MIDI Week Singles: "Beyond the Colosseum (Altar)" - Demon's Crest (SNES)

"Beyond the Colosseum (Altar)" from Demon's Quest on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (1994)
Composer: Toshihiko Horiyama
Album: Makaimura Ongakutaizen
Label: Suleputer
Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Capcom

Demon's Crest, released by Capcom on the SNES in 1994 and included in the catalogue of Super Nintendo games on the Super Nintendo Nintendo Switch Online app is a game that I have been thinking a lot about recently, although I cannot explain why.  I first played the game shortly after Nintendo released the SNES app on the Switch back in September of 2019.  I played it for a bit, put it down, then picked it back up again after the first of the year, when I beat it.  Kind of (but I already covered that in Monday's article).

The thing that struck me most while listening to the entirety of the music from Demon's Crest is how mellow and un Hell-like the music is.  You would think that the music for fighting an undead dragon would be more climactic than what was written, but it works.  And then the music for Stage 1, being the stage theme from just having killed said dragon, is "Beyond the Colosseum (Altar)."  To me, it kind of sounds like something you would find in a Castlevania game post Symphony of the Night (which was released five years after Demon's Crest).  Like several of the songs in Demon's Quest, this track is a lot more uplifting and heroic than what you might expect playing a demon fighting the hordes of Hell, although this is Firebrand's (Red Blaze) third foray against Satan/Phalanx so this is probably fitting as well.

~JWfW/JDub/Cooking Crack/Jaconian

The Beat of Black Wings

Emulator Hour: Demon's Crest (SNES)

I finished Demon's Crest, one of the SNES games available on the SNES Online app on the Nintendo Switch.  Or at least I think I beat it, but I am pretty sure I did not.  I mean, I did get the "The End" title card and the often annoying reset to get back to the main menu because doing otherwise in SNES era games apparently was not a thing that developers thought of.  However, I know that I did not beat-beat the game because there were empty spots in my inventory screen that never saw any additional forms for Firebrand to take beyond that of the Ground Gargoyle and Aerial Gargoyle.

Okay, let us back up a little bit for a moment and head back to the beginning.

Demon's Crest is the sequel to the 1991 Game Boy game Gargoyle's Quest and the 1992 NES game Gargoyle's Quest II.  You play the demon gargoyle Firebrand who is out to save the Ghoul Realm from Phalanx (who is a stand-in name-wise for Satan).  The game opens epically enough with Firebrand in a ruined coliseum prison fighting an undead dragon who has a limited move set that is pretty easy to figure out once you get over the fact that the first enemy you are going up against is a god damn giant undead dragon.  You then play through themed stages such as underground caverns, a forest filled with fire, which is all standard platforming fare, then you fight a mini-boss halfway through, followed by more platforming stages before going up against a final boss who you earn a new ability from and then you can explore an overworld map.

Each location is labeled with a Roman numeral (I - IV), presumably the order that you proceed through the stages, which is what I did.  Throughout the levels, you come across vellum and vials that are used to cast spells and drink potions.  I did have to look up what the spells and potions did because I felt that the in-game description was either too cryptic or seemed too obvious in a way that made me question how obvious the descriptions actually were; I did not even start using consumables until Area IV, which isn't meant as a brag, just a statement of my ignorance for in-game items.  After beating-not-beating the game, I looked up more information about the additional crests, and levels and it turned out that there are still three additional stages that have yet to either appear or be unlocked, but more on this later.

I did have a couple of issues with the mechanics of the game once you were able to level up Firebrand a bit.  After Stage II, you gain the ability to change to a different type of Demon who operates slightly different compared to Firebrand.  For instance, Firebrand in his default form can hover and spits a fire projectile across the screen.  When using the Crest of Earth, Firebrand changes into the Ground Gargoyle and loses his wings but instead gains the ability to bash through walls, and now spits a brownish flame that travels along the ground that does more damage than fire.  As you progress, you also gain different types of breath weapons such as a tornado that acts as a temporary platform.  If I had my way, you would be able to cycle through which crest you have equipped with either the L/R shoulder button, then use the other shoulder button to cycle through the types of breath weapons you could use.  Sadly, in order to make any changes to Firebrand, you have to pause the game, select which crest you wanted to change to, select which breath weapon you wanted to use, then return to the game.  In the one instance below, I ended up switching four times in a span of 30 seconds.  At first, I thought that this was going to be too cumbersome, especially at the rate below, but I found myself usually sticking to the standard Firebrand form for most of the stages until I gained the Aerial Gargoyle crest and then I used that almost exclusively.

