Current gen Consoles

Heyo!
Long time no write (AGAIN!), lol.
Anyways, I had a small discussion with my boyfriend about all these console wars etc, so I decided to write this little blog post.This will basically be a post where I write what I like, and dislike, with the 3 current gen consoles; Xbox One, Playstation 4, and Nintendo Switch. Although the Xbox One X is being released this winter, I will not count any of the specs of it in this post, and neither the PS4 Pro. So this will be about my own experiences with the standard Xbox One (the first model with Kinect), and a standard PS4. The Switch doesn't have any variants yet, so that one's easy to keep track of x)
So... Let's do this!

Xbox One

So the Xbox One was the first of these consoles I acquired, and I was pretty satisfied. Throughout the years I've had it there's been a number of updates that has shaped the console and it's feel quite a bit. There have been a lot of bad things about these updates as well, but the community usually speaks up so that Microsoft knows what to do and not. However, I need to inform you that I'm actually a Preview member (which means I beta test updates), so my experience may have been different because of this. It is exciting to get a first hand look at new features.

Let's talk likes and dislikes, shall we?

What I like about it:

- Backwards compatibility! Of course I like it! What is there not to like? You can play a bunch of your old 360 games, both disc and digital! They are also working on making the old Xbox games work as well, which is also pretty sweet if you ask me.

- Connections with Windows 10. So this is actually a sweet feature with the Xbox One, which is built into Windows 10. This is mostly a good feature for PC users though. What you can do with it is managing/rename your video clips and screenshots, and download them to your PC. You can also track your achievement progress, chat with Xbox freinds (even voice chat), and stream games from your console onto your PC screen. I think this Windows app is pretty handy, since I'm a person who loves taking screenshots and video clips in-game :)

- Multi-platform purchases. So, this is also a feature for PC users as well. Some games support the option to buy the game on either platforms, but you can play them on both. Gears of War 4 is just one example I can come up with now. It's a great feature if you're like me, and want to be able to either have full control with mouse and keyboard, and later just chill on the sofa with the controller.

- The exclusives. I have a somewhat weird taste in video games, but the Xbox exclusives (compared to the other consoles) has the most appealing exclusives for me. I like shooter games a lot, and the Xbox have a decent bunch. I do like other types of games as well, but the Xbox library covers most of it :)

- The Kinect! Yeah, I actually like that thing! Deal with it!

What I dislike about it:

- The Mixer thing. This is apparently the new streaming service they offer, and they push it in your face by making an own tab for it on the home screen. NO THANK YOU, I USE TWITCH!

- Some faulty and unbearable updates. But these may have been to the fact that I get Beta updates.

Overall I feel like the Xbox One console is the one best suited for me, as it offers most of what I want in a console. It has it's flaws, but it still fit my bill.

Playstation 4

So I've only had my PS4 for about a year, but during that year I've used more time playing on it than my Xbox One. I'm a bit disappointed in they're line of exclusives though. Except the Kingdom Hearts Remixes, but they're just a remaster of a remaster *insert laughing crying face here*

Anyways, it's a good console, though there are some issues I wish Sony would have handled before releasing it. The OS on this system has had very few upgrades, but usually for the better. 

So, what do I like about it?

- The controller! Where do I start on this one... The touchpad is a nice touch (see what I did there) to how you play your video games. Not many games I've played supports this though, which is a bit sad. There is also a small speaker on the middle of the controller which also can be used in specific games, but I haven't seen much use of that either. The feel of the controller is also very comfortable, which surprised me a bit. It doesn't look very comfortable, but it is x)

- The Trophy system. I think it has a bit more to it than the Xbox Achievement system, as you get a Platinum Trophy whenever you finish all the other trophies, which makes it more clear that you've finished games 100%. This is something Xbox lacks, and the Trophy system is in general more systematic and less confusing in general.

What I don't like however:

- The Wi-fi card is shit! Yup, it has a really poor range, so you have to be pretty close to your modem/router if you're going to use it wirelessly. Otherwise I suggest doing like me and wire it!

- The copyright protection! This is a pain in the back for a streamer/Youtuber like me. I understand they want to protect their stuff etc, but this makes the PS4 SOOOO much less attractive for someone interested in streaming externally with a PC setup. I know about the setting switch, but still, it's a hassle to turn that thing on and off, and I'm afraid something may not be recorded because this setting is off/on (don't remember which).

