Rayman Origins

Well shit, I was late to this party.  But better late than never, right?

Rayman Origins is a game I bought a long long time ago on my Vita but because of Project Diva F and other games in my backlog, I only got around to playing it recently.  However I'm glad I did eventually decide to pop it in because Rayman Origins is one of  the best platformers that I've ever played.

The game is extremely thin on story but given the genre and the series that it's part of then it can be forgiven.  Basically, Rayman and his buddies are sleeping and their constant snoring pisses off a bunch of twats that live underground.  These twats start causing trouble and it's up to you to put them back in their place.

The gameplay in Rayman Origins is fucking amazing.  It's fast, fluid, responsive and navigating your way through the stages is just satisfying.  If you get killed it doesn't feel like the game was being bullshit, it's because YOU fucked up and the only way to unfuck yourself is to get good.  The levels also contains a little bit of exploration as you hunt for Lums (little fairy things) and secret cages.

There is a ton of content in this game too so you can get a hell of a lot of play time out of it.  Every level has a bunch of Electoons that need to be rescued, kind of like Rayman 1.  On each stage there is 1 set of electoons at the end of the stage and 2 hidden in the level.  Upon finishing the stage the game counts the Lums you found and there are 2 more available that way.  On top of that, there's an extra electoon for speed running the stage within a time limit.  This sounds like it would be bullshit because it means you have to play through every stage twice but it's not because the way you approach a stage normally and the way you approach it to do it fast are totally different.

This isn't true for every level in the game as there are some stages that mix up the formula a bit, but generally speaking that's how it works.

Then on top of all that, there are special stages where you find little red gems from chests.  Collecting all 10 of these gems unlocks a hidden world that is pretty fucking challenging and sort of acts like a final exam for all that skill you built up over the course of the game.

But challenge is the major problem I have with Rayman Origins, it's too fuckin' easy.  I blasted through all the stages and got all the Electoons first try with very little resistance.  The game grows some balls in the final and secret levels but the challenge comes in way too late and there isn't enough of it to satisfy masochists like myself.  Still though, the games easiness doesn't really affect it too badly because generally speaking the thing is just outright fun to play.

Finally there is multiplayer, but I didn't do it even once so I can't comment.

So yeah, go play it if you haven't already, it's awesome.

Fuck Off Ubisoft

Back in the day I used to quite like Ubisoft.  I still remember that little jingle that would play when you popped in Rayman and their logo came up and things were great.  But holy shit this company has turned into one of the biggest groups of assholes I've ever seen.

Ubisoft, in my opinion, are just as bad as someone like EA except because their games aren't as obnoxious and crap they get off a bit easier.  For all the shittiness that comes out of these guys at least they have some degree of respect for some of their stuff.  Rayman Origins is a great example of how there is still a few gems left inside this pile of shit, but I wouldn't have titled the post the way I did if I was here to give them praise.

So last night I'm watching some YouTube videos when I come across this shit.

Now I think I've already talked about how much I hate season passes but this shit is the fucking worst.  It's not just me who thinks it's the worst either, go have a trawl through those comments and have a see for yourself about how unhappy people are with this shit.  Now, why are people unhappy with this trailer? Well it's because it stinks, and I mean fucking STINKS of cut content.

I thought the idea of a season pass was so that after the games launch you didn't have to deal with buying and downloading all the DLC, it would just be automatically added to your game as it was released.  But no, in the case of Watch Dogs the season pass is "hey, look at all the shit we cut from our final product so we can nickle and dime you a bit more"

But Watch Dogs season pass bullshit isn't the only thing that's come to my attention.  Look at this shit.

 This game has just come out and look at this shit!  All this fucking DLC for a game that's just come out and the worst thing about it to is that the Golems Plight pack is about the only one worth a shit, the rest are just fucking packs of items or boosts or whatever.  It's just a case of Ubisoft cutting a quest and charging 3 euros for it and then on top of that money grubbing all the players who suck at the game by offering all this other shit.

Let's not forget that Child of Light is apparently forcing people to log into UPlay, and UPlay is a collossal piece of shit that shouldn't be forced on anybody.  Oh but of course there is no mention of this on the Steam, you can only get this information if you scroll down and look at some of the negative comments regarding the game of angry consumers who can't access the fucking thing they PAID MONEY FOR because UPlay is fucking playing up.

I want to like Ubisoft, I really do, they are just about the only big name developer/publisher that isn't afraid to put out a new IP like Child of Light but this constant money grubbing just pisses me off.  Fucking stop that shit!

Finally! E3 2013 Ubisoft Press Conference Thoughts!

Ubisoft were a load of shit, listen to how shit I thought they were

More Thanks and Praise

Well, I've had quite a busy day and I'm not really in a position to be making long opinion posts on whatever, so instead I'm going to take the time to thank the two people who donated for the completed Rayman run.  Hopefully this will inspire more people to throw a donation or two towards the Society, the link is on the side.

Also, I am willing to take requests for runs if you're willing to put forward a charity donation.  Name your game and I'll be more than happy to give it a crack for your entertainment.  Send an e-mail or yell at me on my stream, whatever you fancy.  If I don't own it or I'm unable to record it, I'll seek it out and get round to it, I'll play anything for the sake of charity!

I'll be working on the next play through soon, so keep an eye out on that YouTube channel

Rayman Finale

It's over! It's finally over! I beat Rayman!

It's been a rough and frustrating journey, but good god do I love this game.  Enough typing from me though, watch the final part of the playthrough!

Rayman Playthrough Finale Coming Soon!

You may have noticed I've not been uploading videos recently.  This has been partly down to the fact that I've been sick but mainly because I had to find all the goddamn cages

Well as you can see above, I now have 100% of the cages, which means all that's left is to beat the final few stages and the boss.

