An Irish guy who covers topics in video games, tech and creativity. The Tyrant Haxorus is a gaming blog that writes game reviews and guides on video game programming.
Petite reviews is when I give a quick review of a game. It is as concise as possible while informing without going on forever.
Disgaea 5
The fifth entry in Nippon Ichi’s popular series is the most complete game out of them all. All previous Disgaea games have had barriers that limited both casual and hardcore players. Disgaea 1 and 2 were inflexible with mastering a myriad of skills and weapons, while 3 and 4’s Forte system resulted in an overdose of Mana grinding, though well intentioned in theory.
Disgaea 5 perfectly mixes the systems of its predecessors, with its inclusion of Revenge and Squads to allow both casual and hardcore players to fully enjoy the series rock solid gameplay.
What’s Great
Perfect mix of gameplay systems
The most beginner friendly (For Disgaea standards)
Money Maps/Sub-classes/Chara World
What’s Okay
An entertaining story with an main character lacking the memorability of previous protagonists
What’s Bad
The series long standing camera angle issue
A DLC Character requires players to buy all DLC content
Grinding has always been made to appear fun, though it’s always needed
Players with great patience and dedication to grinding need apply
For players that simply want pure, raw and quick gameplay, Hotline Miami is as pure as gameplay gets. While well know for its brutal interpretation of the 80’s and electric soundtrack, there is a tragic and violent story commentating on the psychological difficulties of retired soldiers told out of order. the second game’s constant switching of characters affected by the series central protagonist is equally intense and wild as the gameplay. For players wanting gameplay solid as steel and piece together a scrambled story of bitter bloody misery, Miami is the game of their dreams.
What’s great
Significant replay value
Plethora of hidden details
HM 1’s masks add variety to a simple concept of gameplay
Excellent soundtracks
HM 2’s characters add a unique spin to their respective stages
Scattered story that is both bedazzling to follow and impossible to piece together
Gameplay that goes to 100 in a eye blink
What’s Okay
Short playtime
enemy A.I is delightfully exploitable
1 hit = instant death for everyone
Quick reactions from enemies
What’s Bad
HM 2’s larger levels are unforgiving to new players
Out of order story-line can be very difficult to understand
Players looking for a truly unique and fun game will be right at home with Rock of Ages. Inspired by The legend of Sisyphus and sporting a goofy sense of humour, Rock of ages effectively uses tower defence mechanics with ball physics gameplay similar to Super Monkey Ball. Rock of ages is an inspired game offering a incredibly fun time for players looking for straight forward experiences that instil in their mind long after they have finished them.
What’s great
Effective mixture of tower defence and ball physics
A must play for players versed in European Mythology/history
An art-style with inspirations from Monty Python and Renaissance artworks
An enjoyably off the wall sense of humour
Varied levels with different possibility’s for the player and the enemy
What’s okay
A generously needed amount of keys for progression
A.I is relativity non-challenging
What’s bad
Winning and losing amounts to speed, not strategy
Very little to offer once finished
Keys can be difficult to get because of the core objective
Capture solutions are commonly in the form of a external card or software. Both have unique yet detrimental drawbacks that affect the user experience.
External cards have strict limits on bandwidth (the Mbps affecting video quality) because of their USB connections and capture just video signals. It is often a laborious process to get cards to receive both video and in video audio. Software requires significant system resources and have tendencies to create system instability.
PCI cards take the best of both external and software capture and fix the common problems they have. The Elgato HD 60 Pro is currently the only consumer product capable of 1080P 60Fps capture with an insane 60Mbps. It’s PCIx1 interface means it achieves this flawlessly, but the areas the Pro shines in are much more than simply being powerful hardware.
Sound: Build in Sound (GPU dependent) 224 kbps AAC
The spec sheet is standard for Elgato’s gaming line up but sound, interface and output are the most significant aspects of the hardware. Built in audio receiving the signal from a GPU’s audio feature fixes and simplify’s the process of recording a video’s sound. But the 60 Pro expects that the users TV/monitor has built in speakers, (not a audio jack on the TV/monitor) otherwise users cannot hear anything. Users with standard monitors can work around this using Elgato Sound Capture. This extension app that comes with Elgato’s software updates allows users to set the inputs and outputs of connected audio devices.