- The problems with Party and NAT! I've stumble upon this issue several times already; I want to chat with a friend, but since we have different NATs, we can't. Why is this? WTF is even this? Never had this problem anywhere else yet x.x

The PS4 is overall a great system... If you like singleplayer games! And I've only liked a few of their exclusives, but as I said, I have a weird taste in video games, and I'm very picky. I generally like the system, but there are just too many things that at the same time drags it down. I would pick The PS4 for the single player experiences, aka the exclusives :)

Nintendo Switch

Ok, so this is my newest "member" in my console family, and I haven't really played much on it, honestly. But I feel I've played enough to have at least some decent opinions about it! So even though I'm not a huge fan of the Zelda games, Breath of the Wild took my breath away (omg, all these puns), and I've really enjoyed it so far. I've not played much of it yet though! So no spoilers!

But what is there to like about this console?

- The Switch ability! This is no shocker I believe, since it's the main feature of the console. It's pretty cool to be able to sit and chillaxe with a game, and if you gotta go somewhere, you can just pause the game, undock the console, and you're good to go! This has also become kind of a trend in our household, as it's easy to take with you into the bathroom xD Sometimes I hear Link screams through the bathroom door! o.o

- Splatoon 2! Probably the most fun shooter I've ever played! No K/D ratio bullshit, no chat unless you manually join a chat (so no manbabies or salty/toxic player interactions), and it's pretty well balanced.  It may look childish, but it's actually a lot of fun! (Also Breath of the Wild is good, but I haven't played that much yet)

Oh boy, there's going to be more dislikes than likes on this one!

What I don't like about the Switch:

- The controllers. The joycons are so tiny! Attached to the Switch is ok, but slid into the grip isn't as comfortable. I may have to buy myself a Pro-controller if I want to play more on a monitor. But it costs too much for me atm, soooo... sadface :(

- No achievement/trophy system! Why do I want this? Because it adds so much more replay value! Call me spoiled, but I rarely do a game 100% unless I get something to show for it, and achievements and trohpies is a good way to do so!

- No proper voice chat! This is a feature that would be greatly appreciated, and they kinda have a thing going on. But honestly that isn't good enough! It's clunky, and just troublesome in general. If the voice chat were in the console system itself, people would use it more. They have this parental control feature, so I don't see why a proper voice chat feature would be a problem.

The Nintendo Switch is, as I said, still a pretty new console, so hopefully some of the feedback they get will contribute to their progression of things like the systems OS etc. As of now, it's a decent console, but I don't play much on it. Maybe some Splatoon or Zelda here and there, but rarely even that. But the fact that it's a combo of stationary and handheld gives it a huge advantage! Can't wait to see Skyrim on this thing! Or a Pokémon game!

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Soooo... This is how I feel about the current gaming consoles. Maybe you agree, maybe you disagree, but everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and here's mine. And PLEASE no "PC masterrace" bullshit in the comments :) It's getting old ;)
Anyways, got school tomorrow, better get to bed soon! x.x

Until next time~!

~Kori

Horizon: Zero Dawn

Me reviewing Playstation exclusives seems to become a normal thing now. Weird...
Anyways, today I'll be writing about a pretty new title;

I personally weren't really hyped for this game, I barely recognized it being released. About 60 hours and a platinum trophy later, I have a verdict! It is indeed a good game! The concept of the story is pretty cool, and the graphics are breathtaking. Even though it has some bugs and glitches here and there, it didn't really bother me too much. And what game doesn't have a ton of bugs on release these days anyways..! So I played it, enjoyed it, platinumed it, and uninstalled it. There wasn't much left to do, and I got no spare space on my PS4's harddrive x.x

So, without spoiling to much, here's what the game is about; The world  as we know it has fallen to ruins. Robots seem to have become predators of this new world you'll discover. You're playing as a girl named Aloy, which has lived as an outcast from her clan, the Nora, ever since she was born. Another outcast, Rost, had the duty to raise her, until she could be on her own. As just a kid she falls down into a cave, one of the forbidden areas for the Nora, and finds a device from the distant past that let's her see things unseen to the naked eye. She takes it with her when she climbs back up, and never let it go. As she grows up she learns how to use this device to her advantage, taking out one big bad robot after another!

