I already love it tbh

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/shadow-of-mordor-sequel-leaked-revealed-as-shadow-/1100-6448217/

Oh

Well I fucking enjoyed the hell out of Shadow of Mordor, despite its weak ass story. The gameplay was great. This could be good, judging from the box art and name of the game so I am extremely hyped.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-39097834

http://filmandcomicconcardiff.com/

I managed to get a press pass with the West Wales Chronicle so I'm getting in for free and I'm going to be interviewing people and taking photos and shit. If any of you people from the UK could come that would be cool, I can ask you questions about how much you hate it and why all the anime cosplayers need to die, that kind of stuff.

Jokes aside, it'll be pretty neat. I'll be dressed as Naked Snake armed with a camera and shit.

http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/predatory-paedophile-is-jailed-for-13-years-at-bristol-crown-court/story-29613541-detail/story.html

I even spoke to him a few times about anime. ANIME.

Goddamn it

About 80% of it seems like acting and its annoying. I don't see why anyone would give a shit about you filling your diaper over seeing the new Star Wars trailer.

If you would like to be featured please give me a photo of yourself or someone you would like to represented by. I'm going for the old time comic look, I've been having a go at drawing those types of covers lately and thought this would be fun to try.

Let me get this out of the way right off the bat. I was very disappointed with Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain. As a big fan of the series, I, like most people was extremely excited when the game was first announced, eager to jump right back into the battle-worn boots of Big Boss once again and embark on many more stealthy adventures. It had been two years since the release of Peace Walker when we first got an early look of the next installment of the series. ‘When will it be released? Will it be good? When can I play this game?’ Questions began stirring around in our heads, theories whizzing around the internet like a swarm of inquisitive hornets.

When E3 rolled around and we got our look at that 9-minute trailer, my mind exploded. HOLY. SHIT. THIS LOOKS AMAZING. Open world stealth? Vehicles, amazing graphics and returning characters? Again, words cannot do justice to how mind-blowing it looked. There was something about Big Boss becoming a demon, that was interesting I thought. Peace Walker had already somewhat explored that by showing Big Boss as becoming more of a warlord in charge of his own army, but portrayed in an almost entirely heroic and justified light. Was The Phantom Pain going to portray him in a more villainous role? We’d have to wait for the game to find out.

The promise of a massive open world with endless possibilities for stealthy excursions was a tantalizing idea. Would the game deliver? Would the story truly deliver and provide a satisfying final chapter in the story of Big Boss? Would this prove to be a worthy entry in the Metal Gear series that has always been praised for its high quality and attention to detail?


I could almost feel my Metal Gear Rising. Damn, I am killing it with these puns.

Time passed, and we got to play the game’s ‘prologue’, called Ground Zeroes. The entire act of releasing the short section on disc as a retail released game was questionable, but personally I didn’t care. I was hungry for Metal Gear. Konami was offering me a Metal Gear Buffet and I played right into their hands and ate it right up. Sure there wasn’t that much in Ground Zeroes, but what was on offer was almost perfection. The graphics were incredible, sneaking through a rain-soaked prison camp illuminated by floodlights and the individual flashlights of the patrolling guards. The wet floor made realistic splashing noises beneath Snake’s feet and the guards’ casual conversations could be overheard if you paid close attention. There was an incredible attention to detail in this short experience that was almost assuredly just a small bite of the incredible feast that was to come.


Those wet effects, though. I honestly don’t think I’d ever seen wet effects look so good in a videogame before.

A few months later, another trailer was released accompanied by the Mike Oldfield song Nuclear. Again, my excitement levels were rising to critical levels. It looked absolutely breathtaking. I was ready to join Big Boss, Kaz and the Diamond Dogs in their quest for revenge against XOF and Cipher. Mother Base and the fallen comrades that perished alongside it would be avenged and it would be oh so sweet. In the words of the internet, I was aboard the hype train, with the brakes turned off on a crash course to gaming heaven. Nope. Not even going to make a Metal Gear pun there.


Pictured above: How I felt after watching the trailer.

