Crossing BOTH MAPS w/o TOUCHING the Ground! The Floor is Lava Challenge (Assassin's Creed Unity)

Is it possible to cross both Versailles and Paris maps in Assassin's Creed Unity without touching the ground? In this video, I'll do the "Floor is Lava" challenge, previously attempted on the New York map in Assassin's Creed Rogue on PS3 (I made it three-quarters of the way through).

I start from the farthest "non-ground" surface on one side of the map and climb/hop/scale walls, trees, roofs, and other above ground objects towards the opposite side without touching the main ground. Below are interesting sections in the playthrough:

00:17 - Explanation of the challenge
01:22 - Start of Versailles section
04:48 - Close Call #1
05:23 - ???
06:40 - Close Call #2
07:11 - Almost at the other side of the map

07:35 - Next up, Paris!
08:57 - Start of Paris section
11:00 - YOLO Jump, Close Call #3
16:30 - ????
17:10 - Co-op dude says 'Hi'
20:30 - Heading to row houses on top of bridge
21:28 - ?????
23:55 - Two-thirds of the way across Paris map
24:22 - Close Call #4
26:41 - Rant about how beautiful this game is
30:00 - Home stretch
32:23 - Scaring bullies
34:30 - Random cat


Music:
Alex Nekita - Jazz background music 15 min(Free download - CC)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Assassin's Creed Unity Soundtrack - Pause Menu

I'm done.

Duck Walking Through Assassin's Creed Unity (Time Lapse)

The streaming quality was so-so in my previous video. Whenever I have too much movement going on, the screen starts tearing and pixelating. Unless I'm directly connected to the Internet, my stream quality will be a downgrade. I managed to get my Live Gamer Portable working on PS4. I can get 1080P HD resolution. Only problem is it can't get to 60FPS at 1080P. Good thing is AC Unity maxes out at 30FPS on consoles, I believe.

So this is a first for my channel and for this series: Duck Walking.

In previous AC games (AC3, AC4, and AC Rogue), crouching is contextual. There is no dedicated crouch button. Your character automatically crouches when you're near a hiding spot like tall grass, plants, and when you're stalking a target. AC Unity introduced a crouch button. This means you could crouch walk throughout the entire game as long as you're not running. This is me duck walking through the main game maps (Versailles and Paris) to see how long it takes cross.

Music:
Duck Tales - The Moon (Mega Drive Soundfont) by Num-Kirby

I'm done.

Strolling Through Assassin's Creed Unity (Time Lapse)

I haven't played the rest of the Assassin's Creed franchise in the current gen consoles. I'm working my way up from Unity to Odyssey right now. Of all the stories I've played so far, Unity's is the most tragic.

It's been a while since my last Assassin's Creed videos. I decided to try and record walking through the main game maps (Versailles and Paris) live with PS4.

Music from Assassin’s Creed Unity:
On Father’s Watch
Versailles for Sore Eyes
Artists: Chris Tilton, Sarah Schachner

I'm done.

Leisure Suite Larry: Box Office Bust Time Lapse

I'm done.

On Rushing Creative People

HBO's President of Programming recently said in an interview that he takes the blame for the critically panned second season of True Detective. He rushed the creator of the series to meet the air date deadline last year, resulting in a mishmash story with great potential and poor execution.

Recently, George R.R. Martin (GRRM) wrote on his blog that the 6th book will not be released before the 6th season of the TV series. He planned on finishing the novel early 2016. He tried, but he just couldn't do it. He said he won't set himself up like that again.

My first exposure to A Song of Ice and Fire was from the TV show Game of Thrones. I haven't read all the books released for the series, but I'm going through the first book right now. The way the books are set up is that each chapter based on a specific character's point of view. The chapters are titled as each character's first name. One thing I noticed that many people probably haven't picked up is that GRRM meticulously words each chapter to convey how that specific character would think, speak or describe something. When you read that chapter, it doesn't feel like GRRM is speaking. So imagine writing a book written with multiple POVs in mind and work on it so everything makes sense. Most of the books I've read so far are 1st person POV or 3rd person omniscient POV. I've read 3 POV character books, but they're usually narrowed down to a few people.

