My (Brief) Thoughts on the Gaming Community Today and the Nintendo Censorship Debacle

            The gaming community has grown massively since 1980’s and 1990’s. It still continues to grow today, and many people of all ages and ethnicities play video games. Despite that… I believe this community isn’t as welcoming or friendly to others as it COULD be. Far too many people these days seem to prefer to argue over which consoles or games are “good”, and many online communities can be quite vitriolic. It seems that people seem to have forgotten the most important thing: games are meant to be FUN. Every game does things differently; it doesn’t matter if you’re enjoying something as simple as a Mario game or exploring the grand narrative of the Mass Effect games as long as you’re having fun. People seem to have forgotten about all of that in favor of arguing among themselves over petty things or putting others down due to their gender, ethnicity, or even taste in games.

            That brings me to my next point. Nintendo’s been… a little overzealous in keeping a “family friendly name”. And it makes absolutely no sense for them to do so at all in this day and age. Games like Xenoblade Chronicles X, Fire Emblem Awakening, and the upcoming Fire Emblem Fates and Bravely Second have all been censored to some degree. This is all in spite of games like Bayonetta 2, No More Heroes, and MadWorld existing (2 of those are EXCLUSIVE to Nintendo consoles as well). It’s baffling that they choose to do this, as the things that are being censored are perfectly acceptable for the rating that the ESRB has given the games in question. I agree that this needs to stop, but people are overreacting to all of this (some are boycotting those games until the censorship stops). None of the changes in any of those games really harms the overall experience, and they’re all still great games. You’d be doing yourselves a disservice to skip out on all of those amazing games simply because of localization changes.

            Fire Emblem Fates is scheduled for a February 19^th release, while Bravely Second will be coming to the U.S in April. Xenoblade Chronicles X has been out for a while, and you can see my review of it here.

Conception 2 Review (PS Vita/3DS)

The PS Vita is known for having a large number of niche JRPGs of varying quality, Conception 2 being no exception. But it stands out for having a rather bizarre premise that bears a few similarities to Persona 4's basic mechanics. Unfortunately, originality means nothing in the face of poor execution.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds Review (3DS)

In 2013, Nintendo unexpectedly announced and released a new Zelda game that used the classic top-down perspective. Not only that, but it was made as a distant sequel to A Link to the Past, set in the same version of Hyrule several generations later. And thanks to the innovations and mechanics this title introduced, it's the best Zelda game so far.

Bravely Default Review (3DS)

            With the path Square-Enix has gone down these days, you’d be forgiven if you assumed a classic game that captured the spirit of the older Final Fantasies would never see the light of day. But here we are; Bravely Default was released earlier this year in America. I admit that I found it hard to get into at first, but the effort was worth it. If you liked those old Final Fantasies, such as III, IV, V, VI, or IX, you’re going to really enjoy this game.

My Impressions on Shulk in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U

            As expected of a Xenoblade fan like me, I immediately tried out Shulk as soon as I booted up Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS. And I love what I’ve played; he’s one of my mains alongside Lucario and Megaman. Shulk is slow, but his attacks have good range. It’s best to play him somewhat defensively; stay at a mid-range and focus on using his excellent aerial attacks.

Smash Bros. 3DS Demo Impressions

            Well, I managed to get lucky and got a code to download the eShop Smash Bros. 3DS Demo. Here’s what I think about it.

Project X Zone Review (3DS)

            First of all, I apologize for my lack of activity on this blog. I’ve been caught up in a bunch of stuff lately, so I haven’t had the time to properly sit down and write a review. Project X Zone is a 3DS crossover between Capcom’s, Namco’s, and Sega’s franchises. People were hyped for it when it was announced for localization… but now that the hype’s been LONG gone, the game’s been mostly forgotten, and for good reason.

Tales of the Abyss Review (PS2/3DS)

            On a whim, I purchased Tales of the Abyss for the PS2 near the end of sophomore year of high school. What I didn’t know was that this game wasn’t your average RPG in terms of plot. And after getting past the first major plot twists, I couldn’t put the game down. However, most people can’t make it past the early parts due to the protagonist Luke. I’ll be blunt here: he starts off as an unbearable selfish asshole who’s spoiled. But that all changes. If you can bear with it for the first bit of the game, you’ll go on to see some of the best character development in an RPG.

Pokémon X and Y Review (3DS)

            Ah, Pokémon. As a kid, I loved the TV show. When I discovered that there was such a thing as a Pokémon game, I was overjoyed. The thing is, I never really paid attention to video games until I saw Ruby and Sapphire at a Target one day. I still remember that day very fondly, since it was Pokémon Ruby that got me into video gaming. Fast forward to June of 2014, and we’re fresh off of E3 and expecting remakes of my favorite Pokémon generation later this year. However, let’s take a look at Pokémon X and Y in the meantime.