New Skyrim DLC Announced: Dragonborn

By kelseyr713 November 6, 2012 bethesda DLC dragonborn PC Skyrim Xbox 360

The third piece of DLC for Skyrim has been announced. Dragonborn follows Dawnguard and Hearthfire, which let us defeat (or join) rising vampires and build houses/adopt children, respectively. Dragonborn will be available on December 4th for 1600 Microsoft Points. As seen with the previous DLCs, it should come to PC a few months later. Unfortunately, PS3 players have not yet seen a single piece of DLC for Skyrim.

The trailer shows us that the story will follow a former Dragon Priest who was the first Dragonborn, perhaps thwarting him from rising again. We will also be returning to the island of Solstheim from Bloodmoon, an expansion pack for Morrowind (the third Elder Scrolls game). And, if that wasn’t enough to get you excited, there’s also footage of the player riding a dragon! This looks to be the best piece of DLC yet for Skyrim.

What do you think of the trailer? Let us know in the comments!

Skyrim’s Hearthfire Ignites My Passion for Home Building and Decorating

By Kelsey September 8, 2012 DLC Entertainment hearthfire rpg Skyrim the sims video games Xbox 360

SEE WHAT I DID THERE?

I’m sorry, let me apologize for my bad puns.

Anyway, Skyrim’s DLC “Hearthfire” was released on Tuesday! To say I was excited would be somewhat of an understatement. It was the only thing I was looking forward to this week. One of my favorite parts of The Sims, okay, MY FAVORITE PART, is character and home creation. Goddamn, I love me some house designing. I am kind of afraid for when I get to actually get to design my own home, because it will be the most tedious and nerve wracking process of my pathetic life. This, combined with the fact that I’ve only recently really gotten into Skyrim within the past month, has turned me into a Skyrim-consuming monster.

So, let’s get to it.

Jumping right into it, I got a letter from a courier from the Jarl of Falkreath, who I had not met yet and it turns out he is kind of an asshole. When I got there, he asked me to go take care of some bandits for him, which was pretty simple, and in return he gave me permission to purchase land in the area.

But this whole section with the letters is kind of buggy. I got the letter from the courier, and Ryan, when he played, did not, despite the courier saying he gave him one. He did, however, get the letter from the orphanage saying that he could adopt children, whereas I received no such letter. Since I didn’t have a letter, the orphanage didn’t recognize that I was there to adopt children, and nothing worked. However, there are kids you can just pick up off the streets and adopt as long as you have a children’s bed and a chest for them in your house. There’s a complete list here for those who need it.

There are three places you can purchase land. The Falkreath plot might be the prettiest; it sits right on the edge of a lake between Riverwood and Falkreath. The Dawnstar plot gives you a nice view of Whiterun from the north, and the Morthal one has a southern view of Solitude. And you can purchase and build on all three of the plots of land. They all have…interesting quirks though.

The Morthal plot is smack-dab in the middle of some swamps that are surrounded by ruins that contain loads of Draguar who will terrify your children (although this was Ryan’s child, and I think his child might be disturbed anyway, because it keeps talking about a stray dog that it wants to keep, but there is no dog anywhere on the property). There is also a Dragon Priest right next door at High Gate Ruins! How convenient!

The Dawnstar plot is nice if you like to go out hunting, because it’s right on those plains above Whiterun. However, there is a giants’ camp nearby, so take that as you will. You will probably have them lumbering over and trying to make your cows into pets or such shit at some point.

I chose the Falkreath plot, both because it was reported to be the prettiest and because you initially get the letter about it from the Jarl there. It is really lovely, although there was already someone using my land for something else. I walked around the area and saw a circle of stones at the base of a hill. So when I went over and looked down there, was a necromancer trying to raise the goddamn dead on my new land. We had a stare down before I shot him in the face. His setup appears to be permanent though, so I guess if I ever need to reanimate some corpses, I’m already prepared.

So building the house is a process. A process that involves getting a crapload of stuff together. You should get a house steward first, because they will be ordering materials and furnishing rooms and buying you horses and cows and bards. Your steward can be almost anyone who can be a follower. Since I was so close to Riverwood, I just ran up and grabbed Faendal to be mine, and I spend a lot of time running around yelling for Faendal to order me more things. And you will need A LOT of iron. Almost all of your time will be spent making iron things. You will do lots of running back and forth to the blacksmith. I CANNOT EMPHASIZE ENOUGH HOW MUCH IRON YOU NEED. So much that it will become horribly inconvenient, because you will be trying to do things, but you will be weighed down with iron, and thus everything will take forever.

Speaking of blacksmiths, I went to Falkreath to get some more goddamn iron, and as soon as I got there, a dragon attacked. The dragon swooped down and landed in the town, picked up Lod the blacksmith, tore him to shreds, and then threw his corpse down in front of his blacksmith shop. Guess I won’t be buying iron from there anymore.

Anywho, you get three wings to add to your house. And you have three options for every wing. For example, you can have one wing be a library, a kitchen or something else (I forget). Obviously, I chose the library. I was really pissed about this before I realized that you could build houses on all three plots of land. So pretty much you can build with all the options you want, just in different locations.

There are also three things that will probably happen to your house: giants, bandits, and skeever infestations. Ryan apparently had one bandit show up at his house, whom he killed, and on the bandit was a note saying they had kidnapped his wife. So he went inside, and his wife was there, but she was acting like she had been kidnapped. And then she took a few steps and snapped out of it. It was weird.

There was also the fugitive and the mudcrab.

I stepped away from my carpenter’s bench outside my house I was building, and as soon as I did, a fugitive ran up to me and asked me to hold on to something for him. He said he would be back as soon as he could. Except he didn’t get very far, because following behind him was a mudcrab who ran up and pinched him twice, and then he fell over dead. Right in front of my goddamn house. So I shot the mudcrab because it came after me next, and then I had two corpses hanging out outside my front door. So that was something.

