A little over a year has passed since the release of Remember Me, and probably the only reason most gamers have it suddenly pop into their heads again is because of the recent announcement of Life is Strange, the French development team DONTNOD Entertainment’s second game. Is it fair that this 2013 title has been mostly relegated to being a footnote in that historic year for its pre-release controversy (and even worse, subjected to never-ending horrible puns of being “forgotten)?

I only got to play it this 2014 when it was part of the Instant Game Collection of PlayStation Plus back in February this year, removed from all the hype and disappointment that came with it when it first hit the shelves. I had been told by a friend who had played the game to expect a visually stunning piece of work with an undercooked combat system and a unique but underutilized mechanic.

By all counts, he was right. What he didn’t tell me was that the game also had a stellar soundtrack, a promising premise, and a deeply personal story that could have been truly affecting if it didn’t force itself into certain tropes to justify weak gameplay elements.

[There will be major spoilers for Remember Me.]

Nilin, the protagonist of the story, is part of the Errorist underground rebellion, raging against the nigh-dictatorial rule of the private organization Memorize over Neo-Paris. With a breakthrough in technology by the company’s founder, Memorize made it possible to give people the choice to share and remove memories via Sensen brain implant, creating a fauxtopia that Memorize has full control over. This has also led to the unintended consequence of creating a sub-class of outcasts called Leapers, addicted to experiencing other people’s positive memories that warped their brains and mutated their bodies into frenzied beings willing to kill to get another high off a hot fling or an adrenaline-pumping base jump from 10,000 miles up in the sky.

The plot actually starts with Nilin having most of her memory wiped in the Bastille Forest, Neo-Paris’s prison complex where inmates are kept docile by having all of their memories removed. She escapes with only the slightest fragments of her life still intact thanks to the mysterious Errorist leader Edge, relying on her instincts paired with her extreme physical capabilities to survive her one chance at freedom.

Everything about this set up sounds absolutely exciting, so I can definitely see now how let down people were when Remember Me unravels in its gameplay and narrative not too long afterwards.

Much has already been said about the failings of the Combo Lab system and the unimaginative platforming, so I’ll not bother beating a dead horse in the mouth.

What really irks me is that the story hinges on Nilin’s righteous crusade to rid the world of Memorize’s stranglehold on what creates identity in humanity, and it only questions the very hypocrisy of the Errorists’ actions of remixing memories just once. Furthermore, it is easily dismissed with the “righteous cause” excuse Edge feeds to Nilin who swallows it begrudgingly and never brings it up again, even when she’s altering the memories of her own parents. There is no pause (aside from my own when handling the controller) in her decision to manipulate what they thought happened to achieve the goal.

I’ve actually no problem with the argument that “using the tool against those who use it to ultimately destroy it” is worth the moral judgement. It’s just that it’s so casually thrown aside with Nilin doubting herself for a short cutscene, then pushing forward without a hint of remorse in basically altering her mother’s life experiences.

In fact, I just wish that DONTNOD had focused more on the memory remixing aspect, as that proved to be the single most enthralling element in the entire game. The repercussions of Nilin’s own version of memetic manipulation could have been a more interesting angle than, say, the generic, mad scientist Leaper experimentation subplot that had almost nothing but repetitive battle after repetitive battle.

So much of the memory remixes explore the direct results of what happens when you change the tiniest things, and the game even highlights this with the secret achievements/trophies you can earn by stumbling upon the different outcomes of your remixes. I was actually moved by one such secret scene, which was made all the more glaring as the fallout for messing with people’s heads isn’t given much thought. Instead, we have Edge forcing you to fight him in a long series of dull combat sequences right after he tells you he’s willing to be destroyed just so we can have a “final boss”.

DONTNOD Entertainment says that, “choice and consequence play a key role in how the narrative unfolds,” in Life is Strange thanks to its lead characters’ ability to rewind time. With the developers’ choice to restart with a new IP and due to the tepid response to their first game, it seems that Remember Me‘s mistakes will stand uncorrected with no sequel in sight. Let’s just hope it serves as a stark reminder to DONTNOD of its lapses, lest it relive its own existential crisis that threatened to wipe out more than just memories.

