A number of my posts have been on the dreaded COVID-19 virus, but its effect on school is quite strange. So i'll talk about that. Since everything is now online, students have free reign on how they spend their time. Which is great for most classes, where due dates are already set. But Mr.B's class is a little different, as every assignment has the same due date. And for a procrastinator like myself, managing time can be a challenge. And having to deal with everything happening in the world can be honestly a little depressing. I've got a number of things to ruin my spirits. Disappointing government action, struggling to make progress with my art, missing my friends. Everything just kinda sucks. Almost like watching the world crumble in front of me. But that doesn't mean I'm just gonna sulk about it. I still have the end of the year and summer to look forward to. As well as some ways to relieve stress and stay in contact with friends. Besides, letting everything get to me would be a bad idea. So I won't let it
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Alright next game. Quarantine has left me pretty bored and stressed, overall not a great situation. But one game has helped me keep even a fragment of sanity, Animal Crossing New Horizons. Ever since its release on the same day as Doom Eternal, the internet has been splicing the two completely different games for awhile now, and it's pretty funny. I did get Doom as well, and both games are proving to be very fun and helpful in these confusing times. But this post is on cute animal villagers today, the bloodthirsty demons will come later. As is already very obvious, the game is really cute, enough to put you in a good mood a few minutes after playing. And the non-linear story allows players to do what ever they want. Create a lake? Yep. Start a garden? Sure! Make offerings to an eldritch being named Kyle? Why not? The relaxing music and charming atmosphere are perfect to cheer someone up, the only stressful thing about it is the idea of having to pay off a home loan to a capitalistic raccoon. And if your feeling lonely, just invite a friend over! It's a nice way to connect with people while social distancing. Chop some trees, catch some bugs and plant some flowers. Your island is your playground, and anything is possible. Final Rating: 9/10 The peaceful feeling of Animal Crossing won me over immediately. And I can see myself devoting countless hours to turn my island into a paradise. Especially in the current times.
(Until I work out how to transfer screenshots, there's no picture for this post) :(
As the Coronavirus (COVID-19) sweeps the globe, I'm sitting here trying to figure out what to do. All of our assignments are being given online, and the due dates are estimates at best. Everyone is trying to find a way to cope with the largest viral outbreak in decades. While I'm coping mostly with memes, games and artwork. As the quarantine on the country was called, and all Durham schools were closed, everyone had to adjust in the middle of very traumatizing circumstances. I'm personally not very scared of the virus itself, which may sound kind of over confident. But I'm more stressed out by its impact on the school year. Will the Class of 2020 have a graduation? What is happening to final exams? Will we even have the rest of the school year? These are the questions that are haunting me. I hope the stricter actions will help slow or stop the virus, and we can all have a peaceful rest of the year. I HOPE
I made a promise saying that I would test out more complicated drawing styles, which I ended up doing. I also decided to make a piece from one of my favorite video game series at the same time. By taking one of my favorite beasts from the Monster Hunter franchise, I found a way to draw in a less cartoony style. This definitely took me more time to make, but turned out quite well in the end. I plan to shade it later, which will likely take even longer, because I suck at it. I feel great that I could even come close to making something like this, which is a nice feeling to have in the middle of a pandemic. I hope to keep this up in the following weeks, unless the world ends. Or I run out of toilet paper
It's review time, and today's game is Monster Hunter World. Within the past few years, companies like Nintendo have been creating certain games to revolutionize long-running series, titles like Breath Of The Wild, Super Mario Odyssey and Pokemon Sword/Shield were created to bring popular game series into the genre of open-world. And Capcom, the creators of the Monster Hunter series have followed this example, as they have a strong relationship with Nintendo. But before I get into how this game is revolutionary, let me go into the details of the series itself. The overall idea of the game is to hunt colossal monsters, and to harvest materials from them when they are defeated. You can then use those materials to craft better gear, allowing you to fight more powerful monsters, that's the basics of it. While it may sound simple, it's one of those games that is hard to put down after you've played it for awhile. To me, it seems that Monster Hunter is almost ignored in comparison to other games in the spotlight. But in truth, the entire series has sold nearly 60 million units worldwide, making it Capcom's 2nd most profitable series behind Resident Evil. Now, onto the game. Monster Hunter World brings the series very close to open world. While pervious titles designed various regions by dividing them up into different areas, World designs those regions as one large area that snakes and