Anyway, the finished house is awesome, although all of them in each location look the same. The bugs aren’t bad enough that they bring the DLC down, they are mostly just weird, little annoyances. Ryan wrote his two complaints about the DLC on my notes, and they were, “MY BARD SUCKS” and “YOU CAN’T RE-ORPHAN YOUR KIDS.” Which, admittedly, his bard really does suck. And if I had disturbed children like he did, I would want to re-orphan them as well.

Score: B-

Fix the bugs, add some more locations to build houses on, and vary the design. I really love Hearthfire though, and it’s really cool to build your own house in Skyrim. The DLC was only $5 (400 Microsoft points), so I would definitely recommend picking it up.

More Skyrim Info

By Sarah The Rebel May 20, 2011 dragons elder scrolls Entertainment Gamer girl Games Oblivion PS3 radiant story system rpg Skyrim video game videogames

I ❤ Dragons!

Just read a great article about Skyrim on 1Up. The article broke down seven basic things to know about Skyrim.

On a new engine
No classes
Skills are more important
More spell combos
Radiant Story system
Dragons galore
Sleeping in the beds of the dead (you like what I did there?)

Basically it looks like Skyrim will have a new engine which will make things smoother, a new way of organizing classes and skills so that you can customize a little more, and a story that has a little more reaction to it. Oh, and lots of dragons.

I never really gave Oblivion much of a chance because I started off in a cave and it bored me. I really need a game to get me interested in the first half hour, and that game just didn’t do it for me.

That being said, Skyrim looks pretty darn good! I may bully my friend into getting it and letting me borrow it to see if I’ll like it, lol.

Skyrim should be out by Christmas though, so maaaaybe I can just ask Santa for it. 😉

Alyssa L’s E3 2018 Favorites

By Phantomess June 15, 2018 anthem e3 2018 fallout 76 sekiro: shadows die twice Shadow of the Tomb Raider the elder scrolls vi

I’m not sure if this is true for the majority of gamers, but I go through game “phases.” I’ll play World of Warcraft (the phase I’m currently on) every single day for multiple hours, and I’ll suddenly get bored. For example, I haven’t touched League of Legends, Diablo 3, or Magic Online in well over a month, yet at some point in the future I’ll play one of those quite faithfully and drop World of Warcraft completely. Does this sound familiar, or is it just me?

For me, games, especially single player and console games, have to be really good (at least for a little while) in order to break my inevitable game binge cycle.

Let’s take a look at the E3 2018 games that could potentially break the cycle.

Anthem

We’ve known about Anthem for a while now, yet I’ve been no more than blissfully curious, not really knowing what to expect. What previously drew me to it is the fact that it appears to have a “single-player feel;” however, it’s a multiplayer game, but also not an MMO. During E3 2018, we got a new trailer and a lot more information on what to expect from the game.

We learned that players will play as Freelancers in a world that is “unfinished by the Gods.” We are tasked with not only finishing the world they left, but also expected to fight over the leftover resources. Anthem is scheduled to release February 22, 2019, and I’m very excited to try it out!

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

We heard about Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice for the first time at E3 2018. I’ll be honest, though, the only reason I’m excited about it is because it’s by the makers of Bloodborne and Dark Souls, which gives me some pretty high hopes for the game. I’m also pretty excited that Sekiro will take place in 1500s Sengoku-era Japan, which gives us the opportunity to explore a historical setting. The grappling hook also seems pretty cool.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider

Shadow of the Tomb Raider is another game that we knew about prior to E3 but learned more during the conferences. I loved, and I mean absolutely loved, the 2013 Tomb Raider. I had high hopes for Rise of the Tomb Raider in 2015; however, I was slightly less impressed. I thought the game was filled with too much story and too many cut scenes. In this game, Lara Croft is tasked with saving the world from the Mayan apocalypse, a pretty interesting premise for a game (and, again, historic). Shadow of the Tomb Raider is scheduled to release September 14, 2018, and I couldn’t be more excited!

The Elder Scrolls VI

The announcement of the Elder Scrolls IV at E3 was groundbreaking, considering the number of times Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has been revamped. After the release of Fallout 4, I became a Bethesda fan. Unfortunately, I was never able to really enjoy Skyrim the way a lot of people did. Skyrim didn’t have the same feel for me as Fallout 4, and wasn’t a game I could play for hours on end (perhaps it’s because I’m not a fan of the open world aspects of these games, or maybe it was too old by the time I picked it up). Some people may call me crazy for thinking this about Skyrim, but I do have very high hopes for the next installment of the Elder Scrolls series and will definitely be picking up a copy. Too bad the release date is so far out — probably a couple of years or more away.

Fallout 76

Not to be cliché, but I definitely saved THE BEST for last. I’m incredibly excited for Fallout 76, given that Fallout 4 is one of my favorite games of all time! Although I have yet to play the other Fallout games, I really loved Fallout 4, which also hit me with a bit of nostalgia. I live in the greater Boston area, and was able to visit places in the game that I’ve been in real life.

I’m very excited that Fallout 76 is a prequel to the series and will help fans discover what being a citizen in the Wasteland truly means. I’m even more excited that it will explore the multiplayer aspect, with the team stating that “the game will only take place online” — although I’m hoping this doesn’t ruin the game’s single-player feel. Either way, I’m very excited.

Read all of Nerdy but Flirty’s E3 2018 thoughts here!

Jessica’s E3 2017 Reflections

By JoypadJess June 19, 2017 E3 2017 griftlands mario + rabbids kingdom battle metroid prime 4 metroid samus returns Microsoft Nintendo Nintendo 3DS nintendo swtich super mario odyssey the legend of zelda breath of the wild xbox one x

Going into E3 this year, I have to admit that I was feeling like the show would be rather lukewarm. Perhaps it was because I’ve been away from PC gaming for around eight months and haven’t been spending a whole lot of time gaming in general, but I just wasn’t feeling all that pumped up this year. However, despite that, I have to say that there were quite a few announcements throughout the event that sparked my interest and got me quite a bit more excited than I would have initially thought.