Jotec: I remember my very first experience with the Tomb Raider franchise being an incredibly frustrating one. It was Tomb Raider III: Adventures of Lara Croft for the original PlayStation, and I had never before grappled with tank controls. As hot as Lara Croft was in all her curvy/blocky 3DD glory, my 11 year old self just lacked the patience to deal with how sluggish moving her around felt. The precision and perception required to solve the platforming puzzles in the beginning stage were simply absent in me as well. It would take another 10 years for me to legitimately appreciate the brilliance that the core element of the original series had when I played Tomb Raider: Anniversary on the PC. The Uncharted-inspired 2013 reboot Tomb Raider was fun for what it set out to do, but I was definitely disappointed in that it lacked what made the franchise such a powerhouse in the 90′s. Playing Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, while not totally recreating the perfection of 3D puzzle platforming, scratched that itch and then some with its action-heavy elements. Racine, my dear, have you ever played any Tomb Raider games?

[In this special edition of Sundate, Joseph and his REAL-LIFE SO Racine kick back in their loveseat and wax reminiscent.]

Rara Croft: Hello, dear! Tomb Raider was one of those games that I really wanted to get into when I was younger (because hello, how often do you get to play as a female character outside of RPGs?). I remember trying out the original Tomb Raider, or at least one of the installments that had a section where you could explore the Croft mansion. There was an obstacle course that was meant to be a tutorial or a practice area for the rest of the game. Like your younger self, this was a frustrating experience for me for the same reasons: I didn’t really have the precision nor the patience to learn how to time actions like running or jumping properly.

Needless to say, I didn’t play much Tomb Raider after that; it probably put me off from playing the whole action-adventure-puzzle genre in total. Surprisingly, I took to Guardian of Light much better, though I can’t be sure if it’s simply because I’m older and have much more patience for action and puzzles!

AND STAY IN THERE, CREEPY BUTLER

Jotec: I remember playing most of Tomb Raider 3 just running around the stately Croft Manor and shooting at her faithful butler, locking his creepy ass in the freezer for shits and giggles. That’s pretty much all the fun I had in that game! Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light was a revelation, especially because it was still a departure from the more graceful and and timing-heavy platforming of the pre-boot games.

The introduction of multiplayer could have been incredibly gimmicky, too, but the hours we spent cooperating and shouting and laughing at each other to finish the game is proof that it was a worthy endeavor. Forget the cheesy by-the-books plot–LCOTGL was a ton of fun, whether we were figuring out how to get a locked collectible upgrade, mowing down hellspawn with machine guns and grenade launchers, or desperately running and jumping as bridges and caves crumbled beneath our feet.

my ideal of quality couple time

Rara Croft: There we go! The simplicity and relative lightness of LCOTGL is something I really appreciate. Even then, all that time we spent trying to solve the challenge rooms, jump across falling floors, and leap over spike-filled pits is proof that the game is not as easy as it looks. And from there we touch on the multiplayer aspect, which is probably the main reason I enjoyed this game. Cooperation is definitely needed for the puzzles and level challenges, which are well thought out and… challenging. Also, having someone watch your back as you take down demons makes that aspect much less of a chore and much more fun.

Jotec: To explain to our readers, playing coop puts the players in control of the titular characters, Lara Croft and Totec, the Guardian of Light. Both characters have their unique abilities required to overcome the architectural challenges of a typical ancient Central American temple of doom with a fixed isometric camera. Lara Croft has a handy grappling gun that can hook into conveniently placed golden rings and Totec himself. This tool allows Lara to swing across chasms, Totec to tightrope-walk over lava pits, and for both characters to climb up or rappel down high walls. The Guardian of Light has his golden spears and trusty shield. The spears can act as narrow platforms for Lara to jump and balance on, and the shield can be used as a stepping stone for Lara to grab onto ledges or as straightforward protection against arrow-shooting mechanisms.

Just about every puzzle requires both characters to use these skills in tandem, and the mad dashes to safety occasionally demand the critical timing in performing these acrobatic acts. This gameplay aspect makes each player indispensable, either in unlocking hidden items or just progressing through the story. And nothing makes a couple’s relationship grow stronger than facing virtual adversity for virtual survival! (also LCOTGL is an ugly ugly acronym)

Much like any romantic relationship, you have to trust your partner to help you get across to the next level, lest you fall into a bottomless pit of despair and agony.