For the most part, I would try to play the game legitimately, although I would create a save state before fighting the mini-boss and boss; I guess it is not really legitimately playing the game at that point.  But I would play through stages as the game intended, then just take advantage of modern technology built into the port of the game so that I did not have to drag out the length of the game by another couple of hours.  I admit that during the Flame Lord fight (<-right over there)that I spam-used the save state to the point where I loaded a save state after each hit, knowing that I could avoid the attacks but just wasn't, until I did manage to defeat the Flame Lord with only one HP remaining.  While I will not say that I am overly proud of that battle, it is done, I did it, and I admit how I beat it.  Besides, isn't in a demon's interest to find alternatives to completing a task that takes advantage of situations?  Sure, why not.

If you look back up at the world map, about 446 words ago, this was all I was able to discover.  So after defeating Level 4, I went to the next visually available stage, which put me up against Phalanx (Satan).  I did use the same (cheating) technique to defeat him, although to a lesser extent.  I guess there was a hint of sorts when Phalanx said "Ah. . . you've arrived much earlier than I expected Firebrand" in that I should have done more before attempting the final boss.  I think I just interpreted his statement as one of a villain not expecting to be confronted by a powerful adversary?  Maybe?  In the opening, there is mention of a "Legend" and I feel like Prophecy may not be too far off either, so maybe Phalanx would have known that Firebrand would return to reclaim the Crests?  Maybe I am just speculating too much. And while we are speculating, maybe the format is similar to previous Gargoyle's Quest games having to go back and complete levels again, further exploring areas that were previously inaccessible? (I wish that the previous two entries in the Gargoyle's Quest franchise would be made available on the Switch  The "bad" ending though was completely unexpected.  Being told that maybe the Demon Realm would have been better under the rule of Phalanx, "than the hell they are now confined to. . ." due to the power vacuum left by Phalanx's defeat.

What I think my next step is to go back through the individual levels with the different Gargoyle Crests, explore a lot more, and hopefully, not have to fight that damnable Fire Lord all over again.



~JWfW/JDub/Cooking Crack/Jaconian
Dinner's Ready

Closed Beta Review: Vigor (NS)

I honestly knew very little going into the beta week on the Nintendo Switch for Bohemia Interactive's survival semi-action kinda-battle royale online 3rd person shooter that takes place in post-apocalyptic Norway, Vigor; the same company behind the Arma series and Day Z.  The closed beta test happened after I filled out a form through Bohemia's website and then a few weeks later (maybe a month, time as a concept has been weird of late), I received the email that beta keys would be sent out.  Vigor has been out on the Xbox One since August of last year and is currently in their 3rd season, so that gave me some idea as to the

Vigor is advertised as a 3rd person shooter, and while it is that, there is a bit more to it, as well as a lot that either leaves to be desired and a lot that is left unexplained.  In the game, you take on the role of a character taking the appearance of one nine characters although you can change your appearance at any time while you are not actively playing what are essentially matches.  The main objective in the game is to gather resources in a stage along with several other players who are trying to do the same.  When you come across another player, more often than not, they are going to be hostile and will try to kill you.  Unlike games like Player Unknown's BattleGround and Fortnite: Battle Royale, you do not have to kill other players in order to win as you are able to leave the map in-game at any time you want as there is no penalty if you decide, five seconds in, that you would rather head back home and check your rat trap for food.  There was at least one match where I maxed out my inventory after fewer than 10 minutes and decided to leave (which I will get to later), so the point is, you are exploring a map with other potentially hostile characters with no obligation to kill them.  But you probably will because the one time I thought another player and I were cool (because we both waved at each other), I got stabbed three times and died while trying to avoid them by jumping over a boulder.

The Difference Between Base Level 4 & Level 5.

The point of gathering resources in these matches is to find better gear (in the way of guns and ammunition as all other clothing options appear to be only for cosmetic purposes) and to build up your home base which is used to produce more resources and craft additional gear and weapons.  Your home base simply acts as a HUD where you gather resources that generate, swap our your appearance and clothing, purchase new clothing, level up your Battle Pass (more on that title later), practice using different types of available guns at your shooting range. . . and that seemed about it.  While you do upgrades on your house which give you varying resources as you build them up, the visual appearance of your house also evolves as your house level progresses.  What else there is to do there, I am not really sure.  Maybe as you progress there are scripted events that happen around your home base, because having an assault on the one place that you consider safe would make, at least to me, all the more reason to cherish that safe space.  And it would not have to be a large scale Call of Duty type of assault either.  Just a group of three Outlanders who want to take your resources.  Maybe if you fail, you lose a certain percentage of your stashed resources?  

