Got rank 13 in Star Wars Battlefront III

     So I finally got rank 13 in Star Wars Battlefront III! It should be noted that I refuse to call this game Star Wars Battlefront, to me it will always be Battlefront III because there already was a Star Wars Battlefront, and it was bloody amazing in comparison to this game. So I got to rank 13. Which means that I unlocked the jet-pack. I already bought it. But I didn't play anymore games after I got rank 13 because I'd had enough for today. I played a ton of games. Mostly blast (team death match) and heroes and villains mode (a team death match with only six vs six players using Leia, Luke, Han, Vader, Boba Fett, and Palpatine. Heroes and Villains mode is like the only reason I can say that this game is any good. I've even made a friend on Origin (the gaming client used to run and play this game) that I play Heroes and Villains mode with a lot. The premium game mode, aka Walker Assault is such absolute rubbish that I kind of just gave up on ever playing it again. I might try it again sometime in the future because it would be cool to test out the jet-pack on those big terrains but other than that I'm going to leave it be. Hooray for the jet-pack!

Games I've been playing lately

     Here's something rare. A blog post written during the day instead of being at 1 or 2 in the morning. I usually reserve writing for the blog for evenings after work. Anyways, here we go: Games I've been playing lately.
     Heroes of the Storm. HoTs has been the meat and potatoes of my gaming experience ever since the beta came out. I would say I'm a veteran by now and I have around 800 games played. That's not a lot compared to some other hardcore players but for me I consider 800 games a hell of a lot. There are certain characters I prefer playing in HoTs. I really like playing support characters, mainly Lt. Morales, Uther, and sometimes Malfurion. I gotta say my favorite healer is Morales because she's the medic from Starcraft Broodwar and I just find that super cool. Her healing is very good but you have to be careful with positioning with her because she dies so fast if she gets hit. At level 10 she can get the medivac transport ship or stim. Personally I go for stimpack every time because its just so good. It increases damage on any ally you use it. Sugoi! And then there's Uther. Now can you not love Uther. The best thing about him is his stun. Oh how I love that stun! It gets me so many kills and its so effective. And then at level 10 he can get his ultimate stun which is even better. He's probably the best healer in the game because he can take a hit or two and also dish out more damage than all the other healers. Lately I've been messing around playing a lot of other characters. Like focusing on playing tanks like Muradin and Johanna but also playing assassins like Tycus and Valla. This game never gets old to me. I would say the main reason why I find this game so good is that the matches are short (unlike League and Dota), the game is easy to learn and pick up, and it makes you focus on teamwork and objectives rather than solo laneing and carrying your team.
     Next, probably my favorite game of our modern time. Super Smash Bros 4 for Wii U. I've been playing a lot online on the For Glory mode. Let me say that I know that tons of people think you can't get better by playing For Glory and that I'm wasting my time. I think that's completely wrong because sometimes I run into people online who are way better than me and they give me a chance to play them multiple times over and over and try to learn from my mistakes, thus getting better in the process (or so I'd like to believe). Last night I played the best player I've ever come across online. He was a Ryu player with the tag Edwin. This guy was amazing with Ryu. He literally power shielded pretty much every attack I threw at him. He was so good at first that I thought he was hacking somehow. I kept playing him over and over again getting my ass whooped. But I did learn a lot by playing him! Because he blocked all the time I learned that I had to go for grabs a lot. And then when I started spamming Zero Suit Samus' plasma gun on him I noticed that he couldn't block every single shot. Eventually I kept getting closer and closer to beating him. My frustration was at a super high level definitely. But at the same time I was astounded by how good this guy was. I felt like if he went to a tournament he would do great. I eventually got good enough to combo him hard in the air with down throw grabs but somehow he would always come back on his second stock and finish me. The only times I beat him was when he killed himself. But I take those as a win! Haha. I feel like in order to become better at Smash you have to be like a Super Sayian. You have to get your ass beat to the point that you feel like you have no chance, and are on the brink of death. Then you can discover your true power and go Super Sayian level 3! That's the way I see losing. When I lose in tournaments I don't really mind because I've been getting better and doing better at the weeklies at Fire and Dice. I would say when I play at a tournament my mind is more relaxed and focused than when I play online. When I play online I get annoyed and frustrated really easily. One thing I need to learn is to not get that way when I play online. Then I will be playing at my full potential.
     Also, I've been playing a lot of shooters. The new Ghost in the Shell Standalone Complex multiplayer shooter has been a blast. I've only played team death match so far but its so fun! I had the greatest game of my life in any fps game yesterday. I got 31 kills in ten minutes with a positive kill death ratio. I have no idea how I did it but it was a small room game with only about 8 people. In the end my team still lost even though I was carrying them. I guess my twitch reflexes have gotten better because I've been playing a lot more fps games lately. In addition, I've been messing around on Team Fortress 2 with my friend. Its been great because I got some cool new items like this plasma gun that vaporizes enemies in 1 or 2 shots depending on where I hit them. And then there's Battlefront 3. I finally discovered that the best game mode is Heroes and Villains. Its a blast running around as Luke Skywalker or Darth Vader and taking people out in this 6v6 multiplayer game mode. I'm still not very good at it but I am getting better.
     Lastly, I've been playing a bit of Skullgirls. This is a 'real' fighting game whereas Smash is a very un-traditional fighter. Skullgirls plays a lot like Street Fighter. But it looks more like Marvel Vs Capcom 2. It's a very good game with insane sick combos. I'm still learning the ropes but I think I can 'git good' at it with a little more practice. I focus on just playing single player and arcade mode for now.
     Well that's all folks! Let me know what games you've been playing lately in the comments section. Is there any games that I should be playing? I know one of them is definitely Undertale, I might pick that up before the Steam Winter sale ends.