Rara Croft: Just like any good couple, each character is equipped with his or her own strengths and weaknesses… although in this case, there is literal equipment involved. You can choose from a variety of stat-increasing upgrades, focusing on stats such as power, speed, defense and bomb strength. Players can choose to focus on the same stats or to complement each other with different ones. Equipment is earned from completing puzzles and accomplishing level challenges, some of which can be pretty tricky! You can complete challenges that involve getting high scores, collecting red skulls, or achieving random tasks (like boulder rolling, which I just do not want to deal with!). In some cases, you can get new weapons from these challenges, from pistols to shotguns to even flamethrowers, whatever suits your style. All of these aspects together make for a game that is fulfilling to finish, in spite of its short length.

Jotec: I’m already planning on going through it again by myself! The single player has you just playing as Lara Croft but with Totec’s golden spear in tow to complete the puzzles that can’t be done without them. I believe the other puzzles will be streamlined to accommodate the lack of another player (if not outright removed!), so that should be a new and probably shorter experience. Which is fine with me, since there are the gear rewards for all the other challenges we didn’t finish (and there’s a lot of ‘em!) to keep me going. It helps that all the other unlocks we got from playing together carry over, so I’m less worried about surviving the hectic combat sequences. Being able to jump around the already completed levels is another great point for its replayability.

Single player in Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light is also an accurate representation of being alone in real life.

In any case, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light is a ton of fun that captures the spirit of its forebears while adding a nice twist to it with inspired cooperative play. With Square Enix’s dumb decision to keep Rise of the Tomb Raider exclusive to the XBONE for an unknown length of time, I’ll be more than happy to get my adrenaline fix of plundering ancient artifacts, fighting off supernatural evils, making leaps of faith, and actually raiding tombs when Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris comes out December 9 this year on the current gen consoles and on the PC.  I guess we’ll just have to drag, oh I don’t know, two more friends for maximum fun?

After leaving me in a state of extreme emotional fragility for just about every single episode, I considered Telltale Games’ The Walking Dead: Season 1 as one of the most powerful works of fiction I’ve ever experienced and a testament to the intrinsic artistic value that video game medium possesses.

With such great expectations set by the first season, it’s incredibly hard for The Walking Dead: Season 2 to actually live up to them. If I were to measure this second installment strictly by those expectations, it fails for the most part.

[There will be spoilers for The Walking Dead: Season 1 here on out.]

There is nothing that’s mechanically groundbreaking about TWD: S2. Gameplay is still mostly interaction through a series of conversations and short quick-time events. For a majority of these segments, you have limited time to react accordingly. The chats are more open-ended in how they affect the story, but the QTEs usually result in restarting the section after meeting a gruesome death.

If there’s any difference worth noting in that aspect of the game, it’s that there seems to be far fewer moments where you’re given freedom to move around, talk to people and interact with the environment in a relaxed state. The puzzle-solving element in the first game has been discarded. The puzzles themselves were never really the point though, as they were never a challenge. They were simply a mechanism to let the game breathe for a few moments in between the drama, and to draw more connections with the characters during the downtime.

And I guess that highlights the problems that I have with The Walking Dead: Season 2.

As thrilling as the action sequences and the dynamic movement of the plot as it barreled towards its climaxes, they left me feeling a bit cold for what’s supposed to truly matter in this type of story: the characters.

I think it’s safe to say that the overall cast of S1 is stronger than S2′s. Kenny was a bro, positive and negative connotations included. Carley was charming and broke my heart. Larry was a memorable ass. Lilly was just as memorable for her strength and her weaknesses. Duck made me laugh and cry. And who could ever forget Ben? Even tertiary characters like Omid, Christa, Chuck, hell, even the cannibal family in the farm were remarkable in their own way.

I can count on one hand the number of characters I actually feel strongly about in S2.

Because of how things seem to move much faster in this series, I’m left with only an inkling as to who the majority of the cast really are. So when a character meets his/her doom, I find myself shrugging instead of mourning their loss. I’m not asking for more bombast, but even the death scenes in and of themselves weren’t very memorable compared to the (face) crushing fatalities in Season 1.