So keep an eye out on the YouTube channel for the Rayman finale, coming soon!

Don't forget to donate to charity if you have been enjoying it and stuff.

Rayman Part 14! So close yet so far

So we have done it!  All the worlds with cages have been cleared! Unfortunately, this is not the end of the game and now I have to rescue the remaining electoons before I can start filming the final area, hooray......

VIDEO TIME!

Late Rayman!

This episode was supposed to be uploaded on Sunday, but I got annoyed by things and ranted about that instead.  Here it is now though

VIDEO

Another Weekend, Another Episode of Rayman

The stress piles on with this game as the levels get harder and the deaths get more frequent.  Good job the game itself is so much fun. 

VIDEO!

Sunday Afternoon Rayman Crazyness

Well, I have to go and be out all day so the Sunday episode of Rayman is coming a lot earlier than usual this week since I don't know when I'll be home.

This episode is a lot shorter due to dying an absolute fuckton of times and my recording software just crapping out on me, but at least I look semi competent for once.

VIDEO!

Yet Another Rayman Weekend!

So if you haven't noticed by now, Saturday and Sunday are you tube upload days!  So, keeping in like with schedule, here is some more Rayman!

Getting closer and closer to the end of the stupidly hard game.

VIDEO!

Little Blog Update (Upcoming Stuff)

It's been a crazy couple of days and I've been a little bit too busy to actually post something of note, so instead I'm giving a short post on upcoming content just so the folks know I'm not dead

So of course, there will be new Rayman episodes.  I have two sitting on my desktop ready to be uploaded over the course of Saturday and Sunday, so you'll have something to watch this weekend.  Also I've been meaning to do another "Japan Purchases" vlog type thing, since I've got my 2 cents to throw in on my opinion of the Vita

Longer term, the next playthrough I already have lined up, and as you can probably tell from the above picture, it will be Cry Of Fear.  Cry of Fear is a mod for Half Life that a lot of people tell me is really good, and considering it's supposed to be scary I thought I'd give it a go on camera. 

Finally I'm planning to do a short series of videos of the whole "living in Japan" thing, since I figure my experience with the Working Holiday Visa scheme may help someone down the line, so look out for that whenever I can be arsed to film it.

So keep reading, and keep donating!

Rayman Cages are Bullshit!

I'm not usually in the market for 2 posts in one day, but after slaving over Rayman for the last 2 hours, I need a bit of a vent.

I fucking hate these goddamn things.  The stages are already pretty tough being filled with spikes, pitfalls and the most obnoxiously placed enemies in the universe but on top of having to avoid all that I have to free these little boxes of garbage as well?!

This would be fine if they weren't so goddamn hidden as well.  Some of the shit I have had to do to reach a few of these goddamn cages has almost made me pull my own hair out.  What makes it even worse is that even if you know where they are, it doesn't mean that reaching it is going to be easy.

But no, that's not all, some of these fucking things aren't even visible, and you have to go and trigger them, which adds another layer of bullshit to the whole process. 

I wouldn't even be that annoyed if I didn't need to get them, but to reach the last world and have a crack at the final boss, these things are fucking required, so if I want to beat the game I have no choice but to go back and do all this shit.  I'm doing all this shit off camera though so you don't have to sit for hours at a time and watch me fumble about all the levels again failing to find things.

I swear this game is taking years off my life.

Rayman Weekend 2! Second Video!

As the stages get harder, the episodes get longer.  Also I used a continue because that opera boat bit is such a piece of shit.  Enjoy!

Rayman Weekend 2! First Video!

I'm about to leave the house, more rayman!

Midweek Rayman Madness!

Well I had better luck with my recording this time round, and put in a good levels worth of platforming goodness!  So kick back and enjoy!

Friday Night Rayman!

Well, I'm pretty much hooked on Path of Exile at the moment, and I have a back log of episodes to get through of these, so here you go!  A load of shit went wrong when recording this one, I recant the tale during the video, so give it a gander

VIDEO!

Back to Back Rayman! Sunday Edition!

Another day, another part of Rayman.  I make some awful puns and beat the Band Lands boss!  That was pretty tough and depressingly, it's only going to get harder.

VIDEO!

Back to Back Rayman! Saturday Edition!

Well, I've got another busy weekend, but this time I planned ahead and had some parts of Rayman ready.  Today is part 4 with the first bit of proper video editing (lol) since I got a really stupid game over.

It's true that Rayman is tough, but we shall soldier through!

VIDEO!

The Techpocolypse

I'm having one of those moments I like to call a techpocolypse.  I don't know about everyone else, but for me, I never have just one thing break or malfunction.  It's like everything that I own syncs up and just fails me all at the same time.

Granted, the thing in my picture was my fault, as I forgot that I was resting the headset on the back of my chair when I sat down, but that's not the only problem.  My Camera has decided that it doesn't want to close the lens properly any more when I shut it off AND my computer has a greater tendency to just start sulking when I try to game on it for too long.

Luckily, I can solve all these problems but it really is a pain in the ass when just everything breaks at the same time.  Anyway, this bit of whining is a way for me to say that there may be a little tiny drop in audio quality on the Rayman playthrough for a while since I now have to use my laptops in built microphone.

Luckily, if you watch the Die Hard showcase or the Three Dirty Dwarfs playthrough on my Youtube channel, the sound quality isn't so bad, it was just way better with that headset.

Now I just have to cross my fingers and hope to god that nothing else fucks up.  Please also note that I will never use this blog to beg readers for free stuff.  If you want to send money somewhere, send it to the Alzheimer's Society.