As I mentioned above, exploring happens when you go to a map inside your base and select to go on a mission that had a limited selection during the beta test phase.  Normally there would be the option of seven different areas, but this was whittled down to one of those areas randomly chosen for you in whatever the game meant by Quick Play.  I cannot say what the difference is between Quick Play and actively deciding that you want to explore the Dverg Forest or Fiske Fabrikk (Dwarf Forest, and Fishing Factory in English) as I believe that I went to all of the locations during my time playing.  You also have the option to play in solo mode, or with another person, but because I did not feel like turning my microphone on or having to talk to another person, I stuck with solo excursions; I know that that makes me a bad beta tester, not trying out all of the available options and mechanics, but there you go.  You are then taken to a queue showing the people you are going up against, which varied for me between five and 12 other Outlanders.  What is nice is that you can examine the weapons that each person is bringing with them so that you can decide if you want to spend the in-game currency Crowns to purchase Insurance, which guarantees that any guns you take with you and loot you scavenge will still be with you if you die; otherwise, your body can be looted and anything you found along the way (including your guns) will be taken.  You are also able to use Crowns to increase the frequency and amount of loot you find, as well as the Crate, which is airdropped and contains some of the better loot in the level, except that it seems like such a sought after target that I just avoided it whenever possible; I even went so far as to change the location of the airdrop (because you can do that if you find a communication radio/tower) to be further away from where I was so I would not have to run into other Outlanders.

Yes, I played Vigor semi-strategically or at least based on my own strategy.  After arriving in the area, I would try to stick to the outer areas that still contained buildings to loot, but that was also still somewhat close to one of the multiple exits in the stage.  This is what I really loved about Vigor as mentioned above.  Once I was full of loot, I could just run back to an exit and head safely back to my base.  However, because this is post-apocalyptic Norway, there is a radiation cloud that sweeps through each area around five minutes after the airdrop lands that thankfully is marked on your map so you can at least see the direction that the storm is coming in from.  My issue with this radiation storm is how quickly it seems to sneak up on you.  Early on in the beta where the storm originated and when it was determined when it came up on the map were a bit of a mystery, but after visiting both the Vigor subreddit and the Facebook page, it was made a bit more clear when I needed to GTFO.

Thankfully I was never killed by the radiation storm, because as you might have noticed above, as you are in the storm, your health begins to deplete until you either escape or you are killed.  I know this mechanic is, more-or-less, identical to The Storm in Fortnite: Battle Royale, but I like how it is implemented here as an invisible force that wreaks havoc on your vision and health, although from what I can tell there is no permanent damage caused by the storm after you reach your base.  It would be interesting if there was some type of permanent or at least short-term damage if you spend too much time in the storm, but that is video game logic for you, which I am really okay with, if only because in-game when you are shot "dead" you are still able to respawn at your home base.

During the beta, I read that some people were unhappy with how "clunky" the shooting in the game felt and while they are not wrong, I came to a different conclusion.  First off, the aiming of the gun, especially the starting handgun is poor and you should not rely at all on using the crosshairs.  Yes, you can hit other Outlanders just using the crosshairs, but only after playing for a couple of hours did I find out that you can press down on the left joystick and it brings up a first-person perspective when aiming, which once I realized this, was my preferred way to shoot if I was able to do it fast enough.  Otherwise, you run the risk of shooting like an idiot.  May I present Exhibit A:

I swear the game knew what I was trying to do and slapped me in the ego for my hubris.  But in my own defense, I had already missed three previous times on the same group of bottles, which is when I decided to walk up to the proverbial TV and tried to shoot the bottle like a three-year-old playing Dunk Hunt.  Once I figured out the aiming-down-the-barrel mechanic it made hitting targets so much easier, as well as being able to use a sniper rifle like it is supposed to be used.

As clunky and jittery as the aiming is here, one reason why it did not bother me too much was that it feels like Vigor is trying to be more of a survival game where shooting comes as a last resort.  If Vigor was trying to have gunfights that felt like something out of Fortnite, Left 4 Dead, or even Overwatch, then they really fell short.  To me, it kind of felt like the difference between Killer Instinct or Mortal Kombat 2 compared to Bushido Blade in that Bushido Blade is not a slick fast pace fighting game, but more of a tactical fighting game where one hit can kill you.  In Vigor, in the encounter mentioned above where I let my guard down, I was stabbed three or four times before I died, and in Exhibit B below, I shot someone fewer than 20 feet away once and killed them (sorry, spoiler).

