Ugh I'm way off my target schedule when it comes to these games. I was initially planning to make a preview of each free game available for PlayStation Plus subscribers for each month at least on the first week of release. However I have been really busy with work and my upcoming wedding. Yeah, getting married soon. Bye bye games? Ha ha. Anyway, for my gaming backlogs here are the ones that came out free during September. One piece of advice by the way: when a free game comes out each month you can add it to your library and still be able to download it for free even after the period expires. You just have to make sure that you are also still subscribed to PS Plus. Basically, add then download at a later time if you want.
UPDATE (November 21, 2017):
Due to limited time and having a busy schedule, I would have to discontinue this segment that I initially planned to do. I will be focusing on more important stuff on my current gaming queue.
Bound: Shattered Kingdom
At first I actually thought this would be a game that my fiancee could play. And then it came out, one word that we both used to describe the game---"Creepy". It is supposed to be a puzzle or maze game with a dancer as a protagonist. However, the images and sounds make it creepy. I played around 10 minutes (which is somehow my target for each preview). I got a bit bored so I'm thinking about deleting this game as I am wasting space on my hard drive. Sorry Bound creators. If you want to check it out just play the video above. This was free for PS Plus Asia subscribers for September 2017.
InFamous Second Son
Okay, now we're talking! This is an awesome game. The protagonists gains the power of smoke which allows him to do cool stuff such as smoke dashing and blasting the hell out of his opponents. I did around 30 minutes of gameplay and made a video on a few minutes of it which I enjoyed on the first part. Things get exciting as you go deeper and unlock new abilities. You can also kill your opponents or just choose to subdue them to accumulate bad karma or good karma respectively. That said there are two paths to the game: you can either become a hero or an infamous villain. The graphics are cool and the gameplay is broad. I'm actually looking forward to finishing this game if I have the time. Check it out, this was the highlight of PS Plus September 2017 free games so hopefully you were able download or save it to your library.
Now on to October...
Hue
This is a puzzle game only with a gloomy feel to it. You have to collect colors which allow you to control your environment. For example, blue makes the background blue and gets rid of blue-colored items in the current field. Same with the other colors. It's a good game if you want something light and just want some time to pass by. It's simple and easy to pick up.
In Space We Brawl
Hue was plain and simple, now this? Utter chaos. It's not your standard mini-spacecraft shooting game. Just pick up Galaga instead. The pace was too fast for me and you have to control the ship with the left stick and the weapon via right stick. It's like looking left and right at the same time. The colors and items in the environment are a mess as well. It's going to take a lot of time to get used to but may be a fun game if you play it with friends. That said, I just don't see me playing this aside from this instance.
Strike Vector Ex
This is a much better game than In Space We Brawl. It's going to be great on multiplayer for competitive gaming. I am not sure if you are familiar with "Raycrash" or maybe Gundam Versus as it gives me that feel except that you use Vectors which are the aircrafts shown above. I only played the first tutorial parts but can't wait to get online to try it out. It will also take time to get used to but is definitely worth your time than the previous game above.
Metal Gear Solid V
Yipeeee! When I first heard that this was going to free for PS Plus subscribers for the month of October 2017, I was filled with excitement. Man, I think PlayStation is getting even more generous. If you have been playing MGS since the PS1 days then you definitely wouldn't miss out on this. You might even have bought the game during it's first release. There are a lot of things you can do in the game and the stealth feel that defined this game is still superb. I wish I had more time so I could finish it. This is definitely the highlight of October and one of the many reasons why you should subscribe to PlayStation Plus.
That's all for now folks, hopefully I can come up with this kind of stuff earlier next month. Maybe I am just going to compress the monthly free games into one video. Thanks for dropping by!
I have been a Tekken fan for years and it gives me great joy that it is the first game I am going to cover. It is also the first game I purchased for my PS4.
Once completed, a special chapter is unlocked. Guess who the final boss is?
In order to beat this guy, you have to play it safe as normal combos won't work. He'll just block or dodge your attacks and then punish you hard with his own hard-hitting combos. Just side step against the Hadoukens and time your moves (tip: you can use story mode assist buttons for faster input). I will not explain here in detail, just watch the video to get the hang of it (and see my a** kicked). You also unlock the other character episodes as you progress. You are to fight one specific opponent depending on which character you are using (gotta love Lili and Asuka) and then you are rewarded with a short character ending scene upon winning. Fear not, I have also compiled these for you:
List of available characters in Tekken 7: Alisa Bosconovitch Asuka Kazama Bob Richards Bryan Fury Devil Jin Eddy Gordo Feng Wei Heihachi Mishima Hwoarang Jin Kazama Kazuya Mishima King Kuma Lars Alexandersson Lee Chaolan Leo Kliesen Lili Rochefort Ling Xiaoyu Marshall Law Miguel Caballero Rojo Nina Williams Panda Paul Phoenix Sergei Dragunov Steve Fox Yoshimitsu Akuma Claudio Serafino Gigas Jack-7 Josie Rizal Katarina Alves Kazumi Mishima Lucky Chloe Master Raven Shaheen Eliza (DLC) Geese Howard (DLC)
Arcade Battle
Typical arcade mode, you can up your rank here as you fight the A.I. You earn gold as you progress. I honestly don't use this mode much as Treasure battle is better.
