. This game showed what the Uncharted series could truly be. It was the shining star of the series. It introduced Chloe! You can’t get much better then that, but the third one was supposed to follow on the same path as the second game and even be so much more. Sadly, it failed in comparison. It wasn’t a bad game, none of the Uncharted games are, but it just wasn’t the second game. If I’m in the mood to play Uncharted it’s a pretty easy choice for me when I go and grab Uncharted 2.

Now to one of the worst offenders ever. Assassins Creed. While the first game put me to sleep and I didn’t even finish playing it, the second game and the story of Ezio kept me captivated and wanting more Assassin’s Creed. I thought the series could only get better from there, but boy oh boy was I wrong. At first I didn’t think I was wrong though, I mean Brotherhood was simply amazing. It seemed like the curse of the second game being the best game in a series was over, but then came Revelations…and then Assassin’s Creed III. Each game after seems to get worse and worse each time. There was hope with IV but that died with the release of Unity. With a total of 9 games to its series, it’s sad that the shining moment was the second game.

While I’ve given up all hope for Assassin’s Creed, it’s one of my gaming goals this year to not pre-order another Assassin’s Creed or anything that comes from Ubisoft, I still have hope for Uncharted and Mass Effect. Each of them have a fourth game planned with Uncharted 4 being the first of the two released this year. Can the fourth game in these series break the curse or will each of these series sadly end up like Assassin’s Creed? We’ll have to wait and see, but for now I remain pretty damn excited for Uncharted 4. So, while not all series should stop after their blockbuster second game, not all games should continue either. I‘m looking at you Assassin‘s Creed. Stop…just stop.

What Makes A Good Villain?

When it comes to video games, the villain is just as important as the main hero. Every good guy has to have a bad guy. It’s like an unspoken rule. What would be the point of being a good guy if there was no bad guy to want to at least try and stop? There are a bunch of different kinds of villain’s, but what truly makes a good one?

For me, a good villain is someone who was starting out on the right path, trying themselves to be the good guy, but then eventually got so twisted that they ended up the villain in the end. These villains are the best kinds of villain because they truly believe that they are doing something that’s still good no matter how far they took things. Sure, they’re the bad guy meaning that they had to have done some pretty horrible things on their journey, but they weren’t always the bad guy.

There are a ton of games that cater to this, a ton, but while some of them are cut and dry some of them you have to really dig to see that at one time they were trying to help. When it comes to the cut and dry good guy turned bad guy, my favorites are The Illusive Man (Mass Effect 2 and 3) and Knight Commander Meredith (Dragon Age 2).

You’re introduced to The Illusive Man at the beginning of Mass Effect 2 when he spends a ton of money to rebuild the only one who can stop the Reapers, Commander Shepard. He’s trying to do the right thing, funding scientists and trying to save the humans from being wiped out by this threat that no one will believe Shepard about. Sure Shepard doesn’t really trust him, but his intentions are good. No one else is doing anything to try and stop the Reapers, but The Illusive Man and Cerberus are. By the time Mass Effect 3 rolls around he’s done some pretty shitty things making him the true villain of Mass Effect 3. Forget the stupid space child or even the Reapers for that matter. The main goal of Mass Effect 3 is stopping The Illusive Man and Cerberus.

Kudos: By the end of Mass Effect 3 you can make The Illusive Man see where he went wrong. This is seriously one of the winning moments of Mass Effect 3, talking The Illusive Man down and having him finally realize that he went to far.

In Dragon Age 2, Knight Commander Meredith comes off as the bad guy right away. She’ll do anything she possibly can to stop the mages from terrorizing Kirkwall and she’ll use any means possible to do this, but it isn’t without reason. Even though she’s extreme if you support the Templars you’ll get to hear her side of the story, hear about how she’s doing all of this because of her sister. You’ll get to see her in a different view this way so that she isn’t just a horrible person who hates people because they’re different. She’s seen first hand what magic has done and thinks that she’s doing everything right by bringing down harsher restrictions on mages, but then she turns to Red Lyrium and goes bat shit crazy making her one of two villains in Dragon Age 2.

While these are my favorite cut and dry good guys that turn into bad guys, there are also some that you have to dig really deep to see that at one time they were good. As for those my favorites have to be Handsome Jack (Borderlands 2) and Sophia Lamb (BioShock 2).

You never get the chance to see Jack as the good guy at all in Borderlands 2. He’s bad right from the start no matter how you look at it. He’s using his own daughter to charge a Vault key! How much worse could you possibly get! Even though you can’t see it, he wasn’t always like that. In Borderlands The Pre-Sequel, you’ll see him as just someone who is trying to rise to the top of the Hyperion ladder. Sure he’s a little ruthless, but in that situation who isn’t? The events at the end of the Pre-Sequel will help you understand what made things change for him, what made him become even more ruthless, making him a badass bad guy.

Another favorite of mine is Sophia Lamb. You’re introduced to her in BioShock 2 and from the start she’s just the worst. She’s manipulative, ruthless, and just down right bad. You can’t possibly see her as anything else, but if you read BioShock Rapture, the in between book of BioShock 1 and BioShock 2, you won’t exactly see her that way. She wasn’t always the bad guy that she’s made out to be. She was brought to Rapture to help people after Andrew Ryan clearly failed at his little experiment. Rapture isn’t what it’s supposed to be, people aren’t living in the life of luxury they were promised. Sophia wants to change that, she strongly opposes Ryan and like every good villain takes it a little bit too far in turn making her the villain.

There are a ton of games that cater to this type of villain. I could go on and on naming countless other video games that have these, but these are my absolute favorite. All of these villains, while they need to be stopped like every other villain, are worthy adversaries for the chosen hero. They all believe strongly in what they’re doing no matter how twisted things got along the way. While some see it at the end others unfortunately don‘t, either way each story ends the same with the hero coming out on top and doing what a hero does.