If there’s a positive side to all the comparisons being made to the spectacular first outing, it’s that this season did a good job building from what connections were left in the aftermath to forge an even stronger relationship between me and Clem. The decision to make her the main character without jumping forward in time to make her an adult or at least a teenager gave me plenty of doubt in the beginning. Although they are not so gracefully executed all the time, the circumstances that forced Clementine to be the one making important choices were believable enough for me to swallow. From playing the role of protector of Clementine to playing as her, the harrowing brushes with death feel all the more terrifying because of their greater sense of immediacy.

This transfer of agency applies more importantly to how every choice I make contributes to the growth of her character. I see her grow up with all the trying situations she finds herself in while struggling to maintain some semblance of innocence or humanity in a world where those values are growing scarce. Considering how I’ve always been more of a goody two-shoes in games that offer a level of freedom in how actions are taken and how dialogue is steered, there was little, if any, player-character identity separation in pursuing a more “humane” choice. There is a great surge of pride when she takes the initiative in a risky situation, or be more of an adult than the rest in quelling arguments.

Because of this bond with Clementine, the newly introduced characters that made a lasting impression on me were the ones that were given ample time to engage with Clem; namely Luke, the kind-hearted yet emotionally unsure de facto leader of the new group; Jane, the survivalist loner; Carver, the charismatic violent villain and Michael Madsen’s scariest performance since Mr. Blonde; and to a lesser extent, Sarah, alternate reality Clem had Lee coddled her too much.

Of the four, Carver deserves the most attention, as he fulfills a role that could have easily been seen as a reliance on bad guy tropes. The cannibal family in S1 were good stand-alone antagonists, but Carver brings a real fear with his presence and even plays a crucial role in the development of Clementine and a returning character. There’s no denying his singular importance that the Stranger in the first season couldn’t muster, especially for the many players that made the “right choice” in Starved for Help and felt no moral dilemma in No Time Left.

However, the most compelling relationship in this season happens to be one that’s with that returning character. It’s no slight at all given that S2 is a direct sequel so it only makes sense for it to enrich established friendships, and the way it’s handled throughout the season certainly make for a heartrending car crash plot line that you know won’t end well but can’t look away from.

However, it does end well for some players because Telltale made yet another bold decision in allowing multiple endings. Whether this is a direct response to complaints about choices not mattering in the previous game or not, having 4 vastly different outcomes has big implications on the future of the series. Telltale already confirmed that there will be a third season. With how radically different the endings play out, there’s a good chance Telltale jumps way further ahead in the timeline for the unique situations to no longer matter in case we still play as Clementine. Or we might play with a brand new set of characters removed from the events of the end of Season 2.

Whatever the future holds for Telltale’s The Walking Dead, my only wish is that the dev team brings back the care in crafting the supporting cast so that the stakes remain high for the entire season. They might not have the safety net of past relationships to fall back on, and the constant paranoia and tragedy starts to numb.

Thanks to our founder‘s funding, I got to play Destiny the day it came out. Common practice for reviewing games is finishing it ASAP, and pumping out the article days soon after its release to get the most out of the buzz that comes with a fresh title. With all the hype surrounding this particular game, all the more reason to get those scores up to capitalize on all the attention.

However, to do that with Destiny might not be the best way to tackle all of its offerings, despite the brevity of its “campaign” mode. Fortunately for us at Kambyero, we are not shackled by the business realities that don’t allow major gaming sites to give the game the proper time before passing judgement on it with the finality of a review.

So I spent the rest of September until the first few days of October taking in as much as I could of what the game was providing. I played through all the story missions and the strikes. I’ve taken on the daily and weekly activities such as bounties, the heroics, the nightfall challenges, and the Queen’s Wrath and Iron Banner events. I’ve patrolled Earth through Mars, and earned enough Gold Tier ratings in public events.

I’ve gone through the entire Vanguard Strike playlists and all the PVP modes to have access to every piece of gear almost every vendor has to offer. I’ve maxed out the two subclasses for my Warlock who is just two levels away from hitting the hard level cap of 30. I’ve a complete set of Legendary gear with a couple of Exotics. I’ve played with and against all the different classes and subclasses, gaining a good knowledge of how different they play based on teamwork and adversity.