Vigor, like some other free to play games, has created a Battle Pass (which confuses me that they would choose wording that is already identical to the week-long subscription used in Fortnite, Call of Duty, Apex: Legends, DoTA 2, and some other games) that allows the player to earn cosmetic upgrades and in-game money as they progress through each season, possibly 10ish months-long like other games (Fortnite, Apex: Legends).  Maybe they were only going with a name that was already recognizable for the product being offered, but I really think that Bohemia could have just as easily gone with Survival Pass, being closer to the objective of the game.  Like every other Battle Pass out there though, this one lasts the entirety of the season, although I did read that on the Xbox platform that some people were unhappy with the Season 1 Battle Pass progression in that it took too long to raise in levels and earn rewards, even leaving tiers unfinished at the end of the season.

And while we are on the topic of progression through seasons, I do wonder what happens to the progress you make on your base when you go from season t0 season.  Does the location change at all?  Does the work you have made on your home reset with each new season?  And do the locations change at all, or are you visiting the same seven areas?  I realize that this beta test was not so much a beta test for the game, but for the game on the Switch, how their Switch specific servers run, and how the Switch community responds to the work that has been done on the game, but a lot of these questions were what I was thinking of while playing.  There were times when textures looked less than ideal, or at the very least, like the game as a whole was in beta, which could either be due to the graphical limitations on the Switch or even because I only played in handheld mode for the eight or so hours I put into the game.  

One of the biggest issues I had though, that I also read a lot of other people were also experiencing, was that the audio would frequently only come out of one speaker, more often than not it would be the right speaker.  This tends to make things difficult since hearing someone running through water or snow is integral to your own survival if you can only hear audio from one channel on one side of your head.  On a lesser note (maybe?), some of the running sound effects sounded like there were only two or three footfall sounds which made running (which I did a lot of) sound rhythmic, mechanical, and a little annoying.  The last thing about the game that I sometimes had issues with was the graphics, not that they were bad, but that they were a little fuzzy, which makes spotting another Outlander off in the distance rather difficult.  I first noticed this at the shooting range at your base, when trying to make out a plate hanging on a tree some hundred yards off (this was also before I figured out the whole aiming down the barrel mechanic).  So the few times I did have a sniper rifle with a scope, trying to spot, let alone hit something that is probably another player and not just something fuzzy going on in the environment was rather difficult.  Lastly, I did have a couple of connectivity issues, although none while I was playing in a match.  The times I got kicked out, I was fiddling with stuff in my base, or opening up crates that I had earned through the Battle Pass.

As it stands right now, Vigor is scheduled to be released later this summer on the Switch as free-to-play or you can purchase a $20 Founder's Pack that gets you into the game a bit earlier along with some cosmetic upgrades and Crowns to spend on. . .stuff.  I will most likely be jumping in when the game opens up to everyone as I do not see myself immediately plunking down $20, but if I put in enough hours and the game continues to be fun from season-to-season, I could see myself opting in for the Battle Pass.  Especially when I find out what happens to your house because seeing the upgrades were very satisfying.

If you would like, you can read more about the closed beta test from Bohemia Interactive here, or just check out this handy info-graphic above with a number of the finer points.  And just know that yours truly here was one of the few (1/266) that was killed by being stabbed to death.  But at least I was not killed by the airdrop in the tutorial or anywhere else.  N00bz.



~JWfW/JDub/Cooking Crack/Jaconian

Instrumental


P.S.  Here are some more screenshots that I couldn't figure out where/how to include them in the body of the article.

I mean, who wouldn't be a bit panic-stricken to find themselves in post-apocalyptic Norway all of a sudden?

A minor issue with body parts lining up when you switch perspective. No effect on gameplay from what I could tell.

Just an example of some low-rez mist coming off of a stream.

Part humorous, part sad when one of your sources for food is a rat trap constructed from a large tin can/bucket.  I never found a point or use for food in the game, aside from donating it to other Outlanders, which can get you additional items, crates, etc if you give enough.

My preferred loadout: A handgun for back up, a shotgun for close encounter firepower especially when indoors, and a carbine rifle for slightly longer range attacks.

