Final Post Assignment

What I thought of blogging is that it’s fun. I enjoyed it and the process of creating my posts and coming up with the next topic and how I wanted my blog to look. I did enjoy writing for my blog. With video game reviews for my topic, I had a good time coming up with ideas for my posts.

What I liked about blogging is brainstorming ideas and using the blog to practice my writing skills. I had fun putting together a post, finding what to link, and finding a picture that fit the post. What I disliked is I did get writers block a few times writing a post.

Yes, I will keep blogging. I liked writing about video games and reviewing them. I will keep this beat, but I’m interested in blogging about streaming shows but maybe I’ll start another blog for that beat.

What I wish I knew before taking this class is knowing how to customize my blog. For my video game reviews blog, I wish I knew how to give it a video game theme and layout. But I’m okay with the Blogger themes the website provides.

Overall, I had a positive experience with blogging and learning new tips and advice on how to build a blog. I will continue blogging and use the new information I learned in this class.

New DLC Character Update for “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate!”

Masahiro Sakurai, the director of “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate,” presented the new DLC fighter in a YouTube video announcement. Min Min from “ARMS” joins the battle!

“ARMS” is a competitive, action multiplayer game that was released in June 2017. Why Min Min? The producer of “ARMS” recommended the character and said he wanted Min Min to join “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.”

In this video, Mr. Sakurai goes into depth of the new fighter as he shows off her fighting techniques and moves. Along with the new character there is a new stage called “Spring Stadium,” and is inspired by the “ARMS” aesthetic.

The DLC includes all the music from “ARMS,” and it will be released on June 29^th for $5.99. This is the first fighter out of six, announced for the “Fighters Pass Volume 2.”

Along with the news, extra Mii Fighter costumes were announced and are available for purchase on June 29th for $0.75 each.

In the end of the video, new amiibos have been announced for Joker and Hero and are scheduled to be released Fall 2020. This was an exciting look at the new DLC character from “ARMS” and we have five more fighters left to be announced!    

Jump Up, Super Star! “Super Mario Odyssey” Review

“Super Mario Odyssey” is the latest entry in the Super Mario series and was developed and published by Nintendo. I played and finished it recently on the Nintendo Switch.

For “Super Mario Odyssey,” I was a little late playing it as it was released in 2017. But as a new player to this new entry I was not disappointed and had fun the whole time playing it.

Like any beginning of any Mario game, Princess Peach has been abducted by Bowser and Mario has to go rescue Princess Peach from Bowser’s wedding plans. With the help of Cappy, a new character introduced in the game, he teams up with Mario as his hat, and that provides him with new moves which are different and refreshing from the typical Super Mario game.

The graphics are stellar as you board the airship called the “Odyssey,” and travel to unique and amazing places in the pursuit of Bowser. These new areas are really fun to explore and learning Mario’s new moves with Cappy at first was a bit challenging, but once I got the hang of them, it was rewarding and helpful for exploring these new places.

Once you are at a new destination, you have to collect Moons to power up the ship, so you could go to the next new destination and explore it. And that’s the fun part because each new destination is unique and different from the previous one. From a jungle full of water falls, to the beach, and to a destination that looks like a candy land you never get bored with exploring them.

Another fun thing about the game is buying Mario new costumes at every destination. Each new costume fits the theme of each new destination. But to buy these costumes you have to collect enough coins to purchase the costumes and hats.

Of course the soundtrack is great and it fits the new destinations that you are exploring, but the stand out song is “Jump Up, Super Star” sung by Pauline and you can’t help but jam out to it.

The boss battles in “Super Mario Odyssey,” were challenging, but were still fun enough to go up against Bowser’s minions. And the final boss battle of the game is a fun time, but I won’t say much so I won’t spoil too much of the game.

Overall, “Super Mario Odyssey” is a fantastic and colorful 3D adventure game that is perfect for the Super Mario series. You’ll never get bored of exploring new destinations and learning new fighting and jumping techniques with Cappy. A new refreshing Mario game that is worth checking out and playing.