I’ve finished the Vault of Glass, the game’s single available raid, and even participated once in shooting a solitary cave with a group of strangers.

I think it’s safe to say that I’ve seen all the game currently has.

and… it’s not a lot.

With that said, I can still say in full confidence that all of the major complaints about what’s wrong with Destiny hold true.

There is only an inkling of a plot in the game, and there is practically nothing to compel you to read what bits and pieces of narrative and world-building you can get from the Grimoire cards inexplicably hidden away in Bungie’s website.

There are no characters to care about despite the large cast, unless you count the abusive relationship most players had with the pre-patch Cryptarch.

There is no variation to the story and strike mission design save for one instance where you get to use a sword instead of your gun, and another where you fight multiple bosses instead of one big one.

There are only four worlds to explore, and you’ll be going through the same areas over and over even on different instances because of how you’re spawned in one location and one location only no matter the mission.

Farming materials to upgrade gear can be time-consuming and is certainly monotonous. Spicing it up with patrol assignments boils down to “kill x number of enemies”, “kill this specific enemy”,  or “stand in one place while your Dinklebot does something while spouting gobbledygook that it barely pretends to care about”.

“kill these 3 waves of enemies while i count these fat stacks of cash activision dumped on the courtyard of my larger than life estate modeled after casterly rock”

Attempting to accelerate the process of getting better gear also requires players to get more reputation to access gear and more marks to actually buy the gear.  It wouldn’t be such a drag if you didn’t have to go through the same uninspired content over and over again.

There is no matchmaking for the daily/weekly heroics, the nightfall, and the raid. Considering the challenge they can put up, some players just don’t ever get to see through all of them, and many are required to go through a third party service just for a chance to finish the content.

There is no easy way to communicate with players you meet in the lobby or in any of the other game worlds if you don’t have a microphone, limiting you to four simple gestures that hardly communicate any meaningful message besides “I notice you”.  Voice chat itself is limited in that you cannot talk with people on the same team as yours when in match-made strikes or even in the PVP team modes. You have to invite players into your fireteam and for them to accept it to be able to hear each other. Although the intention to prevent vocal abuse or grief from trolls and foul-mouthed individuals is nice, this also hinders what should be a selling point of the game – the potential to make human connections.

Even the simple concept of being part of a clan is limited, as you can only create and join a clan through Bungie’s site or the companion app, and they don’t serve any other purpose aside from unlocking a couple of trophies/achievements.

there’s no shortage of impromptu street dance competitions though

The only PVE mode that really shows ambition in design and fully realizes the importance of teamwork is the very last thing a dedicated enough player would tackle – the raid. It’s also locked off by high level requirements that require a great time investment to attain, and a bare bones social system that does not make it easy in any way to get a full party if you don’t have five friends who all have the game, play at the same time on the same console, and are fully equipped to take on the raid.

There is very little variety in weapon usage in PVP as well, given that it’s so much easier to do well when using either a full auto rifle or a shotgun. There are only two PVP modes that don’t have the primary goal of killing the opposing force, and one of the two is only available when Bungie decides to make it available.

The two special events that rolled out, the Queen’s Wrath and Iron Banner events, don’t offer any new experiences either. What gear they offer is functionally indistinguishable from what’s already available.

For the Queen’s Wrath event, we only have more difficult story missions with modifiers we’ve already seen in weekly strikes. When players started dismantling all the Legendary gear they were getting from the Kill Orders, Bungie was quick to patch that out despite the process being one of the standard methods of attaining the hard to earn Ascendant Shards.

For the Iron Banner, you are stuck to one PVP mode, and the promise of making gear levels actually matter doesn’t seem to be true at all. Bungie also had the great idea to make it so you don’t earn any reputation for the Iron Banner vendor when your team loses, creating the unfortunate scenario where players quit soon after they see their team falling behind. I don’t necessarily blame them, as why waste your time in a losing effort when you don’t have any incentive to keep playing? And when new players are connected to the same match into the losing team, it’s not long until they see the score and abandon the game as well. Winning even becomes hollow when you know you got the victory because the other team quit just a third of the time limit in.