Battlefront III Tips

     I learned I've been playing Battlefront III all wrong today. I watched a few videos and learned a few things. Yeah, that's for true (Stewie Family Guy reference)!
     First, always play in third person. This is not a first person game at all. You will be punished hard if you play in first person. You'll get stuck walking into rocks and walls. It happened to me today and I was all like 'wtf!'. It wasn't fun getting shot while I was stuck against a rock. You can see around corridors inside easier in third person and you can see farther in open spaces.
     Second, always try to fire from the hip. If you hardscope and zoom in you don't have better accuracy, that's just how the game mechanics work apparently. Most of the firefights in this game are fired shots from the hip so you better get used to it.
      Third, do not waste your credits on the visual haircuts and faces. Instead buy the essential guns and stuff that you need. Try to focus on working your skills with one gun. Get the thermal detonator as soon as you can. I still need to get that. Now that I know how powerful it is I'll get it asap.
     Fourth, get in turrets. Use turrets. You can get a lot of kills that way.
     Fifth, don't fly if you're a beginner like me. Leave the ship flying to pros who know how to use it. Only get in the ships when your team is winning and it doesn't matter if you're not shooting down vehicles.
     Sixth, make sure to run around the map and pick up the powerups. You can get heroic powerups that let you play as heroes as well as picking up powerups that cooldown on your hand, allowing you to throw grenades twice before cool down and stuff like that.
     Lastly, run and gun. This is a run and gun game. Although there are modes with 40 players you still need to run and run. Your team is there to support you but they are running and gunning too. I just learned all of this just now. Makes me see the game a little bit different. For one thing I was playing in first person today and I was noticing how bad it was. And I was doing badly always zooming in on my shots. Take care and good games!

