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Monthly Archives: May 2014

Mike Checks Out… Transistor

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Transistor by SuperGiant games

An exquisite game challenging and intelligent

Every so often a game is launched that is so unique, artful and intelligent that it takes your breath away.  right now for me that game is Transistor.

Created by SuperGiant Games, whose previous game Bastion was equally beguiling, Transistor tells the story of Red a singer in a dystopian digital world who has had her voice stolen by a shadowy agency.  She is accompanied by the Transistor, a huge sword that contains a living soul.  It is this soul that narrates the game and their relationship and how they came to be in this predicament is shrouded in mystery.

Transistor is certainly mysterious, SuperGiant Games grant their audience with the intelligent to piece the story together for themselves.  They don’t spoon feed you banalities like so many games but instead introduce characters and situations slowly to maintain the mystery and make you engage and connect with the characters fully.

The game is played from an asymmetric  view with a fixed camera which does very rarely hide the action, but never in a way that reduces immersion or makes the game unplayable.  Graphics are colourful, well animated and have a very unique feel; almost Blade Runner mixed with Tron.

Gameplay is a mix of exploration, real time combat and strategic planning.  You can pommel away at enemies with the sword in real time but this is not the most effective tactic you can employ.  With a tap of R2 time freezes and you can move Red freely around the environment to plan moves to best decimate your adversaries. Each action has a cost and once you have spent all your points tapping R2 again will unleash the pain. you will then have to engage or evade in real time until the action bar recharges allowing the next bit of strategic brilliance.

This mechanic works exceptionally well and keeps combat fresh and interesting.  There is also an upgrade system that means you can attach active and passive skills to the Transistor in any combination to match your playing style.

As you probably can guess I love this game and it is currently on PSN for £14.99, worth every penny in my opinion.

Check out my video below to see it in action

and as always… Happy Gaming

Mike Checks Out… Transistor

Mining – Gathering Classes in Final Fantasy XIV A Realm Reborn

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FFXIV Mining - Intro to Gathering Classes

A short introduction to Gathering Classes in FFXIV

 

There are 3 Gathering Classes in Final Fantasy XIV that you can unlock once your main character reaches level 10 in their combat class. (click here for a video “What Happens at Level 10“)

Mining, Botany and Fishing are activities where you gather materials in and around Eorzea to help with crafting items yourself or to sell in the market place to generate in game cash.

I have played a number of MMOs and gathering is generally very dull, comprising of finding a node and clicking on it with success pretty much guaranteed.  However with FFXIV there is a real element of planning and a risk of failure.  As you level up more active and passive skills become available and each gathering expedition is a mini game in itself. This sense of progress ensures that the gathering classes remain fresh and interesting.

Also each gathering guild has its own story-line so as you level up you get  more insight into the guild.  Although not as involving as the main quest or the combat classes these little tales keep you motivated to push forward. Not forgetting that the monetary rewards of selling rare items are certainly very attractive.

You can also pick up timed mini quests, guild leves,  at most hub areas that are fun to do and have big XP and gear rewards.

Final Fantasy XIV doesn’t restrict you either, you can have all gathering classes, Crafting classes and combat classes on one character, which give the game huge replay value. Ultimately you see you character go from a lowly level 1 combat classes to a master of literally all they survey.

This video gives you a brief look at Mining, however the mechanics of Botany are exactly the same.  Fishing is a different story however and I will do a separate video soon about how to land the wriggly fishy denizens of Eorzea.

I hope you enjoy the video

And as always… Happy gaming

Gathering Classes – FFXIV Mining introduction

Eorzea – Grand Tours of Ul’Dah, Gridania and Limsa Lominsa

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Tours of Eorzea

Final Fantasy XIV is a stunning game on the PS4. Here is a view of the city state of Limsa Lominsa.

 

Eorzea, the world that Final Fantasy XIV is set in, is one of the best realised and beautiful worlds I have seen in my years of gaming.  SquareEnix have created a world the feels vibrant, alive and unique but maintains the feel of the Final Fantasy we know and love.

These videos take you on a brief tour of the three major cities Gridania, Ul’Dah and Limsa Lominsa.  Your friendly tour guide, Flumpa Lumpa, shows you the interesting points in each city and a quick whiz round the areas you will see when you start out.

Gridania is a wonderful woodland area, home to the Lancers, Conjurers and Archers.  Huge trees dominate the landscape towering over event the most massive Roegadyn.