intertwines with itself, creating different areas high up into the treetops, and deep into dark caverns. With these new locations comes obstacles, such as ledges and giant boulders that can be used to turn the tide of a fight. But my favorite part of all is obviously the monsters themselves. Whenever you find a monster in a certain region, you have some time to observe it before it gets annoyed with you and begins to attack. I use this time to admire the design of each unique creature. I have yet to find a single design that I don't like, almost every beast has an elaborate and authentic look, and I have never seen another game with a design as incredible as the Monster Hunter series. Even now I still feel that I haven't fully expressed my love for these monsters. My only complaint about MHW in specific is that character development is quite dull at times, with many being forgettable or just downright irritating. One example is of a character called "The Handler", who is reminiscent of Navi from Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Mostly since they both constantly state the obvious and try to tell you something at the worst time possible. Ever since my introduction to the series in 2014, every addition has brought new monsters and mechanics to the table, with MHW being the biggest addition of all. Final Rating: 10/10 My love for the series definitely fuels a similar liking for this game. But even without that influence, Monster Hunter World is a beautiful piece of art and one of Capcom's most revolutionary titles.
While still uncovering the secrets of the drawing tablet and my main paint program, Krita, I've begun to piece together my own design. I really enjoy drawing little mini-me's in strange positions, and that's what I have been doing for the most part. These characters of pure chaos are quite fun to make, and I'm mostly reflecting my own personality into their image. While I feel that I'm closing in on my own style, I still need to experiment with other important aspects of digital sketching, shading mostly, which I tried to work with as much as possible in the picture above. Despite my love for the simple and crazy drawings I do, one thing on my agenda is to test making more realistic and serious full body characters. I hope to develop my art style into something a little more complicated in the coming months, meaning that certain pieces will take a little longer to make. But as I tackle this problem of uncertainty, there's one thing I know for sure. This is super fun
One of the highlights of my Christmas was a Wacom Intuos drawing tablet, which will make certain tasks so much easier in the future. While this version does not have a screen, it's much better than having to use a mouse. The lack of a screen will prove to be a challenge in certain categories, such as accuracy. As I have to constantly look at the computer and guess where my hand is on the tablet. On the other side, the pros are much more influential. The pen strokes are very smooth, which is what I was looking for, as it is incredibly hard to draw even a single straight line with a mouse. I've done a little bit of testing already, but I only decided to keep a few, as the majority of them were pure messes. This tablet may take some getting use to, but I know it will be an essential tool for many works to come.
2019 was an interesting year for games, some good, some bad. My review for today is for one of the better and more unique ones. The game is Death Stranding, which was released in November last year. I've played a good amount of it, and I honestly find it to be quite interesting and well done. I then went and looked at other reviews, it turns out that a lot of people don't feel the same way. But my point isn't to fight with everyone else, but to provide my opinion. The main character is a porter (deliveryman) named Sam Bridges, played by Norman Reedus. And the entire game is basically an extreme delivery simulator, where you have to reconnect a world ripped apart by a mass extinction event called "The Death Stranding". And how do you do it? By making some deliveries The task is not easy though, as you have to constantly cross rugged but beautiful terrain. Dodging rouge militia groups and areas patrolled by BT's (Beached Things/ Spooky ghosts), which are products of the Death Stranding. You also carry around a baby in a pod, which allows you to connect to the world of the dead and be able to see the BT's. Yeah, it's weird. I would love to explain it, but doing so would spoil a good chunk of the game, so no. The games main appeals to me are the sprawling landscape, impressive cast/graphics and interesting story. As they tend to stand out much more than the flaws. Its main drawback is that the objectives are quite repetitive, take an order, fall in ditch, punch a terrorist, make the delivery. I personally don't mind, as every trip poses a new challenge, and you have to carefully decide what to take with you. One of the main mechanics is that there is no bottomless pouch to carry stuff in. No matter how small the item is, you have to carry it on your back, adding to the challenge is that you have a weight limit along with it. Performance wasn't an issue either, I have yet to run into a single problem. Which is a great thing to hear, as it's a partially online platform. Despite criticism against it, I feel Death Stranding deserves a chance. So get ready to strap on a backpack and save the world. Final Review: 8/10 I genuinely enjoy this game, despite its repetitive nature. As its strange story and interesting mechanics continue to grab my attention.