PCI is the exact same interface used by a CPU and GPU, both constantly sending and receiving information across a motherboard and hard drives. The intensity of capture software paired with the fact they take vital, system sensitive resources is why they have tendencies to cause problems for users. Capture cards often need trouble shooting in order to receive both video and in video sound, while cluttering up environments with their cable connections. Because the 60 Pro is hardware dedicated solely to video capture, it requires only the minimum amount of data connection from the CPU and hard drive, which takes the strain off of both the CPU and GPU and is at pace with the two because it has direct contact with the motherboard.
Elgato Recording load at maximum recording settings
Elgato Idle load
Elgato recording load with CPU dependent app in the background
Output has an unexpected versatility. Because the output is almost completely absent of any latency, users can play game consoles through the Elgato’s output with no drawbacks. Sadly, getting the Elgato software to display a console preview within the interface is not a plug and play scenario like advertised on Elgato’s tutorials. In order for the user to see both the interface and console feed, the TV/monitor used requires 2 HDMI ports (Input) for it to work, a crucial detail the tutorials fail to mention. This issue is only applicable to TV/Monitors with a single HDMI input, preventing users from pairing the 60 Pro with their consoles in a optimal manner.
The Elgato HD 60 Pro has fixed every problem I have ever experienced with other solutions. Getting it up and running was the most painless experience and gave me a good lesson on how video signals work. I don’t use a streaming machine and PC capture has been flawless, expect the fact that I have to set Sounds to Elgato-4 every time on my speaker less monitor. The interface is to be commended for its clean, simple yet robust design. I still have yet to find capture software that makes naming footage so easy and still have important functions be easily accessed with a mouse.
MP4 60Mbps files are absolutely gorgeous, almost true to the original signal on a screen. But the subtly noticeable compression I saw in the Witcher 3’s right side map did nothing to diminish its quality and perfect frame capture.
(You may have to click on the gear icon and set Quality to 1080p 60fps)
Capture solutions like Shadow Force, Action and Fraps are capable of 60 frame capture, but they are bound by system resources and often fail to or inconsistently hit that frame target. In exchange for having to wait for the Elgato to process the large data of a 60Mbps file before you can close it, you are guaranteed a 1080p 60fps capture with no compromises.
Elgato Software PC Setup Interface
But I did experience some issues, just like any other capture solution. But these problems were nowhere near the level of hell I experienced from the Roxio and Action. Pressing the mute button stopped an echo effect when I saw the live feed of my stream, as some of you may have seen on my Twitch Channel.
Sometimes the display would not show up but after updating the software, which is a smooth and reliable process from my experience it worked without issue. I have vivid memories of the tedious trouble shooting I went through just to get video to have an audio signal on the Roxio and have my desk space invaded by cable clutter. While it’s an annoyance to set Sounds to Elgato-4 for every recording and hear nothing, this is only because my monitor doses not have build in speakers.
I never experienced a laborious set-up process that was picky over how it wanted to receive audio and video like with the Roxio and then have Action become a broken train-wreck after it received updates. While your mileage will vary greatly because of your PC’s individual characteristics, the Elgato HD 60 Pro’s hybrid unity of capture cards and software allows for one of the most consistently functional products that only has users experiencing petite annoyances if they didn’t have the ideal input requirements from their equipment.
Footage/feature performance
Users wanting to get straight into streaming to Twitch and YouTube videos are right at home with Elgato’s software. But the software goes above and beyond the passable quality of most software for capture solutions. The most prominent feature of Elgato’s software is Flashback Recording. System RAM allows the software to constantly preview passing footage and by dragging the timeline to a specific place, users can record right at that specific moment or take screenshots.
This feature is a miracle worker in multi-player or needing screenshots of a game. Users can turn flashback off if they do not want storage to be affected. Overlays are wonderfully integrated into the interface. Users can add custom overlays or edit the stock overlays to suit their tastes. They offer great benefits in creating a polished and well done video, but there is little guidance on how to effectively customize GIF’s and web pages that are much more technical that the simplicity of images and scenes.