MIDI Week Single: "Into the Thick of It" - Secret of Mana (SNES)

"Into the Thick of It" from Secret of Mana on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (1994)

Composer: Hiroki Kikuta

Album: Secret of Mana

Label: SquareSoft

Publisher: Square

Developer: Square

Similar to my method for coming upon and using Guile's Theme from Street Fighter II Turbo last month, while waiting for our cat to finish using the litter box, I sat in the opposite room, booted up the SNES Classic and decided to play the opening to Secret of Mana.  I did watch the opening to the game, partly because it is beautiful as hell, but also because that opening track, "Fear of the Heavens" is one of the most gorgeous openings to a video game in the last 30 years.

"Into the Thick of It" is the first track that plays after you acquire the Mana Sword and begin using it to fend off the increasing number of Rabites.  It is a rather soothing song considering that monsters have immediately returned to an otherwise peaceful area. The title is perfect too, especially since the player (Whose localized name is canonically Randi!?) does not yet know the consequences of pulling the rusty sword from the stone at the base of the waterfall. To me, there is nothing sinister going on or anything else in the song that warns the player of the dangers they face while exploring the world.  Or maybe there is and my memories and fondness for the song override anything else.

The only downside to this song is the official presentation on the soundtrack, which fades out shortly after the first time through.  By the time Kefka's Domain (the soundtrack to Final Fantasy III on the SNES and released by SquareSoft in 1994) Square was already letting songs play through twice before fading out on the third time through, but there are no shortages of extended versions of songs on YouTube.

~JWfW/JDub/Cooking Crack/Jaconian

Chained in Isolation, Until the Day I Die

P.S.  I haven't yet, but I should look up the music to the remake of Secret of Mana to see how the music compares to that of my early teenage years.

First Impressions: Wolfenstein: The New Order (PC)

Over the Christmas week (four friggen months ago), I picked up Wolfenstein: Youngblood on the Nintendo Switch for fewer than $10, which is the latest game in the Wolfenstein reboot that started with 2014's Wolfenstein: The New Order.  Back when the game was first released, I felt that my computer was nowhere near capable of running W:TNO, and after trying to run The Evil Within which was also released in 2014, I was mentally convinced that I would have to wait until it was either ported to the Switch or I upgraded my computer to play the game.  Well, after purchasing the fourth title in the series and with Steam's Winter Sale giving me an excuse to spend some skrillah, I looked at the system requirements, convinced myself that my computer could, in fact, run a game on the id Tech 5 engine which was first used in Rage, I plopped down the $8 for both Wolfenstein: The New Order and The Old Blood DLC and jumped into some Nazi killing fun.

Kind of.

I mean, what I was playing was a lot of fun at first, but I was using the Xbox 360 wired controller since the mouse I had previously been using broke earlier in the week and my replacement had yet to arrive.  Naturally, I inverted the Y-Axis but found myself a bit awkward in the looking and running department.  I did briefly switch back to normal camera controls, but that felt even worse, so I put it back on inverted.  I was able to clumsily get through the opening plane sections but at first, couldn't figure out how to sprint-run-jump out of the plane until I finally find and then there was a running sliding maneuver (required to avoid some breed of Panzerhund) that I could not coordinate with the controller so I put the game down.  A few days later when my new mouse arrived, I was able to fly through the area.  For the most part.

You Can't Tell At All How Bad The Top 3rd Of The Screen Was Splitting.

The thing with my computer and running W:TNO is a bit weird.  I would have to either film the game from an outside source or just describe it because all of the screenshots I took look perfectly fine.  And by perfectly fine I mean that I am running on Low settings.  What does not come across in any of the screenshots I have taken is the amount of tearing happening.  In other games like Mirror's Edge when I came across a lot of tearing happening to characters and the environment, I was able to tweak the graphics settings to make everything run more smoothly, but here, everything I have tried has not worked.  The game runs between 30-52 fps, but the top 30% of the screen consistently tears here and there every time I move.  And W:TNO being a first-person shooter, there is a lot of moving around.  I have read that this might have to do with the refresh rate of my monitor/screen, but I have yet to find out how to fix that.

When I say that the game is playable, what I really mean is that the game is playable at least for me.  I would not be surprised if someone watching the screen while I play would end up with motion sickness, but because I am the one playing and apparently am easier to please than 86.47% of people playing PC games, I can play it just fine.  Now you may be asking yourself, why I haven't just chucked my old laptop in the garbage can of PC despair and pick up a new one that will run 4K 1080p at 120fps with a 10TB SSD and 64 GB of RAM, and in short, I can't afford to.  It does take some time to boot up, and sometimes opening programs takes longer than I would like, but it still operates and my lap does not become a furnace when playing with mouse/keyboard controls.