The Elegia trailer then arrived. Any notion of realistic expectations and cautious thinking promptly took a running leap and flew out the window.


‘This is going to be the best game ever made. I don’t care what anyone thinks, there’s NO way this can be a letdown.’

Holy shit. That shot of a bloodstained Diamond Dogs logo surrounded by bullets, the chilling speeches from the various characters. Big Boss walking down that hallway. The exciting set pieces. It was all so amazing. The hype train had reached terminal velocity at this point and was showing no sign of derailing.

We waited with baited breath until the game’s release. The excitement for the game was overwhelming. I even bought a Play Arts Kai figure of Snake. There was no way this game would be a disappointment, right? The stage was set for a truly epic game, a masterclass in innovation, gameplay and presentation.

One would almost think that I had my expectations set way too high for the game.

The game was released to overwhelmingly positive reviews and near-universal critical acclaim. From the highly polished visuals, excellent gameplay and controls to the open ended sandbox the game was a massive hit. The game was finally in my hands and I was ecstatic. I absolutely loved it, it was perfection. Pure gaming bliss. For the first few hours it was, anyway.

After I had played a chunk of the game, the cracks started to show and I became less and less enamored with it. While the gameplay was awesome and allowed for a lot of fun customization and options, the storyline that I had become so invested in after spending hours upon hours playing the series seemed to take a bit of a back seat, with a few cutscenes sprinkled here and there, with most of the stories being relegated to mere tape recordings for you to listen to at your own leisure.


They WERE nice cutscenes though, mind you.

I get it, Kojima was responding to the criticism that the series had been plagued with for years; the cutscenes. If there is one thing MGS is infamous for, it’s the overabundance of lengthy cutscenes. I will admit that MGS2 and 4 went a bit overboard with the cutscenes and the team trimming away some of the fat to make a more polished and streamlined game wasn’t a terrible idea, but I feel they may have gone a bit too far in the opposite direction. The story did have some interesting twists with likable (and despicable) characters and callbacks (and call forwards) to other events in the series, but overall as an MGS game it felt a bit... empty. None of the villains really felt as memorable or whacky as like the likes of the ridiculously hammy Liquid or the over the top Bond-like baddie Volgin. Skullface was serviceable, but didn’t leave much of an impression me. That feeling of emptiness goes well with the gameplay side of things too because there were times when traversing the open world environment felt rather tedious with not much to do. Infiltrating the larger outposts was always a joy (particularly the airport and oilfield) but always passing the smaller outposts manned by around 4 soldiers began to wear thin on my enjoyment.


One of the most exciting infiltration missions in the whole game, in my opinion.

As time went by I actively began to hate the game. Other minds on the internet were evidently following the same train of thought as I was and the hate cloud began to spread to every corner, and I was doing my part to spread it. I joined in with MGSV complaint threads and belittled whose who genuinely liked the game. Any of the game’s possible positive features were lost on me as I spewed nothing but hatred and negativity towards the game’s supporters. I even went so far as to erase my save data from my PS4, a drastic act that I took because I believed that was a way of confirming my own feelings to myself. The game had utterly failed to deliver on my overly high expectations and my enjoyment towards it had suffered because of that. I had already become a demon.

Months passed and the game still continued to thrive, with new content being added as it was released. News began to spread about cut content, including a closing chapter for the game that ultimately got canned and that just deepened my disappointment and hatred towards the game. You’d think MGSV had committed some heinous crime like killing my family or assaulting me, judging by the way I thought and discussed it, but in reality it was my own expectations for the game that had caused it to sink so low in my opinion. My opinions in the game shifted from seething anger to mild indifference. I didn’t really care anymore. I realized that I had expected too much from the game and had been utterly let down, but I still remained ignorant towards The Phantom Pain. I didn’t care anymore. If people wanted to enjoy it, I let them. I still talked about the game in a negative light during discussions, but I tried to be more critical about it and explain why I was disappointed rather than just spewing insults and a torrent of abuse.