Star Wars The Force Awakens Spoliers

     So today my friend told me all about the new Star Wars movie. I got the gist of it anyway, I think he may have not told me some things. If you want to save the movie and not be bummed out by spoilers leave this page right now.
      Alright, so the first big important news is that Han Solo's son is the new evil dark Sith who wants to become the new Darth Vader. He looks up to Vader and he kills Han Solo at some point in the movie. Meanwhile, we have the black guy and the girl trying to find Luke Skywalker. During the entire movie they're searching for Luke Skywalker. Sounds boring doesn't it? Apparently the girl is some distant relative to Luke and that's why she has the Force (damn miticlorieins!). And the black guy was a storm trooper but decided he'd had enough and deserted. They kind of fall in love in the movie (a black guy and a white girl!). While all that's happening the Empire has some kind of super weapon that can destroy planets and is powered by multiple Suns (sounds like the freaking deathstar!), and they're using it on planets and stuff and causing havoc. Obi Wan isn't in this movie unfortunately. I'm going to watch some spoiler reviews to get a better understanding of the movie but this is what my friend told me and I feel like I've seen the whole movie lol. It sounds great and all. There's even a new Sith Lord with a fucked up face apparently that talks to Han's son. I told my dad all this and he said,"Now I don't have to see the movie". Haha. I'm still going to see the movie for sure. I'm not one of these people that say you ruined it for me just because someone told me whats going on in a movie or TV show before it happened. I actually don't mind because it gives me a better understanding of the show and situations within the show. The Force Awakens has gotten a lot of good reviews from all the nerds on YouTube. If they're satisfied there must be something good about it. I heard that it may even be as good as A New Hope or Empire Strikes Back. Now that would be something!

