¡Gabz!

Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes on the Nintendo Switch.

Step into the shoes of Shez as they join Edelgard, Dimitri, Claude, and other Fire Emblem™: Three Houses characters and fight for the future of Fódlan. Align with a leader to build and command an army in strategic 1-vs.-1,000-style battles. The house you choose will bring you through one of three compelling stories, each with a different outcome.

Welcome to another episode of, what game I have been playing?!

I am still trying to wrap my feelings around this game. I am about 4 to 5 hours in this game at the time of this typewriting. I have been anticipating this game, mainly for two reasons. One, I love Musou hack and slash action role-playing games, the OG's for me being Dynasty Warriors and the Samurai Warriors game franchises. And two, I like the Fire Emblem Franchise as well. FE's Warriors series replaces its tactical role-playing kind of game with musou hack and slash while maintaining the essence of what makes Fire Emblem a great series. I played the heck out of Fire Emblem Warriors, I have almost 50 hours easily. I unlocked every scenario, played all the DLCs, unlocked every weapon, etc. So getting into Three Hopes was expected. 

I never really got too far into playing Fire Emblem: Three Houses, which this game is basically based on. I also felt like FE Warriors was a lot simpler, as far as the game mechanics and the quality of life in general. Whereas FE: Three Hopes, seems more complicated in some regards, you have a world (or war) map, in which you can pick between main missions and side quests. You also have a camp, where you have Item stores, blacksmiths, armorers, training facilities, and anything and everything you'd expect to find in your typical RPG game. There's much more to it than just hacking and slashing your way. There is also much more strategy involved in battles, sending the right units to certain spots in order to seize the battle. In fact, I am currently stuck on a mission because I keep failing at defending and keeping alive three different people, sorry guys, I am as bad of a strategist as I am as a friend, I will let you die!

Dialog, good-god there's a lot of dialogue in this game, the story overall compared to FE: Warriors is far more complicated and elaborated. It is also like watching Game of Thorne minus the titties, but there are dragons! Again, it is a more robust story in this game.

Again, I am only about 5 hours in and I am sure I will discover more things but for whatever reason, even though my character is level 25 or something like that, at this point in the game, I still feel under power. There is something I am sure I should be doing that I haven't done yet. Going back to FE Warriors, I was always, overpowered. I am sure I'll get to God-level but it is taking me more time. That or I am just extremely impatient.

There is a Demo available for the game in case you are on the fence about getting this game. I do hope I'll stick with it and don't get bored, or discouraged in some way.

We shall see, stay tuned, same Gabz-time, same Gabz-channel.

I should probably start giving these "Volumes" again.

Asura's Wrath on the Play Station 5 via PlayStation Plus

This game was released back on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 days, back in 2012 to be exact.  This game had always been under my radar, I mean, this game hits all the correct stokes for me: mythology, Hindu and Buddhist mythologies in this case, ridiculous over-the-top fights, and a completing story. If you have played games like Devil May Cry, and Bayonetta, this game, is right up there. I cannot remember why I never played it back then but I am glad I have finally got to it.

I have recently signed up for Play Station Plus Premium, just to try it and see if it's something it might stick to or not, and this game is included. It is a stream to play which I don't know how I feel about that, I much rather download it and have it available this way, but, oh well.

The story is presented in the format of an episodic Anime series (very Anime-like), including opening and closing credits, recaps, and previews of the next episode. The game follows Asura a demigod seeking revenge on other demigods who betrayed him. The story so far has been very compelling and it's doing a good job and keeping me engaged in what's going on and where it's going. 

The graphics on this game do hold up pretty well, I mean it's a 2012 game. As I had mentioned before, this game is very over-the-top, the fights are ridiculously crazy, and there is a very few hacks and slash fight sequences, it is all about big fights and there are different stages to them! I mean, your first boss battle starts as a regular fight then your take on his one gigantic finger going down to earth to smash you. If you have played games like God of War, well every fight is kinda like that, pressing the right buttons and the right time, sequences, and such in order to completely decimate your enemy.