In gaming, big studios have adapted two ways to publishing their flagship franchises. The "Activision/EA/Ubisoft" method, which is releasing a game sequel every year; or the "RockStar/Bethesda Softworks" method of releasing their next game sequel as an event. Only big companies with multiple game development studios around the world can tackle yearly sequels. It keeps most fans happy. However, it oversaturates the franchise. Sure, each game has been in development for 3-4 years, but they end up using the same technologies and techniques as previous games. These games end up being similar, except for a few small game mechanic tweaks. Other companies take their time, building a game from the ground up. This builds hype and anticipation from the fans. Case in point, The Force Awakens.

There's this never ending tug of war between creator and consumer. As a consumer, be it movies, books, comics, TV shows, games and others, you always want more of what you love. You gobble up everything in your path like Pac Man. As a creator, besides doing what you love, you're also catering to your fans and want to deliver a product to be best of your ability without disappointing them (unless you have a Twitter account and get into arguments with critics and fans, then forget what I said).

Putting my rational consumer hat on, I can always find something else to get into to pass the time. Putting my rational creative hat on, as GRRM said, "it will be done when it's done."

I'm done.

Games I've Played in 2015 (1st Half)

1. Girl Fight - This fighting game was on sale for $1.99 on the Playstation Network. There's a reason why it's so cheap. Other than having all female fighters, this should not be compared to the likes of Street Fighter, Tekken, or Mortal Kombat. Clunky controls and fighting mechanics. Not that great.

2. Puppeteer - This actually caught me by surprise and is quite good.

One dark moonlit night, a young boy named Kutaro was carried away by the maleficent Moon Bear King to a black castle where the unlucky lad was transformed into a puppet. Kutaro displeased the terrible tyrant, who devoured the boy's wooden head and cast away his body. But the headless hero was not alone, for he had discovered a very special pair of scissors to help him on his harrowing adventure to find his head, and his way home.

As the headless puppet, Kutaro must use Calipers (the magical scissors) to gather all the moonshards and free other lost souls. He also encounters various puppet heads and use their powers along the way. It's an innovative platformer that sets the game as a grand puppet show.

3. Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara - This is the arcade port of the two Dungeons & Dragons game that came out in the 90s. I remember playing them in the arcades as a kid. You could play with up to 4 people and work together. The years have not been kind to the graphics, but they're still as fun as I remember them.

4. CounterSpy - It's a stealth game similar to Metal Gear Solid, but played as a platformer. Using the Cold War setting, you are C.O.U.N.T.E.R. agent who retrieves information from both the Socialist (Soviet Union) and Imperialist (United States) nations. The goal is to try and remain undetected, if possible, and not raise the DefCon level to 1 (5 lowest, 1 highest). If you do, the countries could launch their nukes. So you go back and forth between the two sides stealing information, power-ups, weapons and lower the DefCon threat level.

5. Silent Hill: Homecoming - This is probably the last good Silent Hill game. I'm currently playing Downpour and this one just have much better controls. Alex Shepherd, a soldier returning from war, to his hometown of Shepherd's Glen (a town outside of Silent Hill), where he finds the town in disarray, and his younger brother missing. As he continues on his search to find his younger brother, he discovers more about the Order, a cult, as well as the town's history, and his own past.

6. Tokyo Jungle - Humans disappeared (died?). The only ones left are animals. Pets have gone feral and taking over the cities of Tokyo, now overrun by plants. You get to play as one of these animals. Your goal is to survive for as long as you can without dying from other predators bigger than you, starvation. You will also mate and create a family and try to extend your family tree for as many generations as possible.

7. The Unfinished Swan - Artistic games never disappoint.

8. Crime & Punishment: Sherlock Holmes - You play Sherlock Holmes and try to solve murders. It has clunky controls, but I'll try to beat it. Like most games in this list, I got it for free.

I'm done.

TL;DR Game Reviews (February-April 2014)

Here's a quick rundown of the games I've played between February to now. Some of these games I didn't finish.

Dyad

It's hard to describe this game if you haven't played predecessors like Rez, Frequency and Amplitude and Audiosurf. It's a music and rhythm game that have you matching enemy pairs on screen. The objectives get progressively harder with musical elements involved. The first one I encountered include matching enemy pairs of the same musical note. You have to differentiate two notes along with the game's background ambient music and sound effects. It's a puzzle game at it's core, evident among the achievement segments per stage. I got it for free thanks to Playstation Plus.

Lone Survivor: The Director's Cut

No. It's not that Mark Wahlberg movie. It's a 2D survival horror game. It reminds me of Silent Hill more than Resident Evil, but the game is too self-aware as an homage. You don't really see it as its own entity. I didn't stick around to finish it. It's 2D graphics in the 8-bit sense. Playing it on your flat screen has it's moments, but the novelty wears off.