A Face Only Hitler Could Love. Probably.

Presently, I have just finished helping Set Roth escape from Camp Belica and dealing a severe blow to one Frau Engel.  Earlier in the first half of the game, I decided to save Fergus Reid over Private Probst Wyatt III, if only because Fergus did save BJ's life earlier in the opening, and I felt that BJ would have known Fergus for a longer time and might have had a deeper connection to him.  I did experience Fergus having a survivor's guilt moment with BJ, which I appreciated, that there is more character development and emotional impact than just moving from one kill zone to another.  So kudos to Jens Matthies and Tommy Björk for writing great characters and equally impressive dialogue.

Dein Leben!

Lastly, while encamped with the resistance, I found a (well-known easter egg) in the form of old Wolfenstein 3D style levels when you go to sleep on a schlubby-looking cot and experience nightmares.  The music is pulled straight from W3D, but it is no "Wondering About My Loved Ones," which Conklederp and I have a strong affinity for.  What is interesting about this stage (of which I have only found the same one a couple of times), is that it only seems to be there for nostalgia purposes.  Maybe?  I have managed to fight my way towards the exit on one occasion, but nothing happened when I woke up.  Maybe if I had found all of the treasures and secrets?  Or maybe it is just there for the sake of being there?  Either way, I love the nod to the id Software's original first-person shooter.

So far, I am greatly enjoying the game and the story being told.  I love alternate-history takes on US history and the Nazi's winning World War II seems to be a favorite of people in this genre.  But since Wolfenstein has always been about killing Nazis, not having another WW II rehash or direct and literal reboot of Castle Wolfenstein is a welcome change.  I like that a lot of what was in the original series works well being carried over, like rooms hidden behind walls, Nazi's hoarding treasures and religious artifacts away, and again, killing Nazi's is always fun.

More later either as I progress through the game or I end up finishing it, because then it will be onto the DLC, Wolfenstein: The Old Blood.



~JWfW/JDub/Cooking Crack/Jaconian
Dark Trumpets of the Night

MIDI Week Singles: "I've Learned How to Fly" - Wolfenstein: The New Order (PC)

"I've Learned How to Fly" from Wolfenstein: The New Order on PC (2015)
Composer: Mick Gordon
Album: No Official Release*
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Developer: MachineGames

Thinking about the reboot of Wolfenstein as Wolfenstein 3D in what later became the first-person shooter genre, there was not a lot in the way of story as you progressed through the game.  You were a prisoner of the Nazis, imprisoned in Castle Wolfenstein, and you had to escape.  There was no character development for William "BJ" Blazkowicz and no one else for him to interact with.  My history with Blazkowicz ends with Spear of Destiny and I have no knowledge of the events in Wolfenstein (2009), but in Wolfenstein: The New Order, there is a lot of Blazkowicz talking to himself during missions that almost come across in a way that he is reminiscing during the events in the game and he interacts with a whole host of characters, with Caroline being one of my favorites.

Why I decided for this song for the week, was that a few weeks ago I came across this event in the game where this song crops up and the events that happened, the dialogue between Blazkowicz and Caroline Becker, and how the music is used to amplify the entirety of the scene.  I would highly recommend watching that scene here because damn, I feel like it could very well fall into the category of cheesy lines, but with everything already mentioned, I just buy the delivery.  Just a quick bit of context, BJ Blazkowicz was infiltrating a Nazi compound to steal plans of a (not s0) secret Nazi helicopter program being carried out in London.  After a stupidly difficult battle against a "Heavy Robot," (spoiler, I had to turn down the difficulty on my fourth attempt with this boss) members of a resistance cell swoop down on hang gliders to the hanger, Caroline Becker being among them.

Granted, at least for me, the song by itself does not carry the emotional impact of the scene as a whole when played by itself, but it does conjure the scene itself, so that has it going for it.  Which is nice.

*Lastly, I say that this song is not on an official soundtrack release because it was not included on either the official soundtrack that was released or the featured songs album.  I am also not 100% sure if this the actual name of the song, but this title seems to be what the general consensus on YouTube seems to think that is what it is, so who am I to argue?

