It feels like you would struggle to find anyone these days that has never heard of Pokémon. From avid fans to elderly relatives the depth of the familiarity varies wildly but I’d say the vast majority of the world’s population knows about it. Love it or hate it, you have to admit they must be doing something right given its global popularity. Movies, series and video games have been dominated by these weird creatures for some time now and it’s the latest instalment of Pokémon – Shield and Sword I want to talk about today.

I’ll come right out and say I do really like the game as a whole. It feels like they have tried to up the scale of the franchise and through this bring it into the next gen world. It’s colourful and vibrant, set in a landscape based on the UK with steampunk and industrial themes coupled with the rolling fields that my home country is well known for. The charm of the series is still very present and the world feels populated and brimming with life perhaps more so than any other game that has proceeded it. I’ll stay with the positives for a while and describe the best feature of the game – the wild area. A large centralised location that contains a lot of wild Pokémon roaming around the overworld. There are raid battles you can jump in with a chance of catching some rare mons, and plenty of fully evolved species lumbering around all just waiting to be caught and collected. It’s the first game (I think) where you can encounter a fully evolved Gengar and the novelty of this doesn’t wear off quickly. The wild area feels exactly that – wild. It has its own weather cycle and this will determine what Pokémon spawn and where which adds verity and a sense of challenge as you try and fill those annoying question marks in your pokedex. It also adds a welcome reprieve from the somewhat simplistic story – more on that later. The way Pokémon appear in the overworld (a feature adopted in Let’s Go) is a great step for the franchise and means that you’re not constantly encountering a Zubat every 5 seconds as you’re making your way through a cave. Another feature that I cannot praise enough is the absence of HM moves. We all had that bitch mon in our party that exclusively knew CUT and whatever else we could shove down its neck in the form of a HM disk. These have now been taken out and so have the knee high tree’s we could have jumped over from the earlier titles. This leaves you to pick which Pokémon you want on your team and whatever moves you want – 10/10 just for that! Other useful quality of life updates include being able to access your Pokémon storage box on the move, meaning fewer trips to the Pokémon Centre to swap them over. All these features pull together to make a much more enjoyable experience.

There are a lot of things that make Sword and Shield a great game….however no game in perfect. I’ll start with a minor gripe before I start ranting – the story. It’s the usual cookie cutter Pokémon story that has a lot of hand holding. You literally cannot walk 2 paces without someone trying to talk to you and in some instance you have NPS’s trying to escort you to the building next to you. I realise that this game is meant for all ages but maybe there could have a few different gameplay options where less hints and help could have been offered. The characters all follow the same formula as other games, the rival, the professor and bunch of bad guys acting as a team rocket and while they are all needed – none are fleshed out and I’ll be honest I just wanted to flamethrower their mons as opposed to talking about their feelings. There are a few other issues but I’ll move onto my main problem with the game – the completion of the Pokedex. I wouldn’t say I am overly antisocial but I play video games to get away from others and I really don’t appreciate having to communicate in order to complete the game properly. Sword and Shield have the same old version exclusives and Pokémon you need to trade in order to evolve meaning you end up about 60 Pokémon short of completing the dex by the end of the game. The trading system relies on the intelligence and sympathy of others to help you out and 80% of the time this is not forthcoming. No I don’t want to see someone on the other side of the world show off with a shiny Charizard when all I want is a Seedot! I understand why they do it – they want you to spend more money on the games, but come on this is hardly fair when again this game is aimed at all ages and no everyone has that money to burn. I did eventually complete the challenge getting all 400 mons, it just took 2 extra months and a lot of frustration. Surely there has to be a better way – even if it’s extremely difficult and locked to the endgame?

Yes that’s right, despite all my criticism I am still happily playing on and going back to it whenever I have a spare few minutes. I still can’t explain why I have kept playing as the game is clearly just exploiting the Harry Potter brand to make money, but then again who isn’t exploiting a brand to make money currently? I think about the other mobile games I have kept playing – Pokemon Go being the obvious example and they are doing exactly the same thing and has similar monotonous game mechanics. I think more than anything it’s the story they have scrapped together that makes me grind out the many hours waiting for my energy to return to me. I am a bit of a fan of the Harry Potter world having read the books numerous times and watched the films even more, and the fact they have bothered to try and make a somewhat original plot should be commended. It might not be as good as the originals and the characters are all a bit flat but I want to reward their optimism by at least playing to the end.