WARNING, POTENTIAL SPOILERS FOR THE FOLLOWING FILMS/GAMES "The Mandalorian, Avengers Endgame (you should have seen it by now), Dark Souls series and Axiom Verge. (I know, its a lot) I don't know why this is something that I keep looking for, but the use of clever and hidden hints to progress a plot are a very effective way to add depth to a story. This is part of my main topic, which is the use of complicated plots in an already mysterious game. I'm saying this in light of resent releases that really appeal to me through their complicated plot and the questions they leave behind. First up, The Mandalorian and Avengers Endgame both follow the pattern of creating more questions than there are answers. Questions such as, who is baby Yoda? What is past Loki doing with the Tesseract? Who is the Mandalorian. The barrage of questions is exactly what keeps a viewer hooked for so long, as they want to know the answer to every question, this goal sitting in the back of their minds until it is solved. This mystery tactic is an extremely powerful tool for plot building, wether it's supporting the story from day one, or its helping the series follow into a new chapter. Games use this strategy too, and I'm using the Dark Souls series as an example again. The plot in this game is so complicated and interconnected that 8 years after the release of the original game, fans still haven't completely cracked the code. I'm also using a new game to explain, Axiom Verge. Axiom Verge is a Metroidvania, meaning it is a platformer filled to the brim with secret items and lore. While I'm not a comepletionist, games like these are right up that alley, keeping a person's interest for quite some time. Another great example of mystery is in the description of certain enemies, the less you know about them, the more terrifying they become. As you have no idea how to counter this new threat. These are just my observations, which I decided to connect to some more recent stuff. And I can tell you for sure, I really like this strategy.
Most of my reviews consist of challenging games, which is a trend I am perfectly fine with, as I love hard (but possible) games. One of my first reviews was on Dark Souls, and how its challenging aspects add to the overall quality of the game. Earlier this year, FromSoftware, the developers of Dark Souls, released their newest title. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. The name implies that it's going to be an adrenaline fueled adventure, with over the top effects. While it is extreme at some points, (boss fights mostly), its actually quite calm. With serene environments set in medieval Japan. In contrast with Dark Souls, Sekiro tends to put a lot more effort into environmental design, and not make everything... depressing. This is actually the reason I chose this specific picture, as it is one of, if not the best designed boss arena in the game. The focus on design is a stark contrast to the constant gloomy atmosphere of Dark Souls, which also makes the game easier in a way, as it gives you the inspiration to continue your journey. That doesn't mean that the game is easy though, as any enemy is perfectly capable of killing you in one shot, and every foe requires a different strategy to defeat. The game is extremely extensive as well, with a unique combat and upgrade system. So extensive that anyone reading this would most likely fall asleep before I finished explaining, but I'll make it quick. Every attack must be deflected with a timed button press, and battles consist of long periods of circling, as you wait for your opponent to make a move and leave an opening. Skill trees also allow for new techniques to turn the tide of battle, with every battle you win getting you a certain amount of experience. Bottom line, the patterns of bosses and enemies in this game force any Souls veteran to abandon normal techniques and follow the Sekiro fighting style of speed and timing. My personal experience has been great, I'm currently in the late stages of the game, and have not had a single bug in the system so for. While the story, gameplay and design never cease to amaze. My Final Review: 9.5/10. Despite extra challenge for beginners, its incredible design and gameplay allow Sekiro to join the legacy of its predecessors.
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AuthorI have a passion for creating things, and hopefully one day those things will be video games. You can check over on this blog if you wish to see any updates on my work or other subjects. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are solely those of the author and do not represent those of Durham School of the Arts or Durham Public Schools.
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