Treasure Battle
Just like arcade mode, you can fight A.I. here and improve your rank. The fun part is you can also earn gold and unlock items for your characters at the same time. If you finish story mode, I think you unlock more special matches which feature Devil Kazuya, Kazumi, Heihachi and Akuma. Consecutive wins also grant you more treasure chests and higher quality items. Furthermore there are special modes that occasionally appear: Heist Battle - upon defeating that A.I., you are granted a rare item he/she is wearing. This will prioritize the current character you are using, meaning you will most likely ave a mirror match, but upon unlocking all his/her items, you can meet other characters and unlock those specific items as well. Turbo Battle - from the name itself, go turbo! Both you and the A.I. will move faster than usual, which screws up your usual timing. I am not sure but this might open up new combos. It's not worth the effort to study those though. Aerial Juggle - you can only deal damage via juggles. Moves outside of juggles will not damage you or the A.I. Double Damage - damage is doubled duh. Pretty much makes the rounds faster as 1-2 full combos will finish the A.I. off. Now that we're done with the modes. Let's move on to the game mechanics.
Game Mechanics
If you're new to the game the most basic thing you have to remember are the controls. Each button corresponds to specific limb such that square = left punch, triangle = right punch, x = left kick and circle = right kick. Combine these with directional buttons and you get a variety of moves at your disposal. The only way to really familiarize yourself with this is on practice mode. Since the game does not have a tutorial itself, this mode is going to be your best friend. On practice mode you can view the complete movelist of your chosen character as well as test them out on a dummy opponent. One more thing to remember is that Tekken is a 3D fighting game, therefore, movements aren't linear and you can actually sidestep back or into the foreground. The coolest thing about fighting games are combos. We mostly refer to them in Tekken as juggles since most combos are done with consecutive attacks while opponent is in the air. More on combos later, I aim to create sample combo videos to help fellow players. One side note is that even though these are very attractive and pleasing to watch, they are not the most important part of the game and will not always win you your battles. If you just joined in the community of Tekken, learn the fundamentals such as spacing, wake up options, sidestepping, blocking certain attacks, etc. Once you have your movements refined, polish your offense with combos as they are meant to optimize your damage output. Now if you are familiar with Tekken's concepts... What's new to Tekken 7? The most notable mechanics introduced are the Rage art, Rage drive, and Power Crush moves. We'll talk about this later. The "bound" state incorporated into the combo system has been replaced by a "screw" state (yes, you are screwed). Kidding aside, I do not exactly know what to call this state but this is triggered by what are called "Screw" attacks that make the opponent appear spinning awkwardly as they land on the ground. Same with the previous bound state, this is used to extend juggles or combos. Most of the old bound moves are still available but no longer trigger that bound state and are now commonly used for floor breaks. In short, the usual combo formula involving bound moves has been replaced by screw moves. Something like launcher -> juggle fillers -> screw attack -> juggle ender. Luckily, the low parry still triggers the bound state and can turn into a full combo as well. More on all of these below. Most characters received new moves nd some existing moves have either been nerfed or buffed. Now, on to some cool stuff! What's the difference between a Rage art and Rage Drive? When your character enters "Rage" state, your attacks do more damage and these new moves are available to use. This state can easily be noticed as your character emits a red aura when your health bar drops to a very low percentage. Both moves cancels the rage state after use. Rage art moves are like special attacks that trigger some cinematic attack animations. On the console version these can be assigned to a button. Hell it makes your life super easy. If you are not a fan of that, just sift through the movelist and check your character's rage art button input. One important note is that these moves do more damage depending on how low your health is. Talk about turning the tides. However, having some pros, these moves have deadly cons as well. They can be easily blocked, making you vulnerable to your opponent's most damaging combos. The best way to use them is to incorporate them into your juggles as your ending move. Or, you can just time it waiting for your opponent to whiff or simply by catching them off-guard. I have a simple compilation of all character rage arts below:
We move on to Rage Drives. These attacks do not trigger a cinematic attack animation but rather makes your character glow blue while performing that attack. These are very unique and bring about more variations into combos. The properties of rage drives varies for each character. As for Lili, it causes a screw and you can then then perform some moves that can lead to a second screw and then finishing with your juggle ender. Did that make sense? Yes, you are definitely screwed if this sh** lands on you. I'll include an example on my combo Here's a picture of Lili doing her Rage Drive:
Power Crush
These are moves that push through even after getting hit. You still lose HP upon contact but your attack will not get interrupted. Honestly, these is my least favorite of all the new additions to Tekken. Some will actually spam these moves and can be annoying as f***. Still, with timing and predictions you will be able to use these moves to your advantage. Examples for these moves are Lili's f,f+2, Nina's f+1+2 and Leo's 1+2.
Combos
I made a separate post for combo videos, check it out: https://28gameslater.blogspot.com/2017/12/a-definitive-guide-for.html