Video games like most things in life go through phases of popularity. Think back to times at school where (in my day) Pokemon cards or yo-yos were at one point the biggest thing in the world. Of course after everything stops being the flavour of the month there are still a few people who stick with it - in the case of Pokemon cards you’d probably be sat on a fortune by now. Minecraft is perhaps one of the best examples of how a game came from no where to become one of the most popular games of all time and then after a while sort of just disappeared. It is a simple concept - punch some things, craft some things and mine some more important things all with a smattering of healthy and imaginative building however the simple concept has been elevated so much by the community who play the game. As a more angry reviewer I once watched said “I immediately built an 80ft golden cock and balls.” 

The great thing about Minecraft is that it’s still being worked on. There are still updates being released and the developers although not the original team who worked on the game are still striving to create something that can keep up with the minds of the people who play it, though looking at reactions from some of the players who have been there since the alpha stages they would rather the game keep to it’s simplistic roots. 

I’ll start by saying, Git Gud. I wanted to write something on the series in general just as the first game has just come out in a sparkly new remastered version. I feel I probably share most peoples opinion when it comes to the souls series (now I’m a scrub and have never played demon souls or bloodborne) it’s kind of a love hate relationship on a lager more cosmic scale. I love Dark Souls because it’s one of the best series of games made in the last 10 years. I hate Dark Souls because of that time I ran past some enemies to a lift only to have one of them axe me in the head on the way down....and that time I slipped off the pathway in the crystal cave....or in fact that time I got the demon firesage down to 1% health and he KO’d me. Putting all of that aside - which is difficult I honestly believe you’ll struggle to find a better trilogy of games than the Dark Souls trio. Most games these days hold the players hand, spoon feeding the story and giving them difficulty levels which can be modified throughout the game to suit the players needs. Dark Souls doesn’t do that, it’s got balls - the skeleton variety that knock you off small walkways. It’s not afraid to say this is the game, go where you want - probably not that way though cause you’ll die. 

The first thing I ever wrote on this blog was a diary entry version of Dark Souls 3 and it’s those articles that I had the most fun writing simply because I found the game so enticing ...and rage inducing. The way the levels are put together where you’ll suddenly open a short cut back to the start of the game or you’ll look up and see somewhere you’ll be visiting later is incredible and a credit to the designers of the game. It’s also very rarely lazy and I mean like 99% of the game is not lazy, the only example being the asylum demon being copied 3 or 4 times throughout the game for extra bosses. Looking at all the other bosses in the game however they all have their own twisted and interesting back stories that you only find out by reading item descriptions and piecing together the limited hints the game throws at you. 

The replay value of the game is unreal, you go through once and then discover there are 10 other possible outcomes, 5 more NPC’s you didn’t talk to and a series of unexplored paths you didn’t find. This is a spoiler free zone but that dragon pose though - if you know, you know. 

God of War 4 has been hailed the perfect game...or at least very near perfect by pretty much every reviewer I’ve seen since it came out. Now as much as I hate to disagree with the axe wielding bloke above I can’t say it’s perfect. It is however a very good game. 

There is a lot to celebrate with the game, the movement of the characters, the amazing scenery and the slow and steady brooding relationship between the protagonists. I have not completed the game yet, mainly because work and the real world have managed to once again get in the way of my incessant gaming habit - I have however played enough to give my opinion on this wonder of modern gaming. 

I can see that the development and ever changing relationship between reluctant father Kratos and eager to please Atreus is a big selling point of the game. The way Kratos keeps going to put his hand on the boys shoulder brings a whole new meaning to the will they/won’t they relationship. The combat mechanics are fantastic, I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of flinging my axe across the map only to recall it tripping and killing enemies as it goes. It’s about as close to being Thor as I’ll ever I suppose. The monsters while a little generic pack a punch and are interesting enough for me not to lose interest while carving them up and the larger mini boss battles mix up the small fry grunt battles rather nicely. Now it’s when you first encounter The Stranger that things really get interesting - the battle was tense and actually did feel like a battle between gods, flinging each other around and dropping rocks etc. This is the part that makes God of War 4 a great game, it’s the sense that this battle could really do some damage to the world and the ordinary folks living in it. 

As I said, a lot to celebrate and well worth the money spent. Now I do have some gripes, and this is where I run the risk of getting axed by big K. Open world for me is a term thrown around all too often these days - but no game has ever quite managed to capture that like Skyrim (yes I know I am massive fanboy). Open world means you’re not limited by chest high walls simply because that’s not on the correct path. I do admire the change of pace in the series but I do feel that it is a little far away from open world when compared to The Elder Scrolls and The Witcher - games that came out a good while ago. I also feel the repetitive dialogue Atreus shouts breaks the immersion of an otherwise great narrative. The thing is my gripes are small compared to the epic that is God of War 4.  

I’m not sure how I feel about combining a Diablo quote and a Rhianna song but I’ve done it now. As you may have guessed today I want to talk about Diablo 2 - one of my favourite games from my childhood. 