This is all I want to tell you about the story, hopefully it sounds interesting enough :p
Even though this is a pretty new game, it still feels familiar. When I played it I recognized some similarities to games like Monster Hunter, Far Cry and Assassin's Creed. Like, the robots have weak spots, just like the monsters in Monster Hunter, and some of these can be removed from their bodies if it takes enough damage on that spot. It also reminds me of Far Cry when it comes to animal hunting, and pouch- and potion making. And last but not least; it reminds me of Assassin's Creed mostly because of the climbing, and the movements you see while climbing. So it's a new, yet familiar, experience.

So here's what I think of it all:

- The graphics; it's just gorgeous! There are some stunning environments,  and character designs are very nice and fitting to the scenario. I only have one complaint; When you talk to NPCs, and the game kind of zooms in on the faces, you can see that the facial expressions they make are very.... weird. And unnatural. It kind of seems like the equipment used to record facial expressions (I guess they used one of those?) was a bit too sensitive. So it should have been toned down a bit. But everything else is just great!

- The story; Very good, and very interesting! BUT! I feel it may have been rushed at the end..? It kind of feels a bit bare-boned. And trust me! I read all those logs laying around! I think they could have worked more on that. It was a great story, but I'm a bit sad it ended up a bit short. But the post-credits scene gives us a hint that they may be doing a sequel.

- The sounds/music; One of the things I loved with this game were the music. I still find myself singing on Aloy's theme randomly, even a week after putting the game away. So the music was good, and the voice acting was good! All good!

- The gameplay; As I said, it feels new, but also familiar. The gameplay is fresh and smooth, and feels right. But the gameplay isn't really new, it's a lot of different mechanics from other games put into one. Don't get me wrong, I loved it. But the gameplay was simply not "original" enough to get too much praise. For me it was "the Monster Hunter I would play!"

It was a really good game, and I would highly recommend it! If they decide they'll make a sequel, I'll probably play that as well! :)

That was all for this game! May there be more awesome games for me to play and review throughout the year!

Until next time~!

~Kori

School and stuff

Oh, long time no see again! I've been busy, as usual. I've been working on my Lightning cosplay, been kicked out of that school I mentioned in the previous post, and tried yet another internship, in which I strongly consider dropping out of.

So first things first; Why did I get kicked out from that other school?
Well, I'm getting economic support from a company that aims to get people out into jobs. So if I need education, I'll have to follow their rules and reqirements. We agreed that I could finish this year I lacked to be able to advance to Universities, and at the time we made this agreement there were some changes in their rules, which they didn't get informed about until about 2 months after the changes were set in motion. So in the end of December I got a warning from my supervisor that the company had canceled the payment for my education, because the place I went to wasn't eligible according to their new rules and requirements, and I had to drop out.
Good news though! In fall this year I'm getting a new chance at completing my last school year! This time we've had closer followups from the company, and it was decided I should take the school year at a regular school, and not like the self study type the last one were (the current school is free for me if I'm over 25, the previous one cost a lot of money for one year).
So yeah, I'm getting there!

After I lost my chance at finishing this school year this spring, I decided to try and Finish my Lightning cosplay (from Final Fantasy XIII). I've been trying to save money for fabric to finish the belts, pouches, gloves and shoes, and also saving money for a ticket to this years big Norwegian convention; Desucon. I also got a "commission" from a friend of mine, who's going to cosplay Serah (from the same game, Lightning's sister), and she asked me to sew her cosplay as well. So I got some work to do the next 3 months! x.x

Some progress on my cosplay:

About a month ago I wanted to start an internship, to have something to do some of the days of the week, to get out and meet people etc, and also to feel I'm to good use for someone. Now I'm more unsure if that's what I still want. I'm not sure if it's the place that's the problem, since I'm one of 5 other interns there. I feel like it's overflowing with people there, and I kinda feel useless. All work is done before lunch break, and then we just stand there looking into the wall... I also still struggle a lot with the social part of the job, and now that I know how the cash register work, I'm usually set to stand there and handle all the costumers. It's really stressful for me, and I'm not the kind of person to speak up for myself, so I'm just accepting this and feel like I don't want to go to work every day...
I should probably talk to my supervisor about this. Maybe get an internship somewhere else or something. Or maybe take a break to cool down, since I got a lot of other things on my mind as well...

Anyways, I'm really looking forward to starting up with school this fall (even though the rest of the class will be like 18 year olds). To finally finish that chapter of my life, and move on to something better. the reason I want to finish this year is so I can move on to study game design, which is one of my dream jobs. But you probably knew that already :p

Now I got some stuff to do (like writing a review of Horizon: Zero Dawn), so...

Until next time~!

~Kori