For starters, I’d like to talk about the Nintendo Switch. Quite frankly, the Switch has been doing very well since it launched back on March 3rd. Despite a few technical flubs (what new tech doesn’t go through this?), the console has proved to be a pretty powerful hybrid gaming device and has been met with critical acclaim. Hot on the heels of its hard-to-find new gaming platform, Nintendo went into E3 pretty strong this year. We now know that Super Mario Odyssey (their upcoming non-linear Mario adventure) will be coming to the Switch on October 27 (rather than the ambiguous “Holiday 2017” window we were initially given). We also found out a bit more information regarding the two upcoming DLCs for Zelda: Breath of the Wild. There’s also a new Pokémon title in the works for the platform as well.

However, what really surprised me was the announcement of not one, but two upcoming Metroid games! First, we saw that we are being treated to a brand-new entry in the Prime series for the first time in a decade (Prime 3 was released on the Wii back in 2007). Metroid Prime 4 is coming to the Nintendo Switch, but sadly that’s all we know at this time. Yet, while we wait for more information on that one, we can look forward to a full-on remake of the 1991 classic Metroid II: The Return of Samus, heading to the 3DS as Metroid: Samus Returns. This one looks really fun, and honestly I have to say that this is a game I’ve been wanting to see remade for a very long time!

Beyond those major titles, we also have Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle (which looks quirky, but fun) and the confirmation that the Switch will be getting its own version of Skyrim (but c’mon, we already knew that!). I’m also interested in seeing how Beyond Good and Evil 2 and The Evil Within 2 turn out.

PC gamers seem to have quite a few little treats to look forward to in the coming year or so. Griftlands, which is a somewhat-retro style science fiction RPG, had a trailer that immediately drew me in. It definitely feels like a must-play title to me, so I’m really looking forward to getting my hands on that one!

Of course, Microsoft also made its “Project Scorpio” official by announcing it under the new name of Xbox One X (what a mouthful!). The new 4K-ready console is set to release on November 7th, with a starting price tag of $499 USD. That’s pretty darn steep for a home gaming console, but honestly it has a unique sort of audience that it’s trying to capture: those who want an accessible 4K gaming experience without wanting the complications of an expensive gaming PC to play it on. The XB1X (will that be the abbreviation?) will make 4K gaming accessible to those who want it now and are willing to pay a bit of a premium (compared to the normal XB1 models) to have it in a plug-and-play format. Essentially, it’ll be a “premium” home console that lets console gamers get a taste of what gaming on a very high-end PC would be like, but at a much more reasonable cost.

Time will tell how the Xbox One X is received, but I feel like it’s certainly an interesting move. Whereas Nintendo has aimed its sights on capturing the widest market possible with its new, respectably-powered hybrid Switch, Microsoft is going all-in with capturing the enthusiasts out there who are wanting a full-blown 4K experience on a home gaming system. These are two totally separate markets, so we’ll have to see what the masses are actually wanting at this time. As someone who has enjoyed gaming at 4K, I think anyone who has a 4K TV and wants to take advantage of it for gaming should at least take a look at the XB1X when it releases later this year.

Well, that about does it for my thoughts on E3 this year. Despite my initial tepid feelings towards it, I have to say that it managed to keep me pleasantly surprised and ready to dive back into gaming soon. Now we just have to see how all of these newly-announced titles turn out when we finally get our hands on them!

Read all of Nerdy but Flirty’s E3 2017 thoughts here!

Alyssa L’s E3 2017 Favorites

By Phantomess June 16, 2017 anthem assassin's creed: origins creation club E3 2017 fallout 4 far cry 5 pokemon Skyrim

Although I didn’t watch E3 2017, I definitely kept up on the announcements. I’ve compiled a list of the games I’m excited about, for various reasons.

Fallout 4 VR and Skyrim VR

Whaaaaat?! I can be in post apocalyptic Boston and the world of Skyrim? This is basically how I felt when Bethesda announced VR for these two games. Both of these are titles I’ve enjoyed in the past (I’m also currently playing Skyrim). However, as a sole PC owner, I’m not sure if the excitement is justified for me. Sure, it’s cool, but I’m not sure if I’ll ever get my hands on it.

Creation Club

On another note, Bethesda announced Creation Club for Fallout 4 and Skyrim, which will act as an idea development platform, working with some external creators. I was very excited to see Bethesda caring about their community, and immediately tried to apply, but unfortunately you need to have your ideas available to pitch on the spot.

Untitled Pokémon RPG

An untitled Pokémon RPG was announced for Nintendo Switch. I’m down with anything Pokémon these days, but I’m unsure if it’s reason enough to invest in a Nintendo Switch. We’ll see what this untitled Pokémon RPG proves to be.

Assassin’s Creed: Origins

For me, it’s easy to be excited about any Assassin’s Creed game; however, I’ve never given them the attention they deserve. The Assassin’s Creed series doesn’t run well on my PC, and doesn’t run directly through Steam.

Assassin’s Creed: Origins will take place in ancient Egypt, which is a world I’d like to know more about (I always found ancient Egypt interesting during history class). I can only hope that while you’re tasked with unveiling the origins of the assassin’s brotherhood, you’ll get to explore some tombs and pyramids — and encounter some mummies. Let’s say I’m more interested in the setting than the game.

Far Cry 5

Again with the games I haven’t played. No. I’ve never played a Far Cry game, but this one seems promising. First of all, we’re in America and we’re fighting a religious cult. It’s very bold that a game company has decided to address such a controversial topic, and I’m excited to see how it unfolds.