Thanksgiving-Battlefront III-Legacy of the Void

     So Thanksgiving was just on Thursday, it was a great celebration with me and my folks. I hope it was a great experience for you all as well. I did work on Thanksgiving but thankfully it was only for a good four hours and then I was the hell outta there! Haha, but seriously, it sucks working on Holidays and I'm going to try to get off on Christmas and New Years. Check out that cool anime Starwars pic I found online, it's pretty cool. The idea of a female Jedi taking on Vader just gives me nerd chills man! Anyways, so work was aight and when I got home I just relaxed and played a few games and waited for dinner. Dinner was good. We had our "traditional" Chinese turkey that we get from a Chinese restaurant called A&W Seafood down on Reseda. It's a great place and they do a great job with turkey, cooking it in a way different style than the really really overly dry American way of cooking turkey for Thanksgiving. I really can't eat a traditional American style turkey anymore because this Chinese turkey just tastes so much better!
     Later that night around 11 30-midnight me and two friends went out and got some cool stuff for Black Friday. We ended up going to my old job-Fry's Electronics and Best Buy. We bought some stuff at Fry's. My friend got the Wii U bundle that comes with Splatoon and Smash 4 for $249. I got Starwars Battlefront III for $60. And my other friend got this fighting game arcade stick that was retailed $170 online on Amazon and stuff for only $30 because Fry's put it in the wrong spot on the floor so when they said it was $170 he showed them that there was like ten of them in a spot with a price tag of $30, and he was able to get it for that price because Fry's mislabeled and put their stuff in the wrong spots. He even said that the women helping him out was a little ticked off that he said that it was only $30 not $170. I feel like in a way he bamboozled Fry's but hey Fry's is at fault because they mislabeled their shit and put it in the wrong spot, misleading customers. I used to work at Fry's and I talked to a couple of my old friends, acquaintances, and employees. It was cool. It was good to see them still doing the same thing they were doing 2 years ago. I like when people have longevity in hobbies and work.
     I didn't play Battlefront III until the next day after it installed (took a while, even on my monster PC). But when I did get to playing it I couldn't help but feel that this game is just a Battlefield game with a Starwars skin. Don't get me wrong, the graphics and visuals in this game are stunning, especially on the PC version. But the game-play is simple, with mostly firing from the hip being the best way to shoot. All the guns look and fire the same red lasers, although at a different fire-rate. The game is so easy to play that I don't think it takes much skill to be great. I think Call of Duty or Halo is much harder to be great at than this game. I guess the first word that comes to mind when I think of Battlefront III is shallow. There's no campaign so there's no real story or point to all the fighting you're doing, its just mindless killing and shooting. I don't care about playing some no name rebel or empire trooper. I care about the actual characters from the movies, and possibly new characters that could have been created in this game. I wanted to return the game but I'm stick with it because I bought it at Fry's, and you can't return a game you already opened. And you can't return it through Origin because I didn't buy it online. I have two options. Never play this game again, or give it another shot, trying out more of the game modes that the game has to offer. If I had to rate this game based on what I've seen and played so far, I would give it a hard 7 out of 10, mostly just because of the visuals. The music is terrible and the game modes seem to get boring because there's only a small handful of maps. Also, they make you pay an additional $50 for dlc content that includes more maps and game modes. Thankfully, because I bought it at Fry's it actually came with the dlc somehow. Casual gamers will love this game because of how simple and easy it is to play. But for the hardcore fps guys, this game won't cut it for them.
     On Friday, other than trying out Battlefront, I beat the Starcraft II Legacy of the Void campaign. All I can say is 'my life for aiur!' It was a great ending to an epic space opera. The ending was a little cheesy with the chtulu like creature being the Xel Naga and it giving all its energy to Kerrigan, and she turned into this angelic-like being that was suddenly strong enough to kill Amon, a dark god that was the game's endgame villain. I enjoyed the campaign thoroughly and tried to get all the achievements. I think I'm at something like 50% achievements, which ain't good but it ain't bad either! I've always been more of multiplayer Starcraft player, I never even beat the original Starcraft or Broodwar campaigns. I heard those weren't that great anyways. What awaits me now for Starcraft is the Legacy of the Void multiplayer experience. I haven't gotten ranked or played any matches but I feel like Terran might be really weak in Legacy and I'm not sure if I'm ready to play a turtle race like Terran when Protoss and Zerg have such cool new units. So when I start playing multiplayer I might switch back to Zerg, which was my original race going back to Broodwar in middle school. I only switched to Terran at the end of Wings of Liberty because the guys in my clan on battlenet said it was the easiest race I could play with minimal micro and still do pretty well. I feel like they've been wrong but I actually fell in love with the Terrans, even though I don't consider myself a turtle-up kind of player. I'm more aggressive which maybe makes me feel like I'm more suited for Zerg. For the swarm!
     Music has been good as well. I've been practicing a bit, mainly trying to focus on playing songs rather than just improvising or learning chord voicings. I've really been listening to this guy Henry Threadgill, a great alto saxophonist, composer, and improviser. I really dig his new band called Zooid. All the cats I really dig and admire are sax players; people like Ornette Coleman, Eric Dolphy, John Coltrane, Peter Brotzmann, etc. Even though I'm a guitar player, I'm a big sax guy. I might actually buy one someday. I had a buddy at work who was going to sell me his but its kind of been forgotten that I've mentioned it to him. I still want it. Maybe that'll be my Christmas gift to myself. Can you imagine me with a saxophone? Talk about bizarre.
     Its been good to get back to writing. It's been so long since the last post. I'll try to keep em coming, and get back to writing music stuff eventually. This blog was originally meant to only be for music but now its like a gaming blog. I play too many games, and eventually I'll have to stop because it gets in the way of guitar playing and playing music, my main love in life. But I digress. Peace out cub-scouts.
    

E3 News

     E3, the Electronic Entertainment Expo happened recently here in LA! Too bad I didn't go, it would've been badass if I went and got to meet some gaming celebrities and gaming YouTube personalities. I'm a big fan of BlackNerdRants, Melonie Mac, Angry Joe, and TotalBiscuit. They really do some great videos on games and gaming in general, it would just be cool to meet someone like that. But the whole E3 experience is learning about all the new content and games that will be coming out this holiday season and next year. There is literally tons of games, too many to mention so I'll talk about some of my personal favorite new things that I've seen in the press conferences from E3 from YouTube videos. 

