Re-release of the Skull Trooper

*sigh… On October 10 of 2018, Fortnite had just officially re-released the Skull Trooper skin back into the market. Some people view this as an opportunity for them to possess one of the “rarest” skin in the game. Personally, in my perspective, Fortnite made this move solely out of greed and making money and completely screwed over those who already owned this exclusive item. Now, it must be mentioned that Epic Games did grant the original Skull Trooper owners some flare to show off that they’ve been there for a long time. Original Skull Trooper owners have the option to turn on a purple glow to show off their rarity.

This is going to be a short blog because the topic is relatively straightforward. Nevertheless, I want to state my opinion clearly. Even though I certainly like the skin and appreciate it very much, I do not support Epic’s decision of returning the skin to the market. Cosmetics and skins play an important role in Fortnite’s success and it’s Fortnite’s main revenue or source of income. Each skin carries its own connotation or message. For example, John Wick is worn by the most skilled players with a thirst for killing. In this case, the Skull Trooper represents rarity and it shows other players that “I’ve been here since the beginning and I was an OG”. But with this new re-release of the skin, there goes the actual value and meaning behind the “Skull Trooper”.

 

 

Assassin’s Creed: Oddysey Reveal and Opinions on the Franchise

This October of 2018, Ubisoft had officially released its new Assassins’ Creed game. The AC franchise is an ation-adventure game that introduces the audience to a free-roaming and also story gameplay. Each game takes place in its own era time period in history ranging from the American Revolution to Ancient Egypt. The franchise is well-known for its stealth and smooth, realistic movement of the characters in the game along with its engaging story-telling. Previously, the newest Assassins Creed game was “Assassins Creed: Origins” came out last October in 2017; the critics generally were not too big of a fan about the game. Although they were impressed with the animations and the overall appeal of the game, its gameplay and historical accuracy was not loved by the audiences. The reviews were not too bad but compared to the previous success that the AC franchise had been known for, it was a letdown.

By the time this blog is published, Assasins Creed: Odyssey had just been released for 24 hours. First of all, something that must be addressed before talking about the reviews for this game and how it fits into the rest of the series is Ubisoft’s vision for this game. For a long time, the AC series has had its fair share of “freshness” and “something new” that it could provide to the gaming community. From the first Assassins Creed to the Assassins Creed: Black Flag (which perhaps is considered the best AC game), the audience was provided with a new sensation of gaming because to that point, there was few to none game that allowed consumers to freely roam around the streets of Havana, Cuba as an assassin for an elite society. But from that point on, people just started considering the next several games as just another Assassins Creed game. Especially Assassins’ Creed: Odyssey predecessor, AC: Origins, where nothing new was brought to the table.

Now that my stand on the Assassins Creed franchise had been made, here are the reviews for the latest game. All the opinions related to this new game is not by firsthand experience but instead came from online critiques and consumers. Essentially, the game is very high marked on metacritic, which is a reliable gaming critique website, scoring a whopping high 87 for PS4 user… certainly not a bad review. As expected with any virtual world game, the effects and the animation of the gameplay is surreal and almost lifelike. As for the content of the game, it had been said that this game carries the longest storyline out of the entire Assassins Creed franchise ranging from 14-60 hours. Although it is good that the game follows a long arch of character, that would take a massive amount of dedication in order to complete it. That is perhaps the biggest downside for this game. It’s that most of the negative reviews for the game consists of players that are sick and bored of the tedious storyline of the game.

Overall, the game had definitely surpassed any expectations I had for it and it very much passed the substantial requirement for an Assassin’s Creed game. A little bit more about this game is that it depicts the life of mercenary from Athens/Sparta on his conquests in the year 452 BCE. Hopefully, I would like to receive this game during Christmas and experience the gameplay firsthand because I thoroughly enjoy this franchise.

Why Fortnite?

Fortnite, without a doubt, had been dominating the gaming culture and even more impressively, became the second most played PC game of all time. But once, there was a battle royale game that was also much appreciated and well-known, PlayerUnknown Battlegrounds. Flashback to about 9 months ago, Fortnite wasn’t as big of a deal or as prominent as it is now… instead, it was PUBG. I had just asked my mom to buy the $30 dollar game. (That would be key later to understanding Fortnite’s success over PUBG) In my opinion, PUBG is among one of the best games ever made; it created the foundation for various other battle royale games including Fortnite. Engaged, I played PUBG continuously everyday because it introduced the consumers and me to a new genre of gaming that was never provided before.

As time passed, Fortnite started to progress at a rapid pace and soon enough, everyone I knew was playing Fortnite. In March of 2018, Fortnite officially surpassed PUBG player count and monthly revenue. With these shocking numbers, I still refused to play Fortnite because I believed it was a “childish” game… which it is but I still enjoy it. Then, I decided to try out the game that was so hyped up and played by everyone. Surprisingly, Fortnite was free! I launched Fortnite and hopped into a game. It sucked. The mechanism of the game felt off and the overall game setting was just not fun; I was not used to this type of gameplay. But then something crazy happened. When I played PUBG, I had the worst experience because it felt different. The game was much more complicated than it used to be and it wasn’t able to perform as well as Fortnite.

There I was, feeling conflicted. I was so sure that PUBG is the superior of the two games but suddenly I wasn’t. Throughout the entire time, I had been mocking my friends for playing a game that I deemed childish. The battle pass, which is basically an exclusive season that players could earn things by leveling up their tiers, had just came up with their third season. Therefore, I decided, “Why don’t I just begin here.”

Fortnite is fun. The level of customization and overall freedom that PUBG provides is not comparable to that of Fortnite. But as I played, I soon realized that money had to be invested into the game for it to be more fun. That was how Fortnite was profiting. Furthermore, the media coverage along with the hype around Fortnite had built a lot of controversies and popularity for the game. The game seemed like it would never die, and it even reached its peak when they introduced the character Thanos into the game. Back in July, I tried playing PUBG again but I was just not used to it. There were way too many bugs and errors in the game.

In conclusion, a game I used to perceive as childish and unrealistic at best became one of the game that I endorse the most. If there were a lesson to be learned out of my experience, that is to keep an open mind when it comes to trying out new games. Sticking to one game and being dedicated to it is good… but when you’re not open to trying out new games then that is not going to pay off in the future. Even though I believe PUBG isn’t as good as I used to think it is, I suppose it is very important due to the fact that it created the foundation of the genre now known as battle royale.

Ready Up!

Welcome to my blog, PLAYR CENTRL. On this website, you will be able to keep up with the latest and current news/affairs in the gaming world along with my perspective on the issues. I created this website with the sole purpose of not only to inform the readers per se but to also provide a thorough investigation and my prediction of future events.

My name is Ken Nguyen and I am just a regular gamer. I play video games on my PC often enough to believe that I could provide a substantial amount of information for my website. To be honest, I possess no insights with the games corporations and developers but I would like to believe that the information I put on here are from credible sources or ones that I consider so. A little more about me is that I’m an incoming freshman enrolled in an English Honors class that requires me to create a blog.

I enjoy playing battle royale games such as, well you guessed it… Fortnite; though I enjoy

a little PUBG whenever I get mad at Fortnite. On that note, I would like to inform the readers that probably 50% of the information posted on this blog will be related to Fortnite. My gamer tag is nn._ken so feel free to add me. that will be all for my first blog and I am looking forward to writing articles about video games.