“Sayonara Wild Hearts” Mini Review

“Sayonara Wild Hearts” is a short and sweet game. It’s a side-scrolling shooter and rhythm game. It was published by Annapurna Interactive and created by Swedish developer Simogo. It’s available on the Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and PC. I played it on the Nintendo Switch.

The game is about the story of a heartbroken woman and her journey on moving on and finding herself. With her broken heart, the balance of the universe is disturbed and she is faced with her other self who is a masked biker called The Fool.

This game is fast paced with motorcycle levels, and facing opponents and trying to collect as many “hearts” to advance to the next stage.

“Sayonara Wild Hearts” has wonderful and unique art and graphics that are very colorful and it just pops. You can’t help, but get lost in the world full of dreamy neon colors and stylish dressed characters.

Another strength the game has is the soundtrack. The music used in the game is synth pop and it’s so catchy you can’t help but jam out to the music. It works perfectly with the gameplay as it makes it more memorable.

Overall, “Sayonara Wild Hearts” is a dreamy, fast paced game with a great soundtrack. While it may be short, you can still can go back and replay the levels without getting bored and you can see if you could beat your last high score. I highly recommend this game if you’re looking for something short and sweet.

“Persona 4 Golden” is Now Available on Steam!

“Persona 4 Golden” is the improved and enhanced version of “Persona 4” and was first launched for the PlayStation Vita. Now it is available on Steam for PC. This means it is available for a wider audience that don’t own a PlayStation Vita and have a Steam account which is easy to sign up for.

“Persona 4 Golden” is a JRPG game about the protagonist and his friends who live in a small town called Inaba in rural Japan that is unsettled by a mysterious murder. Who is the murderer and are they connected to the mysterious “Midnight Channel” broadcast?

I’ve played five hours of it so far, and I’m enjoying it as this is my first time playing “Persona 4 Golden.” As this is an older game, the graphics don’t look bad as they updated it to HD and it is still enjoyable. The story is really interesting and the characters are charming and likeable. And the soundtrack is really catchy and upbeat.

My only complaint is the animated cut scenes freeze and disrupt the story which is not fun and takes you out of the story. Maybe an update to fix this will help with the animated cut scenes.

Overall, not a bad port and “Persona 4 Golden,” is finally accessible to anyone with a Steam account.

“The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild” Three Years Later

“The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild” is the latest game in the LOZ series and it was released on March 3, 2017. It is an exclusive Nintendo Switch game, meaning it is only available to play on the Nintendo Switch. It was developed by Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development.

I’ve been playing “Breath of the Wild” since 2017, and I’m still playing it to this day. So, does it still hold up in 2020? And if someone new is interested in picking it up, is it worth it? I say a big yes to all these questions.

“The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild” is an action-adventure game and you play as Link who woke up from a 100 year coma, and has amnesia. He doesn’t remember what happened a 100 years ago, and the war against Ganon. So, Link must explore the land and regain his memories to save Hyrule and princess Zelda.   

“Breath of the Wild” is an open world game, where you could take your time and explore and discover the map. The map is vast and there are many areas to venture on from snowy mountains, a dry desert village, a foggy forest, and much more. Or you could continue on with the main story and quests and beat the game.

The graphics in the game are still incredible and beautiful. You can’t help but be memorized by the beautiful landscapes and the attention to detail in the game. Three years later and the graphics are still impressive.

Of course the music is also memorable as you’re walking on a gorgeous green field, and soft piano music is playing in the background, but it changes to a faster pace to let you know when an enemy is nearby.   

In the game there are “shrines” that are scattered throughout the map and you discover them as you are exploring the map. These “shrines” include different puzzles to solve and provides rewards for solving the puzzles. There are more than 100 “shrines” for the player to discover.

There are many different villages to visit that are unique and different, and many villagers to talk to. Also there are different recipes to craft with the food you gather on your trips. Picking vegetables and fruits, hunting wildlife, or fishing can help with crafting new dishes. Making these dishes can heal Link and they come with extra boosts like giving Link extra hearts.