Anthem

My favorite part about Anthem is that it’s an RPG game you can play with your friends. You play as a bold group of heroes called Freelancers. You have these incredible Fallout 4-esque suits, and there’s ROBOTS! In the trailer, the heroes are even able to swim in the suits, which makes me question what else they can do!

Read all of Nerdy but Flirty’s E3 2017 thoughts here! More to come.

Review: Cook, Serve, Delicious!

By Jessica Cox March 20, 2017 cook serve delicious cooking game Review

My boyfriend is quite hellbent on expanding my style of gaming. Admittedly, I am a lover of all story-driven RPGs. Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Fable, Skyrim…these are just a few household names for gamers. I LOVE a game that I can lose myself in! Ya know? All on my trusty Xbox consoles.

However, I’ve decided to allow myself to expand and open my life up to other realms of games. So, I began my adventure of console to keyboard. The first games included World of Warcraft! As well as Diablo 3. Then, my friend Cameron gifted me with a game called Cook, Serve, Delicious! How do I even begin?

Reading over the description provided on Steam, I thought “this sounds cute and simple!” I couldn’t be more wrong… It’s fun! But man, is it a challenge!

Vertigo Gaming, Inc. created this brilliant masterpiece. If I had to explain it, I’d say it’s a very amazing blend of strategic button mashing with the intensity of Dead or Alive meets Dance Dance Revolution.

You play the owner of an up-and-coming restaurant. Your goal is simple: satisfy your customers by accepting and fulfilling their orders. You have to hit the numbers, arrows, and letters on your keyboard all in the proper sequence before time runs out without screwing up and pissing them off.

The food has to be built and made per order. This means that, for example, a customer may ask for ketchup, mustard, both, or none at all on their corn dog. Toppings, ingredients, and extras are broken down individually (with the exception of salads), and if you screw up and add an extra ingredient, you can’t take it off.

And soup? Forget it. You need like…five hands and super powers.

You answer e-mails, fulfill catering orders, learn new recipes, and plan your menu daily.

The ultimate goal is to expand your run-down establishment into a five-star restaurant. Easy enough, right? Hah! It certainly is, at the least, very addicting!

You’ll find yourself learning how to better time manage as you add more serving stations, cursing the day you ever bought a soup recipe, and questioning why the hell people are coming in for a beer at 9 am?!

I give this game an A! I haven’t finished it yet, but I was excited to share about it none the less! Now, excuse me, I have to get back to the kitchen.

You can get Cook, Serve, Delicious! on Steam or Humble Bundle for $9.99. Visit the official website, and follow the game on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. A sequel is coming this year.

Sabrina’s Year in Review 2016

By Ellen Mint January 5, 2017 assassin's creed black flag assassin's creed syndicate assassin's creed unity automatons elder scrolls online fallout 4 far harbor GOTY goty 2016 uncharted uncharted 2

2016.

What can one say about 2016 without curling up into a ball while repetitiously mumbling “Duck and Cover” from their basement-turned-fallout shelter?

For me, when not staring at the torn seventh seal and awaiting the return of Diablo’s minions, this year in gaming was one of franchises. There was both a return to the lost, and a discovery of the new. So, onto my final year recap.

Coming Back Home: Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag

After rage quitting Assassin’s Creed III last year, I swore off the franchise (and may have tried feeding the disc to a wood chipper for my own sanity). I adored Ezio’s trilogy (to the point that I’m seriously considering plunking down the money for the re-tread. I know, but Brotherhood is so much fun, and he’s so pretty), but as for III with its “take five steps get a cut scene, barely any assassinating, do as we tell you” gameplay, I couldn’t take anymore.

On a whim, and boredom settling in, I picked up Black Flag. I was hesitant because I care nothing about pirates and less for ship battles. With Ubisoft’s track record from III, I feared they’d be terrible. Boy, was I wrong. So wrong, I will shout from the top of the roof how wrongy wrong I am.

If like me, you got burned by AC III, this is the game to come back with. Edward is okay as an assassin, though I’d debate that he’s never really an assassin himself. He’s got a crazy obsession with the observatory for no good reason beyond plot contrivance, and I kept calling him ugly Thor.

Look at him, he’s a roughed up Chris Hemsworth! But all that can be glossed over because of one reason: Matt Ryan. I could listen to that self-deprecating Welshman all day long, even after Edward’s been captured for the 5,000th time and learns nothing while obsessed over an observatory despite having plundered enough Spanish and British ships to take over the West Indies. There needs to be a law: much like how Steve Blum always voices Wolverine, no one else can be Constantine but Matt Ryan.

The gameplay is back to solid AC levels too, very reminiscent of Brotherhood with actual assassinating and sneaking. And god help me, I really loved the ship battles. I wound up loving this game so much I did damn near everything possible.

All-in-all, how can anyone not love a game that lets you pet cows and turn your enemies into whatever the hell these things are?

I Thought It’d Be Worse Than It Is: Assassin’s Creed: Unity

Knowing that the creators behind III were working on this one, I gritted my teeth from the first cinematic cut screen, prepared to despise this game. But in the end, I’m glad I gave it a chance.

Yes, our assassin Arno is as boring as strained tapioca pudding. He’s the typical hero we’re getting in this day and age: brooding for no good reason, no edges to make him interesting. This batch of writers seems incapable of taking the piss out of anything. If they made a joke, it was purely on accident.

It’s still got too many cutscenes with a plot that makes no sense and an assassin who just does stuff because he wants to get the girl. (Sadly, it was patched so I didn’t get the missing skin bugs, though there were still some very annoying glitches.)

However, there were a few new things they added that I loved. Solving crimes was a ton of fun, which returned in Syndicate. The gameplay was easy, what with this batch of developers not really ever seeming to get the point of sneaking or assassinating. While I missed the thrill from Black Flag of making a hidden blade kill and dashing back to the bushes before I’m caught, at least it was far easier to take down a dozen linked guards with Arno.