Castle of Illusion: Starring Mickey Mouse

This isn't just a simple remake. It's a 3D remake (well, 2.5D) of the original Sega Genesis game. The controls are still the same, but the visuals and puzzles leapt into the 3rd dimensions. The witch living in the Castle of Illusion kidnaps Minnie Mouse. Mickey fights through enemies which are illusions themselves. It's a throwback to old platformers before the Playstation 2/Gamecube/Xbox era. Don't expect God of War level of gameplay, though.

Hitman: Absolution

This is the first Hitman game I've played in the long-standing franchise. Square Enix has turned this game and Tomb Raider around after acquiring it. Agent 47, the bald suited protagonist, takes out his last and final victim from The Agency before abandoning his mission and saving a teenage girl whom others would kill for.

Like any Hitman game, you have multiple ways of dispatching your targets. It depends on whether you care about accolades (achievements or trophies) or just having fun and playing the game. I tried to do all the objectives in each missions. It would take me 2-3 hours per mission, killing only my target without disguising myself. At some point I got tired and just silently took out all the other enemies before approaching my main target. Then all hell broke lose when the enemy took over an orphanage, killing the priests and nuns. That's not cool at all. So I took out all the gunmen. Sorry, not sorry.

Wizorb

If you like the old Pong/Space Invader hybrid games like Breakout and Arkanoid, you'll like Wizorb. Wizorb is an Arkanoid game wrapped in an RPG-like story. That's about it.

I'm done.

February Update List Post 2014

1. It's been a while. I had a few posts lined up about several games I recently played and completed. Just didn't have time to write.

2. I completed another Nanoblock set for the Great Pyramid of Giza. I recorded the video of me assembling it. I was thinking of adding the timer while editing the video, but the script is not fully compatible with my software. It shouldn't be much of a problem. I'll just need the right music to go with it.

3. I got a postcard from my friend from London. I don't get many post cards so there's that. Cool. Cool cool cool.

4. Today is my birthday. Thirty. The big 3-0. And I still got carded at the restaurant for my birthday dinner on Sunday. It was the first time I drank since August last year. Two glasses and a bottle of red wine. Dry aged steak. Lava cake. It was an expensive dinner, but my parents justified it, being my 30th birthday and all.

I'm done.

The Problem with Gaming...

I took a gaming break in college. I played unfinished games on my PS2 from time to time without completing them. Towards the end of college, I got into Maplestory. It was crazy addicting. It wasn't until I graduated in 2008 that I started getting back into gaming again. My dad bought the PS3 around this time.

I started with a decent collection of PS3 games. Soul Calibur IV and Tekken 6 for fighting games, a First-Person Shooter with Unreal Tournament III, a basketball and tennis game and that Motorstorm racing game that came with the PS3. None of these were serious games that I invest my time on. Most of those games were still a year or so away. I was still playing better games on the PS2 and my current Maplestory addiction. My ex also bought Rock Band 2 for me and my siblings, even though I told her it's a waste. It's a nice party game, but it's not a game I seriously invest my time on or the fact that I don't really host parties lol.

It was about 6 months or so after (2009) when all the good games were released. Over the next two years, not in any particular order, I got Fallout 3, Metal Gear Solid 4, Dante's Inferno, Heavy Rain, Brutal Legend, Final Fantasy XIII, Silent Hill: Homecoming, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Mirror's Edge, L.A. Noire, Nier and God of War 3.



Fast forward to now:

• I reached level 200 in Maplestory in late 2012. I'm probably the only one among my friends in college to ever reach this achievement (no cheating or private servers). I stopped playing shortly in early 2013.
• I haven't beaten Silent Hill: Homecoming. I also bought a copy of Silent Hill: Downpour. I haven't played it yet.
• I haven't beaten Fallout 3. I actually traded my copy of it. At first I thought about buying the Game of the Year edition of Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas, but I felt it was too much Elder Scroll mechanics for me.
• I did beat Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. I also got copies of their direct sequels, Modern Warfare 2 and 3. Also beat them.
• Metal Gear Solid 4, Dante's Inferno and Mirror's Edge were the only serious game I invested my time on in 2009-2010.
• When I started playing Final Fantasy XIII on my fat PS3, it actually broke the system. The lens was fried and could no longer play any disks, Blu-Ray or DVD. The system is still operational for downloaded games and is now sitting in the basement. I bought the Killzone 3 bundle of the slim PS3. I beat Killzone 3 (didn't really care about multiplayer).
• I started playing Nier, Brutal Legend, Heavy Rain, God of War 3 and L.A. Noire around 2010. I beat God of War 3 and Nier in 2011. I just beat the other three games earlier this year.
• Sony had problems with the PSN in 2011 and closed it for a while. As their "Welcome Back" package, they gave away a few PS3 games for download and a trial of PlayStation Plus. I got inFAMOUS and Wipeout. Wipeout was meh. I beat inFAMOUS earlier this year and downloaded a free copy of inFAMOUS 2 as a PlayStation Plus member. Still have yet to beat it.
• E3 in 2012 showcased a trailer for Assassin's Creed III. That got my so hyped up that I bought the previous Assassin's Creed games (1, 2, Brotherhood, Revelations) and beat them in the 3 months leading up to the release of AC3 in October 2012. I bought Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag on release date. I beat it about 3 weeks after.
• I acquired a bunch of PSN games. flOw, Flower, Journey, Datura, Machinarium, etc. Already beat them.
• I got The Walking Dead: A Tell-Tale Game and the 400 Days DLC. Still waiting for Season 2.
• I acquired Ni no Kuni and Bioshock: Infinite from Amazon. Bioshock: Infinite includes a free copy of the first Bioshock. I'm actually playing that one first. I started playing Ni no Kuni. It's a fun J-RPG.
• I got Beyond: Two Souls. Many people were turned off by this game, but it's a definite improvement as the spiritual-successor to Heavy Rain. It had better dialogue, acting, pacing and story.
• Because of PlayStation Plus, I've had my pick on the litter on free games. I got Uncharted 3 for free. Rather than play this game first, I bought the Uncharted 1 and 2 bundle at Best Buy and beat the first game.
• I started playing Final Fantasy XIII again. I'm almost done with the game. I bought Final Fantasy XIII-2 last year for $15 at Target. The final sequel, Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII comes out next year.

The problem with gaming is that there are too many games distracting you from playing and completing previous games. I literally have games lying around enough to last me for another year, provided I don't purchase anymore. With PS4 already out, it's only a matter of time before I make the switch.

I'm done.

PS3 Disc-Based Games Reviews (Summer 2013)

Originally I planned on having separate reviews for these games. With summer ending just around the corner, I'll make quick work and do short summaries of these PS3 disc-based games: Brutal Legend, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, The Walking Dead: 400 Days and Uncharted: Drake's Fortune.

Brutal Legend

I made an initial impression of this game 3 years ago. There were some minor set backs that prevented me from finishing the game in the form of other, newer games. Well, I finally did it.

As a mini summary, you play Eddie Riggs. The world's best roadie. His job is to make the world's worst rock band look good on stage without anyone noticing him. Such is the life of a roadie... when a stage set falls on top of him, instantly killing him. His blood trickles into his belt buckle, unbeknownst to him, is actually the amulet of the god Ormagöden. The stage transformed into Ormagöden, decapitating the world's worst rock band with his godly heavy metal scream. Ormagöden then takes Eddie's body to the Heavy Metal world. You adventure takes off from there.

I've always had this problem playing a game to get my money's worth. For Brutal Legend, that means collecting various paint-jobs for Eddie's vehicle and attachable weapons. There are collectible in-game items in the form of stone-trapped dragons that give you points when awakened; shackled ruins that give you power ups and new guitar riffs and solos to learn when risen above ground; befriending headbangers who bang their heads for you to enemies during real-time strategy segments; rocker girls that shoot bolts at enemies at the end of their guitars... to name a few of what you can do in Brutal Legend.

This is one huge game in the sandbox style game play popularized by Grand Theft Auto 3, with a forbidden heavy metal twist. The heavy metal soundtrack that plays inside your vehicle and various cut-scenes are the best of the best from great artists. There is a bit of a learning curve, which is not as bad on the easy settings. Going through the game, you unlock various artwork and behind the scenes info on the making of Brutal Legend. One of the most underrated titles in 2008. It still holds up to it's age.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

This is a long time coming. There have been many games and storylines in the Call of Duty games. The only one that I really enjoyed was the Modern Warfare franchise. The first of the series was called Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. It was the first game in the series to be set in modern times. Little did the developers know they have a bonafide hit.