“The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild” is still a great and beautiful game even though it’s been three years since it launched. Even if you’ve been playing it since the first day, or if you decide to pick it up now the game offers so much content.

The replay value is high as there is always something new to find with the vast size of the map and freeness of the open world game play. I highly recommend playing this game as it’s an experience and your journey is a unique one as you get to choose what you want to do and how you play.

And there is a lot of hype for “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2.”

“River City Girls:” A Hidden Beat ‘Em Up Gem

“River City Girls” is a beat ‘em up video game available on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Steam, and the Nintendo Switch. It was developed by WayForward and published by Arc System Works. I played it on the Nintendo Switch.  

“River City Girls,” is about two high school friends, Misako and Kyoko, who fight enemies to rescue their kidnapped boyfriends Kunio and Riki. This game is a spin-off title in the Kunio-kun franchise.

In this game it takes the classic beat ‘em up formula and brings it to a new and stylish entry to the “River City” series. The art style of the game is bright and colorful and there never is a dull moment.

You choose between the main characters, Misako or Kyoko or you could play in 2-player co-op and learn new fighting techniques in the game. As you make progress in the story, you get to meet new characters and unlock new areas on the map. Purchasing new items in shops with the money you collect beating up bad guys, helps you level up and you could purchase extra health when you’re running low.

This game has fun combat and an awesome soundtrack to go with it and it has a huge replay value as you could go back and play the game all over again. I highly recommend “River City Girls.”

“Steins;Gate” Mini Review and the Appeal of Visual Novels

“Steins;Gate” is a fantastic sci-fi visual novel and is a part of the “Science Adventure” series. It’s a story about some tech savvy college students who build a time machine and fight against destiny and fate. The story is captivating, but to be honest the beginning is a bit slow as it takes its time to explain the science behind a time machine and its world building.

But in the end if you get the true ending, it’s all worth it and the story wraps up in a very satisfying way. “Steins;Gate” has an enjoyable soundtrack and has memorable characters. It’s worth checking out and it’s worth the experience. “Steins;Gate” is available on the PlayStation 4, Steam, and the Nintendo Switch.

What are visual novels? Well, they're a text-based story and are an interactive game. It’s abbreviated as VNs, and it originated in Japan. The style of VNs are narrative and “sprites” or known as pictures appear in the game as the story progresses.

Basically, visual novels have minimal to almost no gameplay and art is a big part of the VN with colorful character designs and beautiful backgrounds. To play a visual novel, a player must click or scroll through text and read to progress the story. Depending on the game, a player sometimes has to make a narrative choice that affects the story and what ending they’ll end up with out of the multiple endings in the VN.

It’s a slower type of video game, but I recommend them if you like to read a lot as these VNs have wonderful and memorable stories, and you can’t help but get caught up and lost in that world.

The Farm of Your Dreams

“Stardew Valley” is an RPG game developed by ConcernedApe. It was created by Eric Barone, who is a game designer and it took him four years to solo-develop it. He taught himself the skills to produce the game and it was originally released on PC on February 26, 2016. It was then released on Playstation 4 and the Xbox One in December 2016, and on the Nintendo Switch in late 2017. Since its release it has sold over 10 million copies worldwide and it still receives new updates.

I played “Stardew Valley” on the Nintendo Switch and I have a lot of positive things to say about this farming simulator. I know farming simulator sounds a little bit silly, but it’s not too bad.

This game starts off with customizing how you want your character to look, deciding if you want a dog or a cat as a pet, and naming your new farm that you’ve inherited from your grandfather. Then, there are 5 different map layouts that are designed with a unique layout for the player to choose for their farm. The options are a standard farm, riverland farm, forest farm, hill-top farm, and wilderness farm. I chose the forest farm.

Once that is settled, the game begins and you start off your new life as a farmer! Since the farm has been abandoned for a while, it is up to the player to clean and fix up the farm and start growing crops. Now this part of the game does take a while to get into as the crops do take time to grow and the player has to buy the seeds from Pierre’s General Store to start growing crops.