But the best part that really made this for me was being able to go inside of buildings. Finally, we can leap through windows to avoid guards, or stumble across people shooing us out of the way. The world feels so much richer seeing inside the buildings we scale. In general Unity isn’t bad. It’s nowhere near my favorite AC game, but it falls middle of the pack. If you’re curious to try an AC game, but fear you’ll suck at sneaking, try Unity.

We Can Animate Women!: Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate

After being called to the carpet for the bullshit about how women were so damn difficult to animate with Unity, Ubisoft finally gave us our first female assassin in a AAA game. (Sorry Aveline, I just can’t deal with III‘s mechanics to play you, as much as I want to). Evie is awesome. She’s pretty much a Twilight Sparkle who’s cool with murdering, the brainy mission-focused one to her brother Jacob’s come-what-may gang leader approach.

The downside to Syndicate is that for all the big missions they force you to play as one or the other twin, and of course Jacob gets 65% of the missions to Evie’s 35% (I did the math). But, and this shocked me big time, I like Jacob. He’s brash, and undisciplined, and needed to be yelled at more, yet I can’t help but like him. There’s an earnestness not born out of our typical brooding character, but just a general bonhomie. And, best of all, he’s actually funny. I wound up liking Jacob so much that I played through all of Syndicate twice, once as Evie and again with Jacob.

This game gave me what I consider to be the cutest damn assassin of the franchise. I speak of none other than Mr. Henry Green.

Most of the other ‘romances’ in the AC games get at most a shrug or “okay, I guess” from me, but damn it, Henry and Evie were so stinking cute together. It was all their nerding out over ancient relics that really clinched it. It certainly helps that Henry’s so nice on the eyes I sat up higher on his first cut scene and never stopped watching for him.

I wound up liking Syndicate so much that this was the first AC game where I got the DLC. Downside, it’s about Jack the Ripper (this chestnut again) and twists the old history into an incoherent pretzel. Plus side, you get to spend the entire time as an older Evie. It’s the rarest of rare, a video game featuring an older woman as a protagonist. No sexy ingenue here.

That’s enough Assassin’s Creed, time to move on to a new franchise I stumbled into thanks to a remaster.

Death By Jet Ski: Uncharted

Being a PlayStation owner, I was vaguely aware of Nathan Drake being a sort of modern Indiana Jones, but didn’t think much beyond that. To celebrate the release of 4, they bundled all three original games onto a PS4 game release, which is what I leaped fully into.

I warmed to Nathan pretty quick (and not just because he’s also the voice of Superboy from Young Justice). There’s a lightness there you don’t get often in the main hero anymore. It’s all brooding ennui. But what really sold me on Uncharted, even during the more hair-pulling levels, was Elena.

Normally, when the plucky clear love interest pops up, I groan and wait for whenever I have to rescue her while she bats her computer generated eyelashes that would never survive in a jungle. But damn it, Elena is freaking awesome. She doesn’t let Nate get away with any shit, and is actually really freaking useful. And not in an Elizabeth from Bioshock: Infinite kind of useful. Shoot the bad guys by herself kind of useful. Whenever I’d run back into Elena, I was so damn happy to have her around. Yes, real backup!

However, we need to discuss the jet ski. If you have played Uncharted, you know of what I speak. If you have not, well, come and have a seat beside me.

In order to get through the jungle swamped with over 10,000 mercenaries our bad guy got cheap off Angie’s List, you have to travel by jet ski thrice. The first time isn’t bad; Elena gets to blow up a few bad guys while Nate drives because the man always has to drive even if there’s no logical reason for it. I won’t give it away, but let’s just say by the third trip, battling rapids, explosive barrels, and mercenaries flush with the cast-offs from an NRA meeting, I wanted to drop that jet ski off a waterfall, then explode it using an RPG. Bathing in the flames of its death was the only way to heal.

If you want to get into Uncharted, I would suggest trying the first, but you don’t have to get through it if you can’t. Because trust me, there’s much better to come.

Second Is Best: Uncharted 2 (also Assassin’s Creed 2, Mass Effect 2)

For whatever reason when it comes to franchises I’m at first iffy on, I fall madly in love with the second entry. Anyone who’s into AC knows to just skip the first one for so very many reasons. While there were parts I enjoyed with Uncharted 1, the characters being a big part of it, the mechanics were clunkier than I’d like and burn in hell Jet Ski! I shall see you driven before me, and will hear the cries and lamentations of your Sea-Doos!

But Uncharted 2, oh man (aside from the final boss battle, which I am so glad games are going away from now) was so damn much fun. Opening with the frame story device of flashbacks was cheesy, but the second Flynn popped up on screen, I was grinning like an idiot. Yeah, it was Alistair (Steve Valentine), and sure, he was the bad guy, but I didn’t care. God damn, even if he’s shooting me in the gut (because the hero never gets shot in the head during a cut scene), I still love him.

Claudia Black is always welcome of course, and Chloe was a nice addition to the cast, giving the game its first chance to pass the Bechdel test when Elena pops back into the scene. (Sadly, it couldn’t manage that again in three. Those women — get more than two onto the screen together and we just explode).

Since Uncharted is so much more cinematic than the average game, I don’t want to give away much, but there aren’t any levels or challenges that stick out to me as ingratiating. I even liked the train one, talking smack the whole time. Which may be what I enjoy about Nathan: he’s not the stoic hero. He’s screaming and cursing the same as the player, when not cracking wise about the next thing come to kill him.

If you’re not a completionist, and want to see what Uncharted is all about, this is the one I recommend starting with.

Man Most Despised By God: Nathan Drake, All Uncharted Games

It began as a bit of a joke, but through three games after having the ground give way, trains explode, mountains fall on his head, and managing to crash a plane in the middle of the desert, it’s time to accept facts. God is trying to kill Nathan Drake, but somehow he keeps missing.