At least they had the courtesy to offer slightly more challenging bounties for PVP and PVE that… seem to only have one or two rotations that you’ll be taking the same bounties for the majority of the time.

With all these faults, you’ve got to be asking yourself “How did this guy manage to keep playing this game for a month?”

BECAUSE OF MOMENTS LIKE THIS

The praise I gave the game in my Destiny Beta feature also still apply to the main game. It’s still a visual showpiece that utilizes all of the PS3′s power and marries it with a distinct artistic flair. The combat mechanics are still a joy with the energy you feel bounding across terrain and dishing out pain to alien scum, whether it’s with bullets, bombs or your flashy supers. It is immensely satisfying popping heads one after the other with a handcannon that delivers a hefty audible punch and force feedback on your controller, as the recently beheaded baddie’s body convulses in a tingling death rattle and sprays out glimmer and potential loot.

And there’s still something that’s innately enjoyable when you’ve got a friend or two with you to take on hordes of baddies and an ultra tough boss in the end, especially on the higher difficulty missions where some semblance of strategy is required. Clutch revives to prevent the entire team dying and losing progress, a stranger suddenly joining when you’re being overwhelmed on your own, or just a well coordinated attack that takes out a boss in an efficient manner are all exhilarating experiences that I’ve personally witnessed in the end game.

PVP is simple enough as it is, but the dynamism player mobility in Destiny brings always makes for frantic yet fun times when I need to go through it to up my Crucible rep through bounties and get marks to buy Legendary gear. It doesn’t hurt that I do pretty well despite my hesitance in the beginning because of its fast-paced run-and-gun style, especially coming from my… expertise in the methodical multiplayer mode of The Last of Us.

Exotic gear make up for the lack of imagination that’s apparent with most of the other lower rarity gear. You have a fusion rifle that can unleash a devastating torrent of insta-kill laser beams in full auto, an assault rifle that shoot enemy-penetrating bullets that ricochet all over the area, and a rocket launcher that spits out cluster missiles that track targets among other powerful weapons. The exotic armor are sights to behold, with gauntlets that flow and glow with solar energy, helmets made of an alien dragon skull or decked out with a mohawk, and chest pieces with intricate emblems and markings fitting for space knights.

The real highlight of the game is the Vault of Glass. With new sections to explore, and 8 wholly unique segments that demand an unprecedented level of tactical thinking and cooperation, it is by far the best thing Destiny has going for right now.

especially if you enjoy dying over and over again and risking friendships after screaming at that guy for the 10th time to stay at the goddamn sync plate pillar

All the players on the fireteam have to be on their A game, with leveled up gear and a full understanding of their specific class’ abilities to know how best to use them for their assigned roles. Constant communication is key to figuring out the patterns, knowing when and where to move and what to attack, and recuperating from emergency deaths that could easily lead to a team wipe.

Finishing it after having to swap out a majority of my fireteam three separate times really gave me an incredible sense of accomplishment. It also helped solidify a sense of camaraderie with complete strangers who also just beat it for the first time, and even a hint of personal pride that I managed to get through it when most of my original team members just couldn’t do it anymore.

It’s such a shame then that the content given the most creative effort in creating was put in the very end of the base game, sealed away behind a pathetic excuse for a story, and a dull, repetitive mission slogfest that will have you grinding away in unsatisfying reward loops.

There have been rumors that Destiny went through massive changes in late 2013 that surgically removed core parts of the game to fit a marketing scheme and a DLC-based business model. Despite the skepticism one might have for industry rumors, it’s easy to be cynical and side with the conspiracy theorists because of Bungie’s track record in creating fully fleshed out, realized video game worlds, and how bereft of content the game is in comparison.

I never followed the hype generated by Activision’s promotional tactics, but even without those gigantic expectations set by a multi-million dollar advertising campaign, and the time and effort I’ve put into playing through everything the base game currently has, I’m still let down by Destiny simply because of all the potential it has for greatness that it fails to reach.

I’ll just try to beat the raid on hard mode to get all my gear to level 30, and then I’ll promptly put this game down.

Until the expansion comes out oh god what has Activision have we done to AAA video games