After sitting down and reading some forum posts, I began to really reconsider my feelings about the game. My negativity towards the game felt more and more like a knee jerk reaction, a bad first impression. Of course I still felt bitter towards the game and its lack of a good story that fit comfortably alongside the ones that came before it, but was it actually a good game? People still enjoyed it and spoke highly of the fun they had while playing it, posting exciting clips and humorous screenshots- all of which contributed to me beginning to think I should give the game another shot, to be honest with myself and really play the game again and think about it. A few days ago I popped the disc in and started fresh, knowing what to expect, with no outrageously high expectations to be torn right back down. I would look at the game with a more critical eye and try to find some positives with it.


You can’t really go wrong when there’s a dog involved.

I am pleased to say that after spending a few days in the game and only getting about a quarter of the way through the story, I am enjoying it. The open-world can admittedly get a bit tedious to traverse sometimes (honestly, why can’t I just get Pequod to drop me off somewhere else in Afghanistan without having to go back to base first?) but when it works, it really works. Being able to approach an outpost in a multitude of different ways really opens up the toybox, and it’s up to you how you want to play. Do you sneak in under the cover of night, silently choking the patrolling guards and interrogating them for information? Do you go in as a lethal Rambo-Commando, gunning everyone in your path down? Do you perch upon a nearby rock and neutralize enemies from afar with a sniper rifle? It’s up to you. I appreciate the choice I’m given. While the previous MGS games in the series have been great in their own right, the stealth often felt limited with what you were given. Here, you are given more freedom than even before to play how you want and I both applaud and appreciate Kojima and his team for giving me so many options to mess around and experiment with.

On the story front, I am still disappointed with the way it turned out and the knowledge of the cut content still hurts deeply. The cassette tapes feel like a medicore substitute for the epic cinematics and long drawn out cutscenes of the previous games. MGSV’s few cutscenes are very, very pretty however, there’s no denying that they are actually rather enjoyable. One irritating thing about the tapes, though is the fact that Kaz and Ocelot like to talk a lot. As in, they will chirp in on your radio and comment on everything you do. Every single soldier you extract is going to illicit some response from Kaz. This can get extremely irritating if you happen to be listening to a tape at the time because it will be drowned out by Kaz repeating the words ‘You’re going to extract him?’


Yes Kaz, of course I’m extracting him. The same way I’ve extracted the last 500 soldiers. You can stop asking.

This is no review by any means, there’s a lot more of the game I could go into detail about but I just wanted to get my thoughts across. MGSV is certainly a very competently made game and I’d even go as far as to say it’s an amazing game in it’s own right and a worthy entry in a series that has always prided itself on an intense attention to detail, amazing presentation and fun gameplay. The Phantom Pain delivers on most of these fronts and for that reason, I believe it’s worth playing and praising. Kojima productions really put a lot of effort into crafting this game and it’s a damn shame that they had a massive falling out with Konami during and after the game’s development and release. Despite the game’s shortcomings, I feel there is a very good game here and it’s a shame that I was so caught up in the internet hate machine and the backlash of my own hype that I was unable to see what the game had to offer. Hype is a dangerous thing and I think we will always need to exercise caution when getting excited for something. Since Metal Gear Solid V was released, I have been careful to not get overly excited for any new release and I feel I’ve enjoyed myself more because of it.

Was bored in work sitting at my desk and I felt like writing something. Here you go. Never really done anything like this before though.






                                     How Dark Souls Taught Me the Importance of Perserverance



Fear is a powerful emotion. It can prevent you from doing things you'd otherwise attempt with no hesitation. You find yourself hesitant to take that leap into the abyss or throw yourself into the gaggle of lumbering hollows lurking around that corner, waiting eagerly to tear you limb from limb. It's that feeling of complete and utter dread that totally takes hold of your mind and stops you dead in your tracks. When faced with such a scenario, you usually have just two options; turn tail and run, or buckle up and bravely press on. Of course I'm talking about Dark Souls here, and how it taught me to take that fear in hand and weaponize it, funnelling that dread into something empowering.