On your farm, you could start raising animals like chickens and cows. I just bought my first cow and a couple of chickens for my farm. They’re cute and you get to name your farm animals. But in order to purchase animals you have to build a barn by collecting a certain amount of wood and stone pieces and it costs 6,000g.

Now my only complaint about this is that the prices are a little high and I had to grind it out trying to get these pieces and to have enough money to purchase the barn and farm animals. It felt like a long time to get my farm going.

“Stardew Valley,” offers other activities besides farming and growing crops. There are mysterious caves in the mountain area where you could explore them and go mining for stones, ore, and geodes. In the caves there are enemies to fight and slay like bugs and green slime monsters.

Another activity in “Stardew Valley,” is fishing. Players could fish at the beach, or at rivers or at lakes located in the mountain area of the map. Catching fish is a fun activity and you could upgrade your fishing rod and sell the fish you capture to make currency.

The player could also mingle with the characters who live in the town and get to know them. Or the player could cook meals with the recipes you learn. While playing “Stardew Valley,” I did get a little confused at times and I had to look up certain things on their wiki page that did help a lot.

“Stardew Valley,” is a relaxing, charming farming game with a variety of things to do in the game. As a farming simulator game the creativity shows in a simple pixel country-life RPG. This is a must play game.

Mini Review: “Fire Emblem: Three Houses” DLC

“Fire Emblem: Three Houses,” is a strategic game full of adventure and is published by Nintendo. The video game is about the main character named Byleth, who is invited to teach one of the three houses at the Officer’s Academy.

By choosing a "house," the player will get to meet the students of the chosen house and be their professor. As the story unfolds, the player will experience their own journey in this turn based RPG battle game.

“Fire Emblem: Three Houses” launched last year in July, but throughout the rest of 2019 and early 2020 more content was released for the game. The expansion pass is priced at $24.99 and is sold separately. The extra content was released in four separate waves.

The first two waves included new outfits for the characters, to change up their look. The second wave included a bit more than the first wave as it added new battles, extra music, and new items to use in battle.

In the third wave, the DLC added new additional quests, and a new character. The fourth wave was the last update for the new added content and it’s the biggest one. In the fourth wave there is a new area to explore in the academy and a whole new house called the “Ashen Wolves,” with a new side story that reveals new information about the characters.

While the DLC for “Fire Emblem: Three Houses,” is not free, it is worth the price for all the extra content for the game. And once the player is done with the main story, they could jump to the additional quests and play the new side story if they want to continue and experience more of this game. 

“Animal Crossing: New Horizons” DLC Updates

“Animal Crossing: New Horizons,” has received different updates for the seasons ever since it launched back in March. The game has received six patch updates, fixing in-game bugs.

The first event was called “Bunny Day,” which lasted from April 1^st – 12^th. The event included an egg hunt challenge where players could find six egg types. By finding these eggs, the player could craft unique “Bunny Day” recipes like clothes to furniture.

The next event was “Nature Day,” which lasted from April 23^rd to May 4^th. The event started with a new merchant named Leif the Sloth showing up on the player’s island. Leif sells shrubs and a variety of flowers. The “Nature Day” event just provides new planting challenges to the player and once the player completes the challenges they receive “Nook Miles” rewards.

The most recent event that is occurring in June is called “Wedding Season.” Between June 1^st and June 30^th players will help a character named Harvey on his island to decorate a wedding for characters Reese and Cyrus. Once the player helps with the wedding, they set up a photo shoot and take pictures. When the photoshoot is complete the player will receive a random wedding season related reward.

The “Animal Crossing: New Horizons,” DLC updates have been unique and it adds more content and variety to the game. It’s pretty cool how ACNH provides new events for the season or holiday and each update is free which is nice.