~JWfW/JDub/Cooking Crack/Jaconian

He's Lookin' For That Home and I Hope He Finds It

First Impressions: The Witcher III: Wild Hunt (NS)

Just a quick preface.  This is going to be a weird article, both in the writing and the presentation.  The Witcher III: Wild Hunt was released in 2015 and received a few awards, even two years before the game was released.  A Google search brings back more than one million results, with roughly 875,000 when doing a boolean search including Nintendo Switch.  What can I offer from our little corner of the web that hasn't already been done before?  Honestly, probably not a lot aside from an opinion that is my own.  And presently, I have put in about 55 hours, which some might consider too long to be starting in on my First Impressions, but there is a lot to unpack here, not just in the context of this being the third part in a series, but also because there is a brand new to The Witcher series engine being used here.

I have mentioned it before, but just to reiterate where I am coming from as far as my Witcher lore is concerned.  I played the first game on PC back in 2017 and enjoyed the bejeezus out of that.  I then read the first chronological book, The Last Wish probably the late fall/early winter of 2017,  this being my primary introduction to Yennefer of Vengeberg (I think she must have been mentioned in The Witcher, but that game seemed more focused on Geralt choosing between either Shani or Triss rather than his past relationships).  Then I started up The Witcher II: Assassins of Kings on PC in late 2019 and finished it in March of this year.  Conklederp and I also watched the series on Netflix over Christmas and then did a rewatch back in February.

So I feel that this article is primarily going to be a lot of comparing how I feel The Witcher III both compares to the first two games, and what I like about the changes, what I think works, and what I (at the present) do not like about the game, because there are some aspects that I am not a fan off, which is to be expected when a game in a series uses a new engine and establishes new mechanics.

Mechanics-wise, I feel like, for me, the biggest changes between The Witcher III and the previous two games involve Geralt's skills and how he learns them, and the equipment degradation system.  In the first two games, when you spend points you earn upon leveling up, you learn that skill and it is effective permanently.  In this game when you start out, your skills have been reset from where they were at the end of the second game, which makes sense, even if you were importing a save file from The Witcher 2 (which you cannot do on the Switch), which does not bother me at all.  What bothers me is that when you do start out, you only have one slot to equip a skill beyond the signs you start with.  What if feels like CD Projekt is doing is limiting how powerful Geralt can become and instead create a skill management system based on what you are doing in the game.  Going into a town, better change out the developed Igni skill for the Axii skill because you may need to convince someone rather than setting them on fire.  Except that there is no way (that I have found anyway) to have a quick loadout swap which would be immensely useful.  For me, I would have a loadout for when I am out exploring the world and know that I will probably need attack-based skills equipped, and a different loadout for when I am in a city and primarily interacting with people through dialogue rather than a steel sword.  In the early game, I found it daunting swapping out the "Survival Instinct" skill (which adds 500 vitality to the starting amount of 3500, which is pretty substantial in the early game) and Axii's "Delusion" skill, which you can sometimes use to give you additional dialogue options.

The equipment degradation system is also a completely new mechanic to the series and one that I am increasingly getting more-and-more used to in the context of The Witcher series.  Diablo, Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Dark Souls all have weapon degradation mechanics in place, so after a while, you either have to get the equipment repaired or it will permanently break.  In the early game after you leave White Orchard and are in Velen and are immediately ostracized by nearby towns who are leary of doing any kind of business with the one who attacked/killed the Baron's men, finding a weapon or armor repair kit was frustrating.  When in White Orchard, I was able to just head back to Willis to repair anything I needed, although I still had to be picky because even then I was not rolling in the Crowns, but after leaving White Orchard, that kind of service was hard to come by.  I often found myself fast traveling back to White Orchard (which is a completely different area/map) just so that I could get my equipment repaired.  Like a stereotype in video games, I put the urgent main quest on hold so Geralt could travel the couple of in-game days it takes to trot from White Orchard to Velen and back because of the integrity of his current silver sword and armor has degraded below 50%.  And while you do find swords and armor all over the place, it does not feel like the developers want you to experiment with other gear like you do in Breath of the Wild.  While I was not really a fan of this type of mechanic being introduced into the series in the way that it was, I am not of the financial position that I am able to buy repair kits every time I go to town and have a little supply going.