Ul’Dah, my personal favourite, is a huge stone city set in a harsh arid region. Here’s where you start off if you choose Pugilist, Gladiator or Thaumaturge as your class.  Check out the giant tortoises they are awesome.

Limsa Lominsa is a coastal city built into the cliffs over the sea.  Beware because here be pirates (aaarrr) and your Marauder or Arcanist will be sorely tested by giant dodos and aggressive sheep (yes you heard me sheep!!)

I hope you enjoy these videos and they inspire you to join me in Eorzea, who knows maybe one day you may be standing shoulder to shoulder with Flumpa Lumpa taking down a Primal together.

Scroll down for the videos and as always… Happy Gaming

Final Fantasy XIV Flumpa Lumpa’s tours or Eorzea

Gridania

Limsa Lominsa

Ul’Dah

My First Impression Videos

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First Impression of... Stick it to the Man

Mind reading purple spaghetti arms are go!!!

 

Hi there all my lovely gaming pals.

I just wanted to blog about one on the first Impression playlist I have on my channel… Mike Checks Out.

The idea behind this is to play the game for the 15 minutes of recording time allowed by the PlayStation 4 Share button. This will give some insight into what the game is all about.

I have concentrated on Indy titles as they may be getting less coverage than the AAA games out there.

So far I have covered:

  • Fez
  • Mercenary Kings
  • Tiny Brains
  • Stick it to the Man
  • Child of Light
  • SteamWorld Dig

The PS4 is a brilliant place for these charming and challenging Indy games and if you don’t know about them you could be missing out of some complete gems.

So click on the link below to go to my playlist and I’ve popped the Child of Light video here as well as this is a superb game.

If you want to see more subscribe to the channel, follow me on Twitter and I will keep recording these titles so you can spend your money wisely!!

As always… Happy Gaming!!

Mike Checks Out… First Impression Playlist

Mike Checks Out… Child of Light

Hunter’s Log – Final Fantasy XIV A Realm Reborn

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There is a tonne of content in Final Fantasy XIV that will keep you busy until the Chocobos come home.  The Hunter’s Log is once such distraction in the wonderful world of  Eorzea.

Hunter's Log FFXIV

I take a little look at FFXIV’s Hunter’s Log and die like a Noob!

This is an entirely optional pursuit but is a fantastic way to gain XP and to see the delights of the beautiful world SquareEnix has created.

Within your first few levels you gain access to the Hunter’s Log a list of Eorzea’s denizens for you to hunt down and dispatch.  Each class has a different list and they are sorted into 10 level groups, Lvl 1 to 10, 11 to 20, 21 to 30 etc. There will be 12 to 15 different varieties of mob to kill in each level group and you will need to kill between 2 to 5 of of each mob to complete the list.  You get XP for each Mob and a big XP boost once you complete a level group.

This keeps you driving through the landscape, visiting areas that you may not see as part of the main quest and paying more attention to your surroundings, always looking out for the elusive mob to complete the set.

This video gives you a quick tour of the Hunters Log and a bit of combat for Fergus Phelange the Thaumaturge (I also take my eyes off the health bar and die like a NOOB).

I hope that you enjoy the video, please join me on the PS Phwar YouTube channel using the button to the right for more PS4 madness.

Thanks for watching and as always… Happy Gaming!!

Hunter’s Log – Final Fantasy XIV A Realm Reborn

 

Final Fantasy XIV a Realm Reborn – Battle Chocobo

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Battle Chocobo

Here is Drumstick my Battle Chocobo

 

Hi all in this video i show you how to get hold of your Battle Chocobo, a little yellow birdy friend that will fight by your side as well as speeding you through Eorzea on its back.

The game doesn’t give you this, I discovered it totally by accident so thought I would share the process with you all.  You need to be level 30 and you need to have a Chocobo to ride.  You get this in a story mission at about level 20.

 

There is a bit of busy work before you can summon your badass bird, but once you have it is worth while.

You can level the bird up and it can have 3 different roles…

  • Tank – It keeps the monsters bust while you beat them up.
  • DPS – It deals damage while you keep the monsters busy
  • Healing – it heals you while you tackle the nasties.

This is great if your a soloing the game as it increases your survivability.

This is the game that just keeps giving.

You can check out my entire Final Fantasy XIV playlist by clicking here

Check out the video below and as always… Happy Gaming!!

Final Fantasy XIV – Battle Chocobo

Mike Checks Out… Stick it to the Man

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Mike Checks Out... Stick it to the Man

Mind reading purple spaghetti arms are go!!!