Audio mixing is great for normal users who want a functional way of getting their microphones to simply work, but experts will be disappointed by the hardware’s lack of audio inputs. Sadly, Elgato does not provide a way to test microphone recordings, something that can be a frustration for many. The Threshold and Attenuation can be modified and by default, other sounds are reduced automatically when using the microphone.
The overall package is extremely well done and a delight for people who want to enjoy their streams and recordings. People well versed in audio set-ups will be left underwhelmed by the software’s options, but basic 3.5mm mic jack and USB set-ups work wonderfully with Elgato’s products. Overlays add a effortless way to add that personal touch to streams and videos, but it’s a shame GIF’s and web pages are impractical for most users.
External and software capture solutions have issues so detrimental to the user experience, only a small handful are truly worth someone’s time and investment. Elgato’s PCI capture solution has broken down many barriers. This piece of hardware has capitalized on the interface used by CPU and GPU’s to be one of the most consistently problem free capture solutions, with its most egregious issues being little, easily fixed quirks.
The HD 60 Pro is a top of its class capture solution, costing over $269AU. It is a small number of products that live up to the saying “what you pay is what you get.” Users that want the best experience with the HD 60 Pro however are sadly going to need the following, specific features in their equipment:
A TV/Monitor with Build in Speakers
2 HDMI Input ports
While this does not ruin the user experience if consumers do not have these exact specifics on their displays, It sadly means some users cannot use the full capability of the Pro. But it does little to seriously harm the functionality and potential of the Pro. Elgato have addressed the audio input/output issue for users for standard monitors with Sound Capture, that does a fantastic job of setting up audio for footage and the users recording environment.
With brilliant footage quality, a great in all the right places interface and robust features that can be effectively altered to the users set-up while fixing the shortcomings of common capture solutions, the Elgato HD 60 Pro is the definitive and the best capture solution of the modern video game world.
What’s great
Streamlined and robust software interface
The best capture quality that does not hog resources
Simple HDMI setup
Wonderful integration of streaming and capturing
Flashback Recording
Genuine 60Fps capture
Sound Capture allows any audio setup to suit the users needs
What’s okay
Web page/GIF overlays need to be more straight forward
Audio Mix options should be expanded upon
Mute prevents echoes in microphones and live stream feeds
Basic video editor suited only for simple highlight cuts
signal flash when exiting the software in the PC set-up
What’s bad
2 HDMI Inputs are needed for consoles to take advantage of Elgato
Set-up tutorials fail to mention this important detail
Rare occasions on specific games where the live feed won’t receive the footage’s audio signal
(This review is based on the PlayStation Vita version and is available for the PS3 and PS4.)
Music is a medium made from instruments expressing a meaning or message. Sound Shapes is a game based on a simple idea around the effects of music. What a person imagines when listening to music.
Sound Shapes excels with its inspired execution of a typical game concept with gameplay that unravels the full composition of a song as you play through the level, paired with a gorgeous minimalist art-style. It also implements player created levels that has formed a community creating fun and visually pleasing content that adds significant replay value to Sound Shapes. Sound Shapes however struggles time to time in gameplay because the basic platforming skills can make navigation unnecessarily frustrating. With such strong positives paired against occasional rage inducing level navigation, it will be revealed if this flaw in gameplay ruins Sound Shapes great qualities.
Gameplay
The ultimate core of any video game is gameplay. It is the element that binds all of a video games engagement and there are many ways this element correlates with a games art and possible story. In Sound Shapes, the player can stick to objects with light colours, jump and run and use those ability’s to collect notes in a level while avoiding contact with anything red.
Notes in Sound Shapes play a beat and as the player collects notes, the levels song unravels to its full composition. The campaign is relatively short and unlocks tools for the level editor but offers a wonderful collection of levels that tease the possibility’s of the community’s offerings. The act of getting to point A to point B in Sound Shapes is pleasing because of the imaginative art designs in every stage and relaxed checkpoint pacing.