He’s the video game version of Job. Cursed because God’s got a Trading Spaces kind of bet going on with the Devil to try and take him out, but somehow that wiley Nathan Drake manages to survive quicksand, hallucinations, pirates, and crashing a plane in the middle of a desert! (Can we talk about the Bedouins who can’t be arsed to give him a sip of water after he crashes their party? Because that’s funny as hell) And through it all, nothing sticks. God’s doing his best to take him out, Nate’s well aware he doesn’t stand a chance, but somehow he keeps skating on by thanks to Elena and Sully watching his back.

Bethesda gets into my final mentions list thanks to Fallout 4 and Elder Scrolls Online.

See You In Your Nightmares: Fallout 4: Automatron DLC

Try and sleep after this comes rattling through the radioactive fog, I dare you.

Jangles the Space Monkey knows you ripped up his brethren to make beds for whiny settlers who can’t do it themselves. Oh, he knows, and he’s got a rocket launcher for an arm you’re going to answer to.

Pleasant dreams…

Most Hated Companion: Old Longfellow: Fallout 4: Far Harbor DLC

I do not like Longfellow. I touched on it a bit in my review for all of Far Harbor, but the more I thought upon it the more I despised him. He’s so damn boring and so much the same shit we get over and over that something in my brain popped.

Another man to follow you around. Another white guy who’s a bit sexist because of “historical accuracy” (in a post-apocalyptic game with deathclaws where the only music is remnants from the 50s). Another loner type who’s never really had any friends because, once again, his no-good woman left him and it’s all her fault. Not like she had any say in being brainwashed, nope, only good girls don’t get kidnapped.

Ahhh! The more I think about Longfellow, the more I want to shoot him in the back and kick him into a Fog Crawler pit. He’s the straw that’s been shattering the camel’s back as Bethesda falls further and further into the good ol’ boys club that is AAA gaming’s refusal to admit that there are more demographics than them playing games now.

I Can’t Quit You: Elder Scrolls Online

When it comes to Bethesda games, I rarely feel any connection to the characters and couldn’t recite back the main plot under threat of dragon fire. However, there’s something about the games that I call quest crack. Every quest is just about the right level of getting shit done in a timely manner and receiving a good enough but not great reward to keep going. Bethesda doesn’t bother with writing or plot, but it’s got the rewards/benefits ratio down perfect. Or it did with their single player campaign. Then they decided to get into the MMO world and their faults became the woolly mammoth in the room.

After my fifth time cursing in a dungeon because they really never thought you’d play by yourself while also making it impossible to finish quests surrounded by people, my husband said I was stuck in an abusive relationship with Elder Scrolls Online. He’s right. It’s a game with glimmers of hope drowned in rivers of shit.

Oh I swear, I’ll be good. Here’s a cool little quest with a talking skeleton. Better yet, we’ll let you all turn into skeletons!

Followed by ten grinding quests where enemies pop up when you turn around because they were dead certain it’d be more popular and maps that are damn near impossible to figure out. With every hour it becomes more obvious why Elder Scrolls Online wasn’t going to be as popular as Skyrim.

The flaws that people can overlook in a single player campaign become glaringly detrimental when the foray into an MMO world blots away the fun parts. Crafting is a joke, because the only way they really want you to get good stuff is paying real world money for it. Even if you reach the tippy top levels past 50 and into Champion 160+, you’re still fighting skeevers that can kick your ass if you’re not careful. It’s a game that hamstrings you regardless of how much you put into it.

After awhile, you get sick of all the lies and promises of “it’ll be better just give me a chance again” and have to log off for the last time.

Sorry, Elder Scrolls. It’s not me, it’s you.

Most Anticipated Game for 2017: Mass Effect: Andromeda

‘Nuff said.

For all of Nerdy but Flirty’s end of the year/GOTY 2016 coverage, click here!

Pop Culture of the Year 2016: Alyssa L. Edition

By Phantomess January 4, 2017 GOTY goty 2016 Magic The Gathering pokémon go pokémon moon pokémon sun Rogue One Skyrim star wars

This year for GOTY season, I wanted to expand my list a bit and cover all my favorite pop culture!

Best Game I Wanted Nothing To Do With: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition

I’ve tried on numerous occasions to play Skyrim; however, each time I played the game, it ended with boredom and sheer frustration. On the contrary, I became incredibly obsessed with Fallout 4 when it was released last year. Following the release of the Special Edition, which I was given for free because I owned the Legendary Edition on Steam, I tried yet again to play the famous game, but to no avail. While I believe it’s a great game, and have been surrounded by people who praise it, I wasn’t terribly excited to play the Special Edition. I hope someday I can see the game for everything it’s worth.

Best Mobile Game: Pokémon GO

One of my favorite parts of the holiday was catching the Pikachu with a Santa hat!

I bet most of you can agree with me on this one, although there may be some who don’t. Pokémon GO hit the world by storm in July 2016. I never played any Pokémon games as a child, and didn’t believe that Pokémon GO would be a game I’d be interested in playing; however, there’s just something about catching virtual creatures in your own physical world that caught my interest. I soon found myself able to name all the generation 1 pokémon and walking miles with co-workers in the scorching sun to catch the sought-after creatures.

GOTY: Pokémon Sun and Moon

litten-rowlet-and-popplio-pokemon-sun-and-moon

The starter Pokémon for Sun and Moon!

My love for Pokémon GO fueled my desire to purchase Pokémon Moon. I was consistently asking which pokémon were new to the game and which ones were featured in previous games; however, this didn’t hinder my experience. I chose Rowlet as a starter pokémon: a cute little barn owl (I’m obsessed with owls). The first island in the game seemed to be catered towards new players like myself, which made the game easier to follow. The game also added a new feature, which I loved, where you can play with and care for your pokémon. Let’s say they added a Tamagotchi-like feature to the game.

