Dragonball Xenoverse Video Game Review

Final Verdict - Definitely Worth Playing

You heard right folks; your wish has been granted here we are after quite the hiatus bringing you another video game video game review. Took a bit longer than normal for this one due to wanting to give the game a fair chance in a very crucial aspect of its experience which is linked to server connectivity. I'll be honest as say as well that I simply was just having too much of a blast playing so I put off doing this review for a while. With that being said come with me on a trip to the XenoVerse as we visit Toki Toki City and pave our path through the Dragonball universe.

Dragon Ball XenoVerse (officially abbreviated as Dragon Ball XV) is a video game based on the Dragon Ball media franchise.[3] It was released in February 2015 on the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One consoles and on the PC for Microsoft Windows via Steam. The game is set in full 3D destructible environments. Fighters can traverse the levels free-roaming in very large spaces and can be fighting on a platform, go in the air, and fight underwater. They run when on the ground, and swim while underwater. XenoVerse has dialogue while fights go on, and fighters show facial expressions when they strike an opponent or take damage. The players have some freedom to explore the planet Earth as it exists in the Dragon Ball universe along with a handful of other locations. The game's new character is confirmed to be a player created character. With the character customization, players will now be able to customize their character's race, gender, head, build, voice, and clothing. Players can create characters from multiple races, with the ones available being Namekians, Saiyans, Earthlings, Frieza's, and Majins race.

What’s Good:

Graphics: XenoVerse is the first Dragon Ball game released on eighth generation consoles. Built around the same graphics engine that powers other note worthy fighting games such as Street Fighter IV. The game gives an accurate representation of the intense Dragonball action we have all grown to know and love. Characters are an exact representation of their animated personas and move with the same familiar fluidity you are accustomed to.

Story-line: Unlike the previous games of the series that usually follow the original Dragon Ball canon, "XenoVerse" features an entirely new story, featuring the player's custom character. This adds an exciting new dynamic to the game that keeps things new and interesting. Effectively adding "what if" scenarios to the DBZ universe plot line.

Replay: With so many classes to choose from, upcoming DLC, character build variations and multiple wishes from Shenron there is undoubtedly enough content to keep you playing and coming back for more. At its core it is a MMORPG so there is much farming and grinding to be done to get the perfect build for your character.

Soundtrack: Pretty solid soundtrack and voice acting overall. Love the start up theme song for the game, very pumped up and action packed. 

What’s Bad:

Game Mechanics: The online experience at times is not as smooth as one would like and you will find yourself experiencing lengthy loading times and lag when playing online with others based on Internet connectivity and speed.

What Should Have Been Added:

Without a doubt the one thing this game is missing is a dedicated training mode. Since at its core it is potentially comparable to a fighting game one would think a dedicated training mode to try out learning combos would have been included. Not to mention experimenting with various skill-sets as well as item assignment and assortment.

Final Thoughts:

This is without a doubt the quintessential Dragonball game to play. It encompasses all the good things we all know and love about the Dragonball Universe while giving the player the freedom and creativity to forge their own path and character through it all. It provides an all new immerse way of incorporating the player into the universe instead of letting them just experience it as an existing character from the series. Even though the game was plagued with server connectivity issues at the start i'm happy to say that now weeks later servers have stabilized just in time for the launch of their first bit of DLC. So far the experience has been acceptable and entertaining seeing the creative custom characters that people have come up with. As always feel free to check out some of our intro gameplay...

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Guild Wars 2 Video Game Review

Final Verdict - Definitely Worth Playing

Wow its been ages. Lets see if I can remember how to do this. Welcome to another video game review, been missing in action for a while due to real life events and this game. Being as such I figured may as well write up a review for this game since we been playing it for like a month or so. A bit old a release but it is still being supported with new content by its publisher; so even though this is long overdue here we go.

Guild Wars 2 is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by ArenaNet and published by NCsoft. Set in the fantasy world of Tyria, the game follows the re-emergence of Destiny's Edge, a disbanded guild dedicated to fighting the Elder Dragons, a Lovecraftian species that has seized control of Tyria in the time since the original Guild Wars. The game takes place in a persistent world with a story that progresses in instanced environments. As a sequel to Guild Wars, Guild Wars 2 features the same lack of subscription fees that distinguished its predecessor from other commercially developed online games of the time, though a purchase is still required to install the game. As reported by NCsoft and ArenaNet, by September 13 (about 2 weeks after launch), despite temporarily halting first-party sales, the game has sold over 2 million copies.

What’s Good:

Replay value: As most MMORPG's go there is always replay value in the classes and profession variety that is offered, this game is similar as such. Guild Wars 2 take it a step further though and offers  more replay value by featuring a story-line that is responsive to player actions and choices.

Soundtrack: This is well executed and heartfelt as the overall tone and pace of the game is dictated. Also of noteworthy mention is the cut-scenes and epic battles that take you throughout the world of Tyria.