To summarize the franchise, a warlord from the old Soviet-era started trouble in the Middle East. After the game's protagonists foiled their plans, an underling frames an American undercover soldier as part of a massacre at an airport. This sparks the Russian government to retaliate and invade the US. DC was taken over, forcing the core of the military and government infrastructure to go underground, keeping tabs on the protagonists to find the culprit and an off-the-grid ally who might be their only chance to cause a seize fire. The end of Modern Warfare 2 sets up the third game as the world is thrown into World War 3.

There's not much I can say when it comes to first-person shooters. Once you played one, you pretty much played them all, with different graphics, weapons and game play mechanics. The only thing I can really focus on is the story. Modern Warfare has an engaging story that makes you root for the good guys unlike any other first-person shooter out there. The only gripe I can really say is that I wish they would release a campaign only (story mode) version of the game. I don't care about multiplayer. On the other hand, I could just watch the game's story on YouTube if I wanted to. But that's no fun.

The Walking Dead: 400 Days

Technically, this wouldn't be a disc-based game. However, I bought the PS3 disc version of The Walking Dead. Even though I already reviewed the game, I will be talking about the 400 Days DLC.

This add-on bridges the gap between season 1 and 2 (the Tell-Tale Games, that is). It takes place in the same world and area. There are 5 playable characters. Each of them have a different background and story that unfolds within 400 Days of the first outbreak of the "walkers."

The game was noted for the storytelling. Not much as has changed. It's amazing how the developers were able to convey as much story and feeling for each character. You only get to play them for about 10-20 minutes each. This was enough to get you attached to their stories.

The actions and decisions you make for one character may affect certain scenes for other characters, depending on the order you play them. Besides that, you gain a bit of insight about the game world through stories and past encounters involving characters from season 1.

Nothing bad I can say about 400 days except that it was too short and kept me wanting more story and tidbits about the characters. Here's to hoping they show up in season 2.

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune

I didn't think I was going to play this game. Earlier this summer, PSN Plus members were allowed to download the full Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception game for free. I didn't want to pass up the chance. I played the first two chapters. Turns out this is my kind of game. I was at Best Buy one day and they were selling a double-pack Uncharted 1 and 2 bundle. I bought it and started playing Uncharted.

Uncharted follows a treasure hunter named Nathan Drake. He's a descendant of Sir Francis Drake. The first game follows Nathan Drake following his ancestor's trail to El Dorado and the secrets and dangers that accompany his quest.

Uncharted is like the male version of Tomb Raider. Besides the platform jumping you find yourself in the jungle, you are faced with traps and puzzles to progress further. They're not too hard. I didn't have to look online for help. With bad guys after you, you also have access to various weapons throughout the game. It's your modern day Indiana Jones.

The trophies for this game are a little uninspired, to say the least. They basically have you breaking set records such as 50 head shots, blowing up 3 soldiers in a row, using the brutal combo five times in a row and many more. There's also a difficulty setting in the game. This game is crazy hard on the hardest difficulty. Aside from the bonus content (different costumes, infinite bullets, weapon select, etc), it's unnecessary to beat this game multiple times on the hardest difficulty. Like I said before, I'm a story person. Many games out right now don't have difficulty modifiers. The game design speaks for itself. There's one "school of thought" that still cling to beating games at the hardest difficulty. I don't have as much time as I did in middle and high school. There's no excuse to make games engaging and replayable with difficulty settings. Just no.

I'm done.

PSN Games Review (Summer 2013)

Finally I get to review the following games: Machinarium, flOw, Flower, Datura.

Machinarium

The first time I played this little gem was almost 4 years ago as a demo on the game's website. In June, the PlayStation Network offered the game for free to PSN Plus subscribers. I couldn't say no to a free game.

It's about a humanoid robot (a he) that found itself on a junkyard. He doesn't remember much about what happened, but he remembers another humanoid robot (a girl) when he's idle. You go throughout the game solving puzzles and finding out more about the world and our unlikely metal protagonist.

Machinarium is a point and click adventure game. You move around a cursor on the screen and click on various objects to interact with. Our hero is not much of a robot, but it can stretch and shrink it's body to a certain length and store objects by opening it's mouth/head like a trash can. With that in mind, you get a general idea of where interactive objects are located by his reach. Other than that, an indicator pops up next to the cursor showing that the object is interactive.