Personally, as someone that is a sucker for the ridiculous, I'm having a blast playing this game and cannot wait to see what the story unfolds.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge on the Nintendo Switch

The boys are back
The boys are back
The boys are back
And they're looking for trouble…  

- Dropkick Murphys

I have been waiting on this game ever since it was announced, with very much excitement and anticipation. I am a huge fan of classic beat ’em up games. Take Streets of Rage 4, for example, I play that game over and over to this day, and TMNT will definitely be another one that will get played a lot.

I have to mention the opening sequence of this game, oh boy, I was back in my childhood home, sitting on the couch watching the cartoons. It's got that 80s feel to it and I loved that.

The Story, it ain't complicated, I mean, it's the Ninja Turtles, there's nothing complicated about their cartoon stories from what I can remember. You know exactly what this will be about, Shredder is out there making trouble and you are out and about to kick some butt!

You've got your usual suspects, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Rafael. You also got Splinter and April, which are super-cool, and then, once you finish your first playthrough you unlock Casey Jones. I gotta say, Casey is probably my favorite character so far. each character has very unique attacks and combos, you get to level up your character's stats and get more moves as you level up. The game has a co-op mode, and I believe it can have up to 6 players at the same time, that should be fun for some local and online gaming.

The graphics, beautiful full-color pixel art, they are very colorful and very detailed, you can tell they put on some work here. The music's fantastic, I mean you have Tee Lopes making most of the OST, the same guy who's also involved in SoR4. Not only that but also have some tracks where there's some rap-singing which makes the game so much fun to play and enjoy.

Is this game worth it? I'd say absolutely-fkn-yes! If you are a fan of beat ’em ups? Get this game. Are you a fan of the Ninja Turtles? Duh, get this game.

I had a smile on my face playing this game from the beginning to the end. I have listened to the Original Soundtrack multiple times already. I am so thankful this game exists and that is finally out there. I believe is out in every mother gaming system out there so there's no excuse. I mean, you can even play it for "free" on GamePass. to me this is a Switch game, for some reason but I could also see myself buying it for the PlayStation just because.

I have been playing Horizon Forbidden West on the PlayStation 5 since its release back in mid-February. I have been enjoying the heck out of it, it is a fantastic game, with amazing graphics and an amazing story. However, for whatever reason, I seem to have lost interest.

Perhaps I am saying this because I haven't touched the game in over a week and for different reasons. Maybe if I pick it up again tonight I'll be hooked regain but at the same time, all I want to do is to play games on the Nintendo Switch.

For example, over the weekend, I was playing the heck out of Street of Rage 4 on the Switch.  This is without a doubt my favorite beat 'em up game, hands down. The game was firstly released digitally, later physically, and I always wanted a physical copy of it. 

For my Birthday, Annie got me the Streets of Rage 4 - Anniversary Edition for the Switch, which includes the  Mr. X Nightmare DLC. I really hadn't played the game since the DLC came out.

This DLC, besides adding three more characters to your roster, it adds a new mode, Survival. It is pretty much a series of simulations in which you progress until you die. You don't get extra lives or anything other than food, which replenishes some of your health, and other items like weapons and such. Also, at the end of each level of the simulation, you'll get to choose between two types of "power-ups", more damage, fancy weapons, etcetera. Think of it as a roguelike run. As you progress on your run, you get to unlock more moves for the character that can later be used in any of the game's modes, Arcade, Story, and even in Survival mode itself.

Now, I am back at playing the game, this is a game I can play at any time while even playing other games, it's like a palate cleanser, a candy. 

And yes, I want to unlock all the moves now, like Pokemon.

That being said, a game I am very much looking forward to this week is CHRONO CROSS: THE RADICAL DREAMERS EDITION. It is already loaded, just can't play it yet...

Lu and Mar are always playing these little free-games on the iPad. The ones that are always interrupted by ads for other games, and it’s annoying, mostly to them. They have to wait for the add to be over, or, if they don’t realize it’s an ad, they’ll go down a rabbit hole of adds and installing more games in the process.

This weekend, an elven-year-old, showed me the best trick ever to avoid the adds, so simple, and stupid and yet, it never occurred to me before. To put the iPad in airplane mode 😕