But an unavoidable problem with Sound Shapes is the occasional difficulty of navigating through certain levels, especially with user created content. While it is great to platform through such visually splendid levels, the spectacle of the stages can possibly distort the actual direction a player needs to head towards.This issue only really show its ugly head in user creations, where creativity often compromises ease of navigation, even when there are stand out creations.
Presentation
It is rare to see a video games presentation be tied so closely to the actions between the player and the game. The colourful and appealing art style invokes a feeling of relaxation through pleasant stimulation. This is reinforced by how the sights and sounds of a level unravel as the player moves through it. It complements the soundtrack in all of its rich, varied and uplifting pieces. Rowdy Cloudy epitomises what makes Sound Shapes work.
In the beginning, the repeated sound of a flying platform hints at a incomplete song. Eventually, the first couple of notes create a catchy tune that incentives the player to progress. Once the momentum of the song comes alive, the players eye takes attention to the distinct marvellous art style on display. The realization comes that they make this art style come alive by their skill and dedication to collecting the notes. This impeccable utilization of design and sound is where Sound Shapes shines, the seamless blend of platform sensibilities and music’s ability to inspire the mind.
Value
Sound Shapes at its very core is a basic sound platformer. The low key gameplay perfectly pairs with an admirable presentation while prevailing over challenges with a consistent casual difficulty, throwing enough challenge to keep interest going. The campaign’s length and memorable art design in its levels allows players jaded from the intensity of more realistic video games to reinvigorate the simple joy they find in the medium, even when artistic ambition conflicts with navigation in user generated levels.
Sound Shapes is a brilliantly executed musical game that ties platforming and the psychological effects of music to make a truly special game. It fills a need for players that isn’t commonly found in the modern gaming scene. To just enjoy a video game and leave a impact on its world.
What’s great:
Perfect unity of gameplay/presentation
Fun replay value from campaign/user content
A wonderful game for portable entertainment
What’s okay:
Fairly priced DLC for the level editor
A complete DLC pack costs $11.25AU ($9.00AU on PS Plus)
What’s bad:
Artistic ambition makes certain community levels a navigation nightmare
(This Guide applies to Windows 10, but will likely work on Windows 7 and 8.)
When you have installed Sony’s handy Content Manager Assistant into your computer, you may find that you can’t connect your device. The most simple and straight forward way to fix this involves changing settings in the Windows Firewall. Under normal circumstances, you shouldn’t allow a piece of software to bypass the Firewall as it could cause intrusive and serious issues with your computer.
However, Content Manager Assistant is an exception because communication and information is sent and received from your personal Vita console to your computer. It is not like most software that have their information receiving blocked because they sent to out to unknown parties. CMA (Content Manager Assistant) serves the function of easily using and transferring imagery and music for the Vita and even lets you back up game data on your computer if you don’t have a PlayStation Plus subscription.
To solve the connection problem, go to:
Control Panel, System and Security, Windows Firewall.
Then click on ‘Allow an app or feature through Windows Firewall’. Click on Change Settings and tick the box on the left for Content Manager Assistant.
After these steps have been done, open up CMA and go ‘Network Connection Settings’. Open up Content Manger on your Vita and select ‘Copy Content’. Choose the PC connection option and select WI-FI.
Click on ‘Register Device’ and make sure CMA on your PC has ‘Connect to PS Vita System Using Network’ is ticked. Once that is done, CMA on your computer will generate a unique number that has to be typed in on your Vita. Type in the generated number and your Vita and PC are now connected.
I hope that the methods in this guide have been beneficial for you and please do not hesitate to point out an problem with these methods.
Match 3 puzzle games are a profoundly simple genre of video games. Once the core working of its gameplay is made, its up to the other elements of engagement to engross the player and keep them playing. NekoBuro’s vibrant cutesy art style paired with gameplay that effectively spices up the match 3 mechanic with challenges and power ups serves to elevate it from monotony.
The only real flaw with NekoBuro is sporadic spikes in difficulty. Even with this problem, it will be revealed if this detracts from the noteworthy flow of gameplay and appeal of its adorable misfit Square Cats.