 

Here is a little look at Stick it to the Man the Instant Game Collection title for PS4 in May 2014.  It is a very slightly insane point and click adventure .

Ray is an ordinary bloke working as a hard hat tester in a beautifully realised 2D paper world, he gets hit on the head and wakes up in hospital with a wierd purple spaghetti arm growing out of his head. Ray is the only person who can see it and it allows him to read the mind of anyone he wishes.

What follows is a game where you solve other people’s problems by reading their minds, whilst avoiding the attention of a shady organisation who want to bump you off.

what I have played of it so far has been really fun and the script is actually genuinely funny.

If you are a PS+ member you can download it during May at the extortionate price of FREE!! What better reason to get some purple spaghetti arm mind reading action onto your lovely PS4.

I hope you like the video, click the YouTube button on the right of the page to subscribe to more madness and check out PS Phwar on other social media as well.

As always… Happy Gaming!!

Mike Checks Out… Stick it to the Man

Chubby Chocobo Song – Final Fantasy XIV

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Chubby Chocobo Mount Final Fantasy XIV

The Chubby Chocobo… Isn’t he gorgeous!

 

I am so sorry but after seeing the Fat Chocobo in Final Fantasy XIV for the first time I just had to do a Chubby Chocobo Song…

I hope you enjoy my dulcet tones as well as the footage of this hilarious in game mount.

I hope you appreciate that this took a huge amount of effort and total musical skill and commitment.  I am expecting this to top the i-tune charts any day now as I am certain the world will be bowled over by my incredible compositional skill.

OK enough… this was “written” if that’s what you call it, on a 25 minute journey home from work, but I had fun doing it and I hope you have fun watching.  You can always mute it and just look at how funny an overweight Chocobo being ridden by a tiny Lalafel looks.

I hope you enjoy and that your ears don’t suffer too much.

As always… Happy Gaming

Chubby Chocobo Song

Mike Checks Out… Child Of Light

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Mike Checks Out... Child of Light

A beautiful title from UbiSoft the makers of Rayman

 

So here we are with Mike Checks Out… Child of Light, a new video in the occasional series where I spend 15 minutes with a game to give you a flavour of what it is all about.

It won’t take you long to realise that I love this game, the art design is stunning, the turn based combat is tactical and engaging and exploring the world is so much fun.

It plays like an Indy title but has been developed by UbiSoft using the Rayman engine.

Even though it has been developed by a AAA company they are retailing this at just £11.99 or your regional equivalent.  The game clocks in at about 12 hours, but there are a couple of DLC packs that introduce new characters and missions.  When you consider that InFAMOUS Second Son, at £49.99, is about the same length you can see that this is excellent value for money.

One thing to bare in mind is the story is told through rhyming couplets and although UbiSoft is an excellent game maker they are not going to win any poetry prizes!!

Final bit of info… I edited this video entirely within the PS4 using Sony’s new SHAREfactory.  This free app allows you to edit gameplay together, add commentary, music, text, visual effects and stickers.  It is very easy to use and can be uploaded to Facebook or saved on a memory stick and uploaded to YouTube.  I won’t be using it on a regular basis as I can’t add my own logo and titles, but it is an excellent tool if you want to share your awesome gameplay with your friends.

I hope you enjoy the video and as always… Happy Gaming

Mike Checks Out… Child of Light

Final Fantasy XIV a Realm Reborn Class Run Throughs

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Final Fantasy XIV a realm reborn Class Run Throughs

4 short videos giving an introduction to the starting classes in FFXIV ARR

 

Hello all and welcome back.  I have been ridiculously busy at work lately and as a result the website has been a little neglected, so here goes with a load of new content I hope you enjoy.

As you perhaps read in an earlier blog I love Final Fantasy XIV a Realm Reborn, I’ve played it on the PS3 since launch and have now upgraded to the PS4 version.

 

I have generated a fair amount of content on this game because 1) I love playing it and 2) these videos seem to get a lot of views compared to my other content.  So what follows below are 4 short videos giving a basic run through of all the starting classes in this brilliant game.

I hope that you find the content interesting and you can be encouraged to join me exploring Eorzea, fighting foul beasts and enjoying the simple beauty on show.

Continue scrolling down the page for all four videos.

Thanks for reading and as always… Happy Gaming

Final Fantasy XIV a Realm Reborn Class Run Throughs




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