Personal Island Paradise in “Animal Crossing: New Horizons”

“Animal Crossing: New Horizons” is the latest title in the Animal Crossing series and is available for the Nintendo Switch. In this Animal Crossing game we are invited by Nook Inc. to create our personal island paradise. We can build, create, and decorate the island in any way we want. As a new player to the series, I have a few thoughts on the game.

The graphics and characters in the game are both charming and visually detailed. The player’s character is customizable and they could name their island. Once the player arrives on the island they are greeted by Tom Nook and his nephews, who are adorable tanukis, and their new island neighbors.

The neighbors are random characters that will be joining the player on the island and we could interact with them. Once the player is settled in with their tent they can start collecting materials. Honestly, I thought the beginning was a tad slow. To start advancing in the game I had to collect sticks and grass to build important items like a shovel or an axe. Once the items are built, I still needed to continue collecting items like rocks and wood to build a fishing rod or a vaulting pole.

Unlike “Stardew Valley,” which is a similar game, it already has those tools ready to use and saves the player the hassle of building them. Another small problem is after using the tools for a while, they end up breaking and I had to rebuild them again or buy them from Tommy Nook. There is no way of knowing when these tools will break and it would be nice if they had a meter to let me know when it’s time to replace the tools.

Besides these small problems, once I had these tools I could go explore the island. By exploring the island, I could go fishing, catch bugs, and plant flowers. Collecting fish and bugs and donating them to Tom Nook starts the process of building a museum, and the more progress made in the game, the more shops are built with the help of the player.

Building the shops provides more access to items and materials. To buy materials the game has currency called “bells” and a special service called “Nook Miles.” With the “bells,” I could buy clothes to customize my character or buy furniture for my tent. An option that “Animal Crossing: New Horizons,” provides is updating the tent to a house by getting a loan from Tom Nook.

I could take my time paying off this loan, and once it’s paid off, I have the option of upgrading to a bigger house and getting another loan, which is worth it for more space.

Overall, “Animal Crossing: New Horizons,” is a charming and relaxing game. With a calm atmosphere and cute animal neighbors, it’s a game worth checking out and playing. As a new player to the series, I’m still figuring out things and getting used to the controls. My introduction to “Animal Crossing,” has been a positive one and I keep going back to my island and see what else I could upgrade and keep building my little community. I highly recommend this game.

Blog Post 1

            My blog is about video game reviews. I plan on playing different video games and finishing them to review them. I plan to write about it and what I thought about the game I recently played. If the game was good or not or how the game could be better.

            I hope to post at least a few times a week. I want to have a consistent posting schedule, but I at least want to post a couple to a few times a week on the blog.

            My experience in journalism so far, has been going to UNC and taking the courses for the journalism major. I do plan on expanding my experience in journalism and being open to new experiences and opportunities.

            I chose video game reviews as a beat because I’m a big fan and I enjoy playing on the Nintendo Switch and playing new games that are released. I hope to learn on how I want to write these reviews and see these games in a different perspective. I haven’t covered a beat before, but I’m excited to start and learn.

            My strengths are as a writer is that I’m good at editing and grammar. My weaknesses as a writer is that I’m too wordy in my writing and add more words to my sentences than what is necessary.

            My blogging experience has been just for fun. I have other blogs on other websites like Tumblr and you can blog on Instagram. But those are not serious blogs, but I do try to keep up with them.

            My feelings about blogging is that it’s pretty interesting. It seems like it’s a fun way to share experiences and topics about almost anything. I’ve seen book blogs where people share the books they’re currently reading and if they recommend the book or not. I’ve also seen travel blogs of people living in a different country sharing their experience and providing travel tips to people who are interested in traveling to that certain country. Others use blogs to review movies or TV shows.

What scares me about blogging is that I might run out of ideas to post on my blog or I won’t be able to keep up with the schedule I set for myself. Another fear I have is getting writer’s block and I can’t come up with a new post.

            I’m confident in trying my best in my writing and in my creativity. Blogging could be challenging, but I’m ready to challenge myself. What I hope to learn from this is how to be a better blogger and writer. I want to learn techniques, and have a professional blog that I want to keep up with and keep posting.