Speaking of weapon degradation, combat is something that is still taking a bit to get used to, even after 50 hours.  What I loved about combat in the first Witcher game was that you had three different fighting techniques with each sword, allowing you to say, attack a group of soldiers using group attacks, then switch to either strong or swift attacks after you have thinned out the group a bit.  The game would move Geralt in a way that made the attacks look more like a choreographed dance than the button-mashing attacks in The Elder Scrolls series.  In The Witcher 2, combat became more complicated (at first) with the inclusion of throwing bombs and knives and using multiple signs in the same battle, having to adapt on-the-fly against multiple types of enemies, but by the end of the game, I was fairly fluent and probably could have increased the difficulty beyond Easy.  Combat in The Witcher III is. . .different.  To say nothing of fighting a dragon at the end of The Witcher 2 to being killed when attacked by two Drowners in The Witcher III.  It also does not feel like there is as much oomph behind attacks and I often feel like I am button mashing more between either light or strong attacks.  I also have a hard time determining distances Geralt can travel when making attacks, oftentimes going in for a strong attack (which includes a lunge of-sorts) and just completely whiff the attack.  There is also a modified dodge mechanic that is now Geralt rolling out of the way like he is in a Dark Souls game wearing light armor.

Another criticism I have and one that I have had throughout the entire Witcher series is how the inventory screens are presented and handled.  One of the key mechanics in this series is that Geralt (as do other Witchers) brews his own potions, oils for his sword, new to The Witcher III are decoctions which augment Geralt's abilities against specific creature types, and creating bombs to use in and out of combat.  Having so many different crafting options, it makes sense that the inventory screen would be full of flowers picked for their alchemical purposes, materials scavenged from corpses and shipping containers to construct into gear and the like.  But looking at the various screens can be overwhelming.  Like, I might know what beggartick blossoms do in the context of the game, but I am not going to remember what the icon for them looks like, especially since I have primarily been playing in handheld mode.

You know what, let us address the crimson elephant in the room.  The card game of Gwent, introduced in this game, but happens to be a game that everyone and their mother now plays in the continent.  I guess a card game would be more engaging than the game of dice poker that is played in the first two games, and while I did tool around with the beta when it was first being released/distributed through GOG, I never did put a lot of time into the game itself.  So when I started this game, I was kind of excited to see how things went here, playing against computer characters with their own decks.  The moment I drew the Zoltan Chivay card and the Ves card, I was immediately taken out of any immersion I had been experiencing.  For my own liking, there were too many cards referencing in-game characters that, to me at least, did not make any sense.  Sure, in an online trading card game it would make sense to have cards based on familiar characters, but to have a card representing either Dethmold or even Keira Metz seemed silly, especially in-game.  Is Keira Metz really that well known of a person in-game to have an officially recognized Gwent card made in her image?  How is there no black market underground Gwent ring with people using whatever cards they can make up?  "Oh, yeah, that Sorceresses Lodge card is totally real and valued at 15 for Ranged Combat.  Yeah, no, fur sure!" To date, I have played fewer than 10 rounds of Gwent, and the last time was to win back some documents lost to a Dwarf outside of Novigrad.  Although shortly after this quest, I decided that I would start buying more in-game Gwent cards just in case there were more quests that required Geralt to play Gwent in order to proceed.  But I am not going to like it; and at least there is a setting in the options to lower the overall difficulty of Gwent battles to Easy whereas I currently have it set at Normal/Medium.

Lastly (for now anyway), and just to be kind of nit-picky, is that I am not all beside myself for Geralt with a beard.  It is probably because I spent the last 125 hours over the course of the two previous games with beardless Geralt, but it is just something that I think I am just not used to.  Yet, anyway.  I have heard that he can get it trimmed after the initial trimming/interrogation in Vizima, but I have yet to find a barber, even in Novigrad (although I am far from finished exploring Novigrad).

I probably played fewer than 10 hours before the quality-of-life upgrades that were part of the patch on February 20th (Update 3.6 for those of you keeping track).  After that update, I did switch off Blur and Anti-Aliasing which did make some of the lines in-game more pixelated, but it did remove a lot of the blur.  Personally, I like the look of the game on the Switch (in handheld) with Blur and Anti-Aliasing turned off, and I am even more impressed at how in-depth the graphical settings are in the game, considering it's on a console and this level of options are usually reserved for gaming on a PC.

You know, I can understand by the tone of most of this article that I am hating my time in The Witcher III: Wild Hunt, but that is pretty far from the truth.  I definitely would not have put 50+ hours into a game if I was not having fun.  I really do love this world, the characters, and I am excited to see what happened to Zoltan, Dandelion, Triss, and how the story and choices I made in the first two games affected how this game is playing out.  Well, here is to another 55+ hours in this world!



~JWfW/JDub/Cooking Crack/Jaconian
The Picture's Crystal Clear and Everything is Magnified