Movie of the Year: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

I haven’t been a Star Wars fan my whole life. In fact, I didn’t even see The Force Awakens in theaters and waited to get it from Redbox. This is partially because I am not a fan of going to the movies, but I took a chance with Rogue One. I’ll admit that I was a little hesitant at first, but it turned into the best movie I’ve seen in a long time. Rogue One had great characters and plot, and was very well done overall. It truly felt as though this movie fit between III and IV, which was something I didn’t expect.

Tabletop Game of the Year: Magic: The Gathering

Aether Revolt will take place in Kaladesh, the home of this Planeswalker: Chandra Nalaar.

Magic: The Gathering is a card game I used to play in high school, but got back into this year. In case you’re unfamiliar with it, Magic: The Gathering is a card game that you can play with any amount of people, and it’s simple to learn. And as a bonus, some of the cards can sell for a lot of money. I’m eagerly awaiting the release of the new set: Aether Revolt, scheduled for January 2017. To learn more about the basic mechanics of the game, go here.

Most Anticipated game of 2017: Diablo 3: Rise of the Necromancer DLC

Character designs for the male and female Necromancer

I waited months for an announcement to be made at BlizzCon regarding the future of Diablo 3. I was continuously reading articles about how the Diablo franchise would be getting something new. The game will be a receiving a Necromancer class. I’m so excited to play new class in one of my favorite games, and it’s scheduled to be released in 2017. To view the trailer, click here.

For all of Nerdy but Flirty’s end of the year/GOTY 2016 coverage, click here!

E3 2016: Our Favorites!

By kelseyr713 June 21, 2016 E3 E3 2016

Hello from everyone at Nerdy but Flirty! We wanted to share some of our most anticipated games and tech that were shown off at E3. Let us know what you’re most excited about in the comments or on Twitter!

Allahweh

This year’s E3 was pretty exciting for me on a few fronts. For one thing, there were some really interesting games that were sampled (Prey, Detroit Become Human, and Death Stranding, among others) and some pretty exciting news from Microsoft about their plans to create an incrementally-upgraded family of XBOX products, starting with the XBox One S, or Slim (coming August 2016) and what will be the most powerful console produced yet, the XBOX Project Scorpion (coming in 2017).

AMD also showed off two of their upcoming graphical cards for mid and lower-tier computing, the RX 470 and RX 460 (the 480 was shown off in late May), though I’m anxiously awaiting seeing what the RX 490 (their flagship card this time around) will have to offer us in terms of power and efficiency with these 14nm transistors.

Yet, the biggest thing of all for me is Nintendo’s final unveiling of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild which is coming out in 2017 on the Wii U and Nintendo NX and is set “Centuries after Twilight Princess” (possibly sometime after Zelda II: The Adventure of Link). All-in-all, this was a really exciting show for me! 🙂

Alyssa L.

I’m very excited for some of the E3 announcements — but hey, who isn’t? As for Bethesda’s presentation, I was very excited for the Skyrim remake. Although it wasn’t a game I spent much time on, maybe now I will — and it’s free for PC! I’m also very excited for the Nuka World Fallout DLC. It will be the second story-based DLC (after Far Harbor), and as someone who plays mainly for the story, this is very exciting for me!

I’m very excited to see Sony’s new God of War. Although I haven’t played any of the other God of War games, I referenced Kratos as an example of a hypermasculine character in my Gender Representation in Video Games project. I’m very excited to see how Sony portrays an older Kratos and his fatherly qualities; I’m hoping we’ll see a softer side of Kratos.

And I saved the best for last: Xbox Play Anywhere! As a PC gamer, I’ve recently been considering purchasing a console; however, I didn’t want to not be able to play the games I already own on PC. While I know this problem may still exist, it’s one I’ll be able to fix over time. I’m very excited to see what the future has in store for cross-platform gaming!

Alyssa W.

E3 2016 was AMAZING. There are so many games that I’m pumped for, but there are a few that really stand out to me. First up, how gorgeous does Mass Effect Andromeda look?! I’m so excited to delve back into Bioware’s incredible universe. Another game that made my heart go pitter-patter was South Park: The Fractured But Whole. I adored The Stick of Truth, so I’m extremely excited to experience more crazy South Park game play.

Death Stranding is another intriguing game. Hideo Kojima’s latest game stars Norman Reedus (who, might I say, is totally rocking it in the footage shown). Hopefully this game continues Kojima’s tradition of cinematic excellence with amazing gameplay mechanics. Finally, Horizon: Zero Dawn looks unique, and I adore the mesh of futuristic creatures and weapons with an almost prehistoric setting.

I also did a video of my top ten most anticipated games! Check it out!

Corina

This E3 showed that it’s going to be a great year for Sony fans, and as excited as I am for more classic Resident Evil, emotionally-driven God of War, and an H.P Lovecraft RPG, my heart pulls me back to Nintendo — and not just for a beautiful, open-world Zelda.

I am a native Floridian, and this past week has been a flurry of emotion and change. As my heart goes out to my neighbors and friends in Orlando, I am filled with joy and guilt from my recent engagement. The game I’m looking forward to the most is Pokémon Sun and Moon. Pokémon has been a constant in my life; it never changes by much, but is always improving. As I make my way through my own journey this year, the newest installment of Pokémon will undoubtedly inspire me to improve myself and believe in a world driven by love and friendship. Also, to have an adorable fire type kitten as a starter has been my Pokédream for the past 20 years.

Kelsey

There was so much shown off at this year’s E3 that I’m excited for! The Fallout 4 Nuka World expansion looks really fun, and I’m already excited to combine my love of Roller Coaster Tycoon with my love of Fallout. Everything they showed off about The Elder Scrolls Online made me want to dust off my copy that I haven’t played since beta (oops). Dishonored 2 looks really fun, and I guess I really need to finally get around to playing the first one. Same goes for Mass Effect: Andromeda!