     First, I'm really hyped for StarWars the Old Republic. I used to play the game when it first came out but since then the game has now gone free to play (with reduced xp unfortunately if you play free) and has a couple of interesting expansions like Rise of the Hutt Cartel and something involving the Jedi Revan from StarWars Knights Of the Old Republic. Anyways check out this new expansion trailer here. I thought this trailer was badass. It shows that there's going to be a new faction in the game that doesn't seem really Sith nor Jedi, even using the neutral yellow colored lightsabers to confirm this. I really liked in the trailer how it shows how this two kids, royalty it looks like, were trained as youth to become warriors and later when they've grown up it shows them conquering planets, killing both Jedi and Sith alike, and then bringing home lightsabers from a Jedi and a Sith to their father who is most likely the Emperor of this new faction. Then one of the sons attacks his father in an attempt to kill him but the other son stops him using a force push and ends up getting sliced in the side by the attacking brother. Then the father is all like 'come with me my son.' It just breathes epicness and tugs on the emotional heartstrings as well. How could a father let his son kill his other son? So there's that game. I'm most likely going to subscribe to Swtor when this expansion comes out. It'll be out in October 2015. 

     I'm a big Star Wars guy when it comes to the games. The movies are ok but I prefer the stories in the game, although they aren't official canon. Star Wars Battlefront 3 is going to be great from the looks of the game play they showed at E3. Check it out here. This game-play footage really shows off what the game will be like on release. From the looks of it, it seems they've kept the same playing style as Battlefront 2 but made the game better with today's enhanced graphics. Every little detail in the video looks pristine and crisp. Imagine playing this game on PC on the best graphics settings possible, it will look beautiful. Parts that really stood out in this game-play footage was the part where he's just running and all of a sudden he sees a trooper get force choked, and Darth Vader walks out into the battlefield! And then Luke Skywalker walks out and starts to attack Vader! So that kind of shows that you will be able to play as heroes like Jedi and Sith Lords. The game seems to me to be an updated version of Battlefront 2, which is all a great Star Wars video-gaming fan can dream for. 

     Then, there's the Final Fantasy VII remake. Check out the trailer here. I don't feel like Final Fantasy VII needs a remake but it will be interesting seeing how the game will look with today's enhanced graphics. I wonder if they will change anything about the game that is really different. They could make it like a modern Final Fantasy game, which are actually pretty terrible in my opinion. It's something to be excited about because the original was pretty much the game of my childhood. Final Fantasy was my Ocarina of Time, even though I played Zelda as well. Playstation one was my life as a kid. I enjoyed playing all those rpgs like Final Fantasy Tactics, FF8-9-10-. Legends of Dragoon, and Xenogears. Great times! 

     Lastly, the announcement of Fallout 4. I personally haven't played any of the Fallouts but my brother has and I often watch streams on twitch.tv of people streaming Fallout 3. I just find it to be a really entertaining game to watch. Plus, its one of the best kind of dystopian game series out there!

     Lastly, there's tons of stuff but too much to write about in one sitting. My friend from work made a list of all the games from E3 that he's planning to get. They include so many games but most of them are shooters or action oriented shooters based on tactical game play and decision making. Unfortunately I haven't heard anything really good coming from Nintendo at E3. All I've heard about is a Super Mario Maker game where you can make your own Mario levels and play them online with people and a really bad looking game that looks inspired by Metroid Prime. I wish they could have announced that they were making an American version of Xenoblade Chronicles X, that would have been sick! But we didn't get any news about Xenoblade at all. One of my good friends seemed dissapointed with Nintendo this year, reasonably so. There's way more games but I just haven't gotten to watching the footage or trailers yet. But this is definitely a great time to be a gamer. All the technology and the graphics are all just top notch. What a time to be alive!