Graphics: Graphically for a 2 year game it still holds up pretty well and will require some portion of tweaking for maximum performance. Guild Wars 2 uses a heavily modified version of the proprietary game engine developed for Guild Wars by ArenaNet. The modifications to the engine include real-time 3D environments, enhanced graphics and animations and the use of the Havok physics system.

Story-line: The story though a bit hard to follow at times is quite entertaining due to the nature of how the story progression quests are presented and the potential for party members to help in the completion of it. The characters are quite influential and memorable as they have continuing impact throughout the game.

Game Mechanics: Very well done character design system as well as combat system. The mere fact that they implemented the multiple weapon system enabling you to switch between weapons while your skill-set is in cool-down is really smart. Also of noteworthiness is the dynamic events system that replaces more or less the traditional questing format of most MMORPG's. This reduces monotony and encourages exploration and unique experiences for the player.

What Should Have Been Added:

This game needs mounts or some faster way to traverse the map and explore all the various aspects of the world of Tyria. Another potential good idea is to have full motion CGI cut-scenes with voice-overs and more back-story to better connect with the characters.

All the races available in Guild Wars 2

Final Thoughts:

All in all a very decent and enjoyable MMORPG experience. It manages to remain relevant in the sea of existing MMORPG titles even after 2 years and still has content updates to sustain and carry forward the community. Granted its no Vindictus but I can honestly say I had far more fun and addiction playing this than I would have imagined. I got lucky and had a friend buy me a copy when it was on sale maybe you can buy a copy for yourself and someone else to spread the love. Feel free to check out some of my game-play when I was streaming Guild Wars 2 below...

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Is It Adventure Time?

Game Mechanics - 1/2

Story-line - 1/2

Graphics - 1/2

Soundtrack - 1/2

Replay Value - 2/2

 Total Score - 6/10

Hey there fellow gamers it's time for another Friday video game review here on In The Mind Of My Mind. This week I broke one of my own rules and tried out an MMORPG that was recommended to me by a friend. I really need to learn how to deal with peer pressure better; but I digress. Main thing is I typically don't review MMORPG's because they are far too time consuming and require a lot of research and reading to know how best to create and shape your character. At the end of the day however the game is free to play and playable from your browser so why not give it a shot especially if you don't have a top end gaming PC. Have a look at Adventure Quest Worlds...

AdventureQuest Worlds, often shortened to AQWorlds or simply AQW, is a browser-based MMORPG or massively multiplayer online role playing game developed by Artix Entertainment in 2008. Unlike most massively multiplayer role playing games, AdventureQuest Worlds was developed entirely in Adobe Flash. The graphics style of AdventureQuest Worlds is much anime-like, especially notable in the characters' face. Upon creating an account, players are asked to choose one of four "starting classes" to be as their personal character, which are warrior, mage, healer, and rogue. When the players start the game, they will also automatically receive a default weapon. The way a player can advance and essentially progress and get better is by leveling up, which adds to their stat character page, making various abilities and attack power better, enhancements (which enhance a weapon to add stat modifiers, which come in either wizard, fighter, thief, healer, hybrid, spellbreaker, lucky, spitfire, adventurer, etc.), and class.

What’s Good:

Replay Value - If there is one thing that is certain its that this game has a ridiculous amount of content and things to potentially do. So much so that it seems more of a burden than a blessing but it ensures longevity and loyalty to the game. If you make it far enough and long enough to get your character looking as pimped out as some of the characters I seen there is not a doubt that you will be stuck playing this game for a long time to come. From the potential to change classes to the enhancement options of armor there is much that is to be discovered and made use of in this game. At the very least you have 4 different characters to choose from so that enables a wide variety of game-play strategies and experiences.

What’s Bad:

Seeing as I didn't want to nitpick at any one particular aspect i'm gonna summarize it all. Honestly most of the things they fail at are semi-justifiable, i'm just gonna do a quick run down. The navigation system is not as straight forward and intuitive as it could be, the character stats system deviates from the standard point allotment that is a staple point of most MMORPG's, the story-line line of the game itself is lost both because of poor quest progression but also because more value is placed on leveling your character through grinding rather than questing. These are all semi-justifiable since these issues are as relevant when you actually pay for a subscribers fee to the game.

What Should Have Been Added:

A stat point allocation system tied to the characters level, a proper navigation progression system, detailed and meaningful quest progression tied to the story line development and finally balance the exp gain so that questing is more important than just grind exp to level up.

Final Thoughts:

Definitely a fun experience starting out and a good option for those that may not have a proper gaming machine or console. Advisable to play with friends so as to make the experience more rewarding but with a registered user base of over 20 million people you should have no problem running into people and maybe making new friends. Most importantly the game is free to play so you have nothing to lose if you are a fan of MMORPG's. Vist http://www.aq.com/ and create a character so you can start your Adventure Quest today...

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