There is a movement right now (it sounds more dramatic than it is) to make Diablo 2 great again - which is fantastic. Diablo 2 is a brilliant game...in my opinion. It doesn’t have the best graphics in the world and the story doesn’t exactly light the world on fire with creativity but what it does have is heart. It’s also one of the hardest games I’ve ever played. Think of a time before video games hand held you through a series of tutorials and instead threw you into the world with only the vaguest notion as to where to go and what skills to invest in. Of course now there is a vast range of websites telling you how to min  max your character but (and I hate to use this expression) back in the day there was only your own intuition. Subsequently I spent many frustrated hours putting points into inferno and wondering why I was struggling. I realise only fans will realise how that skill is bad but you get the idea. 

It’s hard to really put into words why it’s a great game as it in essence quite similar to other dungeon crawler games, you kill monsters for loot and then kill more monsters to replace said loot for better pieces. I think it’s Diablo 2′s tone that sets it apart, it’s so dark and ominous that (and I am not ashamed to admit this) as a child I was actually a little scared to play it. The boss battles also had a weight to them that modern games seem to lack, as in you spent the whole act leading up to a big battle where you felt it actually seem to mean something. 

Another great factor is the music. It builds and puts you on edge to the point where your hair sticks up on your arms and you start jumping at shadows. It’s clear the Blizzard put a lot of time and energy into getting it just right and it creates an atmosphere that is sorely lacking in many modern titles. 

As I said at the beginning Diablo 2 is a brilliant game...in my opinion. It might seem a little dated now but if you’ve never played it before I would whole heartedly advise you to try it, and if you have a copy somewhere gathering dust now more than ever is a great time to go back to the game, as I mentioned, this is a movement. This is a revolution. 

Mama Murphy kicked me out in a chem addled rage earlier today. All I did was knock over her bottle of vodka with my tail - what can I say I get over excited. She started doing that weird thing with her eyes shouting about Red Rocket so I’ve made my way there. 

Two days later

I’ve met a kind stranger. It’s strange, he is able to swap clothes instantaneously without taking the first lot off and whenever we find enemies he just stands there looking at his wrist for ages while I get shot at - no one ever seems to shoot him while he does this? I think he’s a wizard. 

The next day 

I’m back with Mama Murphy, Preston and the group. I hate these guys, all they do is moan about settlements that need help, jeez get over it - we’re all fucked just accept it Preston. I tried telling him this but he just patted my head and said I was a good boy, I hate the way they patronise me. I think I am a wizard too, my owner went up a lift without me and suddenly I just teleported next to him. It was sick, and then I was sick. I think that might be me getting used to my powers. 

A week later

My owner just told me to go home to a settlement he found. It took me 3 days and I fell down a lot of sink holes. I don’t know why he trusted me to get home  by myself I have the worst sense of direction. I did trying saying this but he just tried to play fetch. I hate how stupid humans are.

7 months later

My owner came past today. i have not had any contact with humans for all this time, it’s just me at a settlement no lives at. I now harbour bad thoughts for humans....you shouldn’t piss off a wizard.  

I’m the kind of gamer who likes a medium amount of challenge. I like to feel a little tested but ultimately I would like to be able to one shot people at a distance in a satisfying slow mo camera shot. Fallout 4′s Survival mode is not this kind of challenging. 

I realise that it’s been out for some time but I have recently returned to Fallout 4 after a long period of absence and thought I’d give survival a try as I had become a little bored of the regular game - I was not prepared at all. After completing the tutorial parts of the game I got killed numerous times by a pack of dogs. I got so annoyed with them I switched to my other character and went to hunt them down with a rocket launcher. 

The game makes your character a glass cannon, you die within two hits but the enemies are also a lot more fragile. I won’t go too much into the mechanics of the game as I am sure a lot of people are aware of them but you basically also need to keep hunger, sleep and hydration at bay. Settlements become very important as they are a constant source of the above and also act as stop of point as in survival you cannot fast travel. I refer back to my title, survival mode is certainly about how fit you are considering I must have traversed the length of the commonwealth several times in my short play through. Another big difference is that you cannot save at any point, you need to find a bed and sleep for this to happen.

At first i liked the challenge and it made the game a lot more edgy as at any moment I could get killed by a basic enemy and have to go back two hours of tense gameplay to the last time I slept. There was a downside however, as I played I came to the realisation that I was essentially playing farmville - putting so much time and effort into my settlements that I forgot to actually play the game - Shaun who?

My overall opinion of survival is that it’s a great addition to what I thought was already a good game, but try not to get bogged down in the maintenance of settlement building. I will certainly be carrying on my play through, I might even try and find Shaun....eventually,