Gameplay
NekoBuro’s gameplay will be familiar to anyone who has played Teteris. Each level has a unique mission where 3 matching cats have to be aligned vertically, horizontal or diagonally. To help the player in matching up three cats, a power up gauge fills when a match is made or a chain goes off.
The missions keep the player on their toes in the later stages and the beginning stages do a wonderful job at easing the player into the later challenge down the road. Moments however of missions that bring a sudden increase in difficulty is a crack in a beautifully entertaining form of gameplay. In stages such as 4 -8, 5-2 and the ruthless but appropriately brutal 5-10, the player has little space for error, reinforced by the fact squares are randomly generated and what allow the power up gauge to increase. In these stages, the player is more or less hoping they can rapidly align a combo chain within the relentless conditions of these missions or that Lady Luck shines down on them because without her, the game over screen will be practically engraved in their minds due to seeing it countless times.
But the overall experience is a smooth fun ride across a majority of the game time. While these three highlighted stages aren’t going to cause hand cramped frustration along the lines of something like Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine(1993), they are noticeably frustrating by design and easily seen. They are simply however, small valleys in a enjoyable roller coaster of simple fun.
Presentation
While the match 3 gameplay proves to be entertaining, the heart and soul of NekoBuro lies in every inch of its presentation. The colourful art style paired with a peaceful cheery soundtrack invokes a tone and mood of a relaxed, joyful peace of mind. This is reflected in the design and personalities of the Square Cats.
The delightfully chaotic trouble they cause for their owner as they bring their group back together helps motivate the player to finish the missions. The appeal of the Square Cats is reinforced by the toys the player obtains from completing missions, allowing them to cause hilarious destruction to the cat’s home and have playful fun with them too. These elements of NekoBuro’s presentation come together to make a game that anyone can enjoy.
Value
NekoBuro has the unfortunate downside of being short to finish. That does not however ruin it’s incredibly sweet run time. The missions provide a varied and consistent gameplay experience with rare but overly difficult missions cracking at a standard yet flawless experience. The Square Cats are what make NekoBuro, having the right amount of cuteness without coming off as detestably annoying. Players looking for a fun casual experience with a satisfying feeling of accomplishment should try out this impeccably bare bones yet fulfilling tale of box shaped cats.
I am happy to tell you all that I shall now resume content production. My custom PC was made as a balanced non over clock system for video game creation and development, video editing/live streaming and of course video gaming. If you are designing your own PC for just video gaming, an I3 6100 and GTX 950 is all you need because it delivers perfectly acceptable frame rates but you won’t achieve 60 frames consistently.
Due to the increasing amount of games on the PC relying on a CPU’s cores, the cheapest I5 1151 CPU is recommended as it delivers more value for money in the long term. It’s great to be back in business.
The Outland Let’s Play is complete and ready to see on Youtube. Right now, I’m planning out my PC build, so production of new posts will be postponed until the PC build is ready.
If there ‘s one aspect of the 8th Generation of consoles I love, it’s screenshots features. It saves me a lot of time with making my posts and allows me to get that one image for illustrating what I am saying in my reviews. Hope you all enjoy the pictures.
(This Review is based on the PS4 Version and is available for PC, PS3, PS Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360 and Xbox One)
RPG’s have evolved tremendously over the years. Combat has become quicker, robust character customization has allowed for all manner of playstyles and the journeys players partake in have become grander and power fantasy fulfilling. But an integral aspect of the genre has been slightly abandoned with the RPG’s evolution. The ability to submerge a player in a RPG’s world has lost its effect as more RPG’s seek for greater graphics and many gameplay systems and mechanics.
Child of Light is a perfect example of a game representing traditional story telling in RPG’s to highlight how the genre is able to submerge a player in a story. In a role playing game, RPG’s are sometimes called JRPG’s. (Japanese Role Playing Game) This is because players can be in the role of a character or express their own character.
Child of Light is a JRPG because the player is in the role of a set non changeable character, with story being the main player engagement. It is one of the best RPG’s the gaming world has seen because of its fully realised presentation and accessible combat system. The observation of the game’s retelling of Cinderella will reveal that classic and traditional story telling methods of novels and RPG’s are interwoven in Child of Light’s design.