ReCore looks so cool, and this was the first I’d heard of it, but a woman protagonist and a bunch of robot pets? SOLD. The new Days Gone game seems to focus heavily on motorcycles, which is awesome. Detroit: Become Human is one that I’m really hoping is good, but David Cage’s games don’t have the best track record, so I’m cautiously optimistic. Death Stranding looks weird and wonderful and I’m so intrigued, especially after Kojima’s comments this week that he wants to create a new genre. And a Spider-Man game!! I feel like there hasn’t been a superhero game in a LONG time (besides the Lego games), so I’m very excited for that. Can you tell I was really into Sony’s press conference?

Nintendo has me ready to buy a WiiU or an NX after their presentation of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – I’ve never really played a Zelda game, but this looks amazing and like a game I would spend a ton of time with.

In terms of games from non-AAA studios, Oxygen not Included by Klei of Don’t Starve and Invisible Inc. looks amazing, like it was made for me. So far, it looks like a combination of The Sims, Fallout Shelter, and Don’t Starve. Tyranny is the latest from Obsidian, who I will get any game from. I’m also very excited for Tacoma, the new game from Fullbright (Gone Home) that’s set on a space station. Spaaaaaaaaace. I’m basically the space core from Portal 2.

Also, I’m glad that I get to play at least one of the games I saw at E3 next week: Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens. I played the demo on PS4, and I’m so excited to get my hands on it!

Sabrina

Rather than talk about my most anticipated game from E3, because I already did (It’s Dishonored 2: sneaky, non-lethal, Emily, go!) I thought I’d ask my live-in gamer pal/husband to go into the surprisingly new IP game with a female lead and why he’s so excited about it. It’s a Sony exclusive called Horizon: Zero Dawn that’s coming in February 2017, where a seemingly primitive, post-apocalyptic tribal people fight not zombies, but giant robotic dinosaurs.

Yup. Robot dinosaurs taken down with bows and arrows. Not only that, but your character scavenges wires and parts from her kills to build other weapons to take down the robo-dinosaurs. You’re not some idiotic caveman who doesn’t understand how computers work. Despite the apocalypse, humanity’s managed to maintain enough smarts to know how to fix shit (unlike another certain Bethesda post-apocalypse game I could point out).

And why is my husband so excited about it? It reminds him of both Shadows of the Colossus, because it seems to have big, open-ended boss fights, as well as a blast from his past, Panzer Dragoon. He’s not much of a sneaker (me being the one in the house who owns all the Assassin’s Creed games), but he hopes the sneaking around in the game is a bit more Skyrim-like. And the crafting! He could spend 1000X hours crafting things, so any inclusion in a game gets him excited.

Does having to play as a girl put him off in any way, as all the gamer gaters would convince us is a factor that makes female protagonists impossible to imagine? Nope. He’s hoping that, unlike in the Tomb Raider reboot, there’s no moment of our nameless protag breaking down and having her, “Oh no, I killed something, ah!” that no male characters in video games ever do. She’s confident, competent, and kills giant robot dinosaurs.

Sharon

E3 time is undoubtedly one of my favorite times to chat with others about video games and the industry/culture that surrounds them. One of the best things about watching E3 live broadcasts is participating in the zeitgeist of the event – be it over Twitter, streams, chats, text, or in the same room with friends. This year, I was fortunate enough to catch three press conferences live: EA, Bethesda, and Sony. I watched the other conferences after the fact, trying to ensure that I caught up before possible spoilers spilled across my social media. Overall, there were a lot of great games shown, some things things that I had very little interest in personally and others that I look forward to seeing more of and saving my hard-earned pennies for. There was something for every type of gamer this year, and no matter where the Los Angeles-based show itself is headed, the hard work of the developers continues to make this an exciting industry to follow and participate in year after year.

Without seeing much this year in terms of gameplay, I am continuing my excitement for the new foray into the Mass Effect universe. I watched the trailer closely, hoping there would be more information about this new non-Shepard installment, but this year’s presentation was not much more than a teaser. Regardless, Mass Effect: Andromeda is still one of my most anticipated titles. Hopefully I don’t have to wait until E3 2017 before I get to see a little more.

The Quake Champions announcement has me a little sad that I won’t be able to attend Quakecon this year, especially given that I live just down the street. In just a few short months, we should know more, and with the amount of times Bethesda said “MORE AT QUAKECON” during their press conference, it’s fairly reasonable to expect that it’s going to be one heck of a show in Dallas this year. With only seeing a trailer of this title, it’s impossible to know exactly what this is going to look like, but it pulls all the right nostalgia strings for me and has me imagining the possibilities.

I hesitantly enjoyed hearing about Pyre, the next little diddy by SuperGiantGames. I’m a big fan of the work done by this studio, but not at all interested in another multiplayer experience. That being said, this team has not disappointed me in the past, and this game will be on my radar until it’s release in 2017.

I have surprised myself with excitement for the upcoming action-adventure ReCore. This game gave me Borderlands-eque vibes, and just looks like a heck of a lot of fun. I love the exploratory implications and the robotic creature element that we’ve seen elsewhere this E3. Hearing chatter that ReCore has strong Megaman and Metroid elements only furthers my interest and the fact that this game is due to release before the end of this year means that I can get to it sooner and that is exciting.

One of the most chatted-about E3 titles in my circles this year, God of War, did not fail to intensely pique my interest. Playing on my nostalgic hear once again, this God of War , however, is presenting as a significant departure in tone from the predecessors, I am looking forward to playing this. In the new God of War we see a mature Kratos in a father role which raises so many story based questions if we try to connect it to the existing story. The presentation game play trailer showed us a little about what we can expect in terms of navigating the terrain and interacting with the elements. Kratos as a father implies that this will be a much more character driven experience and if what they showed is how the game play will actually look, well, it’s a stunner as well.