My first playthrough of Dark Souls was by most fans' standards, wrong. Most players will tell you that Dark Souls is best experienced by going in blind, not knowing anything. It makes the experience that much more imersive, not knowing what is going to jump out at you from a dark corner or being blissfully unaware of the amazing weapon you just strolled past without even noticing. It's that feeling of uncertainty and helplessness that really sucks you into the game, the world is as alien and unwelcoming to you, the player as it is your character. You truly feel like you've been dropped in the deep end and the game expects you to swallow your uncertainty and push yourself through.

Moments like the Hellkite Drake's appearance and subsequent roasting of a nearby bridge are spectacles new players are supposed to be wowed by. Already knowing it's coming lessens the impact slightly.

I played the game in 2013, about 2 years after the game's release. I'd heard tales about how (excuse the pun) soul-crushingly difficult it was, about how players had smashed controllers in their rage and how it was 'the new hardest game ever'. That alone was enough to put me off playing for a while. My interest wasn't entirely dampened though, as I was curious enough about the game to often find myself watching tip videos and boss walkthroughs. I was doing everything the fans say exactly what not to do. It didn't feel wrong to me because at that point in time I had resigned myself to never playing the game because it was so difficult. I eventually went back on that thought however, and I did in fact begin playing the game. Of course I'd already seen what bosses were on offer and where to find the hidden items, but that didn't bother me. I was playing Dark Souls and I was going to finish it- or so I thought. 

By all accounts, the game was difficult but I think it had been greatly exaggerated to the point where the supposed difficulty that so many outlets and players had touted became almost laughable. The game never once made me want to smash my controller or scream at the wall, at best it caused my heartbeat to quicken and forced me to put the controller down for a few minutes to take a minute while I regained my composure. Sure there were moments of utter bullshit such as the Capra Demon's extremely irritating canine companions, blowdart snipers in Blighttown and being cursed, but as a whole the game had been a fairly standard action-rpg with an admittedly steep learning curve. As it is with most games, you just need to get used to the controls and mechanics. When you've got those down, it's just a case of applying that knowledge to every encounter and keeping your cool without panicking or freaking out. I'm guessing the people who said they stopped playing because it was too hard never bothered to even try learning how to play properly or adapt to the different situations the game throws at you.

The game's marketing sure did a good job in getting the selling point across: THIS GAME IS DIFFICULT. YOU WILL DIE.

At this point I had submerged myself within the rancid waters of Blighttown and emerged victorious after defeating Quaelaag, tackled a pair of daunting gargoyles and braved the dastardly traps of Sen's Fortress. I gaped in awe as the demons carried me to Anor Londo after toppling the colossal Iron Golem and it wasn't long before that feeling of accomplishment dissipated and was replaced with a daunting and horrific feeling;the thought sank in that soon I was going to fight THAT boss. You know the boss I'm talking about, that dastardly duo that awaits you in the cathedral, the gruesome twosome that are responsible for so many deaths and broken hardware.

You know the two. Drake and Josh. Ren and Stimpy. Biggie and Tupac.  Whatever you want to call them.

 Of course I'm talking about Ornstein and Smough, the two golden wonderboys who guard the cathedral and Lordvessel that lies within. I had heard countless stories about how they were one of the hardest boss fights in gaming, and how many players had tried and failed to conquer them. By the time I'd made it to the first bonfire in Anor Londo that feeling of immense dread was starting to kick in. I managed to chug on, even making it past those awful, AWFUL archers that should probably count as a miniboss themselves.  After trying (and failing) to make it past them a handful of times I eventually succeeded in reaching the second bonfire, where I met my good friend Solaire and experienced a moment of brief respite that prior to the horrors that awaited beyond. I knew the boss wasn't too far beyond but still I tried to push the thought away deep into the back of my mind while I made my progress. I eliminated all of the silver knights, opened up the shortcuts and met the kindly Giant Blacksmith yet the ominous feeling of encroaching fear grew even more intense with each step I took within the abandoned cathedral. At last I found myself standing outside the fog door, knowing exactly what was on the other side waiting for me. The feeling of dread took hold of me completely and I stopped playing entirely. I just gave up. Despite the hours of stress, joy, tears and accomplishment I had endured up to this point, it all ended right then and there. I had heard so much negativity about Ornstein and Smough that they caused me to just give up on the game.