Story
A kingdom’s Duke has fallen ill after marrying a new wife. His daughter Aurora falls asleep under a coma and “Her skin was cold as snow.” Aurora awakens in a world not her own and encounters a Lady of The Forest, who gifts her with pixie wings to fly. With this gift, Aurora begins her journey to become a queen.
Child of Light takes the story elements of Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella, both written by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm and takes advantage of the JRPG’s typical story arc of good vs evil, to create a story that is refreshing in a genre that often has overly convoluted plots. The loss of Aurora’s mother for her father to then find a new wife takes inspiration from Cinderella who grieves for her deceased mother. The coma state of Aurora and the Duke’s kingdom facing the danger of a flood is inspired by Sleeping Beauty falling into slumber and the castle she resides in falling into the same slumber. Finally, the gift of pixie wings by the forest maiden is a parallel to Cinderella being gifted a dress of silk and sliver by birds of nature.
The use of inspiration from these two fairy tales, coupled with the mystic and fantasy ascetic of the game takes the genre back to why people value JRPG’s to begin with. JRPG’s when they became relevant with the original Final Fantasy in 1987, amazed players with how they were engaged with the world they explored and the journey they took in saving it from evil. RPG’s have been successful in making players feel fulfillment in crafting the character they play as, but having the player engrossed in the world they venture through is why RPG’s are one of the most popular genres in video games.
“I”: Quote from Child of Light’s introductory cutscene that plays when starting the game.
Gameplay
Child of Light has the most casual, beginner friendly combat system of any RPG, with a strong layer of strategy behind it straight forward exterior. This strategy comes from the time line battle system and the crafting system. In battle, an action is executed when the player or enemy reaches the end of the timeline.
Aurora’s companion Igniculus can slow down enemies by pressing L1 while hovering over them. These mechanics result in battles where victory is decided by how the player can take advantage of the timeline, rather than having the highest stats. Gems that are found in treasure chests and being dropped from battles, can be equipped to have an elemental attack, defense against an elemental attack or simply increase a character’s attributes. These gems can be enhanced by combing them and the simple execution lets anyone easily grasp the possibilitys and shape their team to cope with any battle situation. To top it all off, experience is plentiful and stops from the player from needlessly grinding and makes the journey smooth sailing and concise.
Presentation
The retelling of Cinderella is one of Child of Light’s strengths, but the artistry and music is its magnum opus. Every location has intricate detail with soft, masterful layers of tone and light. This amazing level of graphical detail is taken to profound heights by a moving soundtrack. The instrumental piece that plays in the beginning of chapter 5 creates a mood of mystic wonder with pounding drums enforcing the trials Aurora will soon face and the urgency of saving her father from his illness.
It’s rare for a game like Child of Light to have such an eternal aesthetic. It has a perfect fantasy presentation, solid approachable combat and brilliant utilization of fairy tale classics to allow the RPG genre to rediscover why people adore it in the first place. The world the player can become engrossed in likely evokes the same feeling of wonder players had when they played the original Final Fantasy all the way back in 1987.
I have a love for photography. But sadly, I lost the card reader for my Sony Camera. So to make up for that, I used other means of screen capture. Today shows images of Ireland in Winter and Spring that were transferred onto my PC before I lost my card reader, along with screenshots from Steam’s screenshot feature that let me catch some perfect moments from Team Fortress 2.
This feature is a miracle worker in multi-player or needing screenshots of a game. Users can turn flashback off if they do not want storage to be affected. Overlays are wonderfully integrated into the interface. Users can add custom overlays or edit the stock overlays to suit their tastes. They offer great benefits in creating a polished and well done video, but there is little guidance on how to effectively customize GIF’s and web pages that are much more technical that the simplicity of images and scenes.
Audio mixing is great for normal users who want a functional way of getting their microphones to simply work, but experts will be disappointed by the hardware’s lack of audio inputs. Sadly, Elgato does not provide a way to test microphone recordings, something that can be a frustration for many. The Threshold and Attenuation can be modified and by default, other sounds are reduced automatically when using the microphone.
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