Get ready for the slam dunk special, with an extra help of fuck you.


I felt a mixture of shame and self loathing, I had come this far only to stop myself purely out of fear that I'd never be able to get past the roadblock that stood in my way. I hung my head in shame, leaving Lordran behind as I made my way in life without really thinking about it that much.

It wasn't until months later, when one of my housemates decided to play it and I felt encouraged to pick the game back up. My progress throughout the game was more of the same, encountering difficulty and ease in the same place as before. I knew that eventually I would have to face Ornstein and Smough, and I kept that thought in my mind the entire time. This time, I would do it. This time, I would fight them and win. I braced myself for endless pain and suffering as I stepped through that fog for the first time, prepared to face them head on. Of course I died, it's to be expected as I hadn't fought them before. I died again after that, this time getting a better feel of the battle. If I could wait out their combos and get an opening to land a few blows, I'd have a shot at winning. I dodged precise spear thrusts, ducked in and out of heavy hammer swings and fought the bloody battle until the very end, finally defeating the dastardly pair and breathing a giant sigh of relief at the message appearing on the screen that I had acquired the Soul of Ornstein. I was adamant that I had to beat Ornstein because I love his armor design so much, I just had to wear it. I should also point out that I beat it solo. I know it's encouraged that you fight the boss with a partner, but this was personal to me. These were the guys that stopped me dead in my tracks and I was determined to beat them alone. That victory felt like no other,I was elated. I had succeeded in defeating not only the boss, but also my own insecurities about the game itself.

Pictured above: A perfect visual representation of how it feels to finally beat Dark Souls.

 After eventually finishing the game I had to sit back and think about it. The game is indeed difficult, as the marketing has no doubt drilled into our skulls, but it's also an intense learning experience that trusts you to get better and better as you play. It's already been said but the game feels oh so very rewarding when you do finally overcome the game's challenges and emerge victorious. Personally that feeling of victory is far superior to any sword or item you might unlock afterwards. The game didn't hold my hand or give me sympathy when I dropped out in a state of fear, it sat there waiting patiently for me to return and  give it another attempt. It almost felt welcoming when I returned for round two and completed it, linking the fire and watching the credits roll. The game taught me that you'll always encounter obstacles that stand in your way and it's up to you to decide to proceed or not. Of course there might be outside sources willing to guide or assist you but in the end it all comes down to you, the player. It's you that has to strap on your boots, grab your weapon and set out on the journey. It's you that has to take those tentative steps into the foreboding environments and progress through. It's you that has to play the game and tell yourself you're going to do it.


And when you do it, you can take nice rest. Go on, you've earned it.

So usually I'm in my little graphic design corner doing my thing but occasionally I will be asked to sit reception, answer calls and all that. The person who is supposed to be on reception is some 17 year old guy on a work placement, known for ditching his post and being unreliable.

He's not in, so of course I'm sitting at the desk, easy enough. I just had a phone call from him saying 'Hi, calling in late, not going to be in today.'

Which is fair enough, except for the fact that as I was walking into work today, he walked RIGHT past me out of the front door. Weird. He hasn't even signed in. Why would you turn up for work, leave, then wait 1 hour and a half, saying you're not going to be in? Taking the piss like.

>I wasn't even online at that time

>WTF is KOZ?

Then check back later to see if anyone's liked it

lms if u agree

Ask me questions in this thread and I will pick ones I can answer  post a video of myself answering them over footage of me playing Dark Souls or something

Yet I still want to see it. The 2nd trailer somewhat won me over, the Megazord design isn't THAT horrible and I have faith in Cranston as Zordon. It's going to tank but I think it looks like the enjoyable kind of stupid so far. I think this and the new Pirates of the Caribbean are the only films this year I'm looking forward to so far, I need my stupid enjoyable movies.

http://www.avclub.com/article/surprising-number-people-want-zack-snyder-direct-b-249682

I hope he gets it tbh then the DCEU can crash and burn even faster.